CA - Chapter 131

Chapter 131

In the Holy See, the Pope held supreme power. Defying the Pope's command and being absent from the Light Baptism Assembly was not something a clever person would do.

Especially since the Pope's objective was to pave the way for the Holy Son's smooth succession, all personnel at the rank of Priest and above were required to attend.

Reese believed the blonde bishop was certainly aware of the consequences of absence. She leaned back slowly into her chair, lifted her chin slightly, and said flatly, "Your reason."

Tang Qiu heard the coldness in Reese's voice. She sighed silently, not avoiding her gaze, but looking directly into Reese's green eyes. Her clear voice was slightly low as she said, "I have to go save someone."

"Giving up the bishop position you worked so hard to secure just to save someone?" Reese sneered. "Grace, don't forget what you promised me."

Reese had fought alone in the Holy See for over a decade. Even though she was covered in scars, she had gritted her teeth and endured. Tang Qiu's initial proposal had moved her, and through her observations, Reese had discovered that the blonde bishop indeed had the potential to become a collaborator on equal footing with her.

She needed an ally.

What she wanted to do was too difficult; she needed a helper.

The blonde bishop met her requirements perfectly, and her relationship with Monica was also very good. That way, if anything happened to her, she wouldn't have to worry about Monica's future safety.

But now, the blonde bishop was telling her she couldn't go to the Central Church. How could this not infuriate Reese?

With the Pope paving the way for the Holy Son, the seemingly calm but bottomless waters within the Holy See would surely be stirred. In such a situation, a single misstep could lead to eternal damnation.

The increasingly cold and hard aura around Reese made Tang Qiu frown. She knew what Reese was worried about, but she had no choice. If she went to the Central Church, she certainly wouldn't be able to leave for a short time, and she couldn't abandon Lucille.

To her, Lucille was more than just a "lover" with whom she maintained an intimate relationship. Although she had never said it, Lucille's importance in her heart had long surpassed all others.

She had to save her, and she wouldn't easily give up her position as bishop. Even if she lost it, she had the confidence to win it back.

For her, this was not an either-or question.

"Reese," Tang Qiu leaned forward slightly, her expression serious. "She is very important to me."

Reese looked away coldly, a smile that didn't reach her eyes on her face. "As important as that little knight you insisted on saving last time?"

Although the blonde bishop was clever and resourceful, in Reese's view, she lacked a certain ruthlessness.

Tang Qiu stared at Reese for a moment, then said calmly, "She is as important to me as Monica is to you."

"If it were Monica whose life was in danger, I believe you would make the same choice."

Reese frowned but said nothing.

It was clearly a sunny day, but the atmosphere between the two had dropped to a freezing point. Tang Qiu lowered her eyes in thought for a moment, then took the initiative to break the silence. "I will return to the Holy See."

"As a bishop who defied the Pope's command, returning to the Holy See to receive your death sentence?"

"What if it's a bishop who was 'forced by circumstances'?" Tang Qiu said meaningfully. "After all, the Gosse Empire isn't very peaceful. It's not impossible for the Church's convoy to be attacked by Black Witches or Vampires."

Reese glanced up at her and said flatly, "That reason might not be very effective." To "certain people," such excuses would be dismissed.

"But it's better than openly defying an order."

Of course, Tang Qiu knew it wasn't a great reason, but she didn't have enough time to think of a better one.

Seeing that she had made up her mind, Reese said no more. She stood up with a blank expression and turned to leave.

Tang Qiu looked up at Reese's back and suddenly called out to her, "Reese."

Reese didn't turn around, but she stopped walking.

"I will help you kill the Holy Son." Tang Qiu paused, then added in a low voice, "...and Cambecus."

Reese turned her head and stared at Tang Qiu for a while, then suddenly let out a soft laugh. Her eyes returned to their usual nonchalance as she said, "I want to kill more than just those two."

"Save the big talk for after you get back to the Holy See."

Without waiting for Tang Qiu's response, she left. Tang Qiu watched Reese's back disappear around the corner and smiled faintly. Time would tell if it was just big talk.

