In the skies of the new world, a magnificent vampire-style airship was flying steadily toward Blacksun Valley.
Intricate airships broke down faster in the new world. That was why most dark race airships here were built for speed, so that they may do more efficient work within the few days of their lifespan. Yet this extremely expensive-looking airship was flying at such a leisurely pace.
The atmosphere in the control room was tense. Crew members would rush in frequently to report damaged parts.
The captain was drenched in sweat, something that was quite rare for a high-ranking vampire, but he kept on issuing calm orders despite his anxiety. Actually, there was only one order that he had been repeating all this time—replace.
A crew member whispered, “Sire, we won’t reach the base at this rate. Shall we drive faster?”
The captain was visibly moved, but in the end, he clenched his jaws and said, “Keep flying just like that! Until it’s completely destroyed!”
“But, this airship…”
“This airship is neither yours nor mine! There was never any intention of driving this airship back from the new world!” The captain’s voice was exceedingly stern.
The crew member didn’t dare make a sound. He promptly exited the command room and began his round of the ship to do repairs.
Within the main cabin, Nighteye was quietly gazing out of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Actually, there was no scenery to speak of in the new world—only deserts, cliffs, and dangerous storms. There was a hint of green over the distant horizon from the woods, but the forests here didn’t represent bountiful peace. It was a true sign of danger.
The woods here were alive—beasts would charge out without warning, the vegetation was odd, and there was no telling when the six-armed creature would appear.
These powerful six-armed creatures were beyond mysterious. There was no sign of their existence at all in the underground lair, almost as though they were just outsiders. Even though the council had already killed hundreds of these six-armed creatures, even mobilizing great dark monarchs to capture some of them, there had been no progress in studying them.
The captured six-armed giants would immediately turn to stone after leaving this world, losing all signs of life thereafter.
Neither the Azure King’s azure ice seal nor the Arachne Warlord Noxus’ disabling threads could halt the petrification process. Even the Demon King’s isolating barrier could not save the six-armed creature from death.
This attempt to ship several living six-armed creatures out thoroughly angered the consciousness of the new world. It began searching for great dark monarchs and princes from the Evernight Faction, attempting to kill them.
Perhaps the supremes from the Sacred Mountain had fought the consciousness in secret, but judging from how they had all withdrawn from the new world, the outcome wasn’t really very optimistic.
Nighteye simply sat there in silence and no one knew what she was thinking. She had been in this state since the very beginning—Castle Ducasse, Noctiluna Castle—and now.
No one dared disturb her as Nighteye’s temper was notorious. Be it the bold admirers who confessed to her or those who gossiped about her behind her back, everyone was tossed into the sea of clouds. The families of the unlucky bastards kept utterly quiet, almost as though it wasn’t their kin who had just died.
Just like that, Nighteye eventually found the peace she desired. Otherwise, many people would harbor untoward notions due to her rank as a glorious marquis.
“Maybe I should upgrade my blood core?” She then shook her head. “That’ll be like bullying children, let’s just go with this.”
The airship sank several hundred meters with a jolt before stabilizing itself again. Nighteye simply gazed out at the lifeless new world, almost as though she hadn’t noticed what had happened.
The rocking of the airship grew fiercer but it miraculously held out until reaching its destination—the Evernight Council’s base in Blacksun Valley.
This was their biggest base in the new world and the last transit point before the warzone in Blacksun Valley.
The place was guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers, a powerful defensive setup, and two dukes on standby at all times. These old experts were powerful but also lacking future potential, unlikely to be the target of the Empire’s heavenly monarchs. The humans surely would not waste their precious quota on them.
Song Zining appeared before this fortress once, but he immediately left with his army after seeing how difficult it would be to assail the place.
The vampire airship staggered downward and nearly slammed into the landing pad.
The vampire duke in charge of the base rushed over and grabbed the captain who had just gotten out from the airship. “T-This… is the Nightwing? Am I seeing things?”
The captain laughed wryly, “It is she, or rather, it was. There will be no more Nightwing hereafter.”
Nightwing wasn’t the vampire races’ oldest, most advanced, or strongest airship, but it was the most elegant. No one would’ve imagined that she would be dispatched to the new world.
The duke sighed, “What took you so long?”
