CA - Chapter 231
Chapter 231
The Dark World—the Dark God's back garden.
During the era of the gods, the incessant wars on the Statu Continent gave rise to many ferocious beasts. They lacked reason, feared no divine power, and brought much trouble to the gods. The Earth Mother led the gods to encircle and annihilate them, but the beasts were impervious to fire and ice. Their bodies piled up like mountains, nearly submerging the entire Statu Continent.
In the end, the Dark God took action, opening up a new plane and transferring them there, finally disposing of this "trash."
As time passed, the corpses of the beasts slowly merged with the Dark World, giving birth to a new species: monsters.
The monsters had always been confined within the Dark World, their only chance of escape being through the Black Witches. But the Black Witches were, after all, human. No matter how powerful their dark power was, they could not summon higher-level monsters.
Thus, the Dark World had always been a disregarded legend.
But now, the "legend" had drawn back its curtain, showing the current masters of the Statu Continent the price to be paid for underestimation.
A black vortex tore a long gash in the dim sky, lightning streaking through the clouds. A behemoth emerged from the vortex, its eerie green eyes staring greedily at this world, which was anything but chaotic.
After the Elves, the Wolf Race, and the Holy See joined forces, the Anderson Family was quickly forced into retreat. Reese was at the front, directing the Holy See's troops to clean up the battlefield. When the monsters began to emerge from the vortex one after another, she was stunned for a moment, and then her expression changed slightly.
An overwhelming dark aura pressed down on everyone's nerves. The troops grew restless, and some, unable to withstand the pressure, began to sway on the verge of collapse. Vogt, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, raised his staff and chanted a spell. A golden barrier enveloped the crowd, shielding them from the pressure.
With the exception of Gabriel, the other Cardinals had already gathered in the Shas Principality. Although the monsters emerging from the Dark World looked terrifying, these veterans of great storms quickly calmed down. In the darkness, golden lights flared up one after another, like guiding beacons.
When the gate to the Dark World opened, the first to react were the werewolves and the elves. Their sense of danger was exceptionally keen. Almost as soon as the first monster stepped out of the vortex, a long green arrow pierced its shoulder like a bolt of lightning, and blackish-green blood rained down from the sky.
The darkness was scattered by a fierce gust of wind. From the direction the green arrow had come, a tall, slender figure flew into the air, her light green hair flowing behind her. Delphine's lips were pressed tightly together. She held a longbow, her fingers on the string, her light green eyes fixed on the vortex. Time seemed to stand still until a green arrow shot out with a whoosh, piercing through space and shooting down a demonic dragon that had just stepped out of the vortex.
The demonic dragon fell to the ground before it even had a chance to spread its wings. White and gray wolves, who had long been eyeing their prey, pounced, their sharp teeth tearing at its massive body.
Delphine didn't even glance at the fallen demonic dragon. She drew her bowstring again, aiming at the next monster.
Following Delphine's lead, the elves all drew their longbows. A dense volley of green and black arrows nearly blotted out the sky.
The werewolves and elves had ample experience fighting together, and their coordinated efforts intercepted one monster after another. But no matter how powerful they were, their small numbers remained a significant disadvantage.
However, this disadvantage was soon rectified by the Holy See. The Holy Knights joined the battle, easing the pressure on the werewolves. The werewolves and elves who had been wounded by monsters and temporarily lost their ability to fight soon found themselves enveloped in white light. Their injuries healed rapidly, and their stamina slowly recovered.
Although the three-way cooperation stabilized the situation, monsters continued to pour out of the vortex. It was only a matter of time before they were at a disadvantage again.
Reese tapped her staff, her eyes fixed on the vortex as she pondered something. A voice spoke beside her, voicing her thoughts aloud, "We must seal the gate to the Dark World."
Reese turned her head slightly to look at the Saintess, who had appeared at some point, and raised an eyebrow. "It seems we're thinking the same thing."
