Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

Some residents of the small town came here cautiously. They looked at the ruins of the castle and Elsa in surprise and suspicion. At this time, someone let out a soft cry.

I don't know when it started, but a gentle light centered on Elsa gradually rose. Although snow was still falling in the sky, a ray of sunlight shone through the cracks in the clouds. The wandering aura of the dead slowly faded away with Elsa's prayers.

“…Rest in peace.”

Elsa opened her eyes and ended her prayer. She looked up at the slowly rising light and sighed softly. Finally, Elsa squatted down and gently placed the cross pendant she was carrying in front of the ruins of the castle.

Fabrice was brought back to the Barony of Fisher by Elsa.

As for the Marquisate of Fabric, the Empire will take over the work and settle the people, so there is no need to worry.

Afterwards, Elsa, led by Alman, went to several remote vampire territories. Until night, Elsa returned to the Baronial Territory of Fisher with many bruised vampire captives.

Also brought back were several other copies of the "Unfinished Curse".

Elsa found Tricia, who was sitting in the study continuing her magic research. Elsa saw that there was a large pile of sketches on the desk.

"Tricia, do you know the 'Unfinished Curse' of the vampires?"

Aisha asked.

It's most appropriate to ask Tricia about this matter.

……

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387. The Book of Daevara

"An unfinished curse?"

Tricia seemed to have never heard of such a thing and looked confused.

"It seems to be the name used within the organization. It's actually a curse that can awaken corpses and summon dead apostles. I got these from those vampires."

Elsa explained, and took out the ritual sketch that Fabrik had given to Elsa.

Tricia took it and took a look at it, with a look of realization on her face - it seemed that she obviously knew about the existence of the Unfinished Curse, but the name she knew was different from the name within the organization. After Elsa explained, she raised her head thoughtfully and looked at Elsa.

"What you are talking about should come from the Blood Clan's holy book, The Book of Daevara."

"The Book of Daevara?"

Elsa wondered.

Alman and Fabrik did mention that the old chief accidentally obtained a precious ancient book, which recorded many ancient blood curses of the vampires, including the unfinished curse. Is that the "Book of Daevara"?

"Well, the Book of Daevara contains many very ancient blood curses. Although most of these blood curses have been replaced by more sophisticated and powerful ones, some ancient techniques that were not passed down to the vampires for unknown reasons are still preserved. These techniques are generally believed to be products of the time of the vampire ancestor and are considered the origin of blood curses. Therefore, they have been revered as holy books by countless vampires. However, as far as I know, only fragments of this book have been found. The history of the Book of Daevara is so ancient that even human countries don't know much about it. The only clear mention of its existence is in the records of the Holy See. The original text of the Book of Daevara was engraved on a stone tablet in the ruins of the Age of Gods, but that stone tablet was later destroyed in war."

Tricia explained, then asked curiously, "What's wrong? Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"There are some things I want to know." After saying that, Aisha was silent for a moment, and finally said, "Tricia, I hope you can keep the following words a secret for me."

Tricia showed a hint of surprise. She rarely saw Aisha ask her for something so seriously.

She put down the work in her hands and nodded seriously.

"Whatever it is, just tell me—don't worry, I'll take it to my grave..."

Halfway through her words, Aisha pressed her fingertips against Tricia's lips, blocking her from saying anything.

"Don't say such cruel words lightly."

Elsa said, lowering her brows.

Tricia felt the touch of her lips and nodded subconsciously.

"So...what is it that you want to keep secret...?"

"It's about Charlie," Aisha said slowly, "Actually, there are some things I've been hiding..."

She told Tricia in detail what happened that day a year ago. At the end, Elsa brought up her own doubts. As Elsa continued her narration, Tricia also noticed the abnormality and frowned slightly.

"...So, you just put blood into Charlie's mouth and she woke up?"

"Well, why, don't you think it's incredible?"

Elsa didn't know how to explain it for a moment, but that was indeed the situation at the time.

It was the first time that Tricia heard the details of this incident from Elsa, and it was completely different from her original guess.

Vampires will draw half of a person's blood, and then let the dying person suck their own blood, so that the person can be transformed into a vampire - such rumors are circulating in many human cities, but in fact, this is undoubtedly a fallacy, because this is not a complete blood bestowal ceremony at all. What's more, the blood that has been touched by Elsa should have lost its original function long ago.

This world, created by the Creator, is fair. On both sides of the scale must be objects of equal weight. If one side is Charlie's life, Charlie's chance to survive, then what should be placed on the other side? A bloodline that has lost its vitality? That is absolutely impossible.

And even if there is something valuable enough, it is meaningless if it is not placed accurately on the other side of the scale.

Tricia lowered her eyelashes and fell into thought.

"I've been thinking about that time a lot lately. Although the results seem to be fine, I still feel a little concerned..."

Aisha said.

"After all, this is about Charlie. I understand. If Charlie were you, I'd have the same concerns as you. This isn't something you can just laugh off..."

