Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

The "Raven" circled in the sky, always monitoring everything under Baron Fisher's castle. When Tricia left, she gave it powerful magic and an important task: to protect Charlie's safety.

After all, Duke Charlbris and the dragon Ruby are both here. Even though their power is not as strong as before, they should not be underestimated. Tricia left "Raven" behind just in case.

Fortunately, neither Charlbris nor Ruby had any intention of doing anything rash.

"Ms. Xia Li, your talent is truly astonishing! In just a few days, you've already mastered the secrets of blood mist magic."

Duke Chalbliss praised Charlie generously and even developed a bit of admiration for her talent. If Charlie was not Elsa's person, he would have recruited her to his side long ago.

In his opinion, Charlie was really suitable to be a vampire, and what made Chalbliss feel very strange was that every time Charlie mobilized the power of her bloodline, he would feel a palpitation. This feeling came out of nowhere, as if it came from the depths of his soul.

This also made Chalbliss even more curious about Charlie.

But Chalblis knew very well that Charlie belonged to Aisha, so he could only suppress his curiosity.

"Really? Thanks for the compliment."

Xia Li randomly combined the shapes of the blood mist, and finally condensed a long sword from the blood mist - now she has begun to try to explore more uses of the blood mist.

Over the past few days, Charlie's strength has indeed increased a lot, but according to Duke Charlbliss, this is an inevitable result.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Duke," Charlie's voice came from the blood mist, questioning, "It's said that vampires will involuntarily pursue the 'bloodline of the original'. Is this true?"

Chalbliss felt a little strange about this question - Charlie was also a vampire, so didn't Charlie even know about this kind of problem?

But he still said: "Although it is regrettable, this is the fact."

……

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434. Gray Forest (4K3)

"Why do you say it's a pity? Isn't the desire to become stronger something everyone has? ——And from the perspective of the vampires themselves, there's no harm in becoming stronger, right?"

Charlie asked.

Although even Charlie herself felt that this question sounded a bit naive, it was indeed a real question she had.

When she learned from Tricia and Aisha that she was of the "Original Bloodline", she did not feel happy or depressed, but just a little surprised, because she had no real sense of it at all. She did not have the power strong enough to ignore everything, nor did she have a sense of identity as a vampire.

That's why she wanted to know more about the ancestor.

"It's different. This desire is beyond our control. It's not a psychological pursuit, but a quagmire that every vampire must inevitably step into," Chalbliss explained patiently, without showing any impatience. "One of the most common manifestations is our vampire thirst for blood. Essentially, it's a primal impulse born from the pursuit of our ancestral bloodline."

"Huh? So this is the reason for the blood-sucking urge?"

Charlie's blood mist began to wriggle.

"Then...is there any way to completely curb the urge to suck blood?"

Charlie suddenly wanted to know what made her want to taste other people's blood.

That incident has always been a knot in her heart.

Duke Charlbris subconsciously glanced at Ruby, who was standing there in shock. Seeing that the giant dragon, who had been clamoring for him to produce his dragon blood, didn't look in his direction, he whispered:

"There's no such method. We vampires are born to feed on blood. Blood is something we can't resist. Even a Duke like us can't completely extinguish the urge to drink blood. We can only suppress it. Perhaps you've heard rumors of vampires who don't drink blood, but unfortunately, those are just rumors. It's impossible for vampires not to drink blood, just like it's impossible for humans not to breathe. It's our instinct. Even a vampire with the strongest willpower can only prolong the time between the onset of blood thirst symptoms and temporarily suppress the urge to drink blood. As time goes by, this urge will grow stronger and eventually consume us."

Charlie didn't respond.

Chalblis looked at Charlie's blood mist. In fact, Chalblis also knew that Charlie had always lived as a human being and didn't know much about many things about the vampires.

He thought about it and advised seriously:

"Ms. Shirley, perhaps you could try to accept your own 'desires'—if you can't break away from your human identity, the blood of the ancestor will only be a vicious curse. On the contrary, it will become a shortcut for you to master the power of your bloodline."

Over the past few hundred years, he has seen too many vampires who are unable to accept their own identities. When most people first become vampires, they cannot let go of their attachment to everything from their human days, whether it is family, friendship, or love, or an indescribable sense of identity, or rejection of the vampires themselves. In short, all these factors drive those individuals to struggle between being human and being vampires, and it is obvious that this kind of contempt for established facts will mostly end in tragedy.

Chalbliss never approved of vampires suppressing their own nature. Extreme repression would not bring relief, but would instead make them sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire and eventually destroy themselves.

Besides, just like Charlie, many vampires find it difficult to stimulate their potential power, and the consequences are obvious. Not all vampires have the unreasonable brute force of Charlie. To survive in this world without sufficient power will only sow the seeds of tragedy.

