CA – Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Werewolves lived year-round in the ice fields of the Statu Continent. Unless absolutely necessary, they would not take a single step out of their territory. These ice fields originally belonged to the Gru Empire, one of the three great empires. However, several hundred years ago, the wandering Wolf Race took a liking to this place, and it became their domain.
The geographical location of these ice fields was delicate, happening to split the Gru Empire in two. The king of Gru at the time was furious, but he swallowed his anger out of fear of the fierce and powerful werewolves.
Although the Wolf Race had a low birth rate and a small population, every one of them was a born warrior. They possessed speed and strength that rivaled the Vampires, and their sharp claws and massive original forms allowed them to sweep across the continent. Moreover, compared to the Vampires, they had an even greater advantage: they were immune to light magic.
The werewolves hated the Holy See. If not for their weak reproductive ability, had the Wolf Race been allowed to develop for a few hundred years, it was hard to say whether the Holy See could have maintained its current position.
The night of the full moon was when the werewolves' power, emotions, and desires all reached their peak.
When the moon rose, it was the beginning of a grand feast.
In the empty and eerie Fenlin Town, a squad of knights was ordered to patrol the deserted streets, searching for suspicious clues. After the town's residents were slaughtered by monsters, the only two survivors had moved to another town. Aside from the pitch-black crows, no other visitors had appeared here.
As the knight squad routinely completed their mission and mounted their horses to leave, the tightly shut shop doors on both sides of the street suddenly creaked and slowly opened from the inside.
The bright moonlight could illuminate the signs in front of the shops, but it could not penetrate the darkness in the shadows behind the doors.
The knight captain made a hand signal to the knight behind him, gesturing for him to go and check.
The knight, holding a sharp sword, cautiously approached the shop. A shadow suddenly flickered in the darkness behind the door. Realizing something was wrong, he stopped and stepped back. The dark figure abruptly rushed out and pounced on him. Powerful arms wrapped tightly around his neck, and sharp teeth bit through his throat, letting out a ferocious growl.
Excited howls came from all directions. A dark figure shot out and snapped the leg of the knight's horse. As the knight steadied himself, another figure leaped onto his back, and with a twist of its hands, the knight was instantly decapitated.
Warm blood sprayed onto the dark figure, causing it to raise its head in excitement and let out a wolf's howl.
Under the bright moonlight, the figure's appearance was fully visible—part human, part beast, looking identical to the monster that had suddenly attacked Tang Qiu.
Before the knight squad could even begin to fight back, they were all killed by the monsters. It was impossible to tell how many monsters had appeared on the street. They crowded together, their heads tilted back as they gazed obsessively at the full moon in the sky.
A slender figure suddenly appeared behind one of the monsters. A delicate hand pressed on the monster's shoulder, effortlessly tearing it in half and tossing it aside. Her long, snow-white hair was stained with a trace of blood. The newcomer's face was full of impatience, but her hands moved with incredible speed.
In the span of a few breaths, half of the monsters on the street had been cleared away.
"Garbage created by degenerates who can't control their lower halves." The woman flicked the blood from her hands, her tone disgusted. "If I find out which tribe they're from, I'll tear them to shreds."
"Eva," a brown-haired girl appeared beside her. "Behind you."
Eva glanced back. The monsters born from the mating of humans and werewolves were huddled together, trembling from the pressure they felt from their bloodline. She pursed her lips and went forward to clean them up one by one.
This was already the third wave they had encountered on their journey.
To maintain the purity of their bloodline, the Wolf Race's tribal laws forbade mating and reproducing with other races, not even with humans who carried werewolf blood but had not yet transformed.
Therefore, these monsters that polluted their bloodline were particularly offensive to the eye.
These monsters had impure bloodlines; not only did they look bizarre, but their strengths were also uneven.
As Eva dealt with the monsters, the brown-haired girl watched quietly for a moment. Her peripheral vision suddenly caught a figure huddled behind a tree, crying.
It was a little girl, three or four years old, her head bowed as she held herself and trembled. The sudden appearance of black boots in her line of sight frightened her even more.
The brown-haired girl bent down, pinched the little girl's chin, and lifted her face to examine it. Looking at her pupils, which were clearly different from a human's, she said in a low voice, "Impure bloodline."
The little girl shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut in fear.
The brown-haired girl reached out and picked her up. "Welcome to the Wolf Race."
After finishing off all the monsters, Eva came over and glanced at the little girl with some curiosity. Her irritable mood finally improved. "Let's take her back to the ice fields..."
Before she could finish, the brown-haired girl interrupted her. "The leader told us to go to the Gosse Empire."
"But she..."
"We go to Gosse first."
Eva sheepishly shut her mouth, reached out, and snatched the little girl from her arms. Under the moonlight, her snow-white hair slowly returned to its normal color.
Tang Qiu and Lucille, trapped in the Fallen Crow Forest, had no way of knowing about the episode in Fenlin Town. Or rather, even if they did, they probably wouldn't have the mind to think about it.
