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He asked skeptically:

“That doesn’t sound very likely. If that super barrier called ‘Nocturne’ was still operational, why didn’t it activate when the astral rift opened? I know a city’s spirit defense barrier can’t block a rift of that level, but at the very least it could have bought the Blood Vulture Clan some preparation and evacuation time.

We observed the whole process.

The legendary Nocturne never activated from start to finish.”

“That’s because the traitors inside the city disabled it beforehand,” said the Young Lady. “Tris should have reminded you there are traitors in the city.”

She took out an ancient map from her spirit pouch, glanced at Murphy, and then unfolded it before the vampire. The map was quite old, though well preserved, but the ravages of time had left unmistakable marks on it.

“Kadman City was built 400 years ago by my father, who led the Blood Vulture Clan and the first settlers to construct it with their own hands. When founding the city, he had already prepared ample expansion space for the great spirit barrier.

This city was established to defend against the Black Calamity, so after 400 years of continuous fortification, the Nocturne barrier system’s defensive strength alone is top-tier on the continent. The third Black Calamity devastated half the continent, but Kadman City held out until the end, which is a testament to Nocturne’s power.

The Goldflower Kingdom never attempted a direct assault here during the Ten Year War, precisely because of Nocturne’s existence.

The entire barrier is formed by 7 underground nexuses and a core nexus placed beneath the Blood Vulture Halls. Once activated, it can forge three layers of spirit defenses as thick as city walls. Enemies cannot drain the ambient spirit energy in Transia, making the barrier unbreakable.

However, Murphy, the exact locations of the seven underground nexuses are top secret, known only to a handful of people including myself. Yet before the astral rift opened, they were nearly all shut down simultaneously.”

Femis’ expression was impassive.

But Murphy could clearly sense the Young Lady’s inner turmoil and pain, though her face remained expressionless. She then marked three locations on the map and said:

“While you and your warriors were busy these last two days, I managed to enter three of the underground nexuses in the outer city. I can confirm that the city’s barrier was deactivated before the astral rift opened, which is why the nexuses inadvertently remained intact instead of clashing with the astral energies.

In theory, if you can find the core nexus, the entire barrier can be reactivated.

It may no longer be able to protect all of Kadman City, but safeguarding the outer city ruins will be no problem.

That thing was designed by the original blood mages of the Secret Blood Clan during the Holy Blood Procession era. It operates by absorbing ambient spirit energy between heaven and earth, requiring no extra power source.

With it, your new city and your newly born power will have a foothold that will not fall!”

The Young Lady was clearly trying to entice Murphy with the “strategic asset” of the Nocturne barrier system. But the vampire did not take the bait immediately. Instead, he carefully thought for a few minutes to organize his thoughts, then held up two fingers and asked:

“First, you said the locations of the seven underground nexuses are only known to a handful of people including yourself. That means the traitor within the Blood Vulture ranks must be highly placed. Do you have any suspects?

Second, if I follow your suggestion and send people to take control of the three outer city underground nexuses now, it means I’ve taken your bait and already sunk costs into this.

If I don’t want my time and effort to go to waste, I’d have to go along with you on a subsequent dangerous expedition into the heavily polluted Blood Vulture Halls to obtain Nocturne’s core nexus.

This is the second time you’ve made such a request of me, so what exactly is in the Blood Vulture Halls?

What could possibly make you, as the Blood Vulture Young Lady, not only hand over your clan’s strategic asset to me, an ‘traitor’, but also help me by lending personnel and resources for the expedition into the halls?”

Under his gaze, Femis remained silent for a long time before reluctantly saying:

“I need to go back and retrieve some things related to my ‘parents’. I’m powerless on my own and need your fearless warriors to clear the way for me. That’s all I can tell you. So, Murphy, just tell me straight, do you want the Nocturne barrier or not?”

The Young Lady was clearly not adept at achieving her aims through bargaining.

She was not used to this style of back-and-forth negotiation.

But she was still trying her clumsy best to entice Murphy with good stuff while also pressuring him.

