CA – Chapter 128
Chapter 128
The “old place” Evan mentioned was actually a remote valley near Rose Manor, a place rarely visited by people, frequented only by birds and beasts.
When Delia arrived at the valley, she didn’t see Faye. She clutched the Space Gem Evan had given her and leaned against the cold cliff wall. The stream at her feet gurgled, and the crisp, high-pitched calls of birds echoed through the valley from time to time. Closing her eyes for a moment, she felt the gentle breeze brush against her face, and her thoughts drifted into a momentary trance.
Before she became a vampire, she was the third daughter of the Harris family, one of the four great families of the Gru Empire. She had been frail and sickly since childhood, never even attending the social banquets popular in aristocratic circles. When she was four, the family elders prepared a manor far from the main city for her to recuperate in peace.
She had not taken a single step outside that manor before her eighteenth birthday, until… Delia slowly opened her eyes, looking up at the crisscrossing branches above her head, her expression a complex mix of emotions tinged with a hint of sorrow.
She took the doll out of her Space Gem. With so much happening recently, Delia hadn't had time to change the doll into a new set of clothes. She raised her hand to stroke the doll's long, snow-white hair. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a pearl button was still missing from its sleeve, which displeased her.
Delia frowned and retrieved the missing pearl button from the Space Gem. Just as she was studying how to repair it more perfectly, a strange gust of wind suddenly rushed toward her. A bad premonition rose in Delia’s heart, and she instantly dodged, but she was a step too slow. The doll in her arms had already been forcefully snatched away.
Faye held up the doll and glanced at it, saying flatly, “I told you not to let me see this doll.”
In front of Delia, she tore the doll in half and casually tossed it to the ground.
The doll’s exquisite and beautiful clothes, along with its snow-white hair, were stained with dirt, thrown on the ground like a piece of trash.
Delia’s pupils constricted slightly, her heart clenching tightly. Staring at the doll on the ground, she felt as if her breathing had stopped.
A silver-haired vampire, his hands and feet bound in chains, was thrown at Delia’s feet. He fell into the stream, and a drop of the splashing water landed on Delia’s face, snapping her back to attention.
The vampire scrambled up from the ground in a sorry state and shouted defiantly at Faye, “Come on, let me go! We’ll fight one-on-one. You think a member of the Brujah clan would be afraid of a werewolf?”
Hearing the word “Brujah,” Delia’s eyes flickered. She sized up the vampire before her. He was a fourth-generation, but the chains suppressed his power, leaving him with the abilities of an ordinary sixth-generation vampire.
Delia was silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, “Elder Evan said not to take anyone from the Brujah clan.”
The vampires of the Brujah clan were too hot-tempered. Provoking them was asking for trouble. They never negotiated when faced with a problem, only thinking of beating their opponents into submission.
Because of their clan’s characteristics, all other vampires, except for the Gangrel who possessed beastly blood, were at a disadvantage against them.
Evan used Faye to capture high-level vampires, but he always reminded her to avoid those clans that held real power in the Blood Domain or had numerous members. That way, even if they were exposed, the impact on them would be smaller.
Hearing Evan’s name from Delia’s lips, the Brujah vampire paused for a moment, then continued to rage, “Evan, that old coot, dares to capture me? Let me go! I’m going to find him and demand an explanation.”
His voice was loud, and it echoed in the valley, sounding incredibly irritating. Faye placed one hand on the vampire’s shoulder and used the other to twist his neck. With a slight exertion of force and a sharp crack, the vampire’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious on the ground.
Her surroundings instantly became quiet. Faye took out a handkerchief and nonchalantly wiped her hands, answering Delia’s earlier point. “Catching one is good enough. Where do you think I’m going to find so many fourth-generation vampires for you?”
Delia pressed her lips together and said cautiously, “I have to take him back and ask for Elder Evan’s opinion.”
Faye glanced at her, a slight smile playing on her lips as she said softly, “It seems Evan really is quite something. It didn’t take long to train such an obedient dog.”
“You!” Delia glared at Faye angrily.
