Chapter 175: Chapter 176: Indifferent to Life and Death, Fight if You Disagree
Two days later.
Grot stood in his own estate, looking at dozens of Northern Warriors clad in Dwarf Forged armor, ready to mobilize, his eyes flashing with satisfaction.
Northern Warriors are the innate warriors of the Main Plane of Glory; even civilians who have never seen a Northern Warrior can recognize them with a 90% probability upon first sight.
Because that unique temperament is simply too outstanding.
Resolute, Fearless.
No one could crush a group of Northern Warriors head-on, for even at the cost of all their lives, these warriors with fearless blood coursing through their veins would not retreat a single step.
...
“Form ranks!!”
With a shout, whoosh—
The Northern Warriors before him neatly divided into five squads, each precisely ten men strong.
These robust Northern Warriors were clan members Grot had brought out when he left the Northern Lands twenty-five years ago,
originally numbering 300. But as time passed, more and more fell in battle, and these were his last remaining troops.
Lord Emi, however, had a clearly different focus as he silently assessed the strength of this group of Northern Warriors through their aura.
50 Northern Warriors, 12 of level 10, the rest of the ranks around levels 8 to 9.
Plus a level 16 Grot,
Emi took a deep breath.
A complete force of Northern Warriors, once arrayed in formation, would dare to charge even against an enemy a hundredfold their number.
Fearing nothing.
Although he was very confident in the upcoming plan, Emi’s heart still felt heavy when he looked at Grot’s determined face; no one dared to underestimate the Northern Warriors.
To be sung warriors praised throughout Glory, their reputation was forged in countless battles.
Clip-clop, clip-clop—
A pure white horse-drawn carriage slowly approached from outside the yard, Emi’s eyes narrowing slightly— he sensed an almost imperceptible spark of life on it.
A glint flashed through his eyes, the Northern Land Valkyrie.
“Lord Emi, we can depart now,”
Emi took a deep look at the carriage and nodded.
“As you wish.”
Servants brought horses from the back yard, and a group of Northern Warriors mounted up, forming a protective circle around the carriage.
They set off.
…
50 kilometers from Green City, inside a tall valley.
“Ancestor Crown, do you think Lord Emi can bring that Northern Warrior here?”
Audis stood behind Lide, gazing down at the open valley beneath them, his tone steady.
After learning from Lide last night the true strength of the enemy they were facing, a heavy pressure weighed profoundly in the hearts of all the second-generation Bloodlines.
This was the second time since their emergence that the Bloodline was facing such a formidable enemy.
The last time was a century ago when the Extraordinary Existence of Green City dispatched troops to exterminate the Bloodline.
Everyone knew the consequences of that war; the fear left by the Extraordinary Beings in the Bloodline still lingered to this day.
It was a nightmare that no one wished to recall.
But this time, although the enemy they faced did not hold Extraordinary Existence among them, their strength might not be much less.
Yet unlike the last time,
this time, even though they faced a formidable enemy, all the Bloodlines rose with indescribable confidence at the sight of Lide’s not particularly burly but extraordinarily upright silhouette standing at the cave entrance.
It seemed as long as Lide was here, all the difficulties Bloodline faced wouldn’t be difficult at all.
Because their great Ancestor Crown had managed to amplify the Bloodline’s strength tenfold in just half a year’s time.
Now the Bloodline had the strength to stand against the forces that, just half a year ago, had made them suffocate.
And as long as Ancestor Crown was present, the Bloodline feared nothing.
The work Lide had done in this period not only filled the residents of Dawn City with boundless confidence, but trust among all Bloodlines in him had also reached a full measure.
This was trust that transcended the influence of Ancestor Bloodline loyalty; it was a trust in strength, a trust in the future.
All this had been carved out by Lide’s own hands.
“Do not worry, no one can make the Bloodline bow their heads. As long as I am here, even if faced with the Divine, what of it?”
“Bloodline, Fear nothing.”
The calm yet resolute voice instantly buoyed the morale of the Bloodlines behind.
“Teacher~”
A crisp voice at this moment sounded particularly dissonant among the Bloodline with their bat-like demonic wings.
Lide turned around, upon seeing the somewhat worried face of the girl beside him, he showed a smile and reached out to tousle her flaxen hair.
“Isa, are you afraid?”
The petite Isa glanced at the diabolically beautiful faces of the Bloodline around her, then looked up at Lide, and suddenly her lips curved into a radiant smile.
“Isa isn’t scared, with the teacher here.”
With those words, she stepped forward and gently took Lide’s hand.
