I Became the Progenitor Vampire

Chapter 171: Chapter 172: Hunting Target—Northern Warrior
 

Although Lide thought everything through perfectly, when faced with the six entities above level 15 of the Dark Contract, as Emi’s little lackey, there was no way he could interject a word.

Emi seemed to sense that Lide wanted to gain the favor of the Northern Land Valkyrie, but in the end, she could only helplessly shake her head.

Because the Undead Mage Withered Bone demanded a price he could not afford.

“I need an Extraordinary Rank Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn,” Withered Bone said, his dark gaze burning as he looked towards Grote, his eyes filled with undeniable greed.

The Northern Dragon Rhinoceros, a unique Dragon Blood Life that lived only in the Northern Plateau.

And an Extraordinary Rank Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn was just as valuable as the fresh blood of a giant dragon because it could forge Legendary Level weapons.

Invaluable.

The Northern Dragon Rhinoceros lived on the snowy peaks of the Northern 8,000-blade mountains; hunting such a powerful Dragon Blood Life in such a cold environment was as difficult as a Mage Apprentice breaking through to Transcendent.

Thus, the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn had always been an object pursued by the great Nobles, and because of its scarcity, the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros became a Rare treasure.

But, coincidentally, the Extraordinary Rank Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn, Grote, a Northern Warrior, had one.

“Lord Withered Bone, won’t you consider other items? I still have one Divine Gift bestowed upon me…”

Before he could finish speaking, Withered Bone shook his head, and beneath the gray cloak, those dark eyes became more sinister.

“No, I only need the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn. This item is one of the necessities for my little darling’s ascension to Transcendence. Although there are many substitutes, the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn is more valuable to me than a Divine Gift,” Withered Bone directly revealed his intentions.

The people in the room instantaneously looked at Grote with amused eyes.

None of them were fools; they instantly knew that Withered Bone, the cursed Undead Mage, had targeted Grote from the very beginning.

The previous performance was merely to increase the weight of his bargaining chips.

Grote’s face turned extremely grim.

The Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn was a holy object to Grote’s lineage of Northern people, a glory bestowed upon them by the first generation King of the North after slaying an Extraordinary Level Northern Dragon Rhinoceros.

Through the passage of countless years, as generations of Northern people came and went, the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn contained more than just glory.

It was the embodiment of countless individuals’ beliefs.

If possible, Grote would rather lose his own life than exchange the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn with this Undead Mage.

It signified that the beliefs of the North that had endured for hundreds of thousands of years had been severed by his hands.

He, Grote, would become the sinner of the North.

But, not to exchange?

The North was already breached, and they might be the only remaining members of the Northern Royal Family in this Undead Mage’s hands. Without its last Royal Bloodline, could the North still have the right and power to reclaim their homeland?

Withered Bone watched with immense enjoyment as Grote’s pained expression morphed.

Struggle, feel rage, ignorant Northern people,

How marvelous, your agony makes my soul rejoice.

Undead Mages, whose lives are twisted from being excessively protracted and corroded by the aura of Death, often derive pleasure from creating Chaos and evil.

The reason Withered Bone chose Grote was that he once desired to exchange for the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn but was harshly rejected and unreservedly humiliated by Grote, although eventually no battle occurred due to Viscount Bernard’s intervention.

But this made Withered Bone remember.

He wanted to see, faced with something equally important to him, what would Grote, who had once refused him, choose?

The twisted pleasure surged like a tide,

Driving him nearly insane.

“Respected Lord Grote, why do you not speak? Your choice is either the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn or the Royal Bloodline of the North—this admirable Northern Land Valkyrie?”

The room fell into a deathly silence; everyone watched Grote with keen interest.

Grote, his face twisted in agony, looked towards the elegant Viscount Bernard and asked in an extremely hoarse voice,

“Viscount Bernard, has the Northern Plateau truly been breached by the Nolan Empire and the Radiant Empire?! Are all members of the Northern Royal Family truly dead?”

Viscount Bernard looked at his Guard Commander, his lips moving slightly as if conversing with someone.

After a lengthy silence, finally, under Grote’s despairing gaze, Viscount Bernard nodded.

“The North has been occupied by the Nolan Empire, and as for the Northern Royal Family, most were hunted down by Transcendents of the Radiant Empire.

The intelligence suggests that a Legendary Level force has acted against the North, so I cannot confirm whether there are other members of the Northern Royal Family who escaped.”

