The pupils of the Seat of Blood rapidly contracted. He spoke slowly and firmly, “King Qing!”
To young and even middle-age generations of vampires, King Qing has long faded into ancient and misty memory. Many of the younger vampires even now incline to believing he was but a myth, after all his appearance has seemed rarer than that of the Queen of Night.
Seat of Blood could pass for middle-age; and holding the rank and might he did, he knew much vampire history and the secret ways. Seeing the droplets of bright-blue blood, his face changed expression more than once. Eventually, he gazed deeply at Night’s Pupil and said not a word, just turned and departed.
He departed swiftly and decisively, even grasping Shattered Time and even as master of his home grounds—Neutral Ground.
Not at all intent on blocking him from leaving, neither King Qing nor Night’s Pupil had any expression of intervention.
As though she were the only existence in the King Qing’s sight, the King gazed at her quietly with a smile, his wounded hand continuing to drip, waiting patiently.
Watching the last trace of the Seat of Blood disappear, Night’s Pupil’s glacial eyes finally warmed slightly; she said: “Actually, you tolerated him for all these years?”
“This couldn’t be helped. Many of our most powerful hidden techniques had little effect upon him. Even the Lord of Darkness couldn’t do much in Neutral Ground. The other three races were actually rather pleased to see precisely this situation developing, so they had no intention of truly offering us assistance. Of course the Emperor cannot make a personal appearance; however, in the near further now, I suppose we have a fresh selection.”
King Qin’s tone was crystal-clear and gentle, lacking completely the worldly smell, as pure and unblemished as crystal; utterly unlike the innate overbearing pressure often exudes by many supreme experts.
Night’s Pupil had not yet shifted her gaze, still looking in the direction he fled, and continued:
“But I am merely myself; not that being from the ages behind.”
“I understand. No such force would seek to compel your spirit.”
Night’s Pupil stood still again.
“Then you’re still waiting for someone?”
King Qing urged her just as softly.
She eyed the blood trickling unhurriedly from his wound, which has shown no sign of healing.
“I don’t intend to treat such an injury at all?” she inquired.
“This kind of injury caused by Shattered Years won’t be easily cured. Taking much time treating it here would be an unnecessary burden. Once I accompany and deliver you home, I will enter slumber again—it eventually heals naturally, while resting.”
Night’s Pupil finally raised her gaze, and returned King Qing’s gaze, within whose eyes, the glow of a pure yet slightly iridescent crystal danced as though lit from within. Smiling, even his eyes were smiling.
“That injury caused by Shattered Years should really not be delayed! Hence I ask you—treat it while you’ve the chance, I shall stay to wait you.”
King-Qing smiled faintly, “But is that truly you waiting for me… Or someone else you wish to appear?”
“I don’t understand a word of what you’re talking about.”
“Before coming to this place,” he said calmly. “Already had some information concerning you—so I understand well what occupies your thoughts now.” he explained further: “Nevertheless, this matter has already lost its significance.”
“Why does nothing have its meaning any longer?”
“Tell me…” The King Qing’s gentle sigh filled the air, “How pride do you possess exactly that cannot endure such insult?”
“As said,” Night’s Pupil replied sharply. “My self remains mine alone!”
“To me, what’s the difference?”
The counter-question rendered Nights silent for several long moments.
He continued again: “Seeing you feels like beholding her again…”
“No—not yet, please. I am not asserting you as she. You’re alike and yet you’re entirely unlike, especially on this one subject: your dignity.”
“Dignity… “
“Yes—Dignity itself,” he emphasized firmly again.
“Was my own dignity trampled over or wounded in the least?”
“At least from all I’ve known so far, indeed, that was the case.”
She laughed softly: “So why does it so feel otherwise?”
“Would you care me telling you exactly in more words?”
“By all means.”
King Qing let loose the previous tenderness around His features and appeared seriously this time for the first encounter. “According the word acquired,” he explained, “two prodigies bearing a common paternity shall come forth, while their shared father is…”
Night’s Pupil interrupted, “This seems having nothing related directly with anything that concerns myself.”
“In this plot, those within the Empire treated you as though you’re entirely non-existent, despite how gravely significant this whole plan may potentially become,” King-Qing stated with a calm gaze.
