An ordinary carriage travels smoothly and discreetly on the road leading to the imperial city.
Even the coachman sitting in front of the carriage was wearing a hooded garment, completely concealing his figure.
If it weren't for the dozen or so human cavalrymen dressed in pure white Church armor following closely behind the carriage, probably no one would know that this was the carriage of the Pale God Norton!
Since His Excellency Norton broke free from his seal of victory, his style has been vastly different from before.
In the past, when Norton traveled, didn't he always have to summon one or two thousand Vampire to drag his palace around? Every move he made demonstrated what true authority and true power are!
However, now that it has been freed after being sealed for a thousand years, its desires are expressed in a completely different way than before.
Not only did they cease constructing extravagant wonders at great expense, but they also stopped residing in palaces that represented authority, finding their daily needs met in simple monasteries.
Nowadays, he travels with minimal entourage. Instead of riding in the palace that Abraham had summoned the Vampire of the old era to drag back with great effort, he actually chose a simple carriage... His actions seem to have returned to simplicity and reached another level.
Abraham could not understand.
But in reality, this is just a reflection of Norton's current sense of security.
His Existence Level no longer requires him to outwardly display strength and lofty power.
"Your Majesty, the landscape of the Southern Continent has indeed changed dramatically over the past few thousand years, especially the urban development, which truly astonishes this old servant!"
Abraham, brandishing his whip, drove the mediocre carriage drawn by two dwarf horses. Using his hood and the carriage's brim to shield himself from the sun, he glanced around while also trying to cultivate a relationship with His Majesty sitting inside.
The carriage traveled along the road through the farmland, and the slightest movement caused some of the boatmen who were slacking off in the fields to nervously look up.
"Hmph... Without the oppression of Norton, and without the Papal State ' stagnation, it would be abnormal for them to lack such local customs and traditions!"
Norton's captivating voice echoed from within the carriage, where his pale, slender body lay nestled amidst the bedding, quietly savoring the blood grapes offered by Elizabeth's delicate hand.
Upon hearing His Majesty's response from inside the carriage, Abraham beamed with joy and delight.
He noticed that with this trip, His Majesty's Divinity had become increasingly faint, while his humanity had begun to emerge.
In the past, Abraham dared not communicate much with His Majesty, because His Majesty's face and eyes were truly devoid of emotion, and his appearance was terrifying.
The situation has finally eased somewhat, and His Majesty can even chat with Abraham from time to time.
This made Abraham extremely happy.
That's good, that's good! A ruler with humanity is ultimately easier to fathom than a ruler who is only Divinity!
"Your Majesty is right! But Your Majesty's purpose back then was only to redeem the people from that feudal, incompetent, and cruel Church. How could there be any talk of oppression? Everything Your Majesty did was for the good of the people of the Southern Continent. Without Your Majesty, the Southern Continent could not have escaped the control of the former Holy Lord Empire!"
However, this old servant observes that although the countries of the Southern Continent have emerged from the stagnation of the former Papal State, they are still filled with endless oppression. Along this journey, the corpses hanging on both sides of the road are everywhere, showing that the people of the Southern Continent still need Your Majesty's salvation!
Abraham's words were sorrowful, yet they were full of flattery towards Norton.
Norton lifted the curtains, gazing at the endless farmland and the ship slaves tilling it, and finally uttered a sigh that was both human and inhuman.
"To dare to slack off under such harsh conditions shows how despicable one's nature is."
The black corpses hanging from the trees on both sides of the road swayed in the wind, seemingly echoing Norton's words.
Three poles in the sun.
A large crowd had already gathered at the gates of the imperial city of the Aodelan Empire.
As Emperor of the Aodelan Empire, Miles XIII dispatched Crown Prince Miles XIV to personally greet the city gates, as a sign of his respect and reverence for the Pale God Norton.
As for himself, he was responsible for entertaining visitors from other countries.
The arrival of the Pale God had already caused a huge stir in the countries of the Southern Continent, so now, not only were there Miles XIV and his entourage of supporters at the city gates, but also a large crowd of people.
As the time drew nearer, the discussion among the crowd grew increasingly heated.
"I've heard that the Pale God is handsome, with an indistinguishable gender; I wonder just how beautiful he really is!"
"I suspect it's all hype. His Highness Miles XIV is already a rare handsome man. I think that Pale God inhuman, so having his appearance would be enough... But His Highness's attire today is indeed extremely exquisite, even his fingers are adorned with silver finger guards, which is quite beautiful!"
The crowd was dense, and as the sunlight grew stronger, the discussions became increasingly heated.
Hearing the surrounding whispers, the handsome Miles XIV rubbed his silver-gloved fingers together with a slightly gloomy expression. The metallic scraping sound, accompanied by the stinging pain in his fingers, made him even more irritable.
To this day, he still does not agree with his father's words, so he has little expectation for this Pale God, and is not even prepared to show him much respect.
In particular, his strange illness has become increasingly bizarre. After half a year, although the red spots on his body have begun to fade, his body has inexplicably started to fester and ulcerate without healing.
Especially the fingers and toes, which are now ulcerated to the point of being black and rotten, emitting a foul stench that is unbearable to look at.
As the crown prince of a country, such a physique was truly damaging to the reputation of the nation. There was no other way but to save face and to conceal his illness, Miles XIV had to summon silversmiths to create exquisite finger guards to wear on his fingers as decoration and concealment.
Meanwhile, in order to avoid being criticized for his illness, he engaged in numerous sexual relationships over the past six months in an attempt to spread the disease.
Since everyone is sick, it's as if no one is sick at all.
Therefore, nowadays, five out of ten members of the royal family and even the elite class of the Aodelan Empire suffer from this strange ailment.
Because so many powerful and wealthy people suffer from this disease, in order to improve their reputation, they have even revered this strange illness as a " Disease of Affluence," a disease that only the powerful and wealthy can contract, thus using this as an excuse for their terrifying and bizarre ailment.
It's a pity that this disease appeared so late!
If the Disease of Affluence had been rampant in the Papal State back then, Vampire might not have become so prevalent.
After all, no Vampire wants to drink blood that's poisonous!
With his illness and already weak will, Miles XIV grew increasingly impatient.
Finally, fueled by his growing anger, a messenger arrived on horseback.
"Your Highness, the Pale God's chariot has arrived! The celebratory fireworks may now be set off!"