Harem System In A fantasy World - Chapter 177: Dreadmoor Hollow

Chapter 177: Dreadmoor Hollow

Far to the north of the Draconic Mountain Range lay the territory of the Vampire Clan.

Their land was small compared to the vast human kingdom or the endless dragon peaks, but it carried a presence that was impossible to ignore.

A dark cove curved inward from the northern sea, and from its center rose a towering mountain peak that seemed to pierce the clouds themselves.

This land, known as Dreadmoor Hollow, and it was always wrapped in eternal darkness.

Heavy thunderclouds rolled endlessly across the sky, lightning flashing within them from time to time, yet no rain ever fell.

The wind carried a faint metallic scent, and even the soil surrounding the mountain seemed stained black.

At the peak stood a tall black castle carved from dark stone. It looked less built and more grown from the mountain itself.

Below it, within the cove, many elegant residences formed a sprawling city. The architecture was sharp and refined, all dark marble and crimson glass, illuminated by cold blue lanterns that never flickered.

Inside the castle, within a vast chamber that resembled both a throne room and a grand ballroom, a meeting was taking place.

Twelve powerful elders stood arranged in a half-circle across the polished black floor.

Each one was a Sage-ranked mage.

Their strengths varied, as did their ages. Despite being called elders, most of them appeared as exceptionally young men and women.

Their faces were flawless, their movements graceful, and their eyes sharp and ancient with wisdom.

But their appearances were deceiving.

Each of them was at least a thousand years old!

Among the twelve were three Grand Elders, all peak Sage mages, their presence heavier than the rest.

The remaining nine were either middle-stage or early-stage Sage mages, yet each one carried an aura that could make lesser beings collapse under pressure.

At the head of the hall stood two thrones.

One slightly higher than the other.

Seated upon them were a man and a woman whose presence eclipsed even the elders.

The man was impossibly handsome, with pale skin and long raven-black hair that fell neatly behind him. His sharp features and deep crimson eyes gave him a devilish charm that could make even the strongest women swoon and wet themselves.

Beside him sat an equally breathtaking woman who would make any woman go hard just from the sight of her.

Lilith Chronos, his wife.

Her skin was as pale as moonlight, and her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders in smooth waves.

She wore a long black silk gown that flowed elegantly around her petite frame. Her beauty was cold and refined, almost untouchable.

If Elion had been there, he would have sworn she was simply an older version of Celeste! Because she was.

They were Celeste’s parents.

Lucius and Lilith Chronos.

What was most shocking about them was not their beauty.

It was their age.

They were only a few centuries old.

Yet Lucius was a peak Sage mage.

And Lilith was a peak Grand mage.

For the greatest talents, even for vampires, that kind of growth was unheard of!

They looked no older than early adulthood. It did not look like they had aged a single day after reaching their middle twenties!

Yet their eyes carried centuries of maturity and calculation.

The chamber was silent. The elders bowed their heads slightly in respect.

Lucius leaned forward just slightly in his throne.

When he spoke, his voice was impossibly deep and resonant. It rolled across the hall like distant thunder echoing through an unfathomable, vast chasm.

“State your counsel, Elders.”

The air trembled faintly with the weight of his words. Even among ancient beings, Lucius Chronos commanded absolute authority.

It was a curious sight.

There were three other peak Sage mages in that chamber. Three Grand Elders whose strength rivaled legends, whose names alone could silence battlefields.

And yet—

They deferred to Lucius without hesitation.

There was no tension. Not a sign of rivalry, and no hidden resistance.

It was natural.

To them, it had always been natural.

Every single elder in that room carried a True Vampire bloodline. Every one of them, powerful, refined, and ancient.

But Lucius and Lilith were different.

They possessed Ancestor Vampire bloodlines. Their lineage traced back directly to the origin of their kind.

The difference between True and Ancestor bloodlines was not small.

It was absolute.

Their talents were on completely different levels.

To put it into perspective, if the three peak Sage elders were to join hands and attack Lucius with the intent to kill, they would lose.

