FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

"Give us the human and we will leave!"

A deafening silence pervaded the great hall, as these words continued to reverberate within the minds of the students.

After what seemed like an eternity, one of the students couldn't help but mutter:

"So, if we give up the human, we can all live?"

While the student's voice sounded less than a question and more like an affirmed whisper, because the pin-drop silence was still ensuing, all of those present were able to hear him clearly.

Unconsciously, some of the vampires started edging closer to Arlo, causing Khan to move in front of him and narrow his eyes at the vampires.

However, Khan didn't need to act, as Stefan's cold voice soon cut through the air and into the vampire's ears:

"Are you seriously considering obeying them? Since when did we vampires submit so easily and to people who killed our people no less?"

As if brought out of a trance, the vampire students who had acted subconsciously out of their fear suddenly stiffened before lowering their heads in shame.

Stefan glared at them angrily, his eyes shining with a ruby glow, but Argon couldn't help but become more anxious and reminded him:

"Stefan, we need to leave now. We don't know how long the teachers and principals can hold out."

Stefan's shining eyes slowly returned to normal, but it was then that he belatedly noticed something. And he wasn't the only one who felt it.

"Why did it suddenly become so hot?" One of the students couldn't help but question.

The surrounding temperature abruptly rose so high that if it wasn't for their strong bodies as vampires, they would have caught aflame. The same was true for their uniforms which were made from special materials and had been treated by professional tailors.

As if sensing something, Khan who had been protecting Arlo behind him suddenly left the hall, with Stefan, Argon, and the others quickly following behind.

As more and more students left the hall, they all became petrified on the spot as they watched the scene unfolding far in the distance.

A massive circular wall of fire rose into the sky, and in contrast to it, a gigantic fireball that could better be described as a sun was descending onto the earth.

While the sun seemed to be falling at a slow speed, the situation couldn't be further away from the truth. The red star was falling so fast that it left afterimages in the sky, and it was precisely those afterimages that the students were staring at.

The eyes of Khan, Stefan, and the few strongest suddenly contracted to the fullest, as Stefan quickly opened his mouth to shout a warning.

"R- Run..."

Alas, he was too late.

The world was suddenly engulfed in silence, a brief silence.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A blinding light erupted in the distance causing the students to unconsciously shut their eyes because of its intensity.

RUMBLE!

A massive explosion tens of meters high and several kilometers high erupted in the distance. The ground beneath them seemed to shake despite the considerable distance they were from the site of explosion, and the skies seemed to rumble.

However, that wasn't all.

The explosion generated tremendous shockwaves that spread out in all directions, and the earth itself began to buckle and roil about, toppling houses and snapping any obstacles in its paths as the shockwaves blew them into smithereens.

The shockwaves traveled so fast that in less than ten breaths they arrived before the students who were several kilometers away. 

A split second before the shockwaves arrived, several dark long chains spread out from Stefan before wrapping around Arianne, Ella, Arlo, Khan, Joe, Bon, Judi, and Roy. More chains moved out to wrap around more students but before they got the chance, the shockwaves blasted their surroundings and sent each of them flying in different directions.

A loud ringing sound enveloped all of Arlo's senses, as his body rolled on the ground, and smashed into several buildings before tumbling a few more times and finally coming to a stop.

It took several moments for the ringing sound to disappear. Arlo shook his head several times to bring himself out of his disoriented state.

As his vision slowly cleared, Arlo found himself to be surrounded by a thick cloud of dust. But due to the acute and powerful vision granted to him by his dragon eyes, Arlo was able to see that he was on flat ground that spread out around him for several kilometers. And the only thing around him was dust, fine smooth dust left behind from the destruction of countless buildings.

After briefly studying his surroundings, Arlo quickly checked his body. Despite his now powerful body, Arlo was covered by countless wounds that were regenerating at a fast speed. In but three breaths, his body healed completely...the bloodstains left behind being the only evidence that he suffered an injury.

While his body healed, the same couldn't be said about his clothes. Sighing lightly, Arlo used the increased sensitivity granted to him by the two small bumps on his head to create another white robe covered in dragon patterns. 

Immediately when Arlo had seen the blinding light erupting in the distance, he was only able to send his two summons back into their seals, and before he could raise a layer of protection, the shockwaves had already engulfed him.

After taking about thirty breaths to make sure he was in good condition, Arlo finally paid attention to the dark chain wrapping around his hand and disappearing into the distance. He had caught a glimpse of when Stefan had acted and hadn't bothered to resist in the slightest. 

He couldn't help but think about the other's situation when suddenly Arlo's expression changed as he felt several powerful auras fast approaching from the direction of the explosion. Since the other party didn't seem concerned about releasing their auras, Arlo could tell that thousands of people were moving in his direction. And from their presence, he judged that the great majority of them had already entered the true stages of cultivation. It didn't take a genius to know who was approaching.