As they spoke, Vogt and the other Cardinals approached, their gazes also fixed on the black vortex, the same thought running through their minds.
Because it was the only way.
The Saintess glanced around, quickly assigning positions. She took out her staff, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the gathered Cardinals before she said coolly, "Even if we die, we must seal it before we do."
"Without the Holy See, you are nothing."
With that, she turned indifferently and walked toward her position.
Vogt and the others exchanged grave looks. No one wanted to die, but no one wanted to watch the Holy See fall either.
The Saintess's words tensed Vogt and the others, but they held no sway over Reese. Watching them lower their heads and disperse, she curled her lip carelessly. She was about to turn and head to her own position when she looked up and saw a familiar figure.
Monica stood not far behind her, head bowed, staring at the tips of her own feet. She had no idea how long she'd been standing there.
Reese's indifferent gaze instantly softened, and the smile on her face deepened. She walked over and said with a smile, "Is Bishop Monica here to spy on me instead of dealing with monsters?"
Monica kept her head down, her eyes darting about nervously until a pair of silver-white boots appeared in her vision. Hearing the teasing tone, she looked up, intending to retort coldly as usual, "Who's spying on you!"
She spoke in a huff, but the rims of her eyes reddened the moment her gaze met Reese's.
Tears fell, one after another. Monica frantically raised a hand to wipe them away. It looked as if she had already had a good cry; her nose was still red.
Reese sighed silently, the smile on her face slowly fading. She put an arm around Monica's shoulders, her voice gentle and soothing. "You're all grown up, yet you still love to cry so much."
"If you cry yourself unconscious now, I don't have time to carry you back to the Holy See," Reese said, deliberately trying to annoy Monica, but her hand gently stroked her hair.
Monica rested her forehead on Reese's shoulder. Hearing her words, she retorted with a choked voice, "You're the one who's going to cry yourself unconscious."
Her tears quickly soaked Reese's shoulder. Reese frowned, reaching down to cup Monica's chin and force her to look up. Seeing her red eyes, she wiped away the tears at their corners with her fingertips and said seriously, "Don't cry."
She glanced out of the corner of her eye at a white wolf fighting a fallen monster not far away. Raising an eyebrow, she hooked Monica's chin with a finger, gesturing for her to look. "See that wolf? Isn't it beautiful?"
Monica turned her head, a little dazed. The white wolf was large, but compared to the hideous monster, it appeared elegant and beautiful.
Reese said with a grin, "When this is all over, I'll catch one for you to play with."
Monica was taken aback for a moment, then her brow furrowed in anger. Because she had been crying for a long time, her voice was very nasal. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"The werewolves are allies of the Holy See now."
Although they were once enemies, they were allies now. Another falling out with the werewolves would do the Holy See no good.
Reese looked at the lively expression on Monica's face, brought on by her anger, and let out a low chuckle. "You're cuter when you're angry."
She didn't like seeing Monica's tears.
Even if she was slow to react, Monica now understood that Reese had been deliberately teasing her. She turned her face away and pushed Reese away. Her fingers brushed against the scar on Reese's face, making Monica's heart tremble. She lowered her gaze, took a small white bottle from her Space Gem, and handed it to Reese, her voice trembling slightly. "...This is for you."
Reese glanced down, guessing what it was. She touched her own face and said nonchalantly, "I think I look fine like this."
She had never been one to care about her appearance.
Monica was silent for a moment, then looked up and glared at her angrily. Biting her lip, her voice still held a noticeable trace of tears as she said, "It's too ugly. Put it on."
Her tone was fierce, but the tears she had managed to stop began to fall even harder. She said Reese was too ugly, but her eyes were filled with sorrow.
"If I'm the one being called ugly, shouldn't I be the one who's sad?" Reese wiped Monica's tears, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Alright, alright, I'll put it on."
She could refuse the Saintess's kindness, and she could refuse the kindness of others, but she could never refuse Monica.
Her sister was her only light in the darkness.
