The Throne of Blood’s pupils constricted. “Azure King!”
To the younger generation, or even those in their middle ages, this name was somewhat of a hazy memory. After all, the Azure King was just a legend who showed up even more seldom than the Queen of the Night.
The Throne of Blood could barely count as a middle-aged vampire. Considering his status and strength, he knew quite a bit about the vampire race’s history. His expression transformed time and again as he saw the dripping green blood. In the end, he gazed deeply into Nighteye’s pupils and left without a single word.
His departure was decisive and direct—even though he held the Shattered Moment, even though the neutral lands was his home ground.
The Azure King and Nighteye had no intention of stopping him, either.
It seemed as though Nighteye was the only one the Azure King cared about. He paid no heed to the bleeding wound on his hand and merely looked at her with a smile.
Nighteye watched as the Throne of Blood disappeared entirely before the frostiness in her eyes dispersed a bit. “You guys actually tolerated him for so many years?”
“There’s no helping it. Most of our secret arts are ineffective against him, even Medanzo couldn’t do anything to him in the neutral lands. The other races are actually quite happy to watch our predicament, so no one will truly help us. We can’t let Her Majesty do the work herself, can we? Of course, we’ll have a new option before long.”
Azure King’s voice was clear, gentle, and free of all worldly attachments, almost like a limpid crystal. This was a stark difference from the inherent aggressiveness of most peak experts.
Nighteye kept staring in the direction of the Throne of Blood. “I am myself, not anyone from the past.”
“Understood, no one will force you in this regard.”
Nighteye still didn’t move.
“What are you still waiting for?” the Azure King urged gently.
Nighteye glanced at his hand—blood was slowly dripping out, and the wound didn’t look like it would heal anytime soon.
“Aren’t you going to treat the wound?”
“An injury caused by Shattered Moment isn’t that easy to deal with. It’ll take too much time if I do it here. I’ll just go into deep slumber after I escort you back, and it’ll heal naturally.”
Nighteye finally looked up and met the Azure King’s eyes. His gaze was as pure as crystal, with a hint of green, and it seemed like his eyes were also smiling whenever his lips smiled.
“Shattered Moment is indeed a difficult opponent, so we can’t drag on. You must’ve spent a good deal of your lifespan by coming here, even more now that you’re wounded. Heal yourself, I’ll wait.”
The Azure King said with a smile, “You’re not waiting for me. You’re just hoping someone else will appear.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“I’ve already learned some things about you before coming here. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s already meaningless now.”
ChapterMid();
“Why so?”
The Azure King sighed. “How can someone as proud as you be willing to suffer such mistreatment?”
“I told you I am myself!”
“What difference does it make?”
The Azure King’s question left Nighteye dumbstruck.
He continued, “Seeing you feels like seeing her. No, don’t be angry, I’m not saying you’re the same person, but you two are alike in many aspects, your dignity for instance.”
“Dignity…”
“Dignity.”
“Has my dignity been sullied?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
Nighteye smiled faintly. “Why do I not feel that way?”
“Shall I try to explain?”
“Of course.”
The Azure King removed his smile and, for the first time, said in a serious tone, “From the information available to me, there’s a rumor in the Empire that two geniuses will be born to the Empire. And their father is the same person… Qianye.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
The Azure King said, “These Imperials completely ignored you when they did their scheming.”
Nighteye turned around to face the Azure King and uttered word by word, “That man has nothing to do with me anymore! He’s just the lover of my pre-awakened consciousness.”
The Azure King wore an indifferent smile over his slightly pained expression. “You’ve awakened, but you’re not her. I know that all too well.”
Nighteye revealed some astonishment for the first time. “You’re wrong.”
“No, I can’t be wrong.” The Azure King’s gentle voice was irrefutably firm.
Nighteye neither explained nor denied anything, merely looking on with a puzzled expression.
“If you really are her, then you would know why I can tell.” The Azure King’s explanation didn’t sound like an explanation at all. He sounded awkward and seemed to have no intention of continuing. “That aside, those humans have tried to capture you more than just once. Now, they want to kill you directly.”
“We’re vampires and they are humans, it’s normal to kill one another.”
“Perhaps.” The Azure King didn’t argue this time, and his tone was fairly gentle.
Time went by in silence. The gentle sound of dripping blood was exceptionally crisp in the void.
The Azure King’s bleeding wound showed no signs of healing. The blood flowing down his sleeves had turned into a small puddle on the ground. This green blood didn’t freeze in the deep cold of the void and was rippling like an evergreen lake.
“Let’s go.”
“What?” The Azure King couldn’t believe his ears. He was prepared to stay until the last moment if she wasn’t willing to leave.
