[V6C196 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]

In the depths of the void, a magnificent vampire wars.h.i.+p warped silently away, heading toward the barely discernible floating continent in the distance.

In front of the cabin windows stood a thin man. He was tightly wrapped in a beautiful black robe, almost as though he was afraid of the chill. A dozen or so vampires of extraordinary bearing stood in his company. They wore, on their collars, insignias depicting a snake coiling around a golden rose. This was the emblem of the number one vampire clan, the Perth clan, and also the symbol of the Queen of the Night.

One among them was as stout as a steel tower. This vampire of extraordinary build took a step forward and said, “Holy Son, we’ll be arriving at the floating continent soon… but are we really going against the Evernight Council’s orders?”

The man at the window turned about slowly, revealing his deathly pale countenance and the sanguineous flames burning in the depths of his sunken eyes. Judging from his facial features and frame, he was very likely the vampire Holy Son, Edward. Compared to the past, however, he had become evidently emaciated and was nothing more than skin and bones right now. Moreover, he was trembling uncontrollably.

Even though Edward looked frail enough to be blown down by the wind, a flash of b.l.o.o.d.y lightning seemed to flicker through the void when he turned about. Many of the vampires took an involuntary step back and only the strongest ones could barely remain in place.

“Ignore those old fools. They’ve lived for far too long, and they no longer have any guts.” Edward’s voice was hoa.r.s.e and grating to the ears.

That burly man said, “But you’re still undergoing punishment. You won’t be able to exert your full strength.”

Edward let out a hoa.r.s.e laugh. “Zhao Jundu’s cultivation is weaker than me to begin with. In my current state, we can be considered barely equal. If I don’t even have the courage to fight a weak human on equal grounds, how can we be considered a sacred race? How can I be considered a Holy Son?”

The vampire race’s pride and aloofness were notorious throughout Evernight. After hearing these words, all the vampire experts at the scene saw their eyes turn a b.l.o.o.d.y color and almost entered a state of bloodboil.

“Eh?” One of the vampires pointed outside the window and exclaimed, “W-What is that?!”

In the direction he was pointing at, there was a wars.h.i.+p so slender that it looked like a willow leaf. Its silhouette was elegant despite the lack of ornaments. It traversed the void in utter silence. If it wasn’t for everyone being experts here, they might’ve thought the airs.h.i.+p wasn’t moving at all.

This specter-like airs.h.i.+p would flicker occasionally, s.h.i.+fting its bearing every time it did so and moving a set distance forward. A short distance one could see in the void was actually rather far. The important part was that this airs.h.i.+p"s peculiar movement reminded all the vampires of a certain legend gathering dust in their memories.

“Could it be… that airs.h.i.+p?” The viscount’s voice was trembling.

No one made fun of him because even the Holy Son Edward found his breathing labored.

A certain count broke the silence later on. He said slowly, “There’s only one airs.h.i.+p that moves in this manner, and that airs.h.i.+p’s owner has never changed before.”

Edward finally spoke, his voice tinged with undisguisable bitterness. “Yes, it’s the Demoness from the Masefield clan.”

“Wasn’t it rumored that she’s been slumbering in the depths of the void?”

“Don’t forget the other legend. It has been said that her awakening means she’s broken through the demonkin’s sky gate.”

These words silenced the entire s.h.i.+p.

Those capable of standing here were the core powers of the vampire race and were privy to many secrets unbeknownst to outsiders. They were also aware of what the sky gate, the final bottleneck of the demonkin, signified.

At this time, there was a similar thought going back and forth through their hearts. Could it be that, after a thousand years, the demonkin race was about to produce a new great dark monarch? Even though this great monarch was a thing of the distant future, it was enough to topple the Evernight Council’s power distribution.

Besides, the Demoness had always been shrouded in legends. It wasn’t entirely impossible for her to add a seat to the highest echelons of the council. Such a possibility, no matter how small, was enough to shake the entire world of Evernight.

That was because it could produce a fundamental subversion in the council’s thousand-year-old lineup.

Regarding her legends, no one had doubted that she would awaken in the end, but no one expected it to happen so quickly, either!

The period from the beginning of the rumors to her awakening was less than a decade. Ten years was only a brief moment in the long lives of the dark races.

An invisible gaze was projected at them from the distant airs.h.i.+p. In that split second, all the vampires felt as though an icy wave had washed over them. Even their blood cores froze for a moment.

Edward was, after all, the Holy Son of the vampire race—he suddenly erupted into a mist of purple blood which enveloped all the vampires and resisted the invisible tide. However, his blood energy fluctuated violently and its color quickly dimmed down. Apparently, he was quickly being drained and wouldn’t be able to hold out for very long.

Fortunately, the icy tide left just as quickly as it had arrived. It vanished in the blink of an eye without leaving the slightest of traces. Only the pale faces and trembling bodies of the vampires remained as proof of its existence.

