CA – Chapter 99
Chapter 99
Although Tang Qiu was also very interested in the divine ruins Lucille had mentioned, she couldn't find the time to investigate. Not only that, she didn't even have time to sound out Delphine.
Just as she had suppressed the Blackening Disease in Anersai City, the Black Witches abducted tens of thousands of civilians from another city. After investigating personally, Tang Qiu found clues pointing to the Mentos Desert. However, before she could investigate further, blood-sucking monsters appeared in Anersai City, and the Blackening Disease began a new round of spreading.
For a time, panic gripped the Gosse Empire. Despite reassurances from both the Empire and the Holy See, the effect was minimal.
If this dragged on, the situation would only worsen. Tang Qiu made a decisive move, having Maggie order the imperial knights to temporarily relocate the civilians of Anersai City. Once the city was empty, she led the Holy See's personnel to surround Rose Manor.
The Bishop of the Cinico Church arrived with six priests and a number of clerics and knights as reinforcements. Rose Manor had four entrances, and four priests were assigned to each, guarded by Holy Knights and Holy Knights. The priests, leading the clerics, stood in a safe position and chanted spells toward Rose Manor.
Light spells, more dazzling than the sun, appeared one after another above Rose Manor. They fell like thunderbolts, causing the high outer walls of the manor to collapse with a deafening crash.
Several black figures flew out from the manor, heading for the priests, but they were intercepted midway by knights who drew their longswords and charged forward.
Elves in pure white cloaks, completely covered, slipped into Rose Manor amidst the chaos. Delphine stopped a few of them, pointed at the priests outside, and said, "Protect them. Don't let the Holy See suffer too great a loss."
Although she hated the Holy See, she had already agreed to the blonde bishop's request and accepted payment, so she had to take it seriously. That was her principle.
The elf nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "After this is over, can I take the Space Gems from the clerics I protected?"
Although they had already been paid with over eight hundred bottles of Holy Water of Light, one could never have too much of something like that.
Protecting people and then collecting payment was only natural. Delphine smiled and nodded. "You may."
The Bishop of the Cinico Church was highly experienced, having dedicated decades to studying light magic. He didn't involve himself in the factional struggles of the Central Church, focusing solely on serving the Holy See and its believers. Therefore, he had no reservations about Rose Manor, unleashing the most powerful offensive light spells without hesitation.
The God's Light spell cast by a Cardinal could make a fourth-generation vampire flee in terror. While the version cast by a bishop wasn't as powerful, it was still enough that fifth and sixth-generation vampires couldn't easily resist it.
Rose Manor quickly became a ruin. Two fifth-generation and three sixth-generation vampires leaped out, tearing apart the knights who blocked them, but they were unable to advance another step due to the God's Light.
While the vampires and the Holy See's forces were at a standoff, Lucille and Lola slipped into Rose Manor from a remote corner. They were already intimately familiar with the layout, so they headed straight for the northwest section of the manor.
That was the most heavily guarded area, and also the only place they hadn't investigated.
A vampire on the path spotted them and tried to stop them, only to be pinned to the ground by Lola, who crushed its heart.
The range of the Holy See's light magic covered almost the entire manor. It was unclear why the fourth-generation vampire within hadn't raised a Blood Domain to resist. But with the fourth-generation not making a move, the fifth-generation vampires became the main force against the Holy See.
When Lucille and Lola found the dungeon, only a single sixth-generation vampire was left guarding it.
A sixth-generation Tzimisce was hardly a match for members of the Gangrel and Assamite clans. Lucille and Lola dispatched the vampire cleanly and efficiently, then opened the dungeon door and slipped inside.
The moment she stepped into the dungeon, Lucille sensed something was wrong. She stopped, looked down at her feet, and said with a frown, "This place..."
Lola finished her sentence, "...has a light formation that suppresses the power of darkness."
She had felt it too; the power of darkness within her was being suppressed. The feeling was just like when she had been imprisoned by the Holy See, trapped within a light formation.
A light formation in a dungeon... it was obvious who was being held here. Lucille glanced at the tightly shut doors on either side, reached out, and pulled on a chain. It didn't budge. Her expression turned cold. She gripped it with both hands and yanked hard, snapping the chain in two.
