Sister Devlin's Chosen ceremony caused minor earthquakes that spread from the Interstice into the real world, but compared to everything else happening tonight, these tremors were utterly insignificant.
In the real Midhillburg, at the Cassandra Auction House, Miss Rita Swift, the witch's apprentice, was organizing personnel to repair the walls shattered by the recent battle and seal the holes through which the white mist was pouring.
Although she heard strange noises outside, noticed that the undead patrolling the streets had suddenly frozen in place, and saw a peculiar golden glow in the sky, she paid it no mind.
Twenty minutes after the Chosen ceremony was completed, a figure appeared outside the Cassandra Auction House. Accompanied by urgent knocking, Miss Rita Swift, who was temporarily in charge of all auction house affairs, found that the person at the door was Shade.
"I just ran down from the mountain, Miss Swift, open the door quickly!"
"Apologies, I must verify your identity first. May I ask—"
Before she could finish her question, Shade used the [Key of Doors] to open the door and rush inside.
He was drenched in sweat and gasping for air. The situation at home was dire; the white mist permeating the third floor was nearly spilling downstairs, the witch was urgently sealing those breaths of death, and the out-of-control [Traveler's Travel Gate], though temporarily suppressed by the "Spatial Stability Aura," remained restless and impossible to move beside the Ancient God statue in the basement for suppression.
Even so, after leaving Joy Barton and Marilyn Handel at St. Delan Square to be interrogated by the curious witch, he had immediately bid farewell to Luvia, who had already observed signs of the Star Whale, and rushed from his basement back to Midhillburg, heading straight here at maximum speed.
Without the Night Watchman, he was not as swift in dealing with the evil spirits leaking from the Interstice into reality. With no divinity in his body, even though the Afterglow state persisted, the feeling of emptiness that drove him toward madness left Shade mentally exhausted.
Fortunately, the power fluctuations from the Chosen ceremony made the restless undead afraid to act, which allowed him to arrive so quickly. Upon entering, regardless of how terrible his physical and mental state was, he asked with a trembling voice
"Where are Grace and Helen?"
Miss Swift, who was closing the door, lowered her head slightly. Only then did Shade notice that the entire first-floor lobby of the auction house had been turned into ruins.
This was the headquarters of the Cassandra chain of auction houses, famous throughout the Old Continent; its lavish decorations were more opulent than some noble estates. But now, there were claw marks and signs of explosions everywhere; even the floor and ceiling were no longer intact, with several large holes through which one could jump into the basement or the second floor.
The smell of gunpowder and dust had dissipated, but one could still imagine how fierce the battle had been here a short while ago.
Grandmother Cassandra had taken the main force of followers into the Interstice; everyone remaining was now doing their best to repair the building, at least to ensure the white mist stopped pouring in.
"I'm still too late. Have the vampires already left?"
"How did you know? About an hour ago, two high-circle and one mid-circle vampire came here to take away the teachers' teachers, who cannot leave yet. The battle was intense, but eventually, the teachers' teachers appeared and stopped the fighting, then left with the two high-circle vampires."
"Grace and Helen left?"
Shade breathed heavily.
"However, that mid-circle vampire was left behind due to severe injuries. They said they would pay to ransom him once this matter is concluded. Furthermore, we captured a Sage-level relic, the [Blood Thorn Scepter]..."
"Where is that mid-circle vampire?"
Shade asked urgently.
"In the basement."
Unsurprisingly, the captive was an acquaintance of Shade's: Mr. Armand Bernhardt, who had brought his nephew to Midhillburg. He was locked in the relic collection room in the basement.
This gentleman was a distant relative of the Carsonrick royal family, and in his previous appearances, he had embodied the words "elegant" and "upper-class" to the fullest. But this time, he looked utterly wretched.
Lying on a bed against the wall, his face was as pale as white paper, and his clothes were stained with blood. Miss Swift had not killed him, but she had clearly only provided the most basic treatment.
