After the Sanguinarch saw the message left by Patriot, his originally foul mood recovered quite a bit, and he even stopped pursuing the things the Confessarrii had done previously—those matters where he had wanted to kill them off. Since he had already found the other party, it meant that the suffering he had endured here for so many days had not been in vain; at the very least, there was some result. Since the other party had written those words, asking them to wait quietly for his arrival, he decided to have a bit of patience; what did it matter if he waited for a few more days? It wasn't that he was particularly looking forward to the meeting with Patriot, but rather that things written in such ancient script had become far too rare lately. As an old fellow within the Royal Court, he had lived through so many years, and he naturally felt a bit of nostalgia for such ancient things.
"Great Lord, are we just leaving like this?"
The Confessarius following beside the Sanguinarch hurriedly asked as he saw the Sanguinarch turn around with the intention of leaving. He thought that since the Sanguinarch had already found this place, performing one more spell would likely be enough to locate Patriot's actual position. Then they could take advantage of the night to infiltrate; if all went smoothly, they could bring Patriot back this very night. The main reason was that this temperamental vampire was truly a bit too terrifying, and he, who had been ordered to follow him, was truly unwilling to continue waiting any longer. After all, he was already the fourth Confessarius responsible for delivering messages; the previous three had already died without even a scrap of remains left because they had displeased the vampire for some unknown reason. To think that three of their Confessarrii had died so inexplicably? One must know that even during the most intense periods of the Kazdel civil war, such a situation had never occurred.
"And what do you think I should do? Take this opportunity to abandon my glory and do something that cannot see the light, just like you lot?"
The Sanguinarch turned to look at the Confessarius beside him, his incredibly icy gaze making the man unsure for a moment how he should defend himself. He didn't even understand why he had said those words; clearly, he only needed to act as if he were mute and watch the decisions of these two great figures. But just now, a surge of unwilling emotion had suddenly welled up from the bottom of his heart, and thus those words had uncontrollably popped out of his mouth. But this was not his usual personality; for a time, this Confessarius did not know what to say and could only look helplessly toward his own clan leader. That leader looked at the situation and, for a moment, said nothing, simply turning his head away to ignore what was happening here. Before the man could even open his mouth to beg for mercy, streaks of blood-light flashed past, and the place where the Confessarius had been standing moments ago was left with nothing but a pool of blood.
The people around saw this scene, and in an instant, the surroundings fell into a state of silence; no one dared to say a single word, and no one dared to provoke the Great Lord at such a time. The Sanguinarch strongly disliked coming to this place, was even less willing to perform search after search, and was unwilling to mix disgusting insects into his own creations. But in order to give face to this leader of the Confessarrii clan, this favorite of Theresis, he had endured it all. After all, he currently had no plans to create a conflict with Theresis; the Vampires were a race that loved things like war the most. What's more, they had harvested quite a bit of "blood food" during these years of civil war; this was the main reason he endured this guy time and time again.
"It seems your people are not very smart. I shall go back first and wait to meet Patriot in two days. As for you..."
The Sanguinarch glanced at the masked fellow; whether it was the expression on his face or the tone of his voice, it all indicated his disdain.
"Do as you wish; do whatever you want to do. As long as you do not disturb me during these days, I shall act as if nothing happened".
After those words fell, the Sanguinarch turned into a mass of invisible mist and disappeared from the spot. Disappearing along with him were the other Vampires who had arrived with the Great Lord.
"Whew... whew... endure for now. The future will soon be held in our hands; now is not the time to tear faces with the other party..."
The leader of the Confessarrii stood there alone, looking at that pool of blood, the Sanguinarch's words—mixed with mockery and contempt—echoing in his ears as the fire of rage burned fiercely in his heart. When had he ever suffered such an insult? Although the Confessarrii were no longer members of the Sarkaz Royal Court, their heritage was just as ancient as the other's. The arrogance in his heart was not a bit less than the Sanguinarch's, yet such a proud fellow had been stepped into the dirt by someone today. That guy had even cold-bloodedly murdered his own clansman right in front of him! This was already the fourth Confessarius to die by his hand!
