My Three Beautiful Vampire Wives can hear my Inner Thoughts-Chapter 104: Punishment
Cain lifted his hand lazily, as though he were flicking away a speck of dust.
At once, the massive owl responded.
"Quaaack!"
Its cry tore through the air as its enormous wings spread wide, feathers cutting through the wind with a deep, rushing sound. The ground cracked beneath the force of its takeoff, dirt and broken leaves exploding outward as the beast launched itself skyward in a powerful arc.
Zenaya did not hesitate.
Her eyes sharpened, her pride already stung from the earlier exchange. She bent her knees slightly and rose into the air with smooth elegance, blood mana swirling around her feet like a crimson current lifting her higher and higher until she hovered at the owl’s level.
The forest below them grew smaller, the treetops forming a dark sea beneath the fading light.
She swore silently that she would teach that arrogant brat a lesson. If she could not tame beasts, then she would at least prove that she could crush one.
Below, Cain folded his arms and tilted his head back, watching them rise.
Let me see how you humiliate yourself, old woman.
The words echoed clearly in Zenaya’s mind.
Her eye twitched.
You! You dare call me old?
Her face remained composed, but inside her anger sparked like a match thrown into dry grass. She had lived long, yes. She had earned every year through blood and effort. To be mocked by a boy barely out of fledgeling stage burned far more than she expected.
The owl hovered, wings beating steadily. Its eyes remained locked on Zenaya, calm and bright.
Zenaya inhaled slowly, forcing her emotions into order.
"I will begin with something simple," she muttered.
She raised one hand, blood mana gathering in her palm. The air around her trembled faintly as a long spear of condensed crimson energy formed, sharp and narrow, humming with restrained force.
It was a weak attack by her standards.
But her weak attacks were still superior to most elders.
Even Noir’s casual strikes did not reach this speed.
She flicked her wrist.
The spear shot forward like a streak of red lightning, cutting through the air with a piercing whistle.
The owl moved.
There was no dramatic build up, no visible strain.
It simply tilted its body slightly to the side.
The spear passed through empty air.
Zenaya’s eyes widened.
It evaded?
Effortlessly?
Her attack was faster than Noir’s earlier strikes that hit the owl.
So...
How?
From below, Cain’s mental laughter echoed like a mocking bell.
What a slow ass. That’s what you get for being old.
Hearing this, Zenaya clenched her teeth.
She lifted both hands this time, summoning two blades of blood energy and sending them forward in quick succession. They curved midair, chasing the owl from opposite angles.
The owl flapped once, rising slightly.
Both blades cut through nothing but wind.
Zenaya frowned deeper.
Again.
Three bolts this time, fired in a tight pattern.
The owl twisted midair, its massive frame moving with a grace that did not match its size.
All three bolts missed.
Cain’s thoughts rang loud and clear.
Is that it? Come on, you trained for decades and this is your speed?
Zenaya’s cheeks burned.
She increased her output.
The next wave of attacks came faster, thicker, each one slicing through the sky with violent pressure. Crimson streaks crossed the space between them again and again.
Missed.
Missed.
Missed.
Each time the owl avoided her strikes by the smallest margins, sometimes only by a fraction of an inch, as if it had known exactly where the attack would pass before she even launched it.
Zenaya’s breathing grew heavier.
She narrowed her eyes and focused.
Her mana output climbed.
The forest below shuddered as stray currents of her power brushed against treetops, snapping branches and scattering leaves in all directions.
Again she attacked.
Faster.
Stronger.
Sharper.
The owl’s wings beat in steady rhythm, its body weaving through her attacks like a dancer moving through falling petals.
Cain’s laughter grew louder in her head.
Too slow.
Too stiff.
You call that precision?
Zenaya’s pride cracked.
She poured more mana into her spells.
Her next volley came in rapid bursts, so fast that the air itself screamed under the strain. Red arcs crisscrossed the sky, forming a deadly net around the owl.
The owl darted upward, then dropped, then rolled in midair.
Every attack missed.
Every single one.
Zenaya felt something twist in her chest.
Was she weaker than Noir?
No.
That was impossible.
She was stronger.
She knew she was stronger.
Then why could she not even touch this beast?
What she did not know was that when Noir struck earlier, the owl had taken the hit because Cain had willed it so. Cain had wanted Noir’s aggression. He had needed that attack to justify his next move. The owl could have evaded. It simply had not.
Now, Cain had decided to punish Zenaya for ruining his fun.
The owl would not allow a single strike to land.
Zenaya’s attacks intensified.
The sky glowed red as she unleashed a flurry of blood magic, each strike faster and denser than the last. The pressure around them thickened until even the air felt heavy to breathe.
And still.
Missed.
Missed.
Missed.
Her teeth ground together.
Finally, frustration overwhelmed restraint.
She stopped holding back.
Mana surged from her body in a violent wave, the force pushing back the surrounding air and sending a shock through the treetops below. Her aura expanded wide, powerful and commanding.
"I will see," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "I will see your limit."
She formed a massive sphere of compressed blood energy, its surface swirling with layered patterns that had taken her years to perfect.
This was not casual magic.
This was a technique she had honed for ten long years.
Ten years of training.
Ten years of bleeding hands and sleepless nights.
She remembered standing alone in a barren valley, releasing the spell again and again until her mana channels burned.
She remembered collapsing from exhaustion, only to rise the next day and try again.
She remembered the elders who mocked her for focusing so much on a single attack.
She remembered the countless failures, the explosions that injured her, the months spent refining control and density until the spell no longer drained her dry.
This technique was her pride.
She thrust her hand forward.
The sphere shot toward the owl, expanding as it flew, its pressure bending the space around it.
For a moment, Zenaya saw it.
The owl failed to dodge in time.
The sphere struck.
A massive explosion of crimson light filled the sky, shaking the forest below. Wind roared outward, bending trees nearly to breaking.
Zenaya’s chest rose and fell sharply.
Did I—
From within the fading glow, a dark silhouette emerged.
The owl.
Unharmed.
Its wings were folded slightly inward, blood mana gathered along their edges like a shield.
The sphere’s remnants slid off its feathers, dispersing into harmless sparks.
Then, in a slow and almost lazy motion, the owl lifted one wing and swiped sideways.
The lingering force of her attack was brushed aside as if it were dust.
Zenaya froze.
Her mind went blank.
Ten years.
Ten years of work.
And it was brushed aside like nothing.
Her hands trembled.
She lowered herself slowly, descending back to the ground with far less grace than before.
Her feet touched the earth.
For a moment, she simply stood there, staring upward, her shoulders heavy.
Cain watched her with mild satisfaction.
That’s what you get for ruining my plan.
That old Noir would have been the first elder blood, I, the Blood Overgod spilled.
But you... you old woman...
You scared him off.
The owl descended as well, landing beside Cain with a heavy thud that shook the soil.
Zenaya inhaled slowly, forcing herself to regain composure.
She was no longer angry.
She was curious.
Deeply.
She looked at Cain.
Who are you?
Who is this beast?
Who... are you really?
What is happening?
Why does she feel that the beast was unfathomable?
Most of all, the Cain he used to know.
Who?
What is an Overgod?
Suddenly, Zenaya calmed down. And after a long time, she spoke aloud this time.
"No wonder Rivik chose you as the husband of his three daughters," she said, her voice steady once more. "You are extremely talented. To tame a beast of this level at your age..."
The owl let out a low cry and folded its wings neatly at Cain’s side.
Cain blinked.
"Tamed what blood beast?"
