Chapter 353 – Your Blood Is So Sweet – Chaotic Battle (19)
Duke Adams felt his strength slipping away. After arranging so much and plotting for so long, everything had ended up benefiting the Pope instead. No—he refused to accept that.
In the final moment before his last breath, Duke Adams gathered the remnants of his power and let out a roar toward the sky.
The Pope hurriedly drove his blade in once more, and Duke Adams finally died under the holy-water-forged dagger.
But it was already too late. The vampires outside had received Duke Adams’s command and began a massacre against the Church.
The Vampire Prince was nowhere to be found, but a Vampire Duke would serve a similar purpose.
The Pope’s desire for power outweighed everything. He wanted control over the monarchy—he wanted control over the entire nation.
He took Duke Adams’s heart. They were both high-ranking members of the blood race; the effect should be similar. As long as it allowed the king to hold on for a while longer, it would be enough.
Carrying the heart, he slipped out through the back door and headed straight for the royal palace.
Trey and Bai Tang, who had not gone far, saw a dark figure hastily emerge from the back door, something clutched in his hand.
Of all beings, vampires were the most sensitive to the smell of blood. The little squirrel twitched his nose.
“Squeak squeak squeak—” I smell something strong… it stinks…
Duke Adams had drained countless victims and harbored evil intentions; his blood reeked entirely of decay.
“Tang Tang, that’s the Pope. He took Duke Adams’s heart and plans to bring it into the palace to extend the king’s life,” ‘Qiu’er said.
“Host, we have to stop him. If the Pope gains royal power and takes control of the country, this nation is finished,” Xiao A added.
“Squeak squeak squeak—” Trey, let’s follow them and have a look, the little squirrel suggested.
Trey held the squirrel in his hands, affectionately squeezing his tiny paw. “Alright. Whatever Tang Tang wants to do.”
They trailed after the Pope and watched as he reached the palace gates and presented a token. The guards let him pass immediately.
The palace guards were even stricter than those of the Church—ordinary people would never be able to break in.
But Trey was the male lead of this world, and Bai Tang possessed supernatural powers.
They arrived at the moat. Beyond the tall outer wall was the river. The guards here were the most relaxed, since ordinary people couldn’t climb over—from this side, there wasn’t even a place to set one’s foot.
The little squirrel fixed his gaze on a certain point along the wall and summoned vines. Dozens of them twisted together into a sturdy vine ladder that hooked securely over the palace wall.
“Squeak squeak squeak—” The ladder’s done! There’s no way we can’t get in now!
The little squirrel waved proudly at Trey, eager for praise.
Trey praised him, saying, “Tang Tang, you’re amazing. I couldn’t have done that—but you did. You’re even better than me.”
He glanced down at the rushing river below and, worried, tied a red string around the little squirrel’s ankle in case he fell into the water while crossing.
They slipped into the royal palace without trouble. Under the protection of the two systems, the guards were practically blind, unable to see Trey or the little squirrel at all.
The palace was enormous, and neither Trey nor Bai Tang was familiar with its layout.
Qiu’er cleverly pulled out a map—but after staring at the crisscrossing routes, he fell silent.
It seemed… he couldn’t understand it very well either. What should they do now? He was waiting online, urgently.
In critical moments, they still had to rely on Xiao A.
Xiao A took the map, studied it for a moment, and then drew a red line starting from their current position. “If we go this way, we’ll reach the king’s bedchamber the fastest. We need to hurry— the Pope has already arrived there. He and the king have an agreement: once the king takes the medicine, his authority will temporarily be handed over to the Pope to manage…”
“Squeak squeak squeak—” Hurry, hurry!
The little squirrel jumped down and dashed forward.
To avoid hurting him, Trey had no choice but to run alongside.
But the little squirrel’s legs were short, and on flat ground—no matter how hard he ran—his speed was limited.
When Bai Tang began slowing down, Trey caught up and scooped him into his hands. “Tang Tang, you’re tired, aren’t you? Just tell me which way to go—I’ll carry you.”
Panting, Bai Tang nodded and pointed his tiny paw to the right.
The closer they got to the inner palace, the tighter the security became.
Using a column for leverage, Trey leapt onto the roof and moved across the tiles as lightly as a swallow.
Soon, they reached the rooftop above the royal bedchamber.
With help from the vines, Trey slid down with the little squirrel, hovering midair as they peered inside through the window.
The Pope lifted a red cloth. In the center of the tray sat a bright red heart.
“Your Majesty, this is the medicinal catalyst that will cure your illness.”
The king was overjoyed. Despite his frail appearance, he suddenly looked much more spirited.
“Good, good. Quickly—take it to prepare the medicine.”
The maid accepted the tray and withdrew. The Pope sat at the king’s bedside.
“Your Majesty, I’ve brought you the catalyst for the medicine. Shouldn’t you fulfill your promise now?”
The king chuckled. “No need to rush. Once I drink the medicine, I’ll give it to you immediately.”
He would still need time to recuperate after taking the medicine before he could fully recover. And during that period, it would be the perfect opportunity for the Pope to control the royal authority.
The king clapped his hands, and a servant stepped forward carrying a tray. On it lay the authorization document the Pope had dreamed of obtaining.
The king signed his name. The Pope was overjoyed and reached out to take it, but the servant dodged away.
“Haus Ivan, you’re far too impatient. Impatience won’t lead to great achievements,” the king said weakly.