She gazed down at Monica for a while, an involuntary smile gracing her lips. Her turquoise eyes were as gentle as a spring pond. She reached out and hugged her, gently patting her back. Reese whispered, "It's all in the past, Monica."
She had finally climbed out of the dark mire and held this person in her arms again. Even though she was covered in scars, she was... fortunate. She had already grasped the ointment that could heal her.
Reese nuzzled Monica's hair with her chin, her lowered eyes unable to hide the thick amusement within. "If you don't let go, the Saintess is going to get angry."
The Saintess, Vogt, and the others were probably already in position, just waiting for her.
Monica wiped her tears on Reese's clothes, then forcefully pushed her away, frowning. "You were the one holding me the whole time." She hadn't even raised her arms.
This person... was still so annoying.
Not daring to delay Reese any longer, Monica pushed her away and turned to leave, but she stopped abruptly after a few steps.
Reese had been watching Monica the whole time. Seeing her suddenly stop and turn around, her red lips curled up involuntarily.
"You... be careful." Monica's expression was filled with unconcealed worry, her lips pressed tightly together. "I'll wait for you to come back."
Reese nodded and said earnestly, "Okay."
After the gate to the Dark World was opened, the "peaceful" Blood Domain finally stirred. The third-generation elders of each clan appeared at the border of the Blood Domain with a few clan members, looking up at the black vortex and the massive figure of the Blood Demon.
Many of them had experienced the Holy War. It had just been so long that those memories were nearly sealed in the depths of their minds. The sight of the Blood Demon brought those memories flooding back, and their expressions grew dazed.
The Holy War... was a past none of them wished to recall.
This was no longer the era of Cynthia, so their daze was fleeting. Lars, the nominal ruler of the Blood Domain and a third-generation elder of the Ventrue clan, stared at the black vortex, his eyes flickering as blood-red light surged in their depths.
"Look at that weak Holy See. Perhaps we should start another Holy War."
"Those elves and werewolves are as disgusting as ever."
"Are we going to return to the Statu Continent again?"
The opening of the Dark World's gate had given the vampires renewed hope. The few vampires standing beside Lars were chatting and laughing, but their conversation came to an abrupt halt when they saw something.
Lars, who had been lost in thought, sensed something and looked up slightly. Directly in front of them, a red-haired vampire stood with her back to them, gazing up at the black vortex. She exuded the aura of a Gangrel, but that wasn't what had silenced the crowd. It was... the pressure of a second-generation vampire.
A vampire snapped out of her shock and turned to ask a clan member beside her, "...Which Gangrel elder has awakened?"
The vampire beside her looked completely bewildered. "The Gangrel have no red-haired second-generation elders."
If there were no red-haired second-generation elders, then... who was this vampire before them?
They wanted to ask someone from the Gangrel clan, but unfortunately, the Gangrel were wanderers who never associated with them.
Beverly, who had come with her clan's elder, looked at Lucille's back with a puzzled expression. She frowned and muttered under her breath, "Second-generation... Gangrel..."
Lars composed himself and called out to Lucille's back, "Your Excellency, which elder of the Gangrel clan might you be?"
Lucille turned slightly, her dark red eyes sweeping coldly over Lars and the others. She spoke in a cool voice, "You wish to leave the Blood Domain?"
She strode forward on her long legs, her black boots crunching on the fallen leaves. The red, crack-like markings on the side of her face and neck stood out against her pale skin, adding a demonic allure. Lucille walked to the edge of the Blood Domain and stopped. Overwhelmed by her aura, Lars and the others involuntarily retreated several meters.
Lucille spoke in a level tone, "Go back."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it made the faces of Lars and the others change drastically.
A second-generation vampire... second-generation... Damn it, where did this unfamiliar vampire come from?
Beverly's eyes widened the moment she saw Lucille's face. She was stunned for a moment before coming to her senses, turning to whisper a few grave words into her elder's ear.
Breaking the law of the bloodline... The Xi-Tai Clan actually succeeded in their research?
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