Chapter 770
The New Era of the Children of the Moon (8000-word update, Request monthly passes!)
As Prince Xiardo himself had said.
When prophecy reaches such close proximity, advance warnings become meaningless. Lady Honey Badger, with her brows furrowed, and Fenrir, covered in sweat, discussed for a long time but could not find a way to break through the situation.
Due to the current complex circumstances, it appeared as if the Sima Family had assassinated the Son of Heaven in broad daylight.
However, in reality, it could be said to be the will of heaven.
The current rulers of the Daffodil Duchy, like the Red Fortress Faction of Star Antinomy, were Children of the Moon from the Banquet Master Faction.
The so-called Banquet Master Faction, namely the Hedonistic Faction, because the Banquet Master himself was the god of feasts and enjoyment, and also presided over the domains of wine and revelry.
They emphasized detachment and independence. As long as they had enough to enjoy themselves, they would not interfere with anything. They would not intentionally persecute anyone, or initiate any wars or enact any laws. As long as there were enough Blood Slaves and wealth to squander, they were a purely selfish faction.
As for the Children of the Moon of Iris Flower, they belonged to the Blood Heavenly Envoy Faction. This was the most powerful faction because they could easily petition the Blood Heavenly Envoy for divine arts. In other words, the Children of the Moon of Iris Flower were all capable of casting spells.
However, the Blood Heavenly Envoy craved “Flesh Sacrifice.”
He was the god of torment, as well as the god of thirst and suffering.
Children of the Moon who believed in the Blood Heavenly Envoy would feel thirst more easily than those of other faiths, and would be more violent and suffer more when their desire for blood was not satisfied. Their pleasure and satisfaction would be milder compared to other Children of the Moon, thus making them relatively more rational and cruel, never showing mercy in a moment of impulse.
In addition to normal blood-drinking behavior, they also engaged in gruesome judgment and sacrifice activities.
For example, the Red Phase would keep a large number of handsome men and beautiful women in his swimming pool, and then let them bathe with him—or his children. While feeding them fruits, everyone would play together passionately. The Children of the Moon of Iris Flower, on the other hand, would tend to turn them into a Blood Pool, with Eagle Eye assassins or reporters who dared to write exposes about them hanging above, slowly draining their blood.
One side was joy, the other was suffering, and the boundaries of their actions were extremely clear.
However, these Children of the Moon did not have intense religious conflicts.
In the end, it was because the Banquet Master had never asked the Children of the Moon to believe in him, but he had also never rejected their faith. Just as he never rejected anyone’s faith or sacrifices—all who came were guests, and all who were seated were satisfied.
Among the scattered, non-mainstream beliefs, Sister Sasha had no power or say, and Hengwo never paid attention to anyone.
Under these circumstances, as long as the other factions offered a few words of flattery to the Blood Heavenly Envoy, they could sit together harmoniously.
And so, a very subtle thing happened—
The Daffodil Duchy, which was in the process of declaring independence, was itself a country ruled by Children of the Moon. The high-ranking officials of Black Hawk Territory had all been bought off, infiltrated, or even converted by the Children of the Moon of the Banquet Master Faction. The Children of the Moon of Iris Flower controlled more than 50% of the entire country. If the Red Phase now controlled Star Antinomy…
Then the four nations that had split from the former Hrasal Empire would be reunited!
Although the Banquet Master was powerful back then, he was not a Heavenly Envoy after all. Once they merged, power would inevitably belong to the Children of the Moon of the Iris Flower Faction. But now the Banquet Master had been elevated to Banquet Heavenly Envoy… As everyone knows, the Banquet Master already possessed Heavenly Envoy power when he was still an Apostle.
He could have ascended long ago, but stubbornly did not because his friend, The Fool, was not complete. The Fool was even more formidable; when he died, he was invited as an Apostle by multiple Pillar Gods and even had the opportunity to become a Heavenly Envoy. The fusion of these two powerful beings would only make them stronger—much stronger than the Blood Heavenly Envoy, and possibly even stronger than the Shadow Heavenly Envoy!
