Chapter 244: The Marks Etched into Her Soul

Smoke signaling the arrival of enemy forces cloaked the fluttering scarlet banners, merging with the cacophony of clashing metal that incessantly tore through the air. Peace and tranquility had been irrevocably lost, washed away in the tides of war.

The scene inside the city-state was marked by the cries of infants and the roar of engulfing flames, serving as a somber and final postlude to its glorious past.

Like smoke in the wind, its once-pristine landscape had been consumed by oblivion.

Those memories, fleeting and fragmented, held profound significance to her. Yet, they only existed in a moment of wavering focus, before vanishing into thin air like a mirage beyond her reach.

“You recognize her, parasite?” Ji Bai asked, glancing at Lin beside him, who seemed slightly dazed.

If things went as planned, he would get all the necessary information from Gordon. Unless absolutely necessary, there was no point in challenging a vampire of unknown origins and strength.

He was not eager to fight such a troublesome opponent. If Lin happened to know this vampire, perhaps he could leverage their past connection to avoid a confrontation altogether.

Even so, Ji Bai could not help but regard her with wariness and hostility.

“…I don’t know her.” Lin denied. She had only hesitated because she sensed a vampire bloodline similar to her own.

This did not surprise Ji Bai; He knew that members of vampire royalty could sense each other’s bloodlines.

“Is that so? Perhaps you could try communicating with her?” Ji Bai suggested, as he watched the girl suddenly lowered her head in silence.

“I don’t think that will work.” Lin wanted to elaborate further but stopped and shook her head.

“Why not?”

“She already intends to kill us.” Lin replied, her voice flat and emotionless.

“Hmm?” Ji Bai looked up. The massive shadow looming over him told him everything he needed to know.

The scythe of the Primordial God’s projection slashed downwards, unleashing a howling gale in its wake.

Before it struck, Ji Bai could hear the earth roar and tremble beneath him. The next instant, a massive shadow rose into the sky, threatening to engulf him completely.

Dark, turbulent wind surged, its magical energy so dense that it blocked out all light.

To unleash a Primordial Vein-level spell with such reckless abandon… Ji Bai wondered if Cherrywing possessed an inexhaustible well of magic, or if she was indifferent to the potential consequences of her actions. Did she truly have no allies nearby who might be caught in the crossfire?

Also, what was vampire royalty doing in this place? Even he was incapable of seeing how pure her Primordial Vein was…

As the illusory scythe descended with overwhelming force, threatening to crush everything like a fragile pile of eggs, a massive, claw-shaped black hand suddenly emerged and stopped its advance.

[Despair Class —The Void Hands of The Eldritch]

The wind whipped through Lin’s silvery-gray hair as her chanting intensified, causing the black palm to steadily solidify as time passed. Astonishingly, it held its ground against the relentless scythe, showing no signs of giving way anytime soon.

“I can tell from all your shifty vermin eyes that you’re up to no good.” Cherrywing’s face turned icy as she dismissed the unfamiliar images flitting past her mind as an illusionary spell her opponent cast on her.

“Every one of you will die as Father wills. This little show of yours is only delaying the inevitable.” Said Cherrywing. She waved her hand, causing the icy-cold flames burning in the skeleton’s eye sockets to intensify further.

“Chk…” A trace of sweat appeared on Lin’s forehead.

As expected, the chasm between a Primordial-Vein and a Despair class spell was not something that could be bridged by mere effort alone.

Yet, despite the odds and struggle to maintain the energy needed to sustain the [Void Hands of the Eldritch], Lin had chosen to split her focus and began preparations to release a second spell.

Unfortunately, the unforgiving nature of the battlefield — where life and death were decided in an instant — afforded her no such leeway to do so.

The primordial god projection exuded a constant pressure, rendering Lin completely incapable of focusing and gathering the magical energy in her body.

“Die, grey-haired vermin.” Cherrywing said with a devilish smile, revealing her canines. Her patience had run out after watching her prey put up their last, desperate struggle; She was going to crush them with all her might.

However, she had clearly overlooked one crucial detail: The grey-haired girl before her was not alone.

“Hyah! …Feast your eyes on my skill, Magical Girl Takes Flight!” A metal hammer came to a halt mere inches from Cherrywing, its powerful air currents whipping against her delicate frame.

“You despicable brute…” They tore through her hand, exposing her bones beneath the gash. Yet she remained completely unfazed, a chilling murderous aura surging out from her.

[Disaster-class — Enlarge]

Cherrywing snatched a small, fluttering bat from beside her and hurled it at Huo Lei. As it flew, its form rapidly swelled and grew in size.

“Take this! Mountain Tiger’s Descent!” Huo Lei channeled his strength and swung with all his might at the massive bat charging towards him.

“Boom!!” The instant the hammer connected, the massive bat instantly detonated like a container full of gunpowder that had been struck. The fierce flames that erupted swallowed Huo Lei, who was at its epicenter.

“Truly the epitome of foolishness.” Cherrywing laughed callously while clapping her hands.

To take the bat-bomb head-on was no different than signing one’s own death warrant.

“Squech!” Suddenly, her eyes shot open, as the sound of metal cutting into flesh filled the air. Unable to utter anything, she could only watch as blood surged from her throat and crimson bubbles frothed at the corners of her mouth.

“Shick!” A longsword had pierced through her body, exiting her shoulder and severed her neck in one swift chop.

Even so, traces of a smile clung to her pale face.

Her scarlet blood splattered onto the silvery-white blade, its gleam reflecting the icy gaze that was emanating from the attacker’s helmet.

[Demon Slayer — Crimson Memorandum]

“How are you holding up? Do you think you can keep going?” He asked, nudging Huo Lei, whose features had become unrecognizable from the burns.

