As a mythic-rank demon master, Karandor was thoroughly familiar with the layout of the territory under his control. He knew many places with intriguing histories, but he doubted any of them could impress a powerhouse who commanded a super-entity.
"Great human, the most impressive natural wonder I know of is Blood Valley. Does that sound interesting?" he asked.
"Blood Valley? What is it?" Leo inquired.
"Blood Valley, in my territory, is the origin of southern vampires. It’s said that an ultimate-rank vampire died there long ago," Karandor explained.
"Ultimate rank? Are there still ultimate-rank beings there?" Leo asked eagerly.
"Of course not. As a holy site for the southern vampires, many mythic-rank powerhouses visit it annually. Occasionally, ultra-vampires may pass through, but I’ve never heard of any super-rank vampire or higher visiting. It’s said that not a single vampire of southern origin has ever reached super rank," Karandor replied.
"Alright, let’s go to this Blood Valley. On the way, tell me about vampires, their origins, and anything else I should know," Leo ordered.
The giant tiger, towering like a mountain, stood up with two passengers and a parrot on its back, then leaped into the sky.
...
"Vampires are said to have originated from three different places," Karandor began. "The oldest and strongest type is the northern vampire, which descends from an absolute-rank being. Eastern vampires originated from an ultimate-rank being and have a long history. The newest vampire species is the southerners, who appeared only a few hundred thousand years ago."
"Northern vampires are incredibly dangerous. They’re absolute apex predators at their rank. Even as a tiger demon, I must show respect when facing a northern mythic-rank vampire. Their abilities are remarkable: charm that works on beings of the same rank, blood revival—which allows them to resurrect from even a single drop of blood—and blood regeneration, which can instantly heal any injury. Fortunately, northern vampires are almost nonexistent here."
"Eastern vampires are powerful as well, but they’re not at the top of the food chain. As a tiger demon, I can fight evenly with a mythic-rank eastern vampire. They also have charm abilities, though theirs usually don’t work on beings of the same rank. Their blood resurrection isn’t absolute either—they can regenerate their entire body from a drop of blood but might still fail and die. Their speed, strength, magic, spellcasting, and resistance are all weaker than northern vampires. Very few eastern vampires are around here."
"As for southern vampires, they’re the weakest. I could easily defeat southern vampires of the same rank," Karandor said confidently as if he had done so many times.
Leo thought for a moment, then asked, "Why is there such a disparity in strength?"
"They say it’s because of their origins," Karandor replied. "There are many northern vampires at ultimate rank, which blesses all lower-level northern vampires. On the other hand, there are no southern vampires of super-rank or above, which means their power isn’t boosted at all."
"Interesting," Leo acknowledged. "Now, another question—why don’t you attack human territory?"
Karandor shook his head as he flew through the sky. As a tiger skilled in spellcasting, he could fly at high speeds. "Our demon king ordered us to avoid disturbing human settlements. Those are reserved for emergencies," Karandor said, clearly reluctant to elaborate.
"For what kind of emergency?" Leo pressed.
Karandor could only answer reluctantly, "Human territories are formation nodes. There are 9,999 formation nodes across the southern wilderness, all connected to form a network. These nodes can be consumed to strengthen the defensive shield in case of an eastern invasion."
"What invasion?" Leo asked.
Karandor explained, "Humans may be physically weak, but their souls are abnormally strong. An adult tiger’s soul is at least a hundred times weaker than a mortal human’s. To power our defensive shield, we need soul energy, and we allow so many humans to live simply to ensure we have enough reserves if the East attacks. The easterners have been threatening us for millions of years, but fortunately, they’ve been all talk and no action—so far."
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Leo asked, "Why does the East want to attack?"
Karandor said, "That, I don’t know."
"How strong is the defensive shield?" Leo asked.
Karandor responded, "If we burn through all our human reserves, we may be able to hold off an ultimate-rank being for about 2,000 years. Of course, if more than one ultimate rank attacks, we’ll have to consume much more."
"So powerful? Mortal human souls can hold off ultimate-rank beings?" Leo was shocked.
"We have 9,999 human settlements, each with countless humans living in them. Don’t underestimate the power of human souls; together, they form a massive pool of energy," Karandor explained.
...
