Chapter 853

Court of Judgment Headquarters.

Originally, the judges had been leisurely chatting and happily selecting missions in the Mission Hall as usual.

But suddenly, the large glowing sphere at the center of the hall flared intensely, followed by a massive light screen rising up.

"Emergency Mission: Full Mobilization Order."

Crimson text floated across the screen.

Instantly, the previously relaxed and carefree judges grew solemn.

Geez, full mobilization? This kind of grand scale hasn't happened in thousands of years.

Although the Court's ultimate punishment is the Extermination Order, even that rarely requires mobilizing all judges.

After all, with the Court's strength, deploying a few Grand Judges is usually enough to crush most rebel factions; if even a few Grand Judges aren't enough, just add one more Grand Chief Judge.

Just like the Extermination Order sixteen years ago against the God-King Sect's Saint Son faction.

At that time, under Saint Agnes's leadership, the God-King Sect had shown signs of resurgence—its power was not to be underestimated—but after Grand Chief Judge Extermination personally led the operation, the entire Saint Son elite was wiped out, the sect's final reserves exhausted, leaving only a handful of stragglers, effectively dead in all but name.

Hmm, if not for respecting God-King's dignity, the God-King Sect might have been erased outright back then.

Even then, no Full Mobilization Order was issued against the God-King Sect—so you can see how rare such a mobilization truly is.

"Damn, is this targeting some witch clan ranked in the hundreds?"

"Holy shit, is it the Elf Witch? Or the Dwarf Witch? Surely not the Three Royal Clans?"

"I check the news every day, and I haven't heard a thing—how did this come out of nowhere?"

"With this much fanfare, we're probably about to get an Extermination Order."

"Sweet! Big mission, traitors—time to rack up merit."

The screen quickly displayed the mission details.

Mission Code: Oath of Loyalty

Mission Target: Control All Vampire Witches

Mission Type: Full-Scale Mission

Mission Difficulty: SS

Mission Commander: Black Reaper

Mission Brief: In the era when God-King has withdrawn from the world, His once most loyal followers have, through erosion, strayed from their original loyalty. These tragic lost souls have forgotten their initial purpose and mission. But the Great God-King is merciful—His emissary has returned to the Vampire Estates with Divine Grace, and shall grant these despairing wretches their final redemption.

Upon reading this mission description, the entire Mission Hall fell silent.

After a long pause, exclamations erupted everywhere.

"Vampire Witches? That's not surprising—why didn't they just issue an Extermination Order outright?"

"Those traitorous bloodsuckers—I heard they've been getting cozy with demons lately. I've suspected them of betrayal for ages."

"Is the focus really on the Vampires? Isn't the real focus Black Reaper? This newly appointed Grand Chief Judge of the Underworld Faction is the one who issued this mission—sisters, this is our chance to impress the big boss—I'm going first!"

"Is Black Reaper the real focus? No—the real focus is God-King Himself, the true Divine Emissary! I must go pay my respects."

"This mission brief is weird—normally it's just 'kill this guy, crush that faction'—why's it so poetic and flowery now? Mission Core, are you broken?"

The judges muttered among themselves.

But talk was talk, chaos was chaos—within mere seconds, nearly everyone had assembled, and dozens of Concept Gates opened in the Mission Hall; judge teams swiftly vanished into them.

The next moment, a Vampire hospital.

A Vampire Countess, the hospital director, was performing a critical surgery on a patient when the operating room door suddenly opened—she immediately frowned.

She was about to scold the rude intruder, but the next instant, a group of judges clad in black battle robes and wearing various masks stood beside her.

Instantly, the director's hand gripping the scalpel trembled—but a pair of hands gripped hers, steadying the blade.

"Hey, sis, take a break— I'll take over from here."

One judge stepped forward, smoothly taking the scalpel from the stunned Countess, then continued the surgery under the patient's terrified gaze.

Countess: "."

Hmm, honestly, this judge's blade skills are even better than mine—no wonder the Court is full of elites.

Shit, has it finally come to this?

The director felt a deep sorrow—she knew the Thirteen Vampire Clans were truly finished.

And nearly identical scenes unfolded across the globe.

In less than five minutes, every Vampire hospital worldwide had been fully seized by the Court.

In Venus City, within Dracula Estate.

The banquet hall, once lively, now lay in deathly silence—all eyes fixed in shock on the black Judgment Warrant hovering midair.

Seriously, sis, how blunt can you be? Couldn't you even talk first before flipping the table?

Everyone was stunned by the Dragon Witch's directness.

And equally astonished by the sheer authority granted to this Clown Grand Judge, Xu Xu Kequan.

Even the Little Duchess was bewildered.

Dracula stared at her adopted granddaughter, momentarily unable to process it.

Though she'd known through livestreams that Dorothy was the Clown Grand Judge, she had no idea this adopted granddaughter was backed by a Black Reaper, a Grand Chief Judge.

Worse—this Grand Chief Judge, whom she'd never even heard of before, had granted this adopted granddaughter such immense authority.

Holy hell, kid, are you about to kill your own kin for the sake of justice?

The bewildered Little Duchess grew anxious.

She'd protected this girl so fiercely—and now she'd turned into a traitorous brat.

Though the Thirteen Vampire Clans had long decayed, they were still her creation—Dracula would never allow anyone to harm her family.

Immediately, the Little Duchess prepared to act, to stop this ungrateful granddaughter—but before she could move, another hand gripped her arm.

"Mother, don't act rashly—trust Dorothy. She'll resolve everything."

The stepmother, who knew the true identity of Black Reaper, stepped forward and restrained the agitated mother and her two older sisters.

Though Dorothy's sudden move surprised her too, this child had been raised under her eyes—Annie knew her nature well.