She said earnestly:

“Just give me the nod, and I’ll hand this over to you. I’ll also help you perfect your ‘Great Burning Plan’. I know you intend to use flames to burn through the entire city district to dispel the astral shadows. It’s bold and practical.

But Tris alone cannot prepare enough fuel in a short time.

Although I’m not a professional alchemist, spirit mages tend to pick up some alchemy knowledge. Combustion oil and firegels aren’t high-level materials – I can help with those too.

Consider it carefully.

If you don’t extract the underground core before the widespread burning, the flames clashing with astral spirit energy could easily cause misalignment and imbalance in the spirit fields.

An artifact of that level is durable but also precise. If impacted and thrown off balance by the shock, you currently lack the power to quickly realign it.”

“I definitely want something that good,” said Murphy, glancing at the map in the Young Lady’s hand. “You can go help Tris now. Let me reiterate, after the astral rift closes, I will definitely deploy all available personnel and resources to help you enter the Blood Vulture Halls. But in your capacity as the Blood Vulture Young Lady, you must also help me stabilize the situation afterward.

The Blood Vulture Clan has ruled here for 400 years. With your endorsement, the superstitious and fierce people of these lands will be more willing to submit to the new order.”

“Deal!” The Young Lady let out a long breath, very satisfied with this outcome. To Murphy, she said, “One last step, make a vow.”

“Fine.” Murphy raised a finger quite nonchalantly and said, “By the Night Mother…”

“No, you have no true reverence for the Night Mother. So I demand you vow in Tris’ name, using that most dreadful but solemn vow for vampires.”

Femis stared at him, making her final demand. This caused Murphy’s gaze upon her to turn unfavorable.

But the Young Lady did not budge an inch.

This silent but clever loli had astutely noticed Murphy’s co-dependency with Tris, and clearly understood what was most important to him.

“I, Revnor Murphy Lessenbra, hereby vow that if I fail to honor my promise to Femis Cecilia Lessenbra, then my elder Lady Tris shall suffer the Punishment of the Burning Day until her soul departs forever.”

Murphy enunciated this short but solemn vow word by word. The Young Lady promptly handed him the map, then walked past Murphy towards the alchemy station where Tris was.

After taking a few steps, she stopped and turned back to Murphy, saying:

“You needn’t worry about my presence affecting the new power you seek to establish, Murphy. The clan has withered to this extent, I have no desire to conflict with you.

This is what’s in my heart.

The truth is, I can assure you that after I’ve completed my business, I will depart!

This land will belong to you afterwards. As long as you can defend it amidst the circling wolves, perhaps for the rest of our lives, we may never cross paths again.”

——

The former Morland Village had become a silent grave. Considering the young players had buried all the corpses in pits before leaving, this description was apt. Yet even though barely a week had passed, this village that had experienced such horrors was still undergoing some unspeakable events.

The Old Finoch and his thirty elite Witch Hunters were resting and regrouping here after their relentless march.

Over the past three days, they had traveled nonstop on swift warhorses. Enhanced by natural spirit energy, the Witch Hunters could control their organs and physiological cycles, eliminating the need for restrooms, eating and napping were done in the saddle.

This was not difficult for them, but for Lieutenant Frayzer it had been a rather arduous journey, despite his ten years of war experience.

He was now sitting by the campfire, rubbing his sore thighs incessantly, too distracted to maintain decorum despite the mocking gazes of several female Witch Hunters around him.

“Ah, damn it!” The lieutenant cursed under his breath.

He had thought he’d experienced all sorts of hardships in the war, but he had underestimated the routine endurance of the Witch Hunters.

“Use this.” The old knight tossed a small vial to the young lieutenant, munching on tasteless but nourishing hard tack while saying in a low voice, “Find a private spot and apply it to your legs and your staff. It’ll reduce swelling and prevent chafing quickly. Don’t worry, lieutenant, we’ve arrived at our destination. No need for such exertions from here on.”

“But we’re still a day’s journey from Kadman City,” said Lieutenant Frayzer, wincing from the sting in his inner thighs. “Aren’t you being overly cautious by camping here?”