Faye ignored her anger, beckoned with her finger, and said flatly, “Give me the thing.”
With a cold expression, Delia tossed the Space Gem to her. Then she bent down to pick up the unconscious vampire, but just as she was about to leave, an arm suddenly blocked her path.
“The quantity is wrong.” Faye threw the Space Gem back, a trace of displeasure already audible in her calm tone.
Delia caught the Space Gem and lowered her eyes, saying softly, “This is Elder Evan’s decision.”
“Oh?” Faye nodded slowly. She walked past Delia toward the valley exit and said indifferently, “Then I’ll go ask him.”
If Faye went to confront Evan, Delia would be the only one to suffer in the end. Gritting her teeth, Delia turned and called out to her, “Faye!”
“I’ll find a way to make up for the missing Elf Fruits.” Under Faye’s emotionless gaze, Delia’s confidence slowly waned. “…Give me some time.”
Faye let out a soft laugh. Her tone was as gentle as ever, but her words were somewhat piercing. “It seems you’re having a hard time under Evan.”
Delia pursed her lips and said coldly, “And isn’t it because of you?”
Evan hadn’t wanted to give her the Embrace. It was Faye who had used their deal as leverage to force the demand upon him.
Under such circumstances, how could Evan possibly trust her? Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been assigned to guard Rose Manor.
To Evan, she was like a disposable pawn, to be manipulated at will and discarded at any moment.
Faye stared at Delia for a while, then said with a low chuckle, “Because of me?”
Delia averted her gaze, her hands at her sides unconsciously clenching into fists.
Faye coldly withdrew her gaze and turned to leave. But Delia suddenly looked up at her back, and with a surge of resolve, she said loudly, “I saw the ‘savior’ from your clan’s prophecy. Too bad she chose to save the Holy See, not you werewolves.”
“And I also saw her with a vampire, acting very intimately.”
“You sacrificed your daughter’s life and got nothing in return.”
Faye stopped in her tracks. She turned around, her sky-blue eyes filled with an icy chill. A smile touched her lips as she enunciated each word, “Dini Harris, are you trying to provoke me?”
Delia stiffened her neck and met her gaze. A flash of white light shot out, and she was slammed against the cliff wall by an immense force. The hand gripping her throat made her feel a fear that came from the bottom of her heart. Although this wasn’t a fatal spot for a vampire, Delia felt as if she was already enveloped by the shadow of death.
She had feared death since she was a child. Delia looked at Faye in terror, her hands grabbing Faye’s wrist as she tried to struggle.
“I know you’re very smart.” Faye used her other hand to gently smooth the stray hairs on Delia’s forehead, saying with a smile, “So you have to bear the consequences of the choices you make.”
“A stable century with Ophelia versus eternal life. You chose the latter. It has nothing to do with me.”
Faye gently released her grip. Delia slumped to the ground, clutching her neck and breaking into a fit of violent coughing.
“I can give you some time, but you’ll have to compensate me double.” Faye carefully wiped her hands with the handkerchief, then casually tossed it aside and turned to leave.
Her crushed throat took a while to heal completely. Delia sat on the ground, utterly dejected. Her gaze suddenly fell upon the doll Faye had torn apart not far away. She scrambled up from the ground and hurried over, trying to piece the damaged doll back together.
But the doll was exquisitely made. Once torn, it was impossible to restore it to its original state.
Delia angrily threw the doll to the ground. A rage burned within her with nowhere to go, while a sense of despair clouded her heart. She bit her lip, and her body shot out like a bolt of lightning. Only after destroying nearly a hundred giant trees in the vicinity did her emotions finally stabilize somewhat.
She leaned against the cliff wall for support, muttering to herself in a low voice, “I can’t be trapped in this cage forever.”
“…I will escape.”
Delia staggered over to the doll, knelt down, and hugged it tightly. Her crimson eyes were as rich as blood, and tears welled up at the corners, only to be forcefully blinked away.
