CA - Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Inside Rose Manor.
After Delia brought the vampire Faye had captured before Evan, his expression darkened, just as she had expected.
The Brujah vampire happened to wake up at that moment. The instant he opened his eyes, he leaped up from the floor and turned his head to look at Evan, who was seated on the high seat. Even with his hands and feet bound, he showed no fear. Instead, he questioned him with a furious expression, “Elder Evan, what is the meaning of this?”
“Are you declaring war on the Brujah clan?”
The relationships between the various vampire clans were not harmonious, but they at least maintained a superficial peace. Most third and fourth-generation vampires knew each other, especially those of the Brujah clan. Their arrogant nature, outstanding combat prowess, explosive tempers, and weak sense of hierarchy made their clan “infamous” in the Blood Domain.
Even fourth-generation vampires from different clans would show some degree of respect when meeting a third-generation vampire from another clan, as they were suppressed by sheer power. The only exception was the fourth-generation Brujah.
Evan's face was grim. He stared at the silver-haired vampire for a moment, recognized his identity, and called out faintly, “Byron Scott.”
Fourth-generation clans also had their own power within the Blood Domain, and Byron and his sister were the most influential figures in the Brujah clan.
Evan's expression darkened further. Excellent, this wasn't just some ordinary trouble they'd captured.
Seeing that Evan recognized him, Byron snorted coldly and continued to question Evan's purpose for capturing him. But Evan couldn't be bothered to listen. He rose from his seat, flashed in front of Byron, and expressionlessly snapped his neck. The silver-haired vampire fainted once more.
Evan signaled for the others to take the vampire away and lock him up. Although he wasn't pleased with the clan, now that he had been captured and brought here, there was no way he could be allowed to return.
Given Byron's status, releasing him or not would be an extremely thorny problem.
Evan suppressed the anger rising in his heart. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stared coldly at Delia and asked in a deep voice, “What is going on?”
Delia detected the chill in Evan's voice. She lowered her head uneasily and recounted the reason Faye had given. But just as she finished speaking, a tremendous force suddenly struck her chest, sending her flying backward to slam violently against the wall behind her.
Delia clutched her chest and let out a muffled cough. Several of her bones had been shattered by the impact, and her face was contorted in pain.
“Didn't I say not to accept any Brujah vampires? And yet you brought him here.” Evan's face was like frost as he said sharply, “Since Faye brought him, throw him to her and let her deal with it herself.”
Ever since the Divine Ruins appeared, nothing had gone smoothly for him. After getting out, he received news that some clans in the Blood Domain already suspected the Tzimisce of imprisoning and slaughtering other vampires. And now, Delia had brought back a Brujah.
This was simply adding to his frustrations.
Delia's hand tightly gripped the clothes on her chest. She defended herself in a hoarse voice, “When Faye brought that vampire, he was conscious. He saw me. Letting him go would be even more troublesome.”
Evan shattered a nearby stone pillar with a single palm strike and said coldly, “Useless.”
With Evan enraged, the other fourth-generation vampires no longer dared to sit and watch Delia's misfortune. They all stood up, lowered their heads, and remained silent.
The atmosphere in the castle dropped to a freezing point. Delia, supporting herself against the wall, slowly stood up while enduring the pain. Though extremely uneasy, she raised her head to look directly at Evan, trying her best to keep her tone calm as she said, “Elder Evan, regarding the vampire you asked me to investigate last time, I've found out some details about her.”
Evan frowned, recalling that before the Divine Ruins appeared, he had indeed asked Delia to investigate a Gangrel vampire.
That Gangrel vampire's aura felt somewhat familiar. If he wasn't mistaken, it should belong to a descendant of the third-generation Gangrel, Violet. However, he knew all of Violet's descendants, and that red-haired vampire was a stranger to him.
Violet couldn't possibly be creating new descendants... Evan narrowed his eyes and gestured for Delia to continue.
