After failing to find the Anderson and Garcia witches in Shastaya, the Morgan Family began their search for their kin. However, all the letters they sent out were like stones sinking into the sea, receiving no reply. The locations revealed by divination were also constantly changing and impossible to pinpoint due to Garcia and Anderson’s deliberate concealment.

This concealment from the two families slowly turned the Morgan Family’s initial worry into anger. They didn’t want their whereabouts known… they had a guilty conscience.

For them to feel so guilty that they wouldn’t dare show themselves, even after their clans had suffered heavy casualties from the Sethite wizards’ attack, could only mean one thing: the attack on the God Race was indeed related to the Anderson Family.

The witches of the Anderson Family were mostly eccentric and cold-blooded; a kind side was rarely seen in them. Before, they had lived on the Capri Plains, seldom leaving their territory or interacting with other races. When facing the Garcia and Morgan families, who were like “kin,” their malice hadn’t been very apparent, at most manifesting as unpleasant verbal taunts.

But once they were driven from their territory and began to interact with other races, the evil side of the Anderson Family started to be unleashed. Chelsea, who had always disapproved of them, never imagined they would actually do something like this.

Chelsea lowered her head, staring at her feet with a tense expression. If she had known they would do such a thing, she would have rather been killed by the Vampires than lead them to the God Race.

“It failed again,” an elder of the Morgan Family said with a grave expression. “The divinations keep failing. Where on earth did they go?”

Previously, although the divined locations were vague and changed frequently, they could at least get a result, unlike now when the divination consistently failed.

“A failed divination means their current location is beyond our ability to scry,” another witch in a black robe mused. “Could they be in the Blood Domain?” Where else could they be?

As they discussed locations that couldn’t be scried, Chelsea listened for a while before turning and walking away without a word.

The elders stopped and looked at each other. One of them called out, “Chelsea, where are you going?”

“To find them,” Chelsea replied coldly as she walked. “I’ll follow the last divined location. I don’t believe they can just disappear from the Sitatul Continent.”

Judging by the devastation in Shastaya, the Garcia and Anderson families had lost more than half their members in that battle. Fleeing with such injuries was inherently unsafe; they had to be found as soon as possible.

And then, they would have to give the God Race an explanation.

The Garcia and Anderson witches, whose location could not be scried, had already passed through the black vortex and entered the Temple of Darkness. Like the other temples, it was majestic, magnificent, and grand, but due to the nature of the Power of Darkness, it possessed a gloominess that couldn’t be felt in any other temple.

“Wow, the Power of Darkness is so rich here.” Camille clung to Betty’s arm, looking around with the curiosity of an ordinary child. Then she stood on her toes and whispered into Betty’s ear, “Sister Betty, whatever good things we find here, I’ll give them all to you, okay?”

Betty, who had been observing a statue, fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then said softly, “Thank you, Camille.”

Camille’s eyes lit up, and she shook her head happily. “As long as Sister Betty is happy, I’ll give you anything.”

She had heard those same words from someone else’s mouth, and that person had always kept her promise. Betty turned her head. The face, so strikingly similar to Eunice’s, made her dazed for a moment. She lowered her gaze slightly, and the light that had just begun to return to her eyes dimmed once more.

The witches cautiously crossed the plaza but were stopped by the tightly shut palace doors. Kana consulted with the other elders on how to open the doors, while Betty stood alone to the side, staring blankly up at a statue of a strange beast.

Two clouds of mist suddenly appeared above the witches’ heads—one blood-red, the other grayish-green. The mists circled them once before slowly elongating, gradually forming two blurry human figures with indistinct features.

“Who are they? Humans?”

A clear voice echoed through the empty temple, but the witches heard nothing. They continued to study the closed palace doors, completely unaware of the figures above them.

The red figure circled the witches, observing them carefully. It keenly sniffed a trace of dark aura from them and exclaimed in surprise, “I remember now, these people are human wizards!”