Tricia shook her head, thought for a moment, and said.

"As for Xia Li, I'll examine her carefully to see if there are any potential abnormalities. I'll also take out those books of mine that I haven't opened in a while and let them air out in the sun. The history of the vampires intersects with the history of this continent, so perhaps there might be some clues recorded somewhere."

……

In the evening, the heavy snow that had lasted for several days finally stopped and the sun shone on the earth again.

As dusk deepened, crisp neighing was heard from the wilderness of Marquis Fabrique's territory. In the dazzling golden snow, a well-equipped armed knight troop was riding on sturdy antlered deer towards the cold and deserted town. Among them were several knights wearing standard plate armor, their clean white cloaks reflecting the setting sun, and the emblem of the imperial family painted on their chests. There were also several mages in white robes.

They stood with their heads held high behind the snow hill. The leading knight looked towards the town with a resolute gaze, his eyes slightly narrowed, the ruins reflected in his eyes.

He is Wo Cress, one of the twelve Knight Commanders in the Imperial Royal Knights, whose status is second only to the Grand Master of Knights Cassius Harvey. The knights and mages behind him are all his subordinates, as many as a hundred people. Without exception, they are all regular knights of the Royal Knights and are very powerful.

There was only one purpose for so many of them to appear here, to bring down the sword of the empire on the vampire Marquis Fabrique, who had committed countless crimes, under the order of the Queen.

At this time, the knights had already clenched their weapons. They were well-trained to keep quiet, lying in wait behind the snow hills, waiting for the scouts to bring back information.

Not long after, a scout in white emerged from the endless snow and quickly came to Cress.

"Sir, the vampire castle has been completely destroyed. I tried to enter the town to check the situation, but I didn't find any vampires in the town..."

Compared to the others who were on high alert, he looked indescribably strange.

Cress retracted his gaze and asked, "Did you find anything?"

The scout hesitated for a moment and said, "After some inquiries, I learned that a woman took away the vampire marquis Fabrique before we arrived, and left behind a holy relic to suppress the evil spirit. Sir, I think someone may have gotten there first..."

Cress frowned. "Sacred object?"

"It's... a cross pendant..." The scout seemed a little uncertain. "You'll know for yourself when you see it..."

……

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388. Sacred Objects in the Ruins

Wo Cress was not surprised by the disappearance of the vampires in Marquis Fabrice's territory - he had already received accurate information before taking action that the arcane sage Patriculosia Cerihilda and the current Holy Sister Elsa Faris were currently active in the northern vampire territory.

Needless to say, no one would doubt the powerful strength of the Sage of Arcane Magic as a legendary wizard. Let alone an ordinary vampire marquis, even a vampire duke would be defeated.

The other one, the current head saint nun, is much more mysterious. Recently, a lot of news about her has already spread among the upper echelons. The most shocking one is the rumor that she single-handedly defeated the demon general who awakened from the seal. If this rumor is true and credible, then the statement that she is the strongest saint nun in history will naturally become a fact.

In short, there are no vampires left in the town, so Wo Cress's mission has changed from occupying this place and punishing the vampires to post-war and investigation work. This is good news for him - the Vampire Marquis is not a weak opponent, and it is not easy to defeat him in the Vampire Marquis's territory. Wo Cress and the elite knights he brought with him have already prepared for a bloody battle, but now it seems that they can complete the task easily.

The only thing that puzzled Vo Cress was the "holy object" the scout had mentioned - the scout described it as a cross pendant placed in front of the castle ruins.

Holy object?

There are many things that can be called holy objects. For ignorant people, some items that are full of curses and superstitions are called "holy objects", which is undoubtedly the shortsightedness of fools.

But Wo Cress did not think that his subordinates were fools, so he felt strange. For him, who had seen real holy relics, "holy relics" were things like Knight Commander Harvey's protective shield: Golden Agate Beshmidt, the Brave Lord's holy sword: Throne of Light Gramer, or the demon-hunting sword of the old noble Valentine family: Giant Slayer Valentine... Holy relics were strategic-level items for any country. He knew very well how precious a holy relic was. How could such a thing be placed unprotected in the territory of a vampire marquis?

So he was full of doubts about the scout's words.

"Hold your weapons, stay alert, and let's go in and take a look."

Wo Kress gave the order and rode his horned deer towards the town.

……

The Marquisate of Fabrice was not a prosperous place, it was even too quiet. The town was lifeless, with few people around even in the evening. It was shabby, dilapidated, desolate and deserted. The trees growing diagonally in the valley were still covered with thick snow. Due to the rugged and winding terrain of the valley, the dim sky seemed to be about to press down from the sky, giving people a very depressing feeling and making it difficult to breathe.

Wo Cress led a team of one hundred knights and slowly entered the town. No one stopped them - there seemed to be no soldiers stationed in the town, or perhaps those soldiers were actually vampires, and now they had disappeared with the collapse of the castle.

