Tris threw harsh words at the scout knights of the Blood Pact Knights, then quickly returned to her own tent and packed up everything she could use. But this time, she wasn’t nning to escape, but rather to go rescue her little Murphy.


    She summoned Bonnie to call over Miriam and Lieutenant Frayzer, who had been resting at the time and came over with sleepy eyes.


    “Huh, Tris, you changed your hairstyle?”


    Rubbing her eyes, Miriam looked at Tris in surprise, her long braid now hanging over her chest.


    She curiously looked at Tris in this style. Compared to her previous long, loose hair, she looked less delicate and charming, but had gained a sense of capability and coldness. Especially when her hair didn’t cover the corners of her eyes, unexpectedly giving Tris’ charming face a somewhat ufortable chill.


    Making one instinctively stand up straight in front of her, not daring the slightest impropriety.


    “I just suddenly missed the old days, does it look good?”


    Tris picked up a bottle of wine beside her and gulped down a few mouthfuls, squinting her eyes as she asked. This familiar action immediately dispelled all of Miriam’s doubts.


    Well, alright.This was still the same unreliable Tris as before.


    “Listen, Murphy discovered an opening sub-dimension rift deep in the Blood Vulture Halls.”


    As soon as Tris opened with that, Miriam and Lieutenant Frayzer’s bodies tensed up as if struck by lightning, instantly shaking off all their drowsiness.


    It was clear they had heard of this term before.


    “How could there be a sub-dimension rift in Transia?”


    Miriam widened her eyes and said:


    “Thest time this thing appeared was during the end of the Second Night War two hundred years ago, right?


    ording to the stories, the Blood Dread n performed evil rituals to summon a sub-dimension rift in a small town in the Ice Bay region, wiping out an entire small kingdom overnight. It directly led to the annihtion of the Blood Dread n too.


    In our history textbooks, it’s criticized as a negative example.”


    Lieutenant Frayzer didn’t say a word.


    But as one of the heads of the Goldflower Kingdom Pioneer Army’s intelligence system, he clearly knew more details that ordinary people weren’t privy to.


    Which was precisely why he was more wary of what Tris had just said.


    “We must immediately report this to the Circle Tower!”


    The lieutenant said sternly:


    “This isn’t something the remnants of the Blood Vulture n can handle on their own!”


    “Say that again, young man of the Carpe family, who are you nning to report this to?”


    Tris narrowed her eyes and nced at Lieutenant Frayzer.


    The aura gradually awakening from the “Crimson Witch” made the lieutenant’s heart skip a beat, and quickly sobered him up, only to leave him chilled to the bone.


    “Got it now?”


    Tris gave a coldugh and said:


    “Do you know why that sub-dimension rift was able to secretly operate deep in the Blood Vulture Halls for ten days before being discovered? It’s because the massive Astral Breach ritual performed by the Circle Tower mages in Kadman City perfectly masked the chaotic spirit resonance that would be emitted while the sub-dimension rift was building up.


    I even suspect this whole thing was nned by the Circle Tower!


    Who’s to say those crazed human spirit mages didn’t intend to create this very sub-dimension rift here from the start?


    Listen carefully, Frayzer of the Carpe family!


    I knew your grandfather.


    The first pot of gold he earned when he was young and wandering in the Cato region, I gave it to him. He helped me out a small favor, I don’t know if he wrote about this in his memoirs, but he was something of an old acquaintance to me.


    And you’re an acquaintance after him, so I’ll say a bit more.


    If you want to make it back to the Goldflower Kingdom alive and keep living your life, then keep this incident rotting in your heart!


    You can investigate it privately on your own.


    But you’re smart enough to know that confronting them directly will only backfire.


    Alright, I need you two to bring at least 30 Computation Beads with me into the Blood Vulture Halls. Since Frayzer is an intelligence expert, he should be familiar with these. You’ll be in charge of linking the 30 Beads into aputation matrix.


    Miriam will assist me in calcting the Kadman City’s current Astral projection coordinates.”


    “But…but I’ve never learned any of this. I’m just an administrative student,pletely ignorant of spirit matters.”


    Miriam flustered, but Tris shook her head:


    “It’s just a matter of plugging in a series ofplex spirit forms, the rest is just mechanical, massive calctions. That matrix will help you through the process. And you’re a university student, if I don’t ask you, should I randomly grab a farmer from the camp to do this instead?”


    “Swish”


    The tent p was lifted and the panting youngdy rushed in.


    She must have just finished washing up, her long hair still damp with droplets, pale cheeks flushed red. But she didn’t have time for anything else, staring at Tris and asking:


    “I just received Murphy’s transmission, what’s this about a sub-dimension rift appearing underground? Why would a sub-dimension rift show up here? The material world and Astral mapping here aren’t nearly chaotic enough for that!


    The Astral Breach ritual in Kadman City was certainly shocking, but it’s still at least ten times short of the energy needed to tear through to the Astral boundary!


    This is simply impossible!”


    “Good news is your general Astral knowledge is solid. Bad news is what use is yelling all this at me? Why are you shouting so loudly? If you’re unhappy, goin to the Circle Tower that caused all this!”


