When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 733 - 689: Vampire Alchemy Master

Although it was still early May, as Horn sat in the carriage and looked around, he could already see the locals sitting under the eaves weaving palm leaf roofs.

Generally speaking, Black Snake Bay enters the rainy season around June and July, which lasts until September or October.

So even though the sun was blazing high in the sky, amidst the sound of cicadas, the Black Snake Bay people had to prepare supplies for the rainy season in advance while holding snakes.

Horn's view was of a small village on the outskirts of Celestial Maiden City, with muddy and dirty land, chickens, ducks, and stray dogs running everywhere, and two intersecting long streets with dozens of stilt houses crookedly scattered on either side.

Looking out from the car window, one could always see villagers sitting barefoot under the eaves, watching with wary and unfriendly eyes at the carriage surrounded by armored soldiers.

Although most of these villagers were descendants of Imperial People, with years of intermarriage, they retained the facial structure of the Imperial People, but their skin was wheat-colored, looking more like Horn's old homeland of South American origin.

Retracting his gaze from the faces of these Black Snake Bay people, Horn knocked on the carriage wall: "How much longer?"

"We are inspecting the houses and searching the bodies, at most another quarter of an hour, and you will be able to get off the carriage." The coachman quickly responded.

As a key figure of the Holy Axis, with Black Snake Bay teeming with outlaws, and meeting with the notorious Balance Council, naturally every inch had to be thoroughly checked.

After leaving the Southern County, Horn took a boat back to the Central County to prepare for the establishment of the Black Snake Bay Federation.

However, before formally entering Celestial Maiden City, he took a slight detour to this impoverished village with the purpose of meeting the representative of the secretive Scales Hermitage.

Louise had notified Horn of the Scales Hermitage's intentions in advance, but this notorious Secret Faction only agreed to meet Horn in Black Snake Bay.

The meeting was originally scheduled for March in Celestial Maiden City, but unfortunately the war in Southern County became urgent, so Horn did not go to Celestial Maiden City but instead sailed downstream to attack the Southern County.

The representative of the Scales Hermitage waited outside Celestial Maiden City for two to three months until Horn's arrival.

After waiting a while longer in the stuffy carriage, Duvalon finally knocked on the outer wall of the carriage: "Your Highness, you may step down now." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

As soon as he jumped down from the carriage, Horn squinted his eyes against the glaring sunlight, holding a hand above his eyes to shield them, stepping on the sun-dried dirt road, he approached a stilt house.

Stepping on the dusty steps, opening the teak door, he saw a skinny middle-aged man with bushy eyebrows standing in the center of the empty room.

Unlike the crazy scientist Horn imagined, this middle-aged man wore a simple shirt, appeared malnourished, resembling more of a starving lower-class scholar.

"Your Highness, I understand your soldiers are concerned about your safety, but isn't searching my back door a bit excessive?" Akatean, the representative of the Balance Council, complained with a worried expression upon seeing Horn.

But Duvalon, in charge of security, immediately shouted: "You know what kind of person you are, unwilling to come and pay respects, then you must accept this treatment."

"Our Scales Hermitage is accustomed to being cautious." Akatean slumped his shoulders and retorted softly.

Horn sat on a rattan mat opposite him: "It's also trouble for you to wait so long outside of Celestial Maiden City."

"It's my duty." Akatean bowed his head, seemingly not daring to look Horn in the eye, "After all, we've been searching for Serafe for a long time."

Horn shared a glance with Duvalon beside him, his expression becoming serious: "You're also looking for Serafe?"

"Indeed." Akatean raised his eyelids, sneaking a glance at Horn's expression, "She betrayed the Blood and Flesh Royal Court, and we kindly took her in, though we joked about live dissections, it was just a joke, but she betrayed us again…"

So she really was a vampire and not a Witch, Horn immediately pursued: "She betrayed the Blood and Flesh Royal Court, when was that?"

"Around fifty years ago, I was just a child then, I remember clearly, she wore bright red silk, and had glasses thicker than a fingernail."

