CA - Chapter 213

Chapter 213

The large ship had deliberately stopped in a safe zone. After Tang Qiu and Lucille departed, the priests gathered on deck, continuing their incantations alongside the elves to combat the Power of Darkness.

Erin stood at the ship's bow, her gaze fixed on the sky. Her expression was a mixture of tension and unease. From her vantage point, she couldn't see what was happening at the stone chamber; she could only gauge from the fluctuating strength of the Power of Darkness that Tang Qiu's group currently held the advantage.

A small hand quietly slipped into hers. Erin looked down to see Kama hugging her waist, her head tilted back to gaze up at her imploringly. The plea in her golden eyes was almost overflowing.

Erin: “…”

“It’s too dangerous over there. Grace told us to stay here and not wander off,” Erin said, patiently stroking Kama’s hair.

Kama shook her head rapidly. Releasing her grip with one hand, she rummaged through her clothes and produced a piece of parchment, holding it up to Erin’s face. It was so close that Erin had to lean back just to read the words on it.

I have something very important to do.

The handwriting was crooked, but legible.

Erin gently pushed the girl’s arm down and shook her head. “No, it’s too dangerous.”

Kama tossed the parchment aside, rummaged for another moment, and held up a new one.

I can protect both of us. Please, take me there. I’m begging you.

“When did you learn to write so much?” Erin asked, looking at Kama in astonishment. She remembered the child had struggled to even write her own name before.

Feeling slighted, Kama lightly punched Erin with her little fist. Then, she pulled a pile of scrolls from her Space Gem, clutched them to her chest, and looked at Erin expectantly.

Clutching her arm, which didn’t hurt in the slightest, Erin said conflictedly, “I can’t, Kama. It’s too dangerous over there.”

When Erin still refused, Kama puffed out her cheeks and turned her back on her, now holding only a single scroll in her arms.

Erin sighed and took Kama’s arm. “Let’s just wait patiently for Grace to return, alright? When we get back, I’ll take you to the…”

She hadn’t even finished the word ‘swings’ when her gaze fell upon Kama’s hands unrolling the scroll. Erin froze for a second before instinctively reaching out to stop her, but it was too late.

With a flash of golden light, a great bird formed from the Power of Light descended from the sky. It seized Erin in one talon and Kama in the other, lifting them into the air and flying toward the towering walls of water.

Kama looked up at the approaching walls of water and grinned, revealing a set of small, white teeth.

“Kama!” Erin yelled angrily, one hand pressing down on the Little Fur Ball in her hood while the other gripped Kama’s arm.

She had long ago realized this child was only ever obedient in front of Tang Qiu.

With all kinds of spells flying through the sky, a single large bird hardly drew any attention. It flew over the stone chambers, found a clear spot, and carefully set the two of them down.

The territory of the Tzimisce was vast. A chaotic battle between werewolves, elves, and vampires raged at the entrance, while a life-or-death duel between Faye and Harris occupied the central area. Deeper within the stone chambers, Tang Qiu and Lucille were cornering Eden.

The ground beneath them trembled, and the towering, seemingly endless walls of water on either side looked as if they might collapse at any moment. Erin let Kama pull her through the labyrinthine chambers, her heart pounding with the fear of running into a vampire around every corner.

“Where exactly are you trying to go?” Now that Kama had dragged her here, Erin set aside her other worries and grew curious about why the girl had been so insistent on coming.

A God Race Descendant… she wouldn’t do something for no reason. Had she foreseen something?

Kama heard Erin’s question but didn’t stop to explain, continuing to lead her around as if searching for something.

The bird had dropped them in the safest part of the territory. Overhead, spells of light cast a dazzling golden glow that illuminated the darkness within the chambers. Erin passively followed Kama, and after wandering for some time, she noticed something.

“Wait.” Erin stopped Kama and squatted down to examine the ground.

Thanks to the Power of Light overhead, the ground at their feet was clearly visible. The mysterious, ancient patterns carved into it were so distinct they looked as if they had been magnified.

Erin ran her hand over the ground. Seeing the faint red stain on her fingertips, she frowned and murmured in a daze, “What is this… an array?”

The carved patterns didn’t resemble any common array; they looked ancient. It seemed… it seemed similar to the array she had seen in the forbidden grounds of Witch City, the one used to summon the Dark God.

After the gods left the continent of Statu, the land fell into the hands of the Vampires. The God Race Descendants led the followers of the Light Goddess, allied with the other races, and waged a century-long Holy War against the Vampires. It was during that era that scrolls and arrays developed at a rapid pace, with their knowledge passed down to the present.

In truth, however, many of the most powerful ancient arrays had been lost to time since the end of the Holy War.

The similarity of these patterns to the Dark God summoning array was enough to prove that this one, too, originated from that ancient period.

Kama squatted beside Erin, also studying the patterns on the ground. Her golden eyes glazed over for an instant, but before any vision could form, the earth beneath them began to shake violently.