"Of course, this is just my suggestion..."

Chalblis found a way out for himself and didn't finish his words, but he got the point across.

It was rare for Chalblis to feel a bit of appreciation for his junior, Charlie. As a fellow clan member, he naturally hoped that Charlie could break free from the control of the Holy Sister and the Mystic Sage.

Moreover, he also wanted to use Charlie for his own benefit - otherwise, he really couldn't think of any way to escape from here.

Seeing that Charlie was silent, Chalblis knew that she would not listen to what he said, so he continued:

"However, if you really don't want to and just want to relieve your blood thirst, there are still many ways. If you want to do it without being discovered, you can try mixing some relatively fresh, magically rich core crystals into the food. This is one of the simplest and most effective methods. Essentially, it uses the residual soul of the monster to replace the soul aura in the blood, while also providing magic power."

Charlie didn't need this method, she could easily go for more than a month without sucking blood.

But after hearing the Duke's words, Charlie suddenly became concerned. Could it be that she hadn't overcome her blood thirst? Was it just that the intervals between episodes were long? If she consumed a large amount of magic power, or went a long time without blood, would she still lose her mind due to thirst like other vampires?

Will this happen?

Charlie asked, "If... the Original Creator existed, would she need to drink blood?"

"Theoretically, no, because the First Ancestor is absolutely perfect."

This made Charlie feel a little relieved.

"But who knows? Becoming the First Ancestor is so difficult... To this day, there is no definitive evidence to prove that the First Ancestor ever existed..."

The Duke of Charlemagne suddenly sighed.

At this time, Alman appeared outside the martial arts arena. He saw Charlbliss from afar, and then saw the blood mist condensed by Charlie, and was slightly surprised.

His eyes became deep, he thought for a while, and then walked up quickly.

"Ms. Shirley, we've received new intelligence!"

Charlie's figure appeared in the blood mist, and in the blink of an eye she regained her human form. Her white hair fluttered slowly, and the moment her blood-red eyes fell, Alman suddenly felt a strong palpitation, as if a majestic monarch was sitting high on the throne and looking down at him.

The sudden feeling was fleeting, and before Alman had time to be scared, everything returned to normal.

That was just...

"What information?"

Charlie's voice interrupted Alman's thoughts. Alman thought for a moment, cleared his mind of distracting thoughts, and said, "I've found a clue to the organization—all thanks to the manpower and intelligence provided by the Duke. This has made our work much smoother."

Armand took the opportunity to flatter Duke of Charlemagne - Armand was very good at saying this.

Even though it was flattery, it was indeed the credit of the many vampires brought by Charlbliss - those followers have now all become their coolies, and there are even marquis-level blood clans among them, but now they all have to obey Alman's command. Alman has never been so glorious as he is now, which also makes him very satisfied.

However, Alman did not dwell on useless topics for too long, he quickly returned to the main topic.

"We've searched all the organization's former locations and found some fragmentary clues. We also took the opportunity to investigate the ice fields outside the northern border. There, we tracked down two carriages that had been shipped out from Baron Fisher some time ago. The mithril ingots on the carriages are gone, and the carriages are damaged and stranded on the ice fields. We've inquired from various sources and heard that they encountered a cold wave and monster attacks. I also heard that some of their people survived. I think this is a good breakthrough. I think we should be able to get some information from those people."

As Alman spoke, he suddenly hesitated and stammered, "But... now we have encountered some problems..."

Charlie narrowed her eyes slightly and stared at Alman - she always felt that Alman had some ulterior motives.

She asked, "What's the problem?"

"The information I received is... those survivors were imprisoned by the Fortress Inquisition for smuggling mithril. Our people have no way of contacting them... so..."

The implication was that Aisha and Tricia had to come forward to communicate, otherwise they would not be able to meet those people.

But now Aisha and Tricia are not here.

"I understand. I will tell Aisha and the others when they come back."

Charlie's calm answer made Alman sigh in his heart - in fact, he hoped that Charlie could be a little more reckless and go out herself, so that he might have a chance to escape. He waited so hard for Elsa and Tricia to leave, and he didn't want to miss such a good opportunity. Unfortunately, there was a "crow" guarding this place, and with his strength, he couldn't escape under the surveillance of the "crow".

Only Charlie's departure can take away the "crow".

However, he didn't show his disappointment on his face. He continued, "Also, the intelligence I received revealed something worth noting—when we were organizing a search in the old area, we discovered a strange place..."

"Strange place?"

"You'll know just by looking at it."

As he spoke, Alman took out a projection magic stone.