Lucille tossed the broken chain aside. Lola had already pushed the door open and gone inside. The room was cramped. A man sitting on the floor looked up, his pale skin and red eyes clearly marking him as a sixth-generation vampire.
Lola raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with sarcasm. "I never thought I'd see a vampire become a sacrificial lamb."
The man stared at them for a moment, confirming they weren't from this manor. He curled his lips and raised his chained hands. "With those mad clans around, anyone can become a lamb."
Though he looked wretched, the man's expression was calm.
Lola glanced at the chains on the man's wrists and looked questioningly at Lucille. Lucille sized the man up for a few seconds, then walked over and crushed the chains with her hand.
With the chains that suppressed the power of darkness broken, the man stretched his stiff neck and stood up. He took a deep breath, his fangs faintly visible at the corners of his lips.
"Is there any prey?" he asked, looking at Lola and Lucille, his red eyes as rich as blood.
Lola shrugged. "There's a group from the Holy See outside. You can go hunt them."
The man sighed in disappointment. Having not fed for a long time, his aura was a bit unstable. Seeing Lucille and Lola walk out, he followed them.
Lucille caught a glimpse of a black shadow out of the corner of her eye. She paused and turned to look. A mass of black energy was floating behind the man.
"...What is that?" Lucille asked with a frown.
The man glanced over his shoulder. "My wings. I'm too hungry to control my abilities properly." As he spoke, the black energy behind him slowly unfurled, and a pair of pitch-black feathered wings began to beat silently against his back.
Lucille and Lola were both stunned. The former's brow slowly furrowed as if she'd thought of something, while the latter subconsciously glanced at Lucille, her eyes drawn to her back.
How... do the Gangrel have this kind of ability?
Noticing their strange expressions, the man twitched his nose, leaned closer to Lucille, and sniffed. "You're a Gangrel too?" he asked, surprised.
Lucille's aura was so faint it was easy to overlook if one wasn't paying attention.
Lucille glanced at the man without speaking, but her expression was strange as she looked at the wings on his back.
The man could never have guessed that Lucille and Lola's subtle reactions were because of his wings.
The Gangrel possess the blood of beasts. This doesn't just refer to their bestial nature; vampires above the sixth generation also have the ability to manifest parts of an animal's body.
All of Lucille's knowledge about vampires came from books, but clearly, this detail wasn't recorded. That was because the Gangrel clan was, in fact, quite mysterious.
Unlike other clans that liked to mark out territory, they preferred to stay away from crowds. Even within the Blood Domain, they roamed the wilds far from the center.
Although Lola had encountered many vampires, including some Gangrel before she met Lucille, she hadn't reached the sixth generation back then and had never dealt with a high-ranking Gangrel.
The three of them, each lost in their own thoughts, opened the remaining cells in the dungeon one by one, freeing the vampires trapped inside.
The walls of Rose Manor had completely collapsed. Guarded by knights, the Holy See's forces had advanced several hundred meters. Unable to hold them back, the vampires retreated. A fifth-generation vampire entered the grand hall, the most well-preserved building, where Delia was sitting at the head of a long table, dining elegantly.
The fifth-generation vampire walked up behind her and reported on the situation outside. "The bishop's light magic is too difficult to withstand. We can't get close. Two groups have infiltrated the manor. One rescued the blood-slave clerics, and the other freed the vampires."
When Delia showed no reaction, he had no choice but to ask, "Lord Delia, when will you raise the Blood Domain?"
Once the Blood Domain was up, the light magic couldn't penetrate it, and they would have a chance to get close.
Delia finished the last drop of blood in her glass, stood up, walked to the other side of the room, and picked up a white-haired doll. She stroked its hair, stored the doll in her Space Gem, and said flatly, "Now."
Her face expressionless, she placed her hand on the table. A thick, blood-colored mist emerged from her palm. The long table was corroded by the mist, turning to ash and dissipating. The mist spread with the ash, and as it drifted outside, a fierce wind suddenly kicked up. In an instant, the blood-colored mist enveloped Rose Manor, blocking the light magic outside.
Seeing the Blood Domain finally raised, the fifth-generation vampire breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to look at Delia, only to find with surprise that she was no longer in the hall.
