Chapter 732 Lanqi's Prophecy

Kryptid Empire, central district of the capital, Brillda.

An ultra-ancient underground city-state lay hidden deep beneath the earth, with only a few spatial nodes connecting it to concealed openings.

It was an autumn night. A blood-red moon hung high in the inky dome above, while a magical device simulated the scene of a bright moon casting its light, veiling the city, constructed from dark stone, in layers of hazy crimson gauze.

On either side of the empty streets, the tall, heavy outlines of the buildings traced the somber shadows of ultra-ancient blood moon art, as if solidifying the dust of eternal ages, with only the occasional breeze blowing through the silent alleyways.

"The color of the blood moon is truly breathtaking."

A man's figure walked past, the iron-gray buttons of his uniform gleaming, reflecting the blood-red color of the sky.

When he was above ground, he always strode confidently, his eyes arrogantly surveying his surroundings, but after arriving here, he couldn't help but lower his posture.

As the captain of the Special Operations Division of the Empire, no one would easily tail him. Or rather, in such an underground city connected only by spatial nodes, entering and leaving were both done silently and secretly.

Colonel Maguire gradually approached the end of the underground city—a majestic castle made of natural obsidian stood quietly in the dark night.

The outer walls of the castle were inlaid with cold, hard silver edges, and adorned with red crystal carvings.

Maguire's figure slowly entered the castle, passed through several corridors, and pushed open a giant door engraved with incantations.

Suddenly, his eyes widened as a magnificent parliament-style palace appeared before him.

"My lord, I have arrived."

Maguire bowed respectfully as if facing the emperor, his strong body casting a shrunken shadow.

His voice was low, unable to conceal the anxiety in his words.

...There was no response from the hall for a long time, and he did not dare to stand up.

Although he was the only seventh-order combatant in the Empire's Special Operations Division, he felt as small as an insect in front of the vampires.

Above the towering dome, rose windows inlaid with immortal crystals refracted a dazzling and psychedelic halo. Chandeliers cast from black iron hung from cold iron chains, exuding a luxurious color. A deep red carpet, like a blood river flowing downwards, stretched all the way to the end of his vision—to the thirteen high-backed chairs resembling thrones on either side of a long table made of black refined iron in the center of the chamber.

However, at this moment, the huge parliament hall was empty, with only one figure sitting alone on the seventh high-backed chair.

The figure on the high-backed chair in the distance slightly raised its head, its eyes always tightly closed, as if piercing through layers of domes to discern the shape woven from bright stars in the night sky.

"Maguire, I'm sorry to have called you here at this hour."

She murmured to herself, her tone calm and ethereal, as if lamenting, or perhaps indulging in self-pity.

"It is my honor to serve the vampires in this lifetime."

The man didn't dare to respond to this. He knew very well that the Marquis was just being polite. He had to obey any orders from the vampires. "Violet has been lured away, and Hyacinthus will not leave the headquarters. As long as there is no eighth-order combat in the capital, Hyacinthus will not react."

He then reported.

The last instruction he received was to keep Violet, the Sixth Army God and Seat of Aquamarine Jade, away from the capital, Brillda, for as long as possible.

Thus, under the vampires' manipulation, fragments of the remains of the ultra-ancient divine beast, the Bone King, were suspected to have appeared within the Empire. The discovered ruins were extremely dangerous, requiring extremely powerful individuals to protect the Empire's exploration team and the archaeological professors from the Saint Kryptid Monastery. In the end, Principal Violet decided to personally go to Lake Stabergen, near the Botswana Province.

She would temporarily freeze the entire lake near the exploration cave, and if fighting underwater or on the water, Violet would have an absolute advantage.

Violet was the best candidate, or rather, other than her, only First Army God Hyacinthus could ensure that this task would be foolproof. However, Hyacinthus, as the Commander-in-Chief, could not move, so only Sixth Army God, Aquamarine Jade Violet, could set off.