“No, this spot is perfect,” explained the old knight. “The demon-hunting warhorses can bring us near Kadman City within four hours. Our next step is reconnaissance, not a direct assault. We’ll also rest here for a day or two to regain our vigor.”

“Of course, as a non-combatant, I’ll assign someone to guard you specifically.”

“Battalion Commander! Ghouls have appeared in the village.”

The veteran Norman approached the campfire and addressed the Old Finoch in a solemn tone:

“Those amateurs recklessly buried hundreds of corpses in pits, causing the ghoul nest underground to spread extensively. This place needs to be thoroughly cleansed, doused with alchemical solutions and then purged by fire.”

“There are no congregations of death spirit energy in Transia! Where do these ghouls come from?”

The old knight said in surprise:

“Confirm they arose naturally and were not summoned by foul creatures?”

The veteran wearing an iron mask to conceal terrible facial scars nodded and said:

“Natalie and Amber have inspected them, no traces of dark arts remain. Porter found Old Joe at the entrance to the ghoul den. He wasn’t turned, but his remains have already…”

“Old Joe, I remember him, a formidable marksman, quiet and taciturn. He lost his family in the early years of the Ten Year War.”

The Lord of White Oak sighed and waved his hand, saying:

“We have a mission at hand and can’t waste too much time on ghouls. Destroying their den should temporarily seal them away.

Second Squad! Scout around Kadman City. If possible, capture a couple of tongues to gather intel on the situation.”

A few seasoned hunters silently rose from around the campfire’s perimeter. With the sound of warhorse hooves stamping the earth, they soon vanished from Lieutenant Frayzer’s view.

This wasn’t the lieutenant’s first time in the Transia region or fighting alongside the Witch Hunters, but it was his first exposure to the kind of threats they routinely dealt with.

On this continent, an ordinary soldier like the lieutenant was always separated from true transcendent powers by a “gap” that protected them.

This “gap” was formerly called the Avalon Church, now known as the “Circle Tower.”

“Ghouls sound quite dreadful, don’t they? There are similar tales in the Andrey region, they’re said to crawl out of graves at night, stealing and eating corpses while pursuing any poor soul who sees them to devour as well.”

The lieutenant sat beside the old knight, speaking in a low voice:

“Do you regularly contend with such things?”

“Ghouls that merely feast mindlessly can hardly be called dreadful, lieutenant. When alone, their threat pales in comparison to the roving bandits.

Especially on the dark lands of Transia, a brave farmer could dispatch a lone ghoul with a rake.

On this accursed land beset by misfortune and calamity, nothing besides vampires dares call itself dreadful.

Except for the foul things lurking in the southern Foul Swamp, that is.”

The old knight chuckled softly, staring into the campfire.

“I’ve been here before in my youth, over a hundred years ago now. The Blood Vulture Clan was at its peak then, you cannot imagine the madness we experienced that night.

Five hundred strong when we arrived, only seventeen remained by the time we departed.

And I was one of them.

The Transia region has always been the festering heart of this continent!

Superstitious, dark, maddening, insular and savage, yet it maintains its own twisted order. Truly, I’m glad to witness the Blood Vultures’ downfall.

Besides, don’t indulge unnecessary curiosity about the absurd, maddening world we occupy, Frayzer.

The dark abominations will scent your curiosity and follow, leaping forth from your nightmares to make a mess of what should be a perfect life.

You don’t belong here, or in our domain.

So treat this as a fantastical adventure in your life, record it, then return to the sunlit world and live well. Decades later, by the fireside, you can recount this tale to your grandchildren.

That’s the life a young man named Carpe should have.”

“I think you underestimate my courage, old man!” Lieutenant Frayzer said with some annoyance. “My past experiences tell me there’s nothing a bullet can’t solve, be it ghouls or vampires.”

“Indeed.”The old knight patted his shoulder with a smile.

“Everyone thinks that way until they witness madness no bullet can stop. Quickly, apply the salve! Don’t mind appearances.

If you ever want to have children in this life…”