Lilith Milan, formerly known as Fina Milan, was a high-level Blood Tribe member. She was the main character of the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale. Due to her past, she lacked trust and a sense of security towards men, which was why her sexual orientation was slightly off.
But ever since the era of Sulfur Mountain City, she had been my most trusted subordinate … Fine, the main reason was that my other subordinates were far too unreliable and untrustworthy.
She separated work from personal matters, was calm when faced with problems, and was deeply trusted by her colleagues. Most importantly, she had common sense, which was more than enough to leave those bastards behind.
Due to Amelia's appearance, after her background and identity were exposed, the Church of Law's higher-ups' first reaction was whether or not she would leave. Without her, it would be difficult for the Church of Law to operate normally. That would be a huge problem.
Fortunately, she had already made her choice by quietly working hard. She still chose to remain in the Church of Law.
However, a few days ago, she and Amelia suddenly left, which surprised us quite a bit. She didn't tell us anything about what she had left behind. Now that we met her here, although we still had a method to communicate with each other, we were still quite surprised.
"Why are you here? Isn't Amelia together with you? Where's she? "
Lilith's face was pale as she shook her head. However, the blood seeping out of the corner of her mouth was the best explanation. When looking closely, it was obvious that she was ill and in poor condition.
"Eh? You're injured? Are your injuries serious? "
Lilith's life form had been changed by a secret forbidden spell. She was a special Blood Tribe with no previous generations. She was a so-called true ancestor. Although she was quite young (compared to other Blood Tribe members), not only did she not fear sunlight, she was also quite powerful. Vampires were also blessed by the heavens when it came to recovering from injuries. When even her most precious blood went out of control, it was likely that she was seriously injured.
"Cough … I'm a bit injured. I … didn't drink blood."
I instantly understood. Due to certain reasons, Lilith's long-term meal ticket had always been girls she was "close to". She had never attacked anyone before.
Apparently, as a Blood Tribe member who followed the Church of Law, she had a rather high moral bottom line. Even though she was injured, she had no intention of attacking anyone. She had actually managed to survive until now, but now that her injuries were so severe, her instincts were almost out of control. She was even looking at Yawen with green eyes.
Why was this picky vampire only looking at Yawen? Kolos had been Lilith's colleague for many years. Kolos knew exactly what she was thinking. Not only that, she had also been sent out on a mission today. Heloise appeared to be quite delicious, but Lilith's Blood Tribe instincts reminded her that underneath her beauty was definitely a terrifying monster. She couldn't even open her mouth. Little Red's dragon blood would be quite nutritious, but Lilith didn't even dare to mention it. Lilith's only choice was probably the female Gray Elf Knight.
"… I … can handle it."
But since he was coughing up blood as he spoke, it was obvious that he couldn't continue holding on like this. Regardless of whether it was Druil's Life Magic or the Holy Knight's Holy Light, they would only have a negative effect on the Blood Tribe. Herbs and first aid wouldn't work on an undead body either. If he continued to lose blood, it was hard to say whether he would be able to maintain his sanity.
"Let me do it."
Although that was what Yawen said, I knew that she wouldn't be able to do it. The Moonlight Ritual had a process that was similar to needles constantly piercing through the skin. The blood loss would be quite significant, and it would be difficult to replenish the blood loss now. Not to mention, it was quite easy for the Blood Tribe to lose control when they were injured. It would be difficult to say if Yawen was killed.
"Who else can do it?"
Alright then, since there were no females, I would just have to make do with males. Lilith glanced over at me. Cohen was too weak, Eaglestorm was too old, and biting Beifeng was too dangerous for her. Then, her green eyes landed on me. She discovered to her astonishment that my master's blood had an alluring aroma similar to that of three-hundred-year-old red wine.
"Master …"
Her hungry gaze sent chills down my spine. I looked left and right, only to see that everyone was taking pleasure in my misfortune and that everyone was retreating in unison.
I had dug a hole for myself, so I could only helplessly stretch out my sleeves and look out the window, not daring to even look.
"Be a little gentler. I'm most afraid of injections. Right, my blood vessels are rather deep, so you won't need to insert too many needles, right? Just bite me. "
Alright then, at the very least, she was much better than those lousy nurses. Even though I was bleeding from just one mouthful, even though I was clearly reaching out with my arm, it was my neck that was hurting … Who said that it would feel great to have their blood sucked out by a Blood Tribe member? Step out, and I guarantee that I won't beat them to death … As for that strange numbing pleasure after that, it was definitely a misconception. Yep, a misconception.
