The First Vampire

Chapter 734: 729 The Grand Finale_2

Holy Light Cathedral.

Archbishop Agani, just returned from the Half-Troll Kingdom, was praying in the Prayer Hall.

Suddenly, she lifted her head as if sensing something, to see the statue of the Lord of Glory in front of her, emitting a dazzling Holy Light.

What shocked her even more was that slowly, the initially faceless statue began to take on features —

It was unmistakably the likeness of Colin St. Chapman!

But before she had time to react, the Holy Light suddenly disperses, and the statue reverted to its original faceless form.

...

Agani stood in place for quite some time, before finally falling to the ground again in a prostrate position.

…

Seventy years later.

Winterfell City.

“Merciful Lord of Glory, we are here today to offer prayers for Duchess Vera St. Hilde, who has completed her earthly journey and now returns to the embrace of the Supreme Lord!

From dust she came, and to dust, she shall return!

May her soul find respite in the halls of the Supreme Lord!”

In the solemnly quiet mausoleum of Lion Roar Castle, echoes the devout voice of Pope Agani.

Colin stood quietly in front of his wife’s coffin, looking at Vera who seems to have fallen into a deep sleep through the crystal coffin lid, his eyes extraordinarily gentle.

The passing of time had turned his hair white and left wrinkles on his face, but his back remained unbent.

“Duke St. Chapman?”

Pope Agani reminded softly.

Only then did Colin come back to his senses, gave a slight nod, and stepped back.

Then, four knights from the St. Hilde family stepped forward to slowly lift Vera’s coffin and place it in the central niche of the mausoleum.

The funeral ended here.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

“Teacher, please accept my condolences.” Queen Judy walked up and said softly.

“I’m fine.” Colin gave a slight smile, then looked at Caesar, who was supporting Judy, and asked, “Have you made up your mind?”

Judy nodded and said:

“Yes, Teacher. I no longer have the energy to handle political affairs, so I might as well pass the throne to Caesar earlier. However, considering Caesar’s surname, I’m afraid this move will cause some ripples in the Empire…”

Of course, Colin understood Judy’s concern.

In fact, after inheriting the throne, Judy remained unmarried her whole life and even adopted Caesar, Colin and Vera’s son, as her own.

This already caused strong opposition from the Royal Family at the time.

After all, Caesar’s surname is St. Chapman. If he ascends the throne, would the Royal Family of the Empire have to change their name?

At that time, Colin’s prestige was at its peak, and his formidable strength as a legendary Holy Knight (as everyone thought) silenced the Royal Family’s anger.

Now, Colin has grown old, and different voices have started to emerge within the Empire.

And now, with Judy formally transferring the throne to Caesar, some in the Royal Family might not be willing to keep their silence any longer.

“Since you’ve decided, go ahead.” Colin said lightly as if he didn’t worry about the upcoming storm.

“OK!” Judy promptly responded, showing an almost blind faith in her teacher, as if as long as he agreed, there was nothing in the world that couldn’t be done.

Caesar hesitated on the side, seeming to want to say something, but eventually, he didn’t speak.

He had always admired his father Colin. And even though he felt his father was underestimating the challenges, he didn’t voice his apprehensions. He just calculated in his heart how to arrange things to prevent some in the Royal Family from opposing the succession.

…

Night fell.

Caesar came to the mausoleum and asked the guard at the door:

“Is my father still inside?”

“Yes.”

Caesar nodded, walked into the mausoleum, and found that Colin had actually taken Vera’s coffin out of the niche.

“Father…” Caesar took a few steps forward, carefully saying, “I can understand your longing for Mother, but… the dead cannot be revived, you should let Mother rest.”

But Colin shook his head, continuing to quietly look at Vera in the coffin, his eyes not showing much grief.

Caesar was about to speak again when he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

“Brutus? What are you doing here?” A sense of foreboding surged within Caesar’s heart.

That was because Brutus Lorenzo was a Holy Knight that had been rising within the Royal Family these past few years. He held high prestige in the Empire of Glory and many people thought he was more suitable to inherit the throne than Caesar.

Without giving Caesar any heed, Brutus bowed respectfully to Colin and said,

“Duke St. Chapman, I am here to ask you a question.”

But Colin did not pay attention to Brutus. His gaze remained on Vera’s face, as though nothing else in the world could catch his attention.

Brutus’s complexion changed slightly. He felt an anger at Colin’s disregard, but he swallowed his fury and spoke again.

“Duke St. Chapman, you have always been the ideal of knighthood in my heart. I dream of becoming a legendary Holy Knight like you one day.

However, I have to ask, are you truly determined to overthrow St. Lorenzo’s rule?”

Colin didn’t respond, but Caesar couldn’t help but interject:

“Brutus, the Empire of Glory has never been the private property of your Lorenzo family! And why must the inheritance of the throne be confined within your family?”

With a laugh, Brutus retorted,

“Because this empire was founded by Emperor Gana, the ancestor of the Lorenzo family! By this alone, the throne should belong only to a St. Lorenzo! Furthermore, I believe that the Lord of Glory would never agree to anyone else usurping the throne!”

“Is that so?” Colin finally spoke up. “Do you know the true story of Queen Judy?”

Brutus furrowed his brow, but before he could respond, Colin continued,

“As for Emperor Gana… do you truly know where his power came from?”

“Certainly, it’s from the Supreme Lord of Glory!” Brutus exclaimed unhesitatingly.

At the same time, he suddenly radiated a fearsome aura of power, hoping to intimidate the two of them.

But within seconds, Brutus’ aura waned, much like snow under the scorching sun.

A grander, limitless, and irrefutable aura radiated from Colin, enveloping the entire mausoleum, the entire Winterfell City, the entire Empire of Glory, and the entire world.

“If that’s the case, then if the Lord of Glory decides to let Caesar inherit the throne, do you have any objections?”

Colin’s voice reverberated from the heavens, intimidating everyone present.

Stunned, Brutus stared mutely in disbelief. He couldn’t begin to form a reply.

Caesar was also taken aback.

The current Colin was permeated by an unparalleled Holy Light, appearing just like a Divine Being descending from the heavens—

No!

Not ‘like’. He was the Divine Being!

Age seemed to fall away from his face as Colin returned to his youthful appearance in the blink of an eye.

Slowly, he began to lift Vera from the coffin, planting a kiss on her forehead.

Afterwards, the once dead Vera opened her eyes, her face returning to its youthful beauty.

“Colin? What… what happened?”

Colin didn’t respond. He merely pulled Vera into his embrace and started to ascend into the sky.

At this moment, the night sky was lit up like the day with endless Holy Light, and a hymn echoed throughout the world.

Everyone couldn’t help but look up.

They saw this scene unfolding beyond the limits of time and space.

Then, each one of them fell to the ground, praying devoutly,

“Praise the Supreme Lord!”

Colin looked down at his son from the sky and said with a small smile,

“Caesar, you will be the king of humans.”

“Yes!” Caesar responded with respect.

As for Brutus, he could only hang his head low, trembling dramatically with fear.

Soon after, Colin vanished in the brilliant Holy Light with Vera, leaving only these words behind:

“From now on, what belongs to the gods will return to the gods, and what belongs to Caesar, will belong to Caesar.”

(The End)