The First Pope - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

A sixth-generation vampire and a seventh-generation vampire were no longer a threat to Cynthia and Eunice. The Light Fire Cynthia wielded was the natural enemy of vampires, and Eunice's cunning and highly aggressive witchcraft was also quite menacing to them.

However, Cynthia and Eunice's coordination was still not perfect, so it took them a considerable amount of time to eliminate the two vampires.

Cynthia used Light Fire to burn the vampires' corpses to ash, then turned to look at Eunice, who was carving open a vampire's chest with a dagger. Dark red blood splattered onto her face, soiling her lovely features.

Eunice was utterly engrossed in the thrill of crushing a vampire's heart. It made her feel powerful, as if she had already surpassed the vampires.

Weakness only leads to one's own death, while strength... can bring death to others.

This was a truth Eunice had understood since she was a child.

Cynthia noticed the excitement in Eunice's eyes and frowned slightly. She walked over, took a handkerchief from her Space Gem, and handed it to her, gesturing for her to wipe the blood from her face.

Eunice stood up from the vampire's corpse and stared at Cynthia with a strange expression for a moment. Then she took the handkerchief, but instead of wiping her face, she cleaned her blood-stained dagger. "Don't you find me cruel?" she asked oddly.

Cynthia was one of the few people who could witness such a scene and remain unfazed. The reason the other witches were so afraid of Eunice was that they had seen her kill and thought she was a complete lunatic.

Cynthia disposed of the vampire corpse Eunice had killed. Hearing Eunice's question, she let out a soft laugh and said nonchalantly, "If it were you lying here, what the vampires would do would be even crueler."

Methods of killing were a matter of personal preference, which Cynthia wouldn't comment on. She was more concerned about Eunice's overly excited state upon seeing blood.

Eunice in that state once again made Cynthia feel a repulsion welling up from the bottom of her heart.

By the time Cynthia and Eunice returned, the sky was completely dark. They saw the spot where Betty and the others were resting from a distance, but there was no light from a campfire. Cynthia's brow furrowed slightly, and Eunice, beside her, was already running over with a grim face.

The firewood for the fire was still piled on the ground, but Betty and the others were nowhere to be seen. Eunice's face darkened, her gray eyes turning frighteningly gloomy.

Cynthia circled the unlit campfires. Seeing some half-mixed insect repellent powder on the ground, she touched her chin and mused, "It doesn't look like an attack."

The ingredients for the insect repellent were laid out neatly, as if its maker had encountered something and had to temporarily put it down and leave.

But the two of them hadn't returned yet, and there was no reason for Betty and Chelsea to leave.

Cynthia summoned a flame for light and looked around. She soon found the place where Betty and the others had discovered Susan's group.

"Someone else was here." Cynthia walked over, looking down. She quickly found signs of a fight. Bending down, she stroked a shallow sword mark on the green stone and said in a low voice, "...It doesn't look like they encountered vampires."

But humans... with the meager abilities of the Silver Knights, how could they possibly have captured Chelsea and Betty?

Yet if it had been vampires, their scent would have been left behind.

Eunice had no mind to listen to Cynthia's analysis. Once she confirmed that Betty was indeed missing, she turned and walked away with a cold expression. Cynthia turned her head and called out, "Where are you going?"

Eunice didn't even pause. "To save them."

"Do you know where they were taken?"

"Where else could it be but Manden City?" That fourth-generation vampire was in Manden City, and she just so happened to be capturing other races.

Cynthia pulled her hand back from the stone, as composed and calm as ever. "I think they're in Hatz City."

A strange city with no vampire garrison seemed to fit the criteria better than Manden City. Besides, they still hadn't left the Hatz City area.

It was unclear if Eunice heard Cynthia's words. Her figure quickly vanished into the darkness. Cynthia stared in the direction she had left, raised a hand to rub her brow, and sighed helplessly. "Why was I left with the most disobedient witch?"

