Chapter 767
Prince Heinrich
Three days have passed since the two major cases broke out in Leipzig, the City of Knowledge.
When Prince Fein Heinrich von Leipzig finally returned to his most loyal home, Leipzig, the City of Knowledge, by car, his first destination was his mansion.
As soon as he arrived at the entrance, the butler, who had been notified in advance, was already waiting for him.
Seeing the hesitant expression on the old butler’s face, Count Leipzig guessed most of it.
— If nothing unexpected happened, someone should be waiting for him at home.
“Who?”
Count Leipzig didn’t stop, but directly took off his light jacket and handed it to the old butler, asking as he spoke.
“It’s General Karl…”
The old butler, while following Leipzig, held the jacket he had taken off in his arms and added, “In your study.”
“Did he rummage through anything?”
Count Leipzig subconsciously asked, but immediately waved his hand. “Forget it… it doesn’t matter. You can go.”
— Not that these people could stop old Karl if he wanted to look through his letters anyway.
Count Leipzig thought to himself.
When he opened the door, he saw a familiar figure—
A white-haired old man in a double-breasted trench coat-style military uniform stood tall, with his cane planted before him like a long sword, quietly standing in front of his collection shelves.
Seeing this, Count Leipzig subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
His scarlet pupils narrowed slightly. He casually swept his golden hair back, and a familiar friendly smile appeared on his face. That smile made him look more like a kind-hearted middle school teacher who wouldn’t get angry no matter how you joked, rather than a Count or a Prince.
“Long time no see, General… Are you well?”
Count Leipzig asked cautiously with a smile.
General Leo Karl did not directly answer his question, but said in a deep voice, “I thought you would be different from other Children of the Moon. But… you are all the same. Becoming a Child of the Moon means the corruption of humanity.”
The moment the old man spoke, Count Leipzig immediately realized… the voice that used to crackle like a bonfire when General Karl spoke was completely gone. Although that voice was steady and stern, it no longer carried that overwhelming pressure. Instead, it made General Karl sound like an ordinary old man.
… He had truly lost his Demon Avatar.
Only then did Count Leipzig fully confirm the information he had obtained.
When the “Night of the Stars” descended, Leo Karl lost his Power of Transcendence—his power had been completely transformed into the warrior power of Path Adaptation.
This kind of cross-Path power conversion was quite rare. Usually, only Pillar God-tier power could add a high-level Path Power that a soul had never mastered before out of thin air.
And even Pillar Gods were not without constraints when doing so. They still had to obey the underlying rules they had established.
At this point, Count Leipzig casually replied, “I cannot resist my instincts, just as you cannot refuse your mission…
“At least, all my collections here are voluntary. But the soldiers you killed may not be.”
The huge wall that General Karl was looking at had many empty slots.
And inside the slots were the exquisite works of art meticulously crafted by Count Leipzig—
A woman with long white curly hair was placed in a slender, pure white porcelain vase, her head resting on the rim. Her serene expression was like a blooming lily, appearing extremely sacred under the light shining from above. And undoubtedly, this narrow and slender vase could not hold a complete person—even a complete body could not fit in it. At most, only her organs could be placed inside.
In another slot, the heads of a set of triplets were sewn together, resembling a majestic Sacred Statue. They respectively displayed the expressions of “joy,” “anger,” and “sadness,” and their four extra arms were each in different poses, forming mudras. Their eyes were all open at this moment, staring at General Karl.
A terrified young boy, naked and thin, was cowering on all fours, fleeing in the snow. The muscles bulging from his thighs and forearms showed the vitality of life. Behind him, a bullet floated in mid-air. Pink petals, frozen in the air, were scattered around the bullet. A pair of majestic deer antlers were embedded in the boy’s forehead, making him look as helpless as a fawn.
And in the center of the entire wall was a twisted cherry blossom tree—
A mature woman raised her hands, as if embracing the sun, displaying her fair and plump body. Her body was fused with the cherry blossom tree, with branches growing from her flesh and skin visible through the gaps in the twisted trunk.
