The First Pope - Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Although the witches weren't particularly strong in combat, they often proved surprisingly useful in other areas. Just as Susan knelt to study the black markings on the ground, she heard Betty exclaim excitedly, "It's ready. We can go."
Hearing this, Susan paid the markings no more mind, immediately standing up and rushing to Betty's side. She stared at the black vortex that had appeared on the wall and asked curiously, "Can this vortex get us out of here?"
Betty nodded with a serious expression. "Yes. Let the knights go first."
In such a critical moment, Susan had no intention of questioning her companion's abilities. She gave a look to the knight in front of her and ordered in a low voice, "Do as she says."
The knights went first, with the witches providing cover. Susan followed the knights through the black vortex. The first thing that met her eyes was a massive statue, and the second was the dense crowd of people chained beneath it.
Susan froze for a moment, then spotted the vampires standing on the statue. She cautiously stepped back as the Silver Knights drew their longswords and shielded her.
The vampires had also noticed Susan and her group, but because the witches' disguise was still active, they couldn't immediately tell if they were friend or foe.
As more knights and witches were teleported over, the vampires realized something was wrong. They leaped down from the statue and began to approach.
Seeing the vampires closing in, Betty instinctively raised her staff. The crowd beneath the statue suddenly grew restless. Betty spared a glance and her sharp eyes spotted a familiar face. "Elder Kana!" she cried out in surprise.
Chelsea followed Betty's gaze, and a hint of surprise showed on her otherwise placid face. Kana was an elder of the Garcia Family. When they had left, Kana had been safe and sound in their territory.
Kana, whose hands and feet were bound by chains, was equally surprised to see Betty and Chelsea. Her face was a little pale, but she seemed to be in decent spirits. She struggled against her restraints but couldn't break free. She could only shake her head at Betty, signaling for them to leave quickly.
Susan counted the number of vampires. After a moment of thought, she turned to her knight commander and said quietly, "Send half the knights to rescue the prisoners."
The black markings on the ground grew clearer, especially where Kana and the other captives were. A black mist seemed to float above the dark patterns, filling Susan with a sense of unease. She paused, then added, "We don't have much time. Save as many as you can."
Chelsea felt the same unease. She studied the markings underfoot for a moment and recognized it as a complete Dark Magic array.
The Dark Magic array required a massive amount of blood to activate. Knowing this, Chelsea's expression turned grave. She gathered several witches and began to set up a teleportation array in an open space.
Betty quickly understood and, under the protection of the knights, joined the remaining witches to focus on dealing with the charging vampires.
There weren't many vampires left on guard. The knights first freed the witches, then handed them the staves Betty had prepared.
With their staves in hand, the witches joined the fight against the vampires, who were quickly eliminated. Kana gestured for the others to help the knights rescue the prisoners while she walked over to Chelsea. Looking down at the teleportation array, she frowned and asked, "What is this?"
She could tell this teleportation array was somewhat different.
Chelsea was too busy to speak, so Betty, who had come over to help, answered for her. "This is a teleportation array that Cynthia helped us improve. The destination is safe, hidden, and won't send us to a random location."
"Cynthia?"
Betty nodded repeatedly, her eyes shining as she spoke of Cynthia. "She's from the God Race, and she's incredibly powerful. She can even use Light Magic. She's our friend."
Among the rescued were a few members of the God Race. When they heard Betty mention their kind, they all looked over, but her subsequent mention of Light Magic left them looking bewildered.
Kana was also confused but could only nod. She looked down at the array markings on the ground and frowned. "Since the teleportation array works, let's get out of here quickly."
Noticing her tightly furrowed brows and urgent tone, Susan approached and asked tentatively, "Do you know what this place is?"
Kana glanced at her, assuming she was another new friend of Betty and Chelsea's. "This is the temple of the Beast God," she replied. She pointed to the Dark Magic array under their feet. "What we're standing on is a Dark Magic array. The vampires want to destroy this place."
Susan's eyes flickered, and she was about to ask more when the ground beneath them suddenly began to shake violently.
Kana's expression changed. "This is bad! We have to leave now!" she urged.
Betty thought of Cynthia and Eunice, who were still missing. "But our companions haven't arrived yet," she said worriedly.
Kana pushed Betty into the teleportation array with one hand. "We can talk about it after we get out of here," she said in a low, firm voice.
Otherwise, they would all become blood sacrifices for the Dark Magic array.
Outside the cave, a thick, blood-red fog drifted slowly over the swamp. A slender figure emerged from it, her bewitching face filled with annoyance and impatience. She crossed her arms, and a blue crystal floated before her.
Following Della, three more Fourth Generation Vampires emerged from the blood mist. One of them, a blond vampire, walked up behind Della, glanced at the vampire corpses on the ground, and said in a low voice, "It seems a strange member of the God Race has appeared here. According to the vampires who escaped, she can use a terrifying kind of flame."
Della shot the speaker a sideways glance. "And where is this God Race member?"
"I've already sent people to capture her."
Della nodded without expression and said nothing more, but a chill ran down the Fourth Generation vampire's spine. He asked cautiously, "Should I perhaps go capture her myself?"
Della had put him in charge of the Ochester operation. It was just a matter of transporting some non-humans who had lost the ability to resist. He had thought it was foolproof, but who could have known some strange God Race member would appear out of nowhere?
Della didn't speak, merely waving a hand to dismiss him. She stared at the silent cave entrance and frowned. "Where is Maia?"
As she spoke, she raised her hand, and the blood-red fog tore open the space above the cave, revealing the Beast God's temple to Della and the others.
A woman in a black robe walked out of the temple, her long, grayish-white hair cascading down to her waist. She approached Della, her expression grim. "...Someone broke into the temple and rescued the sacrifices on the west side."