In any case, she would absolutely not let Cambecus and his group go.

---

Shrouded in night, Rose Manor was serene and beautiful. The high walls, destroyed some time ago, had not been rebuilt. Exquisite castles were scattered in an orderly fashion, now visible to all, unlike the old Rose Manor that had always been hidden behind its walls.

Low-generation vampires roamed near the castles; this place had clearly become vampire territory.

Tang Qiu pushed her cloak's hood up a bit, her eyes fixed on Rose Manor, her thoughts unknown.

Standing beside her, Kama was too short and too far away. No matter how much she stood on her tiptoes, she could only see the castle roofs. She scratched her hair in frustration, then looked around and spotted a huge green stone not far from them. Her eyes lit up, and she ran over, nimbly climbing on top of it.

Standing on the stone, she could finally take in the full view of Rose Manor. Kama stared intently at the castles without blinking, until her eyes ached, but she couldn't see anything significant.

Kama rubbed her eyes in disappointment. Her clan's prophetic ability was not under her control, and her attempts to transmit what she saw to Tang Qiu through touch were hit-or-miss.

This frustrated Kama greatly. If only she could be as powerful as Phoenix.

As Kama squatted on the stone, feeling sorry for herself, a white circle of light suddenly appeared above her head. The circle slowly descended, enclosing Kama, and then lifted her down from the stone.

Tang Qiu stood at the base of the large stone. Seeing Kama land safely, she smiled and stroked Kama's hair, saying softly, "You've already done very well."

Kama pouted and silently hugged the blonde bishop's leg. Tang Qiu looked down at her, feeling a bit helpless. She didn't know why Kama was so attached to her. Perhaps it was because of the light aura on her?

The full moon was in a few days. Tang Qiu planned to wait until the full moon to sneak into Rose Manor for reconnaissance before making her next move.

The circle of light had attracted the attention of the vampires near the castle. Just as Tang Qiu was about to leave with Kama, something was suddenly stuffed into the hand hanging at her side.

Tang Qiu looked down at the crumpled ball of parchment in her hand and raised an eyebrow. The parchment was so wrinkled it was barely recognizable. She smoothed out the ball of paper and found some distorted shapes drawn on it, resembling buildings.

Kama secretly glanced at Tang Qiu's expression, biting her lip nervously.

Tang Qiu folded the parchment and put it away, saying gently to Kama, "You drew this very well. I'll go back and study it carefully. Thank you."

Kama shook her head shyly, happy that she could help Tang Qiu, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled.

After leaving Rose Manor, they used a teleportation array to return to the main city. Instead of going back to the Church, Tang Qiu first took Kama back to Lucille's manor. The streets were deserted late at night, with hardly a soul in sight. Tang Qiu pulled her hood down, leading the similarly cloaked Kama to the manor gate.

Just as Tang Qiu was about to push the gate open, her peripheral vision caught a black shadow flitting past from behind, hiding in a dark alley nearby.

Tang Qiu turned to look, her brow furrowing slightly. Lola, who had been secretly guarding Tang Qiu, emerged from the darkness. Her crimson eyes glinted coldly in the night. She licked her pale lips and slipped into the alley.

A few seconds later, she dragged a trembling man out and threw him to the ground, frowning. "A seventh-generation vampire."

The man was terrified of Lola's fifth-generation aura. He hastily pulled an envelope from his clothes and shouted at Tang Qiu, "I-I was just sent to deliver this! Don't kill me."

Tang Qiu glanced down at the object in his hand and asked in a low voice, "Who sent you?"

"I-I don't know," the man said, his head bowed, stammering.

Lola bent down, took the envelope from the man's hand, and tossed it to Tang Qiu. "Open it and see."

Tang Qiu opened the envelope and pulled out the parchment inside. Only a place name was written on it, and there was no signature at the bottom.

While Tang Qiu and Lola were looking at the letter, the man secretly got up and tried to run. Lola glanced over, flashed past him, and pierced through his chest, crushing his heart.

