The Villain Saint is my secondary account

Each disappearance of a point of light signified the complete annihilation of a player squad. They marched in this manner until they broke through the miasma, transforming into a surprise force to storm the capital of Aslan, where they slew the general under the command of the World-Destroying Witch, who believed he could rest easy with the natural defenses as a shield, in the royal palace…

Ah, the sight of this scene has stirred up memories that have led me to think a little too far back in time.

By the time Ella came to her senses, the group had arrived in front of a wide and ancient gate.

The second level, unlike the stone gate at the bottom of the tower, features a tall bronze gate that is not tightly closed but half-open. The thick bronze chains that were probably used to lock the gate have all broken and are hanging down by the door.

"It looks like this place has already been broken into."

Elder Antal whispered from the side, "It must have been those heretics who did it."

Ella nodded slightly. That was normal. If the restrictions here were all intact, she would be wondering how those guys from the company managed to get up there.

The stone guard dogs on the lower level were probably bypassed by some means, but the second level above doesn't look like it's directly accessible.

As she pondered, she held up her staff and stepped through the crack in the bronze door. The scene that appeared before her eyes was completely different from the empty space downstairs.

This is also a grand hall, but it is much taller. The surrounding gray walls are covered with arched recesses, densely packed like a honeycomb, stretching all the way to the dome at the very top, where the end can be barely seen. Some of the recesses contain a square wooden box, which looks like a shrine for worship.

Bronze chains hung in mid-air, their chaotic, three-dimensional web-like structure fragmenting the space.

At the very top, a silvery glow of unknown origin shone through the twilight-like translucent quartz dome, where a huge spider, also cast in bronze, hung silently, as if it had been "dead" for a long time.

This statement might not be entirely appropriate for a bronze artifact that is inherently inanimate, but as Ella saw it, the thing certainly appeared to be "dead."

The spider in mid-air, illuminated by the silver light, had a huge gash on its abdomen. The edges of the gash were cracks that extended along the bronze patterns, and its pincers were broken and drooping, lifeless.

Chapter 169 Ancestral Tombs

The group passed through the bronze doors and entered the quiet, desolate hall, carrying torches.

A silvery-white glow was cast from the dome, like a light veil draped over the shoulders of the group.

"This place...it's so spacious and bright, yet it always seems a bit eerie."

One of the fellow players looked around and couldn't help but say something.

"This place should be the burial ground of the vampire heroes, or their birthplace."

Perhaps hearing the whispers of the players in the group, or perhaps to answer Ella's questions, Elder Antal continued his explanation.

"According to the ancient records of the vampire clan, when a member of the main clan who can become a count or above dies, his soul will be summoned by the Queen and placed in a sacred place. If he seeks peace, he will slumber here. If he seeks revival, a 'vessel' will be selected from the younger descendants of the clan and he will be reborn."

"To be reborn using the body of a descendant as a vessel... that feels a bit perverse."

One player muttered.

"This is a race completely different from us humans, so it is normal for them to have ethics that are different from human concepts."

Elder Antal was quite happy to share what he knew with these travelers from another world, saying, "For young vampire descendants, being able to become the vessel for the birth of their ancestors is actually a supreme honor."

"Because only the most talented and purest bloodline recipients are qualified to be chosen as vessels."

"But in that case, wouldn't they lose their own consciousness?"

"They do not revere free will. The existence of bloodline contracts shows that as descendants, they obey the will of their direct elders. Inheritance and extension can be said to be the only meaning of their lives. And being the vessel of the ancestors represents the complete affirmation of the ancestors' will on them... From that moment on, the meaning of their existence is fulfilled."

Elder Antal stroked his beard and said, “However, it is more accurate to say that this was the creed of the ancient vampires during the Queen’s reign. After that, the younger generation of vampires in Mist City, through the interaction and clash with human culture, also developed different ideas.”

"It has a bit of the feel of cultural changes between different ethnic groups in our area."

One player nodded in agreement, saying, "The pursuit of freedom may be a convergence and inevitability of civilization's upward development."

"Not necessarily,"

Another player in the team countered, "The vampire race's ability to reincarnate means that by sacrificing some newborns with unknown potential to preserve the knowledge and abilities of the elite members of the race, wouldn't it often be better for the development of the entire race?"

"No way, would you be willing to sacrifice yourself?"

"To truly understand another culture, I think we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the elite among us humans. If one day Einstein or Newton were to be reincarnated in a mythological world, there might be figures like the Monkey King who would need to be reborn through you... In that situation, would anyone really be willing to become a vessel? It wouldn't be surprising if some people were even proud of it."