“Cough… A-Ahaha… I-I’m fine. No need to worry… I’m not checking out just yet, not without that drink you promised… Cough, cough…” Despite drawing on the formidable vitality of his troll heritage, Huo Lei was barely clinging onto life as his consciousness grew hazy from his severe injuries.

“Why do you have to be the first to rush in every time…?”

“Hahaha… It’s my creed.” Huo Lei answered, blood spluttering from his mouth. His words were slurred and barely intelligible as they escaped through the few teeth he had left.

“…That drink is still waiting for you, I promise. So you’re not allowed to die before then.”

“Relax. You’ll be joining him soon.” A cold, emotionless voice rang out behind Ji Bai.

Even with her chest pierced and her head chopped off, Cherrywing was still alive. Such resilience was the hallmark of the vampire race.

Ji Bai rose to his feet. Wiping the blood off his sword with his tattered knight’s gown, he turned to face the silver-haired girl, who seemed completely unharmed.

“You vampires cling to life with the tenacity of a cockroach.”

“Vampires? No, I’m not a vampire. I’m just Father’s obedient daughter— that’s all.” Her head tilted, Cherrywing’s face was devoid of any emotions.

“Great, now we’ve got another nutcase on our hands.” Ji Bai shook his head.

“Boom!!” An explosion erupted behind him, sending a gust of wind whipping through his long gown.

“This is bad, Benefactor Ji. It seems that Benefactor Lin is nearing her limits!”

As he expected, the parasite was no match for her.

Despite her royal lineage, she was less than half a century old and lacked the battle experience of her elders. On top of that, she was not a direct heir to the throne and had yet to fully tap into the depths of her power.

“What’s her status?”

“Status? Uhm… It’s difficult for this humble Taoist to articulate. To put it bluntly, she has been savagely slain. Her body has been dismembered, left in bits and pieces, and her appearance… is no longer intact.”

“Alright, got it. It shouldn’t pose too much of a problem for her; As long as she hasn’t been completely pulverized into molecules, she should be alright.” Ji Bai weighed the silver longsword in his hand.

While the [Primordial Vein] skill was deadly, it had only grazed her; Moreover, vampires of royal bloodlines possessed a resilience far beyond that of their compatriots, making it nigh impossible to kill them this easily.

“Mortal, do you really believe you can take me on alone? Such audacity! Only a puny creature from an inferior species could be so foolish and arrogant.” Ji Bai’s stance drew a sneer from Cherrywing.

“Hmm. Tell me, do you know Lilias?” He asked, his hands wrapped around his sword. It was almost as if he was talking to himself.

“I’m not familiar with her nor do I have any interest in doing so.”

“You don’t? That’s too bad.”

“What are you getting here, plebeian?” Cherrywing narrowed her cherry-red eyes.

“Out of all the vampires I know, she’s the strongest.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Oh, it concerns you more than you realize.” Ji Bai said, shouldering his longsword and gesturing with his finger. “I once beat her so badly she was on her knees begging for mercy, too afraid to even raise a hand against me.… Compared to her, your fighting is nothing but child’s play. You wouldn’t last a second against her.”

“Foolish mortal. You’ve got some nerves indeed.” Cherrywing said with a chilling laughter. Six pairs of demon wings unfurled behind her with reckless abandon and launched her into the sky.

“Twelve wings…” Ji Bai’s complexion turned somber as he realized his strategy to provoke Cherrywing had backfired. The enigmatic vampire had erupted in a fury he had not anticipated.

Still, the image of her possessing twelve wings baffled Ji Bai…

He could not help but wonder what it meant.

After all, even a powerful figure like Lilias possessed only 2 demon wings.

“Boom!!” Before Ji Bai could make sense of his thoughts, a force akin to a raging tsunami descended from the skies and bore down on his head.

“Ugh…!”

“Crack!” His silver longsword, sharp and strong enough to cleave through thick troll skin with ease, instantly shattered into pieces. A moment later, his hands suffered the same fate.

Blood sprayed and bones cracked as Ji Bai, whose hands were now utterly destroyed, collapsed to his knees with a thud.

His [Radiant Armor] activated just in the nick of time, preventing his soul and body from being pulverized into dust.

“Groan…”

The formless might relentlessly pressed against the [Radiant Armor], producing a groaning sound that was enough to make anyone’s scalp go numb.

“Interesting. You managed to withstand 20% of my [Divine Might]. Perhaps your death will have some worth after all, mortal.” Cherrywing remarked while hovering high above the sky. A playful smile was on her face as she looked down with mocking eyes at the struggling, armless figure below.

They had been deceived. It turned out the vampire had been toying with them all along.

Her strength was unimaginable. Even when facing Lilias, he had stood a chance, despite being at a disadvantage. But against this mysterious vampire, he found himself utterly powerless to fight back.

“In that case, let me turn it up a notch then.” She said, her voice dripped with mockery. In response, the ‘sorrowful howls’ from the radiant armor grew louder.

“Bzzt…” Cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of the seemingly invulnerable Radiant Armor.

Just then, a wisp of black gas emerged from within, swiftly mending the damaged, cracked areas faster than the damage could spread.

“Wha…” Cherrywing widened her eyes slightly. A moment later, a strong murderous aura began to erupt from her.

‘This feeling… It’s so familiar. What is it…??’

‘The scent of this mortal…irritates me so much, I just want to tear him into pieces!’

It was as if something etched into her soul had been awakened. Like raging floodwater breaking through a dam, it surged forth, impossible to contain.

And that overwhelming, unconcealable emotion had a name: hatred.