CA - Chapter 98
Chapter 98
The position where the button had fallen looked strange, no matter how she looked at it. A flicker of suspicion crossed Jennifer’s eyes. Just then, she noticed the door wasn’t fully closed. She turned her head to peek through the crack, but before she could see anything, the blonde bishop’s voice reached her ears, pulling her wandering thoughts back.
“If the monster escaped from Rose Manor, then the civilians in Anersai City have most likely been infected with the Blackening Disease.” Tang Qiu’s expression was grave as she looked at the letter in her hand. She pondered for a moment before saying, “Dispatch half of the priests and clerics to Anersai City to assist the empire’s knights in capturing the escaped monster.”
Jennifer nodded, then heard the blonde bishop add, “Have Karen take a few Holy Knights with you.”
“Understood,” Jennifer replied. Seeing that Tang Qiu had no other orders, she turned and left in a hurry.
Tang Qiu watched Jennifer’s figure disappear from the manor grounds, then glanced down at the unfolded letter in her hand before turning to go back into her room.
The moment she pushed the door open, her arm was suddenly seized. Tang Qiu only had time to shut the door before a soft body pressed against her from behind. Lucille pinned her against the door, her hot breath fanning across the side of her ear as strands of red hair playfully fell in front of her.
“There’s trouble in Anersai,” Tang Qiu said, raising the parchment in her other hand to signal for Lucille to let her go.
Lucille glanced at it, her hand around Tang Qiu’s waist tightening slightly. She took Tang Qiu’s earlobe into her mouth, nibbling gently.
The atmosphere in the room began to heat up again.
Tang Qiu tried to struggle, but couldn’t break free. She could feel Lucille’s hand trying to pull open her collar again. “Jennifer will definitely be back soon,” she said in a helpless tone.
Lucille’s movements paused. She was silent for a moment, but still pulled Tang Qiu’s collar open a little. She looked down at the small black mole on her fair skin and lowered her head, covering it with her lips.
The skin around the small mole bore the marks of being sucked and bitten, clear evidence of recent caresses.
After they returned from Rose Manor, Lucille had pressed her onto the bed for a long session of intimacy. Tang Qiu had wanted to talk to her about Delphine but hadn’t found a spare moment.
Things had been busy lately, and she and Lucille had indeed spent less time together. If it weren’t for the matter in Anersai, she wouldn’t have minded indulging in some daytime passion with Lucille, but… the timing was just too unfortunate.
The kisses on the side of her neck made Tang Qiu’s body tremble involuntarily. She tilted her head back slightly, her eyes half-closed, and let out a soft gasp. “That’s enough, Lucille.”
Lucille lifted her head from Tang Qiu’s neck. The hand on her waist slowly moved up, gently grasping her hair. Her lips kissed past her chin, then moved up to seal her lips, swallowing all her words of refusal.
It was a hot, lingering kiss. By the time Lucille finally felt sated and released Tang Qiu, Tang Qiu touched her lips, suspecting that their overly reddened state would likely give everything away if she went outside.
Although she still felt hungry from not having fed, Lucille was psychologically satisfied. She kept her arms around the warm body in her embrace, refusing to let go. Pressing her forehead against Tang Qiu’s shoulder, her cool voice was tinged with a low hoarseness. “I’ll go with you.”
Tang Qiu agreed. Seeing that Lucille was still holding her tightly, a helpless smile touched her lips. “Let me go first. I need to change my clothes.”
As she spoke, she raised a hand to stroke Lucille’s hair. Lucille had a cold personality, but after their relationship changed, Tang Qiu discovered she was surprisingly clingy.
She strongly suspected that she was the only one who had ever seen this side of Lucille.
Lucille was silent for a moment before slowly letting her go. She watched Tang Qiu walk to the side and start changing into a fresh bishop’s uniform, then looked down to straighten her own disheveled clothes.
Anersai City had a Holy See teleportation array. After relaying Tang Qiu’s orders, Jennifer took a group of people and hurried to the city. The Blackening Disease spread quickly. Although the empire’s knights had reacted swiftly by blockading the streets, the monster had not yet been caught, and two or three more blocks had been affected. The area was still expanding.
The exits of Anersai City were completely sealed. Uninfected civilians could only wait despairingly at the city gates.
