The First Pope - Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Edeli's aura fluctuated, growing strong one moment and weak the next. While the other vampires were tearing open a spatial rift, Talia took the opportunity to carefully sense Edeli's location. A chain condensed from the Power of Darkness shot out in a certain direction like a bolt of lightning, splitting the sky in two like a colossal black dragon.

The chain followed Edeli's aura and plunged into a forest. The Morgan witches, who had been standing at the edge of a magic array watching Edeli struggle within while simultaneously attacking him with spells, were startled by the sudden appearance of the chain. They stopped their chanting and quickly retreated. With a loud bang, the chain slammed into the array, and the powerful impact triggered a violent tremor.

Chelsea steadied herself by planting her bone staff on the ground, then hurriedly looked up toward the array. The figure pinned inside was gone. The chain, wrapped around Edeli, retracted and quickly vanished from Chelsea's sight.

He still managed to break free, though he was trapped for long enough... Chelsea frowned, her heart still tense, uncertain of the current situation between the Elf Race and the Vampires.

The chain returned to Talia's side and threw Edeli at her feet. The array had drained seventy percent of his dark power. While struggling inside, he had also endured the witches' attacks. Though not fatal, the attacks had left him in an exceptionally wretched state.

Clutching his temporarily immobile arm, Edeli stood up from Talia's feet. He kept his head bowed, not daring to look at her face. The arrogance and insolence he had displayed upon arriving in the Elf Territory had vanished without a trace.

Talia glanced at him with disgust and let out a cold snort.

Behind her, a rift had been torn in space, and the sound of wolf howls grew ever closer. Talia took a deep breath, suppressing the unwillingness in her heart, and spoke coldly to the vampires beside her, "Let's go."

As she said this and was about to step into the rift, a golden arrow shot through it, moving faster than she could. A flash of gold passed before her eyes, and Talia felt a sharp pain in her arm. She instinctively looked down. In a single instant, the arm grazed by the golden arrow had been corroded by the divine Power of Light, leaving only bare white bone.

This was only because she was a Second Generation Vampire. Had it been a Third Generation Vampire, they would have been instantly burned to ash by the divine power.

Seeing the divine power continue to spread from Talia's arm toward her chest, a vampire beside her frowned and tore her entire arm off.

"The Power of Light..." Talia spun around swiftly. Though the distance was great, she could still see Cynthia holding a dark green longbow.

Unlike Joanna, who was surprised that Cynthia could command divine power, Talia was not shocked that she could condense it after having seen the Light Crystal. What surprised her was that this God Race member could actually draw this longbow.

This longbow was the weapon of the Goddess of the Forest, exclusively for a god. Even Olivia could only control a phantom condensed from divine power to draw its string.

Who exactly was this God Race member?

Talia was utterly horrified. Even when she had watched her kin die by Olivia's arrows with only an angry expression, this was the first time she had felt an emotion like panic, though she quickly concealed it.

The spatial rift had been shattered by that last arrow, and Cynthia was already beginning to form a second one. The rising and falling wolf howls echoed in her ears. Talia's hand clenched into a tight fist. She suddenly turned her head in a certain direction and roared furiously, "Amelia, how long are you going to watch?"

As her words fell, a second golden arrow flew toward them with the force of a thunderbolt. Talia and the vampire beside her retreated simultaneously, and a thick, blood-red mist spread out to conceal their figures. The arrow, glowing with fire, pierced into the bloody mist. A golden flame exploded within the fog, and a muffled grunt was heard at the same time as the sound of a sharp weapon piercing a body.

Avira, who had been watching the show leisurely, straightened up at some point. Her scarlet eyes swept back and forth between Cynthia and Talia, finally settling on the latter. The golden flames obscured part of her vision, but from her angle, she could still see Edeli, pierced by the arrow, half of his body corroded into white bone by the Power of Light.

Edeli had been standing where Talia was just a moment ago. It was obvious he had taken the arrow for her.

One dead, two heavily injured. This lesson seemed a bit harsh. Avira glanced toward Cynthia and tapped her fingers on the tree trunk beneath her. Seeing that Cynthia was about to form a third arrow, she narrowed her eyes and suddenly raised her hand. The Power of Darkness surged behind Talia and the other vampires, forcibly tearing open the space there.

Talia turned her head and met Avira's gaze. With a grim face, she led her people into the rift, their figures quickly swallowed by the darkness.

Talia's aura vanished. Cynthia, who was drawing the bowstring, paused slightly and calmly dispersed the arrow that had yet to fully form.

After Talia fled, the dark aura permeating the sky above the Elf Territory also dissipated. The gloomy sky slowly cleared, and golden sunlight once again sprinkled down upon the land.

Cynthia casually tossed the dark green longbow aside and looked down at the hand she had used to hold it. Numerous red cracks had appeared on her fair skin, and in the more severe spots, the skin had split open, though strangely, no blood flowed out.

This bow really wasn't something one could use casually. Cynthia frowned. Although she had appeared relaxed, she had actually been struggling to form the third arrow.