"Hmm, that's a tough question... But I don't think the Great Sage would do that. He wouldn't sacrifice someone else's freedom for his own..."

"Hey everyone, can we stop talking about all this nonsense for now?"

A burly man among the players gruffly interrupted their whispers, "There aren't even any stairs here, how are we supposed to get up?"

This is indeed a very real problem.

Everyone looked up and saw no steps above, only rows of bronze locks stretching across the air, reaching the dome above, which was bathed in soft light.

"cough……"

Elder Antal coughed awkwardly, “The place above is probably only accessible to high-ranking vampires of earl rank or above, and as far as I know… most vampires can fly, let alone high-ranking vampires.”

In other words, the vampires don't need stairs at all to get up there.

This made Ella scratch her cheek in an awkward way. She hadn't expected this. The Wind Riding Technique definitely couldn't lift so many people. Why not just summon a few giant tentacles to send the big guys up?

"We should be able to climb up, right, guys?"

At this moment, a player who had walked to the wall waved to the group and said, "I tried it, and it seems like climbing these grids shouldn't be too difficult..."

As he was speaking, his arm accidentally knocked a wooden box off the table, causing it to fall to the ground.

With a crisp crack, the box shattered, spilling some grayish-white powder onto the ground.

"Holy crap, I didn't mean to! What the hell?! Could this be ashes?!"

"In terms of material, it's not that; it's probably just powdered pearls, which has the effect of nourishing the soul."

Elder Antar stroked his beard. "But in terms of their actual meaning, they should be about the same."

Before the elder's kind words had even finished, a sharp, piercing howl suddenly echoed through the towering hall.

"You lowly human! How dare you desecrate the heroic spirits of my ancestors?!"

The sound made everyone look up, and they saw a slender figure in a black cloak gradually emerge from the silver light on several bronze chains near the top of the dome.

Judging from their appearance, they were clearly the group of wandering vampires who had invaded this place.

Sure enough, soon after, the two vampire counts, a man and a woman, who were their leaders, also appeared.

They all hung upside down on the bronze chains like bats, their fierce, scarlet eyes fixed on the people on the ground below, as if they were prey daring to invade this place.

However, even though they were far apart, Ella noticed that both counts seemed to have some injuries and their clothes looked somewhat torn.

"Ouch."

Ella tilted her head back, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Have you vampires been wandering for so long that you've forgotten even the basic etiquette of dressing nicely when receiving guests?"

"No wonder he became a stray dog ​​and still came back to invade the nest of his own people."

"Saintess of Light!!!"

Ella's sarcastic words reached the Earl's ears above, instantly enraging him to the point of gritting his teeth, "This is also the sacred ground of my vampire clan, what right do you humans have to invade it!?"

While outwardly muttering to herself, Ella secretly observed that the group of vampires remained suspended in the air, showing no intention of descending. In that instant, she understood the situation.

They remain unmoved by such mockery, only engaging in verbal sparring; there must be some hidden agenda there.

This was to be expected; it was indeed a bit much to ask of them to have these vampires, who numbered only a few dozen, fly down and fight against their team of over a thousand.

If there's an ambush, why show your face and attract attention? Wouldn't it be better to just wait quietly for them to come up?

Ella lowered her head slightly, her gaze sweeping over the wooden box that had just been accidentally broken by the player, and she immediately understood.

"Gentlemen, please launch an attack on the surrounding walls."

Ella smiled gently.

"Holy Maiden of Light, you are utterly despicable and shameless!!!"

Upon hearing Ella's command, the vampire count guarding above flew into a rage, shouting, "If you have even a shred of honor as a saint, come up here and fight us!!!"

"Oh……"

Seeing the vampire count's reaction, the players and members of the Sanctuary also realized what was happening.

These vampires must have set up an ambush up there, waiting for them to get up, while the Holy Maiden, unwilling to comply, intended to force them down.

But this method... smashing someone's ancestral grave... is this really something a saint who spreads love and light would do?

Even some players couldn't help but gasp, thinking that our Saintess seemed to have some wicked intentions.

Chapter 170 Provocation

Despite their surprise, the players and priests carried out Ella's orders with remarkable efficiency.

The flying arrows and lead bullets struck the small boxes in the surrounding walls, creating a series of crackling sounds that inexplicably reminded some players of the time they spent popping balloons at street stalls as children.

Ella observed the wooden boxes crumble into pieces and noticed that as the white ash inside the boxes flew around, she could occasionally see translucent, smoke-like objects rising from them.

Is this the soul of the vampire ancestor?

