Gulp!
Kurose Akira swallowed hard. Faced with dragon eyes nearly a hundred meters in diameter, his latent fear of massive objects was instantly pushed to its absolute limit.
What made his spine go even colder, however, was the towering rage burning within those pupils. The soul he had summoned seemed to be… anything but friendly. It radiated intense hostility.
And yet, the [Soul Hook] trait granted him authority over any soul he successfully summoned. Once the summoning was complete, the target was supposed to obey his commands unconditionally.
At this very moment, standing frozen just like Akira himself, was the Black Dragon that had intruded into his soul space.
It stood there stiffly, its jet-black eyes staring at the equally massive dragon eyes in the distance. Its entire body radiated confusion—and deep, instinctive terror.
What the hell is going on?!
If those dragon eyes were nearly a hundred meters across, then that meant its full body length would be close to ten thousand meters!
Did such a colossal dragon truly exist in this world?!
Even the largest known Black Dragons barely reached one or two thousand meters in length!
So how could this thing be so impossibly vast?!
Cough…
Akira took a deep breath, forcibly steadying himself, then spoke aloud.
"Yes. I was the one who awakened you."
The instant his words fell, the colossal Crimson Dragon responded with a voice cold and merciless, thunderous with wrath.
"You dare disturb my eternal slumber—do you have any idea how grave this sin is?!"
Akira frowned slightly.
Was it possible that the trait's effect was completely useless against a demigod-level soul?
That shouldn't be possible.
Immediately, Akira opened the Crimson Dragon's status interface.
[Marée·Rhein (Mythic)]Level: 99 (? / 99,000)Race: Red Dragon (Soul)
Strength: ?Agility: ?Magic: ?Endurance: ?
Growth: 15 (All attributes +15 per level)
Skills: (Expand)
Status: [Soul Hook]
Note: [Soul Hook] effect active. While the target remains in soul form, it will obey your commands with 100% compliance.
"…?"
Akira raised an eyebrow.
The [Soul Hook] effect was already active—and working perfectly.
As for why the Crimson Dragon was so furious, the reason was obvious.
A being that had once stood on the threshold of godhood was now being commanded by a mere mortal. Rage was only natural.
Still—
Angry or not, when it came time to follow orders, it would follow orders.
"Go. Teach that Black Dragon a lesson."
Akira didn't waste time and issued the command directly.
"How dare you! You presume to command one such as I—are you courting death?!"
Marée·Rhein roared in incandescent fury.
In an instant, crimson flames erupted throughout the soul space, blazing as though they intended to reduce Akira to nothing.
Their exchange reached the Black Dragon's ears—and it burst out laughing.
Just moments ago, it had been certain it was facing annihilation. Against such a horrifying existence, resistance was impossible. But now it seemed the dragon soul summoned by this human wasn't even under his control—and its temper was explosively unstable.
Perfect.
Let's see how you clean this mess up!
Heehee~
"GYAAAAAA—!"
Before the Black Dragon could finish savoring the moment, a boundless wave of wrath slammed directly into its soul.
In that instant, the Black Dragon's entire being went blank.
Wait—weren't you supposed to punish him?!
Why are you burning me?!
Did you get the target wrong?!
Yet even as the Black Dragon reeled, Marée·Rhein's furious voice continued to reverberate throughout the soul space.
"Wretched human! Today, you shall pay dearly for your foolishness!"
The next second, the Black Dragon was engulfed by an even more terrifying inferno than before.
Its soul convulsed violently, unleashing shrill screams and anguished wails that echoed throughout the soul space, chilling to the bone.
"You said he'd pay the price—so why am I the one burning?!"
The Black Dragon screamed in despair, its voice thick with terror and disbelief.
"Silence! You lowly black mud-eel—who gave you the right to speak here?!"
Marée·Rhein barked sharply, her voice dripping with absolute contempt.
The sheer pressure of her bloodline dominance made the Black Dragon tremble uncontrollably. It didn't dare resist in the slightest.
Run!
The Black Dragon tried to flee—but while entering Akira's soul space had been easy, escaping it was now virtually impossible.
It's over.
"Enough."
Akira immediately ordered Marée·Rhein to stop. He still had questions for the Black Dragon.
"Human! Are you trying to die?!"
Marée·Rhein roared in fury, but despite her threats, she obediently dispersed the flames consuming the Black Dragon.
The Black Dragon's soul now gleamed jet-black and glossy, as if it had been meticulously polished.
