Monarch of Evernight - Chapter 1128

Chapter 1128

Chapter 1128: Alliance

Arkfaire made no abnormal movements . He merely nodded and said, “My ancestors were indeed from a demonkin branch . Back then, the demonkin clans were much more segregated and each faction worshipped different powers . My ancestors were defeated in the holy war and forced to the neutral lands . The place was welcoming to a mixture of many races, but to our ancestors, the environment wasn’t even fit for survival . In the end, they found the only land they could and decided to settle down, completing the Thunderfrost Temple only centuries later . After looking at these sculptures, you probably understand that our bodies and souls have undergone great changes . At this point, no one would guess we were once demonkin if I didn’t mention it . ”

“Dark races… you guys aren’t considered a dark race, either, right?”

“Indeed . ” Arkfaire’s expression was filled with melancholy and helplessness .

The frost power of the Thunderfrost Temple was situated between daybreak and Evernight, so they were no longer of the dark race by traditional definition . However, the demonkin were the favorite children of the world and known as the sons of darkness . Not only did Arkfaire’s clan lose their original origin power attribute, but their bloodlines were also no longer pure . One could only imagine the taste of comparing themselves to their former glory .

Arkfaire escaped his sentiments very quickly . He looked deeply at Qianye, saying, “Actually, my sister’s talents are greater than mine . She’s currently weaker than me only because I inherited the power of the Thunderfrost Temple . This power is easy to accept, but the drawbacks are easy to imagine; I won’t be taking a single step forward from where I am . That’s not the same for her as she can keep advancing . Even a little bit of hope is better than my state . ”

Qianye waited for the continuation message in silence .

Arkfaire said after a slight pause, “Qianye, you have sufficient talents to lead our clan forward . My sister and I might be old by human standards, but we’re still quite young compared to our lifespans . ”

Having guessed what the young man was going to say, a surprised Qianye cut him short in a hurry . “I’m not strong enough, I don’t have the qualification . ”

“No, the purity of your origin power has reached an extreme . Your future attainments will be far beyond our ancestral heroes . As a future monarch, you are qualified to have us follow you . ”

“But right now, you can slap me to death,” Qianye made a humble remark .

“Impossible . I can defeat you, but that’s not going to be easy, either . My intuition tells me that I might not have the power to kill you . ” At this point, Arkfaire looked absent-minded for a while . “The Thunderfrost Temple is my home ground, so it won’t be that easy for you to escape, that is unless you possess the power to shuttle through space . But I can even track down Demonic Traversal, why am I getting the feeling that I won’t be able to kill you?”

Arkfaire began to contemplate in earnest .

Qianye discovered that this fellow was actually quite simple in certain aspects . Afraid that he would actually test out his theory, Qianye said hurriedly, “It’s just intuition, no need to take things too seriously . Let’s get to business . ”

Arkfaire woke up from his reverie . “I understand that you’re refusing my first suggestion . Then, let’s switch to a different model . My sister will join your fight and I’ll even send some of my clansmen . As repayment, you must also join us when we fight for our territory, and you must help us once when the Thunderfrost Temple is in danger . ”

Qianye was surprised . “The terms are so… relaxed . What can I even do with my current strength?”

The Thunderfrost Temple had Arkfaire and Caroline, surrounded by a natural fortress . If there was an enemy even they couldn’t handle, it was useless even if Qianye were to step in .

However, Arkfaire said, “You’re a future monarch, a promise from you is incomparably valuable . ”

Qianye felt a bit guilty at the thought of it . Arkfaire was like a customer who had fallen for beautiful packaging while he was the profiteering businessman . However, the terms were so good that Qianye had no reason to refuse . Besides, he was the one who had come to seek help .

The doors to the chamber opened up quietly . The duo looked back and saw Caroline walking in with a pale face .

“I’ll go with you,” said Caroline .

Arkfaire was astonished . “Sis, we don’t know what war they’re fighting…”

Caroline shook her head . “That’s not important . ”

Qianye frowned . “I think I should explain it first . ”

Arkfaire seconded the motion immediately .

Caroline tapped Qianye’s chest and said, “Whatever the battle is about, I’ll go wherever you go as long as you help us when we pioneer new land . Where’s your airship, let’s go . ”

Arkfaire wanted to say something but stopped midway . In the end, he said, “Wait, I’ll send some people with you . You can ask them to handle the miscellaneous stuff . ”

Caroline asked with a frown, “Is the battle in the neutral lands?”