The captain replied, “It took three days on the road.”
“Three days?! How did the airship last that long?”
“I prepared two sets of every part and swapped out an old model engine. Even after all that, it’s a miracle that she managed to get here.”
“Why not fly faster?”
The old duke had just uttered the word when the captain shushed him. “Quiet! Her Majesty wanted to enjoy the scenery.”
“Erm… scenery? Just… sigh!” The duke hesitated several times during the speech. Clearly, he was a big fan of the Nightwing and felt pained at her destruction. He didn’t even mind offending Nighteye.
Over a dozen followers walked out of the airship at that point and stood in neat rows. Nighteye appeared at the door and slowly walked down.
The duke stepped forward to welcome the guest. “Your Majesty, you’ve finally arrived.”
This duke was much older than Nighteye and his blood energy cultivation was much higher, but he actually performed a descendant’s salutation. This was a fairly humble gesture.
Nighteye nodded. “How’s the war going?”
“The documents have been prepared in the great hall, please follow me.”
Nighteye followed the duke into the war room where a war map of the Blacksun Valley hung on the wall, filled with a dense array of markings.
The duke cleared his throat, saying, “This is the current situation. The humans have built fortresses here, here, and here. This one is the closest to the gateway and the humans have built a research center there. Hence, I think we should capture it first and stop the humans from prying into the secrets of the new world. But the other two fortresses will pressure us if we attack this one and the area is where humans are most active, so we should be prepared for losses. According to previous experience, we still don’t have enough troops in hand. I plan to wait for the council’s latest batch of reinforcements to arrive before launching the assault.”
Nighteye said, “Must you attack just because they built fortresses?”
The duke was startled. “But the humans have built a research base there. What if they discover the secrets of the black realm…”
“What’s in there?” Nighteye asked.
The duke hesitated. “This is the council’s highest secret, how will I know?”
“If you don’t even know what’s inside, how can you tell the consequences of human exploration?”
“This… should be pretty serious, right?” The duke responded.
“The seriousness can be decided when they manage to get in, the black flames haven’t died out at the moment. There are, however, some things I need to do. Where is the werewolf squad?”
The other duke arrived at the scene, the person in charge of supplies and troop replenishment. Hearing Nighteye’s question, he said, “The werewolves have delivered fifty thousand soldiers and they’re currently undergoing training. They should be ready to join the battle in a day or two.”
“No need to train them, send them to attack the fortress.”
The duke was shocked and could hardly believe his ears. “Are you saying, we should let them attack the fortress on their own?”
“Correct.”
“But there are thirty thousand troops in that fortress, the werewolves will be rushing to their deaths.”
“That’s the intention. Contact them for the second and third batch of soldiers after they’re all dead.”
“They might not agree.”
Nighteye said calmly, “A fixed number of people need to die. If the werewolves don’t die, shall we sacrifice your demonkin race instead, or the arachne?”
Nighteye added. “Prepare a unit for me. I want a mixed rank of all three races and three times the usual experts.”
The demonkin duke seemed conflicted. “Yes, Your Majesty, how many soldiers do you need?”
“Ten thousand should be enough.” The demonkin duke sighed in relief, but he grew worried. “Your Majesty, isn’t the squad too small? Human heavenly monarchs might appear any minute, your safety is of utmost importance.”
“I’m just a glorious marquis, probably not worth a heavenly monarch’s time.”
The two dukes replied hurriedly, “Your Majesty, that’s not right. You can advance any time you want, can’t you? This rank is just temporary. But you seem to have your own plans, we wouldn’t dare comment on it.”
“You’re smart, unlike some bastards who like to speak nonsense.” Nighteye’s tone softened somewhat.
The relieved dukes exchanged a secret glance, deciding to keep their subordinates’ mouths tightly shut.
More than once, they had heard their subordinates gossiping about Nighteye’s awakening. Some people felt that an awakened ancient character wouldn’t have been stuck at the glorious marquis stage for so long.
The two dukes, however, knew more than those subordinates. They had heard of Nighteye’s feats back in her territory. A lot more people would die if she were to somehow hear about the gossip. Those who could gossip near the dukes were, of course, their trusted aides, not people they wanted dead for no reason.
