The First Pope - Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Behind the door were an unknown number of fifth-generation vampires, and before her was a fourth-generation vampire whose aura was countless times stronger. Cynthia couldn't say which situation was worse, but both were equally dangerous.
The brown-haired vampire didn't come down from the statue when she saw them. Instead, she leaned forward slightly, looking down on them and sizing them up.
The moment Eunice saw the brown-haired vampire, she raised her staff, on high alert.
Cynthia was much calmer. Facing the vampire's scrutiny, she offered a polite smile, but the hand hanging at her side discreetly took hold of Eunice's arm.
Eunice paused. For the first time, the two acted in perfect sync, turning around. The door behind them was pushed open a crack, but before they could get out, a cold wind assailed them from behind. Cynthia frowned, letting go of Eunice and dodging to the side.
Cynthia and Eunice dodged left and right. Where they had just been standing, a cloud of blood mist slammed into the door with a bang. The re-shut door didn't budge an inch; the corrosive mist had no effect on it whatsoever.
"You actually managed to get in this way." The brown-haired vampire leaped down from the statue and stared at Cynthia with great interest, licking her lips. "You must be that strange member of the God Race, right?"
Seeing her escape route was blocked by the vampire, Cynthia grew calm. She glanced at the brown-haired vampire and said with a light laugh, "Not that strange. Just an ordinary member of the God Race."
She walked over and pulled the fallen Eunice to her feet. Seeing that the brown-haired vampire didn't seem to intend to kill them immediately, Cynthia's eyes flickered. She carefully observed her surroundings again, her gaze lingering on the statue for a moment as her thoughts raced. She ventured, "You're not waiting here all alone just to catch us, are you?"
The brown-haired vampire leaned against the statue with her arms crossed and said with a smile, "Then why don't you guess why I'm here?"
Cynthia stared at her for a few seconds, then shook her head slightly. "I can't guess." A corner of the brown-haired vampire's lips curled up, and just as she was about to say something, she heard the silver-haired God Race member speak again. "But I think I've discovered something."
Cynthia's gaze shifted a few inches. She pointed to the centermost statue, the one the vampire was leaning against, and asked thoughtfully, "Is that statue very important to you? You don't seem to want to leave it."
From the beginning, she had noticed that even after jumping down from the statue, this vampire had remained active around the one in the center. And before they had burst in, the vampire had clearly been waiting for something.
Cynthia didn't think she was waiting for her and Eunice.
The smile on the brown-haired vampire's face faded slightly due to Cynthia's sharp insight. She stood up straight, raised her right hand, and a red light shot toward Cynthia.
White flames erupted from the ground to intercept the red light. The brown-haired vampire's eyes narrowed slightly, and the red light suddenly intensified, completely enveloping the flames and extinguishing them. Seeing the red light bearing down on her, Cynthia frowned and quickly chanted a spell.
A barrier enveloped her. At the same time, a black shadow flew in from the side, baring its fangs and claws as it pounced on the red light.
The brown-haired vampire paused, looking at Eunice properly for the first time. "Another strange witch," she said, surprised.
The red light vanished before Cynthia, and the suffocating pressure also lifted. Cynthia took a few steps back, looked at the vampire, and said with some resignation, "Even if I guessed right, there's no need to get angry."
Still, what was so special about that statue? Cynthia was a little curious.
After the red light was dissipated by the flames and the black shadow, the brown-haired vampire didn't attack again. She glanced down at the formation on the ground, then turned and leaped onto the head of the statue, threatening, "Stay put. Elder Della prefers her prey alive."
So it was those high-generation vampires from Manden City. Cynthia's brow furrowed. Her gaze swept the surroundings, landing on the somewhat narrow path behind the brown-haired vampire. She whispered to Eunice, "Find a way to get out through there. We'll go to another palace."
It seemed these vampires, like Eunice, couldn't open just any door.
For once, Eunice didn't have a cold expression on her face; instead, she nodded seriously.
But the brown-haired vampire had no intention of letting them leave. She directly summoned her Blood Domain, enveloping the entire area, including the exit behind her.
The appearance of the Blood Domain made both Cynthia and Eunice's hearts grow heavy. But before they could come up with a countermeasure, a sudden change occurred. The ground, which had been trembling before, began to shake violently, including the heavy palace doors and the standing stone pillars. Chunks of rock started falling from the ceiling.