If either Betty or Chelsea had been left behind, rescuing the others would have been much easier.

It would take at least a day and a night to get to Hatz City from here. It probably hadn't been long since Betty and Chelsea were taken. If they hurried, they might find some clues along the way. For now, she could only hope they hadn't been taken somewhere else.

Ever since transmigrating to this continent, Cynthia found she was either preparing to travel or already on the road. Although she didn't feel tired, the process of traveling was incredibly tedious. Why didn't this world have something you could just open and teleport with?

Cynthia took out a cloak and put it on. The night wind lifted her silver hair, which hung down to her waist. She gazed into the darkness ahead, somewhat absent-minded.

After rescuing Chelsea and Betty, she would have to have a serious discussion with them about the witch clan's teleportation arrays.

Using such a practical array only to teleport enemies was too much of a waste.

Hatz City.

As the only city not garrisoned by vampires, Hatz City seemed more vibrant than the others. The buildings inside were simple and rustic, and knights in silver armor could be seen patrolling the wide streets at all times. Occasionally, one or two plainly dressed humans would appear on the road; they seemed very familiar with the patrolling Silver Knights and showed no signs of panic or fear.

The midday sky was not very clear, but rather gray and hazy. Susan stood by the window, wrapping a soft white cloth around her injured wrist. A Silver Knight entered from outside and said in a low voice, "The people have all been locked up."

"Observe them for a few days. If there are no problems, send them to Manden City." The cloth was soft enough, but wrapping it around her wrist still made Susan feel that her movements were a bit stiff. With a look of displeasure, she tore the white cloth off and threw it away.

"Bring me the human who was with the God Race." Susan reached out and pushed the window open. Cold air instantly rushed in. As if she couldn't feel the chill, she curled her lips and said, "I'd like to see what's so special about this human."

From her investigations during this period, this strange team of a God Race and witches had rescued many villages and towns, but in the end, they had only taken this one human with them.

A believer of the Goddess of Light? It sounded ridiculous.

If the Goddess of Light still cared about this continent, the vampires wouldn't have had a chance to run rampant here.

Susan crossed her arms and leaned against the window frame, her gaze fixed on the empty street below. Her expression was cold. The gods... ceased to exist long ago.

Although Hatz City had no vampires, its defenses were extremely tight. Two squads of knights in silver-white armor stood guard on either side of the city gate, rigorously searching every carriage that entered or exited, not letting a single suspicious person pass.

An empty carriage suddenly burst out from the nearby woods. The horse, as if startled, bolted straight for the city gate. The Silver Knights guarding the entrance heard the commotion and quickly drew their swords. They ran forward a few steps, and one of them swung his sword horizontally, striking the horse's neck. Warm blood gushed out, splashing onto the nearby Silver Knights. They screamed and fell to the ground, deep pits corroding the spots where the blood had touched them.

The horse collapsed, but the carriage behind it was held steady by a cloud of gray mist. The door was pushed open from the inside, and Eunice walked out, her face expressionless. She raised her staff and began chanting a spell in a low voice as she walked into the city.

The Silver Knights who tried to stop her were pushed aside by menacing gray shadows. The patrolling Silver Knights inside the city heard the commotion and rushed over to provide support. Eunice stood in the very center of the city gate, looking at the charging squad of Silver Knights. She snorted coldly, and the gray mist floating on either side of her condensed into a large net, hovering silently in front of her like a beast with its jaws wide open, waiting for its prey to walk right in.

A silver ray of light descended from the sky, cleaving the gray net in two. A tall knight landed on the ground, the silver longsword in his hand glinting with a sharp, cold light.

That sword strike not only split the gray net in half, but its energy also grazed Eunice's arm, tearing her sleeve. Blood dripped to the ground.

Eunice ignored her injured arm. She stared at the knight before her, her eyes slowly narrowing. "A human..." she said in a strange tone.

This knight was quite strong. No wonder Betty and the others were captured by them... Eunice sneered, switching her staff to her other hand. The color of the gray mist slowly deepened, and a chilling aura made the Silver Knights surrounding her shiver.

