Chapter 410: Let's Go Plague the Secret Faction

'Unremarkable. The materials should have three holy materials added to them.'

Qi Suian looked at the Seal of Faith. It was shaped like the church's icon, a resplendent gold all over, and should have been cast from orichalcum.

'After all, adamantine is for armor and mithril is for weapons, so orichalcum, as one of the three great holy materials, must be related to Divine Techniques.'

'But it probably isn't solid orichalcum. I'd guess it's like the dagger Pastor Roy gave me—just plated with a layer.'

'Otherwise, a Holy Seal this big in my hand would be worth nearly a third of the payment.'

'Would the church really make such a loss-making deal?' Qi Suian didn't believe it for a second.

He ran a quick check, and just as Qi Suian suspected, it was only plated with a layer of orichalcum on the surface.

'So, this Secret Silver Dagger has a time limit too?' Qi Suian suddenly thought.

'Since they're both plated, it makes no sense for the Holy Seal and the Canon Bible to have a time limit, but not the mithril dagger, right?'

The thought flashed through his mind, but Qi Suian quickly suppressed it. These were not things he should be worrying about right now.

What he needed to consider now was what exactly this thing was.

From his perspective, the Holy Seal was just a decorative item with some Extraordinary properties, at most useful for fending off the Blood Race.

However, any member of the Blood Race that could be repelled by the Holy Seal and the Bible could be directly shoved into the Melting Furnace by Qi Suian.

Against the truly powerful existences among the Blood Race, this thing was utterly useless.

As for pious faith, that was asking too much of Qi Suian. It was something he was completely incapable of.

It would be easier for him to believe in a protagonist's plot armor than in some so-called illusory lord.

The Seal of Faith was just a medium. Whether he could obtain a Divine Technique still depended on himself.

Otherwise, how could it be that only a minority of even the Discipline Priests managed to obtain Divine Techniques?

The scarcity of Extraordinary beings was the shortcoming of the human kingdoms. Although the church had done its best to compensate, it was still constrained by rigid rules.

The simplest example was that to become a Discipline Priest, one had to be of noble birth.

If this restriction were removed, allowing commoners to access the Extraordinary path of becoming a Discipline Priest, there would be no shortage of people.

So Qi Suian couldn't understand why, even at a time like this, they were so stubbornly fixated on bloodlines.

'Take the previous Ghost World for instance. It was terrible, yes, but they were definitely flexible and adaptable.'

'The human kingdoms of this Blood Race World are not only inflexible, but also terrible.'

If Qi Suian were the church, he would just create a massive Seal of Faith and Canon Bible, then travel the kingdoms to recruit believers.

Even if only one Discipline Priest emerged from every thousand commoners, the efficiency would be far greater than relying solely on the nobility.

The pious faith that the nobles lacked, the commoners had in abundance.

Let's put it this way: the commoners of Baron Fisher's Territory were living in terrible conditions now, but if you were to make a comparison, Qi Suian was confident their happiness level would rank in the middle among all territories.

Suffering, combined with the way people follow the examples of their superiors, meant the truly devout believers were actually among the commoners.

'Wait... I think I know why they don't open it up to commoners.'

'Because if they did, it might actually be possible to overthrow the Blood Race.' Qi Suian suddenly realized that many nobles aspired to become members of the Blood Race, to possess eternal life and Extraordinary power.

'Even the kings of the kingdoms might be thinking the same thing.'

'But the existence of the church holds them back, forcing them not to cross the line.'

'So the church is getting worse and worse off. The attack by Vlad III, Son of the Dragon, was likely prompted by some kind of signal from the kingdoms.'

'This is also why the Blood Bath Queen has remained silent.'

'The apocalypse for humanity has already arrived. The only ones still resisting are probably the church.'

'The other great nobles, monarchs, kings, and so on, have most likely already switched sides.' Qi Suian figured out the cause and effect in an instant.

Especially with the Phoenician Kingdom as a springboard, the Blood Race's Demon Faction officially launched the war.

"AI Brain, mobilize the satellites and check the situation."

"Keep an eye on the movements and trends of the Wallachia Kingdom's army," Qi Suian said.

Under the AI Brain's control, the satellite sub-units in the sky began to lock onto the situation with the Wallachia Kingdom's army.

The lowest-ranking members of the Demon Faction's Blood Race were Non-commissioned Officers, while the soldiers were all composed of ghouls—humans who were loyal Blood Race slaves, charging into battle for their masters.

Meanwhile, the church on the front lines of the resistance was suffering heavy casualties. They were short on manpower, and the kingdoms were only putting on a show of helping, all of them thinking about surrendering and becoming part of the Blood Race.

Only a small number of nobles, upholding their own honor, were still resisting.

Watching the blurry torrent on the satellite feed, charging forward ceaselessly like tiny ants, Qi Suian understood that humanity was doomed to lose this one.

'As expected of an apocalyptic game, every place I come to is in the middle of a human apocalypse.' Qi Suian didn't have a good solution either.

He could launch a missile over there himself, but then what?

The only ones who would die would be the human ghouls. To put it bluntly, they were just a bunch of slaves. Even if they all died, it would at best repel the Wallachia Kingdom for a short time. It wouldn't hurt the root of the Blood Race at all.

If they were willing to pay the price, they could even replenish their numbers in ten days at most.