Delia took a deep breath, slowly calming herself. She reviewed her thoughts and then spoke the words she had prepared long ago. “That Gangrel vampire is named Lucille. I couldn't find out whose descendant she is, but we happened to meet and cooperate while dealing with the beasts in the temple. Her power is strange. Although she's a fourth-generation vampire, her aura is very unstable.”
She only mentioned Lucille, concealing the blonde bishop, the Black Witch, that strange child, and... the even more powerful beast that appeared later.
A normal vampire's abilities are fixed after the Embrace. Unless they are in a weakened state, a phenomenon like instability would never occur.
Delia subtly observed Evan's expression. Seeing it shift slightly, she knew he was interested. Her tense nerves finally began to relax. She lowered her gaze and revealed what she had seen in the temple. “Moreover, when she's injured, she bleeds bright red blood, just like a human.”
As soon as Delia said this, the fourth-generation vampires present exchanged glances, all seeing the astonishment on each other's faces.
Evan was stunned for a moment, his expression becoming inscrutable. He said in a deep voice, “Are you certain?”
Delia looked directly into Evan's eyes and nodded. “Certain.”
Bleeds bright red blood like a human... A slow smile spread across Evan's face as he thought of something, a hint of excitement showing in his eyes. He glanced at Delia and asked, “Do you know her whereabouts?”
“She is still in the Gosse Empire and has been active in the capital city.”
Evan let out a low laugh. “Very good.”
Now that her location was confirmed, things would be easy.
Delia glanced up at Evan before lowering her head again. She raised a hand to her chest. Although her body was constantly healing, she could still feel the pain from her broken bones as they mended.
Faye put me in this predicament. I can't keep living in pain. Since “Grace” is so important to Faye, I'd like to see just how capable “Grace” really is.
Unaware that Lucille was now being targeted by Evan, Tang Qiu finally had some free time these past two days. The Pope's orders had been delivered to every church. After setting a time with Reese to travel to the Central Church, she donned a wide cloak that concealed her robes and went alone to Lucille's manor in the capital city.
Although the manor belonged to Lucille, the ones actually living there were Erin and Kama.
After spending some time together, Kama was no longer so afraid of Erin. Although she wasn't as close to her as she was to the blonde bishop, Erin was already very gratified compared to the beginning when Kama would run away at the sight of her.
When Tang Qiu arrived at the manor, Kama was in the garden, curiously observing the butterflies flitting among the flowers. She seemed to find everything novel, just like Karen had when she first left Eden.
Erin was sitting on a chair in the garden, feeding Little Fur Ball. When she saw Tang Qiu approach, she first peeked behind the blonde bishop. After confirming that the cold, possessive, red-haired vampire wasn't there, she happily waved at Tang Qiu.
Tang Qiu took off her hood and glanced sideways at Kama, whose head was just visible behind some leaves. Seeing her engrossed in watching the butterflies, she walked over and sat down opposite Erin. She looked down at Little Fur Ball, which was squatting on the table obediently eating, and asked curiously, “What is it eating?”
Erin placed all the leaves in her hand on the table to focus on talking with Tang Qiu. “It's a material for witchcraft, picked from the Dark World.”
Little Fur Ball only eats things brought from the Dark World.
“What kind of magical beast is it, exactly? Have you figured it out?” Tang Qiu picked up a leaf and sniffed it. It had a pure dark aura.
At the mention of this, Erin couldn't help but sigh. With a worried expression, she stroked Little Fur Ball's head and shook her own. “No.”
The records in books about the types of magical beasts in the Dark World were pitifully scarce. After all, the Dark World was another plane of existence, and no Black Witch had ever entered it, from ancient times to the present.
They could only try to glimpse the Dark World by summoning some magical beasts through dark magic. However, they could only summon low-level creatures like black crows and half-human monsters, so they could only perceive the surface of the Dark World.
But just glimpsing the surface of the Dark World was enough to keep the Black Witches researching year after year. Even if some died because of it, they didn't care, because their research was not without its rewards. For example, the E Leaf, which only grows in the Dark World, was discovered by a Black Witch thousands of years ago. After it was made into a powder, it was found to possess extremely potent power.
