CA – Chapter 144

Chapter 144

Gusts of night wind swept across the land, kicking up yellow sand that drifted back down. In the night sky above the Mentos Desert, a crescent moon failed to illuminate the darkness. Amidst the pitch-black night where one couldn't see their own hand, a pale yellow dot of light flickered.

The fourth-generation Tzimisce vampires were the first to appear in the Mentos Desert. They scanned their surroundings, their gazes quickly locking onto the box in the center of the desert. The leading vampire flashed to the box's side, bent down to pick it up, but just as he was about to open it, a fluctuation of energy from behind made him pause.

Evan emerged from the darkness and gestured with his chin toward the vampire. "Bring it here."

The vampire took the box to Evan's side and respectfully handed it to him.

Delia, who had been intentionally keeping her distance, began to retreat imperceptibly the moment Evan took the box. She surveyed the area, her brow furrowed tightly.

With the box in his hand, the aura of the Godhead within it seemed to weaken. A flicker of doubt crossed Evan's mind. He examined the box for a few moments before opening it.

The box was completely empty, and his face instantly darkened. Evan slammed the box shut and called out in a cold voice, "Delia."

Delia's heart skipped a beat. She braced herself and walked over, racking her brain for an explanation when a silver light suddenly materialized in the darkness and shot toward the back of Evan's hand with a whoosh.

Evan's hand trembled, and the box fell to the ground. A diamond-shaped silver dart was embedded in the back of his hand, having nearly severed the bones within.

Several dark figures emerged from the blackness, faintly encircling Evan and his group.

Beverly twirled a diamond-shaped dart in her hand, her red eyes narrowing slightly as she scanned Evan from head to toe, as if aiming for her next target. "Long time no see, Elder Evan."

She curled her red lips, gave an elegant curtsy, and though her voice held a hint of a smile, her eyes were exceptionally cold. "My brother has been in your care."

Evan pulled the dart from his hand and tossed it to the ground. He remained silent, his face cold. A vampire from behind him stepped forward to confront Beverly, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "Are you talking about Byron Scott?"

"That mischievous little brother of yours who's useless without his big sister to back him up? He's gone missing again?"

"Then you should go ask your own Brujah people. We Tzimisce have no interest in babysitting your brother for you."

The speaker was one of the most powerful lords among the fourth-generation Tzimisce, placing her on the same level as Beverly in terms of clan hierarchy.

However, in the grand scheme of all vampires, she was slightly weaker than Beverly. After all, the Brujah clan was exceptionally skilled in combat; it was their innate talent.

Beverly let out a low chuckle, the dart spinning in her hand slowly coming to a stop. "Useless?"

She glanced at the vampire with contempt. "Are you talking about yourself?"

The vampire's face turned cold, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. The atmosphere suddenly grew tense, and even the swirling winds around them seemed to slow.

Evan looked down at his slowly healing hand and spoke in a flat, emotionless tone, "Have you brought me a gift, Beverly?"

He lifted his gaze to look behind Beverly, his eyes narrowing slightly to hide a fleeting glint of excitement.

Beverly paused and turned to look behind her. Lucille stepped out from the darkness, her red hair neatly tied back. She flexed her wrists and said calmly, "Let's do this."

As she spoke, her figure vanished from its spot. She chose the nearest vampire, wrapped an arm around his neck, and drove her knee up into his abdomen. The sound of cracking bones echoed in the night.

Seeing Lucille attack without a moment's hesitation, Beverly was momentarily stunned before reacting swiftly. She commanded the vampires behind her, "Hold them all back! Don't let a single one escape."

With that, she moved to Lucille's side, and together they faced Evan head-on.

Beverly's earlier boast about tearing down Evan's castle had not been a joke. She had estimated the number of fourth-generation vampires at his side and had brought half again as many of her own clan members.

Subduing Evan's underlings was simple, but subduing Evan himself was a major challenge.

However, Beverly loved a challenge. The Brujah blood flowing through her veins made her eager for a fight. Faced with the powerful aura emanating from Evan, she felt not fear, but even greater excitement.

"Little Ice Wolf, take care of yourself." Beverly licked her lips. She put away her playful darts and rolled her sleeves up to her forearms. "If you get your heart crushed, I won't be saving you," she said teasingly.

Lucille let out a cold snort, her speed like a bolt of lightning.

Gangrel and Brujah, the two clans with the strongest combat prowess. Even Evan found facing them both to be exceptionally troublesome.

His face grim, he actively met their attacks. He focused most of his attention on Beverly, as Lucille was the prey he intended to capture, so he was careful to moderate his force against her.

While the battle raged here, the vampires left behind at the castle were also experiencing a slaughter.

Tang Qiu crushed the heart of a vampire blocking her way. Her blood-stained hand plunged into the blood mist outside the castle, tearing the Blood Domain apart by sheer force.

She turned to look in a certain direction. In the darkness, a white skeleton carrying a small, brown-haired girl ran to Tang Qiu's side. Erin clutched the Space Gem in her hand, her expression tense as she looked at the castle and said seriously, "I'm going in then."

