Volume 4, Chapter 18 – Hetty the Faceless

Elden, a city located in the central part of the Pescia territory, was a fortress city renowned for its formidable defenses. Its walls were not only built with exceptionally strong special stone but were also inscribed with several types of defensive and reinforcement magic arrays. From a distance, it resembled a slumbering behemoth that would bring about terrifying consequences if provoked.

Normally, the city was shrouded in thick clouds all day long. Even during the daytime, it was as dim as the moments before a thunderstorm. The Tower of Pescia, located in the very center of the city, stood like a celestial pillar supporting the heavens, its azure brilliance serving as a beacon for travelers in the wilderness.

However, this scene underwent a drastic change today.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, scattering across the land.

If this were the human world, it would surely be praised by bards as a sign of the gods witnessing the ruler’s benevolence and bestowing their grace, expressing their approval of the human monarch. The ruler would then be hailed as an enlightened king by the people.

But this was the heart and brain of the Pescia territory in the vampire land of Hyurent, Elden City. For a vampire, an hour of exposure to sunlight meant death. Even if few vampires chose to go out during the day, blanketing the city in sunlight was an absolute atrocity. For the homeless wanderers and unprepared travelers, if this continued for a day, the entire city would reek of the charred smell of corpses. This was a foreseeable future.

Even the count’s eldest daughter was furious at the absurd sight.

Looking up at the sun high in the sky through the carriage window, Edith, in her Magic Fairy form, suppressed her anger.

“Madness…”

Long before approaching Elden, Edith had noticed the sunlight piercing through the clouds. As most of the assassins were lower-class vampires, Edith could only have Refina order them to stay behind while she and the remaining people who could walk in the sun proceeded to Elden City.

The closer they got to Elden, the denser the black, charcoal-like objects along the road became. Some of them resembled twisted tree roots, while others were still emitting black smoke. Various personal belongings were scattered around these objects—coins, weapons, clothes. The ground near each charcoal lump bore distinct claw marks, reminiscent of the tragic struggles of a creature on the verge of death. These were all the corpses of vampires.

Yisi’s group, including Tiffany, all frowned.

“Master… are these all vampires…?”

“Mary, don’t stick your head out.”

“Tyranny.”

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With a very complex expression, Camilla retracted her gaze from the charred remains.

“They look like refugees. Father has gone mad.”

Refina was the one who responded.

“It must be the impostor using Master’s name to make the Count use the Tower of Pescia to change the weather. I agree with Master; no one can control the Count with mind magic.”

Everyone subconsciously glanced at Edith, who was in her Magic Fairy form. Her expression was not good, and she offered no response.

Making Count Pescia use the Tower of Alexia to change the weather was something even she had never achieved. The situation was far worse than imagined.

As a feeling of indignation came from her heart, Yisi couldn’t help but feel curious. The count’s eldest daughter had never shown such an emotion before.

“Is it very bad?”

“Pretty much.” Edith snorted coldly and waved her hand. “In the past, Father wouldn’t make the sun appear just because I asked him to. Either he’s being forced to do this, or he is already completely in the impostor’s grasp.”

What Edith was unwilling to admit was that perhaps the impostor was doing a better job of being a daughter than she was. Although Edith was very obedient to Count Pescia, she still had her moments of willfulness or rebellion.

“I do not believe the Count would trust an impostor.”

“You don’t need to comfort me. There is only one thing I need to do: pull the impostor down from the position that belongs to me. Refina, how many people do we have left?”

“There are seven assassins traveling with us. Including the blood clan hidden in the outskirts who cannot see the sun, we have a total of one hundred and fourteen people.”

“Not enough to be a fighting force at all…”

Edith’s voice grew heavy, her face deep in thought as she floated in the carriage, controlling her wings.

“How do you plan to get in? Are you just going to announce your name?”

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“I learned from my uncle that although the impostor eliminated the nobles who supported me, the soldiers in the city, including the commander of the city guard, are still on my side. As long as I announce my name, no one will stop me.”

“But how will you see Miss Edith’s father?”

Despite being afraid of Edith’s glare, Mary still asked the question.

Edith crossed one arm, saying with great confidence, “I will walk in openly. I’d like to see who dares to stop me in my own territory.”

◇

Bathing in the warm sunlight, Hetty—now known as Loiswell Edith Pescia—yawned.

The life of a noble was enviable, but to this subordinate of the Demon Lord, known as Hetty the Faceless, life here was boring enough to drive one mad. No, to put it another way, any time not spent by the Demon Lord’s side was incredibly dull.

Since only purebloods could enjoy the sunlight, she was the only one strolling in the courtyard. At first, doing this would provoke servants to rush out and assassinate her, but now no one dared to criticize her.

She was the Loiswell Edith Pescia acknowledged by Count Pescia. Although anyone else would deny this conclusion, as long as Count Pescia acknowledged her as Loiswell, then she was Loiswell.

