Chapter 245: An Ancient Sanguine

Chapter 245: An Ancient Sanguine

“So hungry…”

Amid words that sounded almost like sleep-talking, the little boy Jack raised his head and looked toward Joshua, who wore the crimson glove.

“So hungry…”

His mouth abruptly split open, all the way to the base of his ears. White teeth lined up neatly, and slightly viscous saliva continuously spilled outward.

At the same time, he pounced, lunging toward Joshua before him so quickly that a broken afterimage remained in place.

Although Joshua was on high alert, he still could not react in time.

Before he could even see the process clearly, the little boy Jack had already arrived before him.

Thud!

The pale-haired figure seemed to slam into an invisible wall, stopping one step away from Joshua.

Little Jack clung in midair. Black light tinged with red suddenly surged from his body, corroding the transparent barrier that blocked him with a sizzling sound.

Behind Joshua and Derrick, at some unknown point, Demon Hunter Colin had already dropped to one knee and thrust the straight sword coated in silver-gray ointment into the ground.

Immediately afterward, the entire region where the altar stood brightened in an instant, as though it had been filled with the purest dawn.

Colin abruptly drew his sword. His figure strangely split, turning into layer upon layer of afterimages distributed around the altar.

Every one of those figures raised the sword in its hand at the same time. Combined with the surrounding dawn, they bloomed with brilliant radiance.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

One straight sword after another stabbed out. The light of dawn surged and gathered, surrounding the little boy Jack from every direction.

Within the splendor that resembled a rising sun, the figure tinted with black and red rapidly evaporated, dissolving into nothing amid the storm-like assault.

Inside the underground hall where the altar stood, the light became extraordinarily bright, shining so strongly that Derrick Berg could not help closing his eyes.

He abruptly fell into a daze and woke from deep sleep, seeing before him a quietly burning campfire and the team members faithfully guarding the campsite.

Demon Hunter Colin, who sat cross-legged beside a stone pillar, opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, “We set out after fifty lightning flashes.”

Hearing this, Derrick raised his head to look at the sky and discovered that the frequency of the lightning had not yet increased noticeably. Darkness remained the sovereign of this land.

Thinking of the city-state they were about to reach and that temple of the Fallen Creator, he found himself unable to suppress his nervousness.

After spending some time calming his mind, Derrick quickly ate, recovering his combat state.

I wonder what will happen in that temple… Gripping the Hurricane Axe, he came to the middle of the team.

Inside the camp, lanterns covered with thin beast hide were lit one after another.

…

15 Minsk Street.

Klein boiled hot water, adjusted the temperature, and comfortably took a bath.

With the languor that followed bathing, he walked four steps counterclockwise and entered the space above the gray fog, intending to use divination to confirm matters concerning the evil spirit.

Inside the silent ancient palace, Klein leaned back against the chair and seriously considered which divination method to choose and how to design the divination statement. It had to accord with the principles of mysticism, could not involve finely divided exclusions, and had to contain sufficient information.

After a brief stillness, Klein leaned forward, materialized paper and pen, and wrote what he wished to confirm:

“The evil spirit inside the ruins harbors strong malice toward Sharron and me.”

Removing the pendulum from his left wrist, Klein held it in one hand and began meditating.

After murmuring the statement repeatedly, he opened his eyes and looked ahead.

This time, the citrine pendant was spinning clockwise with wild intensity!

That meant the evil spirit’s malice was even stronger than Klein had originally imagined!

At the time, neither Miss Sharron’s nor my spiritual intuition reacted abnormally… That evil spirit is also a powerhouse capable of interfering with divination and prophecy… Heh. He certainly couldn’t have imagined that one of us restrains desires and will not have her eyes blinded by greed, while the other has experienced too many things and understands what it means to “seek the skin of a tiger”… Klein sighed once, returned to the real world, and slipped into bed.

Unfortunately, the heat brought by the Sun Brooch is only a psychological sensation. It can’t warm the blankets… Before falling asleep, he closed his eyes and thought regretfully.

…

South Borough of the Bridge, Rose Street, Harvest Church.

Emlyn White finished wiping the last chair, straightened, and said to Father Utravsky with unconcealed impatience, “I’ve finished today’s work!”

Damn old man, don’t get another sudden idea and make me copy scripture! Emlyn instinctively prayed in his heart.

And at some unknown point, the target of his prayers had changed from the Moon to Mother Earth.

Father Utravsky stood there, making the vampire seem like a child beside him.

He smiled and said, “Recently, you have already been able to experience the happiness and relaxation that come from laboring with a spirit of devotion and a heart of gratitude. Go back, quietly sense the pulse of life itself and the pure joy it brings.”

“I have not!” Emlyn denied reflexively.

Father Utravsky looked at him with a kindly smile and said nothing. He turned, found a place to sit, and began his fixed nightly prayer.

Emlyn White’s lips moved as though he wanted to argue, but in the end he said nothing. Silently, he left Harvest Church and, out of habit, pulled the door closed behind him.

When he returned to his current residence, he found the house deserted and cold. His parents were nowhere to be seen.

Only then, seeing this, did he remember that tonight there was a Sanguine gathering in the Backlund region.

