I Became the Progenitor Vampire

Chapter 187: Chapter 188: From Now On, There’s a Chatty Little Skeleton on Dawn City’s Square
 

Lord Withered Bones stepped through the Space Gate and appeared just outside Green City in the blink of an eye.

Beneath his cloak, those deep blue eyes took a lingering look at the city behind him, sprawled like a gigantic beast.

“Viscount Bernard, truly impressive, who would have thought you’d dare target an Extraordinary Existence.”

“How surprising.”

“Gah gah gah, I hope you can escape the pursuit of the Transcendent.”

Lord Withered Bones’s tone did not betray an ounce of frustration at being used as a pawn; instead, it was laced with barely concealed schadenfreude.

When he sensed Viscount Bernard’s presence in the City Lord’s Manor, he understood the reason behind it all. Being an Undead Life that had lived for countless years, he had seen through such conspiracies and schemes long ago.

He had felt something amiss about this operation from the start, suspecting that Viscount Bernard had other plans. He hadn’t expected the other party to be so bold as to attack the City Lord’s Manor and plunder the wealth of an Extraordinary Existence.

“The Dark Contract shall be destroyed from today,” Lord Withered Bones declared, floating in the air, his voice tinged with reluctance.

Having offended the Transcendent, the Dark Contract had lost its foothold in Green City.

“Losing a toy like this is truly boring. I heard the Royal Capital of Nolan Empire is rife with underground forces; perhaps I can take a look there.”

The Undead Mage, Lord Withered Bones, who possessed an endless lifespan, enjoyed joining various dark forces. Regrettably, the groups he joined often did not last as long as he did, so he had witnessed the destruction of countless underground forces.

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Yet, he never tired of it.

It seemed only among humans could he find a sense of living, for he had lived far too long; time had long since lost its meaning to him.

“Lord Withered Bones, please wait. I think the Dark Contract will not be destroyed just like that.”

As Lord Withered Bones prepared to leave, a voice from below halted his actions.

Turning slightly, a tall, incredibly handsome figure emerged from the woods.

That elegant nobility was like a bright moon in the darkness, admirable.

“Are you the Vampire servant by Emi’s side?” Lord Withered Bones’s somber gaze flickered upon seeing Lide, his tone slightly annoyed.

“A level 13 Vampire? Who gave you the courage to speak to the great Lord Withered Bones like this?

“Don’t you know the great Lord Withered Bones is the Vice President of the Dark Contract, a being of higher stature than your master, Emi?

“You lowly servant, now kneel and beg for mercy from the great Lord Withered Bones, otherwise, I won’t mind grinding your skull into powder for alchemy materials.”

Lide couldn’t get a word in edgeways, his face expressing his speechlessness. Will this chatterbox ever let me speak?

“I…”

“Hmph, lowly Vampire, it’s too late now. I will make you understand never to offend the great Lord Withered Bones.”

“You…”

“Stop thinking about begging for mercy. Let me bestow upon you death and destruction.”

Unable to stand it anymore, Lide looked at the arrogant Lord Withered Bones floating mid-air and turned to look behind him.

“Are you ready? Strike now!”

Lord Withered Bones was caught off guard, still not reacting when a figure moving at a blade-speed of a hundred per second soared towards the sky.

Just as he instinctively tried to use Space Magic, the surrounding space instantly solidified.

Space Dimensional Anchor, the surrounding space was locked tight.

Lord Withered Bones, standing no more than a hundred blades away, saw the figure approach in just a second.

Only then did he see clearly, a woman, wearing a short skirt, her eyes filled with wildness.

Mage Shield, Mage Shield.

Though Lord Withered Bones was only level 14, he used a unique Talent only available to level 15 Spellcasters—Dual Casting—to instantly cover himself with two shields.

But it was too late.

The giant sword aglow with a faint light swung down, and the level 14 Lord Withered Bones stood no chance against the level 16 Betty.

Zzeerraa~

The two layers of the Mage Shield shattered like nothing, and with a slight tilt of the sword, Betty smashed the blade’s body onto Lord Withered Bones, sending him plummeting from the sky like a baseball.

At that moment, a burly figure surged from the ground.

Child of the North, Grot.

This burly warrior flapped his huge bat wings and launched right at the point where Lord Withered Bones was falling, smashing his giant sword onto Lord Withered Bones’s waist.

Bang—home run.

The body of Lord Withered Bones, cloaked in black, was smashed once more, soaring back into the sky.

Just then, as Betty’s figure descended, she came face to face with the ascending Lord Withered Bones, her eyes flashing wildly as she smashed down with the sword again.

Bang—

Lord Withered Bones’s body was batted around by Grot and Betty several times within a few seconds using their giant swords.

Finally, after Betty fell from the sky, the game ended.

Lord Withered Bones’s body quickly plunged, the fierce wind making his large black cloak rustle loudly.

Boom~

From hundreds of blades away, Lide could hear the final sound of Withered Bones crashing onto the ground.

