Free Web NovelChapter 1196: Chapter 1124: Is Serafe the Vessel of Lilith? (Part 2)
During the era of the Empire’s great collapse, both civilians and nobles lived in a purgatory.
The first Prince, during a time of escape, received a dream revelation from the Eternal Lord, thus transforming into a more advanced vampire, gaining the power of immortality."
Though spoken like this, Horn clearly knew it was a matter of rhetoric.
What dream revelation—it was actually that this Sorrido Prince contracted a demonic illness.
In a situation where no cure existed, he could only embrace the vampire, trading away a mass of desire and sensation for the continuation of life.
"Among the initial thirteen clans, Sorrido was just a barely noticeable minor presence.
It lacked the might of the Tedis clan or the wealth of the Giovanni clan.
Until the first hidden Prince Lilith appeared did our fate change."
Upon mentioning this, Ezrelek’s tone was laced with a hint of reverence: "The founder Lilith appointed Sorrido as her attendant family.
We managed her daily affairs and safeguarded her personal treasures.
That was Sorrido’s most glorious era, and it remains our family’s proudest memory."
Horn listened quietly without interruption.
He knew Lilith was the progenitor of vampires, and according to the Scales Hermitage and Beastman legends, Lilith should be the Eternal Lord herself.
But considering the long passage of time and the mix of lies amidst the truth, Horn could not determine if Ezrelek was lying or speaking the truth.
He never considered that the Sorrido Clan had such deep ties with Lilith.
"However, the good times didn’t last." Ezrelek’s tone became heavy, "You should be aware of the seclusion event of Lilith, the progenitor."
Horn wasn’t unversed in literature and immediately responded: "The vampire progenitor Lilith was suddenly inspired by the Eternal Lord, and she rode a white horse over the mountains and left."
"Indeed, the world did not know where she went, and inside the Royal Court, debates raged on incessantly for this reason.
If it weren’t for this event, the Royal Court would likely be a state more centralized than the Empire, rather than a united emirate as it is now.
But within our Sorrido Clan’s family history, it clearly records the events of that day.
A woman glowing with golden light invaded the palace of the progenitor Lilith and engaged her in fierce combat.
At the battle’s end, the golden-light woman took Lilith’s heart and vanished into the sky."
"Took her heart?" Horn furrowed his brow. "Then Lilith should be dead."
"That’s the most bizarre aspect." Ezrelek’s red pupils slightly contracted. "She didn’t die."
"Are you telling me that Lilith is still alive?" Horn asked.
Ezrelek didn’t reply for a long time, taking quite a while before answering: "Previously I could tell you that Lilith is definitively not among the living, but now, I’m not sure."
Horn felt a peculiar sense of fear returning, raising a few hairs on the back of his neck.
"What do you mean by this?"
Ezrelek did not directly answer Horn’s query but continued speaking about the family’s history.
"According to the family history, after Lilith’s heart was taken out, she didn’t immediately die.
She remained unusually calm and even commanded her guards to chase the woman.
Not until the guards returned to report that they couldn’t catch up did she fly into a rage."
Shortly after, Lilith gathered the core members of the Sorrido Clan and told us she was going to sleep.
But this did not mean death; one day, she would awaken and return.
Having said this, she lay in a stone coffin and did not wake up again."
Horn’s curiosity was piqued: "Then why do you say you’re unsure if she’s still alive?"
"The Sorrido Clan has never been certain; she should be in a state of hovering between life and death." Ezrelek swallowed.
"Why do you say that? Wait, how did you handle Lilith’s corpse?"
"I was just about to say this." Ezrelek smiled, yet there was a bitterness in the smile. "You may not believe it, but the Sorrido Clan has preserved Lilith’s body for a millennium.
This body, although lacking a heart, continued to breathe and could even age like a living person, though it didn’t require food or water.
More astonishingly, when she aged to the extreme and died, she would transform back into a baby.
