Volume 2 Chapter 47: The Decision Made Over Three Hundred Years Ago

Over three hundred years ago, the combined forces of the Longevity Seekers and the Demon Hunters achieved final victory. Most of the Undying One sorcerers were eliminated, with only a few female witches escaping the battlefield under the cover of the men.

These witches were forced to flee separately. Some of them escaped into the Maiar Forest. At that time, the leader of the Demon Hunters responsible for pursuing the Witch Maiar was Lorenzo Albert, the first Baron Albert.

The Maiar Forest was immense, almost like an independent kingdom. The terrain within the forest was complex and filled with many fierce beasts. Lorenzo knew that continuing the pursuit would mean even sacrificing all the Demon Hunters and soldiers would not completely wipe out the Witch Maiar.

So, he decided to stop the pursuit. Coordinated by the Demon Hunter headquarters, the human duchies and kingdoms bordering the Maiar Forest contributed money and effort, building several watchtower fortresses around the forest, completely encircling the Witch Maiar.

With the construction of Albert Castle, the Demon Hunters and the Witch Maiar also signed a Millennium Pact. The Witch Maiar were not allowed to leave the Maiar Forest freely anymore, and the Demon Hunters would no longer enter the deep forest to hunt them down. Although this Millennium Pact had magical effects, many of its clauses were vague. Both sides had their own thoughts and tacitly treated it as a delaying tactic.

Baron Lorenzo Albert was an extremely shrewd Demon Hunter leader. He understood the weaknesses of the witches and also knew the flaws of humans. The Baron firmly believed that with a thousand years of buffer, even if humans fell behind the witches in the supernatural field, they would absolutely surpass the witches by a large margin in other fields. By then, the witches would inevitably die out naturally.

However, the Baron also worried that humans, with their very short lifespans, would forget the threat the Witch Maiar posed to the human world due to generational changes. Only those old Demon Hunters who had lived through the war years could hold firm to their beliefs and never compromise with any evil force.

In this situation, the Baron had a strange idea. He hoped that within the Demon Hunter ranks, one Longevity Seeker or Undying One could be preserved. This Longevity Seeker or Undying One would continuously teach future generations to uphold the Demon Hunter faith until they made it through the long thousand years.

Becoming a Longevity Seeker was hopeless. The Longevity Seekers were about to use their lives to seal away the powers of longevity and undeath, so they would never agree with his view. Therefore, the Baron could only pin his hopes on preserving one Undying One within the Demon Hunter ranks.

The Baron knew his idea was somewhat unorthodox and would never gain approval from his fellow Demon Hunters. So, he could only implement it within the Albert Family. At that time, the members of the Albert Family were almost all Demon Hunters, possessing Guardian Power within them, making it impossible for them to become an Undying One.

The Baron thought and thought, and finally set his sights on his youngest daughter, the just eight-year-old Elizabeth Albert. Due to her age, Elizabeth had not yet become a Demon Hunter. He also had a bottle of Magic Potion for becoming an Undying One that he had kept secret from the Demon Hunter headquarters. Using the magical power he commanded, he could perform the transformation ritual for an Undying One alone.

Elizabeth’s age was not a problem. The Baron himself was in his prime and could slowly cultivate Elizabeth’s faith and abilities. And so, an Undying One with the faith of a Demon Hunter was born…

Of course, a small flaw occurred during the implementation of the Baron’s plan. He only knew how to use the Magic Potion for becoming an Undying One, but did not know that once this Magic Potion was used, the user’s body would forever retain the physique and appearance they had when they took the potion. Thus, Elizabeth became a little princess who would never grow up!

“For my father’s ideal, I don’t mind this little girl’s body that will never grow up!” Elizabeth sweetly laughed, twirled in her princess dress in the Banquet Hall, though a trace of sadness flashed in her eyes. “When Father realized I would never grow up again, he destroyed all records about me within the family, entrusting each generation of Baron Albert with the duty of guarding me, this Undying princess!”

“Thomas, is that true?” Hearing Elizabeth reveal the Albert Family secret completely, a flash of surprise appeared in Nova’s eyes, and she couldn’t help but look at Baron Thomas Albert.

Seeing Thomas, the current Baron Albert, nod gently, the Demon Hunters felt mixed emotions. Although they maintained their encircling formation, the wariness on their faces lessened considerably.

Just as they could see the accuracy of Qin Lun’s conjecture, they could now also judge the truth of Elizabeth’s story. If someone made up such a story on the spot, these shrewd Demon Hunters would see through it immediately.

If what the Albert Family did was related to the first Baron Albert, as long as they did not resist, then the matter of right or wrong would probably have to be handed over to the Demon Hunter headquarters for judgment.

Right at that moment, a discordant voice sounded in the Banquet Hall.

