Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Chapter 47 Black Dragon Heart
"No... you didn't give up on either side? What just happened?"
Zeus and everyone from both the Pantheon and Pandemonium couldn't help but be shocked at Han Yeong-min's bizarre behavior.
"A being who possesses both Divine Blood and Demon Blood... has such a person existed since the beginning of time?"
Even Vasago, who had no equal when it came to analysis based on knowledge of the past, present, and future, didn't properly understand what had just happened.
The only being who properly understood what had happened from beginning to end... was Baal alone.
She was the only one in this place who had experienced possessing both Divine Blood and Demon Blood simultaneously, having the authority of Predation.
'To think he would succeed at something even I gave up on...'
When Baal had just become a Demon King, she had challenged countless gods for more enjoyable battles and to obtain new possibilities through Predation.
The byproducts of a Demon King held tremendous value in themselves, and the gods looked down on Baal who had just become a Demon King, so none of them avoided her challenges.
Who would refuse such appetizing prey walking right into their hands?
Of course, conversely, they became food for Baal, which is why she's here in this place.
Having devoured so many gods and obtained their possibilities, it was natural that she would also gain Divine Blood.
However, her identity as a Demon King was already too firmly established, and she was put at risk of bodily collapse the moment she obtained Divine Blood. After all, she was a demon race from the very beginning.
Moreover, having grown by devouring countless demons and Demon Beasts, her possibilities were already extremely biased toward Demon Blood, making it impossible to accept Divine Blood at all.
She instinctively felt that something very special would be born if Divine Blood and Demon Blood became one, but she had no choice but to give up on that path due to the limitations of her birth.
But that thing, which even the strongest Demon King had given up on, was accomplished by Han Yeong-min, a mortal human whom everyone ignored.
'Rather... is it possible because he's a mortal human? As expected, that guy is interesting.'
Because he wasn't yet a Transcendent, because he was human and not biased toward either gods or Demon Kings, he had accomplished something impossible for any Transcendent.
However, Baal thought that all of this was possible not simply because he was human, but because he was Han Yeong-min.
There were plenty of others who weren't Transcendents and weren't biased toward either gods or Demon Kings.
But among them, only one person had combined Divine Blood and Demon Blood into one—only Han Yeong-min.
'He would have needed something to bind the two together... but how could an ordinary human possess such a thing?'
It was already difficult to gather both Divine Blood and Demon Blood in the first place, but he needed a related trait for fusion?
Success was virtually impossible. It was foolish to even attempt it, yet he had succeeded.
There were countless Transcendents watching Han Yeong-min, but the thought they all shared in common was one:
'I must definitely make that guy my apostle.'
They absolutely couldn't let him fall to other competitors.
It was the moment when the Transcendents' obsession and possessiveness toward Han Yeong-min grew exponentially.
*
'Is someone talking about me? Why are my ears so itchy?'
I scratched my ear and then checked my current condition.
I had devoured all the Demon Dragons, grown my resistance to the highest grade, and even finished synthesizing traits, so now it was time to consume the main dish—the Black Dragon Heart.
But there was one minor problem.
[Remaining Time: 0 hours 5 minutes]
'Tsk... there's not enough time. I'll have to eat it in the waiting room.'
There had definitely been 7 hours left before summoning the Demon Dragons, but I had done so much that only 5 minutes remained.
Was it possible to fully absorb the effects of a Legendary-grade elixir and finish organizing everything within 5 minutes?
It was right to go to the waiting room and eat it there properly.
As I was getting accustomed to the new energy called Primordial Unity, time passed quickly, and the usual things appeared in succession.
And I felt all my stats rising.
'What? Was there something that would cause that?'
I immediately checked the messages.
[You have cleared the 4th floor trial of the Testing Floors Hell difficulty for the first time.]
[Rewards are enhanced.]
[You have defeated all Demon Beasts.]
[Rewards are greatly enhanced.]
[You are in a state of receiving penalties.]
[Rewards are very greatly enhanced.]
[Rewards have reached the highest level.]
[Rewards from floors 1, 2, and 3 are stacked.]
[Would you like to receive the rewards?]
[Yes / No.]
Three rewards had already stacked up.
But perhaps because I had become stronger through this trial, I didn't yet feel the need to receive the rewards.
What was more important was the message below.
[You have succeeded in perfectly subduing a special entity.]
[Title: Conqueror of the Unknown (Rare)'s grade increases.]
[Conqueror of the Unknown (Rare) is promoted to Conqueror of the Unknown (Heroic).]
'Ah, it was a title that could be promoted?'
Conqueror of the Unknown, which had the effect of +1 to all stats, was promoted and gained the effect of +2 to all stats.
Since titles have double effects when equipped, this alone was raising my total stats by 24, and considering the effect of Supreme Bloodline, I had gained 36 stats from a single title.
What was even more terrifying was that this wasn't the peak.
What if I could obtain more hidden pieces? What if I could further strengthen the title's effects?
Even among climbers of the same 11th floor, the gap between me and others would definitely become overwhelming.