“No . ”

“Then it’s fine . Get them ready, Arkfaire, I want to leave right away . ”

The young man smiled wryly . “You’re always so impatient . Fine, just wait a while . ” Qianye didn’t see him do anything, but soon, the chamber doors opened once more and four tall men walked in . They stood in a row before the group, their skin so pale that there was even a hint of blue underneath .

Qianye looked up hesitantly at Arkfaire, but after some thought, he decided to take them onto the Martyr’s Palace .

Arkfaire led the group to the roof of the Thunderfrost Temple . “I can give you all a hand . ”

He slowly raised his hand to summon a stream of warm air which swept the group upward . The breeze seemed gentle, but it was as firm as it was lasting and brought everyone out of the protective barrier before dispersing . Arkfaire had inadvertently revealed his peerless strength, one on par with Luo Bingfeng . Perhaps this was a kind of warning and hint .

Qianye began flying toward the hovering Martyr’s Palace . With a swing of her whip, Caroline rolled up the four attendants and dragged them along . These men couldn't fly through the void on their own just yet .

Qianye couldn’t bring people along, but he was able to fly at great speeds . The four attendants couldn’t help but feel astonished at the sight of it .

The massive Martyr’s Palace slowly appeared in the void ahead of them . It was as big as a small mountain, assaulting everyone with a wave of stifling pressure .

As they approached the airship, the barely composed attendants found their mouths falling open .

Qianye flew in from the tail side, followed by Caroline and her subordinates . At this point, the walls of the Martyr’s Palace had been largely reconstructed, and only the tail area was left . The Earth Dragon’s tail was an extremely powerful weapon . Whoever wanted to enter through the tail would have to think twice .

Inside the palace, there were craftsmen and warriors from the Highbeard Tribe working alongside the technicians and cannoneers from the Ningyuan Group . There were also hundreds of people working on the installation and adjustment of new facilities . However, the hundreds of people would immediately disappear when spread throughout the airship .

Most of the construction work on the dragonship had been completed, and the vessel was finally starting to take shape .

Caroline followed Qianye to the residential area where they settled the four attendants in . Then, they ascended along the gangway and arrived at a higher level where the side cannons were installed .

Caroline was stunned when she arrived here . She walked over to an uninstalled cannon, running her hands over the glistening body and the thick ballista bolts . Moments later, she turned back and asked, “What grade are these?”

“Imperial cruiser main cannons . ”

“Cruiser-grade…” Caroline rose one meter into the air and looked out . There were several other ballistae of the same grade in this wide chamber . There were smaller ones as well, but the difference wasn’t too big, and this was only one side of the airship .

After Caroline had observed her fill, Qianye brought her forward along the cannon chamber . Despite having installed a dozen or so cannons, the room still looked quite empty . The giant airship’s power would be unimaginable if all the cannon slots had been filled .

The duo finally arrived at the main cannon area . Caroline was stunned when she saw Landsinker, but she didn’t lose her composure entirely . She glanced deeply at the main cannon before heading up onto the Earth Dragon’s head .

The two stood side by side, looking out at the boundless void in front of them .

All they felt was a slight tremble as the Martyr’s Palace turned about and flew back to the Eastern Sea .

Caroline gazed into the distance . “Actually, Arkfaire isn’t related to me by blood . ”

“I know, you’ve mentioned it once . ”

“In every generation of our clan, siblings would be marked by talents and combat strength, not blood relationships . According to tradition, children of the same generation would be raised by the clan . That’s why we were never as close as real siblings . Arkfaire inherited frost origin power, while I inherited the power of lightning . As such, we became siblings according to tradition . ”

This was a strange rule, but that didn’t come as too much of a surprise since they were even willing to shift their origin power attributes for survival .

“I told you before, right? I have a werewolf bloodline . Even though it’s quite thin, it’s still there . The reason for that…”

Caroline paused for a moment, hesitating whether or not she should continue .

Qianye said, “You don’t need to say it if it makes you unhappy . ”

Caroline shook her head . “I’ve suppressed these things in my heart for too long . You’re qualified to listen right now . ”

“Our clan branch was cursed by a great dark monarch when we were expelled . The power of the curse took root at the source of our bloodline, and we were unable to expel it for many generations . The neutral lands was an adverse place, but to our race, the effects were even stronger . That was why we decided to settle down on Thunderfrost Continent even though it was difficult .

