He was surrounded by smooth walls and thus couldn’t even use his high Dexterity to stop his fall.
But fortunately, he soon reached the bottom and fell on something soft.
It was a very old-fashioned sofa full of dust that irritated his face.
Marvin realized that this was definitely a secret room.
He patted the dust off his body and began to size up the room. A pitch black spiral flight of stairs was in front of him!
He should be able to reach the entrance to the underground palace by taking these stairs.
‘So that’s how it was.’
Marvin suddenly understood.
He no longer hesitated and began to cautiously follow the flight of stairs.
This secret room was merely a path between the castle and the underground palace. There shouldn’t be any traps, but it was still better to be careful.
He recalled some memories about the Ancient Castle Tulip as he walked.
….
The Ancient Castle Tulip once was a flourishing city but it ultimately perished at the hands of the Blood Race.
When the Ancient Castle’s Lord was young, he loved his wife very fondly and they would share their love every night.
But one day, that Lord met an Alchemist.
Under the guidance of the Alchemist, he became infatuated with alchemy and immortality and began to ignore his young and beautiful wife.
Over time, the distance between the two grew increasingly larger. Rumors of the Lord being addicted to alchemy spread through the entire Pambo Seashore.
Gradually, the castle’s Lord became very eccentric, and he cut off a lot of friends.
The once bustling Ancient Castle Tulip became cold and cheerless.
He was also thinning day by day.
But one day, at the wife’s birthday party, she got to meet a noble youth.
That youth was sturdy and handsome, and more importantly, very eloquent.
Many funny stories would feel different coming out from his mouth.
Soon, both of them longed for each other and a fire was set ablaze as they became secret lovers.
Following an increasing number of trysts, the Mistress of Ancient Castle Tulip began to feel unsatisfied with this clandestine love life.
She wanted him to take her away.
But that request wasn’t something the youth had imagined. For him, she was merely one of many lovers. He was unwilling to take her away and risk facing the Lord’s wrath.
Thus he could only temporarily appease her.
And the scene Marvin saw earlier was the final affair between the two.
They accidentally entered this dusty room that hadn’t been used in a very long time and fell into this secret room.
The rest was easy to understand.
The two fumbled around the secret room but didn’t dare call for help, so they could only continue further down.
They reached the underground palace and woke up a very frightening existence!
He was one of the twelve Vampire Primogenitors, named Yin.
This was one of the few tombs he built before falling into a deep slumber… and then he was awoken by that pair.
At that time, Yin used formidable power to split the two apart.
He asked the two separately whether they were willing to die for the other.
The woman said she was willing while the man demurred.
Ultimately, Yin killed the noble youth and gave the heartbroken Mistress who learnt the truth an [Embrace].
She became not just a Vampire, but rather a mighty Vampire Duchess!
This was the power of the Vampire Primogenitor.
Just a mere Embrace could turn a woman that completely lacked fighting strength into a Legend Vampire Duchess!
Marvin didn’t know too much about what ensued. But in short, after this happened, a disaster struck the entire Ancient Castle.
There were rumors that a monster haunted the castle. And after the Lord died in an bizarre alchemy accident, the castle ended up in the Mistress’ hands because there was no heir.
She became a beautiful widow that was known far and wide.
Many people drooled at her beauty and spontaneously visited…
Before ending up as the Duchess’ Blood Slaves!
After experiencing her husband’s indifference and her lover’s betrayal, her heart and mind became extremely ruthless.
Soon, Ancient Castle Tulip no longer exuded a fragrant aura, instead turning into field of death, a forbidden area.
It became a Vampire paradise where they even began holding hunting parties.
And the targets of the hunts were handsome men and women.
Later, the South Wizard Alliance gathered a powerful army to attack this castle.
After a world-shaking war, the Alliance claimed that they had swept this castle clean.
That great Vampire Duchess truly disappeared.
The place was tranquil for a while.
But many years later, before the Great Calamity, a group of Vampires from the Dark Side gathered here.
They were secretly absorbing the purest aura emitted by the Primogenitor’s remains and continuously raising their strength.
But most of them were slumbering.
Any who knew of this were killed by the Vampires.
Thus, Marvin was very careful.
…
‘When the young lovers charged into the underground palace, Yin was only lying dormant, and he woke up from the disturbance.’
‘After the war with the Wizard Alliance, not only did the Duchess disappear, but Yin also entered a state of death. It’s just that this state of death was a feigned death. If someone could use some mysterious rituals, they might be able to wake up the Vampire Primogenitor again.’
‘Anyway, I don’t need to go in too deep, so it should be safe.’
Marvin cautiously followed the long spiral staircase down.
He still felt somewhat nervous.
If Yin suddenly awakened, Marvin would mostly likely suffer greatly from the consequences. That guy was an existence close to the gods!
If Marvin needed someone able to take down Yin in Feinan, only Great Elven King Nicholas would be able to.