If the E Leaf weren't so difficult to obtain, the Black Witches' power would be on an even higher level.
Little Fur Ball's appearance as it focused on eating its leaves was impossible to reconcile with the mighty beast seen in the temple that day. Tang Qiu reached out and poked its back. Without raising its head, the fur ball silently scooted away a little and continued eating.
Tang Qiu rubbed her chin and shared her speculation with Erin. “I suspect it's related to the Dark God.”
“Or maybe it's related to the Temple of Darkness? It should be the same type of creature as the beast in the Temple of the Earth Mother.”
Moreover, since Little Fur Ball could make the beast and the Gorefiend flee in disarray with just its aura, its status might be even higher than that of the beast.
“For example, a general by the Dark God's side? A status similar to the Gorefiend summoned by the Garcia witches?”
But they should have left the continent of Statu with the Dark God. And the Gorefiend summoned by the Garcia was not the true body of that capable general by the Dark God's side.
Erin had long since considered everything Tang Qiu could guess, but the records of the Dark God's capable generals had been lost over time, so Erin couldn't confirm it either.
“It's probably just a high-level magical beast living in the Dark World,” Erin said with a sigh, stroking Little Fur Ball's head.
But regardless of Little Fur Ball's identity, she had to keep raising it and couldn't just abandon it. One reason was that she had already developed some affection for it and couldn't bear to cast it aside. The other reason was that Little Fur Ball was now actually a dangerous creature. If she rashly abandoned it and it transformed into a beast, it would bring disaster to the continent of Statu.
For both emotional and logical reasons, Erin couldn't just abandon Little Fur Ball.
While Tang Qiu and Erin were talking, Kama, who had been watching the butterflies, seemed to sense something. Her little face suddenly wrinkled. She raised a hand to rub her eyes, then abruptly stood up and ran toward Tang Qiu.
Tang Qiu caught her and asked in confusion, “What's wrong?”
Kama hugged Tang Qiu's arm, looking left and right as if searching for something. Her expression was anxious. She opened her mouth, but then closed it again in disappointment, unable to speak.
Kama's strange behavior made both Tang Qiu and Erin frown. Tang Qiu stroked Kama's head and said softly, “If you want to say something, you can gesture for me.”
Kama looked troubled. After thinking for a long time, she pattered over to a nearby bush, picked a red rose, and pointed at its petals, looking at Tang Qiu expectantly.
Tang Qiu frowned. Her gaze lingered on the petals for a moment, but she really couldn't guess what Kama was trying to express.
Erin watched for a bit, trying to think like a child. She ventured, “Do you want to drink rose tea?”
Kama shook her head, her cheeks puffed out. She crushed the petals, staining her hands with the red juice. She grabbed her own hair and tried to smear the red juice on it, but it wasn't very successful, which frustrated her.
Watching her actions and recalling how she had been looking for someone just now, a glint flashed in Tang Qiu's eyes. She said in a low voice, “Are you looking for Lucille?”
Kama's eyes lit up, and she nodded quickly.
“Lucille is out.” She and Lola were still hunting for Black Witches.
Hearing that Lucille wasn't here, Kama looked worried. She wrung her hands, at a loss.
Tang Qiu frowned, an inexplicable unease beginning to stir in her heart. She asked in a deep voice, “What's wrong with Lucille?”
Kama was terrified of dark auras, so she never dared to get close to Lucille. For her to be actively looking for her now was truly strange.
Kama hesitated for a moment, then tried to reach her hand out to Tang Qiu. Tang Qiu looked down at her small palm. Although she didn't know what Kama wanted to do, she still reached out and took her little hand.
Kama stared intently at Tang Qiu, but to her disappointment, Tang Qiu had no reaction after taking her hand.
This series of strange actions from Kama seemed a bit like a child's “prank,” but Tang Qiu knew she wouldn't do something so pointless. She watched Kama with a probing gaze, not letting go of her hand.
Time passed, drop by drop. Even Little Fur Ball had finished all the leaves on the table and had run back into Erin's hood to sleep.
