Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 5] Chapter 169

[Vol. 5] Chapter 169: The Vampire and the Doll

The “bullets” fired from the mysterious girl’s gun clearly had some sort of suppressive effect specifically targeting the regenerative abilities of high-level beings like vampires.

Previously, when her arm was accidentally severed by the light blade, it had quickly regenerated, along with her elegant, classical gown.

However, the three piercing wounds in Avrilia’s abdomen were different. Despite the duchess’s efforts to press her hands over them and emit a crimson light in an attempt to heal, the results were minimal.

Perhaps sensing this beforehand, Avrilia had been trying her hardest to avoid being directly hit by that gun.

But blood is the source of a vampire’s power. After falling into the mysterious girl’s trap earlier, the duchess’s strength and speed had been greatly reduced in a short time, making it impossible for her to evade every attack as effortlessly as before.

“Guh…!”

Seemingly realizing she had no chance of winning, Avrilia, clutching the bleeding wound on her abdomen, glared fiercely at the mysterious girl, who remained expressionless and silent. She then cast a quick glance at the night sky, where the crescent moon hung bright.

Finally, she didn’t charge forward for another attack, as she had done every time before.

“Despicable and cunning doll, I will remember this grudge! You just wait!”

After speaking, she transformed once again into countless blood-red bats that soared into the sky, weaving through the invisible threads in the air and disappearing into the night.

The mysterious girl holding the gun did not pursue, perhaps because she lacked the ability to fly or because the trap had been discovered, making it impossible to stop the vampire. Or maybe she had other plans.

However, despite successfully wounding and driving away the vampire girl, Avrilia Constantius. The mysterious girl was not entirely unscathed.

Aside from her initial retreat, during the rest of the battle, she had exchanged blows multiple times, with Avrilia’s giant axe grazing her a few times. Though none of the wounds were fatal, her body was now in a somewhat tattered state.

Because of this, her true identity was completely revealed to Violet, the onlooker, through the vampire’s parting words.

A doll, created through mechanical and magical engineering.

A Spirit Puppet Tribe.

This fact was made certain by the faintly exposed metal parts beneath the girl’s wounds and the occasional sparks flickering from malfunctions.

Looking up at the blood-red bats that were once Avrilia, the mysterious girl—no, the mysterious doll—lowered her head, seemingly inspecting her own condition.

It seemed like she was preparing to leave.

To be honest, Violet was quite curious about this doll-like girl.

At the beginning, Avrilia referred to her as a “Patroller” of the shadows in the Angel City, which clearly indicated that this strange, well-equipped girl belonged to the Goddess Church, a faction responsible for maintaining order and protecting the safety of the people.

In fact, during the initial encounter, the Spirit Puppet Tribe girl could have pulled the trigger much earlier, but she deliberately waited until Avrilia had finished draining the blood of the attendant girl and moved out of the way before attacking. This delay allowed Avrilia to react and avoid the strike.

Later, when the duchess used a form of vampire magic, something akin to hypnosis, to manipulate and erase the attendant girl’s memory, the doll girl didn’t attack, perhaps because she was buying time to set up her trap. However, it was clear that she was intentionally protecting the attendant.

This suggested that the doll wasn’t a criminal intending to cause chaos or disaster. And, as long as they remained in the Angel City, there was a chance Violet might encounter her or her companions again.

Now, the question before the priestess…

Although Violet was interested in both combatants, she couldn’t yet skillfully control more than one of her SP avatars. Since she had already sent one to track the fleeing vampire, she had no choice but to continue acting in person here.

She had been away for quite some time. If she stayed missing too long, a certain Holy Knight might get worried. It was best not to cause too much trouble, especially since she had just arrived.

After glancing once more at the Puppet girl, who quickly cleaned up the traces of battle and used her threads to “fly” onto the rooftop, agilely leaping away, Violet felt a slight sense of regret. But in the end, she didn’t pursue further and chose to turn around and leave the area.

………………………

The Vampires are a race that places great emphasis on factions and kinship ties.

Avrilia Constantius is the daughter of the second princess, Lucine Constantius, one of the Blood Clan’s six noble.

Of course, the term “daughter” is only a relational designation. Vampires do not possess reproductive capabilities like most normal creatures. This race extends its bloodline by transforming other species through a method known as the “First Embrace.”

From the original “First Generation” emerged the Second Generation, composed of the six princes. These then produced the Third Generation, Fourth Generation, and beyond… This is how the group known as the “Vampires” gradually developed over a long span of time.

Since their reproduction differs from that of normal creatures, the Vampires’ “First Embrace” naturally comes with its own advantages, as well as some significant drawbacks.

Firstly, Vampires possess far greater strength and vitality than ordinary beings. Especially the first three generations, whose rank and bloodline purity are exceptionally high, are born with power equivalent to or greater than human legendary-level indivuduals.

Those of the Second Generation, with even purer blood, have surpassed the limits of their species, reaching a transcendent level realm comparable to mythical being.

However, this also marks the greatest limitation of the Vampires.

Their power is granted through inherited bloodlines. As a result, their strength is almost entirely fixed from the moment of their birth, making it nearly impossible to ascend even a step further.

The only way to advance is by purifying their bloodline, which involves obtaining higher-ranked Vampires’ ?Source Blood? to enhance their blood purity.

However, this is essentially just a transfer of power between individuals, and the overall strength of the ?Vampire? race remains nearly constant.

Blood, especially ?Source Blood?, is the source of a Vampire’s power, and it is a rare, non-renewable resource. Each time some ?Source Blood? is shared to create a new offspring, the original Vampire loses a portion of their strength.

Thus, no matter how powerful a Vampire may be, they cannot endlessly create new offspring. In fact, the higher-ranked Vampires, such as princes or dukes, are even more cautious when distributing their ?Source Blood?. It could take centuries for them to grant it once.

In this context, Avrilia became the *only* child of the second princess, Lucine Constantius.

Or to be more precise, the only child “at present”.

“Mother, I’m back.”

Pushing open the side door of the manor, the duchess entered, looking somewhat downcast.

However, the expected small figure didn’t appear in sight. Instead, there was another familiar presence standing before Avrilia.

“Uncle Augustine? Why are you here… where’s mother?”

Standing in the corner of the manor’s hall, the elderly man in a tailcoat was slowly polishing the cabinet and the expensive vases and antiques placed on it. He turned around, his aged but wrinkle-free face showing a kind, slightly helpless smile as he gently shook his head.

“She went out to take care of some things and will be back later. Avrilia, you just went out for a meal… but what happened to you to end up like this?”