Chapter 259: The Supreme King and the Legend
His home was gone.
This was the news Hode heard from Beo after being brought into a carved-out mountain cave.
“It was the will of the Lord of Annihilation. He merely descended with an anchor point, and in an instant, everyone in my territory knelt before him. Only I and the warriors were spared.” Beo spoke.
Inside the cave, a bonfire was lit. A tundra wolf that had been casually slain had its hide stripped, chopped into pieces, and placed by the fire to roast.
“Some warriors went to other nobles’ territories to seek help, but we are going to find the savages of the Exile Lands.” The third person in the cave spoke.
It was the Old Hunter, whom Hode was very familiar with. In truth, he had been a warrior loyal to the Hoover Family. Of course, he was already aged and no longer as strong as in his prime. When he had not spoken his name, Hode had not recognized him.
Even though he was old, beating Hode was still no problem for him. After all, when Hode was a child, he was often beaten by him.
“What are we going to find those savages for?” Hode asked.
Savages were those exiled by the Northern Kingdom. Some had not frozen to death in this land but had gradually gathered together, living here.
The Old Hunter grinned. “Of course to make them warriors, and then fight back.”
In his hand were uncertainly clean threads and an iron needle, with which he was roughly stitching up Hode’s body. The Old Hunter’s rough movements and stabbing needle made Hode furrow his brows tightly.
The Old Hunter said, “Last time I underestimated him, so I was ambushed. But one failure cannot defeat the warriors of the North. As long as there is a single breath left, Northern warriors will take back their homeland.”
Hode said, “I mean, just relying on those savages?”
Beo spoke, “Of course not only them. On this land, there is a legend of a dragon. I will find it, kill it, and complete the highest ritual of the North. As for the savages, they are merely to block the humans and demons commanded by the Lord of Annihilation.”
Hunting a tundra wolf was the coming-of-age ritual of the North. Hunting an icefield bear was proof of becoming a Northern warrior. Hunting a dragon, however, was the legend of the North.
Hode said, “Are you confident?”
Beo sneered and replied, “That you can even ask such a question—it seems the thoughts of those southerners have already polluted you.”
In the eyes of Northerners, there was no such thing as confidence. Just like Hode himself—his coming-of-age ceremony had not been based on his age, but when his family deemed him ready to be recognized as a man of the North. At twelve, he had been sent to hunt a tundra wolf.
When leaving the castle to seek the wolf, he had no certainty. He simply believed he should do it, and so he set out.
As for Beo, he had completed that coming-of-age ritual at the age of eight.
Hode fell silent, then asked, “What about the nobles in the west? Weren’t there other warriors sent to find them?”
Beo couldn’t be bothered to answer such a foolish question.
The Old Hunter replied, “Rather than help us, they hope for the Lord of Annihilation to descend, so that they can kill him. That is surely what all the Northern nobles thought the moment they heard of his coming.”
“The North has been scattered for far too long. Now the royal family is weak and has lost the pride of Northerners. The North needs a new Supreme King.”
“And only by accomplishing a great deed, or completing the greatest trial of Northern warriors, can one become the true Supreme King of the North.”
“Compared to the dragon, which exists only in legend, the Lord of Annihilation—real and destined to descend—is far easier to find. And when the Lord of Annihilation devours the lands of the North, the one who steps forth, defeats him, and reclaims those lands, will, without dispute, have accomplished a great deed.”
He glanced at Beo. “For the master, this is also the goal. That is why, before leaving, the master took away the Earth Vein from his territory.”
Finally, he turned to Hode. “When faced with crisis, seeking the help of others—that is what southerners do. A Northern warrior should seize everything he desires with his fists.”
After the Old Hunter finished speaking, Beo said, “Once his injuries heal, Cooper, you will take him south. That is where he belongs now.”
Cooper Hoover—the Old Hunter’s name. His loyalty to the Hoover Family had earned him the Hoover surname.
The Old Hunter, Cooper, asked, “You don’t need me to negotiate with the savages?”
Beo replied, “My fists will negotiate with them. They should be glad to hear what my fists have to say.”
Cooper said, “I mean, after they agree, you’ll need someone to lead them.”
Beo replied, “As long as enough are slain, there will always be those who bow to survive and lead others for me.”
Cooper then turned to Hode and said, “That is the law of the North. You were still young when sent south, but now I’ve reminded you of the rules of the North. Surely, you won’t need me to use my fists to persuade you?”
Hode swallowed back the words he wanted to say.
Seeing Hode subdued, Cooper said, “What did you do down south? Why does your body look weak, yet you’re so hard to kill?”
