CA – Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Lola didn't take Lucille's warning seriously. After the contingent of priests was out of sight, she stretched lazily and turned to Lucille. "Let's go hunting."
She licked her lips as if savoring a memory, her tone tinged with excitement. "So many fresh clerics."
She was already considering a location for the hunt.
Lucille withdrew her gaze from the distance, showing little interest in Lola's proposal, and directly refused.
Lola gave her a surprised look, sizing her up. "You need to feed." If a vampire went hungry for too long, they would enter a state of weakness.
She could already sense that the aura around Lucille was becoming unstable.
The bloodlust churned in Lucille's eyes. The mark she had left on Tang Qiu was a constant reminder that her prey was not far away. If she wanted, she could go over, snatch her away, pin her down, bite her neck, and feed ravenously. She took a deep breath, her gaze involuntarily falling on the direction the priests had taken.
Lola noticed her line of sight and followed it, frowning. A thought occurred to her, and she spoke with disbelief, "You're not going to drink only her blood, are you?"
She let out a laugh, finding the idea absurd. "She alone can't satisfy you."
Lucille closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was much calmer. "That's none of your business."
Lola shrugged. "So this is why you're still a fifth-generation?"
The aura around Lucille was strange. Lola had observed her for a long time but couldn't be certain of her generation. She only vaguely knew that her current abilities were equivalent to a newly promoted fifth-generation vampire.
But she was certain Lucille couldn't possibly be just a fifth-generation. Lola had always wondered why, but now it seemed obvious she was starving.
Because their kind needed blood far more than ordinary vampires, it was impossible to rely on a single priest for sustenance.
Take herself, for example. The heights she had reached were built upon countless prey.
To be so fixated on a single prey... A glint flashed in Lola's eyes, and she said thoughtfully, "Is her blood special?"
Lucille's expression turned icy. She shot Lola a warning glance before leaping from the rooftop, her figure vanishing into the night.
Lola could sense that Lucille was heading in the direction of the clerics. She lowered her gaze and hesitated for a moment. Instead of following, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The scent of prey made the corners of her mouth curl up irresistibly.
Her blood slave, who had just been promoted to priest, had also conveniently left the Holy See's territory.
A priest's blood was far more delicious than a cleric's. Lola's figure gradually faded into the darkness, her grand meal for the night already decided.
Ever since the royal palace was attacked by monsters, the king had stripped several nobles of their titles and doubled the city guard. At night, not even a drunkard dared to wander the streets for fear of being caught and locked up by the Knight Squad.
After martial law was declared in the capital, the dark creatures and people of other races living there began to hide themselves more carefully. They weren't afraid of the human Knight Squad, but exposing their tracks would attract the attention of the Holy See, which was not a good thing at all.
Tang Qiu led the clerics in a thorough search of more than half the city's districts. Even with the dark creatures carefully concealing themselves, they still managed to make some gains.
A dozen monsters, bound by rings of light, were thrown before the Knight Squad. The monsters whimpered and struggled violently, trying to get closer to Tang Qiu.
The knight captain stared at the monsters in astonishment, not realizing so many were still hidden in the city. They had been patrolling for nearly a month and had only caught three or four. He had thought the capital was already safe. A cold sweat broke out on the captain's forehead.
"It's all thanks to Your Excellency the Priest that we could catch them," the knight captain said, signaling his knights to kill the monsters.
Tang Qiu lowered her gaze to the monsters struggling and crawling toward her, her brow slightly furrowed. They hadn't found these monsters during their search; rather, the creatures had suddenly rushed out from somewhere.
Although the situation had been chaotic, Tang Qiu had still noticed that she was the monsters' target.
Was there something on her that was attracting them?
Tang Qiu fell into deep thought, only looking away after the last monster had been killed.
Jennifer glanced at her, leaned in, and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Tang Qiu shook her head slightly. "Nothing." She put away the Staff of Light she had taken out to deal with the monsters and signaled for the Knight Squad to continue forward.
They had only just finished patrolling half of the districts. Tang Qiu followed behind the Knight Squad with her clerics. She was turning her head to speak to Jennifer when she suddenly sensed something. She lifted her eyes and stared at a certain spot in the darkness.
