Chapter 439: The Church Was Slaughtered by the Piercing Demon...

The Daywalker led all of the Church's Demon Hunters, Ascetics, and Discipline Priests who had mastered Divine Techniques toward Villerlis Town.

His rallying cry to eliminate the Piercing Demon and eradicate the Blood Race had proven quite effective.

He also brought a large number of firearms enchanted with Divine Techniques, preparing to settle the score in one decisive battle.

'We should arrive in about three more days.' The Daywalker looked at the map, secretly worried about the last scion of the Villeries family.

No news had come from Qi Suian; it was as if he had completely disappeared.

He worried that Qi Suian had confronted the Piercing Demon head-on. If he were lucky, he'd have been captured alive and tortured. If he were unlucky, his body wouldn't even be left intact.

He didn't actually care about Qi Suian's fate. After all, he could tell that Qi Suian was a menace, and his death would be a blessing for human civilization.

But Qi Suian couldn't be allowed to die such a worthless death. It would be best if he died during their battle with the Piercing Demon.

Dying on the eve of their victory would be the ideal way for it to happen.

However, that wasn't something he could control.

Though he wished for Qi Suian's death, he wouldn't deliberately ambush or betray him.

No matter how outrageous Qi Suian was, he was still just a human with a limited lifespan. He would die sooner or later.

Even if he dominated an entire era, he would eventually grow old and die.

Let that be his reward for his contributions to humanity.

If he possessed eternal life like the Blood Race, then the Daywalker would stop at nothing to deal with him.

He could distinguish between a temporary threat and an eternal one.

'I hope nothing goes wrong... The Piercing Demon's power is nothing like the Blood Bath Queen's.'

'A portion of the Blood Bath Queen's power resides in the Red Sea; without the Evil Key, she can't fully unleash it.'

'But the Piercing Demon is different. Though he shares the Red Sea Witch's bloodline, he didn't inherit the power of the Red Sea. Instead, he inherited the formidable power of the Red Sea Witch herself.'

'That's why he can unleash his full strength.'

The Daywalker reviewed the intelligence on the Piercing Demon, his expression grave.

Of course, if the Blood Bath Queen could wield the power of the Red Sea, she would be stronger than the Piercing Demon.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, the Piercing Demon could easily thrash the Blood Bath Queen.

"I'm surprised you know so much about me. I am curious, where did you get this information?" The voice of Piercing Demon Dracula drifted over.

At that moment, the Daywalker's expression froze.

He slowly turned his head and saw a bat hanging upside down from a nearby tree branch.

It was the bat that had spoken. Simultaneously, countless pairs of eyes emerged from the distant darkness.

Each pair of eyes belonged to a bat.

This was the Piercing Demon, transformed into a swarm of bats.

"Ambush!" the Daywalker roared, launching an attack at the same time.

His heart sank. The fact that the Piercing Demon had tracked them down could only mean one thing: Qi Suian had failed and been captured.

Otherwise, how could the Piercing Demon possibly have known his plans?

This meant that not only was Qi Suian likely dead, but the last scion of the Villeries family had probably met a gruesome end as well.

An immense dark power instantly enveloped everyone, from the Daywalker himself to the Extraordinary forces of the Church.

Countless sinister winds howled, and blood-red lightning crackled across the sky.

They were powerless to resist the Dark Domain formed by the Piercing Demon.

Beneath the sinister winds and lightning, the Church's Extraordinary personnel died in droves.

The equipment crafted from the three sacred materials—adamant, mithril, and orichalcum—was utterly unable to withstand the Piercing Demon's dark power.

The Holy Water could only barely expel some of the darkness invading their bodies. It was no match for the Piercing Demon's power, only serving to prolong their suffering.

"Flee! Everyone, flee!" the Daywalker yelled, struggling to fend off the attack of a single bat as he issued his final command.

Without the Blood Race Sacred Artifact and without Qi Suian's help, his power wasn't even a match for the Piercing Demon's son, the Son of the Dragon—let alone the Piercing Demon himself.

That was why he could barely fend off a single bat.

With lightning speed, the bat bit into his neck. The Piercing Demon began to drink, driven by the instinct of the Blood Race.

However, the Piercing Demon spat out the very first mouthful of blood.

"Pah!"

The Blood Race does not drink the blood of their own kind. The Piercing Demon was of the Blood Race, and though the Daywalker was half-human, his other half was also of the Blood Race.

So, while his blood tasted slightly better than that of a pureblood, the Piercing Demon still couldn't bring himself to swallow it.

With feeding out of the question, the Piercing Demon decided to capture him alive instead.

The Daywalker instantly sensed the Piercing Demon's intention and dissolved into countless wisps of mist in an attempt to escape.

But the Piercing Demon was prepared. A howling, sinister wind bound the Daywalker's misty form, forcefully compressing it.

Once the compression was complete, the Daywalker's capture would be certain.

His only option was to transform into a swarm of albino bats and scatter. As long as a single white bat could escape, it wouldn't matter if all the others perished.

Unfortunately, he was facing the far more powerful Piercing Demon, who was also in his bat form.