And that was if the Great Elven King used the [Shadow Silo]!
Marvin nimbly walked down the last steps, finally reaching the end of the spiral staircase.
In front of him there was just darkness, and Marvin knew that the entrance of Yin’s Underground Palace was further down this path.
But there were two Golems constantly defending that place.
Getting past them wasn’t easy.
But in the video, that careful expert found another secret path to the underground palace that avoided the Golems.
That path was behind the spiral staircase!
This was a place very few people would pay attention to. When he saw the video, Marvin sighed that the expert was indeed observant.
He immediately opened the dark door behind the stone stairs and followed the damp tunnel until he reached the 2nd floor of the tomb.
The thing he was looking for was in the center of the second floor.
There was no time to lose, so Marvin firmly moved forward.
But a strange sound suddenly echoed beside his ear!
Chapter 275: Legend Item
Chapter 275: Legend Item
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Marvin turned to look and saw that it was a bat!
It bared its sharp fangs and pounced at Marvin’s face!
But Marvin reacted too quickly for it. A cold light flashed as he unsheathed his curved dagger and cut that reckless bat in two.
There weren’t too many bats like that in the underground palace. The threat to Marvin was relatively small.
Unless his luck was really bad, even if he ran across an elite, variant, or ice bat, or some other situation, he would be able to deal with it.
He continued along
the pitch-black passage.
When exploring somewhere like the underground palace or the Underdark, the advantages that Night Walkers enjoyed were simply incredible.
Through Darksight, Marvin could see everything clearly.
The second layer of the Underground Palace was created by Yin as an eternal resting place for his heirs.
But he didn’t have many heirs and most of them were active in the North. The coffins lying there were currently empty.
Further down the path, he could see a sumptuous room.
The room was filled with Yin’s treasures.
These treasures were invaluable, but most of them would trigger a response from the guarding golems if they were disturbed.
Marvin went past the rooms one by one, his heart full of desires that he was barely able to restrain.
The treasures here surely weren’t inferior to Evil Spirit Overlord Diggles’.
Finally, Marvin found what he wanted in the 7th room.
Eriksson’s Brooch.
It was an extremely thin and light brooch to the point that if you carefully took it away without touching any other item, it wouldn’t alarm the golems.
This was also why Marvin had dared to come here for treasure.
He took out a pair of tweezers and gently retrieved the brooch out from a crack in a book.
The entire process was silent and didn’t alarm anyone.
Marvin let out a sigh of relief.
He quietly wiped away his perspiration and put the brooch in his storage item.
‘Finally got it!’
‘Eriksson’s Brooch! The Lurker’s Artifact!’
Even Marvin who had seen many storms couldn’t help but show a look of delight.
He had been longing to get his hands on that brooch. It was just that it wasn’t as important as the Source of Fire’s Order.
But since his original plan had been thrown out of order, he got the brooch first to help Hope City deal with the invasion.
This item’s properties were pretty self-explanatory:
[Eriksson’s Brooch]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Property 1: Stealth +70]
[Property 2: Immune to the Heavenly Observer’s specialties - (World Insight/Boundless Awareness)]
[Requirements: Rogue/Divinity]
…
This was first really important Legendary Item that Marvin obtained!
These two properties were heaven-defying.
With Stealth +70, any rogue getting this treasure would see their ability skyrocket.
Stealth had been constantly improving due to Marvin’s continuous use of it.
His current Stealth was already at 110, so with those 70, it reached a frightening 180!
180 points of Stealth was close to what he had as a Ruler of the Night in the past!
And once he leveled up his Ranger class once more, he could obtain 24 Skill Points and put 20 points in Stealth.
He could get the hidden property for 200 points of Stealth, [Stealth Master].
[Stealth Master]: You can walk quickly and run without breaking Stealth.
This was the highest realm of Stealth. It was like a mobile version of Hide, just that the results weren’t quite as good.
Although he didn’t reach 200 points of Stealth, 180 was already frightening enough.
He could at least dodge the Heavenly Observer easily!
‘The Black Dragon God might not have expected that before the God of Etiquette, Eriksson, fell, he often left the Astral Sea and incarnated as ordinary mortals.’
‘He secretly made that brooch to avoid being spied on by the gods above with their Heavenly Observers.’
‘This treasure is now in my hands.’
Marvin was rather satisfied, but he didn’t dare to tarry and immediately chose to head back!
This was the Vampire Primogenitor’s domain. Just taking a treasure from here was already very risky.
If he delayed and an accident happened, wouldn’t it be terrible?!
He followed the wide path and couldn’t help but speed up.
He soon returned to the damp room and followed the secret path. After a few seconds he safely arrived at the back of the spiral flight of steps.
It was going smoothly.
Marvin went back to the hall and made preparations to leave, when something troublesome happened.
He met with a few Vampires!
…
“Karnoth, was your older cousin really fooled so easily?”
At the door of the castle, three Vampires seemed to be waiting for someone.