Warren Cress carefully observed the dense, low houses in the town. He did not see any old people or children on the street. It seemed that only young and middle-aged people lived here, but they were all skinny and listless, looking as if they had malaria.

He saw that most of the townspeople stayed indoors or looked at them from afar with hopeful yet fearful eyes. Whenever they met the sharp eagle gaze of Vo Cress, they hid as if frightened.

Judging from their clothes, they all seemed to be farmers here. Just as we had seen before entering here, there was no one grazing or hunting in this town, no adventurers, no mercenaries, no merchants, and the nearby woodlands seemed to have no signs of human management. There were only farmers here - the residents here seemed to never leave the town, probably because their freedom was restricted.

Cress watched all this silently, and the wrinkles on his resolute face slightly sank.

"It seems that the vampires here have indeed disappeared, along with that castle. It's perhaps a pity that I can't personally send those scum to hell."

Cress snorted coldly.

The vampires all have white hair and red eyes, are arrogant and stupid, and are easy to recognize.

"Sir Dodge, go and find out what's going on here—take a few men with you and report back if anything happens."

Cress said to the knight named "Dodge" beside him. The knight took the order and started to collect intelligence from the residents here with a few people. Cress assigned him about ten people to prevent any unexpected situations. Although he did not see the vampires, he still could not rule out the possibility that some cunning guys would disguise themselves and blend into the crowd.

Without paying any further attention to the residents here, Cress brought the rest of the people directly to the ruins of the castle. The scene before him finally changed Cress's eyes - the huge gray castle that was supposed to stand here was now only a ruin, or rather, a huge crater. It was not destroyed by an explosion, but as if it had been crushed from top to bottom by a mountain.

It is hard to imagine what kind of power could destroy a sturdy castle like this.

What was even stranger was that after approaching the castle to a certain distance, Cress clearly felt an indescribable gentle breath soothing his soul. Although it was winter, there was not a trace of snow on the ground around the castle, and even the soil that was frozen due to the severe cold had already become soft.

The dusk deepened, but there was still a ray of warm spring sunshine breaking through the clouds and shining obliquely on the ruins of the castle. With this as the center, fireflies were faintly visible in the air. It was completely different from the oppressive feeling when in the small town. Every breath of air you breathe here did not have the biting cold and gloomy dampness, but only the refreshing warmth like the spring sun.

The knights all looked pleased, and all the fatigue from the journey was swept away at this moment.

Wo Cress motioned for everyone to dismount and wait. He looked up and squinted at the crack in the clouds in the sky. He was silent for a few seconds, then lowered his gaze along the faint light. A cross pendant appeared in his eyes - it was an ordinary-looking silver cross. Every monk had an identical one in his hand, and there seemed to be no difference at all.

"This is the 'holy relic', sir."

The scout said.

……

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389. The Battle for the Sacred Relic (4K5)

Even in winter, the nights in the southern border of the empire - the southern province of Silinfield are still surrounded by heat. The sea breeze from the west coast brings the damp smell of reefs and beaches, making people feel stuffy.

Imperial Grand Lord Yorulg wi Renfort stood at the window of his study, silently gazing at the silver crescent moon in the distance. The astrologers in the court always liked to stare at this clean starry sky and talk nonsense, but in the end this starry sky was no different from the one when his daughter left him more than 30 years ago, and when his wife was assassinated 40 years ago.

In the vast world, humans are just very small things. The ups and downs of the empire for hundreds of years and the conquests of the continents are not worth mentioning to this world. People will eventually die. What will the disappearance of a soul leave in this world?

Only when you are alive can you be considered to exist. When you die, there is really nothing left.

Daughters, wives, they all are.

Ryan Fort is still here. His only hope is to witness the demise of the demons with his own eyes while he is still alive, and to avenge his daughter and wife.

Now the plan has reached the most critical step. More and more people are following him, and many people want to rely on him and get a piece of the pie.

...It's funny to say, but in fact, Ryanfort originally kept moving forward just for this purpose. At that time, he was only surrounded by a few companions who were also obsessed with revenge like him. Later, unknowingly, there were already many people standing behind him - these people claimed to be the royalists and wanted to occupy a place in the "New World".

What a bunch of whimsical fools, Ryan Forte said in his heart.

But it doesn't matter. Ryanfort needs the power of these people for his own use, and these people need a powerful force like Ryanfort as an object of dependence to seek influence. They use each other and get what they need. In fact, in essence, the so-called royalists are just repeating everything in the empire and the "old world". They are just complaining because they are not the ones in power.

The evening breeze from outside the window blew into the house, turning the pages of the book on the desk. The magic light printed the shadows of the pages on the wall, illuminating Ryan Fort's wrinkled profile in flickering light.

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

"Kurt Theofold requests a meeting."

"Come in."

Adjutant Kurt Theofold respectfully opened the study door and came behind Ryanfort.

"A letter from Seyavis."