Chapter 18: The Vampire Empress

“Miss Katrina, I will tell you the truth. Please be patient. But one thing I can tell you now is that I didn’t go on any adventure to the Land of Mist. I neither have the interest nor the ability to do such things—it’s just something some people have invented.”
It was only then that Komer realized that news of his disappearance had already spread throughout the Blue Continent. He couldn’t quite understand why they tried to cover it up with such an absurd and ridiculous story about an adventure to the Land of Mist. What was the reason? Was it Puber and the others trying to prevent chaos in the Caucasus and Leon, or was it the Church of Light trying to deceive others?
“Is that so? But this is the official explanation from the Caucasus. You’ve been missing for over a month, and no one seems to have a clear answer. In the end, it was the Church of Light that uncovered the truth. I really thought Viscount Komer admired the Church of Light so much that he’d be willing to go on an adventure there. Hehehe… It turns out I was completely wrong. With Viscount Komer’s dark magic skills, wasn’t there even one idiot in the Church of Light who could see through it?”
The red-haired witch, giggling coquettishly, laughed lasciviously as her body trembled. The curves of her body inspired endless fantasies, and Komer was no exception.
“Miss Katrina, never underestimate those hypocritical hypocrites. Beneath their false appearances lies vile and despicable scheming. If you’re deceived by their outward appearance, your fate might be even worse than mine now.” Komer didn’t hide the fact that he was in a difficult situation.
“Oh? It seems Viscount, you too have suffered greatly at the hands of the Church of Light. How surprising. If the Church of Light encounters a dark mage like you, it should end in a fight to the death. But from what you say, it seems the Church of Light has gained quite an advantage over you. Did I hear that wrong?” The red-haired woman showed great interest in Komer’s ordeal. Her rosy lips glistened, and it seemed she even set aside Komer’s original purpose for the moment.
Komer wasn’t surprised by the pirate empress’s keen intuition. It was impossible to hold such a position solely through martial skills or magic. A calm, wise mind, along with unique and broad vision, was what truly mattered as a leader of an organization.

“A fall into error is a lesson learned, Miss Katrina. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Though the Church of Light is despicable, it doesn’t diminish their strength.” Komer didn’t want to delve deeper into this issue—at least not yet. “As for my reason for coming here, I believe Miss Katrina now understands. I’ve come out to avoid attention. The Church of Light seems reluctant for me to return to the Caucasus and Leon right now; they want me to cooperate with their narrative and rest abroad for a while.”
“You mean you were exiled by the Church of Light?” Katrina raised her arched eyebrows.
“No, the Church of Light doesn’t have the authority to exile anyone. But their influence in the north is sufficient to affect everything. I didn’t want my domain’s development disrupted by such unnecessary factors, so I chose self-exile.”
The smile on Komer’s lips seemed somewhat eerie to Katrina. Such an excuse was hard to believe, but she also wasn’t willing to get entangled in a matter that didn’t concern her. “Oh, so you chose to travel across the Mediterranean? Well, the scenery of the Gigantia Temple and Gozo Island must be passable, right? After all, those places are sacred to you dark practitioners. My Great Corsica is quite alright too. Feel free to visit us on Great Corsica.”
Hearing her insincere words of welcome, Komer couldn’t help but smile. No one would welcome a guest as troublesome as himself at such a time, not even this pirate queen. But he would soon change her mind.
“Miss Katrina, I heard you had some unpleasant encounters with the Goths in the north?” His mocking expression seemed utterly bizarre to the red-haired woman. Komer intended to give her an even greater shock. “It seems the Grey Skulls of the Goths have been rather aggressive lately. I wonder if Miss Katrina has noticed that as well?”
The red-haired woman’s gaze instantly turned fierce, her cold eyes flickering across Komer’s face. Her crimson lips seemed to darken further, as if coated in a layer of bright red blood.

“Lord Viscount, are you trying to amuse me on purpose?” Her tone was gloomy, devoid of any emotion. She stuck out her tongue and licked her crimson lips. The slight twitching of her nostrils seemed to trigger some memory in Komer, but for the moment, he couldn’t recall what that gesture meant. The image of the bold and unrestrained pirate queen vanished instantly, revealing Caterina’s true side.