If the Banquet Master intended to elevate further, he might even ascend to the rank of Pillar God.
If they were to form a single nation again, the newly born Hrasal Empire would have its own Guardian God.
From this perspective, the peaceful merger initiated by the Children of the Moon of all four nations occupying high-ranking positions would be the most peaceful and swift way to resurrect the former empire. Among the many paths of conquest, this would be the only one that did not require war, had the fewest casualties, and caused the least destruction!
And that future would belong to the era of the Children of the Moon!
“Is there truly nothing we can do?”
The most agitated was not Prince Xiardo, whose life was in danger, but Lady Honey Badger.
She harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Children of the Moon, and seeing them seemingly on the verge of rising made her intensely uncomfortable.
“Actually…”
Alistair, who had been listening for a long time, simply yawned. “It’s not that there’s no way.”
“Please tell us.”
Prince Xiardo asked respectfully and politely.
He did not seem too flustered, likely because he had already guessed that Alistair would certainly have a solution.
“—I knew it! In the end, it all comes down to you!”
Honey Badger’s eyes widened, and her gaze towards Alistair blazed with fanaticism. “This is all for justice!”
“No, no, no…”
Knowing that Honey Badger had misunderstood her intention, thinking she was going to issue a papal decree to forcefully deploy the Judgment Hub… Alistair waved her hands repeatedly. “There’s no need for such things… I can handle it myself.”
“Handle it yourself?”
Fenrir subconsciously raised his voice.
“It’s exactly as it sounds.”
Alistair’s lips curved slightly upwards, her pupils turning the scarlet of a Child of the Moon at some point.
As if drunk, her cheeks flushed, and her emotions became ecstatic. “I’ll kill them all.
“Whoever dares to jump, I’ll kill them—whoever dares to cause trouble, I’ll kill them. I don’t know where they get their confidence, but I know… I will definitely win against them!”
Alistair’s words carried an unquestionable, absolute confidence.
However, Prince Xiardo only believed less than half of it, and Fenrir did not believe it at all.
“How is that possible… Rather than such vague things, I trust the ritual performed by the Demon Scholars more.”
He frowned. “Otherwise, let’s find a way to help them complete the ritual? I saw earlier that the ritual would destroy more than half of Star Antinomy… But in that future, there was no crazy plan for the Children of the Moon. It is likely that the ‘more than half of Star Antinomy’ that was destroyed included them—
“If we really have no other way, why don’t we try to find a way to directly reverse the future to the first outcome!”
“—Impossible.”
Alistair said without hesitation. “You are committing a crime, Mr. Fenrir. At the very least, with the Children of the Moon ruling the four nations, and with the Banquet Master Faction as the majority, the worst outcome would not be worse than Star Antinomy being ‘destroyed by more than half’.”
“That’s different.”
Mr. Fenrir, wearing a helmet-like pair of glasses with numerous lenses that only revealed the lower half of his face, argued. “I am a subordinate of His Highness, and I ultimately prophesy and think for His Majesty. And you yourself are a Child of the Moon…”
“—Fenrir.”
Prince Xiardo suddenly interrupted Fenrir.
Fenrir immediately realized he had said something wrong. Even with most of his face hidden, it was evident that his face instantly turned pale. “Oh, oh… I’m sorry, Miss Alistair, I meant…”
“It’s fine.”
Alistair, on the contrary, smiled with satisfaction. “You’re right… Children of the Moon are untrustworthy. No matter how well they behave, one must always be prepared for betrayal by a Child of the Moon. Because Children of the Moon are a race with no moral or emotional constraints, purely selfish like parasites.”
“You…”
This, however, left Prince Xiardo somewhat at a loss.
Fortunately, at this moment, the telephone on the table suddenly rang.
Fenrir, restless, almost instantly breathed a sigh of relief, immediately picked up the phone, and asked loudly, “Hello—?”
His expression quickly turned grim. The sense of relief and excitement he had felt moments before gradually faded, replaced by sadness and pain. His lips moved, but he ultimately closed them.
“…Don’t be afraid, we’ll be there soon.”