    Seeing the flustered and diposed Femis, Tris berated her:


    “The fact is it has appeared! Right in the Blood Vulture Sacred Pool Hall, old Finoch has confirmed the Sacred Blood Pool is serving as an anchor, providing a beacon into the material world for the sub-dimension rift, and your father has be the physical projection vessel for the chaotic shadow in the material world.


    He has be the ‘sacrifice’!


    I now suspect the Circle Tower’s Astral Breach ritual was only to mask the tremors when the sub-dimension rift opened, thereby blinding other forces from monitoring the chaotic spirit energy.


    This incident runs much deeper than we imagined!


    Kadman City being consumed by the Astral Realm is only the beginning of the disaster, not the end.


    Prepare yourself, Femis.


    I know you’ve never overseen such arge-scale countermeasure and purification ritual, but I’m too weakened now, possessing only knowledge but unable to transform it into power.


    You must shoulder this responsibility!


    After I calcte Kadman City’s specific Astral projection coordinates, you’ll cast the spell to push the entire Sacred Blood Pool Hall into the Astral Realm, allowing the sub-dimension rift’s umted energy to dissipate. Otherwise, we’ll all die the moment it opens.


    And the most tragic part is, in this affair, our deaths won’t even count as punishment.


    I told you the fate of the Blood Dread n before when you were being foolish!


    Back then, all they did was open a rift between the Astral Realm, the material world, and the Void. The surging chaotic energies devoured a quarter of the Ice Bay region, while incidentally reshaping the entire coastline of the Saxony area.


    Over three hundred thousand people paid with their lives for that foolish ritual.”


    Tris stared at Femis and said gravely:


    “And the sub-dimension rift opening beneath our feet has been operatingpletely undisturbed for ten whole days! Guess what kind of result its true opening will cause? The entire continent may be split in two from Transia being torn apart.


    And this is only the best scenario I can imagine.


    Our sole advantage now is that due to the Circle Tower’s previous Astral Breach ritual in Kadman City, the astral mapping here in the material realm has yet to fully rebuild.


    This means we only need to pay a far smaller cost than usual to reopen the Astral rift and inversely channel those destructive energies into the Astral Realm.”


    “But this will bring unforeseeable consequences.”


    Femis was clearly stunned by Tris’ insane n, hoarsely saying:


    “But the Astral Realm is the isting zone between the material world and the Void, what if we mess this up…”


    “Rest assured, the Astral Realm that can birth gods isn’t as fragile as you think.”


    Tris sighed and said:


    “The worst oue is just tearing a rift in the Astral Realm, but that’s absolutely a hundred times better than allowing the sub-dimension rift to directly open in the material world. Moreover, little Murphy is still in there, only I can save him!


    So no more questions, take action immediately!


    What are you two dawdling for?


    Get moving!”


    Under Tris’ stern rebukes, Miriam and Lieutenant Frayzer solemnly exited the tent to make preparations, while Femis bit her teeth in the tent and said to Tris:


    “I just saw the Blood Pact Knights release distress res outside the camp, did you tell them about this?”


    “Of course.”


    Tris replied without turning back as she strapped on herbat belt:


    “Should I not get a Blood Pact lord up front so you don’t have to directly face your father who has been ‘chosen’ by the Void?


    Salrokdar is also an ancient golden-rank expert. Empowered by the Void, even with a sacred de in hand, old Finoch alone can’t resist him. We need another golden-rank expert to create an opportunity for you to sever his connection to the Sacred Blood Pool.


    I know you’re worried.


    But don’t be afraid, this is actually a good thing for you.


    Your father has been tainted by the Void’s will, meaning anything he says or does will never be believed by anyone again.


    In this new situation, your secret will be buried even deeper.


    Provided we survive this incident.”


    “I’m not worried about that, Tris. In this situation, my little secret is the least of my concerns.”


    Femis massaged her forehead, saying:


    “I just feel the suspicious points in this affair are piling up. The more we unravel it, the more it feels like this couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. It seems we’ve been used, and not just us! Even the Goldflower Kingdom and Circle Tower’s attack on Kadman City may have only been one link in arger conspiracy plot.


    But we simply can’t see the full picture.


    What I want to know now is, what role is my father ying in this? Tris, is there a possibility that my father…


    That he did this willingly?


    That he willingly became the physical vessel for the Void’s will, sealed off the Blood Vulture Halls to conceal his secrets, all to bring about utter devastation?”


    “I don’t know, but I don’t think that’s Salrokdar’s style. He’s not noble enough to be willing to sacrifice everything for a goal, good or bad. So I suspect he was deceived!


    Ruthlessly defeated in his area of expertise, and this absolutely wasn’t part of my n from back then. No matter how it was extended, it couldn’t possibly be connected to the astral void.


    Unless Salrokdar modified it.


    In a way I can’t possibly guess.”


    Tris turned to nce at Femis.


