Tales of the Endless Empire
Chapter 156: Hunting on the Grasslands

Lucius sprinted through the tall grass, the moonlight illuminating the savanna before him. While he could see perfectly even on the darkest nights, he had always enjoyed hunting under a full moon. Some humans had already appeared on the fifth stage, and one had managed to escape.

He had read all the reports about the human bases on the fourth stage. The humans had believed their walls would protect them, but the hordes of undead they had cultivated proved too overwhelming.

It wouldn't be long until the rest arrived on the higher stages. The fourth stage was vast, and the vampires had been fortunate to discover the human bases so quickly. Without that early scouting, the humans’ situation would have been much better.

The fifth stage, however, was even larger, and finding any human base would have been nearly impossible if not for one critical advantage—they knew the exact location of the catacombs. Those catacombs would inevitably draw the remaining humans straight to them.

The vampires were currently hard at work turning as many beasts near the desert as possible. While the desert lacked many beasts suitable for turning, Nathaniel had raised several sand elementals to aid their cause. These creatures had become terrifyingly powerful, with some even reaching E grade.

Lucius had yet to evolve himself. He was holding out for the Sanguine Thorn, which one of the humans was currently carrying. His patron had already prepared an item that would allow him to reshape the Sanguine Thorn to suit his needs and empower it further. It was amusing to him that the gods could send items to their blessed. Of course, he had to purchase the item from the system shop for two million credits, but acquiring the Sanguine Thorn would make it all worthwhile. He couldn’t wait to see the looks on the other vampires’ faces when he finally wielded it.

This was why he was hunting non-stop—to find a human base and prepare himself for the upcoming war. The constantly shifting timer for the special quest was unsettling, but as of now, there were only four weeks left. Lucius couldn’t help but wonder why the timer was fluctuating. Was the system not as omnipotent as they believed, or was it simply playing some cruel joke? It reminded him of something he might do if he were running a trial for weak humans: give them a countdown, only to suddenly drop it to zero.

Regardless of the reason, the humans were in a dire position. Their only advantage was their sheer numbers. There must have been an enormous population on their planet, Earth. Perhaps it was a large or ancient civilization, but if so, why were they so weak? The humans from Earth were by far the weakest in the entire trial. Even the orcs were stronger, and the humans from the water planet were reportedly formidable, at least according to the scouts’ reports.

Lucius doubted any human could defeat him in a one-on-one fight. The vampiric race was simply too powerful in comparison. They were practically designed to prey on humans. With his blessing and the teachings of his patron, he was confident he could overcome any human. Those blood sacks stood no chance against him. If they thought the weak vampire generals left behind to manage the hordes were dangerous, they would be in for a rude awakening when they encountered him on this stage.

Still, there was one thing that nagged at him: how had a human managed to kill a vampire wielding a Sanguine Thorn? The human must have been extraordinarily lucky, perhaps finding the vampire in a weakened state. If the human had defeated the vampire on their own, where were they now?

Whoever possessed the Sanguine Thorn should have no trouble killing most vampires on the fourth stage. Many vampires would have enough credits to escape, so there were only two possibilities. Either the human was hiding on a lower stage and would be forcibly pulled to the fifth stage before the tutorial ended, or they were already here, having pursued a vampire to prevent them from reporting.

Lucius couldn’t decide which theory he disliked more. All he could do was remain vigilant and grow as powerful as possible. He was already at level 80, but there were countless ways for a vampire to become stronger. The most obvious was to gather as much blood as possible.

On this stage, that task was easier than ever. The massive dinosaurs roaming the savanna struggled to fight a fast opponent like him, and they carried an abundance of potent blood. Their blood was far superior to that of smaller beasts.

Vampires wielding a Sanguine Thorn often relied on weaker vampires to deliver blood to them, as they required massive amounts to improve both themselves and their weapon. It was no wonder they were so powerful, given the resources they consumed.

Lucius despised how those vampires now looked down on him. Before the system, he had held a much higher status, and such weaklings would never have dared to approach him.

Now it was the other way around, and he still struggled to accept reality. His solution to this dilemma was to stay as far away from those vampires as possible. If he managed to find the one with the Sanguine Thorn, the power dynamic would shift. Oh, he couldn’t wait any longer.

As he rushed through the savanna, little more than a blur in the darkness, it didn’t take long for him to locate his first target of the night.

Firebreath Gorilla – Level 84

Perfect, an E-grade, Lucius thought with a grin. The beast stood over seven meters tall and was a strong variant. A perfect start to the night. Lucius sped up even further, appearing at the gorilla’s side with his blade raised high.

The gorilla had no chance. By the time it noticed the vampire, it was already too late. It took Lucius just over thirty seconds to completely dismantle the beast. The blood tasted exquisite, and he couldn’t wait to find his next prey. It was time for slaughter.

<--

You have slain Vinehorse – Level 79

You have slain Vinehorse – Level 80

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...

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You have slain Vinehorse – Level 80

The kill notifications kept flooding in as Thalion flew over the grasslands, killing every beast he spotted. From time to time, he transformed into his human form to feed the souls to his amulet. Oh, he loved this new ecology. The vinehorses, however, didn’t seem to share his enthusiasm—but that was understandable.

He had only taken a brief pause, and yet over forty of them were still running from him. Thalion wondered why they didn’t flee into the jungle. Wouldn’t it be safer there? Or, in other words, why were they more afraid of the jungle than of him?