Nighteye took a deep breath, a sanguine flame lighting up in the depths of her eyes. “I’ve endured far too long.”
It was hard to tell if the Azure King was worried or delighted. It was almost as though all of his emotions were drained when he asked that question. He followed Nighteye toward a warship in the void and, with a wave of his hand, wiped away all traces of the wooden hut’s existence.
There was only a puddle of green blood on the island.
…
In a different part of the void, the battle between the heavenly monarchs and great dark monarchs was still ongoing. The longer the battle went on, the calmer the Pointer Monarch became. He was fairly patient, and it seemed as though he could keep on fighting until the end of time.
This proved his determination to fight a protracted battle and block the path out of the neutral lands. If Nighteye wanted to leave the area, she would have to do so under the monarch’s watch. With energy left to spare, he could then launch an earth-shattering attack to injure or even kill Nighteye.
Having fought for so long, it was actually the experts on the Evernight side who were growing restless. It was becoming hard for them to hide their emotions.
Noxus and Medanzo increased the momentum of their attacks quite noticeably, but the princes and grand dukes didn’t have the same plan.
This was especially true because Zhang Boqian had charged at them again. His target was Habsburg, but the other princes scattered frantically from the shock. They only sought to restrain the target from a great distance and would flee at the slightest breeze. The efficiency was questionable, but it was still better than nothing.
Clearly, their little lives mattered more than the actual objective. No amount of caution was enough against a fierce person like Zhang Boqian.
Noxus and Medanzo grew increasingly impatient, so much so that the latter launched numerous risky attacks.
Zhang Boqian was already at a disadvantage, to begin with, and was only holding out with intimidation. Now that the two great dark monarchs were no longer holding back, things started to turn quite exhausting.
Zhang Boqian quickly changed his tactics, roaming about the battlefield, and only engaging in defensive moves. His movement through the void was almost unparalleled, and the Evernight experts could do nothing against his evasion and defense.
Noxus and Medanzo’s urgency proved something.
The Pointer Monarch had already gained the upper hand, attacking the Eternal Flame constantly until there were sparks flying out in all directions. “Your Excellency, you shouldn’t be so impatient. This isn’t the only path between the Twilight Continent and the neutral lands, why would you need to risk your life for it? Could it be that the news I got was correct, and that person is really passing through here? Don’t be nervous even if that’s the case, you can just send a message, asking that person to take the long way around. Why are you so stubborn?”
The Pointer Monarch made it sound easy, but everyone knew how difficult it was to transmit messages through the void. It was almost impossible to contact a departed airship before it had reached its destination. Even though top experts might have certain secret methods, there was no way they could be used during an intense battle like this.
At this rate, it was very likely that Nighteye would run into the Pointer Monarch and, judging from the Evernight monarchs’ behavior, the time was fairly close.
Changing the route at this point was no longer possible.
Just as the Evernight monarchs were in a difficult position, Habsburg’s figure flickered and appeared at a certain position.
Being at the height of their battle, the two great dark monarchs and one heavenly monarch couldn’t pay that much attention to the princes and grand dukes, and Habsburg’s direction looked like he was fleeing the battle. The peak experts, with their powerful perception, immediately noticed the abnormality of his action.
The next scene shook everyone—Noxus and Medanzo suddenly realized that they had lost their opponent as Zhang Boqian appeared close to where Habsburg had moved to. The heavenly monarch lost the initiative since he hadn’t expected Habsburg to arrive in advance.
Habsburg could predict Zhang Boqian’s movements?
Just as everyone was shocked, Zhang Boqian reacted directly and tyrannically.
“Courting death.” With a chill in his gaze, he launched a square punch to the opponent’s chest.
At the very beginning of the battle, Prince Greensun had attacked and killed a grand duke with such an ordinary attack. Now that this move had appeared again, everyone could tell that he was ready to kill.
Habsburg didn’t flee. He raised his hand to block the attack, a mysterious projection flickering in and out of existence as he did so.
Habsburg was pushed back ten or so meters, while Zhang Boqian remained standing in place. The former turned pale for a moment before recovering.
He could actually block an all-out attack from Zhang Boqian? Everyone was shaken, and a flickering blaze lit up in the depths of Medanzo’s eyes. He was probably the only one who knew what that projection was.
That was the seal from the River of Blood.
Having failed to kill the enemy in one blow, Zhang Boqian’s fighting intent surged rapidly. With a crisp howl, his long hair flew up behind him as he gave chase.
However, Habsburg avoided a direct confrontation at all costs. Releasing his blood domain, he cried out, “How long are you going to waste time here?”
Zhang Boqian sneered. “Trying to scare me with words? Is that even useful?”
Habsburg opened his palm in front of Zhang Boqian. “Look at this.”
