The Elf Queen’s earth-elemental barrier completely isolated the arriving personnel from the Holy See, cutting off the chaotic noise at the same time.

When Gabriel faced Tang Qiu and Delphine alone, without any protection, his expression flickered for only a moment before he regained his composure.

Compared to the Holy Son, who was still panicking despite being surrounded by guards and holding a teleportation scroll, Gabriel was far more collected.

“Darkness is invading the continent of Statu. At a time like this, does the Elf Race only care about your Tree of Life?” Gabriel sighed. “This is a stain on the pure and noble friendship between Queen Olivia and Pope Cynthia.”

Olivia was the most respected queen of the Elf Race, once known as the first queen. She had helped Cynthia establish the Holy See and drive the Vampires back to the Blood Domain. Anyone with some knowledge of the Holy See’s history would not forget her name.

Hearing Olivia’s name come from Gabriel’s mouth, Delphine’s eyes turned cold. She raised her verdant longbow, and with a whoosh, an arrow shot through the night toward Gabriel. However, it was intercepted midway by a golden light. The two forces clashed for a moment before both dissipated into smoke.

Gabriel stroked the staff in his hand and gave Delphine a gentle smile, placating her. “Don’t be angry.”

“You are not worthy of speaking her name,” Delphine said, lowering her bow and looking at him coldly. “In the end, the Holy See founded by Excellency Cynthia has been destroyed by your hands.”

Gabriel shook his head in disagreement. “It was destroyed at the hands of the Pope. What I am doing now is bringing it back onto the right path.”

“I can return the Tree of Life to you, but not now.” He still needed the Tree of Life to keep the Vampires in check and help him secure the position of Pope.

“Delphine, if I were you, I would not make a move against the Holy See at this time.” Gabriel raised a hand, gesturing for her to look at the dark clouds overhead. “If the darkness is not suppressed, the Elf Race will ultimately face only the path of death.”

“You must believe me. I am the only one who can revive the Holy See.”

He spoke with such earnestness and sincerity, as if he were genuinely considering the Elf Race’s welfare. Of course, his words would have been more believable if one ignored the fact that his hands and body were covered in protective gear.

Tang Qiu noticed Gabriel touching a ring on his hand and occasionally glancing at the earthen wall beside him. She immediately smiled, seeing through Gabriel’s intentions. “Are you waiting for your Vampire guards?”

“They might be a little while longer.”

Gabriel’s movements paused. He looked up and studied Tang Qiu intently for a moment, a flash of understanding crossing his face. He smiled and said, “You have questions for me?”

From the fact that they hadn’t attacked immediately, Gabriel had already guessed as much.

Tang Qiu didn’t deny it. She took off her cumbersome cloak and tossed it aside. The wind lifted her snow-white hair, letting it dance wildly behind her. Her sharp claws glinted coldly in the night. Gabriel glanced at them, his vigilance raised to its highest level.

“What agreement did you reach with Elder Eden?” Tang Qiu looked down at the holy flames blocking her path and smiled, meeting Gabriel’s gaze through the fire. “I’ve discovered that the Tzimisce Clan has already chosen to abandon the Pope. So, are you the one representing the Holy See in their new collaboration?”

When she learned from the Holy Daughter that Gabriel had betrayed the Pope, Tang Qiu had considered this possibility. Only if the Tzimisce Clan, who had been backing the Pope, chose a new ally could the Pope have been defeated so quickly.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, studying Tang Qiu with a probing gaze. “What are you talking about? The Pope is perfectly fine in the Central Church.”

Tang Qiu had no intention of arguing with him about the Pope’s current situation. She nodded casually. “I’m not interested in where the Pope is. I’m interested in where Eden is hiding.”

She raised her hand and clenched it gently. An invisible force suppressed the holy flames before her. The flames struggled for a moment before weakly dissipating.

The ring on Gabriel’s right index finger shattered into two pieces and fell to the ground after the flames vanished. He glanced down at it, his expression darkening slightly.

“Elder Eden…” Gabriel pondered for a moment before speaking slowly. “I can tell you where he is, but on the condition that you let me leave here safely.”

He looked up at Tang Qiu, then his gaze shifted to Delphine on the other side.

Delphine lowered her longbow and smiled faintly, agreeing readily. “Fine.”