“Everyone knew that was our only choice, and they had expected that things would be difficult . . . but life there was simply too bitter, so bitter that we wanted to give up on ourselves . The clan had experimented on interbreeding with other races so that we may live in the other parts of the neutral lands . We just wanted to escape this curse and the land of Thunderfrost . However, the experiment ended in failure and the result was that some clansmen no longer possessed pure bloodlines . I inherited one of those impure bloodlines .  

“The mixed demonkin suffered inferior status compared to the pureblooded ones, it wouldn’t be too overboard to say we were no more than slaves . Even though I had revealed enough talent from a young age and was considered the hope of our next generation, I still can’t forget how my mixed-blood demonkin siblings were treated . That was why I decided to pick void lightning instead of frost power . ”

“Is there a difference between the two?” Qianye inquired .

As he saw it, the purity of her lightning origin power wasn’t below that of frost . At the same cultivation rank, it was probably even a bit more powerful . In the Thunderfrost Temple, however, the status of frost origin power was evidently higher than lightning .

Caroline explained, “The quality of these two origin powers is comparable, but there’s a vast difference in quantity . The power of frost in the Thunderfrost Temple is virtually boundless, but only a small amount of lightning power would be condensed over a long period . Arkfaire and I picked our attributes only half a year apart, but he’s already at the level of a superior divine champion while I hover around the intermediate rank . ”

Qianye understood at this point . Every step beyond the divine champion realm was extremely difficult . Even if there was enough lightning power to absorb, one could only hope of breaking through to the superior divine champion rank . Even Caroline herself couldn’t say for sure if she would take another step forward .

The girl sighed softly . “I wanted a territory of my own because I wanted to give those mixed-blooded clansmen a place to live and multiply . Their bloodlines are no longer pure, but they can adapt to more environments than the others . It’s… quite a helpless matter . ”

Qianye only listened in silence . Humans were in a difficult phase in this realm, but they were a growing race with boundless room for development . The vampires had always been troubled by their slumbering River of Blood, but they still held a strong position in the Evernight Council and on the Sacred Mountain—they weren’t in a decline just yet .

The sorrow of a declining race, Qianye had seen a hint of that in William, but it never left as deep an impression as the Thunderfrost Temple . In this world filled with darkness, every race had the right to survive, even races outside of Evernight—this was something the daybreak and neutral factions had always said . It was rather encouraging and arduous, but only the humans had ever realized such an ideal .

Qianye didn’t know how to console Caroline, but he knew that empty words were meaningless .

Caroline’s spirits finally recovered . “After listening to the conversation between you and Arkfaire, however, I realized that this new territory should belong to all clansmen . ”

Qianye said, “However you wish to use that territory, I’ll do my best to help you . ”

Caroline glanced at Qianye . “Actually, it won’t be easy to pioneer new land even with our combined forces . ”

Qianye nodded . “We must wait until I grow stronger . At the same time, we need more soldiers, an airship fleet, and the Empire’s nominal protection . We’ll need time to get all that, but you’ll get your territory eventually . ”

Caroline said to Qianye, “I really wonder where you get all that confidence from? Maybe you still don’t know the trouble we’ll have to face . ” Originating from the Thunderfrost Temple meant forfeiting all possibility of protection from the Evernight Council . The Great Qin Empire, on the other hand, would only become less reliable as it grows stronger . “The demonkin will launch an attack once they realize you’ve found a place to establish yourself, right?”

“Since you already know, why are you still so confident?” Caroline asked .

“Of course, I’m confident, I’ve been fighting the dark races all my life . Why would I fear the demonkin?”

Caroline nodded . “That almost sounds reasonable . ”

Survival in the neutral lands had to be fought for . Origin power was nowhere near as important as absolute power . In truth, Qianye could divide a piece of land on the Northern Continent and fulfill his promise of giving them a place to settle . The environment there was mild enough for Caroline and her people to live .

However, the Northern Continent was too valuable . Qianye didn’t want to bring it up unless absolutely necessary . With so little resource-rich land left to be developed, the discovery of the Northern Continent would surely lead to war . Qianye didn’t want outsiders to know about the place until he had the power to protect it himself .

The Martyr’s Palace flew so steadily that one could hardly feel it moving . The inherent power of a void colossus allowed it to move like fish in water .

Caroline remained silent as she experienced the feeling of gliding through the void . At this point, she felt as though she was one with the Earth Dragon, and every minute of that comprehension was a rare opportunity .

Just as Caroline was fully immersed in the sensation, she noticed Qianye standing calmly . He looked neither tense nor deliberate as his body resonated with every movement of the Earth-Dragon . Shaken, Caroline said, “You can communicate with this giant airship?”