Even looking at just raw stats, excluding all other additional factors.
[You have skipped the rewards.]
[The rewards will be stacked onto the next floor's rewards equivalent to their value.]
While I was checking the title's effects, the space began to collapse, so I immediately skipped the rewards and lightly threw myself into the portal.
I arrived at the waiting room, now as familiar as my own home.
I had just devoured all the Demon Dragons, and my hunger and thirst had normalized, so I wasn't hungry.
Still, I wanted to drink normal water for the first time in a while, so I got water from the water purifier and drank it, then immediately took out the Black Dragon Heart from my inventory.
A lustrous black gem containing terrifying energy within. It looked so appetizing.
'But how do I eat this?'
If an ordinary human tried to chew such a hard, large gem, all their teeth would fall out.
My teeth weren't ordinary teeth, so I brought it to my mouth to chew, but the moment I tried to take a bite, the Black Dragon Heart melted away and seeped into my mouth.
A sweet-tasting liquid filled my mouth, and when I swallowed it, an amount of energy greater than all the energy I had accumulated so far began to surge through my blood vessels.
'Come to think of it, 30 stats is more than my total mana, isn't it?'
Controlling it was no easy task. I had to control a larger amount of energy with a smaller amount of energy.
It felt like being a drill sergeant controlling reservists during mobilization training.
If it weren't for the effects of Conqueror of the Unknown and Supreme Bloodline, I might have been helplessly overwhelmed like junior soldiers facing veteran reservists.
But who am I? Someone who has mastered handling energy by dealing with Dawn Divine Art and dominating mana.
Moreover, I was now using the higher-difficulty mental technique Infinite Heavenly Light Divine Art, and had experience handling higher-level energies like divinity and demonic energy.
I could guide energy that had lost its master and was wandering according to my will. Especially since the newly acquired Primordial Blood was helping greatly, it was even easier.
Through endless Great Circulation, I made the elixir's energy adaptable to my body, and when I felt it was okay to accept it, I guided it toward my dantian.
The existing energy and the elixir's energy became one, and I felt the energy in my dantian explosively increase.
The amount of mana that had been very insufficient compared to my realm was finally normalizing.
[Mana increases by 30.]
I succeeded in absorbing all the energy contained in the Legendary-grade elixir without any loss.
And as if in reward for that, the increased mana moved on its own toward my heart.
The mana that wrapped around my heart like armor without any gaps began transformation.
It was changing a human heart into a dragon's heart.
The heart changing didn't just mean acquiring a trait.
Dragons are inherently creatures with overwhelming vitality compared to humans.
Having gained such a dragon's heart meant that the vessel containing my life itself was becoming incomparably larger than before.
As the heart's performance itself dramatically improved, the amount of innate energy it could contain also explosively increased.
This meant that my Qi reinforcement power and duration had also greatly increased, and I could maintain manifestation for much longer.
Incomparable vitality filled my body.
Wasn't circulating blood also the heart's role in the first place?
As the heart's performance improved, it wasn't strange at all that the blood's quality was enhanced.
How much time had passed like that?
[Trait: Black Dragon Heart (S) acquired.]
The transformation ended and the mana returned to my dantian. I immediately checked the information.
I was extremely curious about what abilities it possessed.
[Black Dragon Heart (S): A trait possessed by the owner of a Black Dragon's heart that exists only in the Demon Realm, not the middle world. Grants overwhelming aptitude for black magic.
① Endless Mana: Receives the highest level correction to mana recovery speed. Mana consumption rate decreases by 20%.
② Master of Black Magic: Receives the highest level correction for black magic. Knowledge of black magic naturally becomes engraved in your mind over time. Can use all black magic without cost or restrictions.
③ Demon Dragon's Breath: Can use Black Dragon Breath. Range and power are proportional to the Magic stat.]
'No, they're definitely good abilities but...'
Something felt strange. It was like I was going to be misunderstood again somehow?
First, Endless Mana was an ability with extremely good versatility. Mana is always a scarce resource, so an ability that helps its recovery is naturally tier 1.
Moreover, it reduces mana consumption itself by 20%, so it was an overpowered ability where the amount consumed decreased while mana recovery speed actually increased.
Master of Black Magic was also... definitely an overpowered ability.
Giving the highest level correction to black magic, and an ability that improves black magic skills just by breathing?
This is why dragons don't train. For example, if it were a Red Dragon instead of a Black Dragon, fire magic skills would improve just by breathing.
'But why does it have to be black magic of all things.'
I had been thinking of learning magic when I returned to the waiting room, but that wasn't black magic. Wouldn't people misunderstand me again if I used such ominous magic?
It's not that black magic is bad, but I didn't want to go in that direction if possible.
Demon Dragon's Breath was also an ability that would help me, as I had been inconvenienced when fighting multiple enemies due to lack of area attacks.
The problem was that I had to breathe out a breath containing black energy from my mouth.
A being that uses black magic with hands while breathing out black breath from the mouth?
If this isn't a Demon King, then what the hell is it?