During the era of the gods, humans were the most inconspicuous race. But because an anomaly had appeared among them, they had attracted the attention of the gods. And because this anomaly was related to the God of Darkness, the red figure suddenly recalled this memory she had tossed into a corner.

A race created by the Goddess of Light, weak and ordinary, yet a faction of wizards capable of sensing the Power of Darkness had suddenly appeared among them. This was something that had baffled the gods, and even now, there was no answer.

The gray figure, which had been floating silently in the air, looked down at the witches below and said with disinterest, “Drive them out.”

“Why drive them out?” the red figure said, displeased. “I find them quite interesting.”

Someone with ulterior motives had placed a ward outside the temple, and no one had set foot in here for several hundred years. The last “guests” had been a group of rude and untrustworthy Vampires.

She had given those Vampires benefits for nothing, and after waiting for centuries, they never came back.

“I’ve had enough of this place, Wolf Fang.” The red shadow suddenly became wild and frantic, as if going mad. “I want out. Since the main gods have already abandoned this continent, it’s our turn to occupy Sitatul.”

“Do you wish to defy the Main God’s command, Blood Demon?” Wolf Fang glanced at Blood Demon, her tone cold and indifferent.

The frantic red shadow suddenly shrank into a small ball. Blood Demon looked left and right, as if with a guilty conscience. “Don’t you slander me. This continent belongs to the Main God. I just want to take it back for her.”

Due to Blood Demon’s extreme emotional fluctuations, the atmospheric pressure inside the Temple of Darkness suddenly dropped. The witches felt their bodies grow heavy, and a cold sweat broke out on their backs. A cold, domineering Power of Darkness enveloped them, making their arms and legs feel as if they were stuck in a mire, unable to move.

The elders, who had been discussing how to enter the temple, all fell silent and simultaneously began chanting spells. But after the incantations were finished, no magic manifested.

“You’ve scared them,” Wolf Fang said faintly, floating to the top of a statue to sit.

Blood Demon glanced down at the witches and instantly calmed down. She drifted before one of them, her misty hand grabbing the witch’s wrist to investigate. She suddenly spoke, “The Power of Darkness flows in their bloodline.”

“I know how to get out now, Wolf Fang.”

Although the red figure’s features were blurry, Wolf Fang could still tell that her emotions were extremely excited and elated. Her heart stirred slightly, and her gaze shifted to the witches, sizing them up and down, but she said nothing.

Wolf Fang had a cold and taciturn personality, and Blood Demon was already used to receiving no response when she spoke. She raised her hand slightly, withdrawing the pressure enveloping the witches, and her figure slowly materialized before them.

The pressure on their bodies suddenly vanished, but the witches’ tense hearts did not relax. Kana gripped her bone staff tightly, turning to scan her surroundings. She quickly spotted Blood Demon’s figure. Her eyes widened, and she took a few steps back to gather with her clan members, asking tentatively, “Excellency, you are?”

They couldn’t see Blood Demon’s face, but they could sense the powerful aura emanating from her.

“You don’t need to know who I am.” Blood Demon’s shadow floated in front of the statue of the God of Darkness. She deliberately lowered her voice and said, “Human wizards… what do you seek by breaking in here?”

Yellowed, worn parchments inscribed with spells suddenly fell from the sky, fluttering down like snowflakes. Seeing the witches’ eyes light up at the sight of the spells, Blood Demon’s lips curled into a smug smile. She knew these greedy humans would want this.

After a moment of shock, the witches quickly reacted, bending down to pick up the parchments on the ground. The spells were completely foreign to them, but even a cursory glance revealed their power.

Amidst the crowd of excited witches, one young witch just stood there blankly, watching the parchments drift down before her. Blood Demon noticed this witch and floated over, asking curiously, “Why aren’t you picking any up?”

Betty, lost in thought, was startled by Blood Demon’s sudden appearance. Before she could speak, Camille, who had already gathered a stack of parchments, jumped up to block her way. She faced Blood Demon with a brilliant smile and an expectant look, asking, “Are you the God of Darkness?”

Blood Demon chuckled a few times and said ambiguously, “Do you have some trouble you need the God of Darkness to solve?”