Erin looked from Kama to Tang Qiu and asked in a small voice, “...Do you know what she wants to do?”
Tang Qiu shook her head. Just as she was about to let go of Kama's hand, an image suddenly flashed before her eyes.
Kama abruptly raised her head, her eyes bright as she stared at her.
Tang Qiu was stunned for a moment as more images flashed before her eyes. She frowned and observed them carefully. She could vaguely see Lucille's figure in the images, but Lucille's situation did not look good.
She seemed to be locked up somewhere, looking extremely weak.
Seeing Tang Qiu's expression suddenly change, Erin was startled. “What's wrong?”
Tang Qiu didn't answer Erin. Instead, she stared intently at Kama and asked in a deep voice, “What is this?”
“...Did you foresee that Lucille would be in danger?”
A descendant of the God Race has the ability of foresight?
Kama nodded vigorously. She raised her hand and gestured again, but this time Tang Qiu couldn't understand.
“Foresight?” Erin looked at Kama in a daze, then asked Tang Qiu curiously, “How did you know?”
“I saw it.” Tang Qiu lowered her gaze slightly. If the image had only appeared once, she might have doubted Kama's ability, but it had flashed before her eyes multiple times, and it was always the same image.
Although she was curious about Kama's ability, Tang Qiu was more worried about Lucille's safety. She recalled the image that had just flashed by and couldn't sit still. She stood up, pondered for a moment, and then took out the summoning scroll Lucille had given her from her Space Gem.
She unfurled the scroll and waited quietly for a moment, but the black vortex from last time did not appear.
Seeing Tang Qiu's expression gradually turn grave, Erin's brows slowly furrowed as well.
In a remote alley in the west of the city, after Lucille and Lola had dealt with the captured Black Witch, they were about to leave. However, just as they reached the mouth of the alley, Lucille's steps suddenly halted. She reached out and grabbed Lola as a black barrier appeared without warning in front of them.
Lola froze for a second, her expression changing. The barrier had appeared silently. If Lucille hadn't pulled her back just now, she would have run right into it. She cautiously stepped back and asked in a low voice, “Do you know who it is?”
Lucille shook her head. She had only pulled Lola back because she suddenly felt that the aura ahead was not right.
But she hadn't sensed anyone nearby.
Lucille and Lola exchanged a look, then leaped onto the roof one after the other. The view from the rooftop was wide. Lucille turned her head to survey the surroundings, her dark red eyes narrowing slightly as the aura around her grew colder and colder.
When Lola saw the situation around them, she couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. She took a few steps back to get closer to Lucille and said in a strained voice, “This...”
With the wider view, Lola realized that she and Lucille had been surrounded by seven or eight vampires. The red eyes fixed on them were full of ill intent.
Even Lucille hadn't discovered them right away, which meant that these vampires were almost all fourth-generation.
To ensure Lucille had no chance to escape, Evan had come personally. Last time at Rose Manor, he had only given Lucille a casual glance. Now that he knew her identity, he began to study her seriously.
The more he looked, the more he felt that Delia hadn't been lying. The corners of Evan's lips curled up slightly. He ordered the vampires behind him, “Capture her alive.”
The vampires nodded, and their figures vanished from where they stood.
Vampires were extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, they were in front of Lucille and Lola.
When Lucille saw Delia beside Evan, she guessed that she was their target. She pushed Lola away and said quickly in a low voice, “You go.”
Judging by the way all the vampires' gazes were focused on her, they hadn't yet noticed anything unusual about Lola.
Seeing Lola hesitate, Lucille directly raised her hand and shoved her away.
Lola was pushed back several steps. She paused, pursed her lips, and then dodged the attacking vampires. Since their target was Lucille and they had no interest in Lola, no one bothered with her after she quickly retreated from their attack range.
Lucille was trapped in the vampires' encirclement. The space was sealed, her escape route was cut off, and a third-generation vampire was waiting on the sidelines. No matter how you looked at it, escape was impossible.
Lola gritted her teeth, turned, and jumped off the roof. She vanished into the darkness, and in a short while, her figure was gone.
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