Bai Tang asked, “The king looks seriously ill. Qiu’er, Xiao A, can we treat him with medicine?”
Xiao A replied, “We’d better not. The king and the Pope are the same kind of people. Even if he recovers, he’ll just become another House Ivan. But his youngest son, Prince Harun—he respects the wise and cares for the common people. If he becomes the new king, and Host restrains the vampires properly, life for the people will definitely be better than it is now.”
Qiu’er didn’t object. Since Xiao A had already analyzed everything, he naturally wouldn’t contradict him, especially since Xiao A was correct.
Bai Tang nodded. “I see~”
“Squeak squeak squeak—” The little squirrel tugged at Trey’s finger.
“Tang Tang, where do you want to go?” Trey asked gently, stroking him.
“Squeak squeak squeak—” To the kitchen. We can’t let them put Duke Adams’s heart into the medicine.
Understanding Bai Tang perfectly, Trey tucked the squirrel into his pocket and ran toward the small kitchen within the palace. Before the maid could drop the catalyst into the medicinal brew, Trey knocked her unconscious with a kick.
“I’ll take care of the rest,” Trey said to the little squirrel.
He tossed the catalyst into the fire pit and leapt back out the window the way he came.
The maid waiting outside the door waited and waited, but no one came out. The king sent someone to urge them, so she had no choice but to step inside and check. Unexpectedly, she found the maid responsible for decocting the medicine collapsed on the floor.
The dark liquid in the pot was bubbling, and beside it sat a blood-stained tray.
It must mean the medicine was ready, right?
The maid didn’t have time to think. After ladling the medicine into a bowl, she carried it out.
The king looked at the steaming potion and smiled at the Pope. “This is all thanks to you. Once I’m cured, you’ll be a great benefactor of mine.”
The Pope stood by with a polite smile, saying nothing.
The king drank the medicine in one gulp—only for blood to suddenly pour from his seven orifices. He died on the spot.
Everyone present was stunned.
That decoction was extremely poisonous and required the catalyst to neutralize it. Without the catalyst, it was nothing more than a bowl of poison.
The prince burst in with his guards. Upon seeing his dead father, he shouted, “Seize the traitor who murdered the king!”
“How—how could this be? Impossible…” Haus Ivan couldn’t believe the king had died just like that. He snatched up the authorization document and said to everyone, “This is the authority granted to me by the king. You have no right to arrest me!”
But the “authorization” in the Pope’s hands was a joke. Even if the king hadn’t died, he would never have given royal authority to an outsider.
Trey stepped out from behind the prince and said, “Are you sure that’s an authorization document?”
The moment the king had so readily signed his name, Trey had sensed something was wrong.
Sure enough, when the Pope lowered his head and looked, the name on the document wasn’t Haus Ivan’s—it was the prince’s.
He had been tricked by the king.
“Take him!” the prince commanded. The soldiers restrained the Pope and dragged him away.
“Impossible! I am the true supreme ruler! You’ll regret this—you’ll all regret this! The Church is finished, and so are you!” the Pope’s voice faded into the distance.
But the content of his rant made both the prince and Trey uneasy.
What did he mean?
They soon found out.
The captain of the guards rushed in. “Your Highness, the knights have broken into the palace!”
“What?” The prince hurried outside, only to see the Church knights clashing with the palace soldiers—and gaining the upper hand.
Trey immediately recognized them as his former subordinates.
He drew the Sword of Light, its radiance dazzling under the moon.
“Stop—everyone, stop!”
“Trey…”
“It’s the Knight Commander…”
Recognizing Trey, the knights sheathed their swords. At the same time, the soldiers halted their attack at the prince’s order.
“Trey, they took the Pope away—we have to rescue him,” said the lead knight.
They had all been deceived by the Pope. Under his instructions, if they received no message from him by midnight, they were to break into the palace and save him.
Trey explained the entire situation to them…
The Pope, the king, Duke Adams—each more calculating than the last; none of them were good people.
The little squirrel suddenly heard Qiu’er’s urgent alert.
“Tang Tang, Duke Adams isn’t dead—he’s alive again! Butler Norman is in danger!”
…
The Church Headquarters
Flames roared into the sky.
Edith’s white dress was drenched in blood. She supported Butler Norman against a wall, tears streaming down her face.
“Butler Norman, how are you?” Moments earlier, in order to save her, he had taken Duke Adams’s attack for her.
The elderly vampire’s face was pale. He had been pierced through the heart by Duke Adams. Unless a Vampire Prince came to heal him with higher-level blood, he was unlikely to survive.
“No, no, Butler Norman, hold on. Tang Tang will definitely save you. If you die, when Trey bullies Tang Tang, there’ll be no one left to stand up for him.”
Butler Norman cared most about Bai Tang, so Edith described his future as miserably as she could imagine:
“Trey won’t give him food, won’t let him drink blood, he’ll make Tang Tang live in his castle, hold other women, beat and scold Tang Tang, make him serve Trey and those other women, sleep in Tang Tang’s big bed…”
As Edith spoke, Butler Norman imagined an entire series of tragic scenes. His spirit revived a little, and he struggled to sit up.
“No—I must protect the young prince.”
Author’s Note :
Wasn’t Duke Adams dead? Why is he alive again? The next chapter will explain.
I can already foresee how tragic Trey’s future life will be.
The heroine is such a “divine assist.”