"...I'll be right back." Tang Qiu patted Jennifer's shoulder and, under her astonished gaze, took a few steps away from the group and into the shadows.
The clerics behind them came over to ask what was happening. Jennifer was just as bewildered, but she maintained her composure and said, "Let's go on ahead."
She frowned slightly in the direction Tang Qiu had gone.
The moment Tang Qiu approached the entrance of the dark alley, a hand shot out and pulled her in. Her back hit a cold, hard wall, and her wrist was gripped tightly. Lucille's palm was ice-cold, and the chill seemed to spread through her entire body via her skin, making Tang Qiu frown.
Lucille pressed the blonde priest against the wall. Having a slight height advantage, she could see Tang Qiu's face clearly in the darkness just by lowering her gaze slightly. Her eyes traveled from her rosy lips upward, lingering for a moment on her sky-blue eyes before finally settling on her furrowed brow.
"...Did I hurt you?" Lucille's hand subconsciously loosened its grip. Her throat was dry, making her voice low and hoarse.
Tang Qiu pushed Lucille away a little, her back leaving the cold wall, which made her feel a bit better. "No."
Lucille brought Tang Qiu's wrist to her lips and brushed against it, her crimson eyes fixed on her. The implication was obvious.
Tang Qiu's hand struggled for a moment before her fingers pressed against Lucille's lips, halting her next move. She said softly, "I went to your manor today, but you weren't there."
This was a rejection. Lucille pressed her lips together and slowly looked up, but she didn't release Tang Qiu's wrist.
She pulled Tang Qiu to switch places, leaning against the wall herself to meet her gaze.
"Let me guess where you went..." Tang Qiu blinked, a smile in her voice. "With Lola, right?"
The blonde priest was so clever, so Lucille wasn't surprised she had guessed. She said calmly, "I had something I wanted to verify."
"You trust her a lot." Tang Qiu had seen how Lucille treated other vampires—with the same revulsion and disgust as seeing blood. Yet, Lola was an exception. She probed, "I remember you don't like vampires very much."
Ever since the night Lucille let Lola go, Tang Qiu had been on alert.
Even setting aside other emotions and considering only her own safety, Tang Qiu did not want another person to exist who was special to Lucille.
After all, she couldn't leave Lucille now, but Lucille didn't seem to share that constraint. Before Tang Qiu had appeared in Edry, Lucille had other ways to solve her feeding problem.
Lucille didn't know what Tang Qiu was thinking. She hesitated at her question, then spoke the words Tang Qiu least wanted to hear. "She... is a bit special."
Tang Qiu was silent for a moment, then a faint smile touched her lips. She asked, unfazed, "Then will you leave with her?"
Lucille was taken aback and frowned. After a moment of silence, she said in a low voice, "No."
The silence made the denial less convincing. Tang Qiu nodded but said nothing.
The atmosphere instantly dropped to a freezing point. Lucille sensed that the blonde priest's mood was off. Seeing her head slightly bowed, she instinctively reached out to lift her chin to see her expression, but she had already returned to normal.
Tang Qiu turned her head to avoid Lucille's hand and said jokingly, "Since you're friends, I guess I can cross Lola off my assassination list."
Lucille nodded. "She won't expose our relationship."
But she might do something worse, Tang Qiu sighed inwardly, resolving to find some time to think about how to deal with this Lola.
Jennifer and the others were still patrolling the district, so she couldn't be gone for too long. Having gotten the answers she wanted, Tang Qiu straightened her clothes and pushed Lucille away, preparing to leave.
Having not yet been fed, Lucille instinctively grabbed her arm, looking at her in confusion.
Tang Qiu explained softly, "Not today. I still have things to do."
Lucille leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, suppressing the greed in her heart. Her voice was hoarse. "...Then when?"
Tang Qiu lowered her eyes in thought, then a smile graced her lips. "How about the day after tomorrow?"
Lucille opened her eyes and stared at her intently. Her hand on Tang Qiu's arm slowly tightened. Just when Tang Qiu thought she was about to give in and feed, she released her grip, averted her gaze, and said in a low voice, "Fine."
"I'll come find you at the manor."
Lucille didn't reply, merely watching the priest's retreating back, her eyes darkening slightly.
