"However, Your Eminence, I beg you to let Father Mia atone for his crimes through meritorious service! I believe he will definitely capture this vampire and deliver him to Your Eminence's hands!"
Immediately following, Bishop Rosen anxiously proposed compensatory measures.
Father Mia, who had nearly been driven mad with anger by Bishop Rosen's despicable words moments earlier, didn't dare drag him down—after all, this was the difference between a county magistrate and a city mayor.
He could only desperately defend himself along the path Bishop Rosen had laid out.
"Yes, Your Eminence, I understand Norton, I understand this vampire! I will definitely capture him! I beg Your Eminence to give us another chance!" Father Mia repeatedly pleaded for mercy, his aged face filled with terror.
Cardinal Adam looked down with gloomy eyes at the two men kneeling on the ground, begging for pity like dogs constantly wagging their tails, and said coldly: "Atone through meritorious service? His Holiness the Pope has already personally inquired about this matter. The demise of two Holy Knights has eliminated any possibility of you atoning through merit!
Moreover, if even two Holy Knights couldn't capture this creature, do you think you alone can catch it?"
Cardinal Adam said no more and directly walked out of the wooden hut.
"Cardinal Adam, Your Eminence, no, no, no, Bishop Rosen was also invol—*hic*!"
Father Mia despairingly knelt on both knees, crawling toward the departing Cardinal Adam while continuously wailing pitifully, defending himself while also trying to drag Bishop Rosen down with him.Cardinal Adam looked down with gloomy eyes at the two men kneeling on the ground, begging for pity like dogs constantly wagging their tails, and said coldly: "Atone through meritorious service? His Holiness the Pope has already personally inquired about this matter. The demise of two Holy Knights has eliminated any possibility of you atoning through merit!
A great sword pierced through Father Mia's neck at the spine, severing his neck, penetrating his chest, and finally emerging from his abdomen.
"Gurgle..." The faint sound of bones and Father Mia's final struggles before death gradually faded away, and the room fell into silence once more.
Father Mia, aged sixty-nine at his death.
Could be considered the shortest-lived priest in many years.
Bishop Rosen in the wooden hut couldn't even be bothered to glance at Father Mia's final death state. He rose from the ground and hurried toward Cardinal Adam's position outside the door.
Actually, even if he hadn't shifted the blame onto Father Mia, he wouldn't have died.
First, as someone who had reached bishop status, life and death required judgment from His Holiness the Pope to ultimately determine guilt and carry out execution.
Second, he was a member of Cardinal Adam's faction. A low bishop was equivalent to a city mayor—already a considerable rank—and Cardinal Adam wouldn't let him die so simply.
But with two Holy Knights dead, someone needed to step up and take responsibility. Although they were only low-ranking Holy Knights, they were still Holy Knights that only His Holiness the Pope could command!
And Father Mia, with the lowest status, was clearly the best candidate.
"Your Eminence." Bishop Rosen stood respectfully behind Cardinal Adam, who was positioned at the doorway, and spoke softly.
"No need to say more. This matter is no longer under our jurisdiction from now on. His Holiness has dispatched the Holy Inquisition Tribunal. From this moment on, the vampire has nothing to do with us."
Cardinal Adam waved his hand indifferently.
"The Holy Inquisition Tribunal???" Bishop Rosen was clearly very surprised upon hearing this name, even to the point of being speechless with shock.
"Haven't they been absent for over a hundred years? Why..."
"His Holiness has grown old." Cardinal Adam turned around, staring into Bishop Rosen's eyes as he spoke.
"He is two hundred and fifty-three years old, already the oldest Pope in many years. Although the sun continues to decline daily, he cannot wait any longer."
Bishop Rosen closed his mouth.
He understood, but he couldn't say it. Cardinal Adam could discuss the Pope, but he couldn't—this was the gap in status and position.
But he knew what Cardinal Adam meant.
Although vampires had always been viewed as unclean by the Church, they had actually always been the creatures most obsessed over by the Church's highest echelons.
Even the various cardinals and elder council of the Church's upper levels used the term "perfect beings" to describe the vampire species.
After all, eternal life and immortality—this is the dream of all humanity.
Also the greatest pursuit of His Holiness the Pope.
But equally, it was also the obstacle hindering Cardinal Adam's progress!
"Don't let anyone find him."
Cardinal Adam's cold gaze rested upon Bishop Rosen before him.
He had held this cardinal position for far too long and had long grown tired of it. He had schemed for so long, accumulated power for so many years—not just to make empty threats!
Therefore, His Holiness the Pope must not achieve immortality!
This was also one of the reasons for Father Mia's death.
----
"Fuck your mother, Mia!"
The good acolyte of Father Mia, Norton, remained completely unaware of Father Mia's glorious ascension to heaven. Considering him his lifelong enemy, Norton still couldn't forget Father Mia—perhaps this was the only proof of Father Mia's existence left in this world.
Curses echoed through the dark cave as Norton lay on the cavern floor, clutching his stomach while continuously writhing back and forth, interspersed with furious swearing.
Nearby, two severely blood-drained corpses appeared pale, with golden armor scattered everywhere.
Why had Norton become like this?
In short: the food was poisoned.
That's right—even though he had cautiously sipped a little earlier to confirm the Church hadn't poisoned the blood, after drinking it all, he discovered something still wasn't right.
Caution was useless.
A scorching, sulfuric acid-like burning sensation erupted in Norton's stomach, tormenting him to the point of wishing for death.
This was the first time he had experienced such intense pain since becoming a vampire.
The excruciating pain even drove Norton to use the great sword to cut open his own stomach, remove it, discard it to the side, hoping to alleviate this agony.
But even as Norton nearly hollowed out his internal organs, that scorching pain showed no signs of improvement. He didn't even see any of the blood he had consumed in his stomach.
This vampire's digestive system was absolutely abnormal!
"Ahhhh......"
Piercing screams accompanied Norton's convulsions, continuously echoing through the cave without end.
"What exactly is this thing? Mia!!!"
"You poisoned the blood!"
"I'm so stupid, really! I only knew these two Church Knights were damned biological weapons specifically designed to deal with vampires, but I never expected they'd also put vampire-specific poison in the blood..."
Norton seemed possessed by Xianglin's wife, his pain mingled with mournful wails.
Even cutting out internal organs couldn't offset this pain; he could only endure it through sheer force.
The cave was pitch black, and Norton's pain drove his fingers to dig hard into the solid rock floor.
"Hah!"
Shallow, ragged breaths made Norton's mouth gape wide as he repeatedly smashed his head against the ground, trying to alleviate his suffering.
He completely failed to notice that the rock his head was hitting had already developed some cracks.
The teeth in his wide-open mouth seemed to be slowly growing, becoming increasingly sharp. Along with this, his skin appeared to be shriveling, his body growing increasingly emaciated.
And it seemed because of this bodily emaciation, the shriveling of his fingers also caused his nails to begin protruding outward.
Finally, the torturous agony gradually began to ease.
Norton's eyes, tightly shut from pain, finally opened.
Two crimson gleams of light appeared in the pitch-black cave, dragging slight afterimages as Norton moved.
Sharp teeth and crimson eyes, emaciated yet unclean!
The blood of these two Holy Knights had actually allowed him to directly bypass the one-year transition period required for a newborn vampire's body to transform from corpse to vampire!
But without doubt, this also completely disrupted Norton's plans for revenge against the Church.