Chapter 266: 265 Sitting in a quiet study, listening to His Holiness speak of the past

Chapter 266 265: Sitting in a quiet study, listening to your lord tell stories from the past [1520].

(For brother “Huo Zheng is quite good” [15/20])
The most conspicuous mark of the venerable master Pa Ying is the head of smooth black hair, like a woman, spread over the shoulders, and did not do special care, very natural sagging.

In terms of a Vampire Lord’s posture, this was a bit too casual and even not very proper.

But if one looks at the standard of an artist’s temperament, this outfit is just right.

Not too rigid, not too soft, not too immodest, not too demonic.

At first glance at first glance it seemed that the man was a bit ordinary, but on second glance one could see that he was different, mainly because of those eyes.

The pupils of His Eminence’s eyes were amber in color, with only a dash of scarlet in them, just like the most beautiful and demonic gemstones.

At the sight of those eyes, it was enough to make the vast majority of people’s gazes ignore the looks of his face.

But in fact, His Holiness was by no means an ugly monster, although not as handsome to the point of being a demon like Parano and Murphy, but no matter from which tribe’s aesthetics, it was also definitely a moderately good looking face.

Secondly, Venerable Lord Paying’s aura was something that could not be imitated.

That is from the day the vampire race was born on the continent, has been serving as the leader and arbiter, in the last 1,100 years to develop a kind of anger and self-importance, and those all around the continent sung about his legends and even “myths” have seriously strengthened this kind of majesty.

Not to mention those vampires who were “born” in recent times, even the old Edward who is of the same generation and similar age as Lord Paying would put away the kind of grim dominance as a Wolfsbane Archduke when he sees him.

This unique aura is coupled with the oppressive force when he carries the Holy Lance “Eternal Silence” on the stage, it is even stronger.

Old Edward’s hand shook as he held the wine glass.

It wasn’t because of fear.

The fact that His Holiness had come alone instead of bringing the entire elite of the Blood League Knights to the door meant that there was still something to talk about, but even the Sacred Lance “Eternal Silence” had been invited out, so it probably wouldn’t be that easy to end this lightly today.

The cunning Wolfsbane Grand Duke’s first thought was that he was going to be seriously hurt this time, and the next thought was that if he was lucky enough to survive, he would still have to break the bank.

It really hurts!

His Holiness Pa Ying did not notice the change in old Edward’s expression, or rather he didn’t care, just walked into the room with his hands behind his back without any politeness, and sat straight down on the chair that should have belonged to Edward in the study.

He waved his hand.

The First Lord and the Third Lord then turned around and left the study, also taking the door with them.

The scarlet lance “Eternal Silence” was left in the center of the room, ungripped and still maintaining an upright position of ninety degrees to the ground, it was obvious that this was not an ordinary weapon, and the shimmering light it emitted shrouded the entire study in a shimmering red light.

Not just good looking.

In the light of this arbitration, everything that didn’t exist in the material world had nothing to hide.

Fortunately, old Edward seems to have cleaned up his act so far and hasn’t gotten too involved with dangerous and mysterious otherworldly things.

“I assure you, I had no knowledge of that matter of Corlando.”

Edward Sr. spoke first.

He set his glass on the table and spoke softly:

“He’s always been an uncontrollable fellow, like an erratic metronome going back and forth between madness and savagery, and if I hadn’t been desperate to preserve my heritage when I first came to Glynny’s Island with my dying clan, I wouldn’t have taken a fellow like that without discernment”

“Spencer, this little thing you speak of is not worth my personal journey, I and all the Clan Leaders and Ancient Ones that still survive know full well how far our countrymen can fall under the lure of darkness.

It has been happening for the past thousand years.

Corando is not the first to turn his back on the interests of his race, and he will not be the last.”

Before the Wolfsbane Archduke could finish his explanation, he was interrupted by Venerable Lord Paying reaching out.

The Venerable Lord leaned back in his chair and swept his gaze across Old Edward’s study, lingering briefly on a few of the frescoes on the walls, but those contraptions were clearly not artistic enough for the Venerable Lord to make more than a few comments.

He said casually as he maintained his observant stance:

“Since you got the power of the Cato region under the darkness from King Louis, you should make good use of it instead of casually throwing it out to some dangerous people you can’t control.

But at the end of the day, this is your Wolfsbane Clan’s internal affairs.

I’m not interested in getting involved nor do I intend to comment much, you should know why I came here this night and why I’m making such a big deal out of it”

His Holiness changed his sitting position.

He propped his hands on the desk, interlacing his fingers to cover his mouth and nose, and in the windless movement of his long smooth hair, his amber blood pupils stared at the old Edward.

He asked with a clear bite:

“How much were you involved in the matter of that subspace rift under Salokdar and Transylvania? Answer seriously! Spencer, I will only ask this once, and you will only have this one chance to defend yourself!”

Old Edward’s heart sank.

He knew that Venerable Lord Paying couldn’t have left the defense of the Dark Mountain Range behind to come all the way to Grimm’s Island because of a harebrained faction leader.