With the infusion of magic power, the magic stone recalled a desolate scene - it was a gloomy forest, a strange forest. All that could be seen were silent, withered, gray-white trees. The weak sunlight that shone down seemed to have lost its temperature, leaving only an ash-like color. As the recalled scene slowly moved, there was still no trace of any birds or beasts, nor the chirping of insects. There was only gusts of cold wind dragging the trees to shake, making a rustling and strange sound.

Charlie frowned slightly.

Charlie grew up in a small town near the forest, but she had never seen a forest like this before. There was an inexplicable and strange atmosphere everywhere.

It was Duke Chalblis who noticed something was wrong.

"Is this... 'Death Place'?"

"Death place?" Charlie showed a surprised expression and repeated, "This is the death place?"

"Well, I've been to the Demon King's Territory before, and I'm very familiar with this kind of scenery. I can't be mistaken. That's the Death Land, and it's a 'young' one at that. It must have been formed not long ago, at least no more than half a year. Look, those trees haven't completely withered yet."

Duke Chalblis nodded firmly, then frowned slightly and stared at Alman with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"You—let my people go to the demon clan's territory?"

Chalbliss looked slightly annoyed.

Of course he would be unhappy - the followers he sent out this time were all his confidants, otherwise they would not be so obedient. But precisely because of this, Chalbliss did not want to see those people killed by Alman, as those followers were irreplaceable and important forces in his hands.

"No, no, no, how could I let your followers go to a filthy place like the Demon Tribe's territory? Besides, the journey from the Empire to the Demon King's territory is so long, there's no way we can make it."

Alman quickly smiled and explained.

"Actually, this place is within the Empire, due east of us. It's a little further than the Marquisate of Fabrice, about a week's journey. But if you travel quickly, it'll only take about a day."

After all, the "spies" under Alman are all real vampires. It is not a big deal to hurry on the road. It will be much easier as long as they don't go into the city. It is not very convenient for vampires to walk in human cities. If they are discovered, it will be troublesome. In comparison, it will be easy to move in the wild.

Duke Chalbliss felt relieved when he heard this.

"It's okay, just do whatever you need to do, don't worry about my feelings."

He said this in a double-talking manner - this was just a polite remark for Charlie to hear. He couldn't act protective in front of Charlie, otherwise he would be in trouble when Elsa came back.

After the last time, he no longer wanted to be hit by Elsa's iron fist.

"But," Chalbliss thought to himself, "that place is close to the territory of Hercules Butana, right?"

Charlie had no idea about this, but she was also familiar with the map of the North. After Duke Chalbliss said this, she roughly knew where the place was. As far as she knew, it was a completely undeveloped ancient forest with rugged terrain and a cold climate. The forest would probably extend directly into the territory of Helansis Butanna.

In fact, before the demihumans established their kingdom, Helansis Butana was also part of that forest.

"Since it is within the empire, why is there a place of death?"

Charlie asked.

This is the most critical issue.

The Death Land is a disaster caused by the withering of the earth veins. Within the scope of the Death Land, living creatures will lose their vitality. Only races like the Demons who can survive by relying on surging magic power can survive in the Death Land. If it were other races, it would be impossible for them to survive in the Death Land for a long time.

"Sorry, we can't find the cause. The dead zone isn't very large, and it's shrouded in a barrier. It's hard to detect unless you get close. Even stranger, our people discovered a collapsed cave in the center of the dead zone. It seems to have been destroyed recently. To be on the safe side, they only conducted a cursory exploration of the exterior. Finding nothing special, they marked it and immediately returned with the information."

Charlie knew that it must be because the vampire spies had also noticed something was wrong. Since they were only ordered to track down intelligence, they obviously didn't want to risk their lives, so they didn't conduct an in-depth investigation and ran back directly.

"Is that the old place of your organization?"

"Yes, it is precisely because of that place that we can hide away from the eyes and ears of the empire."

In fact, what Alman did not say explicitly was that he sent people there more to find the old chief's treasure house. Because the chief did not allow them to get close to that place, the more he wanted to look for it, the less he found, so he reported it as a clue.

"I see."

Charlie fell into thought.

The appearance of a dead spot in the empire is a big deal, as it means that the ley lines there are "dead" - generally speaking, such a thing would never happen naturally, right?

Elsa and Tricia must be contacted immediately.

Charlie raised her head and looked at the "crow" circling in the sky.

……

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435. It is your creation

It was already evening, and the setting sun dyed half the sky red.

Elsa and Tricia did not stay in the South for long. After saying goodbye to Madeleine, they returned to the North. However, they did not return directly to the Barony of Fisher, but went to Mick Town first.

That is the territory of Marquis Fabrique.