After rejoining Jennifer, Tang Qiu couldn't help but glance back in Lucille's direction. She felt a burning gaze on her, though she couldn't be sure if it was just her imagination.
"Where did you go?" Jennifer asked, unable to resist, once they had put some distance between themselves and the others.
Tang Qiu turned her head back and said nonchalantly, "Nowhere special. Just checking if there were any suspicious people over there."
Jennifer gave her a suspicious look for a moment but ultimately didn't press the matter further.
Between the patrol duty and learning some rather unpleasant things, Tang Qiu felt the night was passing slowly. Far away in the Shas Principality, Erin shared the same sentiment.
Escorted by Eva and Jillian, Erin had arrived in the Shas Principality, which bordered the Gru Empire. This was the last place Vera had been, according to her witchcraft.
Erin sat on the floor of the inn, her expression grim, as she took a black jar out of her Space Gem. The floor was covered with all sorts of materials of various shapes, half of which were not common plants on the Statu Continent.
She took a deep breath facing the jar and, carefully timing it, began adding ingredients. The gray furball perched on her shoulder stared blankly at the jar with its gray eyes. Suddenly, as if sensing something, it lifted its head and looked toward the door.
There was a knock on the door. Erin's expression changed. She put the jar away, stood up, and looked at the entrance. Black mist began to spread from the corner of the room, and in no time, Erin's ankles were engulfed by it.
Erin looked down at the array formed by the black mist and muttered, "Damn it."
The knocking stopped. With a loud bang, the door fell to the ground. A giant, over three meters tall, stooped down to peer inside. Upon seeing Erin, he grinned, revealing a mouth full of white teeth, and said happily, "Found you, Little Master Erin."
Erin shot her head up, terrified, her voice turning shrill. "Why is it you? How did you find me?"
The giant painstakingly squeezed himself into the small room, making sure he was inside the array. "I learned it from the Third Elder of the Garcia Family."
The Third Elder was Laurel's mother... Erin's thoughts were a mess, but she guessed how she had been exposed.
I shouldn't have been so soft-hearted... Erin bit her lip, glaring at the giant as if she were staring through him at someone else. The array beneath her formed completely, and the two of them instantly vanished, transported to an unknown location.
The commotion in Erin's room alerted Eva and Jillian. They came out of the adjacent room just in time to glimpse the giant's massive body as he disappeared.
"...What was that?" Eva was stunned. "A member of the Giant Race?" But the Giant Race had been extinct for a long time.
Jillian frowned. She walked to the doorway but didn't enter rashly. Sniffing the lingering dark aura in the air, she said in a low voice, "Probably a demon."
Eva leaned over and peeked inside as well. "But demons don't look like that." Apart from his height and build, the giant had looked no different from an ordinary human.
"Erin's gone," Eva said, crossing her arms with an annoyed expression.
Jillian's peripheral vision caught a speck of black mist on the corner of Eva's clothing. "What's this?" she asked.
Eva looked down and shook her head in confusion. "No idea."
Jillian had a bad feeling. She instinctively reached out, grabbed Eva's wrist, and pulled her closer. Caught off guard, Eva stumbled right into her.
As she steadied herself against Jillian's shoulder and was about to ask what was wrong, the black mist that had receded into the corner of the room began to spread out again, skillfully forming an array.
Jillian sensed the danger and tried to pull Eva back to get away, but a fierce suction from the array yanked Eva back toward it. Unable to break free, one of her feet stepped into the array.
"It's a teleportation array." The moment her foot entered the array, Eva knew what it was. She pushed Jillian away, her expression grim. "The opponent is a very powerful Black Witch."
She couldn't break free from this teleportation array. She looked up at Jillian, about to urge her to leave, when she saw a huge gray wolf appear before her. The wolf rushed in, seized Eva in its jaws, and threw her out.
The array formed in an instant, enveloping both the wolf and Eva, who hadn't even had time to steady herself. The two were swallowed by the black mist and vanished from the spot.
The black mist slowly receded into the corner again, quietly awaiting its next prey. It wasn't until the sky began to brighten and the innkeeper had someone reinstall the door that the black mist, having failed to find another victim, finally dissipated.
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