“Since Baron Lorenzo Albert tasked you with teaching the younger generations of the Albert Family, then what is the deal with the two newly emerged creatures?” Qin Lun had, at some point, retreated from the center of the Banquet Hall to near the entrance.

“Although the Undying One was his daughter, Father still worried that the Magic Potion for becoming an Undying One might change my mind. So, he made a Servant Contract with me.” Elizabeth seemed to ignore Qin Lun’s question, just staring blankly at the doll in her hands.

“The Servant Contract with the Undying One counteracted the Guardian Power within him and damaged his health. In just twenty years, he reached the end of his life.” Elizabeth spread open her two snow-white little arms and gestured.

“Do you know? The man once called the Lion of Odia weighed only forty pounds when he died. His limbs were dry like sticks, with a protruding little belly, just like a stray dog dead on the street!”

A strange chill ran up everyone’s spines. Elizabeth’s words were like soft whispers from the netherworld.

“For fifty years after Father’s death, I woke up countless times from nightmares, repeating the words Father taught me over and over again. ‘A thousand-year duty, a thousand-year guard, a thousand-year glory.’ At that time, I felt like I had already died with Father. Those words were our epitaph!”

Elizabeth lifted her head and smiled brightly. “Luckily, the nightmares about Father only lasted a little over fifty years. After that, I never dreamed of Father again. Even if I saw his portrait during the day, I couldn’t recall him in my dreams.”

Qin Lun sighed softly. He knew Elizabeth hadn’t finished.

“Although Father left my dreams, the nightmares weren’t over yet! For the next hundred years, other people started appearing in my dreams. They included not only Albert members but also servants tasked with taking care of me.” Elizabeth’s little hands trembled slightly as she hugged the doll tighter, as if only then could she feel a bit of warmth.

“Doctor Stan, you should understand, right? That feeling of watching familiar people die one by one before your eyes, while you can do nothing. I played with them on the lawn, watched them grow up. Those innocent, cute smiles slowly became mature and steady, then aged and withered.”

“I was their playmate, their sister, their mother, their teacher, and also their daughter and granddaughter. They accompanied me, guarded me, took care of me. And I taught them, relied on them, and finally… buried them!”

“During that hundred years, at every funeral, I would recall the entire life of that old person in the coffin. Joy, sorrow, helplessness, pain—they had everything in life!” A trace of envy appeared on Elizabeth’s face. “Sometimes, I often wondered, if it were me lying there, could I also have all that?”

“Father gave me a long life, but he also took away my own life. I was like an observer, only seeing other people’s lives.” At this point, Elizabeth showed a hint of joy and shook her little fist.

“However, during an accidental event, I had a dispute with a young Albert companion. We fought like two warriors. He pulled my hair, broke my head, and I bit his hand and kicked his butt hard. During the fight, his wound was stained with my blood. A week later, he became the first… Albert Werewolf!”

“Princess Elizabeth is telling the truth. This incident shocked the Baron Albert of that time. At first, they imprisoned the werewolf in the Dungeon Sub-fortress. But later, they discovered that Albert members who turned into werewolves still retained their intelligence and could become helpers for the Demon Hunters. So, after obtaining Princess Elizabeth’s consent, they began training some Albert members to become werewolves…”

Thomas sighed and said seriously, “Later, this plan gradually expanded to include some servants who had long served the Albert Family. You can’t just blame Princess Elizabeth for this. None of us could bear to see… In fact, the Albert Family rarely intermarried with outsiders anymore for this very reason. Except for one person who had to sacrifice and become the Baron, the other Albert Demon Hunters were sent away from the castle after they grew up.”

“So, originally, you planned for Stephen to become the next Baron Albert, and for Bonnie to go out and continue the Albert Family’s human bloodline?” Meyer frowned and said, “Then what about Little Miller?”

“Bam!” A huge floor-to-ceiling window in the Banquet Hall suddenly shattered. A nimble figure leaped into the Banquet Hall from outside the window. At the same time, a hoarse, low male voice rang out.

“Let me answer that question for you Demon Hunters!”

“What… is this thing?” After clearly seeing the figure that leaped into the Banquet Hall, looks of shock appeared on the faces of the Demon Hunters.

This person wore the uniform of a town sheriff. He had wet, long blond hair, a pale and handsome face, bewitching purple pupils, and two sharp fangs protruding from his lips. Most strangely, a pair of huge bat wings slowly flapped behind him, somewhat resembling the wings of a Gargoyle, and he hovered half a foot off the ground.

Qin Lun’s pupils contracted slightly. The Demon Hunters didn’t recognize this creature, but he had seen it in some books. It was a mythical creature often appearing alongside werewolves—a Vampire, also known as the Blood Clan.