The matter of the temple had come to an end, and the orders the Pope had issued could be considered void. That very night, Maggie went directly to the church and conferred with the blonde Bishop for the entire night. The next day, a team of priests from the church, accompanied by the empire’s knights, began to appease the common people within the Gosse Empire.
Because the Miracle had occurred within the borders of the Gosse Empire, the empire had been severely affected during that period. The relocation of civilians from several nearby cities alone had led to a series of problems due to insufficient local resources. Compounded by the chaos caused by the Black Witches and vampires, Maggie had to stabilize the nobility while trying her best to protect the commoners. If Tang Qiu hadn't sent people to help her in secret, she truly wouldn't have known what to do.
Jennifer and the others had already been working to appease the commoners before the Miracle appeared, so they were now well-practiced in resuming the task.
Tang Qiu would occasionally go with them. The beautiful and approachable blonde Bishop was not only popular among the nobility, but the church’s prestige among the common people was also growing by the day.
Reese was somewhat surprised by the blonde Bishop’s hands-on approach. The church’s class hierarchy was very distinct, and since the church had controlled the Statu Continent for so long, its personnel inevitably had a sense of superiority when dealing with humans or other races.
A bishop personally going out to appease the commoners? If Audrey saw this, her brow would surely furrow again.
Every time Tang Qiu went out, she would take two-thirds of the church’s personnel with her. Monica, bored in the deserted church, considered following Jennifer and the others to help appease the commoners. In the end, however, she suppressed the thought.
After all, she was not a priest of the Gosse Church. Monica sighed.
When Reese entered Monica’s room, she looked up and saw Monica sighing. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, and she walked over to sit in the seat opposite Monica before she was noticed.
Sensing someone approaching, Monica looked up. Upon seeing it was Reese, she instantly became guarded, even straightening her back. She asked with a grim face, “What are you doing here?”
Reese picked up the teapot on the table, opened it, and glanced inside. Then, losing interest, she pushed it away and said with a smile, “I was afraid you’d be bored alone, so I came to see you.”
Monica said coldly, “You’re overthinking it.”
Reese shrugged. She propped her chin on one hand and stared at Monica for a while before saying softly, “You look too much like me.”
Monica frowned and glared at Reese. “What on earth are you trying to do?” Coming here and spouting such nonsense.
“Grace said that in the near future, the Black Witches will create a disaster on the Statu Continent.” Reese lowered her gaze to the dark patterns on the table and said casually, “I was wondering if I should perform a Light Baptism for you, so you can learn some advanced light magic.”
Monica was stunned for a moment, then frowned. “That’s against the church’s rules.”
If she were discovered, she would definitely be sent to the Inquisition without even a chance to defend herself. The risk was too high. Monica didn’t want to agree to such an unreasonable request. She was more concerned about the first half of what Reese had said. “What do you mean, the Black Witches will bring disaster to the Statu Continent?”
“Want to know?”
Monica stared at her expressionlessly, waiting for her next words.
As expected, Reese’s next words did not make Monica happy. “If you want to know, agree to my previous request.”
Monica: “…”
“It’s against the rules. I won’t agree.” Monica paused, then looked away and asked flatly, “…Why did you have this idea?”
Was she… worried about her? Monica lowered her eyes, her expression slowly softening. Even her straightened back relaxed.
Reese’s gaze gradually moved down from the top of Monica’s head to her hands, which were unconsciously clasped together on the table. A smile involuntarily appeared on her lips, but it vanished just as quickly. She stood up from the table, stretched lazily, and said nonchalantly, “Because I’m bored and want to find something to do.”
“Besides, I don’t want to see a face that looks just like mine get some ugly scar from a Black Witch because her Power of Light is too weak.”
Monica’s back silently straightened again. She stared fixedly at Reese’s departing figure, holding back for a moment. In the end, she couldn’t resist. She reached out, grabbed a cup from the table, and threw it forcefully at her back.
Just as the cup was about to hit Reese, it was enveloped by a white light. The light delivered the cup to Reese’s hand. She caught it, placed it in her Space Gem, and the corners of her eyes curved into a beautiful arc.