A dark figure smashed through several stone walls before collapsing not far from them. Catching sight of Tang Qiu and Lucille in pursuit, Erin’s heart clenched as she guessed the figure’s identity. She hastily pulled Kama into her arms, spun around, and ducked into a nearby chamber.

Erin leaned against the wall, listening intently to the commotion outside. She only breathed a sigh of relief when the sounds of battle faded into the distance. She reached for Kama but found nothing. Turning, she saw that the girl had already wandered off.

“Kama?” Erin called softly.

Kama poked her head out from behind a stone shelf and beckoned to her.

“You shouldn’t wander off,” Erin said with a helpless sigh, taking in her surroundings.

Her attention had been entirely focused on the sounds outside, but now she realized they were in a storeroom. The spacious chamber was filled with densely packed shelves holding rows upon rows of glass bottles, ninety percent of which were filled with blood.

Had they stumbled into the Tzimisce clan’s pantry? Erin picked up a glass bottle, examined it for a moment, then put it back down, uninterested.

The moment Kama entered the room, her expression had turned serious. Taking advantage of her small stature, she darted under and between the shelves, occasionally closing her eyes as she tried again and again to recall a blurry vision from one of her prophecies.

The God Race Descendants had survived to the present day, but much of their prophetic talent had been lost. It was only after meeting Tang Qiu that Kama had begun to have true prophecies.

In the time she had spent with Tang Qiu, she had foreseen a total of three visions: two concerning Lucille, and one concerning Tang Qiu.

She had insisted on coming here because she had foreseen that this very chamber contained something Lucille needed.

There were so many shelves that Kama soon grew dizzy from weaving through them. She stood up and steadied herself against a rack to rest. Hearing Erin call her name, Kama raised a hand to respond but accidentally knocked over a row of glass bottles.

The bottles shattered on the floor, splashing blood everywhere and staining the ancient patterns on the ground a dark red. The earth began to tremble, and even the stone shelves—which had remained motionless during the massive upheaval when the sea was drained—started to shake.

Bottle after bottle crashed to the floor, filling the chamber with the thick stench of blood. A black mist began to rise from the ground, and the room filled with a pure, ancient Power of Darkness that sent a jolt through Erin.

The Little Fur Ball, who had been sleeping curled up in her hood, awoke. It clung to the back of Erin’s head with its tiny paws, looking around in a daze.

Kama was no witch; she was naturally repulsed by this kind of dark power. She clutched a scroll tightly in her hand, staring in fear at a collapsing shelf, unsure of what to do.

Erin ran over, scooped Kama into her arms, and turned to flee.

She hadn’t gotten far when a tremendous explosion erupted behind her. The stone chamber was obliterated into dust by the Power of Darkness. Within the black mist, a dense, crimson fog swirled, the two forces intertwining before drilling deep into the earth.

“This is bad.” Sensing that something was wrong, Erin clutched Kama and ran in the direction of Tang Qiu and Lucille.

After the chamber exploded, Eden, who had been desperately dodging Tang Qiu and Lucille’s attacks, suddenly froze. He took a direct hit from Tang Qiu’s claws, then spun around and charged recklessly toward the site of the explosion, his crimson eyes wide with disbelief.

Who… Who touched his…

The thick stench of blood filled the air. Tang Qiu glanced at Eden’s retreating figure but didn’t give chase. Instead, she moved to Lucille’s side and took her arm. “What’s wrong?” she asked with concern.

She had noticed something was off with Lucille; she had paused at the exact same moment Eden had frozen.

“Blood…” Lucille felt an oppressive pressure wash over her. It was as if the blood in her veins had frozen solid, and her arms felt as heavy as lead. “Such powerful pressure.”

Her dark red eyes deepened to the color of fresh blood. Lucille clenched her fists, mustering nearly all her strength to finally break free from the oppressive force.

Her body went limp for a moment, and a dazed look filled her eyes. Then, she suddenly spun around, pulled Tang Qiu into an embrace, and sank her fangs into the side of her neck.

Tang Qiu frowned but gently stroked Lucille’s hair to soothe her.

Tang Qiu’s blood slowly restored Lucille’s composure. She lifted her head from Tang Qiu’s neck, a trickle of fresh blood at the corner of her mouth. “He’s on his last legs,” she said, her voice cool. “Don’t let him escape.”

Tang Qiu healed the wound on her neck with a spell and nodded. Just as she and Lucille were about to give chase, Faye’s voice rang out.

“What happened? I smell a terrifying presence.” Faye descended from the sky, a mangled corpse clutched in her hand.

She casually tossed Harris’s lifeless body to the ground and pointed to her own shoulder and waist.

Both areas had been torn open by something, revealing the stark white of bone beneath. The wounds were too severe to be repaired by her natural healing abilities. From the blood loss, Faye’s face was as pale as paper, yet her expression was unnervingly calm, as if she felt no pain.

Seeing the severity of her injuries, Tang Qiu immediately took out her staff and began to chant. Fortunately, the healing spell was quick to cast. After she used it on Faye several times in succession, the wounds finally closed.

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