During this time, Violet would not return to the Saint Kryptid Monastery.

"Very good, now it's good for the Empire and the Allied forces to exhaust each other. This time, there are no demons to help them."

Although the vampire Marquis's voice was soft, it was as cold and biting as autumn frost, and seemed to contain regrets that could not be resolved even after thousands of years.

Whether it was the Empire's eighth-order hero units or the Allied forces' eighth-order hero units, they would become fewer and fewer as the war continued.

Legion units and city defense facilities were equally difficult to restore.

"How is the front line? Will other Army Gods return?"

Heliette Marquis turned her face to the side and asked casually.

They, the vampires, had top-tier hero units, but lacked legion units, so they could only use humans, or convert them from the human side.

To some extent, legion units were the minion wave. Without a minion wave to withstand the enemy's city defense facilities and magic engineering barriers, hero units could not break through alone, and might even be defeated by tanking the tower.

Now, the fierce fighting in the early stages of the war had gradually slowed down. With the loss of the Allied forces' strategic locations on the southern periphery, the Allied forces had actively abandoned some areas, resources, and vision, retreating north to huddle together. It was not so easy for the Empire to catch single Allied hero units outside the city defenses.

Next, the main focus would be on the operations of both sides, the outcome of large-scale battles, and the competition for neutral resources.

And once the war entered a white-hot stage, when the Empire began to be distracted by external pressure, it would be the best opportunity for them, the vampires, to take advantage of the situation and take control of the Kryptid Empire at its core.

Currently, there were still several Army Gods who had not been controlled by Third Progenitor Duke Lashaer, which was the biggest variable.

"Apart from Third Army God, Geyat of Threaded Agate, and Fifth Army God, Jayed of Mica Road, returning to the capital in exchange, only Tenth Army God, Julius of Red Beryl, may return in the short term. Then there is the Kryptid National Day Festival next month, when a large number of Army Gods will return one after another to maintain the order of the ceremony and receive the blessing of the God of War and Sword."

Maguire was still kneeling on one knee, his hand on his knee, answering respectfully.

The Kryptid Army Gods all had the blessing of the God of War and Sword, which could grant a small increase in basic attributes. The annual National Day Festival was the time to regain the blessing.

God's blessings could not coexist, and only one could be held at a time. However, the Kryptid Empire's blessing of the God of War and Sword was a rare and pure attack attribute, and the blessing of the God of War and Sword that the Kryptid Empire could bestow upon the Army Gods was a long-lasting effect, not the short duration of most God's blessings.

"What's wrong with Tenth Army God, Julius of Red Beryl?"

Heliette Marquis nodded lightly. The only surprise was why this weaker Army God was returning.

Kryptid Empire's Eleventh Army God, Simonro of Emerald, was a healing assistant, and Twelfth Army God, Bianca of Cat's Eye, was a scout. They were more useful than the purely offensive Tenth Army God, Julius of Red Beryl. It could be said that Red Beryl was at the bottom of the Army Gods.

"During the first large-scale energy grab between the Empire and the Allied forces in the Western Hub District, Red Beryl reversed the situation with one shot, triggering a giant explosion that almost swept in the Allied eighth-order led by the Western Speaker and other Army Gods."

Maguire shook his head and said, "Julius has always been like this, greedy for merit and reckless, like he's missing a string in his brain."

Colonel Maguire had always felt more envy than respect for this young general, who was much younger than him but was able to be conferred the title of Army God.

He didn't dare to evaluate any Army God in person, but it was different in Blood Moon City. The Army Gods were, like him, inferior beings.

Heliette Marquis was obviously stunned. She really didn't expect that the reason for Red Beryl's return might be to face a court-martial.

"There are two things. Go kill that wolf witch with the Judgment Eye."

Heliette stopped paying attention to the Army Gods and began to talk about the real business today.

"It might be a little troublesome. Her brother is now at the height of his power in the Empire. Even that old guy, Dax, has taken a fancy to him. If we touch his sister, if he fights to the death and has Dax help him investigate, there might be big problems."

