Chapter 15
1
"Second Princess!" Due to Zifei's fainting and Situ Liyao's foot injury, they couldn't run far at all, only able to rest temporarily. However, the place they rested at this time was not safe in the back kitchen. They had already been discovered by scattered Black Eye and Grey Eye vampires and were surrounded in the park, their backs against the wall.
"Ah~~~" After running for a long time, they finally saw an ordinary person, only to be pounced on by vampires in an instant.
Situ Liyao was physically and mentally exhausted and found it difficult to take care of even herself. The fate of this passerby was also left to chance.
"Attack their heart positions..." That was what the woman told Situ Liyao at the time. She tried to gather the divine fire in her fingers, and suddenly, the divine fire from her five fingers shot out. Two out of five shots hit, with a low success rate and no hits on the heart position, causing the vampires not to be completely eliminated. After being eroded by the fire, they slowly recovered. However, the Black Eye vampires had a low resistance to divine fire, and Liyao felt that if she were stronger, she would burn them to purple powder alive.
Situ Liyao decided not to be greedy and aimed carefully with just one finger.
"Wake up, Second Princess!"
In Zifei's fainting state, both had no hope of escape, and more vampires gathering blocked their retreat.
"Sss~" The divine fire hit the vampire's heart position directly. Situ Liyao did not know that the heart was not an essential organ for vampires. The crucial thing was the drop of blood enveloped by the heart! Flames surged, a ghost howled, purple powder scattered in the wind, and finally, only a drop of blood the size of a thumb remained enveloped in the divine fire. The vampires stared blankly at this drop of blood from their companion before the blood exploded like a lit bomb.
Situ Liyao avoided inhaling the purple powder by swinging her sleeve, as she couldn't be sure if it was toxic.
"It's indeed effective! You mindless fools, stay away from us!" Liyao loudly declared her victory.
The vampires surrounded Situ Liyao but did not attack. They seemed afraid, yet they couldn't retreat, appearing very similar to the Situ Liyao who had been manipulated to assassinate the emperor.
Since the vampires wouldn't leave, Situ Liyao had to fight her way out. However, her shooting accuracy was not high. She regretted relying on the particle system for assistance in the past, resulting in having weapons but lacking the skill now. Plus, these vampires were completely immune to her singing, making her efforts futile.
Situ Liyao could only take down the vampires one by one. At this moment, a silver light sword stabbed into a vampire's heart, and then the blade swung horizontally, cutting down over a dozen vampires, each strike hitting the heart position directly. The light emitted from the silver sword seized a drop of blood from the hearts, gathering into a spell. Unlike the ruthless divine fire, the spell merely entrapped the blood, forming a glass bead-like object that fell to the ground. Subsequently, the silver sword ascended a hundred meters high, and a magic array summoned dozens of light swords imbued with holy light, with refined silver light swords raining from the sky into the hearts of the vampires in the park.
“Young people lack practice. One day they will regret their laziness, even with the divine fire they possess.” The master of the silver sword was a woman in white, and her age was as hard to guess as Guffy's.
"Who are you?"
"Sword Hall mentor—Chen Ming."
Upon hearing the surname Chen, Situ Liyao knew that the vampire hunter had appeared at this critical moment.
"This is great! She is the Second Princess of the Empire, please take her away."
"Second princess? Then you are..."
"Situ... Liyao." Liyao mentioned her surname with some shame, knowing from her own father about the betrayal by the Situ family. It felt shameful to admit her surname, even though she was a dazzling star.
Sure enough, Chen Ming's sword pointed at her.
"You... the Situ family rebelled, why are you still with the second princess! And who hurt the second princess."
"The second princess was knocked out by my father, and my injury was caused by him as well," Situ Liyao touched her throbbing foot wound and continued, "The second princess has been with me since last night. I didn't know about the Situ family's betrayal. Protecting the second princess is my duty."
"You didn't know?"
"If I knew and agreed, would he have broken my legs? I hate this father of mine, ever since my brother was seriously injured, he has become more and more paranoid, even attempting against the emperor several times."
Chen Ming sheathed her silver sword, and as a teenager with her experience, she could tell if Situ Liyao was lying. She could even imagine the harm this incompetent father had caused to Liyao, a look that reminded her of her own daughter, Hanya.
"All of you come with me. There aren't many safe places outside now. Most of the people in the city have already been taken to the suburban safe zone by the royal guards. Remaining here are only three types of people: vampires gone mad, Situ's rebel forces, and us hunters."
The three of them were hindered by the fact that both girls were injured, so Chen Ming couldn't take them far. The closest place to them was the Chen family estate.
Inside a guest room at the Chen family estate, Chen Ming carefully bandaged both girls. In the current chaotic times, finding a healer was very difficult, so she had to personally use rudimentary Light Magic along with medicines and bandages.
Meanwhile, Zilie Song was sitting in front of Situ Liyao, and his gaze made Liyao feel uneasy. Chen Ming gently nudged Liyao to break out of the emperor's gaze.
"Alright, I'll go outside to see if I can find a healer."
Chen Ming left the room, giving Situ Liyao and the emperor some alone time.
"Don't be nervous. First of all, I thank you for protecting Zili and Zixu. Zixu married abroad two years ago, Li Liu disappeared, and now she's the only one left by my side."
