Chapter 3: Alena’s Legacy and Wuxu’s Revelation

Xia Ni was utterly dumbfounded, the horrific scene before her defying all description.

The breastplates of the two knights had been pierced and shattered, their faces frozen in expressions of terror and regret.

“It’s… you?” Rom’s eyes remained wide and unblinking in death, fixed upon the young woman who slowly approached him.

The young woman approached Rom with deliberate steps, her lips moving silently in a prayer. Then, with a gentle touch, she closed his vacant eyes.

A ball of flame ignited in her left hand, which she casually tossed towards the two men impaled by the unknown force. She watched in silence as the licking flames slowly consumed their bodies.

Meanwhile, Xia Ni, standing nearby, was still reeling from shock.

‘Didn’t they say this was a low-magic world? How could she just casually unleash an instant-kill spell?’ Xia Ni’s heart pounded with lingering fear. ‘If I had made any rash moves just now, I would probably be nothing but ashes.’

Only after the flames had completely died down did the young woman turn to Xia Ni.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the young woman said with a faint smile, her pale complexion adding a touch of fragility that belied her recent act of effortlessly slaying two knights. “I am Alena.”

She spoke in ragged gasps, making one momentarily forget the incessant bleeding from her right hand, where crimson drops blossomed like roses on the ground at her feet.

Yet, she remained standing there for a long time, her hands forming the sign of a cross, her lips moving in prayer, seemingly commemorating the two deceased men.

“Are you praying for them? But they just tried to kill you,” Xia Ni asked, her voice laced with suspicion.

“No, I am the one who brought all this about, so I must pray for them.”

Alena turned her head, a cryptic smile gracing her lips, her voice barely a whisper, hanging by a thread.

“We need to treat that quickly, or you’ll bleed to death!”

Xia Ni exclaimed, her urgency palpable. She knew nothing of first aid, but at the very least, she could try to stop the bleeding.

Just as Xia Ni moved to tear a strip from her red garment to use as a bandage, Alena placed a hand on hers, stopping her.

“My time is up. I have only a few minutes left at most. It would be better to end everything right here.”

Alena’s gaze fell upon the red fabric, her expression complex.

“This is a Senatorial robe, isn’t it? Cough, cough…” She coughed up a mouthful or two of thick, dark blood. “How could such an important item be used to bandage someone like me, who has blasphemed against the gods?”

“You have healing magic, don’t you? Quick, use it on yourself… cast it!” Xia Ni cried out. “You’re so powerful, there must be a way for you to save yourself!”

“Healing magic? What is that… cough, cough… This is the will of the gods. I have finally received divine punishment.”

Even Xia Ni, who was notoriously oblivious to social cues, could see that Alena’s life was flickering like a candle in the wind.

“I don’t understand anything you’re saying…” Xia Ni shook her head. “All I know is that a beautiful young woman is about to die right in front of me.”

She desperately tried to tear off a piece of the Senatorial robe, exerting all her strength, only to find that the fabric wouldn’t budge an inch! ‘Was this thing made of nanotech material?’

“I know who you are.”

From her tattered clothes, Alena produced a letter stained with blood, adorned with hot-stamped gold patterns.

“With this, you will be a noble. Take this letter to King Saint Fros, and this territory will be yours.”

“Why? Who are you?” Xia Ni took the letter with a trembling hand.

“I am like you, but I failed.”

Alena closed her eyes in agony, then gripped Xia Ni’s hand tightly, as if clutching at something in her final moments.

“I’m sorry, Alice.”

Alena’s final words were no louder than a fly’s buzz, seemingly spoken to no one in particular.

“Failed… what does that mean?”

Xia Ni sank to the ground, the letter that promised her nobility clutched in her hand. Yet, she felt no joy whatsoever.

‘What the hell? Three people have already died right in front of me.’ ‘What kind of world is this?’

As the ashes of the burned bodies drifted through the air, confusion spread relentlessly within her heart.

“Can you hear me?”

The familiar voice echoed in her ear once more.

“It’s Wuxu. It seems some power separated us earlier, but now we’re suddenly reconnected.”

“Wuxu, tell me, what happened with Alena? Who exactly was she?”

The questions multiplied in Xia Ni’s mind, quickly morphing into dread.

Silence descended between them.

“She was a Transmigrator before you.”

The other party seemed to have made up her mind, slowly revealing a startling truth: “But she was not from the same era as you, nor was she divinely chosen. She attempted to use divine authority to eliminate war from the world, only to be consumed by the consequences.”

“In the end, she even succumbed to madness, attempting to uproot the Senate’s long-standing foundations, believing us to be the true source of all sin in the world.”