Night’s Pupil slowly turned her body, locked eyes with him, and responded precisely yet with no yielding:
“From Awakening, he holds no further bond nor ties of any connection to ‘my’ being! He was only once—once merely only—that lover before one became ‘me’ during the moment of Awakening.”
A melancholic, faint smile crept over King Qing’s face like shadows. “Even if your soul awakens, you remain no true echo of what she had been… I know clearly this truth.” A trace of a deep sorrow underlined his words.
At last, the Pupil displayed a brief sign of surprise.
“You mistake someone else entirely.”
“No mistake. I’ve made my final decision.”
Silence fell once again on Pupil, who offered only confusion reflected from her widened gaze back at Qing in response, offering neither clarification nor argument.
“You might know, were you she,” He said softly, voice unwavering in certainty, “exactly why I understand thus—some part remains unspoken and perhaps even inexplicable.” Then his voice changed slightly tones to continue further: “Yet this is not all: The Humans have on many past instances sought your elimination, and the current instance stands far worse, now openly plotting assassination.”
“We, as Blood. Them, Men. The killing remains but common practice between kind,” responded the vampire with a chilling detachment.
“Perhaps indeed.” But unlike before, Qing chose not arguing further. “The tone was unusually sweet.”
Minute passing one by one amid the silence of void space filled only by a quiet sound drop after drop became strikingly obvious.
Despite the King Qing’s continued bleed with no healing sign, the blue liquid now forming small, steadily expanding puddles at feet upon hard void ground. Unfrozen still it pulsed upon that chill, ever unfrozen beneath coldness eternal, ripples spreading upon it endlessly.
“Let us go.”
“Go where?” His soft voice seemed as if disbelieving ears for even having heard that utterance, for she was someone whom absolutely nothing could swat away her chosen will. Indeed, Qing had already mentally gird himself in preparation of enduring until the final hour.
However, she deeply took in breath, a crimson fire now flickered in pupils deep within:
“I have already contained what patience required of far longer than was necessary.”
King Qin appeared neither surprised at joy nor grief; all emotions he’d perhaps long spent, as fully exhausted when just asking those two opening fateful words.
Together they moved on to the floating warships that hung in void space. With a simple gesture from King-Qing, any and all trace or remnant left by the hut vanished.
Leaving behind upon the floating island—the last lone, quiet blue lake pulsated with softest inner light, echoing its own silent mystery to nothing around it at all…
In that Void where titanic forces clashed without end… The longer the clash endured further grew Tipping King’s composure, as unyielding and tranquil as mountain ancient. Seeming like he could keep enduring forever into endless eons if that’s what required of the battle; the intention of stalling was clearly to block the way back home through the Neutral Ground.
To leave the territory at Neutral Ground, any path Nightingale would choose inevitably crosses under the all-seeing gaze of this King.
With ample opportunities at hand, a devastating assault aimed at her might descend upon the battlefield anytime; the resulting strike might even wound grievously, kill Nightings right there altogether.
And yet as it went on, the side of Eternal Night had turned increasingly impatient, beginning their display a bit unstable emotional states not even concealable much longer from surrounding allies.
Both Lord Lu Sa and Mei Dang Zuo began intensifying assault attacks, with even Mei going repeatedly into dangerous confrontations.
The odds had been unfavourable already before for Chang Bo Jai—his success entirely hinging on the overwhelming threat and intimidating strength he exerted. As they now committed reckless offense, it made him strain further still.
So he promptly adopted new tactics: evasive tactics while entirely refraining from offense. For his agility in Void was peerless already by many assessments. By solely maintaining defensive stance, he still successfully evaded any capture despite many high-level experts attempting in unison against him.
Such a display from Lu Sa and Mei further indirectly proved something too…
By contrast, now Tipping King gained full dominance in battle. Weaving around Flame’s Perpetual in his attacks methodically, slicing away causing flame to scatter throughout void space. As his strikes unyielding did not slacken the least he smilingly said:
“You, Princes, should not have displayed quite such loss of self-control. The way between Neutral Territories and Twilit Mainland isn’t exclusive. Why then expend all so needlessly? I must enquire further—have I received truth, as I had heard previously? Perhaps this man does have intention of traversing right through this exact place? Even had such been indeed true… could a messenger ahead not arrange detour and save this entire unnecessary confrontation?”