Della's eyes narrowed slightly, her tone unreadable. "Oh?"
"There aren't enough sacrifices. The Dark Magic array can't be activated."
A brown-haired vampire behind Della spoke up. "How many are needed?"
Maia stated a number.
The brown-haired vampire turned and vanished. A moment later, hundreds of Sixth Generation Vampires entered the temple, escorting a new batch of sacrifices.
Della was quite satisfied with the brown-haired vampire's efficiency, a faint smile even gracing her lips. She pushed the blue crystal toward Maia and asked with a smirk, "Is that enough?"
Maia gave the new sacrifices a cursory glance and hesitated. "It seems there aren't enough non-humans."
Although human blood was sufficient to activate the Dark Magic array, the inclusion of non-humans would unleash its maximum power.
The blood of non-humans naturally contains divine power. Only by using that divine power to stimulate the Godhead can we unleash enough force to destroy the temple.
Della turned to the brown-haired vampire, who shook her head. There were never many non-humans to begin with; they had to go to the non-human territories beforehand just to gather enough for the Dark Magic array.
"How troublesome..." Della clicked her tongue. She beckoned to the blond vampire standing to the side, who approached with trepidation.
Her fair, slender hand rested on the blond vampire's chest. With a blank expression, Della thrust her hand into his chest and crushed his heart. She tossed the corpse at Maia's feet and asked coolly, "Is that enough now?"
Maia was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "It's enough." A vampire's body, of course, also contained divine power, especially that of a Fourth Generation vampire.
Della wiped the blood from her hand with a handkerchief. To her, killing a Fourth Generation was as easy as crushing an ant. "Then hurry up and activate the array. My patience is wearing thin."
Maia nodded. She reached out, took the blue crystal, and turned back into the temple.
Della casually tossed the handkerchief aside. Watching Maia's retreating back, she ordered the brown-haired vampire behind her, "Go in and bring out the Beast God's Godhead."
They would need it to destroy the next temple.
The sacrifices on the west side of the temple were the captives rescued by Betty, Chelsea, and the others. This group had the largest number of non-humans, including the God Race member who held the other Divine Stone.
Unfortunately, by the time Cynthia and Eunice followed the Divine Stone's guidance halfway there, that God Race member had already been evacuated with the witches under the knights' protection.
The golden light flickering from the Divine Stone instantly dimmed, and even the direction it pointed to changed.
Cynthia stopped and looked down at the stone. Before she could speak, the ground beneath them began to tremble violently.
"...It feels like this place is about to collapse," Eunice said expressionlessly, looking at the Dark Magic array under her feet.
Cynthia put away the now-useless Divine Stone. Bracing herself, she scanned her surroundings and frowned. "The Divine Stone's guidance has changed direction. Betty and the others have probably rescued the person and left."
The stone was still providing guidance, which meant the God Race member holding the other stone was still alive. There was no reason for the vampires to move them, and besides, only a teleportation array could instantly transport someone to another location like that.
Hearing Cynthia's words, the tension on Eunice's face eased slightly. Still, she wouldn't feel at ease until she saw Betty standing before her, safe and sound. Eunice planted her staff on the ground to steady herself, already impatient to leave. She glanced at Cynthia and asked, "Can you set up a teleportation array?"
Cynthia looked at her in surprise. "You can't?"
The two stared at each other for a moment before Eunice looked away first. "Why should I know how?" she said, annoyed.
Cynthia: "..."
Although she knew how to create a teleportation array, she wasn't a witch. She couldn't activate it because the witch stones didn't respond to her.
Cynthia sighed. Rolling up her sleeves, she said helplessly, "I'll teach you, and you can set it up."
Eunice had no desire to take orders from Cynthia, but using a teleportation array was the safest way to escape. Her face darkened as she put away her staff. Just as she was about to say something, Cynthia suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a stone pillar.
The sound of chaotic footsteps came from behind them. Eunice shook off Cynthia's hand and peeked around the pillar.
"...It's vampires," Cynthia said in a low voice, staring at the vampires emerging from a nearby palace. "They've spotted us." As she spoke, she began to chant a spell.
The vampires who had just returned from escorting the sacrifices had indeed spotted Cynthia and Eunice. They had already heard that a strange God Race member had entered the temple. Exchanging glances, they approached cautiously.
A pure white flame appeared without warning at the vampires' feet. But the vampires, who were already prepared, weren't caught. Instead, they leaped onto the stone pillars.
Realizing that the Light Fire could no longer catch the vampires off guard, Cynthia decisively pulled Eunice and ran toward the palace ahead.
Cynthia pushed open the heavy palace doors with one hand. She pulled Eunice inside, and the doors swung shut behind them, blocking the pursuing vampires.
The room behind the doors was pitch black. Cynthia leaned against the door, listening to the sounds outside. After waiting calmly for a moment and hearing no vampires break in, she let out a small sigh of relief.
A white orb of light descended from above, illuminating the darkness for Cynthia and Eunice. Eunice pulled her hand free from Cynthia's grasp and used the light to survey her surroundings. But as soon as she looked up, she froze.
Sensing Eunice's strange reaction, Cynthia's heart sank. Her hand behind her back instinctively formed a ball of fire. She raised her eyes, and upon seeing their surroundings, her golden eyes instantly darkened.
Behind the door was not the empty room they had expected, but another square. However, unlike the previous one with only a few bare stone pillars, this one had not only pillars but also four neat rows of beast statues. The statues were over ten meters tall, dark green, and astonishingly lifelike.
And sitting atop the centermost statue was a brown-haired vampire. Hearing the noise, she turned her head in curiosity, her red eyes fixing on Cynthia with a hint of amusement.
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