Edward recovered his humanoid form and stood in silence, his expression extremely solemn.

An unyielding viscount said in anger, “Unforgivable! She actually attacked us for no good reason. Your Majesty, let me take the wars.h.i.+p and fight it out with her. You go back first and avenge me after your penalty is over!”

Everyone echoed his sentiments, determined to fight to the death. That sudden attack just now was quite shameful for them. As members of the number one Perth clan, how could they endure such humiliation?

They couldn’t allow the Queen of the Night’s prestige to fall below that of the Demonkin.

However, Edward wasn’t angered; on the contrary, he only gazed out of the window in a daze. He only sighed moments later. “That wasn’t an attack, she only shot us a glance.”

A “glance”?

All the vampire experts were speechless. This was a level they simply couldn’t touch. Even the fiercest of them no longer dared to mention a fight to the death.

Fighting to the death and throwing away one’s life were two different things. They didn’t even have the right to fight a proper battle against her.

Edward shook his head. “Her strength isn’t as great as you think. It’s just that… let it be, you lot won’t understand anyway.”

There weren"t any ordinary people among those standing here. They all understood the meaning in Edward’s comment. Regarding the person on that faraway spectral s.h.i.+p, the weaker she currently was, the more terrifying she would be.

The spectral s.h.i.+p kept moving along its original trajectory toward the floating continent.

The interior of the wars.h.i.+p was filled with primal chaos. Intense darkness suffused the entire area, shrouding everything in sable. The black hue wasn’t an illusion, either—it was a genuine existence formed of extremely pure darkness origin power.

The entire airs.h.i.+p interior was filled with darkness origin power.

A sudden mechanical voice rang out therein, “Young Miss, the vampire race Holy Son, Edward, is on your list. Do you want to go and fight him?”

A shadow emerged from the depths of the darkness, rather hazy and seemingly condensed from darkness origin power. However, the vague outline of her silhouette was enough to make people feel parched.

She moved as though she were levitating and slowly landed in front of the cabin windows. “Edward is suffering from a blood ignition penalty, not worth our time at all. That place is where I must go.”

Her fingers pointed to the void continent.

The voice conversing with her was mechanical yet gentle and warm. “What exactly is there?”

“The future heavenly monarch of the human race. It’s worth taking a look even if the humans are just blowing their own trumpets, right? Their race rarely talks big.” She remained silent for a while and said, “Additionally, I have a feeling that my true, destined nemesis is there.”

“How surprising, are you referring to that future heavenly monarch?”

“Maybe yes, maybe not.”

This was the first time since her awakening that she couldn’t confirm something related to her.

Just like that, the spectral s.h.i.+p flickered on toward the floating continent.

…

The members on duty had all arrived at the great hall of the Evernight Council. Those who couldn’t come were represented by projections. The meeting today was exceptionally important, and there was only one topic—the possibility of a sixth human heavenly monarch.

The dozens of top characters from Evernight were discussing this matter. A storm of origin power swept through the hall as countless powerful intents conversed in the darkness. They couldn’t be blamed for their loss of composure because everything that had happened recently was simply too shocking.

The last time humans enjoyed such glory, the Great Qin Empire was born. Even with one less heavenly monarch, it would be the second coming of the Martial Ancestor if one of the six proved himself an outstanding character. Although the Pointer Monarch was the strongest human expert in name, he was gradually aging and had no hope of advancement.

Originally, Zhao Jundu wasn’t powerful enough to enter the sight of these Evernight bigshots. However, his performance throughout this period was simply too perfect. He had managed to lay low whenever he should and take action wherever it was warranted. At a glance, it looked like his actions then would affect his future foundations, but if he didn’t even dare do battle at such a critical juncture, what was the use of all that pure origin power?

That which Zhao Jundu had displayed was true perfection; even his breadth of mind was just as impressive.

It was harder to evaluate such a person. The Evernight bigshots argued back and forth but found themselves unable to reach a conclusion regarding Zhao Jundu’s future prospects. Would he barely reach the heavenly monarch stage? Was he destined to surpa.s.s Zhang Boqian? Or would he fail to advance altogether?

There was no clear verdict since every theory had its own merits and supporters. Gradually, a certain voice, likely belonging to a duke-level expert, started to gain ground. That was to forcibly kill Zhao Jundu and effectively nip the danger at its bud. Most supporters of this plan were those who believed Zhao Jundu’s accomplishments wouldn’t be inferior to Zhang Boqian.

There were also those who opposed this. The empire was vast, its citizens were as abundant as sand, and geniuses kept popping up from every layer of society. How were they going to kill them every day?

Just as the arguments were at their peak, a cold voice suddenly rang out amongst them, “Have you not considered the possibility of Lin Xitang becoming a heavenly monarch?”

These words silenced the entire hall.