After dealing with the body, Lola returned to Tang Qiu's side, looked at the place name on the parchment, and asked doubtfully, "What is this?"

Only the characters for "Tavis Town, Gru Empire" were written on the paper.

Tang Qiu rubbed the edge of the parchment, her eyes fixed on the handwriting, saying nothing.

The manor gate was pulled open from the inside. Erin poked her head out. Seeing the blonde bishop standing outside, her eyes lit up, and she exclaimed excitedly, "Grace, I divined where Lucille is!"

"She's in the Gru Empire."

The Gru Empire... Lola froze for a moment, looking down at the parchment in Tang Qiu's hand.

Tang Qiu handed the parchment to Erin and asked calmly, "Is it here?"

Erin was taken aback by the contents of the parchment. "I only divined the Gru Empire," she said, uncertain.

She asked in confusion, "Where did this come from?"

This seemed to be the place where Lucille was being held, even more precise than her divination.

Having already guessed who the letter was from, Tang Qiu lowered her eyes slightly and said coldly, "It was sent by someone who thinks they're clever."

---

Tavis Town, Gru Empire.

The entire town was as silent as death in the dark of night. In the very center of the town stood several white castles, enveloped in a faint, blood-red mist.

When Lucille awoke from her unconscious state, she found herself in a spacious stone chamber. In the center of the chamber were several stone platforms, on which were stacked rows of long, thin glass cups. A few of them were filled with bright red blood.

Special chains were wrapped around Lucille's wrists and ankles, and the power of darkness within her was suppressed. She tentatively struggled for a moment, but after realizing it was useless, she decisively gave up.

She leaned against the cold wall and closed her eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, the stone door was suddenly pushed open. Lucille opened her eyes and calmly watched Evan walk in from outside.

Evan was somewhat surprised to see Lucille so composed in such a predicament. He picked up a glass full of blood from a stone platform, walked over to Lucille, and sniffed the scent of the blood. Evan's eyes deepened slightly. "Do you know whose blood this is?"

Lucille glanced up at him and said flatly, "Mine."

Although there were no wounds on her arms, the occasional waves of fatigue told her that all the blood on the platforms came from her.

Evan's lips curved into a smile. He looked at Lucille as if she were a perfect work of art. "It's been hundreds of years, and this is the first time I've seen a hybrid as perfect as you."

The experiment of breeding humans and vampires had been going on for hundreds of years. It wasn't that there hadn't been successful hybrids, but none of them were as perfect as Lucille, because Lucille was a fourth-generation vampire.

A fourth-generation vampire... only two or three levels away from the second and first generations.

This would undoubtedly greatly increase the success rate of future experiments.

Lucille moved her wrists, and the chains rattled. A sense of weakness and hunger washed over her simultaneously, causing her to frown in discomfort. "...What use are hybrids to you?"

"You want to know?"

Lucille gave a cold nod.

From the moment she knew she was a vampire, she had wondered why a monster like her existed.

Neither human nor vampire. Although, because of Tang Qiu, she no longer loathed her identity as she once did, this knot in her heart had never disappeared.

Although Lucille was an experiment, Evan quite admired her, so he didn't mind telling her a bit more. "The great second-generation vampire, Ernest, was a scholar with a great spirit for research."

"He was of the Malkavian clan. It's well known that the Malkavians are all madmen, but they also possess wisdom beyond that of ordinary people."

"Ernest once left behind a book, which recorded a miracle he had once witnessed."

"A human-vampire hybrid, born through natural human reproduction, possessing the same bright red blood as humans, while also having the formidable strength of a vampire."

As Evan spoke, he admired the blood in the glass vial. "She could survive without blood and could also break the innate class rules of vampires."

Vampires were the race with the strictest class division on the continent of Statu. Although a vampire's embrace could easily grant an ordinary human eternal life and great power, at the same time, they lost the opportunity for further advancement.