Turning his head, Grote looked at the Northern Land Valkyrie lying unconscious on the ground, her body scarred like the ancient bark of an old tree. Filled with red eyes, this tower-like robust Northern Warrior knelt on one knee before her.

Thud—a hand slammed down fiercely onto the floor, and the wooden floor beneath the thick carpet burst apart in a wide circle.

Debris flew in all directions.

After his fit of rage, the head of the Northern Warrior, which had never accepted defeat, hung low like a slave after a battle loss.

“Your Highness, perhaps you will forgive my choice, for the sake of the North.”

Withered Bone glanced at this scene, and its sharp voice carried a hint of mockery.

“So, your choice is the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn? How noble of you, warrior of the North. You successfully abandoned your king, ha ha ha~ What a delightful spectacle.”

Grott stood up, his towering figure exuding a sense of oppression, and his aura regained the distinctive fierceness and resilience of a Northern Warrior.

His hand swept across his neck, and snap—the unknown material black necklace broke off.

Grott stretched out his hand, and the sharply tooth-like object that hung from the necklace fell from his hand. It swayed several times, pulled by the black string.

Step by step, he moved toward Withered Bone, his gaze sharp as a falcon’s.

Thump, thump, thump—

The sound of his black warrior boots on the velvet carpet was quiet, yet in the silent room, it seemed like thunder.

“I want to trade with you.”

Withered Bone looked at the pendant in Grott’s hand, its voice from under the gray cloak carrying mockery and a cold hue, “For a stray dog’s tusk?”

“No, this is the Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn!” Grott’s tone was filled with indomitable anger,

“The ancestors of the North once pleaded with a Legendary Level Space Mage to seal this honorific Holy Object unique to the Northern Warrior. Since then, the large Northern Dragon Rhinoceros Horn became a pendant worn by heroes.”

“Simply break the seal, and you will obtain the Extraordinary Rank horn,” Grott said with endless pain and torment in his eyes. The Holy Object, passed down through the Northern lineage, was being personally given away to an Undead Mage by him.

This guilt and self-reproach made it almost unbearable for him to face himself.

Withered Bone’s somber eyes flickered, and he reached out to receive the pendant.

After sensing it for a moment, he exclaimed excitedly, “Indeed, it’s a seal left by a Legendary Mage. Brave warrior of the North, you didn’t lie!

How splendid, under the witness of Viscount Bernard, I agree to trade with Lord Grott.”

After speaking to the onlookers, Withered Bone immediately returned to his seat with an impatient mood and began to study the thumb-sized gray pendant seriously.

As for the Northern Land Valkyrie on the floor, she naturally belonged to Grott, who was mingling his pain with a trace of relief.

He lost the honor of the North, but at least, the future hope of the North was preserved, wasn’t it?

Grott took a deep breath; the North must not lose their king.

“Lord Grott, I swear to the God of the Undead, reminding you with the little goodness I have left, hurry and find the blood of the Golden Race.

Your king has only three months left to live.”

Withered Bone called it a reminder, but the schadenfreude in his tone made everyone speechless.

This damned Undead Mage!!

Grott turned his head to look at Withered Bone without saying a word, but the chill in his eyes let everyone know that the Northern Warrior had taken this matter to heart.

It’d be enough to unsettle an ordinary person to be hated by a Level 16 Northern Warrior, but Withered Bone, an Undead Mage, didn’t care in the slightest. In fact, he was quite pleased with himself, as if this Level 16 warrior were merely a Level 3 little thief.

“Your Highness, let’s go.”

Grott bent down to pick up the Northern Land Valkyrie, covered in ancient scars, took one deep look at Withered Bone, and then turned to leave.

As Withered Bone left, Lide, who had been silently watching the play from the outside, suddenly had a thought.

His brain went into overdrive in that instant, and after a moment, he revealed a broad, hidden smile.

The plan he initially had in mind was overturned in that instant, and a wildly bold idea rose in his heart.

His gaze burned, watching the door left open by Grott’s departure.

This time, he’d go big!

He would,

Hunt down this Level 16 Northern Warrior,

At any cost.

PS: Brothers who are still reading pirated versions, please support the genuine reading on Qidian~ Writing a book requires a tremendous amount of energy and labor, and it’s not as easy as everyone thinks; a keyboard doesn’t type by itself.

Good night, my darlings, rest early~muma