Avenger Frederick (Ancient Immortal Rank Boss)

Level: 290

Introduction: The leader of the Clansmen of the Dark of Vengeance Canyon. His abilities are powerful, and he is extremely skilled in fire-based sword arts. However, he is alone and bearing the fate of the entire clan.

……

I was surprised. I didn’t expect this middle-aged man to be the clan chief. However, what kind of clan chief surrendered after a single exchange and offered his clan’s prettiest woman as tribute?

A short distance away, Warsky interrupted my thoughts with a cry, "Don’t fall for his honey trap, Lu Chen! More importantly, please save me already! I’m about to run out of HP…"

Bang!

Lin Yixin walked up to him, bent her leg backward, and kicked him right in the waist, sending him flying across the air but also saving him from his predicament. He would’ve died within a minute otherwise.

"So? Will you accept my gesture of respect, young adventurer?" Frederick asked while beaming from ear to ear.

However, I read something sinister behind his mask and shook my head cautiously. "Forget it. An outsider like me has no business with any woman in your clan, not to mention that my heart already belongs to the women of Sky City…"

I grabbed Lin Yixin’s hand while saying this and elicited a blush on her face immediately. She slapped my hand away and chided me, "Who are you calling your woman, huh?"

Frederick was insistent, however. "Please take a look at our woman before you make your decision. I promise you won’t be disappointed."

I hummed for a second before nodding. It didn’t look like the scene would progress unless I agreed to meet this woman.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Heavy footsteps suddenly resounded from inside a cave, and soon a black-skinned woman about 4 meters tall stepped out into the open. She only had one eye at the center of her face. Her nose was slanted upward instead of downward, and her nasal hair was at least 10 cm long. Her arms were as thick as a tree trunk. Her upper body was bare, so I could see that her chest was full of muscles. Her armpits were full of hair and stinking in a way that suggested that she hadn’t taken a bath in years. Her waist was covered by a short skirt carved out of an animal’s hide, and when she opened her mouth I could literally see the vegetables stuck between and on her teeth. She stared at me lustfully and said, "Hello, dear human warrior. I am yours to take since you’ve bested our leader, Frederick. Now come. When the sun sets, we shall officially consummate our love!"

Thud thud thud...

I backpedaled until my back slammed into a Clansman of the Dark’s shield. Pale-faced and clenching the Chill of the Nine Provinces with fright, I said harshly, "You may kill a warrior, but not humiliate them! Frederick, keep your ‘prettiest woman’ to yourself and let me go! If you do, I will remember your kindness for eternity. If not…"

……

"Heh!"

An odd smile appeared on Frederick’s face. "You won’t accept my gift, honorable human adventurer? In that case, you must walk the other path…"

"What path?"

"You will complete a quest for me, or you and your companions will be stuck in the Bloody Shield Domain forever. There is only us and Coldblade’s army in this place. Trust me when I say, you won’t be able to escape…"

Beiming Xue let out a chuckle. "Big bro, the quest you were looking for is here!"

I nodded. "Alright, tell me. I will do anything except taking this ‘beauty’ of yours!"

"Very good!"

Frederick gripped his fists and laughed. "That is what I wanted to hear! I warn you though, this will be a very dangerous quest. There is every chance you may lose your life."

"Get to the point!"

"Good!"

Frederick abruptly punched a rock next to him as his expression turned angry and sorrowful. "Decades ago, Bloody Shield Domain was still the Clansmen of the Dark’s domain. However, that changed when Coldblade the Infinity Storm emerged from the Purgatory. He and his legion of darkness slaughtered our people and enslaved them to build his castle of darkness. That wasn’t the end of it, however. Seven years ago, one of his subordinates, Bloodthirsty Emissary, kidnapped my daughter Serena and vanished to god-knows-where. Seven years had passed since, and still I didn’t have a clue as to where she is or even if she’s still alive. I had tried slipping into Bloodthirsty Castle multiple times to save her, but all of my attempts had ended in failure…"

I asked, "You are sure this Bloodthirsty Emissary is a subordinate of Coldblade?"

"Absolutely!"

Frederick gnashed his teeth together. "He was a highly-skilled stalker and the leader of a legendary thief group until he was tempted by Coldblade’s promise of infinite power and succumbed. Recently, I came to learn that he is hiding to the southeast where Bloodthirsty Castle resides, and I’m almost certain[1] that my Serena is with him. If you can bring my daughter back to me, I promise to reward you most handsomely, young brave!"

Ding~!

System Notice: Do you accept the main quest [Frederick’s Request]?

I accepted it without hesitation and caused the system to ring again—

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, your party has accepted the quest [Frederick’s Request]! (Current Quest Rank: SSS)

Description: Slip into Bloodthirsty Castle, rescue Frederick’s daughter Serena, and bring her back to her father safely. You must also kill the Dark Assassin Bloodthirsty Emissary and bring his head back to Frederick. Succeed in both tasks, and you will be rewarded handsomely for your efforts. Be careful though, Bloodthirsty Emissary is a killer of the dark. If you are not strong enough, it may be wiser to give up on this quest.

……

I smiled after reading the quest description. "An SSS Rank quest! It’s not as hard as the Dragon God Cave, but it’s definitely a worthy challenge. Let’s go! The coordinates of Bloodthirsty Castle have already been marked on our map interface!"

