The interior of the hut was fairly simple with only a table, a chair, and Nighteye gazing at the muzzle of Shattered Moment. The Throne of Blood almost trembled slightly as he arrived in her presence, a shock born from the bottom of his heart.
Nighteye opened her red eyes and stared at the enemy. “You know me. We’re both scions of the ancient vampire race, why do you want to kill me?”
The Throne of Blood remained silent for a while. “How shocking, you actually inherited that person’s appearance as well. As a descendant of the holy vampire race, please accept my utmost respect. Unfortunately, though, you’ll be the most intricate piece of art to be destroyed by Shattered Moment. That’s because the humans do not wish to see you return to Twilight Continent.”
“Humans…” Nighteye’s pupils gradually transformed into a deep splendor of soul-shaking red. She looked up at the Throne of Blood, saying, “Why would you work for humans?”
The Throne of Blood smiled. “I thought you’d ask why the humans are so intent on stopping your return, the cost of my help isn’t low. There are two heavenly monarchs in the void here to intercept you.”
Nighteye followed the topic. “Oh, why is that?”
The Throne of Blood laughed. “You want to know? But I don’t want to tell you! Hahaha, it’s time to send you back to the River of Blood!”
Those words were still echoing in the air when Shattered Moment rumbled!
A mass of dazzling brilliance shot out from the muzzle and blasted the small hut. The radiance expanded rapidly as it left the gun, reaching several meters in diameter by the time it struck the house. There were countless prismatic fragments inside which rained down on the wooden hut like a colorful meteor shower.
Every fragment of light was like a sharp knife, cutting up the small wooden hut into countless pieces and dispersing into void origin power. Even more fragments surrounded Nighteye and slashed at her from all directions.
Nighteye stood up and stretched out her hand, unfurling a blood-colored barrier that kept the countless light fragments outside.
“It’s useless!” The Throne of Blood laughed out loud. He blasted two more times amidst the crazed laughter, each shot dimming the color of blood from his eyes. It was obvious that the drain on him wasn’t small.
By the time he had fired the third shot, Nighteye was completely drowned out by the fragments of light and her sanguine barrier was tottering on the verge of collapse.
Her expression was still calm and collected, almost as though nothing could shake her, even death.
The Throne of Blood’s expression became increasingly twisted. A flash of insanity passed through his eyes as he muttered to himself, “Yes, just like that! Just like that! Tear away the beauty, so that my Shattered Moment can truly become perfect…”
…
The battle was still going on in the depths of the void.
Zhang Boqian was single-handedly keeping numerous enemies in check, and the Pointer Monarch’s battle wasn’t something ordinary experts could interfere with. Even the princes didn’t dare to approach them, let alone the dukes.
At this point, the Pointer Monarch was gradually starting to gain the advantage. The Eternal Flame was becoming a bit passive, but defeat was still far away.
Both Zhang Boqian and the Pointer Monarch were using the most advanced combat arts and abilities. It was almost impossible for them to make a mistake, and they would surely be the last ones to keep smiling after a long, drawn-out battle. The Evernight monarchs, on the other hand, had to rely on their racial advantage and their deep accumulated experience to fight a protracted battle with the two human experts.
However, the Pointer Monarch didn’t launch powerful attacks after gaining the advantage and, instead, guarded his advantage with the stability of a great mountain. Now that was rather puzzling.
The Eternal Flame said, “Ji Wentian, it’s useless. You’ll need to defeat me if you want to go help Zhang Boqian.”
“He doesn’t need my help.” The old man laughed.
“You can’t be so sure about that. Zhang Boqian may be strong, but he’s too young considering how short-lived your race is. The people I brought this time were specifically selected to deal with spatial powers like his. Maybe they’ll give you a surprise after a while.”
The Pointer Monarch remained unmoved. “Perhaps, but it seems Greensun started off with too much power. It looks like your people are afraid of him now! With how far they’re staying, I think whatever killing move they have will end up missing.”
Zhang Boqian, Noxus, and Medanzo were currently surrounded by the other Evernight experts. The three princes were a bit closer to the battlefield, but the other dukes were a fair distance away, probably at the maximum range of their attacks.
Unlike on land, long-range attacks would see their firepower falling sharply in the void. At this distance, no one below the great monarch realm could control the power transmission of their attacks. Even if those Evernight experts possessed some special attacks, there should be no difference in the essence of their power, and the damage would be negligible even if they could hit Zhang Boqian.
It was obvious that Zhang Boqian had intimidated the Evernight experts by killing one of their grand dukes with a secret art. Even the princes were being cautious.
In truth, some of the princes could even fight shoulder-to-shoulder with the great dark monarchs. Apart from Habsburg, the other two were veteran princes who had no reason to be so cowardly. But Zhang Boqian’s attacks were too powerful—although the princes wouldn’t die in one blow, it would be fairly uncomfortable if they were injured.
Even Medanzo was shrinking back a bit, and that was the reason Zhang Boqian had so much space to maneuver. Otherwise, he should’ve been at a disadvantage.
Currently, both the Pointer Monarch and Zhang Boqian were in a position where they could both fight or flee. They looked like they had no intention of trading injuries and were simply holding their ground, but that could also be a feint. Neither of them would let go of a good opening.
Even if this fight were to drag on and end in a draw, the Evernight side would still be taking a loss. They had, after all, lost a grand duke.
The Eternal Flame said, “Did you think you can prevent us from picking up our target just because you’re holding us here?”
The Pointer Monarch said, “Of course, you can still pick up the person, but they’ll need to pass through this place. I can make sure the target stays behind if I pay a certain price.”