Then, in her dreams, she would continue to grow, age, die, and return to infancy, cycling endlessly.
Even if someone tried to kill her completely, using fire or piercing her with silver, the result is the same.
She would only transform back into an infant, occasionally even randomly swapping races.
There were times she appeared as human, elf, and even once became a dwarf."
Horn cleaned his ears before standing upright in reverence.
"Are you certain this isn’t some kind of absurd myth?"
"Witnessed firsthand." Ezrelek pursed his lips before continuing. "I was young at the time and happened to see once the resurrection of Lilith’s progenitor body."
Horn sat back in his chair, rubbed his chin for a while, and then spoke lightly: "Continue."
"The people of the Sorrido Clan have always believed that if we can find a way to truly bring this body back to life, Lilith the progenitor would reappear." Ezrelek’s words sounded to Horn both fervent and hopeless. "We’ve tried various methods over hundreds of years.
We even developed necromancy to speak with the dead body, but all ended in failure.
Such necromancies allowed us to only hear illogical ramblings and nonsense.
Due to these erroneous interpretations, the Royal Court made several poor decisions and suffered significant losses."
Taking a deep breath, seemingly to snap his thoughts out of fervor, Ezrelek continued.
"With the passage of time, part of the Blood Race of the Sorrido Clan became desperate.
They abandoned this dream and began chasing power and wealth like other vampires.
But some people held onto this dream, and the family of Hilov, where Serafe resides, is among them."
Beside him, Edwin immediately added: "Your Majesty, vampires are composed of clans formed by families. Under a clan, there are many families."
Horn waved his hand speechlessly: "Without you, I’d truly be left in the dark."
Edwin retreated joyfully, but the recently arrived Qianqian couldn’t help covering her eyes helplessly.
Ezrelek explained: "You might not know, but Hilov is the family in the Sorrido Clan most committed to resurrecting Lilith."
Horn finally understood: "So, Serafe’s ultimate goal is to resurrect Lilith?"
"It’s not exactly a goal." Ezrelek’s red pupils reflected complex emotions. "We suspect that she has already succeeded or has found a way to succeed."
"Why is this yet another thing? Don’t keep me in suspense—just say it all at once." At this moment, Horn was somewhat agitated.
"Because she took Lilith’s body, betraying the clan." Ezrelek paused briefly, "The reason I use ’took’ rather than ’stole’ is because the body followed her on its own.
You should know, Lilith’s body isn’t a dead object; necromancy cannot be used on it.
We don’t know what method Serafe used, whether through genius or a touch of the Eternal Lord’s presence;
at least we speculate she has garnered Lilith’s consciousness.
Even further, perhaps Lilith’s consciousness could be residing within that body."
Horn pressed further, "What’s the proof?"
"The proof is in Serafe’s actions in recent years," Ezrelek said. "She captured Holy Seat City, cleansed the Royal Court, and suddenly mastered extremely advanced necromancy.
The use of necromancy demands substantial time accumulation and practice.
Not to mention whether Serafe, as a low-level vampire, had the ability to use necromancy, her capability in controlling zombies and skeletons supersedes that of Blood Race generals who have practiced their whole lives.
Not to mention those blood pact guns—she can even, within a certain range, turn our side’s skeleton soldiers against us, suppress a certain range of necromantic magic...
We have additional evidence, all which we’ve brought and you can review at your convenience."
As said, the adjacent constable handed over inspected documents.
Upon Horn reading several pages, Ezrelek spoke: "To survive, we represent the Sorrido Clan and hope to ally with the Holy Alliance, hoping you accept our political asylum."
"Why? Lilith’s resurrection shouldn’t bring you joy?"
Ezrelek shook his head, instead giving a bitter smile: "No joy here—during the Hundred-Year Cen Wars, we betrayed her.
Otherwise, why would the old princes fear to relinquish their positions, and why would she need to cleanse this batch of new princes?"