“Hmm, it’s hard to accept that the Caterina fleet was defeated by their long-time enemy, the Gray Skulls. But then again, considering that Gott and his men use the Magic Mirror to gain an advantage everywhere, it’s not entirely bad for the Caterina fleet to end up like this. However, as far as I know, Gott and his men now possess even more powerful weapons. I wonder how much Miss Caterina knows about this?”

Tilting his head slightly, Komer’s expression seemed to be testing the red-haired girl’s patience to the limit. The dagger in his hand emitted a faint whining sound. Caterina could barely control her emotions. She struggled hard to keep herself from losing control despite her trembling arms. Yet, the glowing clouds around the dagger and its whining sound still revealed her fear and unease. Secrets even many high-ranking members of her own fleet didn’t know—how did this guy know all of this? Who was he, and how could he know everything?!

“Who exactly are you? If you can’t give me a precise and reliable answer, I think you’ll regret it for life. Maybe you won’t even get another chance to regret it!” The red-haired girl’s normally fair cheeks turned cold and fierce. Her slightly curled red lips gave Komer a strange visual sensation. Recalling her earlier actions of twitching her nose and licking her lips, an idea suddenly struck Komer—vampires?!

“Miss Caterina, please calm down. Didn’t I tell you already? I’m Komer from the Caucasus. As for the questions you’re suspicious about, there’s nothing strange about them. After all, the Gray Skulls are still operating off the coast of the Caucasus. Rhodes isn’t too far from the continent, and their supplies all have to pass through my territory. Nothing about them escapes my notice—it’s even closely related to me.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Komer remained calm, unshaken by Katrina’s exaggerated reactions. The pirate queen turned out to be a vampire—no wonder she could wield mental magic so effortlessly. Vampires inherently possessed talent in mental powers, and they also had a natural advantage in practicing dark magic. Yet this vampire queen clearly preferred martial arts and even disdained to invest more effort in magic.

“Oh?” Katrina let out a light snort through her nose. The dagger in her hand finally calmed down under her strong pressure, but she had already made up her mind: if this guy said anything displeasing, even if it meant paying with blood, she would not hesitate to trade blood for his life and keep him on Grande Corsica. “Go on, tell me.”

“It’s simple. What’s currently causing heavy damage to the Katrina Fleet are the Magic Armored Cannons. Both the Thousand-Mile Mirror and the Magic Armored Cannons were designed by me specifically for the Gray Skulls.” His words were concise, yet each one carried shocking impact. Even Katrina was stunned enough to doubt her own ears.

Magic Armored Cannons? The secret of the Thousand-Mile Mirror had also required Katrina to put in considerable effort to bribe insiders within the Gray Skulls to uncover it. But Gott valued the Thousand-Mile Mirror to an extreme degree, only distributing it to those he deemed absolutely trustworthy before going to war at sea. Although she had bribed a few people, she had no chance of accessing the mirror at all.

The last two battles had dealt severe losses to her fleet, leaving them with no chance to engage in close combat. Before their powerful catapults and crossbows could even be used, they were stunned by a strange light emitted from the Gray Skull ships, which were still a hundred meters away. That celestial light plunged her ships into flames instantly. If Katrina hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it could happen in a sea battle from a hundred meters away.

Now, Katrina finally understood the origin of those strange lights—it was the Magic Armored Cannons! At the mention of this term, her entire body trembled. That magical weapon that had destroyed two of her main warships—if she could possess it, not to mention the Gray Skulls, even if all the naval fleets of the Corinthian City-States allied together, Katrina was confident she could destroy them all in one fell swoop!

Komer could sense the various changes in the other person’s gaze in that moment; anyone who hadn’t yet accepted this reality had to carefully examine the truth of the situation. Yet he believed that with Katrina’s intelligence, she would soon understand the intention behind him revealing this secret. As long as there was real value, there would be no shortage of buyers—anyone in the same position would act the same way.