The place was already showing signs of collapse.
Cynthia reached out to steady herself against the wall. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the statues in the center of the square also seemed to be shaking. She subconsciously turned her head and froze.
It was as if a switch had been flipped for the four rows of beast statues in the square. They moved their necks, turning their heads to look around as if searching for intruders. Their stone-carved eyes glowed with a dark green light.
There were four rows of statues in the square. When they all started moving, the space instantly shrank. Eunice dodged clumsily as a stone claw emerged from behind her, then was nearly stepped on by another beast statue.
The brown-haired vampire saw their pathetic attempts to flee, and a hint of mockery flashed in her eyes. She nimbly dodged the statues' attacks, always staying in the center, quietly waiting for something.
Because the brown-haired vampire stayed in the middle, only one or two nearby statues could attack her after they "came alive." But her body was so petite compared to the statues that their stone claws slammed into each other with loud thuds without causing her a single scratch.
It was a different story for Cynthia and Eunice on the periphery. Unable to squeeze into the center, the statues all turned to attack them instead.
Light Fire and the Power of Darkness had little effect on the statues. Cynthia and Eunice could only rely on their agility to dodge under the statues, but the ground beneath their feet was still shaking violently, making evasion an extremely difficult task.
Cynthia was forced into a dead end by a statue. A hard wall was at her back, with statues blocking her on the left and right. With her back against the wall, she saw a massive stone claw coming for her and instinctively raised her arm to block.
A thin barrier of light was shattered by the stone claw. A shadow enveloped Cynthia, and her heart tightened, but the pain she expected never came. The moment the stone claw touched her arm, it was repelled.
Her moon-white robes shimmered with a faint golden light. Cynthia slowly lowered her arm, looking down at her clothes in astonishment.
The statue that had been sent flying climbed up from the ground, its dark green eyes slightly changed. It tried to approach Cynthia, lowering its head to observe her for a few moments before turning and walking away.
The other beast statues also walked past Cynthia, seemingly no longer treating her as an intruder.
The statues let Cynthia go but not Eunice. Clutching her injured arm, Eunice dodged the statues' attacks while running toward Cynthia. She nimbly ducked behind Cynthia. Seeing the statues pause and then turn to find the other intruder, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"...Why aren't these statues attacking you?" Eunice stared at Cynthia scrutinizingly. This member of the God Race had too many secrets, which, while shocking, also made her instinctively wary.
Seeing that Eunice's arm was bleeding, Cynthia raised a hand to heal her, replying distractedly, "Don't ask me. I'm even more curious than you are."
After healing Eunice's wound, she turned and stared blankly at the wall behind her.
The statues had all gone toward the brown-haired vampire, and their spot instantly became a safe zone. Eunice sat on the ground to rest for a moment. Seeing Cynthia staring at the wall in a daze, she frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"
Cynthia ran her hand over the uneven marks on the wall and said in a low voice, "There are marks here..."
"What marks?"
Cynthia turned back, her golden eyes deep and profound. She said slowly, "I think they're traces of Light Magic."
Traces of Light Magic? Eunice was stunned. To date, she only knew of two people who could use Light Magic. One was Cynthia, who stood before her, but the power of Cynthia's magic wasn't yet strong enough to leave marks in this strange place.
The other was... the Goddess of Light.
A thought struck Eunice. She quickly looked up, her gray eyes sweeping over the stone pillars that nearly reached the sky. Her expression turned grim as she whispered, "This is a temple."
She had suspected it when she first saw the statues, but she hadn't been certain.
Only a temple would preserve the traces of a god's magic.
But... Eunice turned to look at Cynthia, asking doubtfully, "How do you know those marks were left by Light Magic?"
Cynthia placed her hand on the wall, her tone calm. "I saw it."
Eunice was about to ask what Cynthia had seen, but Cynthia answered first, her voice low. "I think I saw... an image of the Goddess of Light using magic."
Just as she had seen the trajectory of a fire spell forming when she peered into Olivia's memories, when she placed her hand on these marks, images appeared in her mind.