The Piercing Demon's bats not only outnumbered his by countless times, but they were also larger.

And so, before the Daywalker's swarm could scatter, every last one was captured.

"Rest assured, I'm not going to kill you."

"Your bloodline... it's truly enviable," the Piercing Demon said.

By now, all of the Church's Extraordinary forces had been annihilated, leaving only the Daywalker... as a swarm of bats.

"Hah. You think you've won?" the Daywalker asked, feigning calm in a provocative tone.

This couldn't help but remind the Piercing Demon of the thrashing he'd received from Qi Suian.

"I haven't lost yet! As long as I capture you, I still have a chance to win!" The Piercing Demon didn't deny his defeat; as long as he was still alive, a chance remained.

This left the Daywalker completely baffled. 'What does he mean he hasn't lost yet? Shouldn't he be sneering dismissively?'

'Could it be that there's been some new development with Qi Suian? Or does the Piercing Demon have some other ulterior motive for staying in Villerlis Town?'

He wasn't sure which it was, but he was certain he could use this to create an opportunity for his own escape.

"Is that so? I am the Cursed Child. The prophecy of the Blood Race's seer is already halfway fulfilled."

"As for the other half... I just need to kill you. Then I can become the monarch of both humans and the Blood Race." The Daywalker tried to probe the Piercing Demon by changing the subject.

He couldn't ask directly, of course, or he would give himself away.

Hearing this, the Piercing Demon couldn't help but sneer. "You? Hah!"

His voice dripped with utter disdain. In his eyes, even Qi Suian hadn't said anything of the sort, so the Daywalker had absolutely no chance of success.

Besides, the so-called "seer" of the Blood Race was merely one of his own descendants, not even on par with the Son of the Dragon.

The prophecy was just a coincidence, with no chance of ever coming true.

How could humans and the Blood Race possibly coexist? It would be like humans and their food trying to have an equal relationship.

The Daywalker's heart tightened. He could guess from the Piercing Demon's attitude that there was another being even more powerful than him.

A candidate immediately came to mind: Abel, the human ancestor who possessed the Evil Key and was the brother of the Blood Race Ancestor.

After all, the Blood Race Ancestor, Cain, was the Piercing Demon's father. He wouldn't inspire wariness in the Piercing Demon; he would command his unconditional submission.

Therefore, only the more mysterious Abel could elicit such a reaction from the Piercing Demon.

"That's right. On my own," the Daywalker said, feigning arrogance. "Even you covet my bloodline. Why shouldn't I be capable?"

"I know you're trying to figure out why I came," the Piercing Demon said with a cold laugh. "I'm not going to tell you."

"I'm going to let you die knowing nothing."

Seeing his ploy exposed, the Daywalker felt not a shred of embarrassment and continued to provoke him. "It's because you're too afraid to say it, isn't it?"

Then, the Piercing Demon fell silent.

This was a terrible sign for the Daywalker. He would have much preferred the Piercing Demon to argue back or continue to be scornful.

But the Piercing Demon's silence meant that he truly was afraid.

So, just what kind of being could make the son of the Blood Race Ancestor and the Red Sea Witch feel fear? The thought sent a crazed chill through the Daywalker.

"He is not human, nor is he of the Blood Race. I don't even know what the hell he is," the Piercing Demon finally said.

-----------------

'The Piercing Demon's obsession with a pure-blooded lineage is fundamentally impossible to achieve.'

'No matter how many children he sires with his Blood Race brides, they'll all be stillborn.'

Qi Suian came to this conclusion after stuffing all three Blood Race brides into the Melting Furnace.

'You can forge a new path where none exists, but if it's a dead end, you can't bring it to life without sufficient knowledge and power.'

If the Piercing Demon's power was on par with the Spider God Qi Suian had once seen, he could make two rocks bear children, let alone two corpses.

However, the Piercing Demon lacked that kind of power, so it was completely impossible for him.

He had also found some records in the castle resembling experiment logs. The Piercing Demon, much like Victor Frankenstein, was a hack.

He lacked the foundational knowledge, relying entirely on wishful thinking.

It was only because the Blood Race Sacred Artifact was so miraculous; otherwise, he wouldn't have even been able to create the Blood Race brides, to say nothing of having them produce stillborns.

'It's been almost half a month. How come there's been no news from the Daywalker? He hasn't tried to contact me.'

'Don't tell me something happened to him on the way here.' After finishing his work, Qi Suian suddenly remembered the Daywalker, whom he had long since ignored.

'Wait... could the Piercing Demon have gone after the Daywalker?'

The thought surfaced in Qi Suian's mind, and the more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.

The Piercing Demon couldn't beat him, but surely he could beat the Daywalker?

"Damn it, this is going to be a huge loss." A look of utter disbelief appeared on Qi Suian's face.

No matter who killed whom, Qi Suian would be the one losing out.

'I'll take the last scion of the Villeries family with me and hand him over while I'm at it,' Qi Suian mused. 'Who knows, maybe it'll trigger some kind of opportunity.'

'He's just consuming resources sitting around here anyway. Might as well put him to use.'