She would never harm her family.

Turn off lights, protect eyes, small/medium/large

As long as the Dracula family truly harbored no treasonous intent, there would be no danger.

All they needed to do now was obey and cooperate.

Moreover, as a judge herself, Annie could somewhat understand her stepdaughter's reasoning—this was, in fact, a form of protection for the Dracula family. After all, the Court's plan against Vampire Witches had long been in motion; the net was already closing, and closure was inevitable.

If Dorothy hadn't been the one to close the net, another judge might have done it instead—and then, what fate would the entire Thirteen Vampire Clans have faced? Could Dracula even have protected itself?

But while Dracula was held back, no one restrained the Van Helsing Grand Duchess.

The instant Dorothy pulled out the Judgment Warrant and issued the summons, the old noblewoman's aura surged toward the Dragon Witch.

Van Helsing was stunned by the boldness of this young, seemingly weak successor—and equally shocked by the extent of her authority—but there was no time for regret.

If the Court's forces would arrive in the next moment, there was only one option: seize this young successor. Since she held high rank within the Court, she could serve as a bargaining chip.

Her mind, nearly worn away, had lost the calmness of her youth—now quick to anger, extreme, and simplistic.

A torrent of blood surged toward the Dragon Witch, the churning waves forming countless terrifying beast shapes.

It was both flood and beast horde.

Though her reason was nearly gone, the Vampire Grand Duchess's combat instincts remained intact—her strike was lethal.

Blood Forbidden Spell: Blood Beasts' Dark Tide.

Yet, facing this assault, Dorothy made no move to dodge.

The Dragon Witch even smiled happily, watching the terrifying beast tide rush toward her, then calmly extended her hand toward Yin Yin Chuiyong, who had appeared at her side without notice.

Her hand reached into the courtesan's chest, then gripped the void—as if grasping an invisible hilt.

Slowly, she drew the sword.

As the invisible blade emerged bit by bit, the tall, elegant demon beauty's form faded, dissolving into a simple, unadorned demon blade.

It was merely a crude blade-shaped lump—more like a broken shard of iron than a sword.

Yet its elongated edge shimmered with a sharpness capable of severing space itself.

Demon Blade: Ame-no-Murakumo.

With the blade in hand, Dorothy's breathing changed—her calm, silent breaths grew long and heavy.

She inhaled like wind, exhaled like clouds.

Thunder cracked across heaven and earth with each breath.

A colossal dragon-serpent rose behind her, its thousands-of-li-long body hidden within the clouds—its head visible, its tail unseen.

From the mist, a monstrous dragon claw emerged, clutching a long blade forged from lightning.

Amidst a dragon's roar filled with excitement and battle-lust, Dorothy calmly swung Ame-no-Murakumo—behind her, the dragon-serpent's claw struck, and the lightning blade slashed down in unison.

No thought, no intention—single slash, absolute severance.

Yet unlike her once plain, unrefined strikes, this slash was now exquisitely refined.

Dragon's Breath, Final Form: Thunder Judgment.

Like the celestial dragon, lord of thunder, seeing evil spread across the earth, it unleashed divine judgment.

Under this slash, all evil scattered.

It was a sword art she had hastily constructed—purely to express her current state of mind.

She was a judge. She represented the Three Kings' will, patrolling the world, judging traitors and heretics—this was her divine duty.

As for why it manifested as lightning? Simply because, in Dorothy's subconscious, lightning meant judgment.

After all, doing wrong deeds invites thunder and lightning to strike you down.

Precisely because she had faithfully fulfilled her duty, the mark of the God above Gods flickered within her.

Immediately after, the mark of the Second Demon King also began to flicker.

Your judgment has been approved by the King and acknowledged by Heaven.

Thus, the hidden mandate of Heaven strengthened this sword strike.

Although Dorothy did not notice this, she simply felt the strike had been extraordinarily satisfying.

Whether or not she could block the Blood Duke's attack didn't matter—this strike was already the peak of her sword art; she was satisfied, with no regrets.

A dazzling blade light surged upward, parting the flood, tearing through the beast tide, as if utterly invincible and unstoppable.

Then, thunder exploded.

Golden lightning flashed, purging all corruption—whether blood river or beast tide—all turned to ash beneath Heaven's judgment.

Amidst the sky-filling lightning, the Judge advanced with her blade, striding forward along the path carved open by the blade's light.

For a Martial God, distant horizons are as near as a step; every person is an enemy nation.

By the time Dorothy realized it, the Amaterasu was already pressed against the neck of the stunned Vancoeur Duke.

The Dragon Witch blinked her eyes.

Inside her heart, the Home Witch also blinked her eyes.

Holy shit, am I really this strong?

Dorothy was stunned.

Just now, she had been terrified—so in that extreme fear, she accidentally entered a state of sudden enlightenment. She hadn't cared whether she could win; she only wanted to uphold the dignity of the Grand Inquisitor and protect the reputation of the Inquisition.

Put plainly, she thought: the summoning order had been sent, her Inquisition colleagues were coming—so she had to preserve her final dignity. Even if she lost, she must at least fight with spirit and grace, so that if defeated, she could end with a stylish defeat CG, waiting for her colleagues to rescue her.

So that's it? I'm actually pretty strong. A mere Blood Duke? Easy to handle.

Compared to the Home Witch's confusion, the Dragon Witch was direct.

Who cares why I suddenly exploded in power? I already had my fun with that slash.

As soon as she struck the victorious CG pose, the banquet hall doors burst open, and countless black-robed Inquisitors flooded in.

In their eyes, they saw the towering Dragon Witch, her sword finger poised at the throat of the traitor, against a backdrop of fading lightning.

The Inquisitors were stunned.

Ugh, writer's block killed me, this is unbearable.