When Tang Qiu arrived in Anersai via the teleportation array, the chaotic situation in the city had already been calmed by the clerics who had arrived earlier. The rate of infection had been minimized, but the monster still hadn't been caught.
The monster had ambushed quite a few people, filling its stomach. After sensing the aura of light, it had simply gone into hiding.
Anersai City was not small. With the monster intentionally hiding, finding it would not be easy.
When Jennifer saw Tang Qiu arrive, she handed the civilian infected with the Blackening Disease to a nearby cleric for examination and walked over to Tang Qiu. Her tone was grave. “It is indeed the Blackening Disease. And the Power of Darkness is eroding them too quickly. The priests’ healing spells can only suppress it, not expel it.”
Tang Qiu turned to observe the people sitting by the roadside, their bodies already showing signs of ulceration. Her brow furrowed. She turned to Karen, who was guarding her, and said in a low voice, “Bring all the infected people to the base of the lighthouse.”
Karen nodded and turned to mobilize the Holy Knights. Jennifer, guessing what Tang Qiu intended to do, went with Karen to assist her.
The root of the Blackening Disease was the erosion from an extremely aggressive Power of Darkness. Ordinary humans had no resistance to it. Healing spells could expel it, but only if the Power of Darkness had not yet penetrated the internal organs.
The lighthouse was the tallest structure in every city. Tang Qiu climbed the stairs, level by level. Standing at the top, she looked down at the crowd of people gradually making their way over.
The lighthouse divided Anersai City in two. In front was the bustling district thrown into chaos by the Blackening Disease; behind was the quiet Rose Manor. Tang Qiu turned to gaze in the direction of Rose Manor, just in time to see several figures standing atop its high walls.
She wasn't in her werewolf form, so her vision wasn't sharp enough to make out the faces of the figures on the wall. She could only vaguely discern that the silver-haired vampire in the center had an arm wrapped around a white-haired doll.
Tang Qiu squinted, trying to see more clearly. A glimpse of Jennifer coming up the stairs from her peripheral vision made her calmly avert her gaze and take out her silver-white staff.
Vampires had excellent eyesight. Delia, who was watching from the wall with great interest, keenly sensed the gaze from atop the lighthouse. She looked up, her eyes falling on the blonde bishop’s face, and her expression changed abruptly.
A vampire noticed Delia’s strange reaction and whispered beside her, “That person is the new bishop of the Gosse Church.”
Before he could say the blonde bishop’s name, Delia interrupted him, her face expressionless. “I know her. Grace Augustine.”
She paused after speaking, her brow slowly knitting together. No, Grace Augustine is already dead… Delia rested her cheek on top of the doll’s head, her eyes fixed on the doll’s white hair that fell upon her. Her expression was inscrutable. That arrogant werewolf girl would never show such a gentle expression.
Delia seemed to think of something and let out a cold snort before leaping back into the manor with the white-haired doll in her arms.
Unaware that someone at Rose Manor had recognized her body’s original identity, Tang Qiu knew from Jennifer’s arrival that the people below had gathered. She raised her staff, facing the brilliant sunlight, and began to softly chant an incantation. A lustrous white light emerged from the tip of the staff, cascading down layer by layer.
The white light fell upon the people whose faces were contorted in pain from their ulcerated skin. A cool sensation soothed the burning pain of their wounds. The spread of the ulceration gradually slowed, and thick black blood began to ooze from the sores.
The healing spell lasted from day until nightfall. When Tang Qiu finally lowered her staff, her face was pale from the overuse of light magic. She took out a bottle of Holy Water of Light and drank it, alleviating some of her mental fatigue.
Jennifer had already gone down to direct the clerics in settling the civilians, leaving Tang Qiu alone on the lighthouse. After finishing one bottle of Holy Water of Light, she took out another. Just as she took a sip, Lucille came up from below, holding the monster that had escaped from Rose Manor.
She threw the monster to the ground and pinned it with her foot, letting it struggle beneath her. She looked at Tang Qiu and asked, “How should we deal with this?”
Tang Qiu tossed Lucille a chain and looked down at the monster. “Take it to the Holy See and lock it up for now,” she said calmly.
This monster, along with the two letters of appeal she had, could be sent to the Central Church. She refused to believe that with so much evidence, the Central Church would continue to ignore Rose Manor.