Her pupils were filled with sacred compassion, and her body glowed like a Saintess under the white light above her head.
— The most astonishing thing was that everyone here was “alive.” The vase woman’s eyelids were still trembling slightly, and the tree-woman’s chest was still rising and falling steadily.
Count Leipzig’s lips curled elegantly upwards. He smoothed his hair and asked boastfully, “What do you think? I think this is the level of masters of The Path of Beauty.”
“Weren’t you once a ‘master’ yourself?”
General Karl said sarcastically, “Have you forgotten? How did you become a Prince back then?”
Count Leipzig, also known as Prince Heinrich, did not inherit his title through heredity.
Valentine VI was a Queen. And Fein Heinrich, once a commoner—became her third royal husband through his handsomeness and artistic talent, obtaining the title of Prince. But he was not a true Extraordinary of The Path of Beauty, but a Demon Scholar… although he demanded that others call him “Master.”
In terms of seniority, Count Leipzig could be considered the stepfather of the current monarch.
Although he was a kept man, he had a good relationship with Valentine VI… if one didn’t mention the fact that he was twenty-five years old when Valentine VI was fifty.
He had not yet advanced to the Fourth Tier when Valentine VI passed away. However, by virtue of his special identity, Fein Heinrich was invited to join the Rose Cross society.
This former Prince Heinrich hoped that his child with Valentine VI would inherit the throne—even though the girl was only two years old at the time. Because of this, the unreasonable Prince Heinrich became a thorn in the side of the ministers.
He was eventually assassinated easily… and by virtue of his Path of Love’s adaptability, he was resurrected by the Red Phase himself.
The “Prince Heinrich” who was resurrected again inherited his predecessor’s political legacy and changed his attitude… instead supporting Alfonso Valentine to ascend the throne.
This young monarch, only sixteen years old, was the heir favored by the Red Phase.
It was through Valentine VII’s reward that the “City of Knowledge, Leipzig” and Count Leipzig existed today.
As for General Karl—he met this Count Leipzig when he was still a righteous young man.
He once regarded Count Leipzig as his mentor, idol, and adoptive father… until Leo Karl grew old, came into contact with the highest circles of Star Antinomy, and learned of the darkness he could not access in the past, he gradually realized how naive he had been.
Facing the sarcasm of the General Karl he had raised himself, Count Leipzig merely smiled gently. “It’s not that I didn’t have the opportunity to become a true artist… But as a Child of the Moon, the only correct path is to embark on the Transcendent Path and pursue the realm of the ‘Perfect Being.’
“I obeyed my father’s request and thus embarked on the Path of Transcendence. However, I am really not very skilled on this path… Even if I had the chance to start over and change my profession, I would still be stuck at the Third Tier and fail to reach the Fourth Tier and become a Great Witch.
“After that, as you know, I embarked on the Path of Authority—that was also my father’s request. Of course, if that hadn’t happened, I think I would have had the chance to embark on The Path of Beauty.”
“Heh heh.”
General Karl turned back and said sarcastically, “Listening to your ‘father’ in everything, even a teenager wouldn’t be so obedient. I’m not surprised that your Transcendent Path ability hasn’t improved.”
“You don’t seem to be in a good mood…”
Count Leipzig merely glanced at his collection wall and smiled gently. “It seems you still feel pity. There’s no need for that—I said, these people are all voluntary.
“It’s not that I bought them with money, but they fell in love with me. I live by absorbing their ‘love’.”
“So you performed a transference ritual? Do you think I can’t see that?”
The old general said sarcastically, “You, one of the three pillars of ‘Rose Cross,’ are only a Third Tier Curse Ritualist. But I am a Fifth Tier Transcendent…
“I don’t know what kind of wicked trick of the Path of Love you used? A witch’s potion? Or a Child of the Moon’s charm kiss?”
“Neither.”
Count Leipzig clasped his hands behind his back, enjoying his masterpieces with great pleasure. “I wouldn’t do such foolish things… Love born from deception is fragile and weak. Using such things as a ‘bed’ for one’s resurrection would be too dangerous.
“—The answer is, I shared myself with them.”