Maguire hesitated for a moment before answering.

Although the hounds under Duke Dax of the Empire's Special Operations Division were not that strong in combat, their reconnaissance abilities were quite strong, especially that Kestrel, Nicholas, who might come sniffing around.

The risk of infiltrating the Empire's Special Operations Division was extremely high. A large-scale infiltration would definitely be discovered by Dax. Currently, the vampires only had Maguire, this one true turncoat in the Empire's Special Operations Division, to ensure that he would not be implicated by other turncoats.

"The Brillda Mafia is currently experiencing financial difficulties. As long as the price is high enough..."

Heliette said this information casually.

"I understand."

Maguire nodded subconsciously.

He understood what Heliette Marquis meant: first subcontract to the Resurrection Church, and then have the Rotten Branch subcontract to the Brillda Mafia.

He didn't need Heliette to teach him the rest.

As long as the toolman in charge of contacting the Mafia from the Rotten Branch was eliminated, then this layer of contact between the Rotten Branch and the Mafia would be dead without proof. Even the Empire's Special Operations Division would not investigate in the direction of the Resurrection Church.

And it could kill two birds with one stone, causing conflict between the Empire's Special Operations Division and the Mafia.

The Empire's Special Operations Division, which the vampires could not further infiltrate for the time being, was undoubtedly the intelligence agency that most restricted the vampires' freedom of movement.

"That wolf witch probably saw Count Siberner at the Roland family's banquet that day, so we can't let her live any longer."

Heliette Marquis looked at Maguire kneeling on the ground.

Although Countess Siberner could transform into the appearance of any human, it would be easy for Siberner to change to a new identity in the Empire. However, that wolf witch had become a time bomb, and she had to be eliminated if there was an opportunity.

In this era of the wolf clan's decline, they, the vampires, knew the wolf clan even better than the scattered wolf clan.

The warriors of this race would have their regenerative abilities greatly enhanced at night, along with an increase in certain basic attributes, while the priests would strengthen their regenerative power and healing power at night, and gain special spells.

The difference between regeneration and healing was that regeneration was self-healing, while healing could be applied to oneself or others, but the effect was not as exaggerated as regeneration, and the mana consumption was higher than regeneration.

The vast majority of the wolf clan were physical wolf clan, and the small number of magic wolf clan could basically be called mutants of the wolf clan, because the wolf clan themselves were very tough, so the wolf sages were also more resistant to beating than ordinary magic professionals.

[Judgment Eye], as a unique talent for appraising attributes, was not a particularly powerful ability in itself. It could even be said to be a bit useless, but the holder would become a natural detective, able to see the number of kills of each unit after nightfall.

This talent would at most assist the police in solving cases and increase the available clues for reasoning, but for vampires, it would be quite fatal, especially for vampires lurking in human society.

Because the vampires' kill counts were all in the tens of thousands, even normal serial killers would not kill that many.

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

Maguire replied, lowering his head.

"The second thing, the Silver Moon Restoration Society's assassination of nobles has become increasingly rampant. Although sometimes they help us eliminate political enemies, sometimes they also kill the dependents we have under control."

Heliette Marquis continued.

Maintaining a certain degree of conflict within the Kryptid Empire was naturally a good thing for the vampires.

But allowing the Silver Moon Restoration Society, this terrorist organization, to run rampant and incite the nobles and the people to an uncontrollable point, then even if they, the vampires, controlled the Kryptid Empire, it would all be trouble, and they would have to clean up the Silver Moon Restoration Society's mess.

"Have you calculated their whereabouts?"

Maguire raised his head in surprise.

"No, the nine venerables of this organization have no contact with each other at all. There is very little karma between the core members, making it impossible to divine."

Heliette Marquis denied.

She didn't know when such an organization had become active in the Kryptid Empire.

It may have existed a long time ago, but it really became active about half a year ago.