Patting her pureblood vampire wings, Hetty looked up at the sun.

“I wonder how Sandra is doing.”

As a subordinate of the Demon Lord, she and Sandra were colleagues. The reason she was here was because of the Demon Lord’s order—to control the blood clan. She was responsible for controlling Count Pescia, while Sandra secretly incited the nobles to rebel. At the same time, Sandra would also lead the Frost Giants into the interior of the Pescia territory to completely annihilate Count Pescia’s army.

As for how to control Count Pescia, who possessed the Tower of Pescia, even Hetty, who excelled at mind magic, found it very tricky at first. But after discovering that the Count doted on his daughter, this difficulty vanished. Although she couldn’t directly control the Count’s mind, she could read his memories and thoughts and then interfere with them.

People only believe what they want to believe. With the passage of time, what ultimately remains in a person’s mind is just a vague concept, something that has been embellished and mixed with personal emotions.

For example, if you add a tiny bit of criticism to a heap of praise, the person’s attention will naturally bypass the praise and focus on that tiny bit of criticism. Even if the praise seems overwhelmingly positive to an outsider, the only impression left on the person will be, “This person said something bad about me.” Personal emotions are thus mixed into objective facts, which in turn affects memory.

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The method of controlling Count Pescia was the same. First, she used mind magic to interfere—not control—his mind, making him believe that her appearance was that of Loiswell Edith Pescia. Then, she would read the Count’s memories and act in a way that conformed to Loiswell’s persona according to those memories.

As mentioned before, memories can deviate in different people’s eyes over time. For example, the count’s eldest daughter had once climbed onto Count Pescia’s shoulders at the top of the Tower of Alexia, but in the Count’s memory, it was he who had picked his daughter up and placed her on his shoulders.

What Hetty did was to acknowledge the latter as the truth, thereby doing things that were more in line with Count Pescia’s memory than the real person herself.

The same applied to eating habits and speech patterns. Even if her performance wasn’t perfect, she could perceive the Count’s thoughts and correct or compensate for it. As long as she had the Count’s approval, the opinions of others were of no concern.

This was the reason why she could make Count Pescia obey her without directly controlling him.

“But this guy is as stubborn as a rock. He just needs to hand over the Tower of Pescia to me, but he’s unwilling to do so, saying things like I’m not mature enough yet… If I could directly modify his memories, it wouldn’t be so much trouble. Unfortunately, the most I can do is interfere with his perception of my appearance, and if the real one shows up, it might make him remember something.”

If she could directly control Count Pescia, the already precarious royal family would be completely defeated. Unfortunately, Count Pescia was unwilling to join the noble faction, his reason being that it would be detrimental to his daughter’s future. Thus, Hetty could only choose the roundabout method of weakening the Pescia territory’s strength.

Thinking of the information Samael had reported a few days ago, Hetty frowned impatiently.

“A fallen angel who can’t even kill a vampire. Ouranos’s subordinates have become useless.”

With undisguised ridicule in her words, Hetty curled her lip.

She was not a subordinate of Ouranos, the Lord of the Sky, but of the Demon Lord of the Earth, Tartaros. From the very beginning, there was never just one Demon Lord in the world, but three.

Therefore, there were more than eight fallen angels serving the Demon Lords.

As for why most people only knew about Ouranos, it was simply because Ouranos was responsible for the northern continent, and Yisi had never been to the southern continent.

As if talking to herself, Hetty crossed one arm and rested her other hand on her forehead.

“Until a new Ouranos is born, we will have to manage the northern continent on its behalf—no, this continent originally belonged to us. Ouranos was just an outsider. We are now reclaiming the land that was originally ours. Those outsiders should go back to where they came from. This time, even if Violet tells us to return Ouranos’s territory, we must not yield an inch… Those are Lord Tartaros’s exact words…”

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“Don’t get too arrogant.”

A hoarse voice suddenly appeared behind Hetty.

It was Samael.

Although Hetty was no match for Samael in terms of combat power, she showed no fear of him. On the contrary, she maintained a condescending attitude.

“You’ve already become my dog, yet you still think of Ouranos?”

“One day, I will kill you.”

Samael narrowed his eyes but did not make a move against Hetty.

Fallen angels could not attack each other, not even use their abilities against one another.

“If you can live to see that day,” Hetty waved her hand dismissively. “You didn’t just come here to warn me, did you?”

“The real one has arrived.”

Without any panic or surprise, Hetty casually whistled.

“So that day has finally come. Take me to her. I want her to realize that her position is no more—the spies are ready, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go meet this pitiful, fallen young lady. Oh, and by the way, have Count Pescia come over as well. I want to see the look on her face when she loses her temper.”

Covering her mouth and giggling, Hetty walked alone toward the main entrance of the mansion.