Wuxu spoke these words without any discernible emotion, as if the matter held no personal significance for her. “We were forced to conspire with worldly powers to eradicate her. It was likely she who severed our mental link with you. However, it seems she is truly dead now.”

“She failed, but you are different. You are the Divinely Chosen. When I asked the gods who could save this world, they pointed to you. Among the vast sea of humanity, they noticed only you.”

“As long as we work together, we can surely eliminate the root of all sin in this world—war,” Wuxu continued. “And to achieve this goal, we simply need to unify the entire world…”

“Trust us, Divinely Chosen One.”

“Lady Wuxu, a Senator has rebelled!”

“What? What is the name of the rebel?”

Xia Ni had already had enough of all the schemes and machinations.

‘I’m just a tool.’

—Activating ‘Blood Reversal’.

While Blood Reversal could precisely pinpoint the location of bleeding individuals, if kept active, it would allow the thirst for blood to override everything, even the user’s own will. In short, it meant abandoning all thought.

The vampire girl, once known as Xia Ni, lowered her head, lapping up the blood flowing from the deceased on the ground, mouthful by mouthful.

Clad in blood, a flicker of confusion passed through her crimson eyes.

“Hiccup—” ‘But no one ever mentioned you could get hiccups from drinking blood!’ Xia Ni covered her stomach, wandering aimlessly down the road. She didn’t know how much time had passed since she activated Blood Reversal before her mind finally regained consciousness.

However, she was also no longer connected to the Senate. According to the last information her brain received, it seemed there was a traitor among them, obstructing communication. Xia Ni actually wanted to reconnect with them; this disconnection was merely an act of pique. After all, having a powerful backing was always beneficial in a foreign world.

Now, Xia Ni’s only hope rested on a blood-stained letter. The blood had already congealed, making it unlikely to wash off with water. It seemed she would need to carefully formulate her explanation to the King. Otherwise, he might assume she had killed Alena and was attempting to claim credit.

Xia Ni looked up. Dark clouds meticulously enveloped the entire sky, not allowing a single ray of sunlight to penetrate. The mass of clouds pressed down like black weights, creating a stifling and uncomfortable atmosphere, which was only compounded for Xia Ni, who had witnessed multiple deaths in a mere few hours.

The weather here was unpredictable; moments ago, the sky had been clear, and now it was on the verge of a downpour. Even sunny weather, however, was not an issue for Xia Ni.

“But I’m not afraid of the sun.” Xia Ni extended her right hand, slowly reaching towards the light filtering through the black curtain. Nothing happened. She quickly retracted her hand into her sleeve, clicking her tongue.

Theoretically, vampires were supposed to fear sunlight; some subspecies even turned to ash instantly upon exposure. This was why they were forced to live reclusively.

This was something Wuxu had explained, and Xia Ni now found herself feeling a pang of nostalgia for that cold-spoken individual.

‘Could this also be the power of the gods?’

Xia Ni pressed a hand to her aching forehead. In her original world, she had been a staunch atheist.

Now, it felt as though everything had to be attributed to this ‘god,’ which made her somewhat uneasy. Moreover, this god had inexplicably chosen her.

And there were other Transmigrators, like Alena…

“Enough! All difficulties, fly away!” Xia Ni patted her small head and shook it. If an old man—Xia Ni’s original form—were to make such a gesture, it would be utterly disgusting. But coming from a beautiful girl, it was incredibly cute!

‘Even if I can’t see myself acting cute, fantasizing about it isn’t a crime.’

Furthermore, Xia Ni possessed neither magic nor swordsmanship, and she didn’t even have money. Encountering bandits would inevitably lead to an ‘indescribable’ situation.

Therefore, Xia Ni resolutely abandoned the small paths and shortcuts, opting instead for the relatively safer main road.

Even on the main road, however, there were scarcely any travelers. Xia Ni hadn’t seen a single soul so far, not even livestock like cattle or sheep. The only things that occasionally piqued her interest were the abandoned items and the remains of previous travelers scattered along the way.

Clearly, a massive exodus had taken place to escape the ravages of war, and many had unfortunately starved to death midway. The silent skeletons of a family of three lay sprawled on the barren land. Everywhere, abandoned farmlands were overgrown with weeds.

‘Speaking of which, I should be heading to the royal capital, right? I’m still quite curious about what’s actually written in that letter.’

Driven by this curiosity, Xia Ni tore open the envelope.

From ahead, the clang of weapons echoed. Xia Ni shielded her eyes with one hand, straining her vision to look forward. Not far away, two groups of people appeared to be fighting.