Lucille chained the monster, then kicked it unconscious and ignored it. She looked up toward Rose Manor and said coolly, “There are definitely more monsters like this inside.”
“You’re right. That’s why we can’t wait any longer.” Tang Qiu gazed at Rose Manor alongside Lucille and asked in a low voice, “How many fifth-generation vampires are inside?”
Lucille had already investigated the vampires in the manor thoroughly. “Three fifth-generation, five sixth-generation.”
She paused, then added as if remembering something, “They are from the Tzimisce clan. Their combat strength isn’t high, but their methods are brutal, and they are skilled at escaping.”
The Tzimisce clan possessed an ability that other clans did not: they could possess the bodies of others. It was very easy for them to switch bodies and escape during the chaos.
Tang Qiu had some knowledge of this. She nodded thoughtfully. “Delphine and the elves can assist us in secret.”
She could sense that Delphine was very powerful, certainly no weaker than the dark elf they had seen that night.
Mentioning Delphine, Tang Qiu suddenly remembered she hadn’t told Lucille that the elves, Black Witches, and others had gathered in the Gosse Empire for another purpose.
She briefly recounted her conversation with Delphine, then asked Lucille, “Do you know what in the Gosse Empire would attract them?”
Lucille frowned and thought for a moment before saying uncertainly, “The Divine Ruins?”
Tang Qiu was taken aback. “What are the Divine Ruins?” she asked, puzzled. It was the first time she had heard of them.
Lucille didn’t know much either. “According to the books, they refer to the territories of the gods before they left the continent of Statu.”
After the gods left the continent of Statu, the continent was struck by a tsunami and earthquakes. The former territories and palaces of the gods were almost all swallowed by the sea or collapsed and sank into the earth.
The place where the Holy See now stood was once the territory of the Light Goddess. Although the palace had sunk underground, the aura of light there was still richer than anywhere else.
Besides the Holy See’s land, two other Divine Ruins had been discovered. One was Witch City, the territory of the Black Witches, which was rumored to be the former palace of the Dark God.
But whether this information was true or false, only the Black Witches knew.
The last one was a vast, boundless desert on the border of the Gosse Empire.
It was said to be the former territory of the Earth Mother, but it was now covered by a sea of yellow sand.
“The territory of the Earth Mother is buried beneath the Mentos Desert. The Holy See once sent people to investigate, but the sand buried it too thoroughly. In the end, they lost a Red-robed Archbishop without ever finding the true entrance to the Divine Ruins.”
Countless people coveted anything related to the gods. For thousands of years, no one knew how many bodies were buried beneath that yellow sand.
Footsteps came from below. Lucille glanced down, then bent over, picked up the monster on the ground, and leaped off the lighthouse. Her figure was concealed by the night. Not long after Lucille left, Karen ran up, clutching a piece of parchment. “Bishop Grace, something’s happened.”
Tang Qiu frowned. “What is it?”
Karen handed her the parchment, her expression grim. “The imperial knights report that everyone in a city on the westernmost edge of the Gosse Empire has disappeared.”
Tang Qiu scanned the letter, her brow remaining furrowed. She said in a low voice, “It’s the Black Witches.”
Karen pressed her lips together. If it was the Black Witches, it meant the people of that city had most likely met a terrible fate.
The Black Witches needed many humans to summon demons and set up dark arrays. Tang Qiu folded the parchment and suddenly looked at Karen. “The last time I had you send a letter, has the messenger returned?”
Karen nodded. “They returned a long time ago.”
Tang Qiu stared into the dark night without speaking. The messenger had already returned, so why was there still no news from Erin?
Was she held up by something? Without Erin, dealing with matters concerning the Black Witches would be quite tricky.
The Erin that Tang Qiu was thinking about was, in fact, in a desolate forest not far from the main city. She was squatting on the ground, her chin in her hands, staring miserably at the little furball that was eating nonstop.
“Can you please stop eating?” Erin tried to reason with Little Fur Ball. “Grace is looking for us.”
Ever since eating the E Leaf powder that Glanna had sprinkled, Little Fur Ball’s appetite had grown immensely. Along the way, it would stop to eat endlessly whenever it smelled anything related to dark elements.
A journey that should have taken a few days had been dragged out until now.
Erin looked at the furball, which was still eating, and sighed. Raising a pet was so much trouble.
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