A full moon night seemed to have sent Tang Qiu back to the beginning of her transmigration. Werewolves were a completely alien concept to her. The only pitiful scrap of information she had about them in her mind was that they were enemies of the Holy See.
Seeing Tang Qiu staring at her own hands in a daze with her head down, Lucille's figure flashed, and she suddenly appeared in front of her. Her right hand grabbed Tang Qiu's arm, while her left hand tried to press down on her shoulder, but Tang Qiu dodged it.
Faced with Lucille's sudden attack, Tang Qiu instinctively dodged, then grabbed her wrist with one hand and threw her off. Lucille's calf hit the bedpost. Just as she was about to flip over to the other side to get away from Tang Qiu, an arm suddenly came down, pinning her to the bed.
The soft bedding sank deeper under the weight of the two. Pinning Lucille was a subconscious reaction to her attack. Although Tang Qiu had intentionally controlled her claws to avoid hurting Lucille, she still accidentally scratched her arm.
What surprised Tang Qiu, however, was that her razor-sharp claws hadn't even broken Lucille's skin.
The power of a werewolf was indeed formidable, especially on the night of a full moon. After trying to break free and finding it useless, Lucille gave up. She looked up, her dark red eyes fixed on Tang Qiu, who was just inches away, and her tone was calm. "Are you going to bite my neck off?"
Tang Qiu found it somewhat amusing. "A priest would never do something so savage." She paused after speaking, remembered her current situation, and added, "And neither would a werewolf."
Tang Qiu's priest robes had just been torn by her, and several buttons at the collar had come off. The neck that was usually covered was now exposed to Lucille's eyes. And because of their position, Lucille could even see the strange white totem-like patterns on the side of her neck, and of course, the faint blue veins beneath the fair skin.
Lucille couldn't help but swallow. Her lips parted slightly, her eyes fixed on the side of Tang Qiu's neck, and her mouth felt parched.
"...Is this mark strange?" Seeing Lucille staring at her neck, Tang Qiu couldn't help but touch it and frown.
Lucille coolly averted her gaze. "When are you going to let me go?"
Tang Qiu gave a dry cough, feeling a little awkward. "When the sun comes up?"
Lucille glanced at her but said nothing.
A trace of helplessness flashed across Tang Qiu's face. She knew that pinning Lucille like this was both rude and strange, but right now, only by smelling the scent on Lucille could she maintain her composure.
Violent emotions still flooded her thoughts. Tang Qiu couldn't guarantee that she would remain as normal as she was now if Lucille left.
But why Lucille?
Tang Qiu asked tentatively, "...Do you have any connection to werewolves?"
"Enemies."
Tang Qiu: "..."
Because of Lucille's cold personality and her standoffish demeanor, Tang Qiu hadn't had much interaction with her. Now, in this situation, with her thoughts still in a jumble, she had no mind to make conversation with Lucille.
The atmosphere in the tent instantly fell silent. After an unknown amount of time, it was Lucille who broke the silence.
Since the fair neck kept swaying in her field of vision, Lucille simply closed her eyes. "Did you not know you were a werewolf?"
She hadn't forgotten the shocked and bewildered expression on Tang Qiu's face when she told her she was a werewolf.
Tang Qiu lowered her eyes and didn't answer directly, just sighed. "I was a priest until today."
"Werewolves..." she paused. "Do you know much about them?" Tang Qiu tried to get some information about werewolves from Lucille.
Lucille remained silent with her eyes closed. Just when Tang Qiu thought she wouldn't speak, she said, "Werewolves and the Holy See are enemies..."
Tang Qiu interrupted with a headache, "Alright, alright, I already know that part."
Lucille said coolly, "That's all."
Tang Qiu: "..."
She looked up through a gap in the tent at the darkness outside, her expression complicated. She felt that this night was passing exceptionally slowly.
No matter how slowly the night passed, the day would still arrive on time. The moon quietly set, and the light of dawn pierced through the thick fog, dispelling the night.
The restraint suddenly vanished. Lucille sat up from the bed, flexing her stiff wrist. She looked around, but Tang Qiu was nowhere to be seen.
She took a deep breath, suppressing the bloodlust that had been sealed deep in her heart but was now suddenly surging. The crimson in her dark red eyes deepened. Lucille pursed her lips in displeasure, got out of bed, opened the tent flap, and walked out.
Yelena, David, and the others also emerged from their tents, gathering to discuss how to deal with the Black Witches. When Anna saw Lucille, she was a little surprised. "Marshal, why are you out?"
Lucille didn't speak, merely turning her head to look at the only tent that still showed no signs of activity.
Anna followed her gaze and was surprised again. "Priest Grace isn't up yet?"
Today was truly strange. Lucille, who normally wouldn't show her face, was out, while the blonde priest, who was always the first to say good morning, hadn't made a sound yet.
"Maybe she went to bed too late last night." Anna walked towards Tang Qiu's tent. "I'll go wake her."
Lucille watched quietly, waiting to see whether a priest or a werewolf would emerge from the tent.
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