"Whether it's the second princess or anyone else, I have no reason to turn a blind eye, but..." Situ Liyao's body trembled slightly. The image of her father, vampire-like, flashed in her mind. Unconsciously, her father had left too many shadows on her. As a girl, she was inherently looked down upon. Even as a dazzling star, her father never showed an ounce of fatherly love, cold and indifferent, especially after becoming a vampire, there was no turning back.
Suddenly, a warm and gentle hand was placed lightly on Situ Liyao's head, startling her. Zilie Song and her were now only an arm's length apart, and she rarely felt such warmth.
"I have been in this position for so many years, I am not a fool. I can discern who conspires against the country and who is innocent. You don't need to worry about whether the Situ family's actions implicate you."
Situ Liyao let out a sigh of relief. Then she said, "Your Majesty, my father is afraid that you will hold him accountable, so..."
"In fact... I do intend to find someone to replace him."
Zilie Song returned to his seat. Since they were now discussing serious matters, he couldn't converse with Situ Liyao in a fatherly tone. He continued, "I have thought about the replacement, but in the current situation, Situ could have made a name for himself in the war and fought for his last chance. Unfortunately, a month ago, he came into contact with vampires, willingly became one two weeks ago, and it's been two weeks since the vampire population surged. Even though the Chen family has been tirelessly pursuing them, from young to old, it seems endless." Zilie Song could accurately track Duke Situ's movements, knowing that he had been under surveillance the whole time.
"Perhaps not even he anticipated that a unprecedented war would break out on this day two weeks later."
"It is indeed unprecedented. All eyes in The Human Realm are upon us. Whether the Divine Clan can be defeated, whether humans are still as feeble as they were thirteen million years ago, all will be answered in this war."
Zi Liesong stood up and gazed outside. Communication now was nearly blocked, with only short-distance telecommunication signals available. For the Divine Clan, using Magic for communication would be easier to eavesdrop on than telecommunication.
At this moment, Zi Liesong had no idea that outside the imperial capital, Othrie's students would be protecting Othrie's key cities with remarkable success.
"Situ Liyao, if you can rescue the Situ family from the hands of traitors and bring them back, you will immediately succeed as the duke. I can forgive the past, after all, the Situ family possesses a significant amount of manpower and weaponry during wartime. I do not wish to lose that fighting force."
"Me? Your Majesty trusts me?"
"To be honest, I have no other choice, but I believe in your heart, which is different from your father's!"
Situ Liyao looked at Zi Liesong and nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, Chen Ming, along with other vampire hunters, had located the clock tower on Central Street. After damaging the tower in an attempt to lay siege to the vampires, a deafening roar echoed through the imperial city, and cracks appeared in the defensive Magic….
Prior to the chains reaching the surface of the sea, Undeclared Angel eagerly unleashed a magical cannon from its mouth. Although the distance from the sea to the imperial capital was about eight hundred kilometers, the magical cannon did not weaken at all. The terrifying atmosphere did not emanate from Undeclared Angel alone, but from all the angels. The attack from Undeclared Angel made all the angels feel uneasy.
"You... are you afraid that you will also become so ugly, no longer in your pristine form? Undeclared Angel cannot fall from grace..." The voice, gentle yet ruthless, echoed in the ears of all the angels, enveloping the vast land of Othrie. The angels did not know where the voice came from or where the person was, but every angel over two thousand years old felt the voice was familiar, lacking only in emotions from their memories.
"Where are you?"
"In the sky."
Glancing at each other, Undeclared Angel coldly responded and then shook the chains to disrupt the angels holding them, making them unable to fly properly. Finding the halfway sky too obstructive for accurate shooting, Undeclared Angel stirred up a riot upon landing in the sea, causing giant waves of two hundred meters along the coastline. The harbor was a wreck, and defensive towers were erected along the imperial city's coastline. Although the firepower of the towers against the Divine Clan was minimal, it still managed to hold an advantage.
Undeclared Angel once again fired the magical cannon, causing a deafening roar that made even their ears bleed.
Space Magic appeared in front of the cannon trajectory, entering the spatial tunnel from above the Angel Legion and being teleported back. The legion was in chaos, shocked, wondering who was above the Angel Legion.
"He's gone." Undeclared Angel once again revealed the opponent's movements, which was not all that surprising. Although now with only a pair of ugly wings, Undeclared Angel was originally an eighteen-winged Angel, superior to all the grand Angels present.
Above the imperial capital, the black and white eighteen-winged Angel pierced through the clouds, descending slowly. She calmly raised the shining object in her right hand after glimpsing at the intense explosion in the Angel Legion. In that moment, all spatial teleportation Magic was interrupted, and Angels could not be deployed. Undeclared Angel began to feel uneasy, sensing that this shining object posed a significant threat to the Divine Clan. What made him even more uneasy was the appearance of the black and white wings and Nofice's face.
"Quiet!" The Angels on the other end of the chains pulled with all their might, chanting spells on the chains to only slightly restrain the Fallen Angel.
"It's her! It's her! It's her..." The Fallen Angel, in agonizing pain from the chains, paid no attention, desperately trying to break free, trying to get closer...closer to confirm if he was mistaken. After two thousand years, he had thought she would never appear before the Angels again. Yet, to his dismay, the Fallen Angel who had been imprisoned for so long saw the last Angel he wanted to remember – Nofice, with her eighteen wings.