Those ruby-like eyes held a reliance and trust that outsiders could hardly imagine.
She didn’t care whether Lide was human or of another race; she only knew he was her teacher.
He was the hero who saved her from Hell and brought her back to the world of the living, the figure she could never forget, who, when the entire world abandoned her, promised to use his own life to protect her.
After Lide revealed his true identity to the girl, Isa’s first thought was not fear or anxiety, but… “My teacher is so powerful, actually the legendary Blood Clan Ancestor…”
Even Lide was stunned by the girl’s way of thinking.
Isa was Lide’s last ace. He could not guarantee that people from the Dark Contract wouldn’t suddenly attack, so these days, no matter where he was, he always took Isa with him.
Even if he lost the Crimson Mage Tower, he couldn’t allow Isa to be in danger.
As for Vina, Lide had already made an excuse for her to secretly leave the city and go to other cities to purchase Magic Materials; she wouldn’t be back for half a month.
The power of the Dark Contract forced him to be cautious in his actions; the only pity was that the time left for him was too short. Even if he prepared as much as possible, due to the constraints of time, it wasn’t perfect.
After tightening his grip on Isa’s hand, Lide turned his gaze toward the valley below, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.
Leading a race to rise was not as simple as imagined.
Every decision, every action, could influence the direction of their destiny, making the pressure he felt exceptionally heavy.
But it was precisely these pressures that filled Lide with vigor every time. He was never a weak person, and the stubbornness in his bones meant he never thought of retreating.
Even when he learned that the Dark Contract possessed several beings above level 15, with its leader nearing the status of the Transcendent, he never once considered abandoning the Crimson Mage Tower.
“Take life and death lightly; if you don’t submit, you fight.”
…
When Grote led his subordinates and Emi through the third valley and into the fourth, the usually silent Grote could no longer contain the restlessness within him.
“Lord Emi, how much longer will it take?”
Grote silently observed his surroundings; it was getting dark around them, the forest full of the soothing sounds of birds and insects, peaceful and harmonious.
However, the anxious Grote couldn’t be bothered with these things; this was the fourth valley he had been through.
The mountain range outside Green City was vast because it was close to the Far Mountain Range, which had many valleys and caves.
It wasn’t strange for Emi to raise younglings of the Golden Race here.
At first, he remained highly vigilant, sending groups of Northern Warriors ahead to scout.
But after three valleys, he was too preoccupied to care that much, only wanting to quickly find the younglings of the Golden Race; the Northern royal family couldn’t afford to lose them.
The Northern Land Valkyrie, weak to the point of possibly losing her life at any moment, couldn’t be delayed any longer, and the sooner she recovered, the more at ease he would be.
Upon hearing this, Emi’s face suddenly revealed a thick smile.
“Lord Grote, we’ve arrived.”
“Arrived??”
“Yes, welcome to the Land of Death…”
What?
Grote’s warrior intuition made him turn pale in an instant.
Danger!! Every pore in his body conveyed a signal of imminent threat.
Just as he was about to take action, thump~
Emi’s form quietly disappeared from the spot, Second Circle Magic: Shadow Jump.
At the same time.
Around the valley, numerous huge figures took off, a massive swarm of giant bats appeared under the dim sky, obscuring the sun.
With vicious barbed grey-black bat wings and gleaming sharp teeth, enormous pointed ears, and piercing shrieks emanating from their throats.
The scene was like the bottomless abyss on the Main Plane, the arrival of Demons.
Whoosh whoosh~
Accompanying the giant bats was an even more terrifying assault.
Amidst the howling winds, a dozen huge boulders were flung like castle-busting stones from a giant siege engine, with terrifying speed towards the Northern Warriors.
“Ambush!!”
“All units, spread out into squads!!”
“Protect His Highness!”
Amidst Grote’s shocked and enraged bellowing, a group of Northern Warriors, led by an Advanced Warrior, immediately dispersed.
At that moment, the huge boulders arrived.
No one could have imagined the kind of strength required to hurl such enormous stones.
The largest one was ten blades long and six or seven blades wide, like a small mountain.
Boom~
The meteor from the sky shattered the earth.
The boulder slammed into the ground, causing the entire grassland to burst.
Unfortunately, a squad of twelve Northern Warriors couldn’t evade in time, and as the boulder rolled, both they and their mounts were crushed to pieces.
Blood spread everywhere.
The boulder continued to roll behind them, toppling three large trees before coming to a stop.
“No!!” Grote’s eyes reddened upon seeing this, and as he looked towards Emi, who had teleported to the distance, his eyes were filled with a murderous intent that could make even a giant dragon recoil.