Chapter 87: Hibernation
“If it’s too painful, you can just drink Ara’s blood,” Ara said, her expression stubborn, yet sincere. “It’s okay, Bai. Ara has a lot of blood.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll listen to Ara,” Bai smiled, pinching Ara’s cheek, though she sighed inwardly.
She didn’t know the consequences of drinking a Vampire’s blood. The Empire’s records on Vampires were sparse, and she had no other way of obtaining information about demons.
If it was just a loss of blood, it would be fine, but if there were other… complications…
She wasn’t willing to take that risk.
“Alright, let’s get ready. The festival is about to start,” Bai said, standing up, the wound on her arm already healed.
With her Vampire bloodline, her regenerative abilities had improved significantly.
However, drinking her own blood only temporarily suppressed the urge, it didn’t solve the underlying “blood thirst” unique to Vampires.
She would have to wait until she met Queen Shaya to find out if this was her doing…
“But first,” Bai looked at her reflection in the mirror. “Maybe I should ask Lady Leticia to put my hair in pigtails?”
The crimson hair… it would look good in pigtails…
…
The eastern marketplace of the capital, in an unassuming, dark alley.
Even in this hidden corner, with Bai’s patrol routes and the abundance of knights, it was thoroughly covered.
And this area was one of the key locations they had identified.
Sasha and Ice Lily were hiding here, in their true forms, not using any disguises.
Sasha knew about the capital’s large-scale detector; it had been created in the Vikarn research facility.
Besides her sister Neily, she was the only one who truly understood Vikarn and its devices.
But understanding it didn’t mean she could evade it. She didn’t possess the [Absolute Negation] Authority like Ara, and the scepter couldn’t be wielded by just anyone.
Ice Lily, though powerful, wasn’t strong enough to take on three Legendary Knights and four Knight units. And Sasha’s powers were functional, not combat-oriented.
As for blending in with the crowd, that was out of the question. Ice Lily’s appearance was too distinctive.
And with Bai, who was familiar with Ice Lily, in charge of the capital’s defense, Sasha knew she wouldn’t be able to hide the source of Ares’s injuries for long.
So, their situation was precarious. They had no choice but to lay low, waiting for an opportunity.
But they were running out of time…
Another Crown Guard patrol passed by. Sasha and Ice Lily used the shadows to avoid detection, but another patrol was approaching from the opposite direction.
Thankfully, they were both slender and managed to squeeze into a narrow crevice, just out of sight.
“This isn’t a long-term solution…” Sasha said, her expression grim, huddled above Ice Lily in the tight space. “I underestimated Little Sister Bai…”
Although they had been laying low, not making contact with the Empire’s high command, especially Bai, who would recognize them, Sasha had still managed to gather a lot of useful information.
“But if she’s not one of my kind, why does she have Ice Demon Demonic Runes?” Ice Lily asked, her voice low. She had assumed Bai was an Ice Demon, but recent reports suggested she had Shadow Demon characteristics as well.
Even with a hybrid bloodline, this shouldn’t be possible.
As she had said before, with two demonic bloodlines, one usually dominated the other. The suppressed one shouldn’t be able to resurface.
“Who knows…” Sasha muttered, though she also had a nagging suspicion.
The Bai she had seen hadn’t shown any demonic traits. It was only after encountering a specific demon that she seemed to… copy their bloodline.
She had heard of something like this before…
Ice Lily, her mind more straightforward, and unfamiliar with the nuances of Abyssal demonology, hadn’t considered other possibilities.
As she pondered this, Ice Lily’s voice, barely a whisper, broke her thoughts.
“Someone’s coming!”
Sasha tensed, preparing to move, but then she heard more footsteps, two sets, lighter and slower than the knights’.
And the Crown Guard patrol, upon encountering them, had stopped.
“…Who is it?” Sasha listened intently, while Ice Lily calmly prepared to relocate.
“…Commander… yes… no problem…”
The Crown Guards’ voices were low, and the other two speakers were even quieter, their words muffled.
But the voices sounded… familiar.
Like a half-forgotten memory, a name on the tip of her tongue, but it kept slipping away.
The two individuals the patrol had encountered were Bai and Ara. But Bai had only officially become Commander yesterday.
Sasha, who had been preparing for the Emperor’s assassination at the time, hadn’t received that information, so the word “Commander” didn’t register.
“Should I take a look?”
The voices weren’t far.
There were plenty of crevices in this alley. She could find a spot to observe them.
Ice Lily had already found a new hiding spot, and she quickly led Sasha there.
She had figured out the patrol patterns.
Just then, the footsteps resumed, the Crown Guard patrol following their usual route.
But the other two, their footsteps lighter, were taking a different path.
A path that would lead them directly to Sasha and Ice Lily’s new hiding place.