"You're over fifty?" Raphael widened his eyes, knowing Wizards often age faster than ordinary people due to long-term mana use.

"I'm sixty-two years old." Akatean rubbed his black hair, chuckling, "This is one of Serafe's research results, I transplanted a heart of a magic-marked leopard and replaced almost all my blood."

Does the Scales Hermitage really have a method for immortality? Horn was surprised, but soon felt something was off, if they truly had such a method, they would have long become guests of the nobility, rather than hiding like they were now?

"How was it accomplished?" Duvalon blurted out on the spot.

"It was a very precise operation, out of fifty volunteers only I survived, aside from the master of blood magic, Serafe, almost no one else could achieve it." Akatean's tone carried a bit of lament, "It's likely to be lost knowledge."

The so-called blood magic is essentially alchemical magic among necromancy, such as crafting zombies and skeleton workers using blood magic, while controlling them is necromancy.

"To even transplant a heart…" Despite witnessing the wonders of spells, at this moment Duvalon felt as if his worldview was subtly crumbling.

"Not just a heart, Master Serafe even attempted brain transplants, but unfortunately failed." Akatean seemed to be reminiscing those glorious days, "She once transplanted four testicles to herself, during which time she even grew a beard, but sadly due to rejection, it soon fell off…"

Triggered by Duvalon's words, Akatean really opened up like an ordinary old man recounting the past slowly.

Listening to Akatean's speech, combined with previously gathered intelligence, Horn slowly summarized the information and life trajectory of this physiological female self-identifying as a female vampire.

Serafe Hilov or Sylvor, the Sylor Clan, an obscure vampire family, likely a branch of the Sorrido Clan.

This female vampire first appeared in Black Snake Bay as a representative of the Blood and Flesh Royal Court and Devil Investor, that year was Imperial Calendar 1385.

Serafe betrayed her clan for unknown reasons in 1394, two years later, she joined the Scales Hermitage, quickly rising to elder status.

The reason for her rapid rise was simple, her exquisite blood magic and absurd theoretical alchemical knowledge.

According to Akatean, this vampire master alchemist was able to deduce alchemical formulas out of thin air and upon validation, they would be completely accurate.

The Wolf Woman and her mother, though not biologically related, were similarly talented.

However, the Wolf Woman excelled more in mechanics and dynamics, while Serafe was adept in alchemy and blood magic.

This female vampire from the Blood and Flesh Royal Court conducted various alchemical and blood magic fusion experiments madly for twenty years.

Besides, she seemed to have an eccentric and manic pursuit of longevity and Witches.

Mind you, the average lifespan of low-level vampires is considered long at a hundred and fifty years, yet she appeared unsatisfied.

Beyond longevity, she even attempted to transform herself into a Witch, or alter the inherent spells of Witches, even injecting Witch blood into wizarding pregnant women's fetuses to try mass-producing Witches.

Though this was very much in tune with the Scales Hermitage's radical ideology, sometimes even extreme elder members found Serafe overly extreme.

"Later, for reasons unknown, probably around 1416, Master Serafe suddenly vanished without a word, taking with her a lot of precious documents and materials." Akatean scratched his oily hair, "As for the adopted daughter you mentioned, I guess that was someone she adopted later, and about the metal connecting the astral plane, we don't know anything."

From leaving the Scales Hermitage in 1416 to leaving Autumn Dusk Island in 1434, there's an 18-year gap.

"You don't know her whereabouts later?" Horn asked persistently.

Akatean shook his head: "Given the 500 gold pounds, I've told you everything I know… as for her last whereabouts… Well, I do know she had a good relationship with Master Cynthia, reportedly she paid a last visit to Master Cynthia before she left…"

"Where is Master Cynthia?" Horn hurriedly pursued.

"Cynthia was a former chairwoman of the Witch Council." Akatean said helplessly, "She grew old and went mad, exiled to the eastern county's forbidden forest to wreak havoc on the savages there, who knows if she's alive or where she is?"