Due to her limited understanding of soul magic, Ella couldn't perceive much, but that didn't stop her from asking the believers around her to perform a ritual for the souls to be released from their suffering:

"Ah, how pitiful are the dead! In the name of the Holy Light, let these homeless souls rest in the temple of our Lord."

A tiny golden light appeared in mid-air after she interlaced her fingers, illuminating the thin smoke and causing it to dissipate.

"No! Ancestor!! Holy Maiden of Light, are you even human?!"

The vampire count atop the dome, his eyes blazing with fury, didn't hesitate to curse the girl below with the most vicious words of the vampire race.

Their vampire clan does not believe in the God of Light, and sending the spirits of their vampire ancestors to the Holy Light is tantamount to the most shameless blasphemy.

What's infuriating is that this bastard puts on a compassionate and saintly air.

The thought that all the heroic spirits of their clan, who had rested here since ancient times, would be sent to the halls of heretical gods finally drove these dozens of vampires who had been waiting in mid-air to their breaking point.

They are a race that regards the glory of their ancestors as supreme, and their spirit and culture are filled with the veneration of their ancestral bloodline.

This is different from human tombs, which are mostly symbolic places to express grief. These ancestral tombs are truly inhabited by souls. After this evil-like saintess finished her rituals, the roots of their vampire clan were completely eradicated.

If that's the case, what's the point of their race's existence?

"I'll kill you!!! You despicable human saint!!!"

Before the vampire count could even give the order, some young vampires, their eyes red, spread their wings and charged towards the crowd below.

This is no different from a moth drawn to a flame.

Even if vampires have a greater aptitude for magic and stronger physical abilities than ordinary humans, the fate of a mere dozen or so facing a mixed army of nearly a thousand is beyond description.

The holy light, carrying an aura of scorching heat, and the silver bullets fired from the muskets instantly riddled these reckless vampires with holes. They fell helplessly from the sky like moths that had lost their way.

Seeing such a tragic scene, Ella couldn't bear it, so she recited a prayer and used holy light to send these newly fallen vampires to the afterlife.

"Damn it, stop right there!!! Don't go any further!!!"

Seeing his kin turn to ashes right before his eyes, the vampire count could no longer contain himself. He let out a piercing howl and led his last remaining kin as they swooped down.

A vampire who reaches the rank of Earl is comparable to a Grandmaster in terms of combat power. The blood magic they unleash at full power is terrifying enough to destroy a city block in an instant.

However, the advantage of the large-scale human army became apparent at this moment. The protective array built by the priests and paladins transformed into an indestructible golden dome that covered the earth, while the arcane mages waved their staffs to bless the weapons of thousands of players with holy light.

Dozens of wandering vampires swooped down from the sky, each chanting, summoning one crimson sphere after another that radiated bright red light and rained down on the golden barrier, causing a series of explosions.

The earth trembled, like countless scarlet fireworks blooming upon it, but the unbreakable barrier only trembled slightly before returning to its original state.

Then, the silver bullets and arrows blessed by the holy light transformed into a golden meteor shower that flew upwards, instantly engulfing the mere few dozen vampire figures.

The vampires might be able to dodge one or two arrows with their agility, but when bombarded by the dense rain of holy light like ocean waves, the lower-ranking vampires were riddled with holes in an instant.

High-ranking vampire counts can use the secret technique of transforming their bodies into bats to dart through the air, but even so, they are not immune to being grazed and injured by those projectiles with golden flame tails.

After several volleys of fire, without even having to lift a finger, Ella had already wiped out very few of the surviving vampires.

This is why humanity was able to develop from a weak race to become one of the dominant powers in the Bronze Age. Even if one or two individuals are exceptionally strong, their talents are far inferior to those of the powerful individuals of these ancient races. Moreover, they would scheme against each other internally, and as a scattered group, they would be easily defeated one by one.

However, once the human race unites, their vast numbers, combined with organized armies, will annihilate even the most powerful individuals among these ancient races with overwhelming force.

As Ella watched the two vampire counts maneuver and dodge, they gradually became exhausted under the relentless onslaught, unable even to approach the destroyed tombs. For some reason, she thought of herself in her previous life as the world-destroying witch.

Even after advancing to the Mythical Rank, and being able to deal with one, two, or even a dozen Saint Ranks, when faced with hundreds of Saint Ranks and hundreds of thousands of troops from various races, he was ultimately beaten to the brink of death and forced to use the ultimate move of rewinding time to forcibly protect himself.

Therefore, becoming a human and thus a controller of this power is far better than blindly and foolishly trying to advance in rank back then...

...No, what am I thinking?

Ella was suddenly taken aback.

She is Ye Xiao, and she is human. She is not really that world-destroying witch Ella. What is there for her to empathize with that guy from her previous life?