Dawn Continent. A fortress had risen up against the mountainside in just a few days. This fortresss outer walls were made up of salvaged airship armor, which made it far stronger than ordinary structures.

Taking advantage of the natural landscape, the diverging cliffsides were now dotted with hidden sentries and firing ports. The places where the demonkin had taken cover during the last battle had been leveled. Now, invaders would have to pave a path with their lives to reach the fortress.

Even now, Howard wasnt all that satisfied yet. He appeared in a corner of the fortress and began making minor adjustments to the defensive arrangements and personnel, all in the name of maximizing their role.

Nighteye and Qianye sat atop the cliff, gazing at the distant skies. The raging sun hung in the sky, spewing out burning origin power from time to time.

Qianye asked as he watched Howards busy figure, Is there a way for him to recover?

Nighteye sighed. Howard suffered heavy injuries during his awakening process and didnt get enough essence blood. Such injuries can only be treated with an ancient blood pond, but the Byrne clans blood ponds are all in demonkin hands. Theres really no way now.

How long will it take to rebuild a blood pond?

According to ancient standards, a blood pond needs to absorb a hundred years of origin power. Blood ponds with ancient in their name have absorbed at least a thousand years of acc.u.mulation. Now that the River of Blood is moving further away, the recovery of blood ponds will require an even greater time.

This move by the Demon King targeted the vampires weakness. Without their ancient blood pond, these descendants would have to reacc.u.mulate for hundreds of years even if they could survive and remain hidden. To restore their past glory, they would have to work for thousands of years.

But people werent entirely in despair because the Queen of the Night was still around, and she was the hope of the vampire race.

At this moment, Zhuji ran over from a distance. Papa, look what I caught!

A giant bug with a spiked carapace was struggling wildly in her hands, spraying out dense yellowish mist. It was easy to see that the poison was extremely strong. However, this so-called poison was a joke to Little Zhuji, and the bugs spiked body was locked tightly in her grasp.

Qianyes smile froze up as he turned back. Careful!

Just as she was wondering, a large shadow crept over her. Zhuji turned around in surprise and saw an exceptionally tall man behind her. This persons tyrannical aura covered the entire clifftop.

So this is your daughter. He let out a burst of muffled laughter.

Sousa! Stop!

Sousa ignored Qianyes roar as he grabbed Little Zhuji. He then lifted her to eye level for further observation.

Qianye felt his entire body run cold. His half-initiated sprint came to a halt, afraid that an angry Sousa would crush Zhuji to death. He was fast, but he wasnt confident he could outpace Sousas fingers. This werewolf Sousa was famed for his strength.

Haha! Who wouldve thought Sousa laughed out loud, but his laughter came to a stop halfway through.

Little Zhuji pried the great monarchs fingers open and jumped down. She then ran toward Qianye at lightning speed.

Sousa was stunned. He glanced at his hand, hardly able to believe what had just happened.

As a werewolf great dark monarch, he had always been proud of his strength. He had even modified his own body to obtain greater strength, turning him into a four-meter giant in his full combat state.

Sousa had never imagined that this pretty little girlone who looked like she might break in half with a casual squeezecould pry his fingers open and escape. This feeling was akin to an ant lifting the finger trying to squish it.

Sousa moved his fingers about and felt a bit of pain from his joints. This young girls brute strength could probably compare to certain grand dukes. He had even suffered some pain because he was caught off-guard.

Sousa lowered his hand as though nothing had happened. He scanned Qianye and Nighteye, saying, Wheres Howard? Tell him to come out and meet me.

Qianye grabbed Zhuji and put her behind him. Why are you here?

Sousa sneered, Do werewolves need a reason to exterminate vampires?

Nighteye said indifferently, I said the same to the werewolves some time ago.

Sousas eyes lit up with flames of fury. The council made you commander of the allied army, yet you sent all of my soldiers to die at the Imperial fortress! I bet you never thought itd be your turn one day, huh?

Nighteye said mockingly, To wear down the werewolves was a decision made by the vampires, demonkin, and arachne. Youre the only part that doesnt know. Now you think youve found a protector in the Demon King, but the end result will be the same. The vampires will rise again while you become cannon fodder.

Sousa was furious. Even if the vampires rise again, you wont be around to see it! I heard Howard is half-crippled now. Looks like the news is true since he doesnt dare to come out. Since thats the case, Ill send you two young brats back to the River of Blood!

They werent in the new world at the moment, and the environment on the Dawn Continent favored those who were stronger. Hence, it was only natural that Qianye and Nighteye wouldnt fight him head-on. Instead, the group fled in different directions. The moment he tried to move, Qianye discovered that Sousas palm strike had generated a gravitational force that made it difficult to move.

Nighteye was also affected, but as an ancient legend, she managed to charge out in a burst of blood energy.

Little Zhuji ran with all her might and actually managed to escape the pull of this attack. Only Qianye remained under Sousas palm.

The werewolf monarch was stunned. He had already increased his estimation due to Zhujis performance, but he hadnt expected both Nighteye and Zhuji to escape his attack range. However, he kept on with his attack since Qianye was still there. He was rather confident that he could slap Qianye into oblivion without Nighteye to share the load.

He was a mere duke.

With no way to evade, Qianye decided to just let loose. His blood core throbbed with the sound of a giant bell as he raised his arms to block the attack!

A thunderous rumble ensued. Half of Qianyes body sank into the ground, sending a spiderweb of cracks out in every direction.

Due to the prolonged exposure to daybreak origin power, the rocks and soil on Dawn Continent were as strong as high-grade alloy and highly resistant to heat. Qianye had used an inconceivable technique to spread out the impact across a large area, producing the current phenomenon.