"What an ungrateful person. Grandmother even introduced him to buy good things from another witch," Miss Swift said dissatisfiedly as she led Shade to the basement. Hearing the voice, Mr. Bernhardt struggled to climb up from the bed.
"Look, it's Mr. Hamilton."
He tried to smile, but because his injuries were too severe, he simply couldn't.
"Where are they?"
Shade asked in a low voice.
"I don't know. I was only responsible for disguising that Vampire Prince as my nephew and bringing him here. As for the specific location, I do not know," Mr. Bernhardt answered with effort.
"When?"
"Midnight, when the Blood Moon hangs in the sky."
It was currently 11:23. Only half an hour remained.
"Mr. Hamilton, actually, you needn't worry. Everything we are doing will not harm this city, nor will it harm anyone. We will compensate for the losses caused to the Cassandra Auction House. Why don't you sit down and wait for midnight with me, to witness that curtain of blood be—"
"Shut up," Miss Swift said in a gloomy voice. Grandmother Cassandra had temporarily entrusted the auction house to her, yet she had allowed such a massive oversight. Even if the opponents were too strong, it was still a dereliction of duty.
"The Blood Thorn Scepter is here. Can what you intend to do truly succeed?"
Shade had another mid-circle female sorceress standing at the door bring the scepter, which was temporarily housed in another room in the basement.
The Blood Thorn Scepter was a black wooden staff with a ruby embedded at the top; the entire staff was entwined by a blood-colored thorn. One end of the thorn seemed to grow out of the ruby, while the other wrapped around the tail of the scepter.
The surface of the black wood was polished smooth, but when held up to the light, one could see subtle, embossed letters—
[Thorns enter the body, blood-light accompanies me.]
One had to grip it very carefully to ensure the hand was not harmed by the thorns. This was a genuine Sage-level relic, and a weapon-type one at that.
"It doesn't matter. We collected nine relics, but only seven are sufficient," Armand Bernhardt said. He had no intention of hiding it, and Shade only knew of five of them.
"Mr. Hamilton, you saved me in the House of Sin, so I must advise you. Do not pursue them. If you can't catch up, that's fine; but if you do, you truly will not be able to return."
The heavily injured vampire looked at Shade, the whites of his eyes heavily bloodshot.
Although this man had brought that little boy to Midburg, Shade felt no particular ill will toward Mr. Bernhardt. Armand Bernhardt was merely following orders, and at this moment, he was willing to provide all the information he knew.
"They are very important to me. I must get them back."
"Wait!"
The weak Mr. Bernhardt asked in confusion: "We are discussing the Angel-level relic [Red Butterfly Twins]."
"Yes, they are very important to me."
Shade nodded, and he saw a look of awe appear on the face of this upper-class middle-aged vampire.
With Miss Swift's permission, Shade gave Mr. Bernhardt a small cup of water treated with [Satiating Food]. After the man drank it slowly, Shade sat by the narrow prison-like bed against the wall and asked
"I must pursue them. Do you really have no other clues?"
"I am only mid-circle. The reason I was asked to bring the Prince was because my noble status was convenient. It is definitely on the mountain, but I am unclear on the specific location. I'm sorry, I cannot help you... don't pursue them. This is truly for your own good."
He continued to advise tirelessly.
Shade fell silent for a moment, his peripheral vision catching the scepter held carefully by Miss Swift.
"The function of this scepter is to enhance supernatural powers related to blood. How strong is this enhancement?"
"Very strong. If it is power related to my Lord, then it is even stronger," Mr. Bernhardt said. Seeing Shade take the relic, he explained how to use it
"Recite the incantation 'Blood thorns pierce my body, the path of blood opens now.' The blood thorns will prick the back of your hand. You cannot use the Common Tongue; you must use the Columba Secret Language. I don't particularly like using scepter-type weapons—I prefer the two alchemical pistols I crafted myself."
The so-called "Columba Secret Language" was the noble language used in the territories ruled by vampires during the Fourth Epoch, the Dark Age. The vampire race was not as powerful as the elves and did not have a language named after their race. Thus, the "Columba" secret language from the era of vampire prosperity became the secret language of the racial upper class in the Sixth Epoch, making it a considerably ancient tongue.
