Chapter 81:

The “bodyguard” Bonnie, who was recruited by Tris, blocked Lady Adele from approaching the tent until Murphy and Femis came out. “Protect Tris at all costs!” Murphy said to the female vampire in front of him, whose demeanor was frenzied yet appeared very loyal and reliable, with disheveled hair and no semblance of decorum. The latter eyed Murphy with a malicious gaze from her blood-red eyes and twitched her high-bridged nose, as if she had caught a whiff of Murphy’s scent similar to Lady Tris’. She then slapped her chest with a thud. Amidst the quivering oscillations of her protruding features, she said hoarsely: “I will not fail my mission!” “Good, I leave it to you then.” Murphy nodded, giving Lady Adele a look, and the three vampires turned to leave. Tris said she had woven new memories for this crazed Bonnie using her mental illusions. The fact that the young lady hadn’t been able to undo those false memories for thirty years fully demonstrated Tris’ exceptional talent in this area, so Murphy wasn’t worried about this insane white silver vampire losing control. What preoccupied him now was the trouble surrounding the young lady. “Lord Murphy!” As they walked out of the camp into the woods, Lady Adele took out six blood-red, glossy vampire hearts from her spirit pouch and suspended them in the air, presenting them respectfully to her elder. Seeing this harvest, Murphy was also slightly surprised. He had originally only given Lady Adele tasks to collect three, but his blood descendant had truly proven herself capable, which also indirectly proved the dominance of the half-elf rogue + sin blood on the night battlefield. “It seems you do have an urgent wish you want to fulfill.” Murphy didn’t mince words with his blood descendant. He took five of them and pushed the remaining one with the most vigorous blood aura back to Lady Adele, as this blood essence could further enhance her strength. As he said, he was always quite generous when dealing with subordinates who were faithful to their duties. “Speak, your wish.” Murphy asked. Lady Adele gave the distraught young lady a puzzled look but didn’t have much time to ponder. She then turned to Murphy and said earnestly: “I have decided to accept my new life and become a blade in your shadow, dedicating everything to your cause. But as Lady Adele’s final wish, I still long for it to be fulfilled. I hope... You no longer harbor hostility towards Lady Femis! I believe she will not pose a threat to your endeavors. I hope you can view her as an equal partner! If possible, I hope you can treat her as kindly as you treat your warriors and your subjects.” Lady Adele’s wish sounded quite preposterous. But considering that blood descendants and elders could always sense each other’s thoughts more keenly than strangers due to the sacred blood link between them, Lady Adele’s request wasn’t entirely off the mark. She must have sensed Murphy’s underlying hostility and wariness towards Femis, which forced her to resort to this plea. “Alas” This request wasn’t entirely unexpected to Murphy. Just as blood descendants could sense their elders’ thoughts, as an elder, he was even more attuned to Lady Adele’s emotional changes. He could feel Lady Adele’s feelings towards Femis, which contained gratitude, loyalty, and a kind of... well, let’s call it “admiration.” Given that Lady Adele had now become his blood descendant, it was understandable for this loyal maid to hope to win a precious friendship for her former mistress. But the problem was, it was no longer a question of whether Murphy harbored hostility towards Femis or not! The trouble that had been sown within Femis over two hundred and twenty-five years ago had now dragged everyone into an inescapable vortex of death. “Listen to what I have to say first.” Murphy placed his hand on Lady Adele’s shoulder and used concise language and ventriloquism techniques to explain the situation Femis was currently facing. Lady Adele’s cold yet charming face was filled with shock. Especially when she heard about the potential threat of death from the Blood Pact Knights, she instinctively gripped the hilt of her sword. She said hoarsely: “We must kill them! We cannot let them approach Kadman City! They are currently entering the Foul Swamp, which is an opportunity! I can contact my mother’s... forces left there. In any case, we still have a chance! But we must be resolute.” “No, it’s impossible.” Lady Femis leaned against a tree. Hugging her arms like a frail mortal, she said hoarsely: “That is a knight lord leading elite knights, with the leader being a Golden Rank powerhouse, and the elite knights under his command are all Silver Rank! The core members of the Blood Pact Knights number only 300, but they have become the most powerful arbiters among the seven great clans, relying on martial prowess unmatched by blood tribes or even the entire continent. Such a force is impossible to be ambushed and destroyed hastily. We must find another way.” “Join forces with the Witch Hunters, storm the Blood Vulture Halls! Resolve this within three days, wipe out all traces, and make it seem like the destruction was caused by an Astral Realm rift. This is currently the only viable option.” “Snap” The swirling crimson vampire heart shattered in Murphy’s tightly clenched fist. He elegantly inhaled that blood mist-like essence into his nose and mouth. A prompt quickly popped up in front of him: 【Blood Essence – Blood Vulture】Fusion. This essence belongs to Berna Jed Lessenbra. Random abilities will be extracted from his power characteristics and bestowed upon the user. Due to his strength far exceeding the user’s, the number of extracted power characteristics increases, and the newly acquired power characteristics will decay to the initial level. Power Extraction in progress... 