Those time travelers that year

Just as these Templars were preparing their hunt, as the saying goes, "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," in this city, there was an unexpected "oriole" watching with great interest from afar as the Templars sought to become the mantis. Or rather, watching a certain she-wolf named Iris.

"...Tch! These arrogant mortals again." Atop a distant bell tower, a dancer with a flowing, sheer cloak trailing behind her wore a cold smile, using subtle magic to observe the events unfolding on the other side of the city's church. Neither distance nor the darkness could obstruct her view. Meanwhile, the church staff remained completely unaware that a figure stood atop the bell tower, watching their every move.

"You came to cause trouble back then, but you slunk away. Did you really think we wouldn't dare to lay a hand on you mortals? And there were those even earlier, hey, causing trouble, causing trouble, but I wonder if you guys have the ability to withstand 'retaliation'?"

"Hmm, but the master doesn't seem to care about these things... However, that foolish mortal named Zavisha is truly detestable. We should just find an opportunity to kill him. He caused trouble once, and now he dares to come looking for trouble with a whole bunch of people..."

"What ignorant ants you are!" The dancer sneered with a murderous tone. "If His Highness hadn't been unwilling to break ties before the master's return, he would have wiped out all of you mortals back then... But now that I think about it, I feel I'd be letting the master down if I didn't kill you!"

"And that little she-wolf, your master's grace gave you a second life and the opportunity to increase your strength. Not only do you not know gratitude, but you also spend all day praying. If there is a god in this world, it is only your master, not that ethereal 'false god' you worship!"

"...Before you go hunting down those invading insects, let me teach you a lesson on how to be a human being—Iris Galgervin..."

In fact, Charles was unaware that his subordinates left behind to guard this world held a dislike for the Holy Temple. This was largely due to the Holy Temple's gathering of a large force before Charles's return, intending to visit him for a chat... According to some covert investigations afterward, a certain young knight who had suffered a setback in front of Charles was more or less responsible for this.

Sending assassins, especially to assassinate someone who wasn't even hostile to the Holy Church, is a grave offense. Do they really think everyone in the world is an idiot? While it's unclear what the new wielder of the Sacred Relic, named Zavisha, is thinking, the Holy Church is now governed not by its 'veterans,' but by 'civil servants' dispatched from the Church—priests or bishops with extensive connections to many secular nobles, especially traditional ones.

Having reached this point, the high-ranking members of the Holy See, who were themselves questionable, actually rejected the accusations from Father Brown and Elise, who had immediately reported the matter after discovering something amiss, on the grounds that "his identity is unknown and he poses a potential danger, threatening the order and security environment established by the Church and the Holy See, and therefore must be purified. Although Knight Zavisa's actions were unethical, considering his youth and inexperience and his good intentions for world peace and order, he should be confined for self-reflection." In any case, after that, Father Brown completely abandoned his guidance of the spoiled brat named Zavisa, choosing instead to be transferred to the Executive Department and no longer concern himself with those increasingly corrupt old fogies.

When the church's personnel arrived, they were forced to retreat in disgrace by the array of tens of thousands of magic cannons. Father Brown even rejected the suggestion from the higher-ups that he and Elizabeth lead the way to negotiate with the target and, ideally, to recruit him.

Today, okay, let's see if my typing speed can make up for the chapter I signed yesterday... Also, regarding the villainous character Zavisha, many people think I deliberately put this idiot in, but that's not the case. In later chapters, the author will explain why this guy did something 'idiotic'!

318. A Leap of Faith?

Countless facts tell us that allowing politicians, especially civilian politicians, to interfere in military matters is undoubtedly a deadly endeavor. For example, during the Song and Ming dynasties in Chinese history, the power of civil officials surpassed that of military generals, reaching a point where credit was given to them while blame was shifted to civilians. Most absurdly, even when military generals fought valiantly to victory, the main credit was attributed to civilians. It could even be said that if a military general had any merit, they either had to give it to a civilian or face death.

It could be said that both the Song and Ming dynasties were essentially brought down by the hands of scholars. Of course, these men would never admit this. These shameless individuals always considered themselves supreme, believing they were never wrong, only the military generals and the emperor were. This led to the rise of the Donglin Party, which ultimately brought the Ming Dynasty to its demise, forcing the last emperor of the Zhu family to uphold the ancestral precept: "The emperor guards the nation's gates, the monarch dies for the state."

No wonder, when the crimson light spread across the land, the first to perish in that upheaval were precisely this group of traditional 'literati'. One can only say, they died a truly fitting death…

Unfortunately, in this world, no great person has been born who is willing to bear the infamy and take on the responsibility of sweeping away all obstacles on the road ahead with the red light.

This is especially true for the Church, an institution that can be considered semi-religious. War takes many soldiers, but those in power are not the kind of generals who charge into battle; rather, they are mostly incompetent armchair strategists. Just like the Church now, the Church's intervention, the power struggles after the greatest enemy was defeated, and the suppression of the Church's veterans who survived the war by the bishops and archbishops have been going on for quite some time.

If the supernatural society of this world hadn't maintained a tradition of brute force, the Holy Temple would likely be in even greater decline. It's only because the Holy Temple has a strong foundation, coupled with its near-annihilation of other supernatural forces in this world, that it has managed to transform what should have been a low-to-mid-level fantasy world into a low-magic era. Otherwise, no matter how deep the Holy Temple's resources, they couldn't have sustained the wasteful efforts of these incompetent old fogies.

As a soldier who had miraculously survived the great war, Father Brown held those who pointed fingers in utter contempt. Although the sanctuary and the church appeared to be one entity, those in the know understood that after the end of the theocratic era, the sanctuary had split from the church's Inquisition and was already considered an independent or semi-independent force and institution.

This can be seen as the difference between the military and politicians, except that it was due to that devastating war. The vast majority of veterans loyal to the Holy Temple and the Templar commanders who wielded the sacred artifacts perished, to the point that the Holy Temple's organizational structure almost collapsed. It was at that time that the Church took over some of the Holy Temple's affairs, but this also led to the current situation.

Anyway, faced with tens of thousands of magical cannons arrayed in formation, even the most foolish politician would know something was wrong. But out of pride and for other reasons, those who had caused this mess couldn't bring themselves to do it. So they thought of Father Brown and Iris. But unfortunately, Father Brown directly refused to clean up the mess for those old fogies, and instead used his connections to transfer himself to the Execution Department, a department that was still purely composed of church personnel.

Then those shameless guys just let the matter remain unresolved... Anyway, Princess Kamishiro didn't pay any attention to these lowly 'mortals' and let it be. Of course, it goes without saying that she secretly accelerated the control and expansion of the ley lines and secretly performed all sorts of curse rituals.

In short, whether Princess Kamishiro was being cautious or simply didn't want to escalate the situation while Ciel was away, it doesn't matter.

Now that their master has truly become a god, the mere church and sanctuary are nothing to these mortals, whether it's the princess of the Age of Gods or the two maid sisters. Perhaps even their long-lost master is nothing to them now.

To be honest, Ciel was indeed quite curious about that 'Master'. If it weren't for the onboarding training that left him in a state of flux between rationality and confusion, Ciel would have already gone to see if that Master actually existed... and whether it was edible and what it tasted like...

However, for Atia, teaching these members of the Sanctuary a lesson was a viable option. She didn't care which faction the guys who had come looking for trouble belonged to; they were all members of the Sanctuary, so it couldn't be wrong.

As for that little bat... if it knows what's good for it, it might obediently become a pet, and perhaps that princess would like it. As for its master, Charles, Atia believes that her young master would not like these half-dead aliens.

Of course, that's assuming the little bat behaves; otherwise, Atia wouldn't mind killing it while teaching some of the Sanctuary's guys a lesson. After all, in the past year or so, although she hadn't had a direct conflict with the Sanctuary, she'd certainly taken down plenty of those 'heretics' trying to infiltrate her territory.

At least she left behind a body; if her sister had done it, not even a body would have remained, only ashes.

Watching from afar from the bell tower, she waited until the church staff began to disperse, secretly eliminating the spies left behind by the little bat. Then, as if preparing something, a semi-transparent barrier silently appeared over the entire church and surrounding area. Ordinary people couldn't see this barrier and would instinctively avoid the area under its influence, similar to a Muggle exorcism spell in the Harry Potter universe. However, this didn't stop Atia. She didn't intend to use the main entrance, nor did she plan to go all out. The exorcism barrier could only fool ordinary people; she had plenty of ways to get in.

After taking a few steps to the edge of the bell tower roof, and aiming at the defense line on the church side, Atia chuckled, then spread her arms out to form a cross, and then leaned her body and jumped off the edge of the bell tower roof.

The air currents from the fall ruffled Atia's sheer cloak, pulling it open. The scene below began to magnify rapidly, and just as Atia was about to crash to the ground, a cloud of mist appeared before her.

She then disappeared into the mist, vanishing completely...

319. The Last Vampire

Amidst the clash of swords, the twin blades and the greatsword collided, both sides being 'monsters' far surpassing their own power. The battle between these two 'monsters' caused Lilith, slumped on the ground, to widen her crimson eyes in disbelief and terror as she watched the scene unfold.

Although theoretically she was also a 'monster,' compared to the two girls fighting before her, she was as fragile as an infant. Even with her vampire-specific abilities, and even wielding a weapon comparable to the holy artifact held by the Templar girl who had mercilessly tried to behead her, neither the Templar knight who had nearly killed her nor the uninvited guest who had suddenly emerged from a cloud of mist and easily parried the greatsword imbued with holy flames with a longsword were people she, a fugitive who had been hiding for decades, could handle.

Slumped to the ground, Lilith was severely injured after being nearly killed by the Holy Flame. Adding to her woes, the Holy Flame possessed a natural, almost nemesis-like ability to counter vampires like herself. Lilith was unable to dispel the Holy Flame still lingering within her body in a short time, nor could she heal her injuries. She could only helplessly watch this scene unfold before her.

Why did things turn out this way?

Lilith couldn't help but think that before this, she had only happened to come to this city. And it was then that she overheard from the city's residents chatting that a murder had occurred at the city's church, with the priest and all the clergy brutally killed. To be honest, she was quite pleased that someone had dared to provoke the sanctuary and the church in this way; no one would be happy to be forced into hiding for decades.

But it was also at this time that she found herself in the home of a nobleman within the city's administrative government. Using the supernatural abilities of her Enchanting Eye, Lilith easily disguised herself as a distant relative of the nobleman who had come to visit. It was from there that Lilith clearly learned the details of the church murder.

Someone slaughtered everyone in that church, and it seemed to be very bloody. There were even traces of symbols on the ground that appeared to be drawn with blood. It was said that some 'heretics' were retaliating against the church and the empire for their joint extermination and capture a year ago.

Lilith initially assumed that another vampire had committed all of this. After all, in this world, there had been many instances of black magic using blood to create runes over the years. Some black wizards were also skilled in this, but vampires were the true experts.

However, those dark wizards who performed rituals using blood were basically wiped out by the Holy Temple, and the survivors wouldn't be foolish enough to use human blood. Domesticated animals like chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep are all acceptable, and their effects might not be much worse than using human blood. The only exception is vampires. Some of their secret arts, especially those that elevate their rank, require human blood. Of course, it's not strictly necessary; using the blood of creatures with powerful energy would be even more effective. Unfortunately, those powerful creatures, like dragons and other mythical beings, have been extinct for countless years.

So it wouldn't be surprising if it really was done by a surviving vampire. Firstly, it would allow them to take revenge on the Sanctuary and the Church; secondly, the humans in those churches are quite powerful, allowing them to further enhance their own strength.

Even so, Lilith wasn't entirely sure if it was someone from her own race. Even if it were, she might not actually meet them. Because vampires were undeniably cold-blooded, or to put it bluntly, extremely selfish. In the past few centuries, facing pressure from the Holy Temple, the vampires had even had the audacity to engage in internal strife, allowing the Holy Temple to seize the opportunity to defeat them one by one, reducing them to their current state of utter destitution.

However, curiosity ultimately led Lilith to send a controlled bat to the church. And then, to her surprise, she discovered something amiss.

She possessed the ability to see glimpses of the past. It was here that she activated her power, easily witnessing the intruders' devastating attack on the entire church. She also saw the strange humans doing something in front of the cross, but what intrigued her more was the unknown circular magic circle carved into the ground, which then used its power to create red stones.

The stones, as red as blood, were created from the blood and souls of the slain clergy.

Whether there's some inherent factor at play or not, legends and even claims of the red miracle stone—the Philosopher's Stone—exist in many worlds. At first glance, Lilith was certain it was the Philosopher's Stone, and she was captivated.

The Philosopher's Stone, hailed as a miracle, naturally possesses unique qualities. If she could obtain the method for creating the Philosopher's Stone, she would be confident enough to enhance her power, at least enough to avoid being forced into hiding by the Sanctuary. Therefore, that night, after confirming the Sanctuary personnel had left by controlling bats, the vampire girl secretly infiltrated the area, attempting to find any clues about the magic circle capable of creating the Philosopher's Stone.

Then he crashed headfirst into the trap.

She had indeed entered, but her mistake lay in the presence of a fifth-rank Templar Knight commander among the Templar personnel, a woman qualified to wield a sacred artifact. She was immediately stunned. Even though she possessed a weapon comparable to the female Templar Knight commander's sacred artifact, her own strength was only fourth-rank, while the girl with the artifact was fifth-rank.

If it weren't for the sudden appearance of a mist of water in front of her, and another young 'human' girl who used a longsword to block the descending Holy Flame Greatsword, Lilith would probably have been 'purified' into ashes.

However, the situation remains dire. If it weren't for the two 'monster-like' humans fighting at an imperceptible speed, preventing the rest of the Sanctuary from reaching her, Lilith, severely injured and with little ability to resist, would also have been purified. But once the battle is decided, where can she escape to? Besides, the Sanctuary's forces have already completely surrounded the church; she is now trapped with no way out, a dead end.

320. Making up for yesterday's...

Longswords and greatswords clashed, holy flames and twilight fires collided, and the swords and blades clashed fiercely in the not-so-spacious church at speeds far beyond what ordinary people could see. The sparks from the countless swords clashing reflected in the air, creating a dreamlike scene.

The two weapons clashed repeatedly, the air crackling with a sound like silk being torn apart. Some of the swirling air currents transformed into sharp, invisible blades, tearing open the church floor and slicing through the walls. Chairs and stools caught in the blast were instantly shattered into pieces.

In the ensuing, dazzling exchange, anyone who was even slightly slower or weaker would be instantly shredded to pieces. However, after a rapid series of clashes, the two battling 'monsters' seemed to realize that this wasn't enough to defeat each other, and the situation reached a stalemate.

One side had suddenly decided to intervene, while the other side, though lacking the strength to enter the battle, was determined to get past the heavily wounded alien. Therefore, the former had to expend some of its energy to shield the useless alien behind them.

However, precisely because of this, the two fighters realized that neither could gain the upper hand, and continuing the stalemate at this level would be detrimental to both. Therefore, they were forced to retreat simultaneously and cease their fighting.

"Hi!" With a long sword in one hand and a veil-like cloak flowing behind her, Atia chuckled and greeted Iris in front of her. "...Long time no see, isn't it, Miss Iris Galgwen?"

“…Atiya!” Iris said coldly, lowering her sword with one hand. “Do you want to interfere? Who sent you? Charles?”

“You’re overthinking it. Master doesn’t have the time to play a stage play with you and those mortals behind you,” Atia replied. “…Isn’t that right? Do you want to stage a grand invasion only to be thrown out?”

"Hmph! Get out of the way. Do you know what's behind you?" Iris raised her sword, pointing it at Lilith, who was slumped on the ground behind Atia. "That's a heretical monster that feeds on human blood..."

"So what? It's just a lowly ant among the vampires," Atia replied with a smile. "Just a filthy hamster that can't stand the light! But if you clean it up, you can keep it as a pet!"

"So you're saying you want to protect this heretical monster behind you?" Iris said coldly. "Aren't you afraid of causing trouble for your master?"

“Trouble? Hahaha…” Atia laughed loudly. “You really are a bunch of fools. What is trouble? Are you a sanctuary or a church? If it is trouble, then last time when a large group of you went to the Earl’s territory, oh… sorry, I forgot, who was it that came in a huff and then immediately slunk away?”

"You!" Not only Elise, but also Father Brown and other church staff who were standing behind Elise and unable to intervene all turned pale at this moment.

"What? I did nothing wrong!" Atia mocked. "You're the one who repays kindness with enmity, aren't you, Miss Iris Galgwin! Don't forget, it was Master who saved you back then, otherwise you would have been dead long ago. And what did you do? You turned around and sent a few ill-intentioned guys to try to invade the Earl's territory, but after being thrown out, you gathered an army and came over... Are you planning to plunder?"

Iris, her face grim, was completely unable to respond. It was the truth, after all. Yes, Charles had saved her life, yet her organization immediately sent men to kill her—a classic example of repaying kindness with enmity! And this wasn't just once; it happened twice. The second time, a team almost actually launched an attack, but the overwhelming array of magical cannons completely stunned everyone.

“Miss Atiyah…” Father Brown stepped forward and said, “What happened that time was wrong on our part, but it had nothing to do with Iris. We had no idea things would escalate to that point. If possible, would you allow me to personally come and explain to Lord Grett?”

"You're overthinking it. Why would my master listen to your excuses?" Atia's sarcastic gaze swept over all the Holy Temple personnel, and her tone suddenly turned low. "You should be glad that my master doesn't care about you guys... Besides, there are some other insects and the controllers behind those insects who foolishly came here to die, so I just ignored you."

“This was my fault, and if Charles wants to pursue the matter, I will take full responsibility!” Iris said. “But now, please step aside…”

"I refuse!" Atia raised her longsword. "I'll protect this little bat... Oh, and by the way, you'd better hurry to the capital!"

"What did you say?"

“Ah! Didn’t I tell you? Some of the insects that controlled them came down to their deaths, and this place…” Atia pointed around with her knife, “is the work of some of those insects!”

"What?" Iris was taken aback, and pressed, "You know what happened here?"

“Hmm? I don’t know, but I came here following those insects. So I know exactly what those insects are doing. If I’m not mistaken, those insects are heading to the capital of this country right now,” Atia said. “Of course, Miss Galgwin, you don’t have to go. After all, this time… my master doesn’t have the time to come and save you!” After saying that, Atia ignored Iris’s questions and the angry looks from the Holy Temple personnel, and walked straight up to Lilith.

"Two choices: either submit..." The longsword was pointed at Lilith's neck, the twilight fire beginning to burn on the blade. "Or, die!"

Glug! Lilith swallowed hard, looked up at Atia's cold eyes, and saw the fleeting twilight light in his pupils. The fear of death swept over her.

I'll die, I'll die, I'll die if I refuse...

Resistance? Impossible. Every drop of blood on her body, even the dragon's breath blade in her hand, was sending out warnings—warnings to escape. The human girl before her, seemingly named Atia, was a far more terrifying 'monster' than the wielder of the Holy Relic who had severely injured her and rendered her incapable of fighting. The two were fundamentally different. The Holy Relic wielder was merely powerful enough to resemble a 'monster'... but this human girl named Atia before her was nothing more than a true monster in human skin.

"I...I, I surrender." So-called dignity and honor were irrelevant at this moment. After all, she had been on the run for decades, and those things had long been lost. At least she, as an heretic, could still get along with this monster in human skin. In any case, even being miserable was better than falling into the hands of the Holy Temple and being 'purified'.

“Very good!” Atia smiled. “Then, let’s go…”

"Delusion!" Just then, Iris rushed over, her sword blade, burning with holy flames, emitting a dazzling light, transforming into a blade of light that slashed down in this direction.

"Overestimating yourself!" Atia laughed sarcastically, then her flaming longsword met the descending blade of light head-on without flinching. With a grab of her other hand, a surge of black mist exploded from the ground, and another longsword emerged from it. She reached out and grabbed both swords simultaneously, swinging them towards Iris.

All drafts have been published, fourth update.

321. Anyway, it's all water.

“…What monsters!” Standing atop the ruins, Father Brown surveyed the rubble before him, his face twitching as he let out a sigh that defied explanation. “It really is true. How could so many monsters gather in that territory!”

It was now noon on the second day, and the ruins where Father Brown stood were actually the church from the previous night. Of course, he was standing there unharmed, but the church was now a pile of rubble, and the five or six floors around it were also part of the ruins, which showed that the previous night had not been easy.

When Atiyah attempted to shelter and forcibly take away the remaining vampire, Iris unleashed the power of the sacred artifact, launching a devastating attack. Unfortunately for Iris, at the very moment she used the artifact's power, Atiyah, wielding both swords, met her attack head-on. The two exchanged blows several more times, until Father Brown and his entourage fled as far as they could. No sooner had they escaped the church than the entire building crumbled and collapsed into pieces.

In the end, they were unable to kill the remaining vampire. Even with the full power of the sacred artifact, Iris, who was considered one of the Holy Temple's top combatants, only managed a draw, and Atia easily took the vampire girl away.

Father Brown was increasingly convinced that Charles's identity was highly suspicious. How could a mere nobleman stripped of his inheritance, a young man from the underworld whom he was supposed to have no contact with, possess extraordinary power? Even one of his subordinates was no less formidable than the Holy Temple's top combatants. In short, Father Brown suddenly felt that things had spiraled out of control.

"Father!"

"What's wrong, Deacon Iris?" Father Brown turned around and looked at Iris, who was staring blankly at the ruins.