Even if one venerable was found, it would be difficult to use that venerable to eliminate the other venerables.

"The only information we have obtained from Countess Siberner is that the third venerable may have something to do with the Mafia."

She added.

Maguire instantly understood why Heliette Marquis wanted to guide the Empire's Special Operations Division to investigate the Mafia.

"Then what should we do?"

He asked Heliette for guidance.

If the Silver Moon Restoration Society was not eliminated, the venerables who were the brains would be equivalent to not cutting the grass and removing the roots. There would be a constant stream of Empire civilians who would be instigated by them to join them and become believers of the Silver Moon Restoration Society.

"If the Silver Moon Restoration Society wants to kill, then help them."

Heliette leaned back in her chair and said nonchalantly.

"!" Maguire was shocked, "You mean, we should also kill! Take the opportunity to kill a few more political enemies, create a shocking case, and then pin the blame on the Silver Moon Restoration Society, arousing the emotions of the Empire nobles. At that time, the Empire's Special Operations Division will have no choice but to thoroughly investigate the Silver Moon Restoration Society, attracting the attention of the Empire's hounds. Maybe it can speed up the progress of our Land Alchemy?"

As he asked, he secretly sighed. This vampire Marquis was truly a viperous beauty, with no good intentions in her heart.

Now the vampires were not only controlling the Kryptid Empire's government, but also controlling the Empire's economy and media. At this time, they could take advantage of the chaos to kill a few Empire big shots who were difficult to deal with. With the Silver Moon Restoration Society helping them take the blame, they could be a little more unscrupulous.

At the same time, they had to kill some Empire tycoons who had already been controlled by the vampires to confuse people and avoid suspicion.

But since they were premeditated actions, they could prepare in advance and transfer the dead's inheritance and power from left hand to right hand. In essence, the loss was not great, just changing a puppet.

In addition to a portion of the humans on the Kryptid Empire's territory that could be alchemized, the people of the kingdoms on the Allied territory that the Kryptid Empire had invaded were also living energy. Quickly converting them into energy would undoubtedly speed up the progress of the war.

"That's right, there are too many humans in the Southern Continent. Some of them should be alchemized."

Heliette Marquis finally slowly opened those eyes as deep as pools of blood. The gaze on her beauty mark seemed to travel through vast time and space, across countless epochs. Under the shadows, no one could see how much vicissitude had accumulated within.

The energy transformed from hundreds of millions of living human bodies would provide endless energy for Blood Moon City, making it the same as the demon clan's ancestral land.

"Hahaha, I always felt that it was too wasteful to bury those kingdom civilians in earthen pits. It would be much better to turn them into pure energy."

Maguire laughed.

"What about the Empire people?"

Heliette asked him.

She didn't like human traitors, and she hated even more humans who still had lingering attachments to humans.

"The same. Humans who don't side with the vampires are inferior beings without the right to life."

Maguire showed a slightly malicious expression.

"Although you are clumsy, it is because there are more people like you that the country will be easily occupied by others. There have been people like you in every era."

Heliette seemed to be mocking Maguire and praising him at the same time.

Now, in this generation, the demons, the greatest threat to the vampires, had been destroyed by humans.

They had also seized the opportunity after the ninth-order Shadow World took away all the ninth-order of this era to unseal Third Progenitor Duke Lashaer.

Driven by endless desires, evil cults ran rampant, the North and South Continents were divided, and humans were still fighting endlessly for power.

These ignorant acts indicated an indisputable fact—"Calamity has arrived, and the words of the fall of the country have been engraved on the walls of the Kryptid Empire."

The Marquis's cold and stunning face remained calm, but exuded an inviolable and dignified aura.

Each of her words was like the crisp cracking sound made by ice crystals congealing at the end of autumn, echoing for a long time in the empty palace.

"Black Sun Tyrant, even if you come back this time, you won't stop us in this era, will you?

Dying for these humans and still bearing eternal infamy, I feel unworthy for you."