Fate!
What a grand, yet wretched word.
The trajectory of all things was preordained from birth to destruction; some were born great, while others were destined to be lowly.
It was like a prison sent down from Heaven, trapping the masses within, impossible to break free from.
“I don't believe in it.”
Lu Li truly did not believe in fate. Even if he were struck dead by lightning in the next second, drowned in a flood, or stabbed to death by spears when the Hellfire Legion of the Kingdom of Northland marched into the holy capital, he still would not believe in it.
Even after death, his stubborn mouth would be the only hard part of him left.
The light in Mira's eyes flickered brightly for a moment before dimming once more.
“But I believed,” she said. “That child crawled before me and begged me, saying, ‘Lord! Please save me!’”
As she spoke up to this point, Mira's voice paused for a moment, tears glistening in her eyes.
“Do you know how I became a vampire?”
Of course Lu Li did not know, so he shook his head.
“A long, long time ago...”
She spoke of the war over a thousand years ago, when humanity, led by the Holy Court, fought against the vampires.
The vampires she described were extraordinarily powerful and did not fear sunlight, silver, garlic, or similar items. The only way to kill them completely was to pierce a vampire's heart with a consecrated weapon.
Although the Holy Court's knights back then were also immensely powerful—far beyond what ordinary vampires could match—
The expansion rate of the vampires was unimaginably fast. As long as they wished, they could create a massive number of warriors in an extremely short time.
Even though those “warriors” had once been human, once they fell into the hands of the vampires, the choice was no longer theirs to make.
Becoming a vampire meant there was no turning back. They could only raise their blades against their former kin, or suffer humiliation and torture before starving to death.
Vampires were vast in number and exceedingly difficult to kill.
In order to thoroughly purge the vampires, the Pope at the time came up with a desperate solution—to establish an “immortal” legion!
Thus, led by twelve powerful knights, the Order of Light was born. They willingly fell into darkness, turning themselves into vampires to become the sharpest swords on the battlefield!
They possessed steadfast conviction and unyielding will, and most importantly, they were nearly impossible to kill.
From then on, the vampires' nightmare began.
The Order of Light began hunting vampires all across the world. No matter where they hid, they were relentlessly hunted down until long swords were driven deep into their hearts.
In this manner, the vampires, who had once run rampant like a plague, completely vanished within a mere few decades.
And the price of embracing the darkness quietly arrived at that moment as well.
To this day, Mira still remembered the words the Pope had spoken to her on the day the Order of Light was founded.
She had said: “Have faith in the Light, have faith in the Lord.”
Mira had done so.
As her companions fell into corruption one after another, she was forced to swing her blade against her former comrades-in-arms.
One by one, their hands became stained with the blood of their own people.
Whenever she awoke startled from her dreams at midnight, Mira would stare at her palms, feeling as if she could smell the foul, metallic stench of blood emanating from them.
She reminded herself that achieving a great cause would inevitably be filled with pain, just as the Lord's apostle, Virtue, had suffered earthly tribulations before finally reaching Heaven alongside the angels.
“I killed them with my own hands,” Mira said, tears streaming down her face.
Lu Li could only listen in silence. The history she bore from over a thousand years ago was far too heavy—so heavy that he did not even have the right to offer words of comfort.
Mira did not need his comfort either; it was simply that these things had been buried deep in her heart for too long, and now that she had finally met an unreserved listener, her suppressed emotions were finally unleashed.
“In the end, it was my turn.”
“She said to me: ‘Mira, your mission is over.’”
Lu Li knew who the “she” in Mira's words was—the Pope who had personally founded the Order of Light and personally buried it.
“But when my turn came, I was afraid.”
“When the long sword pierced my heart, I was still alive. I was carried onto the stake, watching helplessly as the flames separated me from the mortal world.”
“At that moment, I felt despair and agony. I felt the exact same pain they had felt.”
“So I prayed to the Lord, seeking His salvation.”
Mira's voice gradually slowed, growing deeper, and then became uncontrollably agitated:
“Then I heard it! I heard His voice! He saved... &%￥#￥...”
As she reached the end, Lu Li saw Mira open her mouth wide as if shouting, yet he could not hear a single sound.
“What are you saying?” He frowned slightly.
“&%￥#￥...!”
“I can't hear you.”
“&%￥#￥&%￥#￥...!!!”
Mira's face flushed bright red, her lips constantly opening and closing, yet not a shred of sound came out.
Lu Li suddenly realized something was wrong, but before he could think further, he noticed Mira staring in terror behind him.
He whipped around, only to find a woman standing behind him at some point, arms crossed over her chest, leaning lazily against the wall. Seeing Lu Li look toward her, she grinned and offered an ambiguous smile.
“Morningstar?” Lu Li recognized her.
She was a Seraphim, yet she always preferred to appear in the form of a human female. Most importantly, her features gave her the look of a mixed-race woman of Eastern and Western heritage, an aesthetic that quite hit Lu Li's preferences. He wondered how she had sculpted her appearance.
“Long time no see, Your Holiness.”
The woman bowed to him with quite standard posture, though her tone was full of playfulness.
“M-Morningstar...” Mira's eyes dazed for a moment as she unconsciously mumbled under her breath.
Morningstar shifted her gaze from Lu Li back to the vampire named Mira. She slowly stood straight, stepped forward, and narrowed her eyes to size her up.
“You... recognized me, didn't you?” Her lips curled into a smirk as she spoke in a voice audible only to the two of them.
“You... you... devil!”
As if realizing something, Mira's already pale face turned even ghastlier. Her eyes involuntarily darted toward the young boy behind Morningstar, filled with shock and unease.
“Heh, to think someone like you would also be chosen by Him,” Morningstar said, her tone dripping with disdain.
The woman before her had been worn down by a thousand years of suffering, no longer possessing the high spirits of her youth, and her heart was no longer necessarily as steadfast and devout as before.
And indeed, that was true for Mira.
Even though a miracle had once descended upon her, keeping her faith in the Lord intact, that devout heart had slowly withered with the passage of time.
Yet at this moment, over fifteen hundred years later, she suddenly realized that her mission might not be over after all. That originally withered heart began to beat violently once again.
She opened her mouth, all the terror on her face receding to make way for fury:
“You devil, I know everything now! Just wait! On the day He returns, you and your wickedness will finally face judgment!”
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