He knew that the damned Blood Vulture Archduke would continue to cause trouble for himself even if he died! Damn it, Wolfsbane and Blood Vulture really could only exist one right?
He also knew that Venerable Lord Paying was already scrutinizing his sins.

Once there were any lies in his next answer, he himself might be forced to have a duel to the death with his thousand year old brother in this place.

This duel would most likely destroy half of Misty City, but he was sure that Venerable Lord Pa Ying would not be merciful just because of that.

This ancient and powerful brother of his own was merciful enough to rival the saints of elven lore, yet once he turned cold-blooded, there was nothing on this continent that could stop him from reaching his goal.

As an Ancient One old Edward had seen something similar with his own eyes, and more than once.

The Wolfsbane Archduke let out a long breath and took a few steps back pulling out a chair and sitting down right in front of the desk, just in front of the holy lance that stood suspended in the air.

This unique composition made the scene look just like an interrogation.

And he, the honorable Wolfsbane Grand Duke Edward Spencer Gungro, was sitting in the “penitent chair”.

He raised his head and looked at the amber-colored pupils in front of him, as if he was facing the rules of the ancient verdicts of the Blood Clan’s millennia-old tradition, and he said in a deep voice:
“I was not involved in the seduction of Salokdar!

I mean, I know about his odd changes in recent decades, and I know that he’s secretly had dealings with some strange guys, and I even know that the guy has been using the pseudonym ‘Count Fox’ to use the opportunity of tasting food all over the continent to look for evil things related to subspace.

But I hadn’t planned to use that against him!
Although the hatred of Wolfsbane and Blood Vulture is heavy, I know where the bottom line you set for us is, especially after our poor little brother Charlemagne was personally executed by you, the ‘big brother’, two hundred years ago, I know that there are some things that can’t be touched.

However, things quickly changed.

Specifically, two years ago, when the Ten Years’ War was in full swing, that Dwarf General’s Pathfinder Legion had just struck down the city of Sikor, and most of the top brass of the entire Portia Confederacy had been wiped out in one fell swoop, with the Wolfsbane Clan intervening as part of the war as well.

That was just a way for me to show my loyalty to King Louis, I didn’t expect to fight the Blood Vultures through a human war.

But one of my scions brought one back for me.

A woman!
A woman named Cecilia.

She was dying, as if drained of life by some evil thing, like a candle in the wind, but there was something more to this woman.

She had been Salokdar’s human mistress, and she said that she had ‘borne’ Salokdar a child, and she said that Salokdar had taken that child from her.

She was insane and made me think for a moment that the woman was perhaps imagining things.

But I finally decided to take a chance.

I developed her as my heir, and then I saw quite terrible things in her memories, and it was those memories that gave me a complete plan”

Edward Sr. glanced at the Venerable Lord Payn.

The latter’s face was unusually calm, not bursting with anger at his candor, and that calmness implied a terrible truth.

Everything he was saying now, perhaps Venerable Lord Paying had already known about it long ago!
Even the plan he had secretly plotted to destroy the Blood Vulture had never escaped the eyes of this ancient brother.

“You’re very honest, at least until now, continue.” Venerable Lord Paying said:
“Name the most important part of your plan.”

“Dusk!”

Old Edward uttered the word, and he said:
“A person or organization calling themselves ‘Dusk’ lurked beside Salokdar, and they helped him to modify that ‘Scarlet Witch’ Tris made for Salokdar back in the day, the ‘ Perfect Blood’ audacious plan.

They expanded it with an unimaginable madness into the realm related to ‘God and Subspace’.

Perhaps back then, the Scarlet Witch also wanted to use this plan to explore the mysteries of the gods, but the Dusk Crowd was clearly even crazier, compelling Salokdar to want to directly create a ‘god’.

A god of midnight that belonged to all vampires.

I don’t know why the once cunning and intelligent Salokdar would listen to such nonsense, but the fact remains that he actually did it!
From Cecilia’s memories, I saw that this plan had been in preparation since the birth of that little girl called ‘Femis’.

Salokdar intended to sacrifice his clan to accomplish this insane greatness.

I took advantage of this plan.

My means was to ensure that he would be able to move forward with his crazy idea, and to that end, I used my connections in the political arena of the Kingdom of Goldfinch to force the Pathfinder Legion to stop at East Prussia after destroying the city of Sicor.

I knew that Salokdar would eventually play himself out.

But I didn’t expect that this matter would actually come to an end in such a way, and in my thoughts at one time, it would have been you personally who would have put an end to this kind of subspace-related matter.

Just as you exterminated the Blood Fear Clan two hundred years ago, I admit that I had the intention of using you”

“Lies!”

Venerable Lord Paying chortled.

He rose with a flourish, and in the midst of his long hair flying, he said:

“You know why Salokdar did what he did! You know very well what that ancient brother of ours was compelled to do! You know very well that we all suffer from the same dark temptations!
In every midnight, in every ecstasy, in every time we approach the Scarlet Sanctuary Spencer, you know why Salokdar did what he did?
Right?”

The Venerable Lord’s chiding turned gentle again at the last sentence, even a little nervously sad.