1. Racial Talent【Crimson Wings】enhanced. The blood wings manifested by the user will be stronger and more powerful, able to withstand more attacks without dissipating, allowing the user to traverse the skies at greater speeds. Since the user already possesses the Rare Template – Enhanced Racial Talent【Sky Mastery】,【Crimson Wings】enhancement effect is further increased. In daylight environments, flight speed increases to【1.25x Speed of Sound】. In night environments, swift flight speed increases to【2x Speed of Sound】. 2. Racial Talent【Bat Heritage】enhanced. The user’s bat transformation skills will extend an additional branch as【Swift Bat】, allowing the user to temporarily turn into a bat swarm to dodge attacks in combat, nullifying that strike. This skill has no proficiency level but must be actively triggered! Cannot dodge unperceivable attacks. Cannot dodge wide-area spirit attacks. 3. Skill extracted: Summon – Carrion Black Crows【Midnight Hunter Special Skill】, current skill proficiency is “Novice”. Due to the user’s expertise in Otherworld Creature Summoning, this summoning effect is enhanced to: Summon – Carrion Murder Crows, allowing the user to summon a group (≥5) of vicious, bloodthirsty carrion crows to attack enemies at the cost of dark spirit energy. These creatures’ attacks carry a minor spirit attack and inflict the【Bleeding】effect. The number summoned and duration depend on the total spirit energy consumed by the user. 4. Skill enhancement: Tomb Guard Sword Arts skill cap raised to【Master】, current proficiency is【Proficient】. Reminder! Before officially changing jobs, the penalty for improving this sword art’s proficiency is 3x learning time cost, so please create your own Tomb Guard badge and complete the Tomb Guard job change as soon as possible. Power Extraction complete! “Four power enhancements? Cool!” Murphy opened his eyes with satisfaction, feeling an itch on his back near his ribs. According to Tris’ previous reminder, vampires needed a month after passing the Black Iron Rank before their blood wings could fully grow. But with Jed’s essence, Murphy felt he could have his bat wings in a day or two. Although these were illusory spirit organs that could retract into the body at any time, they did need to physically manifest the first time. Supposedly that process wasn’t painful, and many vampires felt nothing while growing their wings. But it represented the vampire regressing towards their “true bat form” as eternal sin descendants, just like how Joban Marci had shed his human guise to enter a more ferocious wolf-bat form in combat. The higher a vampire’s power rank, the further they deviated from the human form towards their racial origins, essentially a “return to roots” phenomenon. This was Tris’ conclusion, which Murphy firmly believed. He would never doubt Tris. Down below, the little players finally completed the ritual preparations after Murphy absorbed the blood essence’s power. Under Murphy’s watchful gaze, Meow King stepped forward and knelt before the wooden stump. He looked nervous. But following the Witch Hunters’ instructions to the letter, he cupped the lit bay leaves and placed them on the incense, igniting the strangely colored flames under the starlight’s illumination. The incense fragrance then spread all around. Led More Than Three to Five Pecks quickly handed over a basket of berries, which Meow King raised high before slowly placing it before the incense. “Oh, great Avalon deity, I beseech your blessing...” Meow King shouted in his broken voice, almost making Murphy laugh out loud. Although vampires didn’t fully understand the nuances of the ancient nature teachings and elven natural heritage, he could tell that the prefix “great” should not be used to address the Avalonian nature deity. That astral deity did not like its followers calling it “great”. According to Tris’ mother, the historian specialized in theology, each deity had its own unique personality, often reflected in the prefixes of their titles. Meow King was probably in for trouble this time. Murphy thought as he lost interest in this doomed ritual and was about to turn and leave, when suddenly his body froze. Because from behind, he felt an invisible yet immense gaze descend upon them, making the vampire’s heart race with the urge to flee. In the next instant, Meow King excitedly shouted as if in a frenzy: “Hey! I made it, brother!”