"Mn!" He Yi nodded.

Not far away, Warsky finally climbed to his feet and patted away the soot on his butt. Then, Laughing At The Heavens and Lin Bing Dou Zhe revived right next to him. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but it looked like Lin Bing Dou Zhe had been eaten by the Clansmen of the Dark as well. The poor bastard...

"Where’s Farewell Song?" I asked.

Warsky shook his head. "He hadn’t come with us. By the way, are you guys departing for the quest now?"

I nodded. "Yep. We’ll be heading to Bloodthirsty Castle right now. I warn you though. Don’t even think about sending Farewell Song to harass us. I haven’t forgotten how Farewell Song stole the Gold City Lord Token from right beneath our noses. If he disrupts our quest too, I guarantee I will make life hell for the entire Warsky Alliance. I may not have been able to conquer Gold City due to the system restriction, but Warsky City is as free as it gets!"

Warsky’s mouth twitched once. "Hmph, Farewell Song isn’t so free that he can dedicate his time to grief another player’s quest, not to mention that we have our own quests to do. Also, I have over 30000 Gold Cavalrymen right now, so come to my Warsky City if you dare. I need a powerful opponent to test out the Gold Cavalry’s strength anyway!"

"Very well. We’ll see after we’re finished with our quests!"

"Yeah!"

……

We climbed onto our dragons and flew away from the valley after that. All I had to say about this experience was that the Clansmen of the Dark’s mechanics were absolutely shameless. You would expect bullshit like instantly immobilizing the players with ropes and preventing them from taking any offensive action in a single-player game, but not an MMO. There was also the not-insignificant chance that you might be roasted alive and eaten by them. Granted, our 7-man party basically made it through the experience unscathed, but Warsky, Laughing At The Heavens and Lin Bing Dou Zhe could hardly claim the same thing.

"Should I take that as a declaration of war?" He Yi asked me smilingly.

I answered, "More or less. It’s just as Warsky said that day; it was only a matter of time before we came to blows with each other. To be honest though, the stakes aren’t worth it yet. Warsky City isn’t valuable enough to start a war over. A Rank 11 city though, now that’s a different story. I may take it for Bloody Mercenaries or Protective Umbrella."

Murong Mingyue asked, "Speaking of Protective Umbrella, how are your foreigner brothers and sisters doing?"

"They’re grinding at the outer lands right now. Hickey said that the outer lands are emptier, and there is less of a chance a Chinese player may attack them randomly. Let’s not forget that Dark Mercenaries are also grinding at the outer lands right now. Long story short, the Zephyr Cavalry isn’t going to be bored anytime soon!"

"..."

It was at this moment Beiming Xue pointed to the ground below and said, "We should land now. If we proceed any further, we will encounter Death Crows and be forced to descend anyway. Let’s make our way over on foot. Bloodthirsty Castle is at the necropolis directly ahead of us."

"Yeah!"

After we landed on the ground, I activated Fusion Armor and covered my battle armor in layers of draconic energy. Then, I unsheathed the Chill of the Nine Provinces and took point. He Yi put Murong Mingyue down to the ground but remained on top of the Snow Crystal Dragon. Lin Yixin landed on her feet and transformed the Crimson Crystal Dragon into a draconic pattern on her arm. As a light wanderer, Lin Yixin benefited from her mount’s stats even when she wasn’t riding it. In that sense, it was very similar to my Fusion Armor.

Pa pa…

As our boots stepped on dew-covered grass, a faint but disgusting stench eventually wriggled into our noses. We must be very close to an undead creature now.

Beiming Xue was riding on a Dragonscale Beast and guarding our rear when she suddenly asked me a question, "There’s something I can’t figure out, big bro…"

"What is it, Beiming?"

"During the battle for Gold City, Farewell Song had been able to hide himself perfectly from my Clear As Flame, and I do mean perfectly. I understand that assassins’ concealment rate increases with their Agility, but he shouldn’t have been able to avoid my Clear As Flame completely. After all, perception increases with Agility as well, and my Agility isn’t necessarily lower than Farewell Song’s. So this begs the question: How did he do it? We would not have lost the City Lord Token if we were able to see him…"

I frowned. "To be honest, I’m pretty confused myself. My Dark Pupils weren’t able to see through Farewell Song’s stealth either, and I’m sure it’s not a bug because I saw through Moonkiss’s stealth eventually. It’s strange…"

Lin Yixin chuckled. "There can only be one answer then."

"What is it?" Both Beiming Xue and I asked together.

Lin Yixin answered, "Farewell Song must’ve obtained a new skill or item that allows him to nullify any perception skill 100% of the time."

I considered it for a moment before nodding heavily. "Yiyi is right. Farewell Song was able to elude my Dark Pupils and Beiming’s Clear As Flame, but not Moonkiss’s skills and basic attacks. That’s because Moonkiss is used to perceiving another fellow assassin via observing the terrain and the weather. Had we done our homework, we still wouldn’t be able to see him, but at least we would know where he is and be able to react accordingly. We have become too reliant on our perception skills, and Farewell Song exploited our weakness perfectly."

Beiming Xue blinked. "We still need to know if it’s an item or a skill that gave Farewell Song perfect stealth though."

"I’d like to know that too."

1. T/N: I put "almost certain" when it was really "certain" because he just said earlier he had no idea where his daughter is.