When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

The axles emitted a piercing groan as the bundled silks overflowed with the dazzling crimson gold from under the loose tarp, clearly the highest-grade Martrim silk from Falan.

A rear carriage was draped in canvas, yet the enameled corner of a holy grail peeked through the cracks.

Two shabbily dressed Norn prisoners were roped to the back of the cart, staggering along.

Riding past the convoy on horseback, Lacunio could only awkwardly avert his gaze when the eyes of the two slaves fell upon him.

These were fleets transporting Norn treasures. Like treasures from other clans, they would be packaged and sold off, exchanged for gold pounds and iron ore.

Although being perceived as a turncoat was uncomfortable, Lacunio had been saved by the Emperor, thus he was loyal to him, nothing to reproach.

Riding towards the camp, the image of a woman with her hair tied in a bun involuntarily flashed in Lacunio’s mind.

High Priest Serafe, the nominal but actual supreme Emperor of the Blood and Flesh Royal Court.

Lacunio had fought against vampires all his life. Only after joining them in old age did he realize: without Serafe’s emergence, the Royal Court would truly face a slow demise.

Vampire offspring born from higher vampires and infused with the source blood upon their initial embrace, all adhered to a dual loyalty system.

They pledged allegiance to both their family and the Royal Court.

When conflicts arose between family and the Royal Court, traditionally, one should prioritize the Royal Court over family.

However, because the Royal Court itself held nominal power, especially after the century-long Great Uprising War, Lilith had slumbered for nearly a hundred years without delivering decrees.

Thus, the Vampire Clans’ Immortal Council, a temporary wartime institution, completely replaced the High Priest system left by Lilith.

As a result, in the current era, most vampires viewed the Royal Court as equivalent to the clans.

But with the new High Priest Serafe coming to power, the situation changed.

The Volcano Unrest, the cleansing of No Light City, the reconstruction of the Immortal Army... since Serafe took power, victories have been successive, transitioning from one victory to another.

First, a forceful sweep around No Light City, then expansion and suppression of surrounding Ogre Warlords by the Immortal Army, followed by further expansion.

In a mere one or two years, the High Priest Serafe remarkably swept across the Northern region of the Western Continent.

Subsequently, in the Royal Court’s North-South War of previous years, a surprise assault on Moonlight Bay, pressuring Black Tower Harbor, ultimately personally leading the army to conquer Nightforest Castle.

The southern clans could only negotiate and choose submission.

Within several years, the Royal Court experienced division, reunification, and this entire process was accomplished under the hands of the High Priest.

Whenever he thought of this, Lacunio would feel a surge of heat and familiarity in his eyes.

Looking ahead at the increasingly clear military camp, he couldn’t help but sigh: "What an era, heroes unseen for a century are as plentiful as carp crossing the river."

This rate of rise could only be rivaled by that grandson from the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance.

Even their weaponry was quite similar.

Despite not wishing to believe, after ten years, Lacunio, however stubborn, had to recognize the power of blood pact guns and clockwork guns.

"The knight’s sword ultimately lost to the guns," Lacunio stroked his graying beard, "And my Northern Army must adapt accordingly."

Though there is a ceasefire within the Royal Court, it is by no means monolithic, or rather, it can never be monolithic.

Currently, the Royal Court can fundamentally be divided into three factions.

The first faction, naturally, is Serafe’s own faction, composed of lower-ranking vampires, ogres, and unaffiliated Eternal Lord priests.

The second faction consists of smaller clans that willingly submitted during Serafe’s conquering process.

The third faction is, of course, the southern clans.

In the Royal Court’s internal army, distinctions also exist, though they are between old and new.

The old-style armies still adhere to the Royal Court’s past combat methods, primarily made up of conservatives from the first two factions, forming an army resistant to major reforms.

The new-style army is entirely modeled after the Holy Alliance’s structure, mixing undead melee troops with vampire gunmen into a new army.

Serafe’s repeated victories cannot overlook the contributions of these new-style armies.

The Northern Army led by Lacunio is an old-style army mixed with a handful of blood pact gunmen; naturally, he had captured several clockwork cannons as the army’s direct artillery division.

He wasn’t quite sure what this army really counted as.

The High Priest divided the Royal Court’s army into three routes: the Northern Army for attacks in the north, the Central Army attacking Golden Horn Bay.

And for the coastal region attacks, it’s the Southern Army, whose main force is sea creatures.

Many witches can tame magical creatures, but hardly anyone has tamed sea creatures, except Misella (Lilith) persuading the sea monsters to depart on the eastern voyage.

Reflecting on the battle report from a few days ago, Lacunio indeed found some sense in it.

This High Priest Serafe, who arose from seemingly nowhere, even mastered this peculiar spell.

Just by placing specially made blood into beef and throwing it to the sea monsters, they could be made to obey.

As for the blood’s origin...

Remembering the scene of a person-sized, heart-like pulsing gigantic blood cocoon incessantly pumping out blood, he felt somewhat ill at ease.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, returning to reality.

After confirming his identity, the soldiers guarding the fortress hurriedly opened the gate, removed the barricade, and walked inside.

Seated on horseback, Lacunio couldn’t help but ponder.

What Left him perplexed was, if Serafe could gradually convert the entire Royal Court’s army into new-style troops, the invasion of the Empire would proceed more smoothly.

Yet Serafe obstinately refused to spend five or six years training new units, instead insisting on training while fighting.

Was there internal pressure within the Royal Court?

Indeed, it’s monolithic, yet with Serafe shattering the rigid political group, previously blurred political struggles were now clear.

The conflict based on interests was greatly mitigated while Serafe remained alive, still able to gnaw on the remnants from the corpses of major clans.

Was there external pressure on the Royal Court?

Still nothing. Falan and the Holy Alliance were at odds, Leia was divided, while Norn was immersed in its own chaos, merely observing wolves fighting from a distance.

In the short term, no one was focusing on the Royal Court.

No internal pressure within the Royal Court, no external pressure, why the hurry?

Stroking the beard on his chin, Lacunio suddenly froze, his head lowered, stunned as he stared at several white hairs in his palm.

It wasn’t until three or five seconds later that he shook his head and chuckled, realizing that no matter how powerful Serafe was, even among vampires she was of advanced age.

This was something no blood furnace could ever resolve.

Discarding the hairs from his palm, Lacunio lifted his head, almost unconsciously finding himself at the entrance of the military tent.

Dismounting, he tossed the reins to the soldier at the door and strode inside.

A black curtain was arranged with a long table, candles lit to accommodate the vampire commanders of the Northern Army.

As he walked from the doorway, vampires and ogres dressed in various military uniforms and silk formalwear turned their heads, offering salutes.

"Sir Lacunio,"

"Sir, good morning."

In a nation led predominantly by vampires, such respect was a rarity.

Though Lacunio was human, the recent battles had left the Royal Court commanders present silent.

He hadn’t even had time to sit down, speaking as he walked, "Apologies for the wait, today we’re set to discuss the surrounding of the Shooting Army."