So casually he might speak, the actual difficulty in conveying news over a vast space within Void being extremely challenging to all parties. Once flying craft have cast off in launch, the impossibility became that much more pronounced. Even high-level might have arcane secrets to send out communications—they still lacked the capability to utilise these methods amid the intense fighting.
Continuing thus, there was a strong likelihood King of Balance would successfully trap her arrival.
Simultaneously the impatience from Eternal’s Monarchs indicated, too, that expected meeting timing grew dangerously close.
At this critical juncture as they waver in decision, the most feared of retreat scenarios began to play-out.
Just when all had been consumed in furious clash—the combat focus was so heavily placed upon each mighty blow exchanging between a High Sage and the two dominant powers battling, even the various lesser Princes & Dukes were mostly forgotten or left unmolested…
Happys suddenly flashed with incredible speed, vanishing from battle edges to manifest strangely elsewhere far apart, effectively fleeing altogether the conflict zone.
Indeed as those gathered were all elite experts of unmatched calibre, each extremely perceptive, they very swiftly became fully alert to his unusual absence from the frontline. Thus, this abrupt disappearance stirred immediate alarm among assembled powers.
Even more incredible followed.
At about the very moment all were startled into re-alignment…
Lu Sa and Mei Dan Zuo abruptly realised they lost sight of the foe completely, Zhang Bo Qian, at the same time, nearly simultaneously emerging from not all too distant.
Such positioning shocked Chang unexpectedly; it had taken a significant initiative away.
Could Hhaps possibly have been predicting precisely where Zhang Bo-Qian would appear next?
Before their stunned gazes registered this shocking fact fully in the hearts of each gathered elite, the response from Chang was immediate—typical directness and boldness personified.
“Dareth die,” his cold eyes gleamed dangerously at once, he simply threw out an apparently dull, almost unadorned punch toward the opponent’s chest, straight forward.
At this battle’s very beginning, this plain, effortless attack technique from King Qing (formerly known also as Blue Sun Kingdom’s Monarch) had already succeeded at vanquishing straightaway a first Duke enemy in an instant. When executed a second time at any combat moment, that single action was unmistakable evidence he was now determined to kill in this engagement.
Still no dodging from Hhaps—he merely lifted an arm attempting interception. As his sleeve moved briefly there came a swift appearance then immediately vanishment of a strange mysterious ancient image.
Impact occurred.
Hhaps was forced instantly dozens meters backward through empty air whereas The Chang remained steadfast like mountains, standing utterly unshaken even minutely by the encounter, the force barely making him twitch a muscle, his face remaining absolutely expressionless through all it. Yet the vampire’s pale face paled more at the blow’s shock but returned soon into normal hues.
Could one simply deflect the utter might contained even in Zhang’s entire maximum strength attack that casually?
The collected hearts of each expert here shook at once in stunned disbelief.
But particularly Mei Dang Zou whose eyes blazed with deeper and wilder fire than previous.
Perhaps from everyone present he was indeed the single lone expert who understood most precisely the significance in that ghostly ephemeral vision flashing through space from when the vampiric noble blocked the punch—it was the ancient Mark of the River of the Blooded.
King Bo-Qian failed the attempt to kill the foe, which, rather than deter, stoked even fiercer fire within the heart. His combat desire flared upwards. With one shrill battle-cry, his long mane floated, he rushed further in a relentless assault.
Yet, instead of a second all-out clash against him, this time, Blooded Dominion surged forth simultaneously with Hhaps’s voice lowly thundered as command amidst battle:
“You plan wasting endless time at this juncture here indefinitely!”
The Chang coldly laughed in reply:
“How easily you try such psychological tactics again—do tricks like that deceive me now?”
Happys stretched forth his own palm right before Chang:
“Tell then, you look at what precisely that may be upon this palm! Now! What you’re beholding before you, exactly!”
Instant recognition flared across Zhan Bo QIian’s expression the moment he gazed upon the item revealed atop Hhaps hand… His expression underwent radical change instantly…
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage