Just then, the voice of the Thirteenth Princess, Fina, rang out once more.

And right before the Thirteenth Princess, everyone saw it clearly.

Joyce, the Second Legion Commander of the Blood Hunters, had now fully revealed his true Blood Race appearance.

Joyce’s current appearance wasn’t much different from when he was human.

However, after being exposed to the Holy Light, his complexion had turned utterly pale, giving him a deathly, corpse-like look.

Another striking feature was the dense, crimson aura of blood that now swirled around him after the Holy Light’s exposure.

When he gave a faint smile, his fangs were on full display.

But these weren’t even the most prominent features.

The most distinctive trait of the High-level Blood Race was the blood-red bat wings that could unfold from their backs.

The moment He’an appeared and manifested his terrifying Power,

Joyce, as a member of the Blood Race, had immediately sensed an unprecedented crisis.

Therefore, the appearance of his blood-red bat wings was actually a passive, natural defense mechanism.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, members of the Blood Race could hover and fly at will, even without manifesting their wings.

Of course, manifesting the wings had its advantages: extreme speed and serving as a sign that one was about to exert their full Power.

"My God! What in the world is going on?"

"Why is the Legion Commander of the Empire’s Blood Hunter Corps a member of the Blood Race? There must be some mistake!"

"Or... is Joyce the only member of the Blood Race who infiltrated the Empire in disguise?"

At this moment, in the viewing stands surrounding the plaza, many members of the Nobility cried out in disbelief.

"That must be it! That must be it."

"Joyce hid himself too well! After this is over, we must advise the Empire Council to conduct a thorough investigation of all high-ranking officers in the Blood Hunter Corps!!!"

The nobles, their faces pale, discussed loudly amongst themselves.

But in truth, at that moment, many grim speculations had already formed in their minds.

After all, no one was a fool.

How could someone infiltrate and impersonate their way into a position as important as a Legion Commander of the Empire’s Blood Hunters?

Besides, what was Joyce’s background? Which family supported him?

These were questions that couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

"You’ve got to be kidding me!!!"

"Joyce, how can you be one of the Blood Race!!!"

"How could you be one of them!!!"

"If you’re one of the Blood Race, then what does that make our comrades who followed you for so many years, only to die on the battlefield?!"

At this moment, the most emotional were undoubtedly the group of people who had been standing closest to Joyce.

There were seventeen of them.

Every one of them was either a major general, a staff officer, or even a commander in the Blood Hunter Corps.

Or they were squad leaders from the various units within the Blood Hunter Corps.

Without a doubt, they were the ones who found it hardest to accept that Joyce was a member of the Blood Race.

However, among them, a few loyal diehards remained silent, while six or seven Blood Hunters who despised evil as a personal enemy had already drawn their weapons and aimed them at Joyce.

And the one who let out that furious question was none other than the Vice Legion Commander of the Second Legion, a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties.

The current scene was truly a spectacle.

The Elemental Giant that He’an had manifested didn’t move. Even the Thirteenth Princess just watched on coldly.

"What does that make them?"

"Heh... Haha..."

"They were food for my Blood Race, of course! What else could they be?"

Joyce looked back at the subordinates behind him, a mix of nostalgia and pain in his expression.

After answering with a morbid smile, he took a deep breath and looked around at the crowd.

Then, in a tone that was both calm and somehow self-mocking, he said, "You ignorant fools! It’s truly laughable!"

"In a world full of Vampires, a world that even has a being like the Blood God, what exactly are you hoping for?"

"Do you have any idea what I had to sacrifice to learn the truth, to become what I am now?!"

"You don’t know!!! All you know is that the Empire is strong, that it’s a great nation capable of leading the entire Human Race against the Blood Race."

"But what you’ve never known is that the Empire you believe in never even existed from the very beginning!!!"

"Haha..."

As he said this, Joyce’s expression once again twisted with pain and morbidity.

"What? What on earth is he talking about!?"

"Just as I thought, you can’t understand a single word a Vampire says!"

Down in the plaza, many people were filled with confusion, and many more simply didn’t want to understand what he was saying.

But, at this moment, someone did want to know everything. And so, someone asked.

Yes, it was the Vice Legion Commander of the Second Legion, Gaine Butler.

His gaze, filled with pain and ice, fixed on Joyce as he said in a low voice:

"Joyce, what are you trying to say? What do you mean, ’the Empire itself doesn’t exist’!?"

"Explain yourself! Now! Immediately!!!"

Faced with Gaine’s questioning, Joyce suddenly stopped smiling. He calmed down and looked at Gaine with an envious expression that the other man couldn’t comprehend.

"Gaine, sometimes I really envy you."

"I really do."

"Even though you don’t come from a noble family, you’ve always been single-minded, even a bit foolish."

"But it’s true what they say: ignorance is bliss."

"Things have come to this point. You’re not that same naive kid who just graduated from the Blood Hunter Academy anymore. Do you still not understand what I’m saying?"

Joyce, like a typical villain, was getting a bit chatty.

But to call him a villain... deep down, perhaps he was just nursing his own resentment.