Camille blinked, looking rather troubled. “A bunch of bad guys took over our territory. Can you help us?”

“And what price can you pay to seek the help of the God of Darkness?”

“We have to pay a price?” Camille stuck out her tongue. “Then never mind.”

A bunch of greedy creatures, Blood Demon snorted coldly but patiently continued, “Dispel the barrier at the temple entrance, and I will help you take back your territory.”

Betty turned to look in the direction they had come from and asked, “A barrier?”

Blood Demon circled her, her voice tempting, “It’s very simple. I’ll teach you. As long as the barrier is dispelled, I can solve all your troubles.”

The barrier Blood Demon spoke of was not the ward set up by the Morgan Family, but the restraint left by the God of Darkness to ensure they would obediently guard the temple. This barrier sealed only her and Wolf Fang. They had the spell to undo it, but for thousands of years, no outsiders had entered the temple besides those annoying Vampires, leaving them unable to get out.

And those Vampires were too cunning. She had given them countless spells and magic to bribe them, but they simply wouldn’t break the seal for them.

To have these humans arrive—wizards who could use the Power of Darkness, no less—was a true surprise.

The Lasombra had suffered another setback in their attack on the Elf Race but still hadn’t given up on their ambition to invade the Sitatul Continent. After they decisively abandoned the temple in Yezreet, the Wolf Race lost their advantage. After searching several locations and discovering they were all just Vampire illusions, Helen gave up the aimless search and led her people directly to the Slade Sea Region.

In the forest outside the city, which had long since returned to life, Elves stood guard on the treetops, while werewolves in their original forms rested with their eyes closed in shady spots. In the deepest part of the forest, Cynthia, Olivia, and Helen sat opposite each other at a simple wooden table, discussing something. The nectar in the center of the table emitted a sweet, cloying fragrance.

“I’ve had my people check all the known temple locations. We found nothing.” The continuous travel had worsened Helen’s already poor health, and her face looked even paler. She raised a hand to rub her brow, her voice laced with exhaustion. “The Vampires must have chosen a temple whose location we don’t know.”

Olivia looked up at Helen. Seeing her pale face, she poured a cup of nectar and passed it to her.

The Elves’ self-healing ability was no worse than that of the Vampires or the Wolf Race, and this healing wasn’t limited to injuries. The marks Cynthia had left on her had almost completely vanished within a day. Olivia had already changed out of the cumbersome high-collared robe and back into the simple long dress she usually wore.

Specks of sunlight filtered through the dense foliage, and the bright spots of light landing on Olivia’s collarbone looked like marks that had yet to fade completely. Cynthia, sitting opposite her, only had to lift her eyes slightly to catch a glimpse of this beautiful sight. Her hand, holding a cup, paused as her gaze followed the spots of light.

Olivia’s body recovered too quickly. In just one day, the pale red petals she had left were gone, much to Cynthia’s lasting regret.

Helen received no response for a long time after she spoke. She couldn’t help but look up and ask, “What’s wrong?”

It would be clearer if Cynthia explained the matter concerning Avira. Seeing Cynthia unresponsive, Olivia glanced over at her and called out, “Cynthia?”

Cynthia snapped back to her senses. She discreetly withdrew her gaze, took a sip of nectar to suppress the stirring in her heart, and said with a curl of her lips, “Who knows how many temples are buried beneath the Sitatul Continent. Searching for them one by one is too much of a waste of time.”

“I have a frien—” The word “friend” had barely left Cynthia’s lips when she caught Olivia’s expression out of the corner of her eye and smoothly changed her words. “A Vampire I know, she knows where the Lasombra clan’s next target is.”

“A Vampire?” Helen’s brow furrowed. Like Olivia, she didn’t trust Vampires much. “Can a Vampire’s word be true?”

“The internal situation among the Vampires is also quite complicated.” Cynthia explained everything to Helen one by one—the new races sealed in the temples by the gods, the internal conflicts among the Vampires, and so on. Then she said softly, “Our goals align in some respects. She probably won’t lie about the information on the temple.”