Eunice and the Silver Knights fought their way from the city gate into the city proper. Susan, who had been sleeping, was startled awake. She immediately mobilized all the patrolling knights to besiege Eunice, while she herself went to the city's tallest lighthouse to observe the battle.

With all the patrolling Silver Knights gone to capture Eunice, no one noticed another person standing at the city gate. The late-arriving Cynthia walked past the corpses of the Silver Knights and into the city. The sounds of battle were as if right next to her ear, and by looking up slightly, she could see the gray shadows Eunice had summoned.

The Silver Knights could actually hold out for so long against Eunice's witchcraft? Cynthia glanced down at the corpses on the ground, a hint of surprise in her heart.

She didn't rush over to help Eunice. Instead, she found a place with a wide field of view to observe the situation. The layout of Hatz City was not complicated. After observing for a while, Cynthia quickly noticed the guards near the lighthouse.

She tilted her head up slightly, gazing at the top of the lighthouse. She could just faintly make out a person standing there.

That must be the city lord of Hatz City, Cynthia thought pensively as she withdrew her gaze. She pulled her hood down and headed toward the lighthouse.

The sound of a longsword being drawn suddenly rang out behind Cynthia. She instinctively sidestepped, and a sharp blade grazed past her. She frowned, and with a slight raise of her hand, a white flame appeared out of thin air and flew toward the sword's owner.

The owner of the sword was startled by the sudden appearance of the flame. He agilely leaped away, swinging his silver longsword. The sword's energy struck the flame, splitting it in two.

Cynthia let out a soft "huh" when she saw the flame disappear. She took a few steps back and looked up at the Silver Knight before her, her expression surprised.

Although the knight had extinguished the flame, he was still drenched in a cold sweat. He kept his distance from Cynthia, staring at her warily.

"You're different from the other Silver Knights I've met," Cynthia said, glancing at the sword in the knight's hand. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is this how you captured those witches?"

The sword energy this knight used was neither strong nor weak, but if there were many knights like him, it was no wonder Chelsea and the others had been captured.

The knight didn't answer her question. Instead, he lowered his voice and said, "I advise you to leave now."

"Oh?"

"City Lord Susan has a squad of elite knights she hasn't sent out yet. You won't be able to rescue your companions."

The knight sheathed his longsword and, after leaving this seemingly well-intentioned warning, turned to leave. But a white flame blocked his path.

Cynthia stared scrutinizingly at the knight's back, a guess forming in her mind. She said probingly, "...Speaking of which, I saw a strange village a few days ago. Some villagers said they had lived there for nearly ten years and were never captured because the vampires had no interest in their blood."

The knight's body stiffened slightly. He turned his head and shot Cynthia a warning glare, then bypassed the flame and left quickly.

Cynthia watched the knight's retreating back, her eyes darkening slightly. She knew it was impossible for there to be blood that vampires weren't interested in.

The ones who were truly "uninterested" in those villagers were these Silver Knights.

"Interesting." Cynthia took off her hood and looked up in the direction of the lighthouse, a playful glint in her eyes.

The wind was bone-chilling. Susan stood atop the lighthouse, looking down at the chaotic battle below. Her fair cheeks were red from the cold, but she seemed oblivious to it. The Silver Knights' inability to take down Eunice was making her irritable.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs reached Susan's ears. Thinking it was one of her knights, she turned her head to look. When she saw a tall woman ascending the steps instead of a towering knight in armor, she was taken aback.

Cynthia, who was earnestly climbing the stairs, sensed Susan's gaze and looked up slightly. Her golden eyes looked somewhat deep due to being backlit. Susan subconsciously took a step back, silently watching the other woman walk up step by step.

Cynthia ascended the final step and reached up to take off her hood. Her long silver hair cascaded down her back with the movement of her fingers. As if she didn't see the wariness on Susan's face, she turned to look at the tall, steep staircase. She said with a smile, "Luckily, I've climbed stairs taller than this before. Otherwise, my patience would have run out halfway."