They were dazzling balls of golden light, coalescing at the command of the one who summoned them. The figure of the magic user couldn't be seen in the images, but Cynthia could feel the immense power of the spell's master.
"Your Space Gem..." Eunice's sharp eyes noticed Cynthia's Space Gem was flashing. She hesitated for a moment but still chose to point it out.
Cynthia looked down and reached for the Space Gem. A white stone appeared in her palm. The stone was shining with a golden light, and pure Power of Light flowed from Cynthia's palm into her body.
Eunice was pushed back more than ten meters by the sudden burst of Light power from Cynthia, nearly getting sent back into the circle of statues.
Too many incredible things had already happened around this God Race member. Although being blasted away by the Power of Light displeased Eunice, she suppressed her anger. Seeing Cynthia's attention was back on the wall, she averted her gaze expressionlessly, pushing herself up with the wall behind her. Her cold gaze fell upon the brown-haired vampire, who was now surrounded by statues.
The beast statues weren't causing the brown-haired vampire much trouble. She landed on the head of one statue, her red eyes fixed on Cynthia, who was enveloped in golden light. Her face held a hint of shock and suspicion. Even from such a distance, she could feel the threat emanating from the golden light.
Her instincts told her she should go and stop this strange God Race member now. However, she thought of Della's temper. If she failed to bring out the Beast God's Godhead, her fate would be no better than that of the fourth-generation vampire who had been used for the sacrifice.
While the brown-haired vampire hesitated, black mist began to rise from the formation at her feet. In the very center of the square, a pillar of dark green light erupted. The ground split open, revealing a deep fissure. A dark green crystal lay quietly at the bottom. The crystal emitted a dark green glow, as if trying to resist the invading black mist, but a layer of water vapor covered it, suppressing its power.
The brown-haired vampire's eyes lit up when she saw the dark green crystal. She temporarily put Cynthia out of her mind, turned, and jumped down from the statue. She cautiously approached the crystal. A ball of red blood mist condensed in her palm as she was about to pick up the dark green crystal, but a dazzling golden light descended from the sky without warning, blasting her away.
A slender figure appeared within the golden light. Her long silver hair cascaded down like a waterfall as she bent over. A fair, slender hand passed through the water vapor and picked up the dark green crystal.
Outside the temple, Della watched the collapsing structure, a faint smile on her face. Maia stood beside her, observing her expression. She ventured, "Another temple has collapsed. Elder Talia promised to give us some vampires..."
Della glanced at Maia and said nonchalantly, "I'll mention it to Elder Talia when I return to the Blood Domain tomorrow."
Maia's expression slowly relaxed. She nodded at Della and expressed her gratitude.
The gray sky grew even gloomier. The swamp beneath their feet began to churn violently with the temple's collapse. Della knew this place would soon be submerged. She let out a low laugh and was about to turn and leave when a burst of dazzling golden light from a certain part of the temple successfully made her stop.
Della stared in the direction of the golden light, her eyes narrowing. "What is that?"
Maia looked shocked and confused. "This..." She had never seen the Power of Light before.
Della observed the location of the light's eruption and recognized it as the place where the Godhead was. Her brow furrowed at once. Just as she was about to investigate, the churning swamp beneath her feet suddenly froze solid. White, cold vapor rose from its surface; it had been frozen.
A sudden gust of wind blew away the dark clouds overhead, revealing the golden sunlight, which shone down upon the frozen swamp.
A pale green figure strode across the swamp. She was tall and curvaceous, with a long green bow on her back. Her slightly curled, pale green hair hung smoothly below her waist and hips. Her perfect features and pointed ears revealed her identity.
Della stopped in her tracks. Seeing the pale green figure appear in her vision, her expression turned grave. She whispered, "Olivia..."
Olivia expressionlessly nocked an arrow and fired. A green arrow tore through space, flying toward Maia. Maia's face changed drastically, and she instinctively dodged behind Della.
Seeing the arrow was already upon her, Della could only extend a hand to block it. The arrow pierced her palm, its trajectory altered, and it ultimately flew past Maia's cheek.
Olivia lowered her longbow and snorted coldly. Her pale green eyes stared icily at Maia. "So it was you who colluded with the vampires. Does the Sethite clan wish to follow in the footsteps of the Tremere clan?"
Comments
Post a Comment