For vampires, class was an insurmountable barrier. Weaker vampires could only have their lives controlled by higher-ranking ones. And while higher-ranking vampires possessed great power, they too had to live under the class rules. Who wouldn't want even greater power?

The differences between clans also led to disparities in combat strength. Although Evan was a third-generation vampire, he was at a disadvantage compared to clans more skilled in combat, such as the Brujah and Gangrel.

Of course, Evan was not content with this. Moreover, he wanted to experience for himself just how powerful the legendary first-generation vampires were.

And now, the person who could make his dream a reality was right in front of him. Evan's eyes gradually grew excited, and he stared at Lucille as if she were prey.

"Hybrids can ignore the laws of vampires. Isn't that a miracle?"

His gaze displeased Lucille. She turned her head, avoiding Evan's eyes.

Because Lucille had refused to drink blood for a long time, she had only recovered to her original level and had not become the "miracle" Evan spoke of. However, Lola... had verified Evan's words.

Lola was born as only a sixth-generation vampire, but she had now advanced to the fifth generation.

Lucille lowered her eyes and said coldly, "Hybrids can ignore the laws. What does that have to do with you?"

Evan let out a low laugh. "There will always be a way. At worst, we'll just research for a few more hundred years. After all, we're immortal."

He put down the glass in his hand, then picked up an empty one and walked over to Lucille. A wisp of dark energy sliced open Lucille's arm, and bright red blood gushed out, enveloped by the dark energy as it flowed into the glass. Evan watched as the glass slowly filled, nodding in satisfaction. "I'll have someone send you some fresh blood in a moment."

He filled two more glass vials in succession before stopping.

Due to the blood loss, Lucille's face was even paler. She licked her dry lips. As she caught a glimpse of Evan walking towards the door, she suddenly spoke up, "Can I ask you one more question?"

Evan turned back and said magnanimously, "You may."

"Why is the Holy See willing to provide you with Elf Fruit?"

Evan frowned. He hadn't wanted to answer, but Lucille's cooperation since she woke up had put him in a decent mood, so he answered briefly. "Who is the current Pope? ...Aubriston? Ah, too insignificant for me to remember his name."

"He's lucky to have ascended to the Pope's throne, and he has us vampires to thank for helping his grandfather kill the Pope at that time, over a thousand years ago."

The Holy See of over a thousand years ago was not like the Holy See of today. Back then, both vampires and Black Witches were in a state of suppression. Aubriston's grandfather was just a Red-robed Archbishop at the time. He was the most ambitious and daring human Evan had ever met. To encircle and kill the Pope of that era, Evan had even awakened a slumbering second-generation vampire from their clan.

But even so, the brutality of that battle was still fresh in Evan's memory. A second-generation vampire and five third-generation vampires, in a specific location and with the Pope falling into the trap all alone, still managed to take the lives of the second-generation vampire and three third-generation vampires with her before she died.

That woman was truly too powerful. Anyone associated with a "god" was powerful to an enviable degree.

However, although the losses were great, the outcome was good. The Holy See could no longer threaten them.

"Aubriston wants to secure his position. Of course, he knows what he should do."

After Evan left, Lucille leaned her head back against the wall. The light in the stone chamber was dim, but this didn't affect a vampire's vision. She stared blankly at the ceiling, her mind filled with the image of the blonde bishop's every smile and frown.

They were supposed to go to the Central Church together. Lucille's lips tightened, her eyes darkening. Her sudden capture must have affected the blonde bishop's plans.

A dull sound came from the doorway again. Lucille turned her head to look. The stone door was pushed open, and Delia walked in from outside.

"I've brought you food." Delia handed a cup to Lucille. It was filled with fresh blood.

Lucille coldly averted her gaze.

Seeing that she wouldn't take it, Delia thought for a moment and gently placed the cup by her hand. She glanced towards the doorway, then leaned down slightly and whispered, "Do you think Grace will come to save you?"

She waited for a while but received no response from Lucille. Delia bit her lip, wanting to say more, but a shadow flickered at the door. She frowned and turned to leave.

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