At that moment, Emi, hiding in the shadows, had already made her move and appeared beside him within two seconds of his fall.

The handcuffs forged from magic-resistant stones firmly grasped Withered Bones’s hands, at the same time dispersing the magic power around him; her hands moved swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, she stripped him of all his possessions.

By the time Lide reached Emi’s side, he saw the true form of this Undead Mage for the first time.

Withered Bones, true Withered Bones.

On the grass, a skeleton entirely composed of white bones was very conspicuous; the soul fire within its skull flickered a ghostly blue, seemingly undulating continuously due to severe damage it had sustained.

Betty and Groot, two well-coordinated Northern Warriors, also reached Lide’s side and looked curiously at the Undead Mage on the ground.

It was also their first time seeing an Undead Mage.

“Legend has it that Undead Mages are transformed from corpses, and as long as their soul fire does not extinguish, they will never die,” Emi said somewhat wistfully. “These beings have no concept of time; Withered Bones existed even before I joined the Dark Contract, and no one knows how long he has lived.”

Lide stroked his chin, a level 14 Undead Life with a Bone Dragon undoubtedly a very valuable trophy.

However, as an Undead Mage was not a human, he couldn’t turn him into a Bloodline; hence, a very important question now was how to deal with this trophy.

“Emi, do you know how to handle an Undead Mage? Or, is there a way to control him?”

Emi pondered for a moment before giving a bitter smile,

“Ancestor Crown, Undead Mages are extremely peculiar and bizarre; no one knows what lies hidden within their soul fire.

Therefore, common control techniques like Soul Contracts are useless on them because they can abandon their detached soul fire anytime.”

Lide glanced at the two Northern Warriors; Betty shrugged and gestured helplessly with her hands. Combat she could handle, but researching how to control an Undead Mage was clearly beyond her scope.

Groot also decisively shook his head; this former Child of the North was obviously clueless about these matters.

“Is there a way to get his Bone Dragon?”

Withered Bones didn’t matter to Lide; he was after the powerful Bone Dragon, the real treasure he desired.

A level 14 Undead Mage, capable of overpowering five level 15 top combatants with his Bone Dragon.

“Cackle, foolish vampire, thinking of getting my little treasure, such an ignorant idea.”

The restrained Withered Bones on the ground suddenly spoke.

Lide looked curiously at Withered Bones; his white skull opened and closed between speaking, producing sounds that seemed to be made by vibrating the air directly, not by vibrating vocal cords like humans.

“Oh,” Lide nodded but did not speak.

Withered Bones was firmly locked on the ground by chains made of magic-resistant stone, completely unable to mobilize magic power.

Withered Bones’s skull turned towards him, a pale blue light flashing across his empty eye sockets, and Lide’s lack of inquiry seemed to irritate him.

“Hmph, ignorant vampire, my little treasure has already fused with my soul fire; as long as I die, you won’t get the powerful Bone Dragon,” Withered Bones taunted.

Lide nodded.

“Oh.”

Withered Bones raged upon hearing this.

“Do not disbelieve, vampire, do not use your ignorant mind to speculate about the great Lord Withered Bones. I…”

“Oh, I believe,” Lide cut him off.

Withered Bones’s soul fire fluctuated wildly with anger, making Emi wonder if it might ignite his skull.

“Bring him back to Dawn City and lock him up, better yet, display him on the Square so all citizens can view our trophy; perhaps our citizens would be interested in this little skeleton,” Lide said, not uttering such foolish words as asking for the Bone Dragon.

To threaten an Undead Life was absolutely the most stupid action; these beings, having lived who knows how long, simply do not care about death.

Even in the belief system of Undead Life, the concept of death does not exist; to them, death is merely a form of sleep.

This was a very peculiar creature, no longer even considered ‘alive’.

So, Lide preferred to have his Mages research how to forcibly take the Bone Dragon from the Undead Mage, rather than making threats.

Hearing this, Withered Bones burst into rage.

“Damn vampire, I am a great Undead Mage, not a little skeleton, no!”

“Great Lord Withered Bones will let you taste being scorched by Dragon’s Breath, I swear…”

Lide paid no attention to the verbose Undead Mage; though he had captured him, he still needed to figure out how to transform his captive into something useful for Dawn City.

“Emi, after the Dawn Mage Tower is built, establish a branch for researching Undead Magic; I want to thoroughly study these Undead Creatures.”

After finishing, he glanced at the still chattering Withered Bones, “As for this guy, display him on Dawn Square until we figure it out; let the residents witness what Undead Life is like.”

Capturing the prey but not finding a use for it was truly frustrating.

However, because of Lide’s decision, from that day forward, Dawn City’s Square had one more curiosity—a chatty little skeleton that boasted all day about having a powerful Bone Dragon.

The residents of Dawn City scoffed at this, mocking him and finding much amusement in their otherwise peaceful lives.