Dragon's Legacy (3)

Having handed over control of his body to Arkanios, Jehyun was taken aback. A dragon's body. It was structured in a way utterly different from a human's. Naturally, the sense of disconnect was immense.

Thud.

His body couldn't find its balance and staggered. Thanks to his enormous bulk, even a brief wobble sent tremors through the earth.

'What the hell? If you're gonna do this out of nowhere, give me a heads-up!' Jehyun shouted inwardly at Arkanios.

In the meantime, the mutants were closing in on Jehyun, and a few of the faster ones had already reached right in front of him.

Krunch!

A massive wolf-like mutant leaped onto Jehyun's foot and bared its fangs. But it couldn't pierce the outer scales. Instead, the moment its teeth touched the scales, a magic circle formed and repelled the wolf backward.

Wham!

The other mutants fared no better. This bought Jehyun a brief moment.

'This won't do.'

Even though their attacks hadn't hurt him just now, Jehyun instinctively knew better. In a situation where he hadn't fully mastered control of this body, prolonged exposure to such assaults could lead to trouble.

'First things first, get a handle on the body.'

Jehyun steadied his breathing and focused his mind to dispel the disconnect he felt from the body. Fortunately, the initial disorientation began stabilizing rapidly.

As he gradually adapted to Arkanios's body, a notification window appeared before his eyes.

'A trial, huh.' The corner of Jehyun's mouth curled up.

He had now adapted somewhat to Arkanios's body. He was already thinking of wiping out the mutants swarming before him, and now with a quest on top of that, he could handle it with even greater relish.

Jehyun closed his eyes first. He introspected, vividly sensing the demigod-level dragon body that had reached the realm of the divine.

The Dragon Eye that pierced through all creation. The Dragon Scale and Dragon Bone with hardness surpassing any material. The Dragon Blood containing pure mana itself. The Dragon Horn that amplified mana to produce oceanic power from a handful. And finally, the source of a dragon's power, the Dragon Heart holding infinite mana.

Having examined the body, Jehyun nodded.

'Impressive.'

It was a flawless, impeccable physique. Jehyun's closed eyes opened again. The Dragon Eye began piercing through all creation.

The alien mana flowing within the mutants.

'So it was the power from that orb.'

The mana contained in the orb that Kerisha had brought. Just as he suspected.

He looked up at the massive purple sphere floating high in the sky, large enough to blot out the heavens. Mutants were steadily pouring out from it.

'What the hell is that thing?'

Was it because Jehyun couldn't draw out Arkanios's full power? Even with the Dragon Eye that pierced all creation, he couldn't grasp its true nature.

An unknown existence. It felt like peering into an endless abyss.

'Focus on the trial for now.' Jehyun steeled his mind.

Rather than probing the identity of that enigma, he prioritized annihilating the mutants right in front of him.

As Jehyun mulled over his thoughts, the disconnect from Arkanios's body had mostly faded.

Kieeeek.

Gazing at the mutants now right up close, Jehyun mobilized the infinite mana pulsing from the Dragon Heart.

Thump.

He vividly felt the Dragon Heart beat. An immeasurable vast mana. As he focused his senses on the Dragon Heart to gauge its limits, a thrill ran through his entire body.

It resembled the sensation when he first succeeded at Skin Breathing and mana was imprinted on his spirit. Like plunging into an ocean of mana. Peering into it, the boundary between himself and mana began to blur. It felt as if mana was him, and he was mana.

A electrifying stimulation from becoming one with mana, sweeping it all into unity. He felt like he had mana completely under his will. Even the ambient mana seemed manipulable at his command.

Master of Mana. No better term fit.

'How did he do it again?'

Jehyun recalled the miracle Arkanios had shown earlier while eyeing the mutants now within arm's reach. Melting hundreds of thousands of mutants with a single spell. Then a blizzard blanketing the sky froze the enemies, the earth flipped to swallow the frozen foes, and lava erupted from the fissures to melt countless more.

The scene where the laws of the world bent to Arkanios's will. That was why dragons were called demigods.

'Like this.'

Jehyun drew mana from the Dragon Heart and resonated it with the external mana.