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He supposed he might never find out, he mused, as he shot into the air with a beat of his wings and pursued the vinehorses. Flying just ten meters above the ground at incredible speed, he quickly closed the gap.

The vinehorses panicked when he began charging his lightning beam, but he stopped mid-charge as something interesting happened.

One of the vinehorses—a female, judging by her less bulky form—turned around and looked directly at him. Then, to his astonishment, she bowed.

What is going on now? Thalion thought, confused as he hovered in front of the vinehorse.

The rest of the herd had stopped fifty meters behind her, watching in terror. Thalion, still bewildered, had no idea what to make of the kneeling horse. This was such an unusual situation. Were the horses intelligent?

His unspoken question was answered when the horse raised its head and spoke.

“Please don’t kill... Helpful,” the horse said.

Her voice was unlike anything Thalion had heard before. It reminded him a little of how he amplified his own voice with mana, but this was different—there was meaning behind her words, almost a resonance.

So the horse wanted to negotiate? Why not? They didn’t yield much experience, and he wasn’t particularly interested in killing intelligent beings who weren’t inherently evil. Besides, he was intrigued. Could all the vinehorses speak, or was this one unique? Why would it even try to communicate with an eagle? An eagle shouldn’t be able to understand their language—unless it was the Echoes of Worlds skill?

But if that were the case, why hadn’t he understood any beasts before? Maybe none had tried speaking to him?

Better to let the horse explain.

“Well, this is quite the surprise. Why exactly can you speak?” Thalion asked, his curiosity piqued. He landed gracefully and transformed into his human form, studying the horse carefully.

“Special... Evolution,” the horse replied haltingly, still gazing up at him with fear in her eyes.

Time passed in silence as Thalion considered her response. The fear in her expression was genuine, but her ability to communicate was even more fascinating.

“So, you’re the only one who can talk?” Thalion concluded, glancing at the herd behind the kneeling horse.

“Ye...s,” she answered hesitantly.

“Okay, can you please stand up and stop shivering? I’m not going to kill you,” Thalion said with a dismissive wave of his hand. The whole situation felt bizarre, but it gave him a sliver of hope. If a horse could speak, then surely the termite queen could as well. With luck, it might even be possible to reach an agreement.

The horse slowly rose to her full height, the vines on her body shifting as if unsure what had just transpired.

“On another note, why didn’t you run into the jungle? Most of you could have easily escaped me,” Thalion asked, studying the horse now standing before him.

“Evil insects... hunting... termites...” the horse replied, this time more quickly.

“Why ‘evil’? Isn’t everything that tries to kill you evil?” Thalion asked. The horse had spoken the word evil with such disdain—and perhaps hate—that he suspected there might be more to it.

“No. Everyone hunts... it’s nature... termites not nature,” the horse replied, managing to inject even more venom into her voice when she spoke of the termites.

There went his dreams of finding common ground with the termite queen. If this horse didn’t care that he had killed her own kind but harbored such hatred for the termites, it couldn’t bode well.

“Okay, and why are the termites so evil?” Thalion asked, though he doubted the horse could provide much enlightenment.

“Ritual... dark... blood... night...” the horse said, shivering and glancing toward the jungle.

A dark ritual. That sounded like something the termite queen might do to empower her spawn. But one thing didn’t quite add up.

“How do you know about any rituals? The queen’s chamber is deep underground, and I doubt she leaves it—or that you visited and survived,” Thalion pressed. So far, the horse hadn’t disappointed him, and he wondered what her answer might be. Some special mental ability? Could she see through stone?

“Dark... evil... termites... hunting us...” the horse tried to explain, shaking her head in disgust.

Dark termites? Now that was interesting. Had the termite queen attempted to recreate the umbral predator? This situation was becoming more intriguing by the moment.

Thalion noticed how the horse kept glancing nervously at the jungle underbrush, clearly expecting an attack. On the other hand, those termites would make perfect prey—especially if they were umbral predators. It would be a good opportunity to test Eagly’s strength. Science could never wait, and Thalion was curious to see how effective their chitin armor was against a lightning beam.

“So, you’re expecting them to hunt you tonight?” Thalion asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Could... any moment,” the horse replied, still staring at the jungle.

Hm. He really needed to get back soon, either to travel to the mountains or the ocean for hunting. But what to do with these horses? So far, they seemed fairly harmless, and the feeling he got from his title was a positive one.

There were probably around one to two hundred horses left in the herd. From the way they kept casting fearful glances toward the jungle, it was clear they wanted to leave. But was running from the termites even an option? What were they doing on the grasslands if they feared the termites so much? Perhaps they were already fleeing the hive and using the open land for speed.

As a generous and reasonable fellow, it was only right to offer them a deal. They could join his forces. He wasn’t entirely sure how to use the horses, but the idea of employing them as undercover agents to spy for him was too amusing to ignore. No one would ever suspect a horse of espionage.

Explaining his offer to the horse took some time, and it was quite entertaining to see her return to the herd to “discuss” it with the group. Well, discuss might be an exaggeration—most of the horses just made a series of noises while flicking their ears furiously.

In the meantime, Thalion’s attention shifted to the undergrowth of the jungle. Something was watching him. He used his title to probe deeper, and after a moment, he was certain: something was coming, and it wasn’t friendly.

At that moment, the female horse returned.

“We... agree. Deal... fair. Provide... safe place,” she said.

Normally, Thalion would have had a hard time suppressing a grin, but the feeling of impending doom had reached new heights. Something was coming. Something strong. And it was only moments away.