Gabriel fiddled with the ring on his hand, his eyes slightly downcast as he weighed the trustworthiness of Delphine and Tang Qiu.

An Elf Queen and a seemingly powerful werewolf royal had completely sealed off his escape routes. The Holy See was in chaos, and the situation with the Holy Son and Reese was still unknown. Gabriel didn’t want to get injured at a time like this, or even… Gabriel’s hand stopped turning the ring, a curve already forming on his lips. “I can tell you.”

“I have never been to the Tzimisce Clan’s territory, but I know they are in…” Before he could finish, a massive explosion suddenly erupted from outside the earthen wall, causing the very ground beneath their feet to tremble.

Gabriel turned to look, then swiftly produced a scroll and unfurled it. A cloud of golden mist enveloped him. The earthen wall behind him crumbled and collapsed as the mist teleported Gabriel several hundred meters away, but he still failed to escape Tang Qiu’s werewolf domain.

Lucille and another Vampire appeared from behind the shattered wall. Both moved at incredible speeds, their figures nearly invisible under the cover of night.

Tang Qiu glanced up. Seeing that Lucille was not at a disadvantage, she looked away. She raised her hand to expand her domain and transformed into a white wolf, charging toward Gabriel.

When Gabriel saw the white wolf, his face darkened. There was no time to chant a spell, so he could only throw the ring in his hand. The ring turned into specks of golden light in mid-air, which then transformed into sharp arrows as they flew toward Tang Qiu.

The Vampires who had been besieging Lucille noticed Gabriel was in danger and sent two of their own to support him. However, they were intercepted by a green arrow. Delphine put away her longbow, switched to a staff, and began chanting in a low voice. A fiery red light illuminated the darkness, and the two Vampires were instantly engulfed in a sea of flames.

The battle erupted in an instant. Gabriel quickly assessed the situation and concluded that his side wouldn’t last much longer.

Waiting any longer would be disastrous. Gabriel looked at the white wolf that had already broken through the barrier and, with a stoic expression, threw another ring. As the white wolf attacked the barrier again, he retrieved a black scroll from his Space Gem.

The scroll emanated a dense dark aura. Without much hesitation, Gabriel unfurled it.

A cloud of black mist abruptly appeared within the golden light. The mist slowly moved, gradually coalescing into a human form. The dark figure stood beside Gabriel, its features slowly becoming clear, revealing a pair of blood-red eyes that looked eerie and chilling.

When the white wolf saw the Vampire beside Gabriel, her sky-blue eyes widened for a second. A sudden premonition of danger arose in her heart, and she decisively turned to retreat.

The moment the white wolf turned, a stream of black energy appeared at her side. Although she dodged in time, she was still knocked back several meters by the force of the blast.

Tang Qiu reverted to her human form, clutching her arm as she stared at the Vampire beside Gabriel, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.

The black energy didn’t pursue Tang Qiu. Instead, it shot upward, shattering her werewolf domain. At the same time, a solid and oppressive Blood Domain enveloped them.

Delphine’s hand, which was gripping her staff, paused. She looked up at the Blood Domain with a frown and flashed to Tang Qiu’s side, asking in a low voice, “Are you hurt?”

After the Blood Domain appeared, Lucille also abandoned her opponent and came to Tang Qiu’s side, her expression grave as she reached out to check her injuries.

Tang Qiu lowered her hand, letting Lucille examine her. She looked up at the Blood Domain, her expression serious, lost in thought.

“…A werewolf royal?” Eden stood with his hands behind his back, his blood-red eyes fixed on Tang Qiu. He said faintly, “Faye?”

He recalled the white wolf’s aura from just now and slowly shook his head. “It seems not.”

“She doesn’t like to be so secretive either.”

Eden shifted his gaze from Tang Qiu to Delphine and greeted her calmly, “Delphine, it’s been a long time.”

Delphine watched him in silence for a moment before saying expressionlessly, “You actually succeeded, Eden.”

Eden smiled, but it quickly faded. He spread his arms, his expression showing a bit more emotion than before. “Just a small breakthrough.”

A small breakthrough… Tang Qiu glanced at Eden, her heart sinking. The moment the Blood Domain appeared, she had realized that Eden’s was far more powerful than Evan’s.

He had actually figured out a way to break through the Vampires’ generational limits.