Vmmm.

The atmosphere tinted with Jehyun's golden mana, and countless high-dimensional magic knowledges flooded his mind.

Advanced magics not passed down to the mortal world.

Absoluteness Inevobliviti Regen

Elemental Strike

The Rest of Soul

Infinity Twist

Magical Dimension

…….

…….

Jehyun cast one of them. The method of mana operation and spell control instantly came to mind. Implementing magic felt as natural as breathing for a human.

Vmmmm.

Reacting to Jehyun's will, mana surged from the Dragon Heart and resonated with the six horns on his head. The dragon horns amplified mana to produce oceanic power from a handful.

The six horns traced a hexagram, and one magic was cast.

"Kieek."

The mutants lunging at Jehyun melted away. Seeing his feat, a thrilling emotion surged through him again. Along with unshakable confidence that he wouldn't lose to the endless onslaught of mutants.

He continued casting spells.

Kaboooom!

A colossal meteor plummeted from the sky, crushing mutants and slamming into the ground. A massive crater formed. Millions of mutants vaporized in an instant.

'This is dragon magic.'

Jehyun exclaimed inwardly at the spell he had cast. He finally understood what true magic was, body and soul. Omnipotent power. A being akin to a god indeed.

After that, he lost himself in a trance. He unleashed various magics against the endless mutants. He lost track of how many he had felled. Tens of millions? Hundreds of millions? Billions? One thing was clear: he had battled them for so long that time lost all meaning.

The mutants kept pouring out endlessly from that massive sphere blotting the sky.

As time passed, the mutants grew stronger. At first, they were just ordinary monsters mutated. Then entirely new species appeared.

And then.

Time froze.

In the frozen space, Arkanios's spirit gazed at Jehyun.

Jehyun had exceeded expectations. Even without using a dragon's mightiest powers—Breath or Dragon Word—he had splendidly handled the mutants with magic alone.

Anyone possessing a dragon body could wield magic like that? Nonsense. Even a newly ascended holy dragon in that situation couldn't have cast so fluidly.

Arkanios thought perhaps it wasn't coincidence that Jehyun inherited the power he had arranged.

At Arkanios's voice, Jehyun's mind returned.

'Ar...kanios?'

Jehyun recognized the spiritual entity before him as Arkanios.

'Arkanios. What is that massive sphere? What happened to your mate? Are the mutants connected to it?'

Jehyun instinctively knew their conversation time was short. Skipping the many questions, he fired off the most pressing ones.

But no proper answer came.

With those final words, cracks spread through the halted world.

Crack.

Golden ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beams poured through the fissures. The cracks widened, and the world began collapsing entirely.

At the same time, countless notifications flooded Jehyun's vision.

With the notifications, Jehyun's body was enveloped in the pouring beams of light.

* * *

'Mm.'

Jehyun stirred at the tickling voice in his ear.

A familiar voice. With it, Jehyun felt his mind returning.

"Ah."

His eyes opened. He saw the artificial moon scattering soft light in the dark night sky.

"Ugh."

Jehyun sat up, clutching his head. His mind was a total fog; nothing made sense.

"I..."

Arkanios's long life flashed through Jehyun's mind. It wasn't a dream. The legendary dragon powers were no exaggeration.

'If anything, they fell short.'

No mere words could capture it. No joke—Arkanios alone could have driven Earth to ruin.

"What happened to Arkanios?"

He had no memory after losing himself in the trance. He vaguely recalled seeing Arkanios when his mind briefly cleared.

Retracing his thoughts, Jehyun remembered the massive purple sphere.

'That thing...'

Recalling the purple sphere in the sky sent chills down his spine. He couldn't fathom what it was.

"What the hell was that?"

Alkasha answered Jehyun's mutter.

"Alkasha, what do you know?"

"Hmm."

Jehyun nodded at Alkasha's words.

"Fine. Then."

Jehyun shook the cobwebs from his mind and stood.

The answers to his questions could wait. It wasn't far off. By digesting what he had gained step by step, he would eventually claim all of Arkanios's power and reach the truth.

That was the moment.

With those words, immense mana surged from Jehyun's body.