Chapter 123: The Person Abandoned by the World

The commotion outside the council chamber interrupted the heated dispute among the leaders of the Thirteen Clans.

“What’s going on out there? Has someone dared to provoke our Vampire Council?” one clan leader demanded angrily.

Before anyone could answer, the grand doors of the chamber shattered, and a figure stormed in.

“Who dares to act so brazenly within the ancient vampire fortress?” an elder clan leader banged the table in fury, fixing his gaze on the intruder. Yet moments later, his eyes widened in surprise. “Princess Lilliel!”

“Old-timers, stop wasting time here. I have urgent business with you all!” Lilliel rushed in, her voice laced with urgency as she addressed the clan leaders.

“Impudent!” another clan leader rose in anger. “Even if you are the princess of the vampires, you cannot barge into the Vampire Council uninvited!”

“Hmph. Lilliel is the heir apparent to the Vampire Prince. What’s wrong with her entering the council? She is the purest direct descendant of the Dracula family,” Bruch, the chief elder, retorted coldly from the head seat.

“Old Bruch, don’t assume your granddaughter will inevitably succeed as prince. Don’t forget, Princess Liliana is still here. She is the First Princess of the vampires—and the best candidate to inherit the prince’s position!” another clan leader stood to challenge Bruch’s claim.

“Hmph! Liliana?” Another leader joined the fray. “She’s just a half-blood mongrel. What right does she have to claim the prince’s seat and lead the vampires? Besides, Liliana is currently wanted by the vampire clans. The future prince’s throne belongs to Princess Lilliel alone!”

“But Princess Lilliel only possesses ducal-level power. She’s still too weak to inherit the prince’s title. For now, the Vampire Council should temporarily govern,” yet another leader added his voice.

The Thirteen Clans split into three camps: some supported Liliana, others backed Lilliel, while some remained neutral. Chaos once again engulfed the council chamber.

Lilliel’s eyes blazed with fury as she watched the turmoil unfold. Finally, she could bear it no longer. “Enough!” Her sharp command silenced all the clan leaders, who froze in surprise.

“Lilliel, do not be insolent within the Vampire Council,” Bruch reprimanded from his seat.

“I have no time to waste with a bunch of old fogies!” Lilliel snapped at the leaders. “Sister Lilith is dead! Murdered by a prince-level vampire! I’ve come to you only to seek revenge for Lilith, not to listen to your pointless bickering!”

“What? Princess Liliana is dead?” Regardless of their allegiance, all the clan leaders were stunned by the news Lilliel had brought.

“Who did this?” one clan leader shouted in fury. “This is a provocation against our entire vampire race. We must not let them go unpunished!”

“How dare anyone kill Princess Liliana?” another Liliana supporter roared. “No matter who it is, killing the First Princess of the vampires is unforgivable. We will hunt them down!”

“Hmph, a prince-level vampire?” Bruch’s anger flared. “Don’t think that having prince-level power grants one impunity. To us vampires, a mere prince-level being is nothing! Whether Liliana is wanted or not doesn’t change her status as the First Princess. Killing her is a direct insult to our entire race! Anyone who dares challenge vampire dignity must be dealt with!”

Then Bruch addressed the gathered leaders: “Our ancient lineage has not appeared in the world for a thousand years. Now, they have forgotten the existence of vampires. It’s time to remind them what happens when they provoke us! This is no longer the time to waste arguing over who should govern. Our honor must be defended! All clan leaders, mobilize! Let them feel the wrath of the vampires!”

At Bruch’s command, not a single clan leader objected. They rose silently and moved toward the council chamber’s exit. At that moment, every leader’s eyes burned with unrelenting fury.

Meanwhile, in the mortal realm, my final battle with White Night had already begun.

White Night stood silently amid the wilderness, alert to every sound and movement. Suddenly, a massive black scythe sliced through the void behind him, aiming straight for his throat. Sensing the deadly threat, White Night instantly blocked the strike with his body. The enormous scythe flashed and vanished back into the void.

“Liliana, come out! Stop hiding and face me!” White Night shouted into the emptiness. His challenge was met with another fleeting slash of the scythe through the void.

“Damn it!” White Night cursed as he narrowly evaded the attack once more.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like playing cat and mouse?” A shadowy figure gradually emerged from the void, silver hair flowing like moonlight, eyes as dark and deep as the night itself. I stared coldly at White Night before me.

“I’m not done playing yet. I will repay you for everything you did to Xingyu, Xuelan, and Lilliel!” I declared.

“Liliana!” White Night charged furiously, closing the distance in an instant. But his claws only struck an afterimage—I had vanished again into the void.

“Damn it!” White Night roared in frustration. “Don’t think hiding will save you. Liliana, you belong to me. You can’t escape!” His body was enveloped in a flickering gray-white light. Suddenly, a torrent of gray-white energy engulfed everything around him. “Domain—The Gray-White World!”

Within this gray-white world, White Night stood clad in a jester’s costume of the same hues, his expression masked by a half-gray, half-white visage.

“Heh, a jester, huh? That image suits you well,” I taunted, preparing to vanish again, only to find my connection to the void severed by White Night’s domain. I appeared before him and mocked, “Like a clown—pathetically laughable!”

“Exactly, I am laughable!” White Night chuckled, unfazed. “I schemed and strived, only to chase after something that wasn’t mine. In the end, it was all for nothing.” He laughed bitterly. “I spent my life pursuing power and authority, only to realize in the end that it wasn’t what I truly wanted.”

“If you’ve realized that, why do you still refuse to let go?” I asked calmly.

“Because I’m unwilling to accept it!” White Night growled. “I can’t bear that I lost to that useless Xingyu in the end. I need to prove that I am stronger than that loser!” His voice rose. “Liliana, you belong to me! I will prove to you that I surpass Xingyu!”

“So what?” I replied coldly. “Even if you are stronger than Xingyu, in my eyes, Xingyu will always be the best. To me, you are nothing but a miserable ant.”

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” White Night bellowed. “Then die, Liliana!”

With those words, a figure appeared before me—an identical self wielding a giant white scythe, his exquisite face expressionless. This other me was crafted by White Night’s domain, entirely pure white without a single flaw.

“Liliana, experience fighting yourself,” White Night said icily.

The white doppelgänger swung the scythe at me, but before it could touch me, the entire figure shattered instantly.

“How is this possible?” White Night gasped in shock, then turned to me. “You also possess an anti-magic domain?”

“Anti-magic domains are exclusive to the werewolf clan,” I shook my head gently. “I did nothing—it collapsed on its own. Your domain can’t replicate another me.”

“I don’t believe it. My domain is perfect. It can’t have such a flaw,” White Night growled.

“If the real world is white, then your domain is gray—an inverse world. The version of me you created is the opposite of who I truly am. But I am the one who returned from the River of the Dead, cast out by this world. The opposite me is the one recognized by the real world. Naturally, your inverse me cannot exist in this gray world,” I explained calmly. “Perhaps this world is where I truly belong.”

“A castaway of the world?” White Night laughed wildly. “So it turns out we are alike, Liliana! Both abandoned by this world. Only difference is, I am a failure, and you are a revenant.”

“Yes, I am now a revenant—struggling stubbornly in solitude, but ultimately destined to remain alone in the darkness. This world no longer belongs to me,” I said bitterly. “We are truly alike—both chasing what we cannot have. You pursue power and authority; I seek warmth and happiness.”

After that, White Night and I stood in silence, facing one another.

P.S.:

I’ve been struggling to find inspiration recently, so the writing is slow. Thank you all for your patience.