A female Vampire among them was talking. Her voice was extremely alluring, but it was different from the enticing power of Succubi that worked deep within one’s body and numbed their limbs. Her voice felt more controlling.
Marvin knew that Vampires had very high Charisma. It was very easy for them to subdue a mortal with weak willpower.
Who were these three Vampires waiting for?
Marvin hid in the darkness and coldly watched this scene.
He could vaguely feel that one of them was a bit familiar.
‘Karnoth… Karnoth… Could it be that guy?’
Some memories of the attack on the Scarlet Monastery came to mind. Madeline had also asked for the support of a group of Vampires.
But that group of Vampires was from the Bright Side, unlike those from the Dark Side who willfully slaughtered innocents.
At that time, there was one who didn’t know how high heaven was and wanted to turn Marvin into his Blood Slave. Marvin suppressed him, but to give Madeline face, didn’t harm him.
That guy’s name was Karnoth!
‘And that older cousin he talked about should be the courteous Gwyn?’ Marvin recalled.
He had a pretty good impression of that Gwyn, he was very polite and very strong.
What were these three Vampires scheming?
Marvin couldn’t help feeling curious.
He quickly approached with Stealth active.
In any case, he had Eriksson’s Brooch now, so he didn’t have to worry about his Stealth being seen through by a few Vampires.
Vampires had impressive Perception, but it was far from that of Drows.
180 points of Stealth was enough to overpower the Perception of most lifeforms without Divinity in Feinan.
Walking closer, the discussion between the three became a lot clearer.
He heard Karnoth confidently saying, “Rest assured, I betrayed the Bright Side and joined the Dark Side this time. The clan is definitely furious.”
“They will definitely send Gwyn, who they think of as a hero, to capture me. Hehehe, unfortunately, they didn’t know that my dear older cousin has yet to give up on me.”
“I suggested that if he brought the [Dense Blood Nucleus], I would return to the Bright Side. He will definitely do so.”
“Look, isn’t that him coming?”
A bat was hurrying over in the distant sky.
_________
T/N: Author added a post after this, it’s the usual post for votes, but he also mentioned something about his other novel. Apparently the two worlds are very differents and his other book has a slower start, but gets interesting later on. The two worlds might sound very different, but there are many hidden links. And there are also traces of the later stage of the “Night”.
Chapter 276: Bloodthirst
Chapter 276: Bloodthirst
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
The bat was flying over, but it didn’t slow down and land.
A short sound came out of its mouth and after a moment, it turned toward the north.
“Gwyn isn’t a fool, he knows we have many people,” sneered the female Vampire, understanding Gwyn’s actions.
“What? We are only three. Do you really think he’d be afraid of facing us alone?” A strange color flashed in Karnoth’s eyes. “He is leading us to that abandoned village because he is afraid we will wake up more
of us and snatch the Dense Blood Nucleus.”
“Let’s go!”
The three Vampires from the Dark Side all turned into bats and hurried north.
…
From a passageway in the Ancient Castle town, Marvin’s figure slowly came out.
He was still pondering.
He originally came to the Ancient Castle Tulip only for Eriksson’s Brooch.
Now that he had the treasure, he should leave.
But the Dense Blood Nucleus got his attention.
This was the crystallization of the power of a high level Vampire. It would not only give great benefits to Vampires, but would also have similar effects on other lifeforms.
This thing was a bit like a Nature Leaf. Absorbing or deciphering the core inside the crystallization could improve the quality of one’s body or could let one learn a few Blood Spells.
Moreover, Marvin knew that the Dense Blood Nucleus, like the Earth Crystal’s fragment which had soaked in the hot spring, was one of the few treasures that could safely increase his attributes.
Generally speaking, if someone under the Legend Realm used the Dense Blood Nucleus, his Strength and Constitution would slightly increase.
And these two attributes were those that Marvin crucially needed at the moment.
He ultimately chose to use the Demon Hunter Steps to follow.
…
The bats were flying very quickly and it was night time, so Marvin summoned a Night Crow to follow them.
As for himself, he was keeping a fixed distance between them.
Soon, their group arrived at the village Gwyn mentioned.
Such villages were very common on the Wasteland of Death. Ghosts would occasionally roam around, but they wouldn’t do much harm to the living.
Most houses in the village had already collapsed.
The three bats returned to their Human-shape as they landed in the open space in the center.
A cloaked male was calmly waiting there.
Marvin quietly arrived, ready to watch the show.
The strength of the cloaked Gwyn seemed to have increased compared to last time they had met. At the time he was at the peak of 3rd rank but now his strength was approaching the Legend Realm!
This growth was considered inconceivable for the natives, even if he was an outstanding Vampire.
“Karnoth, I brought you the Dense Blood Nucleus you requested.” Gwyn calmly looked at his younger cousin and asked, “Why are you still mixing with those people from the Dark Side?”
Night Ranger - Full Series - 735 Chapters Page 166