In the face of his question, old Edward was also completely tense.

A twisted look appeared on his gloomy face, as if he was caught up in the memories of some ancient memories making him pinch his brows in pain.

After several seconds he said in a mute voice:
“Yes, I know, those memories about the mists before the Era, those memories that we have forgotten forever, about our origins, about the original sin of the Blood Race!

To this day, I can still see the occasional fragmented to the point of fragmentation, and in those images I can see you, I can see Salokdar, I can see Oksana and Charlemagne.

I can even see myself.

But I was completely unable to understand what we were doing in those images!
I couldn’t even try to trace whether those memories really existed in our cursed, eternal life that has no source or end, no place to come or go!

It was most likely just some illusions, odd visions formed from the Golden Beings’ keen perception of subspace.

But I can confirm it!

It’s no coincidence that Charlemagne and Salokhdar ended up dying in a subspace catastrophe; that dangerous force, those dangerous shadows have been calling and luring us.

You and I.
We resisted that call.

But Salokdar didn’t hold out in the end.

He responded!

So he went mad, so he destroyed his family with his own hands, so he created a horrible god-sin with his own hands.

I’m even speculating if the so-called ‘Twilight’ is an organization conjured up by Salokdar, that maybe it’s a lie created from the brutal ravages of subspace on his mind?”

“No, they are real.”

Venerable Lord Paying waved his hand in a sort of weary gesture.

He had asked all the questions he was going to ask while old Edward had passed this interrogation, and it was time to bid farewell.

He said:

“‘Twilight’ is an organization active in the shadows, and they have been present to a greater or lesser extent in all the hidden dangers and scourges associated with subspace throughout the continent for nearly a hundred years.

I’ve targeted a few of their members, and I’ll take care of what comes next.

You!
You don’t go chasing after anything related to them.

Salokdar is a tragic example, but Spencer, the fact that you sat back and watched your brother fall into a subspace rut without doing anything to help is something that troubles me greatly. Eleven hundred years ago, the day we, the original Bloods, held each other up and walked out of the Dark Mountains, we made an oath”

“Huh? There was?”

Old Edward was dumbfounded.

He raised his head and looked at Venerable Lord Paying in surprise as he said:
“My first recollection of the pre-Epoch was when I was awakened by you in the darkness of the night at the foot of the barren mountain, and you told me that you had forgotten the past and that I had done the same.

Did we we really ever make any strange vows?”

“We made it.”

Venerable Lord Paying looked Edward in the eye as he said:
“You, me, Charlemagne, Oksana, Salokdar & Constance, the six of us made an oath to lead the Bloods to flourish and continue civilization on a strange continent, but the only ones who can remember this are Constance and I, and after Constance mysteriously disappeared, I became the inscriber of that original oath.

Now the only two of the original Ancient Ones left are me and you, Edward, if you suddenly remember those memories from before the Era one day, you must remember to tell me.

Be sure to stay away from subspace!
Nothing good will be born there.”

After saying that, Venerable Lord Paying put away his holy spear and walked towards the entrance of the study, before leaving, he turned back to the old Edward who was sitting withered in a chair holding his head in meditation:
“I think you should thank the Blood Vulture Clan for helping you with that little trouble, a decent thank you gift is in line with tradition, don’t you think? Besides, the nasty outcome caused by the infighting in the Wolfsbane Clan upset me, and I don’t want it to happen again, and that Cecilia woman .
Keep an eye on her!
Report back to me whenever she has any further contact with Dusk.

Of course, this is all just a suggestion.”

“Of course, I understand what you mean, and subsequently I will personally take charge of the defense of the Cato region, and I assure you that you will see your trusty old brother on the battlefield against the Black Plague.”

Archduke Wolfsbane rose and bent his head in farewell to Venerable Lord Paying.

He stood at the window of his study and watched as Venerable Lord Paying and the two Knight Lords disappeared into his domain, and it was only at this moment that old Edward relaxed.

He walked back to his desk and reached for the wine glass that sat on the edge.

He looked at the amber-colored liquid in it.

His thoughts seemed to go back in time for a moment, back to a time before the Era, in the strange building where he and his siblings busied themselves with work he could no longer see now.

He didn’t know where it was, he didn’t know what they were doing.

But he did know that it was the work of that day that had burdened the vampire race with the eternal “original sin”.

The Wolfsbane Archduke drained his glass.

Using it to disperse those memories he shouldn’t have remembered, he let out a long breath, raised the empty glass high, faced the night, and said:

“‘Chief Navigator’ Salokdar Collinsman, may your soul return to Eden.”

Ten minutes later, a disgruntled old Edward was back in his tanner’s gloves in his leather-making workshop, his face full of resentment that his beaters were forced to work overtime.

But what else could be done?

Lord Paying said that he should send a gift as a token of his sincerity for the “temporary truce”, so as the best leatherworker on the continent, he could only send a set of good protective gear for the guys who got rid of Corando as a way of “thanking” them for getting rid of one of his own heirs. The heir to the throne.

Alas, he was still broke.

What a bummer!

Ugh, why are things always so bad in Transylvania?
(End of chapter)