Chapter 169: The Blood Clan and the Doll

The “bullets” fired from the mysterious girl’s gun clearly had a targeting suppression effect on the regeneration abilities of high-level beings like the Blood Clan.

Although Alfiya Constans’s arm, which was accidentally severed by a lightsaber before, quickly regenerated to match her luxurious and classical long dress, the three penetrating wounds on her lower abdomen were a different story. Even though Miss Duchess tried her best to cover them with her hands, radiating a blood-red glow in an attempt to heal herself, the results were minimal at best.

It was probably because she sensed this that Alfiya was so reluctant to let that gun hit her for real.

However, blood is the source of the Blood Clan’s power; after inadvertently falling for the mysterious girl’s trap, the Duchess’s strength and speed had significantly weakened, making it impossible for her to dodge all attacks as effortlessly as before.

“Ugh…”

Feeling that she was beyond hope, Alfiya clutched her continuously bleeding wound and shot a fierce glare at the still expressionless mysterious girl. She then quietly raised her head to glance at the radiant moon hanging in the night sky.

Finally, she did not charge forward to attack again like she had done previously.

“You wretched and cunning doll, I won’t forget this grudge! Just wait!”

With that, she transformed into countless blood-red bats, soaring through the invisible threads spread throughout the sky, quickly disappearing from view.

The mysterious girl holding the gun did not pursue her. Whether it was due to her belief that she no longer had the ability to fly, or if she had other plans in mind, remained unclear.

But to be honest, after such an intense battle, although she succeeded in injuring and repelling the Blood Clan Duchess Alfiya Constans, the mysterious girl herself was not unscathed.

Aside from her initial hasty retreat, she had also exchanged injuries during subsequent combat, grazing the edges of her body with Alfiya’s massive axe. While she didn’t suffer any fatal wounds, she was already looking a bit tattered.

Because of this, her true identity became fully exposed to Miss Vilyric, who had been watching, after Alfiya fled, thanks to a rather sharp remark she made.

A doll created from mechanical and magical engineering.

Another doll.

This was no doubt confirmed by the internal metallic parts that were faintly visible through the mysterious girl’s wounds, along with the occasional sparks flying due to malfunctions.

Watching the blood-colored bat shadow that Alfiya had transformed into flying away, the mysterious girl—or rather, the mysterious doll—lowered her head as if inspecting her own condition.

It seemed she was ready to leave.

To be honest, Vilyric was quite curious about this doll girl.

At first, Alfiya referred to her as a “Patrol Officer” in the shadows of the Holy City, which clearly indicated that this oddly equipped girl belonged to the Church of the Goddess, tasked with maintaining order and ensuring the safety of the people.

In fact, she initially could have pulled the trigger on that first shot much sooner, but she deliberately waited until Alfiya had finished draining the waitress girl’s blood, only attacking after they had moved apart, allowing Alfiya to react and dodge the assault.

Later, when Alfiya was using some Blood Clan magic, akin to hypnosis, to manipulate and erase the waitress girl’s memories, it seemed that, while attempting to buy time to set up a trap, the doll girl intentionally refrained from attacking, presumably to protect the former.

If that were the case, it suggested that the other party was not some disruptor and disaster-causing ruffian, and as long as she remained in this Holy City, it was certain that she would have another chance to encounter either her or her companions.

The current issue facing the Priestess was…

Although she was very interested in both combat parties, Vilyric was presently not proficient enough to control multiple Spiritual Point avatars. Since she had already sent one to track down a fleeing Blood Clan young lady, she could only continue acting as her original self.

She had already been away for quite a while; on the Holy Knight’s side… it would be fine for a while, but if she were to go missing for too long, it might cause worry.

Since she just arrived, it would be best to avoid stirring up too much trouble.

After glancing once more at the quickly cleared battle traces, she once again “flew” up to the roof using her threads, nimbly hopping away in the distance. Though she felt a bit regretful, the Priestess ultimately decided not to follow and chose to leave the area.

…

The Blood Clan is an ethnicity that places special emphasis on factions and blood ties.

And Alfiya Constans is the daughter of the second prince, Lucini Constans, among the noble Blood Clan six princes.

Of course, “daughter” is simply a term of relation; the Blood Clan do not possess reproductive capabilities like most normal beings. This race extends its bloodlines through a process known as “Embrace.”

From the original “first generation,” the second generation of six princes developed, which further branched out into third, fourth, and so on… The group known as the “Blood Clan” gradually formed over long eons.

Naturally, since their reproduction differs from normal life forms, the Blood Clan’s “Embrace” has its advantages, as well as certain significant drawbacks.

Firstly, the Blood Clan undoubtedly possesses far more potent strength and vitality than ordinary beings. Especially the first three generations with high rank and blood purity, they gain comparable strength to that of “legends” upon birth. The second generation princes, with even purer bloodlines, have already broken through species limits, reaching mythic realms.

However, this also stands as the greatest limitation of the Blood Clan.

Their power is endowed by the inherited bloodline, thus, the moment they are born, their strength is almost entirely fixed, making it nearly impossible to step upward even a single step.

The only way to enhance their bloodline purity is to receive source blood endowed by a higher-ranking Blood Clan member—intensifying their lineage.

But after all, this, in a certain sense, is merely the shifting of power between individuals; the strength of the “Blood Clan” as a whole is virtually set in stone.

Blood serves as the source of the Blood Clan’s powers, especially their “source blood,” a precious irreplaceable substance. Each time some is distributed to create descendants, a portion of the Blood Clan’s own power will inevitably be lost.

Therefore, even the strongest of Blood Clan members cannot infinitely create countless descendants. Rather, the higher-tier beings like princes and dukes will be even more cautious when allocating the ability to create descendants, as they may go centuries without bestowing it once.

Thus, in this context, Alfiya became the only child of the second prince, Lucini Constans.

…Or to be more precise, the only child at present.

“Mother, I’m back.”

Pushing open the side door of the manor, Miss Duchess crawled in looking a bit droopy.

However, the expected petite figure did not appear before her eyes. Instead, there stood another very familiar figure to Alfiya.

“Uncle Augustin? Why are you here… Where’s Mother?”

Standing in the corner of the manor hall, the old man in a tailcoat, slowly dusting the cabinet and the expensive vases laid upon it, turned around. A kindly smile flickered across his aged but not overly wrinkled face as he slightly shook his head in resignation.

“She went out to handle some matters and might be late getting back, Alfiya. She just went out to find some food… How did you end up like this?”

   

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