“Even though that thing merely took your limbs, once I stitched them back on, your recovery was surprisingly fast.”
Hode asked, “Merely took?”
Cooper chuckled, then picked up a dagger and stabbed it straight through Hode’s yet-unattached leg, pinning it to the ground. Though his body was aged, the strike pierced through easily.
“Ah!” Hode let out a miserable scream, the pain of his leg being pierced flooding him.
Cooper, seemingly pleased with Hode’s lively cry, smiled and said, “Now you understand why I said it was only taken.”
Hode shut his mouth.
Having heard Hode’s scream, Beo picked up a wolf’s leg, crunched it down bones and all in a few bites, then stood up and said, “When you return south, don’t come back to the North. This is not a place for people like you.”
With that, he left.
Hode opened his mouth, but seeing his current state, he remained silent.
Once Beo left, Cooper extinguished the fire.
“Though the master doesn’t fear the curse of the Exile Lands, for us, the fewer troubles, the better.” Cooper looked at Hode. “An old man like me can’t fight anymore.”
Hode opened his mouth, then finally asked, “When did the anchor point of the Lord of Annihilation descend? When I passed through the Northern Kingdom, I didn’t hear of it. I only heard of rebellion in the Hoover Family’s territory.”
Cooper said, “Fool. After living in the south so long, you should know: when the lords are in silent agreement to hide something, the people below only know what the lords want them to know.”
“Besides, between the Hoover Territory and your route south, there are dozens of nobles. With such distance, how could you possibly hear the truth?”
……
The Hoover Family was one of the five great border marquises of the Northern Kingdom. Their lands bordered Blackrock Point, their primary defense being against the dark creatures of Blackrock Point.
Above Blackrock Point, three days of blood rain had finally ceased. The heavy black clouds in the sky gradually dissipated, and the glow of the Morning Star shone upon the land of Blackrock Point.
For most dark creatures, from the moment of their birth, they had never seen the Morning Star. Even those who had the fortune to face its light directly did not regard it as a pleasant memory.
Thus, for the dark creatures of Blackrock Point—or rather, for the vampires of Blackrock Point—the past days had been spent both digesting the gift granted by their Progenitor and curiously experiencing what it felt like to bathe in the Morning Star’s radiance.
It was a faintly stinging warmth, unlike the past, when every drop of blood and flesh within their bodies felt like it was being roasted alive.
They believed this was the miracle brought to them by their Progenitor’s return.
Their Progenitor had remained in the sky all this time, as though accepting their worship.
“Now, if you wish, you may ascend directly to godhood.”
In the air, Ymir’s voice resounded.
Ymir, with sleek, pure white fur and two rows of hard horns upon his head, floated in the sky, speaking to the vampire who had folded his wings tightly around his body, eyes closed.
The vampire snapped his crimson eyes open and looked at Ymir. He opened his mouth and his voice came forth.
“Like you?” The Vampire Progenitor conveyed his message.
Though he knew the language of this age, for beings of their level, exchanging through will was far more convenient.
“Is it not good to be like me?” Ymir said. “Even if my body dies, even if my will is ground away, as long as my kin remember me, I will eventually return.”
“Heh, did you forget how he captured you, how he tortured you to death?” The Vampire Progenitor responded. “When you linked yourself to your kin to ascend, you gained great power, but you also tied yourself to each of them—giving yourself a fragile, fatal weakness.”
Ymir said, “But he is dead. What is there to fear?”
The Vampire Progenitor’s gaze turned in one direction. “There, a Lord of Annihilation is descending.”
Then he looked another way. “And there, are the traces of Original Sin.”
Finally, he turned back to Ymir. “Which of those two can you afford to provoke?”
Ymir said, “Why must we clash with them? This world is vast.”
The Vampire Progenitor said, “Then why did you come to me?”
“I came to form an alliance with you.” Ymir said. “He is dead. Who knows what strange things he carried within him? His actions against us were merely from one of his reincarnations. Now the curse he laid upon our kin has dispersed. We can step out from the shadows and stand under the Morning Star. But what of other terrors yet unknown to us?”
“This world will become even more dangerous. So we must stand together to resist what is to come.”
Ymir extended his invitation.
The Vampire Progenitor bared his sharp teeth, exhaled with a scoff, and sent his thought: “And what profit is in this for me? I am not like you, a god weighed down by kin.”
Ymir grinned and said, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t agree now. But when you do wish for alliance, you can reach me anytime.”
He then opened his mouth, pulled out one of his teeth, and tossed it to the vampire.
“You can observe this world further, then reconsider my proposal.”
His voice gradually faded along with his vanishing figure.
The Vampire Progenitor made no move. The tooth floated quietly before him.