Free Web NovelIn the forest, the surviving Blood Clan Baron raced forward, having already sensed the news of Viscount Norin's death, which made him afraid to look back.
Viscount Norin was a Blood Clan who had lived for over three hundred years, having faced all kinds of enemies. Although he had stayed at Sea Cliff for the past century without venturing out much, his strength was absolutely undiminished. How could such a Blood Clan noble have died at the hands of those ordinary mages? This made him dare not think further.
After threading through the forest for a long time, feeling that the distance was enough for the others not to catch up, the Blood Clan Baron finally stopped and began searching for Carmilla's traces.
On the other side, Sylutia and Kaelan arrived at the spot where Jegas had fallen, helping him to the side to rest. Kaelan continued treating the injured captain.
The Crack-Electric Evil Eye that had been summoned earlier flew back from a distance, circling above the three of them, its gaze fixed on the place where Viscount Norin had died.
"You mean, you want those scraps of flesh and blood?"
Sylutia sensed the message conveyed from the other party and asked curiously to confirm. The floating Evil Eye immediately responded with an affirmative.
It probably wants to absorb the residual 'Bloodline' Aspect power within to strengthen itself, Sylutia thought to herself.
But the remains before her weren't hers to dispose of alone. After turning around and asking Kaelan and the awakened Jegas, Sylutia received their permission.
"It's fine, we have no use for those things anyway. And you've done a great service this time, so consider it yours to handle." Kaelan didn't mind, and Jegas on the other side also nodded, leaning against a tree trunk to continue resting.
So Sylutia approached the Evil Eye and nodded to it. The creature dove down like it was submerging into water, opened its hidden massive mouth, and vacuum-sucked the flesh scraps along with the dirt, then let out a burp.
This way, even if Viscount Norin had the greatest of abilities, he couldn't be resurrected.
After absorbing the flesh, the Evil Eye extended a tentacle, rubbed against Sylutia, and swayed in front of her, gesturing.
Understanding what this guy needed, Sylutia took out the remaining three bottles of White Moon Potion and handed them to it as a digestive aid.
After swallowing them, the Crack-Electric Evil Eye was clearly in a much better mood, spinning several times in the air before remembering something and returning to Sylutia.
Using its tentacle, it took out a small, crystalline sphere from its mouth and placed it in front of Sylutia. Then, as the summoning time limit approached, it slowly returned to the Astral Plane and vanished on the spot.
Sylutia examined the crystalline sphere. Inside it, a curled, bluish larva slept, faint light on its body flickering like stars in the night sky.
【Cosmos Hercules Beetle (Larva)】(Third Tier · Alien Star · Insect Moth)
An extremely rare dual-Aspect larva, born in the Astral Plane. It is said that when it grows up, it will develop a huge, lance-like horn capable of splitting meteorites and comets, possessing immense strength.
The larva seemed quite promising, but unfortunately, the young woman had no idea how to raise it. Most of the secret arts related to 'Insect Moth' were concentrated on the Fifth Continent, once ruled by the Golden Honey Dynasty, which held many esoteric methods for Insect Moth evolution and transformation.
She could only put it away for now. Fortunately, it was already in hibernation and didn't require feeding.
Returning to Kaelan's side, Sylutia helped set up a campfire and took out ingredients to prepare warm, delicious food for the two.
The cooking skills she had learned back at Hidden Grove were put to use again, and the effect seemed quite good. Even Jegas's face regained a bit of color.
The three rested there for a night.
The next day, they set out again, splitting up to search for Carmilla's traces.
With the Blood Clan Viscount's death, the remaining Fourth Tier Baron no longer posed a major threat to the trio. And even though Sylutia was only Third Tier, neither of the other two doubted she could easily handle the even weaker Fourth Tier Blood Clan Baron.
And so, the three separated once more, searching for Carmilla's traces in different directions. They each carried signal flares, ready to support one another if anything happened.
Beneath the dull gray sky, Sylutia flew through the air. The black wings on her back stretched out, their soft, matte feathers brushing against her hair, leaving wispy trails in the air. Flocks of silver birds formed a 'V' shape, flanking her.