Quickly.

There would be no suspense and no dramatic exchange.

They would be overwhelmed.

To even stand on equal footing with Lucius, they would need at least a dozen more peak Sage mages.

To kill him?

Another dozen beyond that.

Such was the gap created by bloodline alone.

Lilith, though slightly below him in raw cultivation, was not far behind. As a peak Grand mage with an Ancestor bloodline, she too stood above ordinary Sage mages in actual combat strength.

Her strength as a grand mage alone touched upon the surface of most sage mages!

The elders understood this. They had seen it before.

They had witnessed what happened to enemies who underestimated the Chronos couple.

So when Lucius spoke, they listened.

Not because they feared him.

But because they acknowledged what he was.

The future of their clan.

And perhaps—

The last true chance for their bloodline to rise again.

One of the Grand Elders stepped forward.

Morgana.

She looked older than the rest, at least in appearance. While most of the elders appeared in their thirties, Morgana looked like a woman in her late thirties.

Her beauty was mature and sharp, her curves pronounced beneath the loose dark robes she wore. The fabric fluttered slightly as she moved, even though there was no wind inside the hall.

She stopped a respectful distance from the thrones and bowed her head lightly.

“We have come to address the matter from before,” she said calmly. “The one we only lightly touched upon during our last meeting.”

She lifted her eyes slowly.

“Forgive my forwardness, Your Majesties, but… have you spoken to the First Princess?”

Lucius answered without hesitation.

“I have.”

Morgana swallowed before continuing.

“And?”

The other eleven elders silently raised her status in their hearts.

To speak so directly about this matter required courage.

They all knew how much Lucius doted on his daughter despite his cold exterior. They also knew that the topic of her marriage was a sensitive one for him. None of them would have dared push so openly.

Among the elders, Oberon — the second of the three Grand Elders — watched quietly.

He was Morgana’s former husband.

Centuries ago, they had been considered the most outstanding pair of their generation. Oberon was a noble vampire, while she was but a peasant who had been lucky enough to awaken a powerful bloodline.

They had married at the urging of the elders at the time, in hopes of producing a child with an Ancestor bloodline.

It had not happened.

Their two children had inherited True Vampire bloodlines, just like them.

Eventually, Oberon divorced Morgana. She was two hundred years older than him, and he had wanted a younger wife.

Now, as he watched her stand firm before Lucius, he gave a small nod in his heart.

’She may be old, but at least she knows when to be useful.’

’As the mother of my children… perhaps I could allow her to return as a concubine.’

The thought amused him.

It was almost certain she would refuse.

She might even beat him for suggesting it. while she was indeed from a humbler upbringing than he was, she was definitely powerful and prideful to a T.

Someone who came from the dregs and managed to make it out would be rightfully so. So he would never dare insult her openly.

Back at the center of the hall, silence stretched.

Lucius had not responded immediately.

The atmosphere grew heavier every second that passed.

Morgana felt a bead of sweat form on her brow.

For someone of her level to sweat was no small thing. At this rank, their bodies were beyond mortal limitations. They could go months without sleep or food. They did not tire and weaken easily, and they did not need to release waste.

And yet—

She was sweating.

Lucius looked at her calmly.

But that calm gaze felt like an unfathomable mountain pressing down on her shoulders. The pressure was suffocating.

Still, she did not look away.

Despite the clear difference in strength, she understood that this question had to be asked. They could not avoid it forever.

Seconds passed.

Then Lilith gently placed her hand over Lucius’s on the armrest of his stone throne. The crushing weight disappeared.

Morgana inhaled slowly.

Lucius sighed as he spoke.

“She refused.”

He did not elaborate.

He did not need to.

A faint murmur passed through the elders.

Some frowned.

Some closed their eyes in quiet disappointment.

It was not unexpected. But they had hoped.

They had hoped that Celeste might choose differently.

They had heard rumors that the princess was acquainted with the Kletis human boy they wished her to wed.

Some had even hoped she might already have some interest in him. That would have made things easier.

But fortune had not favored them.