The church's portrayal of the devil's terror was a double-edged sword. It made the commoners clearly recognize the danger of the Blood Race.

But the Blood Race could also use that same fear to enslave the commoners.

[If nothing unexpected happens, the Grand Kingdom's conscription order for you is on its way]

The Grand Kingdom was still barely under the church's control, so it wouldn't side with the Blood Race too obviously.

Therefore, it would dispatch troops to support the church.

However, the ones actually contributing forces certainly wouldn't be the great nobles. They definitely wouldn't risk their own strength.

The end result was that the burden was passed down to the bottom, to barons with no backing like the Fisher family.

If they died, it didn't matter. It just freed up a fief for interests to be re-divided.

"Oh, whatever. We'll pack up our valuables and make a run for it later." Qi Suian casually tossed the Seal of Faith into his Subspace Pocket.

He then flipped through the Canon Bible. After reading it, he felt that it was indeed a good book.

If everyone strictly followed the commandments in the book, the entire world would become a utopia, free of crime, injustice, and the like.

It's a good book, but not even the Ascetics could follow it completely, let alone the Discipline Priests.

An outlaw like Qi Suian had zero chance of following it.

'If I actually followed it, I'd be a great Saint.'

"Just as useless." Qi Suian tossed it into the Subspace Pocket along with the other item.

He couldn't obtain Divine Techniques, and the Blood Race were just corpses to him. Right now, if Qi Suian wanted to get stronger using the local factions, there were only two ways.

The first was to use the Blood Race as fuel, and the other was to steal the Blood Race's Thirteen Sacred Artifacts.

The Thirteen Sacred Artifacts were the source of the Blood Race's power. Even if he couldn't use them after obtaining them, Qi Suian could still use them as fuel or modules.

'But the church should have a similar source of power, right?'

'The Seal of Faith should be similar to a true name, while the Canon Bible is the inheritance.'

'It's just more like a low-spec version, not as good as the Blood Race.' Qi Suian wasn't intentionally belittling humans; it was simply a fact.

And wasn't it because the Blood Race came with the inherent ability of eternal life? Very few people could resist that.

Even if it meant becoming a monster that feared light and craved blood, it was nothing compared to immense power and eternal life.

"Let's go. Let's leave this crappy place and head to the front lines. We'll see if we can find a fourth-generation Blood Race member and pry some useful information out of them."

As for the third-generation Blood Race, with Vlad III, Son of the Dragon, around, Qi Suian wouldn't touch them for now.

[Actually, you don't necessarily have to choose the Demon Faction. The Secret Faction might be more suitable for you]

[After all, they are flying rats in the gutter. They are more cautious in their actions and won't easily flip the table]

[So these members of the Blood Race might be more rule-abiding in their conduct]

[You, on the other hand, don't follow the rules at all. On the contrary, you could achieve better results]

"I get it. You're saying it's like a scholar meeting a soldier—reasoning is useless, right?" Hearing this, Qi Suian seriously considered the AI Brain's suggestion.

The advantage was that it's fast and efficient. The disadvantage was the same.

This speed and efficiency weren't just useful for Qi Suian; it was the same for the Blood Race of the Secret Faction.

If he chose them, he would definitely have to go to the Transylvania Kingdom, where the Blood Bath Queen resides. That was the Secret Faction's main base.

'If you stir up trouble there, how could they possibly not notice?'

'Even if it doesn't alert the Blood Bath Queen herself, the disappearance of a fourth-generation Blood Race member is no small matter. It will definitely attract attention.'

"Alright, I'll choose the Secret Faction then. The Demon Faction side is indeed too chaotic."

"Vlad III, Son of the Dragon, is too aggressive. If I go there, I'll easily become a target." Qi Suian chose to follow the AI Brain's advice.

"A set of the Holy Seal and Bible has lost its blessing. I need to arrange for someone to pay a follow-up visit." Cardinal Hammond's hand paused. He then looked at the unblessed Holy Seal and Bible, his brow tightly furrowed.

In the region of the Grand Kingdom under his jurisdiction, many people possessed a Holy Seal and Bible, but this particular set left a deep impression on him.

Seven days ago, that Baron Fisher had purchased it from the church. Pastor Roy had already received the payment but had yet to return.

So it should be impossible for it to have lost its blessing.

"My apologies, Baron Fisher. I will personally conduct your funeral," Hammond sighed.

For this to happen, there was only one possibility.

A powerful member of the Blood Race had descended, and their immense dark power had devoured the blessing on the Holy Seal and Bible.

This meant it was highly likely that Baron Fisher had met with disaster.

Of course, besides death, it was also possible he was embraced and turned into one of the Blood Race. But either way, it meant that Baron Fisher, the human, had completely disappeared.

'The fledglings of the Thin Blood Clan couldn't do something like this. So, was it the Toredor Clan from the Thirteen Clans taking revenge after the fact?'

'Baron Fisher, how on earth did you provoke the Toredor Clan? First the Governor General, and now such a powerful Blood Race member.'

'Could it be that the Fisher family is hiding some unknown secret?'

'It seems I'll have to investigate personally.' Hammond naturally didn't believe it was an accident.

For a mere baron to attract attention once was understandable, but for it to happen a second time, there was definitely something wrong.

It was enough to warrant a personal trip.

"A pity. The Fisher family is already extinct," Hammond said softly.