"What a rare delicacy. As expected of the Peach King …"
"Shut up! If you keep talking nonsense, you won't get to drink anymore. "
…
"You're saying that a Dimensional Descent occurred? How is that possible!? "
"Yes, Aunt Amelia (why does this sound so strange) met with an incredibly powerful opponent, and we were separated. But, that's how she came to this conclusion. "
Soon, Lilith, who was now full of energy, was revived. She also explained what had happened in high spirits.
It turned out that Amelia's sudden departure had been due to a major incident. The border conflict between the Bardi Empire and the Mage Country had already escalated into a local war. However, such a "small matter" wouldn't be enough to affect Amelia. After all, although she was one of the highest-ranked archmages in the Mage Country, as well as a member of the Bardi Empire's royalty, not only had she been inactive for many years, it was likely that both Bardi Empire and Bardi Empire wanted to remove her from the Bardi Empire due to her ridiculous behavior.
What truly made her decide was a private message she received from her subordinates back in the Bardi Empire. The message mentioned that a large-scale blood sacrifice had occurred in Port Victoria, a commercial city that had just become part of the Bardi Empire. There seemed to be signs of high-level undead appearing there as well. Not only that, more than twenty strange black towers had been erected outside the city. The tips of these towers seemed to have purplish-black crystals that were glowing, and there seemed to be ghosts wailing in the surroundings.
"Soul-Summoning Towers" were incredibly common in undead magic. Just like archmages' mage towers, they were also common mage fortresses. There were countless different types of towers based on their functions and sizes, but the most basic function was definitely there — summoning the souls of the dead and refining the souls into the undead mage's mana to increase the power of undead magic. As long as there were enough dead and undead in the area, an undead archmage with a Soul-Summoning Tower would have nearly limitless mana.
This was also why the Gods despised the undead. However, the creator of the Soul-Summoning Tower didn't dare to go too far or even interfere with the Cycle of Reincarnation. Souls that had their mana extracted from them could still enter the Cycle of Reincarnation, but the prerequisite was that they hadn't been transformed into an undead due to extreme hatred and pain.
Although Soul-Summoning Towers were weaker than mage towers, they were often made of undead materials, which meant that they were much cheaper to build and took much less time to build. Of course, the side effect was that everyone would want to beat them up. And whenever a Soul-Summoning Tower was erected in a certain location, it would doubtlessly mean that a high-level undead already existed there, which would mean that the Holy Church's crusaders would probably be on their way.
"… But since the Bardi Empire has already exiled the Holy Church and Holy Light job class members, and the government is still strangely silent, the various organizations and citizens of Port Victoria can only fend for themselves. Aunt Amelia has a friend there. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the situation was already in chaos. The Undead Plane's Descent has already begun. "
Lilith's story caused everyone in the room to suck in a cold breath. Although she said it so casually, anyone who knew what a Dimensional Descent was could imagine the hellish tragedy. But what astonished me even more was that Amelia actually had friends … Ahem, ahem, let's get back to the main topic.
"Are you certain that it's a Dimensional Descent, and not just the opening of a Death Plane Dimensional Door?"
"This is Aunt Amelia's judgment. Plus, with everything that happened afterwards, there should be no mistake."
"Dimensional Descent" was a term that mages rarely used. It referred to the fact that two planes were so close to each other that parts of the plane would overlap. This usually happened around Dimensional Doors. For example, if the Earth Elemental Dimensional Door in Antoon had successfully opened, the surrounding environment would undergo Elemental Dimensional Transformation. The large number of small and medium-sized earth elementals that naturally formed at that time was the best evidence.
But even if a Dimensional Door was completely connected, it would still count as the surrounding environment undergoing Dimensional Transformation. There wouldn't be a complete overlap between the two planes. If the Dimensional Transformation brought about by an ordinary Dimensional Door was like adding sugar to a cup of water, then a Dimensional Descent would be the equivalent of two cups of water being squeezed into a cup. The end result would most likely be the cup shattering.
"If the Dimensional Descent is an Elemental Plane, then more than half of the living creatures in the area will instantly die. The remaining survivors will also take on the characteristics of elemental creatures, and they'll probably never be able to return to the mortal plane. If the Dimensional Descent is an Undead Plane filled with negative energy …"
Undoubtedly, as a magic expert, Heloise was the most qualified to make a judgment. But judging from her current expression and silence, she didn't seem too optimistic about the current Victoria Port.
"I trust Amelia's judgment. If it really is the Death Plane, there's no need to think about saving anyone. All the living will instantly transform into the dead, and a part of the Death Plane will appear there. Moreover, it was most likely permanent. This is even more troublesome than the Land of the Dead. "
I nodded. Heloise's judgment was basically the same as mine, but I thought of even more trouble.
"Since Amelia has already become a part of the Undead Plane, then certain existences that are restricted by the dimensional laws of the Undead Plane can descend here. No wonder Amelia was in trouble. It's highly likely that she encountered a true Undead Emperor."