“Those fellows truly lack dignity. As noble Sanguine, they should sleep properly in coffins or stay inside their own rooms. Why imitate humans and hold all sorts of gatherings? They even dance!” Emlyn muttered a few words of disdain.

As he spoke, he touched his stomach and swallowed. In the end, he decided to change clothes and attend the gathering.

“The Audra family truly is enviable. They actually have pure human partners and have opened several hospitals. Every day there is fresh blood. They can drink whenever they want and as much as they want.” Emlyn put on his tall black top hat and swiftly walked out the door.

West Borough, inside a villa-like house brightly lit from within.

Emlyn lifted a glass filled with scarlet liquid and took a thirsty sip.

As expected, it was carefully selected… He half closed his eyes and sincerely praised it.

At that moment, in the dance hall, one handsome man or beautiful woman after another embraced and danced to romantic music, sometimes spinning, sometimes strolling.

“What is so interesting about that?” Emlyn stood near the second-floor railing, looking down at his kin below.

As the greatest metropolis in the entire world, Backlund was home to many vampires. They hid in every line of work, integrating themselves completely into human society.

As for those fellows who could not restrain their destructive and bloodthirsty desires, they were either sent to ancient castles deep in the mountains, or eliminated internally in advance to prevent the Nighthawks, Mandated Punishers, and other official Beyonder organizations from finding clues.

Looking at his kin who grew more energetic the later the night became, Emlyn increasingly felt that he had no common language with them.

At that moment, the host of tonight’s banquet, Casimi Audra, walked over with a glass in hand and asked with a smile, “Do you like tonight’s ‘wine’?”

“Of course. Its owner was young enough and possessed decent vitality.” Emlyn straightened his back, assuming a noble posture.

From appearance alone, Casimi Audra looked like a very refined middle-aged gentleman. But Emlyn knew that he was already over two hundred years old. He had once witnessed Intis under Emperor Roselle’s rule. Later, because he had “lived” too long and feared his neighbors would notice something wrong, he had moved to Loen.

Hearing Emlyn’s praise, Casimi smiled.

“Yes. Its owner was a young lady, wounded by a thief and nearly losing her life. Fortunately, she encountered me. And this is the necessary price she paid for her recovery.

“You may sample the wine over there, and over there as well. Their owners respectively come from Balam and Feneport, with different flavors.”

“Feneport? Mother Goddess, the humans there are so fond of chili peppers that even their blood carries a spiciness I can hardly endure. Mother Goddess…” As Emlyn spoke, he suddenly stopped. His expression instantly went blank.

The corner of Casimi’s mouth twitched, and he pretended he had heard nothing.

In the awkward silence, he cleared his throat and said, “Emlyn, my grandfather wishes to see you.”

“Your grandfather?” Emlyn first froze, then widened his eyes. “Lord Nibbs?”

Nibbs Audra was a powerful Sanguine who had been active during the Fourth Epoch. But the long years had made his life withered, forcing him to spend most of his time sleeping inside a cold coffin.

Casimi nodded solemnly.

“Yes.”

With that, he turned and walked toward another staircase on the second floor, never considering the possibility that Emlyn might disagree.

Emlyn followed behind uneasily, somewhat at a loss, wildly wondering why Lord Nibbs had summoned him.

Could it be that he finally understands the honor of the Sanguine is more important and has decided to help me remove Father Utravsky’s psychological cue? As he walked, Emlyn White began to feel intense hope.

Following the staircase into the underground region, Emlyn White passed through several secret doors and entered a spacious gray hall.

At the center of the hall lay a heavy coffin that looked as though it had been forged from black iron, its surface engraved with many symbols and magical markings.

After Casimi Audra reported their arrival, a deep, aged voice slowly came from within the coffin.

“Emlyn White, do you know why I have summoned you?”

“Honorable Lord Nibbs, I believe you intend to help me remove the psychological cue,” Emlyn answered without the slightest hesitation.

The underground hall briefly fell silent. Only after several seconds did Nibbs Audra, lying in the coffin, chuckle.

“That is one purpose, but the one to help you is not me.

“I have just awakened from a long dream because I received revelation from the Ancestor.”

“The Ancestor? He—He has revived?” The one who cried out in surprise was not Emlyn, but Casimi Audra.

After the Cataclysm, doesn’t the Ancestor only respond on certain major matters? Emlyn listened in bewilderment.

“No, not yet.” Nibbs said in a low voice. “The Ancestor told me that the apocalypse is already very near. We must prepare for it, and you, Emlyn White, are one of several key figures in the revelation of the Ancestor.”

“The apocalypse?” Casimi asked in astonishment.

Emlyn, however, had only one thought:

I, Emlyn White, was actually, actually mentioned by the Ancestor! I am the key to the Sanguine surviving the apocalypse!

Nibbs ignored his grandson’s question and continued, “Emlyn White, I now entrust you with a matter.”

“Please speak,” Emlyn said, feeling that he truly was far too humble. Even after hearing those words, when facing Lord Nibbs, he still did not develop any arrogance.

Nibbs Audra spoke in a solemn tone.

“Find an opportunity to pray to the Fool.”

“Ah?” Emlyn suspected that he had misheard.

Nibbs added in a low voice, “The Fool whose honorific name has only recently begun circulating.”