[GREAT ENEMY FELLED]
Ash still drifted through the air.
The lake was now nothing but scorched land, cracked and glowing a faint red. Agheel's corpse lay ruined nearby, its massive form half-melted, blood still smoking where it touched the ground.
I stood there, barely upright, and my hawk rested on my shoulder....
My breathing was heavy, and my arms trembled. Lightning still flickered under my skin, but it felt thin, unstable.
I sat near the Corpse and looked through the Rewards given by the system.
[REWARD: FLYING DRAGON AGHEEL SPIRIT {CAN BE DEVOURED} ]
[REWARD: HEART OF AGHEEL]
[REWARD: FLAMES OF AGHEEL {RANK: DRAGON} ]
'Good, these are some Good Loot. As expected of the system'
I quickly took the heart of Agheel to try to eat, but...
This thing is more big than my fucking head! How should I eat?? Should I take a bite or cut it into pieces??
By deciding to eat by biting it piece by piece, I opened my mouth and kept it near.
!?!
Without any thought, my jaw expanded, and my mouth morphed into that of a dragon. In one fell Swoop, I chugged it down like it was a candy....
".....I can do that??"
~Ho, it seems your Dragonic traits are dormant until you feel their need. You should later focus on manifesting them by will, partner~
"Hu..It seems my body really is a True dragon, I almost forgo....I am no longer human, just masking and pretending to be like one on the outside. "
~Hope you'll remember it. You can walk like them, talk like them and look like them, but can never be them again...~
"..."
~ Enough, enough, I don't want you to be all gloomy after such a win. Hurry, it's time you learn the Fire dragon technique I've been waiting to teach you~
I smiled as I quickly summoned the triangular eye and started devouring Agheel's Spirit and Flame.
The flame is tempering my veins and compressing Qi in the Dantian.
'Come on.....just a little more....'
I focused as I compressed it more and more.....
DUM....
[BREAKTHROUGH!]
[QI REFINING(LATE) --> FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT]
'...I can still go on...fuck....'
Without waiting for Qi to stabilise, I used this chaotic state to push through once more.
I gained a Massive amount of Qi from killing the drake, can't let it go to waste.....
DHUMM!!!
[BREAKTHROUGH!]
[FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT --> CORE FORMATION(EARLY) ]
Finally!! Yes!!
[TRUE POWER: LOW CLASS DEVIL --> HIGH CLASS DEVIL(HALF-STEP) ]
[DUE TO INSUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING OF DOMAINS, HOST CANNOT ENTER HIGH CLASS DEVIL STAGE]
[HOST WILL BE RECOGNISED AS MID CLASS DEVIL UNTIL TRUE BREAKTHROUGH]
"Eh? Domain? Is it like ones they use in JJK?...."
I sighed, 'damn, I really thought Ill become a high-class devil....'
I scrolled to see the last reward,
[HOST HAS SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED A FAR STRONGER ENEMY ]
[UNIQUE REWARD: MOTHWING CLOAK (HOLLOW KNIGHT) - CLASS: MONARCH]
"Mothwing Cloak? How will that work on me?" I am confused, as I took out the cloak.
It looked like a normal cloak at best, nothing fancy, just plain black cloth.
I put it around me, hoping something will happen-!!
The Cloak came to life as it wrapped around me in a tight cocoon. And just like that, it disappeared....
???
"Where did it go?" I looked around in confusion and checked the inventory.
It is not there.....
~ It's still one you grey....~ Ddraig spoke with intrigue, ~ It's attached to you like an Aura, to your soul. Apparently, you need to make it appear....
Damn, where do you find such stuff? A semi-sentient void aspect cloak?
This type of shit is how a man gets himself killed~ he said as he massaged his forehead.
"hehehe" I grinned, standing up to finally leave.
Kreerree~ hawk gave a low screech as it turned its head up the cliff.
Clap…
Clap…
Clap…
Slow applause echoed across the ruined lake.
"Well now," a smooth voice said, amused. "That was magnificent."
I snapped my head up.
At the edge of the ash field stood a man dressed in pale robes, hands resting calmly behind his back.
A white mask covered his face, stretched into a permanent, unsettling smile.
He walked forward slowly, unhurried, boots crunching ash with every step.
"A dragon," he continued lightly. "A great enemy. Slain by a child."
His masked gaze locked onto me.
"How delightful."
I tightened my fists. Lightning sparked weakly at my fingertips.
I recognize that cheeky voice and mocking grin mask very well.....
"What do you want, Varre?"
[WHITE MASK VARRE - FORMIDABLE ENEMY / ULTIMATE CLASS DEVIL]
Varre tilted his head.
"Oh? You know me?" he said softly. "How lucky."
He stopped a few meters away.
"I watched everything," Varre said. "Ancient Dragon lightning. Stormhawk summoning. Devouring dragonfire without hesitation."