Even so, Qianye was still slammed into the ground. A single slam from Sousa contained enough force to shatter half of an airships armor.

Just that?

Sousa glanced at his hand and then at Qianye. The latters speed of recovery wasnt a liethe man had managed to take a slap head-on, only receiving slight injuries. He didnt even cough up blood, and what little blood that did trickle out of his mouth burst into flames and vanished almost immediately.

The werewolf great monarchs judgment was wrong once again. This time, even Sousa himself felt that it was inexcusable. This place wasnt the new world where experts were restrained by the environment and unable to utilize the laws.

All of a sudden, a blade radiance lit up behind Sousa and slashed at his back. Sousa couldnt ignore this attack from Awakening Dream. He swung his arm backward, turning the terrifying gravitational power to a repulsion force. Nighteye was pushed dozens of meters away and Awakening Dream missed its mark.

Qianye took a deep breath, entering a state of blood boil.

Sousa didnt chase after Nighteye and instead turned back to size Qianye up. If I didnt know better, I wouldve thought you were the Spider Queens descendant.

The vampires potential is much higher than you think, said Qianye.

Sousa snorted. Is that so? You wont have the opportunity to realize that potential. Eunuch Liu wont be here to save you today. As for Nighteye, even I might not be her match if she recovers her full strength, but now? Shes just a small inconvenience.

Nighteyes figure flickered away from the repulsion force and fired yet another sword radiance at Sousas back. However, the attack was mutually canceled out by a black wall.

You appeared a bit earlier than expected. Sousas voice was cold.

Brock had no intention of leaving the werewolf any face. His Majestys mission comes first. I cant let them escape just to humor your vanity.

Sousas brows knitted together as a terrifying aura spread out in the air. How can two mere dukes escape from my hands?

Mere dukes? Brock chuckled. I heard that the one in front of you once injured a great dark monarch. Hes also the one who took on an all-out attack from a great dark monarch.

Sousas face turned red. He used an underhanded method to ambush me back then!

Is that so? I only see the results.

Sousa had no way to retort because, in the end, the werewolves of Moorland were forced to contain themselves near their door. They had to avoid Qianye even if they wanted to expand outward.

Back then, Qianye had kept Sousa busy while Eunuch Liu launched a successful sneak attack. There was also the will of the new world hovering above head, so the werewolf monarch had no choice but to flee. Brocks mockery was difficult for Sousa to refute. What would he say? That Eunuch Liu was much stronger than Brock?

That was indeed the case, but what would that prove? His baseline level of pride as a great dark monarch wouldnt allow him to argue like this. Moreover, the situation at hand was special, so he couldnt do anything to Brock. At least, he didnt dare to break out in full hostility against the demonkin nor did he dare affect the Demon Kings plans.

Qianye was surprised to find that Brock and Sousa were here for the Book of Darkness. Apparently, it was more important than wiping out the vampire descendants. It looked like they still had no idea that the Azure King Reynold had fused Qianyes blood core and heart into the Book of Darkness. Handing over the book was like committing suicide.

Qianye said, Surrendering without a fight isnt my style.

Then I wont hold back anymore.

Working so hard for the demonkin, huh? Did you ever stop to think about the consequences? The Summit of Peaks wont agree to this, would they? Qianye said.

Summit of Peaks? Theyve long since abandoned tradition and ancestry. They are all sinners who do not respect our ancestors! Compared to the vampires, we feel more disgusted by the Summit of Peaks.

Qianye said coldly, So sanctimonious about a betrayal, no wonder youre the weakest great dark monarch.

This time, Sousa was truly livid. Who told you Im the weakest?

Is there anyone who cant beat you among the great dark monarchs? Qianye asked.

Of course there is! For instance Sousa wanted to put out some names when Brock cut him short. Hes stalling for time!

What meaning is there in stalling? Sousa asked.

Of course there is. The one who had replied was Qianye and not Brock.

Sousa narrowed his eyes. Are you making fun of me?

Qianye produced Dragonsgrave, saying, I wouldnt dare to make fun of a great dark monarch. Im just saying that if I were a werewolf, I would neither put down my hatred of the vampires nor would I bend my knee to the demonkin. At least in name, the werewolves are one of the four holy races, and a great dark monarch should be afforded a certain level of respect.

Sousas expression was gloomy. Very good, youve really angered me.

Qianye retreated several dozen meters, putting some distance between him and Sousa.

No use! Sousa arrived in front of Qianye with a single step, his giant palm bearing down on Qianye like a leaden cloud.

Qianye was just about to channel his origin power to evade when Sousa stomped on the ground. The tremors of origin power broke down Qianyes own acc.u.mulated energy.

Qianye felt as though his feet were stuck in mud, unable to exert force at all. Watching Sousas giant palm descend, he could only attempt to block the attack again.

A thunderous explosion resounded as the giant palm came down.

Sousa let out a muffled groan and actually took half a step back. There was a burning sensation on his palm, almost as though it had been cut with a knife. This slap seemed to have landed on an erect dagger. His palm was as hard as a war axe, but he still couldnt avoid sustaining a bit of damage.

Qianye had actually wounded him while defending? Sousa glanced at Qianye in surprise.

The young man was gazing at East Peak with a surprised expression. The blade was slightly bent, and there were some signs of damage. This blade had been infused with the giant rhinos horn and soaked in the Pond of Life. Qianye had thought it would never suffer any damage. Who wouldve thought blocking Sousas attack would damage it? It would seem that invincibility was relative to the opponent.

Sousa damaging East Peak was something Qianye hadnt expected. He had just taken a blow from the werewolfit was hard but not impossible to block. The second blow mightve been stronger, but Qianye didnt feel like he couldnt take it.

What exactly was going on? Could East Peak have become soft?