"Talia was let go by that vampire," Joanna said, standing beside Cynthia. She had been watching the vampires' situation the entire time and had, of course, not missed Avira tearing open a rift for Talia.

This vampire had come with Cynthia. Joanna turned her head to look at Cynthia's face, seemingly hoping to see an expression of resentment or regret.

But she was destined for disappointment. Cynthia didn't even have the interest to glance in Avira's direction. She said nonchalantly, "She's a vampire. Isn't that normal?"

Joanna chuckled lightly. "I thought you were friends."

Cynthia glanced at her and said in a soft tone, "To vampires, other races are always prey. Seeking 'friendship' or 'cooperation' with them is utterly ridiculous."

Joanna's smile remained unchanged as she nodded in agreement.

Cynthia met her gaze for a moment, unable to find any flaw in her act. She lowered her eyes, let out a soft laugh, and turned to walk toward where Olivia was.

Only after Cynthia left did the smile on Joanna's face slowly fade. She looked down at the dark green longbow Cynthia had casually tossed on the ground, her eyes darkening. She walked over and picked it up.

The longbow was heavy; even with her werewolf strength, it was a bit difficult to lift. It was hard to imagine how Cynthia, a member of the God Race, had held it so effortlessly.

Werewolves preferred close combat and rarely used such weapons, but that didn't mean they couldn't use them. Joanna lowered her gaze and examined the longbow for a while, her fingers lightly touching the string as she tried to form an arrow. But the longbow showed no reaction, and the string felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds, refusing to budge.

As expected, the problem wasn't the bow, but Cynthia.

Joanna absentmindedly placed the longbow on the ground. An elder came up behind her and said in a low voice, "Clan Leader Helen has arrived."

As her words fell, giant white and gray wolves emerged from all directions, some with the vampires they had encountered on the way still clamped in their jaws.

After the werewolves arrived, they began to help the elves clean up the aftermath. Talia had escaped, but many of the third and fourth-generation vampires she had brought were left behind. Some of the more resourceful ones had fled in the chaos, but many were intercepted by the elves.

Although Helen could not see, she could still sense from the chaotic auras within the Elf Territory how fierce the battle had been.

In particular, the lingering divine power of the Goddess of the Forest in the air reminded Helen of the last battle that had taken place here. Although they had won, the Elf Race had paid a heavy price.

"The vampires have been repelled by Cynthia, but Queen Olivia will need to recuperate for a while," Joanna said, coming to Helen's side. She sighed heavily. "The vampires deliberately lured us to Yezreet. Thank goodness for Cynthia, otherwise..."

Helen had already understood the vampires' plot after hearing about the attack on the elves from Hanni. She remained silent for a moment, her voice filled with suppressed fury. "This is the second time. The Sitatul Continent will never be at peace until the vampires are driven out."

Joanna patted Helen's shoulder comfortingly. "They were heavily injured by Cynthia. They should behave for a while."

"Cynthia?" Helen was somewhat surprised. "She heavily injured Talia?"

Joanna briefly recounted what had just happened to Helen, who was also astonished to hear that Cynthia could use divine power.

Helen and the elders were the first to arrive at the Elf Territory. Hanni and the remaining members of the Wolf Race arrived much later. By the time they got there, the vampires within the Elf Territory had already been cleared out.

"Clan Leader, have all the vampires been driven away?" Hanni asked as she ran to Helen's side. Only then did she notice Joanna standing opposite her. She asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

So Joanna and her people didn't go to Yezreet because they came to support the elves? But how did she know the elves were under attack?

Helen tilted her head slightly, facing Joanna's direction, also having some doubts about this.

"On our way to Yezreet, we encountered a few vampires acting suspiciously. We followed them to the vicinity of the Elf Territory and sensed that the aura here wasn't right, so we came to investigate," Joanna explained in a natural tone, her expression calm and without any guilt. "Unfortunately, we were still too late and couldn't be of much help."

Helen frowned. "What about the vampires you were tracking?"

"I've already killed them. They were likely gathering here on Talia's orders."

Helen nodded. Suddenly, another group of werewolves arrived. This group looked very young. A girl who bore a slight resemblance to Helen ran over, stood close to her, and called out, "Mother."

As Hanna spoke, she looked at Hanni on the other side, reached out, and pulled her over. "Where did you run off to, Hanni?" she whispered.

Hanna's question reminded Hanni of being "captured" by Avira earlier in the territory. She didn't dare to look at Joanna's expression and mumbled evasively, "I went to find Clan Leader Helen."

She quickly changed the subject, asking, "Why did it take you all so long to get here?" Hanna's group had left the territory with Joanna.

"The vice clan leader and the others went to track some vampires midway. We were waiting for them in the same spot. Elder Mott just came to get us, and that's when I learned about the attack on the elves," Hanna said, looking around, also feeling angry about what the vampires had done.

Hanna's words matched what Joanna had said. Helen reached out and stroked her daughter's hair, saying nothing.

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