His voice carried interest now.
"You're not Tarnished," he said. "Not mortal. Not even properly divine."
He smiled wider.
"You're something new. What are you, little lambkin?"
His unsettling grin on the mask made it more creepy.
Even though he appears calm, I could feel it.....
Bloodlust.
It leaked out from behind that smiling mask, thick and heavy. Not rushed. Controlled. Waiting.
I couldn't sense his power, worthy of being an Ultimate class level....
This alone sent a chill down my spine.
"There is a dynasty," Varre said calmly. "A place where strength like yours would be celebrated."
"Moghwyn."
The name pressed down on me.
"Our Lord values might," he continued. "Unbridled ambition. Blood."
His head tilted slightly.
"Serve us."
The air tightened.
"Join the Mohgwyn Dynasty," Varre said. "And you will never lack purpose again."
I swallowed.
~Grey…~ Ddraig warned quietly. ~He is far above you. If he attacks, I can help… but the cost will be severe. Your body may not survive it.~
fuck....From one situation to another, can I catch a break for a second...
I was tired. My body burned and drained.
I couldn't outrun it; it's not an option.
"Well?" he asked. "What do you choose?"
BOOOOOM!!
Red lightning slammed into the ground.
Once.
Twice.
Dozens of times.
The air shattered as bolts of ancient crimson lightning struck around the ruined lake, blowing ash outward in a violent wave.
Varre stiffened.
From the lightning stepped figures.
Beastmen.
Dozens of them, armoured and scarred, weapons humming with ancient runes. Their presence alone pressed down like a storm.
And at their centre,
An old Beastman, leaning on a cane, eyes burning gold.
"Elder!!" I said in joy.
Relief washed over me so hard my knees almost buckled.
"…Prince," he said as he walked to me. "We saw the battle. You have made the Dragon god proud. Well done!"
The Elder's gaze swept over the ruined lake, Agheel's corpse, then settled on Varre.
The air went deadly quiet.
Varre stared.
For the first time since he arrived…he froze.
"…Beastmen?" he murmured.
Disbelief crept into his voice.
"That's impossible."
His eyes flicked across them rapidly.
"They were exterminated…two thousand years ago…during the fall of Dragonlord."
"how..."
Then realisation hit him, his gaze snapped back to me.
"…You."
A successor, A living heir.
To think that the Ancient Dragon clan is still Alive.....
Varre's posture shifted instantly. The playful tone vanished.
They must be stopped, can't let them gain power in the Lands between once again!!!
The return of a dead age.
"…I see," Varre said quietly.
In a fraction of a second, Bloodlust spiked!
Cursed blood exploded from his body.
It poured, as if space itself had split open behind him. The blood twisted mid-air, forming jagged thorns and serrated vines that snapped together into a blade.
Bloodflame Blade.
He vanished.
Not fast.....gone.
The world blurred, and Varre reappeared right in front of me, blade already swinging.
I couldn't react.
CLANG!!
The strike stopped inches from my chest.
The Elder had stepped in.
His hand closed around the blood-forged blade, lightning crawling across his fingers as the cursed blood hissed and burned.
"Tsk, it seems your old bones still move" Varre clicked his tongue.
He jumped back as the ground beneath us erupted.
"My prince, let me handle this pest. It will be over quickly, I promise", the Elder straightened.
And his body changed, growing massive.
Bones cracked, and muscles surged.
The hunched, aged frame expanded, fur darkening, scars glowing faint red as lightning erupted from within.
His spine straightened while His arms thickened.
The cane in his hand shattered as red lightning condensed, reforging itself into a massive, rune-etched Cleaver.
The air became dense under the Aura.
The Beastmen around us dropped to one knee instantly.
[ELDER BEASTMAN {ANCIENT WAR FORM} - ULTIMATE CLASS DEVIL(PEAK)]
O__O !?
'Elder is this strong, even after losing much of his powers after prime?!...what was his level in his Prime???
Fuck leaving this aside, what is the level of Demigods and Gods if their soldiers are this strong.....'
The old, short Elder was gone.
In his place stood a towering Beastman warlord, fur black as storm clouds, eyes burning crimson, lightning crawling over his body like chains.
Varre took a step back.
"…So the stories were true," he murmured. "The Mighty Warlords of Farum Azula are real..."
The Elder exhaled once.
Red lightning detonated outward.
The cursed blood on the ground evaporated.
"War-Grade Art," the Elder said, voice no longer frail.
"Stormbreaker Descent."
He vanished in an Instant.
The axe came down from above, wrapped in condensed red lightning.
Varre barely raised his arms,
Bloodboon Spray!
Boiling blood erupted upward to block the strike.
BOOOOM!!!
The impact split the ground.
The blood wall exploded, lightning ripping straight through it and tearing Varre off his feet.
He skidded across the ash, mask cracking.
Varre rolled, blood already regenerating.