    She moved her left hand, clusters of crimson light flickering on her slender fingers, and she said:


    “You can perhaps go ask him yourself, but I need you to jump into the Sacred Blood Pool and sever its connection to the Patriarch. Only then can the continuously umting Void energies go out of control.


    If the connection isn’t severed, that thing will only keep operating stably.


    This is basically me sending you to your death!


    And your chances of survival are negligible. If you’re unwilling, tell me now and I’ll find a way to make you ‘willing’.”


    “I’m not unwilling.”


    Femis lowered her head and said:


    “I’ve walked out of the lies of my life, so I won’t continue living blindly! I want to get to the bottom of all this, no matter the cost!”


    “Good, it seems you’ve finally be resolved. At least I didn’t waste the chance at life I sacrificed everything for to obtain for you back then.”


    Tris nodded in satisfaction and handed her a sealed scroll, saying:


    “This records how to sever the Blood Vulture Lord’s connection to the Sacred Blood Pool. Don’t ask me how I obtained such a terrible secret. Just learn it, and of course, keep this forbidden knowledge rotting in your heart!


    If others find out you’ve learned this…


    Believe me, not even Lord Payne could protect you.


    We set out in 10 minutes!”


    Femis nodded and turned to leave the tent, but at the entrance she suddenly turned back to look at the braided Tris, softly asking:


    “So this is the true face of the ‘Crimson Witch’?


    Sharp, decisive, wise, cold and merciless. Back then you must have put immense pressure on my father, even made him feel severely threatened, otherwise he wouldn’t have given up such an outstanding blood descendant just to obtain me, someone not particrly outstanding.”


    “Not at all, you tter me. You’re actually better than you imagine, but still can’tpare to me back then.”


    Tris waved her hand and said:


    “My current self has only a tenth of the ir I had back then. Otherwise this little incident would have been handled by me alone. The astral void threat is nothing new to me. What we yed with back then was far more formidable than this.


    As for the Crimson Witch…


    That was over a hundred years ago.


    I buried her long ago. To be honest, after over a hundred years of suffering and depravity, I actually prefer my freer, morefortable current self.”


    “If you’ve already buried her, why let her resurrect tonight?”


    Femis squinted and said softly:


    “Is it for Murphy? You two are really something. Murphy dared charge into a city invaded by Astral spirit energy for you, and you’re even more outrageous! Daring to directly face the Void threat just for him, what enviable affection.”


    “Mind your own business!”


    Tris snapped:


    “Hurry up and prepare!”


    “Yes, Madam Witch.”


    Femis gave a slight bow.


    Having made her decision, she seemed to have loosened up, no longer as restrained and uptight as before. As she stepped out of the tent, she murmured:


    “Perhaps I shouldn’t be the one to remind a senior like yourself, but vampire society does indeed have certain taboos between elders and blood descendants. I think you understand these better than I do, so…good luck to you both.”


    ——


    “Bang”


    A muffled gunshot echoed through the dim area, the scorching direct bullet grazing the forehead of the gray-haired witch hunter Natalie as it flew out of the muzzle.


    It wasn’t that the shooter hadn’t aimed properly, the witch hunter had instinctively dodged.


    This was clearly abnormal.


    Especially at this range.


    So Lady Adele had sufficient reason to believe the dual de-wielding witch hunter before her must have employed some special technique.


    But she no longer had time to ponder this.


    The straight longswords “Guardian” and “Punisher”, wreathed in Purifying mes, shed through the gales, the first one cleaving Lady Adele’s rapier in two, the second slicing down her neck, parting her long hair from beneath her chin.


    Outside this deadly duel, Maxim was already drenched in blood.


    He was at a disadvantage against the three ferocious witch hunters before him, but still battled on like a bloodthirsty hyena, unwilling to retreat.


    All because of Lord Murphy’s orders!


    They had to guard this self-destruct core toplete Lord Murphy’s two-birds-one-stone n.


    But both sides had already fought tenaciously for nearly twenty minutes, fueled only by willpower and terrain advantage. Even the mightiest couldn’t hold out much longer, not a single one of the six remained unscathed, the blood spilled on the ground already enough to form a pool.


    It was almost over.


    Both sides were nearing their limits, victory and defeat about to be decided…


    “Swish”


    A crimson spirit transmission portal opened silently at the edge of the chamber, and Tris led in arge group of people. The Tris beneath the “Crimson Witch” nced this way, shook her head and made a gesture.


    Lieutenant Frayzer behind her drew an astonishinglyrge trench gun and fired a shot upwards, the buckshot shattering debris from above and interrupting the deadly duel in that moment.


    Natalie and Adele almost simultaneously turned their heads back.


    The former’s des at thetter’s neck, thetter’s gun against the former’s heart.


    “Are you done yet?”


    Tris said coldly:


    “If you’re done,e over here! I need you all to cooperate now. Hopefully you’ve warmed up enough just now, because nobody in this area will have time to rest from this point on. Hopefully you canst until we resolve this trouble…


    Or we can all hold hands and die together.


    I’m taking over here now, everyone follows my orders!


    Maxim!


    Raise that self-destruct core!


    Begin modifying it immediately, it must be done within six hours!”