"Oh?" Susan also forced a smile and replied casually, "Is the patience of the God Race so limited?"

As she spoke, she leaned against the railing and discreetly glanced down. The knights below were all on the ground, their status unknown.

Susan's heart sank. She turned to seriously study the silver-haired God Race opposite her. In the years she had been the city lord of Hatz City, she had met a few members of the God Race, but aside from their exceptionally beautiful appearances, she hadn't seen anything special about them.

But this God Race before her made Susan feel a genuine sense of danger.

Even though she looked elegant and noble, as if death and blood could never touch her.

The space at the top of the lighthouse wasn't too cramped. Cynthia walked to Susan's side and glanced down. "My patience is quite good, but it depends on who I'm dealing with."

"Your knights are a bit violent, so I had to make them quiet down for a while." Cynthia turned her head and smiled at Susan. "My apologies."

She said she was sorry, but her tone held not a trace of apology.

Susan was just an ordinary human. Facing someone who could silently take down a dozen knights, she knew she couldn't possibly escape under Cynthia's watch. So, she gave up completely. Leaning against the railing, she looked Cynthia up and down, let out a low laugh, and said, "So you really are a big shot."

"I knew that little God Race I locked up didn't look like someone who would dare claim to be an emissary of the Goddess of Light."

"So..." Susan spread her hands. "Excellency God Race, are you here to ask me to release your companions?"

Cynthia pulled her gaze away from Eunice, who was now covered in wounds from the siege of the Silver Knights, and met Susan's eyes. She nodded naturally. "You guessed right."

She gestured with her chin toward Eunice. "Make your people stop."

Susan put on a troubled expression. "That might be a bit difficult."

"Oh?"

"You don't know yet, do you? A few days ago, a red-robed witch went to a village and killed many villagers." Susan glanced at Eunice's robes, which were now an even more striking crimson from being soaked in blood, and curled her lips. "Among those villagers were the relatives of these knights. When they see their enemy, do you think they'll still listen to orders?"

Cynthia was startled. "A red-robed witch?"

Susan glanced at her and said with a smile, "You're working so hard to save people, while your companion is out killing them. How interesting."

Cynthia looked up at Susan and said with a half-smile, "Just like you?"

"What?"

"You protect the relatives of these knights, but you also have these knights bring death to the relatives of others." Cynthia thought for a moment, her red lips curling up. "Because it's interesting?"

Susan was silent for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. "I'm saving people, just like you. Without me, do you think their relatives could live so well?"

"But you've killed more people."

"There are too many humans. If some are to be lucky, others must be unlucky. I'm just a weak human. What can I do?"

Cynthia chuckled softly. "So you're the one who decides who is lucky and who is unlucky?"

Susan nodded as if it were a matter of course. "Without me, they wouldn't even have the right to be lucky, would they?"

Cynthia sighed. "Twisted logic."

Susan frowned at her.

"After all that talk, it's just that you yourself want to be on the lucky side." After exposing Susan, Cynthia saw her expression darken and smiled gently. "But the fact that you're afraid to die is good news for me."

She leaned closer to Susan, placing a hand on her shoulder. A white flame flickered at her fingertips. Cynthia felt Susan's body stiffen and offered a kind reassurance, "Don't be afraid. This flame will burn you directly to ash. I guarantee you won't feel any pain."

Susan: "..." Who the hell needs a guarantee like that?

"Now, can you make your knights stop?" After speaking, Cynthia seemed to remember something and pulled Susan to turn around, looking at the Silver Knights who had nearly reached the top. "Oh, right, and these elite knights of yours."

"Don't let them scare me. Otherwise, if my hand slips, you might not be so lucky anymore."

Susan, who had been stalling and talking nonsense with Cynthia just to wait for these elite knights to come rescue her, now completely lost all hope.

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