The agony left its entire form trembling. It cowered submissively, utterly terrified.
Never in its wildest dreams had it imagined suffering such humiliation at the hands of a seemingly weak human.
And yet—who could have imagined that a human could command a demigod-level dragon soul?
"I'll ask you once," Akira said coldly. "Were you one of those responsible for the destruction of the Red Dragon clan hundreds of years ago?"
"I—I'm only one hundred and eighty years old…" the Black Dragon answered shakily.
"Then why did you leave your scale inside the Red Dragon's remains?" Akira pressed, brows drawn tight.
"I was following orders from my clan," the Black Dragon replied, its voice trembling with fear. "I was told to guard the inverse scale for ten years… and wait for the Red Dragons to appear. They said some Red Dragon survivors would inevitably come searching for the Black Radiant Dragon's Heart Scale—and they'd be drawn to this corpse."
"The Black Radiant Dragon's Heart Scale…"
Akira narrowed his eyes.
According to the records within the Red Dragon Mark, the other dragon races had targeted the Red Dragon clan because of a relic left behind by the Dragon God.
Could this Heart Scale be that very artifact?
"What else do you know?" Akira demanded.
"I—I really don't know anything else!" the Black Dragon whimpered, its voice cracking with terror and helplessness.
Akira fell silent for a moment, weighing the dragon's words carefully.
Judging by its reaction, it didn't seem to be hiding much.
"If you don't want this fragment of your soul to be erased," Akira said calmly, "then submit to me. Let me plant a contract within your soul."
He knew that destroying a single soul fragment wouldn't kill the Black Dragon outright. But if he wanted to ensure it didn't cause trouble in the future, this was necessary.
Within this soul space, Akira was the absolute ruler.
More importantly, he still needed information about the Black Dragon clan's movements.
"A soul contract?! No—absolutely not!"
The Black Dragon panicked the moment it heard those words.
But when it saw the blazing fury still lingering in Marée·Rhein's eyes, its courage instantly crumbled.
If it refused, it might be trapped here forever.
And if its main body were left as an empty shell, who knew what might happen during that state of false death?
Gritting its teeth, the Black Dragon finally gave in.
"…Fine! But only a low-grade soul contract!"
"You don't get to negotiate."
"M-Mid-grade! Mid-grade!"
"Alright," Akira nodded. "Ultimate-grade."
"…???"
A few minutes later, Akira successfully implanted the contract into the Black Dragon's soul—and then released it.
Though he couldn't kill the Black Dragon through a single soul fragment, he could now control it through that fragment.
What mattered more, however, was the presence still looming within his soul space—
Marée·Rhein.
"Human!"
Her fury still burned fiercely. "Next—!"
"We'll talk after the bone dragon is dealt with."
Without hesitation, Akira exited the soul space. The situation outside was far more urgent.
Marée·Rhein: "!!!"
The moment Akira returned to reality, his gaze snapped to the battlefield.
The golden angelic projection continued to swing its blade relentlessly. Each strike landed squarely on the massive skeletal dragon, dealing catastrophic damage.
Lucia's holy magic left Akira genuinely stunned.
The golden angel she manifested was clearly of an extremely high magical tier. He remembered that her Supreme Judgment contained three super-tier judgment spells and one ultimate judgment spell—a pseudo-forbidden class.
This had to be that ultimate judgment spell.
Thanks to its power, despite Lucia's level being far below the skeletal dragon's, she was still able to confront it head-on.
Then—
A deafening crack rang out.
Brilliant white light surged outward like a crashing wave. The energy burst froze the skeletal dragon instantly, locking its massive body in place.
A split second later—
BOOM!
The skeletal dragon's enormous frame collapsed completely, its bones scattering across the ground.
[System Notification: Skeletal Bone Dragon defeated. EXP +100,000!]
The next moment, Loserine emerged from the collapsed pile of bones.
Resting on her shoulder was a shattered black dragon scale, faintly glowing, exuding an aura of mystery and immense value.
Akira's eyes flashed.
No wonder the skeletal dragon had suddenly fallen apart—Loserine had destroyed the Black Dragon's inverse scale hidden within its body.
His gaze lingered on the scale as its information window popped up.
[Black Dragon's Inverse Scale (Legendary)]Every Black Dragon possesses only a single inverse scale.Incredibly hard and brimming with immense power.Can be used for forging, enchantment, and more.