Fenrir comforted with a complex expression.
He slowly hung up the receiver, looked back at Alistair, then at Prince Xiardo, and reported softly, “Your Highness…”
“Whose call was it?”
“Inspector Vena, Your Highness,”
Fenrir said. “Many corpses were found hanging in the municipal square.”
“What does that have to do with us? That should be a case for the police department to handle,”
Prince Xiardo retorted. “Could that previous ritual still be ongoing?”
“Not at all. All these corpses were drained of blood, and it’s clear they were all killed by Children of the Moon…
“But the key is their identities. They were all members of the Rose Cross, including two viscounts, a renowned lawyer, three reporters, and… the elder Mr. Sherlock.”
As Fenrir spoke, he also explained to Alistair and Honey Badger. “Elder Sherlock was a First Class Inspector, a very high rank. He was the highest-ranking official of the Royal Security Police Department in Leipzig, and also the one who introduced Inspector Vena to the Rose Cross. His death means…”
“—The Red Phase’s plan has begun.”
Honey Badger asserted. “I guess he’s been placed under house arrest—Children of the Moon always have a strong desire for control and dislike any enemies escaping from under their noses. This is a distorted desire stemming from possessiveness.”
“That’s right,” Fenrir nodded. “Inspector Vena is requesting help, Your Highness. He’s been locked in his office by his colleagues at the police station and cannot leave the room. There are armed security police guards watching his door.
“Unexpectedly, they haven’t disabled the office phone…”
“Heh, they didn’t cut the phone line just to eavesdrop.”
Alistair sneered. “You don’t think they overlooked it, do you?”
Although Alistair also felt that Children of the Moon were not good people, after being inexplicably criticized by Fenrir, she also became somewhat resentful—like a true Child of the Moon.
“—They want to see who Inspector Vena calls and who will come to his rescue.”
“In other words…”
Fenrir’s face turned pale.
“Our astrologer, have you become too reliant on your eyes to the point of neglecting the training of your brain?”
Alistair taunted. “This is something so easily figured out… And you dare to make decisions for your master? Your abilities are lacking, but your courage is immense! You’re such an idiot that I can’t even be bothered to drink your blood. I feel like my intelligence would decrease if I drank it.”
“…I can give you my blood, Miss Alistair.”
Prince Xiardo bowed his head to Alistair. “I beg you to save Inspector Vena… He is my friend.”
“Even if he called you, he wanted to exploit your abilities and connections?”
Alistair retorted.
“That’s still because he trusts me more than anyone else,”
Xiardo replied without hesitation. “Then I will save him. This is blood I offer voluntarily, and even by the most traditional customs of the Children of the Moon, it qualifies as ‘pure blood’ that is permissible to drink.”
“—Heh.”
Hearing this, Alistair inexplicably felt a pang of displeasure.
But after carefully examining her heart, she couldn’t find any reason for her unhappiness.
She could only impatiently agree. “Forget the blood, I only drink the blood of one man. After tasting his blood, I have no interest in your so-called ‘pure blood’.
“But for the sake of your friendship and trust—I’ll agree. After all, I also have a friend who can always trust each other like this.”
Thinking of Sherlock, Alistair suppressed the restlessness within her.
It was ironic, in a way… At first, she thought someone was attacking her with a ritual, which was why she had flown into a rage out of nowhere.
But now, Alphonse had already been killed by her, and his ritual had been destroyed by Alistair, yet that sudden violent emotion had not disappeared; instead, it had become more frequent.
In other words, Alphonse had not attacked Alistair at the time, nor had he taken her as a sacrifice.
It was just that the problem Alistair was facing happened to coincide with what Alphonse was doing.
From then until now, everything had been an accident.
…Strange, from where did things start to go wrong?
Alistair frowned slightly.
But she couldn’t think of an answer for a moment. However, since anything involving her plans would fall apart, Alistair decided to set it aside and not overthink it for now.
“…In any case, saving him is the priority. Let’s go.”
Alistair stood up enthusiastically. “We’ll storm the police station!”
(End of Chapter)