Just when Arlo was thinking of how he would find his friends, he suddenly felt a slight tug from the chain around him. The pulling force from the chain slowly increased, and soon after his body flew into the air as the chain pulled him in a particular direction at neck-break speed. The air cut through Arlo's face, but Arlo didn't resist in the slightest. In but a few breaths, several familiar figures appeared before him. The dark chain brought him to the group, before unwrapping from his hand and retreating to Stefan's body.

Arlo saw Stefan, Arianne, Khan, Ella, Joe, Roy, Bon and Judi. Among the group, only Stefan, Arianne, Ella, and Khan seemed completely uninjured. Arlo guessed Stefan must have been able to protect them somehow. While Joe seemed to have no injury, Arlo could tell from the blood stains on his body that he must have suffered some injuries too, which must have healed just like him. Roy was the same too, while Bon and Judi were the only ones whose injuries were still visibly recovering.

This was quite normal, as they were the weakest among the group. And if it wasn't because they were vampires, they might have been incapacitated by now. 

The look on the eight was quite grave as Stefan spoke immediately when Arlo arrived:

"We need to leave now." 

The approaching enemies were still some distance away, but with the speed with which they were moving, it wouldn't take them long to reach their location.

Stefan couldn't help but worry about Argon. and the others. In that situation, he only had enough time to wrap his chains around the members he had chosen in his group. In the end, he could only hope that they were safe, and could escape by themselves.

Now the problem was how they were going to move. He was capable of carrying the eight people with him using his mana and will, but the problem was that their speed would be greatly diminished. While the dust might cover their presence for now, if they didn't move fast, the enemies would soon notice them. After all, moving in the air was the same as revealing their location to every eye.

Stefan. couldn't help but contemplate leaving a few figures like Roy, Bon, and Judi behind. That way, the situation would become a bit more bearable.

The group was able to sense what was on his mind, as even after Stefan said they had to move, they had yet to leave.

Just when Arlo was about to propose summoning Anita, and transform her into her firebird form to use as transport, the quiet Joe suddenly spoke with a resolved look on his face.

"Leave it to me.*

Stefan frowned at him, but ignoring him and everyone else, Joe approached Arlo and handed the pitch-black snake around his neck to him. Arlo seemed to understand what his best friend was about to do, but after thinking about it, he didn't dissuade him. Even if Anita was able to carry them, their position would be easily revealed as they flew in the air, not to mention her firebird form was quite eye-catching.

The pitch-black snake looked at Joe with its starry eyes for a moment, before obediently slithering across Arlo's hand to coil itself around his neck.

Joe took a deep breath before moving a short distance from Arlo and the others. Taking another deep breath, he invoked his bloodline.

Despite transforming a couple of times the night before in training, the act of tearing his human form still caused young Joe to release a painful cry.

Slowly his body morphed and as his cry reached a crescendo, a forty-meter-long and five-meter-high snake appeared before the group. Blood stains from the transformation covered the green scales of the giant snake. It took a short moment for the white pupils of the snake to settle. Only then did Joe's voice drift into the ears of the group.

"Climb on."

Stefan hesitated for a moment. Joe might be able to carry them all but what about his speed? However, before he could say anything, Arlo, Arianne, and Ella slowly walked towards Joe, before climbing his body from his tail.

Stefan frowned slightly but his sister's voice soon addressed his worries.

"Don't worry big brother. Joe is one of the fastest people I know, almost as fast as you."

Stefan's eyes widened slightly, a disbelieving look on his face. It must be known that he was an Orange-core mage. Forget about Joe being almost as fast as him, Stefan didn't believe that Joe was as fast as a Red-core mage, after all, the gap between the preliminary and true stages of cultivation was even wider than the distance between heaven and earth. Sure, he had seen Joe carry Arlo out when he was attacked after killing Jude, but his speed wasn't too remarkable in his eyes and he believed it was only because the vampires were caught off guard that Joe was successful in his rescue.

Still, pressed for time, Stefan climbed onto Joe's back and decided to see how the situation unfolded. If he wasn't pleased with Joe's speed, he would have no choice but to cut some weight.

After Stefan, Khan and the others also climbed onto Joe. Since his body was enormous, the group had no difficulties staying on top of him. In fact, Joe's back still appeared spacious.

"Hold on," warned Joe.

Arlo, Arianne, and Joe who knew how terrifying Joe's speed was held onto his scales, but others merely watched them in wonder, surprised at why they were overreacting.

However, as a beautiful divine white light shone from Joe's massive scaly body, their surroundings suddenly changed. In but an instant, they crossed the entire several-kilometer-wide area of destruction and soon arrived at the intact region.

If it wasn't for Stefan. who had acted quickly and surrounded them with his chains, Khan, Roy, Bon, and Judi would have been thrown off the moment Joe moved.

"Incredible..." Stefan muttered dumbfounded, as he watched the buildings zoom past them, as Joe slithered across them at a speed that easily shattered the sound barrier.