The dazzling light they had just seen disappeared, replaced by a vast expanse resembling a night sky without stars. There was no familiar solid ground under their feet, just an elastic, shimmering mother—of-pearl surface that seemed to respond animatedly to their every movement. They hovered in the very heart of the ancestral heritage, in a dimension where pure will and memory reigned supreme.
In front of them, instead of the usual walls or architectural forms, stretched a grandiose, silent panorama. The huge, galaxy-sized holograms seemed to come to life, showing the entire history of the vampire race: the birth of the first Kings from primordial chaos, great wars, the creation of artifacts, moments of immeasurable cruelty and rare glimpses of greatness. The air—if you could call it air—was saturated with raw power, unfiltered and ancient, waiting in the wings to be channeled.
"Here.".. The very foundation of our blood is here," the Elder whispered, and his voice trembled with awe. — The Akashic Records of our race.
However, there was no time for admiration. Five Giants of the Abyss materialized in this space. Their forms here were even more terrifying —they were not just stone bodies, but embodied concepts of destruction. They were the very silence, emptiness, and denial of life.
The giants immediately attacked. Their attack was different. They did not use hammers, but radiated waves of nothingness that caused the shining space to darken, crumble and disappear, erasing memory and will itself.
— Stay together! Leng Wei exclaimed, feeling his own essence begin to waver like a flame in the wind. His bracelet was ablaze, casting off waves of darkness, but in this place, the pure, impersonal power of his personal will was not enough.
And then They appeared from the depths of this space.
Not as creatures, but as three indifferent, all-seeing eyes made up of shimmering ancient runes. True Masters. They didn't speak in words. Their messages cut right into my mind, cold and unforgiving, like the laws of physics.
"Why did you come here, mistake? This place is a place of purity. Your pain, your love, your hate, it's all just noise. We will rid this world of all that is superfluous," a voice full of confidence sounded.
— Your "purity" is death! Leng Wei retorted with equal force, directing his will into space. — You do not create order, but simply destroy everything that does not correspond to your ideas! You are a manifestation of cowardice, fear of life!
— Order is the absence of chaos. Life is chaos. We are the logical conclusion. The end of all equations. Your existence is an anomaly that will be corrected," the Eye replied.
One of the "Shackles" turned its gaze on Khan. At the same moment, he froze, his face contorted in pain. His past, his guilt for the ambush in the Ravine of the Mourners, materialized around him like a poisonous mist, devouring his will and trying to erase himself.
—Khan! Lin Mei tried to touch him, but a wave of desperation threw her away.
Leng Wei realized that there was no point in a direct battle in this place. They are not fighting against enemies, but against the soulless laws of the universe. But even laws have their weaknesses — exceptions and paradoxes.
He closed his eyes and stopped resisting their pressure. Instead, he began to radiate. Not his own strength or rage, but everything he saw and felt. All that "noise" that they hated so much.
He showed them Lee's face, smiling through the pain. He showed Lin Mei's determination to risk everything for him. He imagined Lord Jiang's atonement and Han's fierce, brutal devotion. He conveyed the warmth of his mother's hands and the bottomless pain in his father's eyes, who sacrificed everything for love.
He filled this sterile, silent space with a deafening symphony of humanity and vampire passion— all the life that the True Masters sought to destroy.
It wasn't a blow. It was an infection.
The space around them began to change. Shining holograms depicting the history of vampires came to life, but now they not only told about wars and power struggles, but also conveyed moments of sacrificial love, mercy, creativity, paternal pride and maternal tenderness — all that the Masters considered unnecessary sentimental rubbish.
The giants of the Abyss slowed down their run. Their forms, woven of pure negation, began to waver, encountering something they could neither define, erase, nor understand.
"THIS... incongruity. AN ANOMALY. It's NOT OPTIMAL," for the first time, the "voice" of the Masters sounded not with cold confidence, but with irritation and doubt.
"This is life!" exclaimed Leng Wei in his mind, taking a step forward. His body shone, fusing with the very energy of the legacy. — And she has a right to exist! Your era is over!"
One of the "Shackles" concentrated, ignoring the "noise", and sent a burst of pure annihilation energy at Leng Wei, capable of erasing his very soul from all chronicles.
And at that moment, Khan, as if escaping from the captivity of his nightmares, rushed forward with a soft groan and a growl. But not to attack. He got in the way of the deadly beam.
— no! Leng Wei exclaimed, but it was already too late.
The ray pierced Khan. However, instead of disappearing, the old warrior with a wild grin, as if in mockery of death, became a human shield. He didn't just block the attack — he accepted it, absorbed its absolute fury, and, melting it down in the crucible of his being, released a short, concentrated impulse — not against the Masters, but against the nearest Giant.
The giant, amazed by his own strength, which passed through the prism of the human spirit, froze. For a moment, there was a spark of something new in his icy eyes... confusion, awareness. Then it began to crumble, but not into nothing, but into a shining, warm dust that gently joined the shimmering holograms of the legacy.
Khan collapsed to his knees, his aura faded, his breathing became ragged, but he was alive.
"See, boy? He said hoarsely, looking at Leng Wei. "Even an old sinner... It can be a great lightning rod... The main thing is where to direct the discharge...
This act of fierce and conscious self-sacrifice was the last straw. The Legacy space, which had preserved only cold, faceless power for centuries, turned out to be overflowing with emotions, feelings, and memory. It began to change on a fundamental level.
The two remaining "Eyes" of the True Masters began to flicker like unstable holograms.
THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED. DATA INTEGRITY IS VIOLATED. reboot... IMPOSSIBLE. A RETREAT.
They were not defeated in battle. They just... they switched off, disappearing from reality like departing dreams, leaving behind neither anger nor regret — just an empty place where an inexorable law once existed. The remaining Giants, deprived of their guiding will, froze in place, turning into harmless, floating sculptures of shadow and stone.
The battle was won.
Leng Wei stood in the suddenly silent and infinitely sad space, breathing heavily. They had won, but he was aware that this was only a temporary truce. The true Masters had retreated, but their presence, like invisible laws, still lurked in the depths of the universe, waiting in the wings.
He walked over to Khan and, without saying a word, helped him up, supporting his hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you, old man," he said softly, and in those words was all the gratitude he could muster.
"You're welcome, King,— Khan grunted, catching his breath with difficulty and leaning on him. — I'm just not used to having fun alone at the celebration of life.
Lin Mei and Jin silently approached them. There were tears in Lin Mei's eyes, not from grief, but from overwhelming feelings. Jin nodded silently at Leng Wei, and there was more respect in that nod than in any words. The elder, looking at the changed space, wept silently, and tears rolled down his ancient cheeks.
— Legacy... "What is it?" he whispered. "It's come to life again. It remembers what it means to feel again. You didn't just protect him, Heir. You healed him.
Leng Wei stared at the endless holograms, which now displayed the complete and balanced history of his race — both its light and dark pages, its ups and downs, cruelty and compassion.
"The past cannot be changed," he said softly. — But the future is in our hands. Now we are building it. Our future. The future of all of us.
He turned to the shining portal, which now pulsed steadily in the center of the hall, opening the way back to the Academy. Awakened vampires, half—breeds, servants were waiting for him-an entire world that he had just saved from a soulless order and which now needed guidance, healing, and new hope.
He was no longer a victim of circumstances, an avenger, or even just an Heir following someone else's path.
Looking at the bracelet on his wrist and feeling the heartbeat of Harmony somewhere in the depths of his soul, he realized that he had become something more.
He was a bridge connecting the past and the future, vampires and humans, order and chaos. And his mission was just beginning.