If he could even endure this, then what would he be in the eyes of his clansmen in the future? How should he face his own clansmen, and how should he explain? But was he to strike now? If they fought now and both sides suffered, how could he possibly capture that Wendigo back to Kazdel, and how could he obtain the secrets that might exist? It wasn't that he was afraid he couldn't beat that vampire; the other was indeed very powerful, but the odds of victory between himself and the other party were fifty-fifty. But he had a longer-term goal; the time for him to take revenge for his clansmen had not yet arrived, and for now, he could only endure until the day he had sufficient strength. As long as his plan went smoothly, the day he reclaimed that "treasure" was coming soon; that day was not very far from him anymore!
"What are you all still looking at here! The enemy must be in a place not far from here; immediately conduct a strict search of the surroundings, and do not overlook any place that has traces of life!"
The leader of the Confessarrii turned to look at the others watching nearby and roared at them with a voice full of fury, even the sleeping feathered beasts in the vicinity were startled awake by it. The Sarkaz around him, upon hearing their officer's command, immediately snapped to attention, each one disappearing in a flash as if their tails were on fire. The other party was still their commanding officer, and his mood currently sounded as if it had reached a breaking point; they weren't going to be so idle as to provoke the other's ire for no reason. This group of people also immediately began to search seriously for traces of life in the surroundings, not even letting some wild beasts' caves go, insisting on entering to confirm the specific situation.
But even so, they searched for an entire night and didn't find even a single hair! By the time dawn arrived, the group of people even began to doubt their lives. Not only did they have no results, but several idiots—for some unknown reason—actually ran onto a cliff and fell off, dying quite miserably! A few Sarkaz soldiers who had experienced the invasion of Laterano felt as if they had returned to the lands of Laterano once again; that kind of absolutely eerie feeling. This place *Sarkaz slang* definitely had a problem! They wished they could hurry up and flee, staying far away from this terrifying place of trouble. But they were regular army, which meant they had no opportunity to escape. Otherwise, what awaited them would be that Confessarius leader's ruthless greatsword.
"..."
When dawn arrived, the leader of the Confessarrii looked at this group of fellows who could even lose troops and generals just by looking for a village, and he felt a wave of wordlessness. He hadn't expected these guys to be incompetent to this degree; every single one was either in a sorry state or exhausted, and on the ground were several idiots who had been brought back after being smashed into pulp. He had half a mind to make these people continue searching—if they didn't find the person, they wouldn't need to rest. But he still needed these people to support him in the upcoming battle; being too harsh would be bad for the fight ahead.
"Return with me to rest first, then divide into six squads; each squad will conduct a search for two hours, carrying out the operation in turns!"
In his helplessness, he had no choice but to issue this command. Although as far as he was concerned, it would be best if these people worked straight through until the day Patriot revealed himself. As for the others, once they heard they could go back to rest, they didn't even care about the part about the squad searches that followed. They simply felt that being able to go back was truly wonderful. Today, it was as if they had encountered a ghost; clearly, they were elites who could walk out alive even if thrown into the wilderness, yet today they had actually lost their way.
"It seems your side of the operation isn't going very smoothly! Is there a need to join forces with us? After all, our goals do not conflict!"
Just after they had returned and the leader of the Confessarrii was sitting there alone and fuming, he suddenly heard news of a visit from an Emperor's Blade. Upon arriving, the other party immediately proposed the intention of cooperation, even though the tone of his voice as he said it wasn't very pleasant. At this time, he—who was incredibly frustrated by the Sanguinarch—suddenly felt some interest in the matter of cooperation upon hearing that the other had come to cooperate.
"Tell me how you want to cooperate? If there truly is such an opportunity, I think cooperation between our two sides would be a good suggestion".
Currently, he had no good methods left either; even if this fellow harbored ill intentions, they could still mutually utilize each other for a time before their goal was reached.