The Eternal Flame snorted. “Since you know who it is, you should know how deep her ties with your race goes. Why are you so intent on attacking her?”
“Letting her go back would be like releasing a tiger into the mountains. Our deep relationship is nothing compared to king and country. Both myself and Greensun are willing to go with the flow for the bigger picture.”
The Eternal Flame laughed coldly. “You make it sound so pleasant! You humans are all ruthless schemers!”
“Words are meaningless, let’s just fight it out slowly. I’ve been quite bored recently, so I don’t mind fighting for half a month.”
“You want to drag things out until the opening of the new world? Stop dreaming.”
The Pointer Monarch said calmly, “You’ll know if we try.”
It was at this time that Zhang Boqian asked, “Who is it that we’re intercepting?”
The Pointer Monarch hadn’t even replied when Medanzo said, “Does Prince Greensun still not know what he’s fighting for? It seems you’re not quite welcomed by the Imperial clan.”
“Enough nonsense!” Zhang Boqian’s reprimand caused Medanzo’s face to turn red, almost as though he was going to start dripping blood. He gnashed his teeth angrily but didn’t dare jump into the fight. The Lightless Monarch was never good at close-quarter combat. Now that he was lacking in strength, closing in without careful thought would be life-threatening to him.
After cutting Medanzo short, Zhang Boqian said, “Elder Prince, you never told me who we’re stopping. Now, I’m a bit curious and wish to know the details.”
The Pointer Monarch sighed. “It’s no use even if you know, so it’s better that you don’t. In any case, it’s enough if we keep them busy for several days.”
Zhang Boqian didn’t let go of his questions. “You wouldn’t have dragged me here if it wasn’t critical. The war on the void continent should be starting already, right?”
His words were quite blunt. A total of five powerhouses had been mobilized by the two factions, in addition to several princes and grand dukes from the Evernight side. There was no way such a lineup would be dispatched for an insignificant matter.
The Pointer Monarch said calmly, “You’ll know when the time comes.”
Seeing that the monarch had no intention of answering straight, Zhang Boqian frowned deeply. He didn’t continue asking, but several thoughts flashed through his mind.
Zhang Boqian had instructed his subordinates to increase their eyes and ears on the neutral lands, but the latest news was about Qianye and Song Zining heading out to war. He simply couldn’t think of any other special character on that continent. Since the Pointer Monarch wasn’t answering him, Zhang Boqian grew suspicious of his own role. It puzzled him even more that the great dark monarchs weren’t revealing anything, either. What was the reason for this?
Noxus sneered. “Did you think the Evernight Council wouldn’t make other arrangements? I’ll tell you, we’ve already dispatched people to pick up Her Majesty!”
The Pointer Monarch wasn’t enraged by this. He flickered away from several of the Eternal Flame’s attacks before saying, “Is that so? You sent people… but won’t they have to pass through here on their way back? Do you think you can take anyone away alive before this old man?”
After a pause, the Pointer Monarch said, “Fine, I can also tell you something to snuff your hopes out. If you can send people to the neutral lands, the Empire can do the same. The person who’ll take her life should be there by now.”
The Eternal Flame trembled. “That’s not right, we’ve grasped the movements of all the Empire’s experts. There’s no way you can spare anyone for the neutral lands.”
After some thought, the Eternal Flame gasped. “The Throne of Blood!”
The Pointer Monarch was somewhat surprised. “The Eternal Flame is indeed wise, you managed to figure out the key point very quickly. Indeed, we’ve asked the Throne of Blood to take action. That person probably hasn’t left the neutral lands at this point. As long as she’s there, she’s definitely not a match for the Throne of Blood and his Shattered Moment.”
The Eternal Flame attacked with greater ferocity. No one knew what he was thinking, but the demonkin wasn’t as exasperated or panicked as the Pointer Monarch had expected.
The old monarch fell into contemplation while blocking the enemy attacks. However, there was no other way to change the pieces that had been played. All they could do was wait for developments.
…
On the floating island, everything around Nighteye had been decimated. Only that sanguine barrier was holding out against the assault of myriad light fragments—but not for very long.
The Throne of Blood’s gaze darted about. “Lasting for so long against three shots from the Shattered Moment, Your Majesty’s fame is well deserved. Unfortunately, my grand magnum will claim its prize if no one’s here to save you.”
It was at this time that a beam of green light appeared through the void and shot toward the Throne of Blood. Screaming loudly, the latter spat a drop of gem-like blood which blasted toward the incoming beam.
The green light was shattered by the gem, but the red stone also lost its luster and returned to the vampire’s body. The exchange had ended in a draw.
Just as the Throne of Blood was dealing with the green beam, a large hand emerged from the void and dragged Nighteye out from the storm of light fragments.
The fragments of Shattered Moment weren’t about to give up, but the hand flicked out a ball of green light where it had appeared, attracting all the fragments toward it. In the blink of an eye, the fragments had rolled up into a ball of prismatic glass shards.
With a loud explosion, the fragments soon flew out in all directions with lethal force.
One of the fragments grazed past the Throne of Blood himself. He turned his face away to evade the shard, but it still left a streak of red, whence a drop of blood seeped out and dripped down.
The Throne of Blood paid no heed to that injury and only stared forward.
A middle-aged man walked out from behind Nighteye. He looked gentle and elegant down to his gaze, not possessing the slightest bit of killing intent.
The Throne’s gaze landed on the man’s right hand. It was this hand that had saved Nighteye from mortal danger and ignited the remaining power of Shattered Moment.
That person had paid a price as well, with fresh blood dripping down from his fingertips. It was just that the blood was green.
