The night hung heavy over the valley, wrapped in mist. The moon poured silver light across the jagged peaks where the Emperor Void Dragon Beast Clan had once thrived for centuries.
Inside the great hall, eleven elders knelt in a circle. At the center lay a woman on silken sheets, a crown resting lightly on her damp hair.
She was human, yet not entirely so. Her golden eyes glowed faintly like molten fire, and along her arms and back shimmered patches of scales—appearing and fading with every shudder of pain that wracked her body. Her breaths came ragged, each one scraping against her throat.
"Comes the seed of creation…" whispered Elder Xian, the leader of the elder council
The clan had suffered decline for generations. Once mighty, their bloodline had thinned, torn apart by two forces bound in their veins—the seed of creation and the seed of destruction. For ages, the two had clashed inside every heir, leaving the Emperor Void dragon Beasts weak, their legacy fading into ruin.
But now, after thousands of years, hope returned. A child bearing the divine seed of creation, the bloodline of the true emperor beast—was about to be born.
The ground trembled.
The woman screamed, her cry raw and wild, shaking the chamber like the roar of an ancient predator. And then… silence.
When the wail of a newborn rose, the mother gathered the child weakly to her chest. The baby's eyes were wide open—gleaming a deep, unnatural purple.
"This is… death," Elder Xian whispered, his voice trembling.
The elders jolted to their feet. Shock rippled through them. They had waited centuries for the seed of creation, but once again destruction had been born. Worse—the moment the child drew breath, she drained the very life from her mother's body.
It had happened before. Again and again, destruction, never creation. Countless sacrifices, wasted.
The mother looked at her child, her lips curving into the faintest smile. Her dimming eyes lifted to the elders.
"Promise me… don't kill her. Even if she bears destruction… she is innocent."
"Innocent? Hah!" one elder barked. He strode forward, snatching the child from her arms. "This evil thing must be slain before it grows into another Emperor Void Demonic Beast!"
"You… madmen," the woman rasped. Her chest rose once more, then fell still.
The elders exchanged grim looks. The woman was the late clan chief's wife. To let her die and kill her child would bring disgrace upon the clan. Yet, if they allowed another seed of destruction to live, it could mean their end.
"I will not accept this madness," came a firm voice.
An elder stepped forward—an old man robed in purple with golden stripes. He was the Prophet of the clan, one whose authority rivaled even Elder Xian. His gaze flicked sharply between the elders.
The one clutching the child scowled, setting the infant back upon her mother's lifeless body. With a flick of his hand, a gleaming sword appeared.
"You dare raise a blade against royal blood?" the Prophet's hand shook as he pointed at the elder. "Do you know what you're about to do?"
"Prophet," Elder Xian said coldly, "this is no child—it is a curse reborn. How can we allow it to live?"
A surge of spiritual force erupted from the Prophet, rattling the hall. Several elders staggered back. His voice thundered:
"I will not take part in this. Do as you will. But remember—your choice may curse the entire clan."
He turned, walking toward the great doors. At the threshold, he stopped, listening to the silence that pressed down like a blade. His heart twisted. These men shared the same bloodline as the child, yet were ready to kill her without mercy.
The Prophet's duty had always been to guide the patriarch. But the true patriarch was long dead, his throne stolen. If the seed of creation had been born, power would have returned to the rightful heir. Now, with destruction reborn, the council would not hesitate to commit murder.
The Prophet sighed deeply and stepped into the night.
Behind him, a cry pierced the hall—then was cut short. Silence followed.
The Emperor Void Dragon Beast Clan had lost more than a mother and child that night. In their coldness, they had slain the one who might have been their future empress.
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