Obviously, the famous city of Victoria had already become history. Almost a million people had been transformed into undead, and the Undead Planes' leaders had their own outposts. However, I felt that since the Bardi Empire had paid such a heavy price, it would definitely leave a bad name in history. That wouldn't be all.
"The Bardi officials aren't responding at all?"
"No, they've blocked off all information. When I escaped, I even saw the Knight squadron blocking off the main road leading to Victoria. Not only that, the caped undead were openly communicating with the military officers, while the skeleton soldiers and zombies were being taken in by the human officers. It was evident that they had reached an agreement. Also … "
"Also?"
"I heard some news. It seems that the Bardi officials are spreading the news that the new undead army is helping the Bardi Empire defeat the Mage Country. Although there's quite a bit of protest, it seems that the Bardi officials are suppressing them."
Victoria Harbor was by the sea, and the Mage Country was on the other side of the strait. With so much information appearing, I could pretty much guess what the Bardi Empire intended to do.
Victoria Harbor was originally a commercial city that belonged to another country. It was a territory that the Bardi Empire had only recently obtained, so it wasn't in the Bardi Empire's favor to begin with. There weren't many warships stationed at the commercial port, and the small and medium-sized merchant ships that were stationed at the port wouldn't be able to carry many people. The Bardi Empire's famous and powerful land forces would only become targets even if they entered the Strait of Debar. It would be impossible for them to use their geographical advantage for military operations.
So much information had appeared. It would be quite troublesome if my guess was correct, so I directly asked Harloys.
"How wide is the Strait of Debar? I only want the distance in a straight line. "
Yawen directly took out a map and used a ruler to draw on it. She then abruptly raised her head after calculating the distance.
"It's less than two hundred kilometers! If the undead army has to travel at full speed, one day and night will definitely be enough. "
The undead didn't fear exhaustion, nor did they need to breathe. What other lifeforms viewed as insurmountable natural obstacles were nothing more than flat roads for the undead.
The seawater was turbulent? The waves were deadly? Even with such a violent storm raging on the horizon, the bottom of the ocean should still be calm.
All the ports on the other side of the sea that could reach the shore were being guarded? In that case, let's just find a random unguarded area and go ashore.
Using the undead's unique lifeform to use all sorts of unconventional tactics was something that I had left behind in the past. But since there was already a precedent, it naturally became a conventional tactic.
At this point, the situation was already very clear. Even the king of a country would not be so obviously reckless. At the very least, if he wanted to unify the various forces in the country, he would have to attach a shell of common interests to his crazy actions and give his subordinates a justifiable reason.
The current Bardi Empire was probably still in a cooperative relationship with the Undead Emperors. As long as the undead could prove their worth, there would be even more opportunities to cooperate with them. Naturally, the undead would also be of assistance. As for Victoria Harbor, which had just been taken over by the Bardi Empire's enemies, who would care about that?
"If the undead army suddenly launches a surprise attack from underwater, with a high-level undead present, even the Mage Country might not be able to defend against it. It's likely that Amelia received some sort of information, which is why she personally came here … Lilith, do you have any detailed information on Amelia? "
Lilith had an uneasy expression as she shook her head. She seemed to lack confidence.
"No. The Dimensional Descent happened not long after we arrived. I'm a member of the Blood Tribe, so I'm naturally fine. But Aunt Amelia, no matter how strong she is, is still a human. She previously fought against a very strong opponent, and I think she was injured …"
I smiled at Lilith's unease. Perhaps this would be a desperate situation for others, but I didn't feel that anything would happen to that insane witch. Her existence far surpassed the limits of life.
"… Relax. She's even more inhuman than you are."
"Relax, Lady Lilith. I can sense that in that direction, Lady Amelia's life force is still as strong as ever. Not only can she last for a month, she can even last for two or three years. Right now, the one in trouble isn't her. It's the undead that angered her."
Lilith was rather skeptical of Eaglestorm's conclusion as he closed his eyes in deep thought. That was because even the Legend Druil wouldn't be able to make such a conclusion from such a great distance.
However, Heloise and I exchanged glances. Eaglestorm had also seen Amelia's complete form in the Earth Elemental Plane. As a forest dweller, Druil's perception of the forest was a natural talent ability, so it was quite normal for him to make such a judgment. If he said that Amelia wouldn't be in trouble for the time being, then she really would be fine.
Even if the worst-case scenario was that Amelia revealed her complete form, she still wouldn't be easy to deal with. I relaxed when I thought of this. But since so much had happened, it was obvious that the rest of our itinerary was set.
"Speed up the preparations and gather all the equipment. We'll depart the day after tomorrow at the latest. It'll be best if we can find a merchant group to protect us. If not, we'll just sneak across!"
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