Tang Qiu lowered her gaze, taking half a step to subtly shield Lucille behind her.

“Was it fun, hiding like a rat for hundreds of years?” Delphine drew her bowstring with her right hand, staring directly into Eden’s eyes, which burned with fury. “To achieve a breakthrough, you disregarded the lives of our Elf Race. This is truly something your Tzimisce Clan is capable of.”

With that, she angrily released her fingers. The fully drawn arrow shot out like a bolt of lightning, tearing through space and kicking up a fierce wind. The verdant arrow struck the Blood Domain. The slowly flowing, blood-colored mist froze for an instant but failed to withstand the arrow’s assault, allowing it to pierce through.

The Blood Domain instantly shattered, and the dark night sky reappeared in everyone’s vision.

Eden glanced up, his tone flat. “The Holy See stole the Tree of Life. It has nothing to do with the Tzimisce Clan.”

Standing beside him, Gabriel paused upon hearing this. He shot Eden a sideways glance. Although a gentle smile remained on his face, his eyes were not so gentle.

Delphine sneered, the longbow she had just lowered showing signs of being raised again.

“You can’t kill me,” Eden said, looking at Tang Qiu. “Not even with this little wolf.”

As he spoke, he seemed to notice something and let out a soft “huh.” He raised his right hand, and a palm formed from black mist flew toward Lucille, who was behind Tang Qiu, but it was blocked by Tang Qiu on its way.

“A Vampire?” Eden sniffed the air forcefully, his eyes suddenly flashing. “…Gangrel?”

Lucille caught the retreating Tang Qiu, her brow furrowed. She reached for the Space Gem at her waist. Before leaving the Blood Domain, Teresa had given her a summoning scroll. Just as she was contemplating whether to take it out, her wrist was pressed down. Tang Qiu shook her head at her.

Discovering Lucille, Eden clearly grew excited. A bone staff appeared out of thin air in his hand. Without needing to chant, several black chains were already closing in on Lucille and Tang Qiu.

Tang Qiu grabbed Lucille’s wrist and took a step back, expressionlessly unfurling a white scroll. Specks of golden light rained down from the sky, completely shattering the chains before flying toward Eden and Gabriel.

“Light magic.” Gabriel was startled. It was too late by the time he threw the ring in his hand to defend himself. He had never expected Tang Qiu to possess such a thing.

Eden was also taken aback by the sudden appearance of light magic, especially since it was a high-level spell that only a Red-robed Archbishop could cast.

A blood-colored barrier appeared like a wall in front of Eden and Gabriel. The golden light struck it, creating several cracks.

Delphine raised her hand and drew her bow, a verdant arrow slowly materializing on the bowstring.

“Let’s go,” Gabriel said, stopping Eden, who wanted to retaliate. His voice was grim. “I didn’t summon you here to fight.”

Eden frowned. “Wait until I capture that Gangrel.”

A black arrow flew from the side, silently piercing the barrier. As it neared Eden’s chest, it was disintegrated by an invisible force.

Gabriel recognized it as a dark elf’s arrow, and his face completely darkened. He urged, “Hurry and go. We can capture her later.”

Both leaders of the Elf Race were present. Given the elves’ hatred for them, any fight would be merciless. Eden could run if he couldn’t win, but Gabriel was without his guards and right in the center of it all, putting him at a great disadvantage.

Eden was silent for a moment. Under Gabriel’s urging, he finally raised a hand and, with a wave, departed with him and his subordinates.

The moment the black energy wrapped around them and vanished, Delphine released her fingers. The verdant arrow plunged into the black mist and disappeared along with it.

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent. Tang Qiu, Lucille, and Delphine all stared in the direction where the black mist had disappeared, as if waiting for something. After an unknown amount of time, the sound of something tearing through the air suddenly reached their ears.

Delphine reached out, and an arrow that had half-dissipated shot out from space and was caught in her hand.

“This distance…” Tang Qiu turned to look at Lucille and said uncertainly, “The Gru Empire?”

Although Lucille didn’t respond, her expression indicated she agreed with the guess. Both of them looked at Delphine.

Delphine dispersed the arrow and said slowly, “It’s near the Oscarld Sea.”

Tang Qiu raised an eyebrow, a faint smile playing on her red lips. She said lightly, “Then it seems we can notify Faye.” The rat may have escaped, but they had found its hole.