When Tang Qiu returned to the church from the neighboring city, the sky had already darkened. She gestured for Karen and Jennifer to go rest, then returned to the manor alone.
The empty room was pitch black. Tang Qiu walked to the table by the moonlight and lit the kerosene lamp. The orange-yellow light illuminated the area around the table.
The closed window was suddenly pushed open. Lucille jumped in from outside and stood by the window, expressionlessly wiping the bloodstains from her palms.
Tang Qiu walked over and used a cleaning spell on her hands. Then she took out a clean handkerchief from her person, grasped Lucille’s wrist, and gently wiped her palm.
Although the cleaning spell could remove the bloodstains, Tang Qiu knew that Lucille was not quite satisfied with it. Her aversion to blood was psychological.
The soft handkerchief carefully wiped every corner of her palm. Lucille lowered her eyes, gazing at the blonde Bishop’s perfect side profile. Her slightly trembling eyelashes softened the coldness on her face. She turned her hand over and grasped Tang Qiu’s wrist, saying softly, “That’s enough.”
Tang Qiu put the handkerchief away, turned, and leaned against a nearby cabinet. She asked, “Did the Black Witches reveal anything about the Godhead?”
She had been traveling through the various cities of the Gosse Empire with Jennifer and the others, not only to maintain the church’s prestige but also to search for the hidden Black Witches.
The Pope’s order summoning the bishops to the Central Church would probably arrive at the Gosse Church soon. She didn’t know how long she would have to stay at the Central Church this time, and she always felt a sense of unease about the Black Witches.
She wanted to get to the bottom of things before heading to the Central Church.
Why were the Black Witches fighting over the Godhead? And what was the power of that vanished Dark Array?
However, although they had captured a good number of Black Witches, most of them knew nothing about the Godhead. The few who did gave them no chance, committing suicide immediately after being caught.
Although she had already guessed the outcome, Tang Qiu couldn’t help but sigh when Lucille shook her head.
Seeing Tang Qiu’s brow furrow, Lucille reached out and gently smoothed it with her index finger. She said flatly, “If you’re worried, we can go track Noah.”
Tang Qiu took Lucille’s hand and shook her head. “I have to go to the Central Church soon.” She paused, then asked, “Are you coming with me?”
Lucille leaned against the window frame and nodded with a soft “mm.”
Tang Qiu thought for a moment, then suggested with a smile, “Actually, you could go back to the Gangrel clan and check things out.” Lucille still couldn’t use her abilities like a true Gangrel.
Without a second thought, Lucille refused. “No.”
Tang Qiu looked at her with amusement. “You’ll have to go someday.” No matter how much she hated vampires, when it came to her own body, Tang Qiu still hoped Lucille would go back and find out the reason.
Besides, Lucille and Lola were in an extremely dangerous situation. Including Evan, there were now two known third-generation vampires involved in trying to create hybrids using Elf Fruits.
Their purpose in creating hybrids was still unclear, but one could imagine it was nothing good.
Everything Evan and the others were doing was in secret. If they were exposed, the other clans might be furious, but they might also ignore it. Tang Qiu wanted Lucille to return to the Gangrel clan not only because she was worried about her uncontrollable abilities, but also to try and turn the clan against Evan’s faction.
Lucille’s identity couldn’t remain a secret forever. Before it was exposed, Tang Qiu hoped to turn this matter into a vampire civil war, rather than a one-sided hunt for Lucille and Lola by Evan.
This was extremely important for them.
She had discussed this topic with Lucille, and Lucille had agreed. However… every time she tried to persuade her to return to the Blood Domain, she was extremely resistant.
Seeing Lucille turn her back to her, Tang Qiu reached out and poked her in the back, calling out with a smile, “Lucille?”
Lucille was silent for a moment, then said flatly, “I’ll go after you get back from the Central Church.”
“Really?”
“…Yes.”
Seeing Lucille’s lowered head and somewhat distracted expression, Tang Qiu said with a grin, “If you go back on your word, I’ll drag you there myself.”
Lucille: “…”
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