After hearing Cynthia’s words, Helen fell into a deep silence. She leaned back in her chair and thought for a long time before slowly speaking, “You’re betting on a Vampire’s credibility?”

Cynthia let out a low laugh and shook her head slightly. “No.” She thought for a moment, then smiled gently. “I’m betting that the Vampires can’t win against us.”

Such immense confidence. But… even if Helen and Olivia didn’t think the Vampires could be trusted, they had never thought they would definitely lose to them either.

If they didn’t have that confidence, why would they have allied to fight the Vampires in the first place?

The grave expression on Helen’s face softened. She lowered her head and chuckled, her tone filled with emotion. “No wonder Olivia likes you.”

She had possessed that same sharp edge in her youth. Unfortunately, her injuries had worn away most of that sharpness, along with her pride. She had actually started to become timid.

Would cooperating with a Vampire definitely lead to a loss?

Olivia, who had been staring at Cynthia, lost in thought, flickered her eyes when she heard Helen’s words. She looked away, and surprisingly, she didn’t deny it angrily as she had before.

It seemed her affection for Cynthia was no longer a secret.

Avira had been staying in the God Race’s territory all this time. After Helen agreed to Cynthia’s proposal, Cynthia sent a message summoning her to discuss their plan to stop the Lasombra.

However, she didn’t come to the appointment alone. With her was Hanni.

Hanni had been listless ever since learning about Joanna. Avira had dragged her out without telling her what they were doing. The sudden sight of Clan Leader Helen startled her, and after a moment of realization, she subconsciously tried to flee.

“Hanni?” Helen was a little surprised to sense Hanni’s presence. She turned her head in Hanni’s direction, and sensing the aura moving farther away, she knew the girl was trying to run. She was so exasperated she had to laugh. “Where do you think you’re running?”

Hanni’s expression froze. She shot Avira an annoyed glare, then turned and shuffled over to Helen’s side, saying dejectedly, “Clan Leader Helen, I won’t do it again.”

“I’ll go back to the territory for solitary confinement in a bit.” Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, Hanni lowered her head, her expression dim.

Helen was silent for a moment, then sighed softly. “It’s fine, stay.” She reached out and stroked Hanni’s hair, her tone as kind as ever, not holding Joanna’s suspicious actions against Hanni. “You’re a good child. Train well. Hanna is still waiting for your next match for the young master position.”

Hanni bit her lip, her eyes growing hot. She wanted to ask Helen if what she’d heard about her mother was true, but she opened her mouth and closed it again without asking.

A white light flashed around her, and she transformed into a large white wolf, affectionately lying down by Helen’s legs.

Avira, who had only wanted to take Hanni out to play because she was in a bad mood, felt quite displeased to see the large white wolf affectionately resting by someone else’s legs, especially after being inexplicably blamed. But thankfully, she still remembered why Cynthia had summoned her.

“Have you cowards finished your discussion?” Avira turned and leaped onto a tree branch, sitting and looking down on Cynthia and the others. Her red lips curled slightly. “A few more days, and the temple will be gone.”

Olivia disliked her attitude. She placed her cup on the table with a heavy thud, her pale green eyes icy. “All you can do is show off with your words.”

Avira shrugged, not particularly bothered by Olivia’s blunt words.

“If I recall correctly, Elder Avira is here to apologize,” Cynthia said, glancing at Hanni before looking up at Avira with a gentle smile. “Come now, show us your sincerity.”

At the mention of an apology, Avira’s upturned lips flattened, but with Hanni present, she couldn’t deny it. Avira looked down and met Cynthia’s gaze, seeing the faint mockery on her face. She clicked her tongue and said, “Then I’ll give you sincerity.”

“The Lasombra’s next target is the Temple of the God of Thunder.” Avira raised her hand, her slender fingers tapping lightly in the air. A map of the Sitatul Continent appeared before them. She scanned the map and quickly found the place she was looking for. “Right here—the Tallas Mountains.”

“Is that sincere enough?”