"Dynastic Replenishment."
Blood surged back into him, sealing burns, reforming flesh.
"Persistent," he laughed. "But outdated."
Then he pointed at me.
"Sanguine Pull."
My blood got pulled like a magnet.
Hard and fast.
My body lurched forward like something had hooked my veins from the inside.
"Gah!"
I slammed my feet down, lightning flaring as I resisted.
Before I could stabilise,
Varre snapped his fingers.
"Bloodflame Missile."
Dozens of compressed bloodfire bolts ripped toward me.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM!!
The Elder stepped between us.
Lightning walls formed instantly, detonating the missiles mid-air.
"Kid, your Opponent is me"
He stepped forward.
"Crimson Judgment Chain."
Red lightning formed chains mid-air, snapping around Varre's limbs and torso.
Varre snarled.
"Bloodflame Outburst!"
Explosions of bloodfire detonated outward, shattering several chains.
He ripped free, blood boiling off his body.
"Outer Realm's Gift."
The cursed blood thickened, darkened, twisting like something alive.
"Hex of Mohgwyn."
A ring with runes and patterns formed around Elder, but before Varre could complete the 3 rings, Elder moved like this didn't bother.
The Elder raised his axe.
Lightning condensed until the air screamed.
"Red Sky Severance.", he said calmly.
The axe came down.
The lightning didn't just strike Varre.
It also struck everything around him.
The ground ruptured.
The cursed blood ignited and burned away.
The hex shattered.
Varre's body was cleaved clean through.
Silence followed.
Ash drifted.
I exhaled slowly, "It's over..."
But Elder looked at the corpse, narrowing his eyes,
Then the corpse collapsed inward.
The body melted, dissolving into a thick pool of cursed blood that hissed against the scorched ground.
"…Tch," the Elder clicked his tongue.
"A decoy."
The blood pool rippled, then sank into the earth like it was being pulled away.
Varre was escaping.
Using a blood doppelganger to take the fatal blow, abandoning the field the moment he realised how badly he was outmatched.
Smart.
The Elder straightened.
"Pathetic, you think you can run," he said calmly.
Lightning surged.
Red lightning exploded outward from the Elder's body.
Forming a massive circular field that spread across the ruined lake.
The ground glowed crimson as runes burned themselves into existence.
The Elder slammed his cleaver into the earth.
"Crimson Thunder Lightning Field."
[WARNING: DOMAIN TECHNIQUE DETECTED]
The world is locked.
Inside the domain, the air turned heavy, charged, unavoidable.
Every current of lightning bent inward, searching.
No hiding nor escape.
Even underground.
The lightning converged from all directions....
It slammed into a single point beneath the earth,
BOOOOOOM!!!
The ground ruptured violently.
A figure was blasted out from below, screaming.
"AARRRGGGHHHH!!!"
Varre's blood form collapsed mid-air, forced back into flesh as he crashed hard against the cracked ground.
His body smoked.
His regeneration faltered.
"Found you"
Varre struggled, blood boiling instead of healing.
"So this," he gasped, mask cracked, voice strained, "is the difference…"
The Elder stepped forward, lightning roaring around him, as what remains of Varre is his dying form with no limbs.
"O... Luminary... Mohg...
Please grant... the strength... you promised
I have given... everything...
Please... my lord...
Please, answer me... Luminary... Mohg.
....why....why won't you answer me, my Lord...
A-ahh..."
Elder looked down on him, keeping his leg on his chest,
"You're nothing but a servant of a false lord. Choose wisely in the next Life."
Swish!
The Blade pierced Varre's chest, "..a False Lord..ha...haha...ha..."
His weak laughter faded with his life.
The domain collapsed.
The world turned to normal.
I stood there for a second, stunned.
"…That was a Domain," I muttered.
~Yeah,~ Ddraig said slowly.
~And not a weak one. That old man is a monster.~
The Elder's prime form faded, lightning retracting as his body returned to its shorter, aged shape.
I walked forward, knees shaky, "You alright, old man?"
"Ho? Haha, Of course, my prince. It's been a while since I had so much fun. You don't need to worry about me, I am fine," He said with laughter.
Seems he is more excited to kill than anyone.
I walked to Varre's Body and searched his shirt, "...hmmm, where is it...ahh, got it"
[DING]
[UNIQUE ITEM ACQUIRED: PUREBLOOD KNIGHT'S MEDAL]
[CAN BE USED TO ENTER THE MOGHWYN DYNASTY]
"Hehehe..." I chuckled, looking at this, as this will be the path to enter The Land of Shadows later.
[NOTICE: CLASS SKILL CAN BE USED HERE]
"hu?" I looked at the system pointing at,
Well, now that I am almost a High Class Devil, the Class skill has been unlocked.
I smiled as I extended my arm towards the Body,
And Spoke the Words that I waited to speak So loooong,
"Arise"