This was not even a required course at St. Byron's; it was an elective. While Shade was proficient in the script, he had to see the text to read it; it was impossible for him to know the pronunciation of the secret text simply by knowing the translation in the Common Tongue.
He hesitated for a moment.
"Is the Columba Secret Language strongly tied to your race?" Shade asked again. Mr. Bernhardt considered it, but before he could answer, the witch's apprentice spoke up
"It is a very important language for vampires. At least a quarter of contemporary vampire ancient documents, oddities, and spell scrolls are written in this language. It is practically equivalent to a racial language."
"That is correct," Mr. Bernhardt nodded gently, finishing the water. Though still heavily injured, his complexion had improved.
"I understand."
Shade reached into his pocket and took out the two green leaves he had obtained after completing the key for the year 3024 of the Fifth Epoch.
These two Leaves of Eternal Youth: one represented [Knowledge - Original Sin Oddity], and the other represented [A Piece of True Information - Vampires]. Since the leaves had no labels, Shade first placed the left one before his eyes.
As the golden veins of the leaf gradually permeated his vision, Shade frowned slightly. This one was the Original Sin Oddity, containing the method to add the [Sloth] spirit rune into the [Great Sin Chain], but it was useless to him now.
"It's this one."
The second green leaf was placed before his right eye. As vast knowledge and information flooded his mind, Shade found the information he sought.
"As I thought, it's here."
He took the scepter from Miss Swift's hand and, under the gaze of Mr. Armand Bernhardt and the witch's apprentice, spoke softly, using his lungs and nasal resonance to chant
"Blood thorns pierce my body, the path of blood opens now."
Knowledge of the elven race had given Shade a rudimentary grasp of the Elvish language, and the knowledge of the vampires indeed included the contents of the "Columba Secret Language."
As Shade's voice fell, the blood-colored thorns on the scepter writhed, climbing up Shade's wrist and wrapping tightly around it. They did not pierce the skin, but Shade clearly felt a stinging sensation across the skin of his entire body.
"This should work..."
"Mr. Hamilton, are you really going up the mountain?"
Mr. Bernhardt still wanted to persuade Shade to stay: "I cannot tell you what will happen on the mountain, but... please, do not go. I can guarantee with my soul that what follows will absolutely not harm Midhillburg!"
But Shade shook his head and left with Miss Swift.
The two entered the deepest part of the basement, the room where Helen and Grace had once resided. The twins were gone; the curtains beside the massive four-poster bed had been pulled back, and the clothes on the floor had vanished, but the concentration of whisper elements remained extraordinary.
"Mr. Hamilton, how do you intend to find them?" Miss Swift asked softly.
"I have an oddity. By dripping anyone's blood into my eyes, I can see all the movement trajectories of the blood's owner within a single day."
"But there is no blood from the teachers' teachers here... do you have some?"
"No, I don't either."
Shade shook his head, holding the scepter as he looked at the massive bed.
"But I once dripped their blood into my eyes. That was in the previous epoch..."
He paused.
"More accurately, that was two months ago."
The Blood Thorn Scepter enhanced [Blood Echo]. Shade, who should have only been able to see blood trails within a day, crossed a much longer span of time and touched the power of blood. A clear red halo—and specifically, a red halo representing two people—appeared on that bed.
The figures in the red halo overlapped, showing that Grace and Helen had stayed here for a long time. And when they left the bed, the figures, which had been as tall as divine beings, had returned to the size of normal human women.
"Miss Swift, I am departing."
He gazed at those two red halos; he now fully understood what the God of Vampires intended to do. The story of the ten wine-brewers was simply a reminder to him of His true purpose.
So that Lacia and Dorothy could receive help, and more importantly, so that two innocent souls would not be sacrificed, he had been able to help them at the Divine Wine Party of the previous epoch. This time, he would be able to help them again.