The sudden appearance of the Blood Domain slowed the Holy See's assault. The priests stopped chanting, and the Bishop of the Cinico Church raised his staff, hurling one light spell after another at the Blood Domain, trying to break it.
Delia emerged from the Blood Domain. She glanced at the area with the most concentrated light energy and noticed that the person in the center casting the spells was not the blonde bishop, which made her frown.
She looked around, and suddenly felt a fluctuation of light energy from above. Delia froze for a second, then looked up, her gaze finally settling on the lighthouse.
Atop the lighthouse, Tang Qiu looked down at the suddenly reversed situation. Under the cover of the Blood Domain, the vampires were slaughtering the knights in front and closing in on the priests.
Tang Qiu assessed the situation, raised her staff, and whispered a spell. A three hundred meters high flame of light engulfed a vampire that had stepped out of the Blood Domain to pursue a Holy Knight.
The Blood Domain had appeared later than she expected. To be honest, Tang Qiu had been waiting up there for a long time. Seeing that half of Rose Manor had already fallen, she had begun to suspect the fourth-generation vampire inside had secretly slipped away.
However, since the Blood Domain had appeared, it proved she was still there. Tang Qiu calmed herself and began to chant a spell. The incantation was long, so she had specifically chosen this spot to avoid being disturbed.
However, what she hadn't expected was that even after choosing the safest possible location, she was still interrupted.
Tang Qiu was only halfway through her incantation when a black shadow suddenly flew up from below. A bad premonition surfaced in her heart. Tang Qiu spun around to the opposite side, abruptly changing her spell mid-chant, and sent a ring of light flying toward the shadow.
Delia's attack had failed, and as she was retracting her hand, the ring of light reached her. She raised her hand to block it. Her palm was scorched black by the ring, but the light slowly dissipated.
She shook her hand, looking at Tang Qiu with a profound expression, her eyes sizing her up from head to toe with a hint of inquiry.
Seeing Delia's crimson eyes, Tang Qiu had already guessed her identity. She lowered her staff and said with a smile, "You must be the master of Rose Manor."
Delia's gaze lingered on the gentle smile on Tang Qiu's face for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I know you, Grace... Bishop."
Tang Qiu nodded, tapping her staff lightly with her index finger. "I don't believe I know your name," she said softly. She subtly glanced behind her; below the thin railing was a drop of several dozen meters.
Being cornered by a fourth-generation vampire atop a lighthouse dozens of meters high... the situation couldn't possibly be worse.
Tang Qiu sighed silently. After a moment's thought, she put away the silver-white staff in her hand.
Delia watched Tang Qiu's every move. Seeing not a trace of panic in her expression, Delia's eyes gradually darkened. She took a step closer to Tang Qiu, her red lips curling slightly as she enunciated each word, "My name is Dini Harris."
Tang Qiu watched her approach impassively. The powerful aura of the fourth-generation vampire enveloped her. She raised her hand to her waist and gently massaged her aching fingers.
Delia stopped half a step in front of Tang Qiu. Her slender, pale hand shot out and gripped her neck. Licking her lips, she said, "Have you remembered my name?"
Tang Qiu said with a smile, "Dini Harris." She acted as if she didn't feel the hand on her neck, her tone still light and natural.
Delia chuckled, her fingers tightening slightly. Tang Qiu's brow furrowed for a moment before smoothing out again. She placed her hand on Delia's arm, and her blonde hair began to turn snow-white from the tips up.
Sharp nails suddenly appeared. Tang Qiu grabbed Delia's arm in a reverse grip, intending to counter her. However, as if she had anticipated the move, her opponent had already let go and retreated a step.
Tang Qiu grabbed at empty air. Her sky-blue eyes narrowed slightly as she studied Delia thoughtfully. Then, she took a black cloak from her Space Gem and draped it over her shoulders, covering her bishop's robes.
"A werewolf," Delia said ambiguously, rubbing the arm Tang Qiu had squeezed.
Tang Qiu carefully fastened the cloak, then looked up at Delia and said flatly, "You already knew I was a werewolf." It wasn't a question, but a statement.
If she hadn't known beforehand, at the distance they were just now, it would have been impossible for Delia to dodge her attack.
Unless she already knew and had been on guard the whole time.
This person's attitude was strange. Tang Qiu had noticed it the moment she said her name.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment