The Terrifying Miss Witch, and... a Divine Descent

Tilis stood at the highest point of the ancient castle, bathed in the crimson glow of the moonlight. Dawn had yet to arrive, and the Blood Moon Domain still enveloped the depths of the endless snow-capped mountains. She lowered her gaze, scanning the area. Playing hide-and-seek with vampires across the entire mountain range would be troublesome, so she had to end this quickly.

Without hesitation, Tilis cast a spell to enhance her perception. As the magic took effect, not even the slightest movement within dozens of miles could escape her notice. Soon, her eyes locked onto a cliff to the side, and she unleashed a devastating 9th-tier Soul Torrent without restraint.

In an instant, the rocks shattered, revealing the panicked figures of the elder vampires scrambling to flee.

"There are other hidden paths leading down the mountain. Split up! We'll meet at—"

One of the elder vampires spoke, but his reaction was a fraction too slow. His arm was merely grazed by the terrifying magic, yet half his body was instantly reduced to a mangled mess of flesh and exposed bone.

"AAAAAH—!"

His agonized scream echoed through the night, his steps faltering. But no one dared to turn back to save him.

Tilis remained atop the central tower, her expression cold and unreadable. With relentless spellcasting, one magnificent yet lethal spell after another bloomed across the mountain peaks.

The elder vampire who had lost half his body was now obliterated entirely. His flesh, which should have regenerated swiftly, had no chance to recover before the horrifying Soul Torrent consumed him, leaving only a charred mark on the exposed rock.

"Just how much mana does she have?" Another elder vampire, the fastest among them, glanced back in terror.

"After breaking through our magical barriers, she can still cast spells of this magnitude? Is there no one left who can stop her?"

Meizi flickered into existence beside him in a blur of blood-red shadows, her face dark with fury. "Logically, even the lowest vampire baron is comparable to a low-tier mage, and a duke matches a high-tier mage. As vampire princes, we should far surpass high-tier mages, but..."

Before she could finish, another spell came crashing down. Meizi barely managed to teleport away in time.

"But I can’t even gauge what tier she is!"

"I once dealt with an elder from the Arcane Hermitage. His magic was the strongest I’d ever seen, yet he was only on par with me. But the one up there… she’s countless times stronger than him!"

Meizi’s frustration grew. Who would have thought that Evelyn could summon such a powerful ally—even the imperial princess backed her! What kind of conspiracy was at play here?

The elder vampire beside her grew even more bewildered. "Could it be…"

"Could she be a Saint-tier? A Grand Archmage? Half-step to godhood?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Another elder vampire interjected. "What era is this? Not the age of three thousand years ago! The deeper one delves into magic nowadays, the faster they lose their sanity. No one could possibly walk the path of Eltuga, the God of Magic!"

Meizi glared upward, her blood-shadow form vanishing once more.

The moment she disappeared, the air surged with scorching heat as a spell blasted a terrifying crater into the mountainside.

Staring at the devastation, Meizi snarled, "Stop running like rats in a sewer!"

Another elder vampire scoffed. "And what do you suggest? Turn back and fight her head-on?"

Meizi immediately countered, "She must have exhausted her mana breaking our barriers. She’s probably bluffing to force us apart! If we strike now, we can overwhelm her—mages fear close combat, and we vampires excel at it!"

Yet not a single vampire dared to turn back, all of them terrified by the seemingly endless torrent of spells.

"Spare me. I’ve got eight hundred years left to live. I’m not throwing my life away with you..."

The elder vampire’s expression darkened. "The only thing we can do now is flee while the Blood Moon Domain lasts. Once we reach the City of Cain, even if the elders mock us, so be it!"

As he frantically teleported through the blood mist, he shot a resentful glare at Meizi. "Meizi! Your ambition has doomed us all! How could you trust those Church fanatics? You’ve done their dirty work, and where are they now? Probably long gone!"

"Did I force you into this? Weren’t you all eager to get rid of Victor? Regretting it now is pointless!" Meizi sneered. Then, as if realizing something, she turned her gaze toward the depths of Thornbloom Castle.

"Speaking of which… where are the Church’s people?" she roared. "Feilin! Lawrence! If you still serve the Holy Maiden, get out here now! What’s the point of hiding at a time like this?"

Just as the elder vampires scrambled for cover, a light, mocking voice drifted from the mountains.

"Why so angry? Our cooperation has been quite pleasant, hasn’t it?"

Hearing it, Meizi’s fury intensified. "So you fled outside! No wonder I couldn’t find you!"

Moments later, the speaker appeared—Feilin, clad in the Church’s pristine white robes, stood before Thornbloom Castle, with the trembling Bishop Lawrence trailing behind her.

"If I’d stayed inside, the Abraham family would’ve devoured me alive," Feilin remarked, eyeing Meizi’s disheveled state.

"I just stepped out to avoid the chaos. But really, you’ve bungled this badly. Weren’t you the one who said everything was under control once we made our move?"

She clicked her tongue, marveling at the ruined castle and the female mage atop the tower.

"And now look at this mess. How am I supposed to explain this to the Holy Maiden?"

Meizi growled, "Who could’ve predicted that girl would bring such formidable allies? One of them is even the leader of the Arcane Hermitage!"

Suppressing her rage, she demanded, "Now it’s your turn to act. I need your help!"

"Oh?" Feilin’s expression turned serious as she locked eyes with the figure on the tower.

"So it’s her… In that case..."

"You’re the one who killed Duke Victor?" Tilis’s voice carried down from above, cold and merciless. "Hypocrites of the Church—none of you are worth sparing. Since you’re here, I’ll kill you too."

Without another word, a spell blasted toward Feilin.

Sensing the overwhelming power, Feilin had no intention of facing it head-on. Wrapped in a radiant light, she soared into the air, narrowly evading the devastating magic.

She glanced down—where she had stood moments ago was now a smoldering crater, the only remnant of Bishop Lawrence being the acrid stench of his obliterated remains.

"The top wanted criminal of the Vigana Church, the Calamity Witch Tilis... truly troublesome," she murmured under her breath, finally understanding why the Holy Maiden was so wary of this woman...

While the sorceress focused her attention on the priestess, Meizi suddenly shouted, "Now is our moment to strike! Hurry, we must buy her time! This is our only chance!!"

With that, she didn’t retreat—instead, her monstrous crimson wings flapped violently as she surged toward the tower.

The elder vampires exchanged bewildered glances, unsure why Meizi had such faith in that priestess. At this point, who could possibly defeat that sorceress?

"Listen to Meizi!" Two of the elder vampires quickly followed, as if privy to some inside knowledge.

"That priestess may not be strong, but she’s a divine chosen—she can invoke the Divine Descent!"

"So that’s it!" The other elders grew excited. If it was the Divine Descent, then surely...

Atop the tower, Tilis sensed a growing pressure, yet her expression remained serene as she softly chanted an incantation.

Everyone present felt an overwhelming surge of magical energy gathering above them. Though they didn’t recognize the spell, they knew its power would dwarf anything seen before.

As Meizi drew closer, her very skin began to fester. Desperate, she shouted downward, "Feilin! Hurry!!"

But the next moment eased her fears—a radiant, holy light enveloped the priestess. Her eyes were shut, as if deep in prayer to some unseen presence.

"Great, merciful Bader, bringer of light to this world... Elya Christine, who rose from the depths of judgment to cleanse the sins of this realm..."

Feilin clasped her hands to her chest, her voice devout and reverent.

"Your most faithful lamb beseeches your power, pleads for the sanctuary of your holy light..."

"My body shall serve as the blade of the divine..."

"The Lord is with me..."

As her prayer concluded, even Tilis atop the tower faltered for a split second. She suddenly felt as though something was watching her—but the sensation vanished as quickly as it came.

Down in the banquet hall, Luo Wei, who had been tending to the guests, froze in shock. That gaze lingered on him longer, brushing over him with an odd, strangely familiar presence. He immediately looked up, searching for its source.

When the gentle, sacred light flooded the banquet hall, dispelling the filthy blood mist, all the humans felt a comforting warmth. The vampires, however, grew restless—creatures of darkness, they feared this power.

"Brother, what is...?" Helena grew agitated.

Evelyn’s gaze shot upward—the crimson Blood Moon Domain had disappeared.

"Hahahaha!" Among the vampires, only one didn’t cower. Instead, she erupted into maniacal laughter.

That vampire was Laney. Clutching the sacred reliquary of the Abraham family, she glared at Evelyn with venomous hatred, her eyes burning with resentment.

"You’re finished! All of you are finished! No one can withstand that Holy Maiden of the Church—I’ve witnessed it! Aunt Meizi showed me the truth!!"

"HAHAHA! Die, Evelyn!" Laney tore open the reliquary, her voice hysterical. "Not even that witch outside can save you now! You’re finally going to DIE!!"