Now, Sylutia was like the leading wild goose, guiding these birds. The intelligence gathered by each bird also converged into her mind.
The air was a bit chilly. Sylutia closed her eyes, feeling the airflow brushing past her ears and sleeves. A sense of ease rose in her heart.
This feeling of flying is hard to tire of, she thought, letting her body gradually relax, as if cradled on a thin blanket formed by the currents.
This bird formation, with Sylutia at its head, swept across a vast area, clearing the blind spots of this secret realm, eliminating possibilities one by one.
Two days later, Sylutia led the birds in a rotating descent, overlooking the undulating hills below, then slowly descended.
Her skirt fluttered in the air currents as the tips of her feet lightly touched down, and she steadied herself. Sylutia looked at the hill before her. The birds behind her came to her side one by one, dissolving into scattered threads, and finally reassembled into a silver butterfly hair ribbon that coiled around her hair at the back of her head.
Walking through these mountains, Sylutia once again took out the 'Scent Bug', watching the glossy, plump little insect crawl out of the bottle and spin in the air.
This time, it made a discovery and reacted, leading Sylutia deeper into the mountain.
A few minutes later, Sylutia pushed aside the dense grass covering the entrance of a cave and stepped inside.
Entering the cave, Sylutia discovered many fresh traces. From the faint scent lingering in the air, she also caught the unique fragrance of 'Evening Nectar Orange' that Carmilla carried—the perfume Carmilla liked to use. When the two were together before, she often smelled it.
Moving forward a distance, Sylutia looked at the babbling stream flowing before her, carefully jumped over, and landed on the stones, approaching the familiar rhythm of that scent step by step.
Finally, Sylutia reached the depths of the cave and looked at the large blood-colored silkworm cocoon in front of her, tilting her head in thought.
It should be Carmilla inside, no doubt about that. But the aura emanating from it is exactly like a Blood Clan's. Could Carmilla have already been turned into a Blood Clan? Yet there are no signs of a struggle around, nor any other protective measures. If that Blood Clan Baron had done this, he shouldn't have been so careless.
Or perhaps there's another possibility—that Carmilla herself has an inextricable connection to the Blood Clan, which is why they came after her.
Thinking carefully, Carmilla should be on the 'Secret Word' Path, but what she studied over the past year were potions related to 'Bloodline'. This suggested she had long been exposed to Blood Clan-related things.
It seems she has many secrets, the young woman thought.
Gently placing her palm on the cocoon, the young woman closed her eyes to sense the situation inside.
Minutes later, she opened her eyes, then stepped back a few paces. She aimed her hand at the cocoon, and the silver butterfly hair ribbon behind her head loosened. Strands of silver thread encircled the cocoon, tightening and winding, breaking through the wrapped blood strands bit by bit, until they dissipated into nothing.
The sleeping Carmilla appeared before the young woman's eyes once more. Her honey-gold hair fell across her neck, and her closed brows were slightly furrowed, as if having a bad dream.
So, Carmilla herself is a Blood Clan, Sylutia observed for a while, then bent down and sat, cradling the sleeping Carmilla in her arms. Her fingers gently brushed over Carmilla's brow.
A slight warmth came from her fingertips, and Sylutia sensed the faint signals conveyed.
This child is having a nightmare, even a bit of fear, Sylutia thought.
Waking her abruptly might cause bad results. Sylutia thought for a moment, then called up a Meditation Method she had learned before but hadn't used in a long time.
The "Memory Maze" Meditation Method. She had once used it to explore the depths of her own memory, searching for lost fragments. She wondered if this time she could enter Carmilla's dream and wake her up properly.
If only she practiced the 'Nightmare' Aspect, she could directly interfere with Carmilla's dream and solve the problem for her.
Thinking of how to use the 'Memory Maze', Sylutia slowly leaned down, bringing her brow close to Carmilla's. A wave of warmth and a faint fragrance spread, and then the consciousnesses of the two established a weak connection. Her perception also fell into the swirling depths of Carmilla's dream.