After a few days of travel, Karandor and the group finally arrived at Blood Valley.
"Such a strong smell of blood... fitting of the name Blood Valley," Leo remarked, his heightened senses picking up the intense scent.
"My lord, this place is dangerous!" Sir Garren, who had been silent for days, suddenly spoke.
"Explain!" Leo demanded seriously.
"There’s a powerful aura here, one beyond super rank. Even though it’s distant, I wouldn’t be able to protect you if anything goes wrong!" Sir Garren replied.
"Karandor?" Leo called.
"Yes, great human?" Karandor responded in an innocent tone.
"You said there’s no danger here. Then why does Sir Garren sense something?" Leo asked, suspicion growing.
"Don’t worry, great human. As I said, the ultimate vampire who died here poses no threat," Karandor reassured.
"Sir Garren, take me back! Kill this tiger and carry me back to human territory!" Leo commanded, making a swift decision. His instincts screamed at him, warning of an impending trap.
"Great human, please—I haven’t lied—" Karandor started to say.
Slash!
The tiger’s head fell to the ground, blood gushing from the wound like a fountain. Sir Garren’s sword remained stainless, despite decapitating such a massive creature. He stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Leo, and leapt skyward.
...
"Such a clever human," observed a massive dragon, over five kilometers long, with blood-red pupils and scales. He watched the two tiny figures speed away below him.
This was the Blood Dragon Emperor, the ancestor of southern vampires—a newly ascended ultimate-rank creature, and most definitely not dead. Karandor had lied about many things.
"A super-rank human… where did he come from? No human should be able to go beyond mythic rank!" The Blood Dragon Emperor was genuinely baffled. As one of only 68 ultimate-rank dragons in the southern wilderness, he was well-informed about the restrictions placed on the 99,999 human settlements. Simply put, if a human ever advanced beyond mythic rank, it would trigger alarm bells, alerting the dragon kings. After all, though they needed human souls to fuel the defensive shield, they couldn’t risk humans growing too powerful.
The dragons knew better than to underestimate humans. The northern and eastern continents, for instance, were dominated by human forces, with northern vampires being especially terrifying.
Northern vampires were humanoid, while southern vampires were demon-like, and eastern vampires were hybrids. As a dragon vampire and the ancestor of southern vampires, the Blood Dragon Emperor was well aware that he couldn’t match the ultimate-rank human vampires of the north. Without the defensive shield, the southern continent would have been annexed by humans long ago.
"I should kill them all," the dragon thought. He couldn’t allow a super-rank human to roam freely. Humans were the enemy, and the only reason they were allowed to exist in the wilderness was to serve as a source of soul energy.
"Maybe it's better to capture them alive?" he pondered. Capturing them alive offered undeniable benefits. If he could somehow tame a super rank human and send him east as a spy, he could gain valuable insight into the inner workings of human societies. Currently, his informants within human territory were few and low-ranking—barely sufficient to gather useful intelligence.
But after mulling it over, he dismissed the idea. The odds of success were slim, and the risks monumental. The only reliable way to control a super-ranked human was through enslavement, but he knew that could be easily undone by other ultimate ranks. If the eastern ultimate ranks discovered and broke the enslavement, it could incite a war—an outcome he, a young ultimate-ranked dragon, wanted to avoid at all costs. As far as he was concerned, controlling the southern continent was enough.
Having made up his mind, he flapped his massive wings and traveled thousands of kilometers in a single second.
The super-rank human knight was taken by surprise and tried to resist, but the dragon snapped him up in one bite, ending the battle instantly.
"It’s over," the dragon murmured, satisfied.
...
"You were killed by Dragon Emperor Blood Fountain!"
Performance: A+
Reward:
* Ultimate Summoning Card +1
* Super Summoning Card +1
* Ultra Summoning Card +5
* Skill Points +20,000
* Attribute Points +20,000
Reincarnate? Y/N
Leo looked at the system interface, confused. The last thing he remembered was being carried by Sir Garren, then—blackness.
"Did I die?" Leo wondered, feeling strangely calm. Whatever killed him was so fast that he hadn’t even noticed when it happened.
"Why am I so calm?" He looked around. Below him, there was only darkness; he had no body. After a while, having found no clues, he tapped "Y."