Tang Qiu looked at her with amusement. "Be careful. No need to be nervous."

Erin nodded with a wooden expression and directed the skeleton to carry her into the castle.

The vampires on patrol discovered that the Blood Domain had been broken and rushed back one after another. They saw Erin entering the castle and flashed over to intercept her, but they were all stopped by Tang Qiu beforehand.

Her priest robes were soaked with blood, and her snow-white hair was stained with it as well. Even surrounded by vampires, Tang Qiu moved with fluid ease.

The ground was soon carpeted with the corpses of vampires.

The skeleton carried Erin all the way into the manor. Erin directed it to place her in a secluded corner. Although Tang Qiu had intercepted most of the vampires outside, a few had managed to slip through and were now searching for Erin's whereabouts.

Erin hid carefully and sent the skeleton out to draw their attention. She took out pre-portioned packets of powder from her Space Gem and summoned a row of skeleton rats.

Placing the powder on the backs of the skeleton rats, she whispered an incantation. Guided by the spell, the skeleton rats scurried away on their tiny feet. They weaved through the manor, leaving a trail of powder all over the ground.

Erin summoned nearly a hundred of them before she used up all the powder packets. She let out a breath, wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, and took out more powder from the Space Gem.

The inside of the castle needed to be covered as well. It was a rather large job.

As Erin summoned more skeleton rats, her heart pounded with anxiety. She could only be thankful that they were dealing with vampires, whose excellent vision and other senses meant they had no need for things like fire.

Otherwise... their plan would be nothing short of a suicide mission.

After dispatching another wave of skeleton rats, Erin rested for a moment. She was about to sneak out to check on the situation. The vampires patrolling the manor would surely discover some of the skeleton rats, so she needed to check if the E Leaf powder had been spread throughout the entire manor.

She tightened her cloak and had just cautiously peeked her head around a wall when a familiar voice sounded in her ear, making her face turn pale with fright.

"What are you doing?" Vera, who had been leaning against the wall and had witnessed the entire process of the skeleton rats "transporting" the powder, spoke up as Erin peeked out.

Erin's face was ashen, her eyes wide. She stammered, "Wh-when did you... get here?"

Vera turned, leaning her head lightly against the wall. She looked at Erin and said calmly, "When you came in."

Erin was speechless.

"E Leaf powder?" Vera glanced down at the powder at her feet. "What are you planning?"

Erin didn't answer. She looked at Vera with a complicated expression and asked, torn, "Why are you here?"

"Elder Glanna sent me to get the Elf Fruit."

"Then you..."

Knowing what Erin was worried about, Vera looked at her for a moment. Just as she was about to explain that she didn't care if the vampires lived or died, the sound of footsteps suddenly approached. Startled, Erin quickly pulled her head back. She bit her finger, her other hand holding a teleportation scroll, feeling deeply uneasy.

Although she had used witchcraft to conceal her aura... who knew if Vera would betray her.

The searching vampire paused when he saw Vera, asking in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

Vera was Evan's guest, so the vampires were used to seeing her coming and going from the manor.

"What's happening outside?" Vera glanced at the skeleton rat in his hand and asked with a blank expression.

The vampire explained the situation outside. He paused, then frowned at the powder on the ground and asked, "Do you know what this stuff is?"

Vampires and Black Witches were both creatures of darkness, but they belonged to different branches. Most vampires couldn't recognize the endless variety of materials used in witchcraft.

"It's a material for drawing an array."

"An array?"

"A summoning array. It can summon dark creatures," Vera said in a flat tone. "You should hurry and get your Elder Evan back to deal with it."

The vampire was skeptical. He looked at Vera for a moment, then turned to find his companions who were also in the manor, intending to tell them about this and discuss how to handle it.

After the vampire left, Erin slowly peeked her head out again. She looked at Vera, unable to stop a small smile from creeping onto her lips. Her eyes were bright as she said happily, "We're still friends."

Vera looked at her without speaking.

"You should leave with me in a bit. It's going to get very dangerous here." Erin proactively took Vera's hand. "Glanna is too ambitious and selfish. Don't be fooled by her."

Erin tried to save her friend, chattering on, "Even Elder Noah is better than her. You should stay away from her."

"She just wants to use you."

"She's so cold-hearted even to me. Besides Elder Noah, I've never seen her care about anyone."

"Don't be deceived by her. Listen to me and leave Witch City."

Vera listened quietly until she mentioned Witch City, then she finally spoke. "I want to give the Dark Key back to you."

Erin stopped in her tracks, looking at her with a mixture of surprise and joy.

"Elder Glanna wants the Dark Key, but I didn't give it to her." Vera lowered her gaze slightly and said in a low voice, "I hid the key in Witch City."

"Witch City..."

"If you don't want to go in, you can wait for me outside."

Erin hesitated. She definitely wasn't going into Witch City. But waiting outside... she bit her lip, uncertain. She said cautiously, "...I need to think about it."

Vera hummed in agreement and said faintly, "Okay."

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