The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 300: The Beginning of the True War
Blood erupted like a fountain.
A fifteen-meter-tall giant. Having punched a clean hole through its chest, the blood that had nowhere left to go came gushing out in thick streams, soaking the ground beneath.
The Heavenly God is horrified.
The Lord of the Polluted Throne bursts into roaring laughter.
The Seeker of Wisdom watches you closely.
Some constellations expressed delight. Most revealed pure shock.
-Is this not to be expected from the contractor of Yeo?
“Does he take after his uncle?”
-Ismenios is far larger than I.
“Then I don’t have to hold back.”
-Hmph. As if you ever intended to.
“Just being polite. Obviously.”
While I was casually chatting with Nyx, one of the dragons stepped forward.
“I am the Blue Dragon, Arkade. I do not lower my guard.”
“Red, blue… Do these guys think they’re Power Rangers or something?”
“Power Rangers?”
“Never mind. Explaining it would be a pain.”
The 6th Round begins.
The Blue Dragon looked down at me with an arrogant posture. Its lips moved slightly. In just 0.1 seconds, massive-scale spells completed and came hurtling from every direction across the battlefield.
The entire space flickered as if struck by static electricity. Fitting for a Blue Dragon that commands lightning.
Truth Eyes
Blessing of All-Devouring Erosion
Blessing of Greed
My mystic eyes read the Blue Dragon’s mana flow. The blessing of the False Constellation interfered with the already-arranged spells. And Baal’s blessing, which devours anything and everything, painted the dragon’s mana with my own color.
With a single glance, I had stolen most of the authority over the magic.
The bundle of lightning reversed course, rushing back toward its caster.
“Mortal. Just what have you done?”
“Stick out your neck and I’ll tell you.”
“Insolent fool!”
Blue light spread across the Blue Dragon’s scales. Just like the Red Dragon, it had infused its scales with mana to strengthen them. An aura that ordinary races could only wield after reaching enlightenment. These creatures grasped the method simply by breathing and used it as naturally as walking.
“How unfair.”
-That is not something you should be saying.
“Fair enough.”
Regression. The one who turned back time and monopolized every single opportunity. If anyone embodied unfairness, it was me.
BOOM!
The lightning that had returned to its master collided with the blue scales, sending a deafening roar across the arena.
-Yet it seems to have little effect.
“It commands lightning, after all. It may not be absolute resistance, but it still has some immunity.”
My goal had already been achieved. The shock of having its magic control stolen. The fact that it had stopped in place to raise its aura instead of casting more spells was more than enough.
I had already prepared the next move.
Dragon's Wings
The moment I kicked off the ground and flapped the Dragon's Wings, the distance between us closed in the blink of an eye. Flight speed increased several times over. This was thanks to binding the essence of the otherworld flying monster, Kua’pel, to the wings.
Previously I had relied on wind currents for aerial movement. Now the Dragon's Wings allowed far more freedom and speed.
Ultra-Fast Incantation
Lightning Punishment
A skill that consumed five times the normal mana to complete the spell. It was a unique ability of the dragon race.
-Why not steal that with Devour as well?
“I told you it doesn’t work on players.”
Even if I killed it, it would turn to dust. How was I supposed to devour that? It was a tempting ability, but I had never obtained it in my previous life either.
I stretched out my right hand.
Mana Absorb
The ring on my finger. A sinister light flowed from the maw of Gluttony. Lightning as thick as a building poured into the ring.
A powerful skill that absorbed the opponent’s spell if their magic stat was lower than mine.
“Th-this is impossible.”
The Blue Dragon’s pupils trembled like leaves in the wind.
CRACKLE!
The lightning fragments I couldn’t fully absorb scattered in every direction. Some struck my True Dragon Armor, but they couldn’t inflict serious damage and simply fizzled out weakly.
It was a 5-star spell, so I couldn’t absorb it perfectly. Still, I had confirmed that my magic stat surpassed that of an adult dragon.
Heh. Not a bad harvest.
“I’ve seen everything I needed to see. Let’s end this.”
“Insolent mortal…”
“We’ll start by deciding who the real insolent one is.”
Explosive Demonic Energy
Superhuman Strength
I swung my tightly clenched fist straight into the Blue Dragon’s chest.
CRACK!
A clear rupture echoed throughout the entire space. The sturdy scales shattered, and blood spurted from the cracks.
The scene was no different from when I faced the Red Dragon.
“Next. Come out quickly.”
Tension flickered across the eyes of the remaining dragons.
The Tower of Babel was connected to countless worlds.
Artificial dimensions created by the Old Gods. They had stolen the ‘concepts’ of constellations like Nyx who lay dormant, then built this place with the cooperation of various divine societies.
If the followers of Klyphoth reflected real dimensions to create shadow-like mirror worlds, then the Tower borrowed dimensional ‘concepts’ from many constellations and anchored itself across countless realms to maintain its existence.
Among them, Draken Island was the strongest world the Tower had latched onto.
From the moment of birth, they possessed the status of quasi-constellations—equivalent to heroes. They grew stronger simply by breathing and could awaken even the deepest abysses of magic.
A race that, the moment they shed their hatchling status, possessed power just below the Tower’s High Rankers.
The Black Dragon, Jeramis, had lived with the pride of being the strongest species on the surface.
Until he took the Diamond promotion test.
‘Unbelievable.’
Humans.
He had heard of them. A race that had only recently fallen into the Tower’s grasp. Their base racial value was the lowest, and although they had developed a technology called science, they couldn’t even sense mana before the Tower’s shadow fell upon them.
In fact, according to the stories of the dragonkin who had been invited to the Tower, humans were still scraping the bottom around the 60th floor. So the possibility of defeat had never even crossed his mind.
“You’re the only one left.”
The cold voice snapped Jeramis out of his thoughts.
The collapsing form of the Green Dragon. Like him, it had reached the ‘adult dragon’ stage. A powerful dragon that mortals called a calamity. Yet that mighty being had fallen before Jinho without putting up any real fight.
“Mortal. Do not think I am the same as the kin you have faced so far.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Jeramis de Magnus.”
Magnus. The bloodline that had held the position of Dragon Lord, leader of the dragon race, for generations.
“The Coordinator of the Noble Race. I shall grant you the honor of witnessing its power.”
“Honor, my ass. If you don’t want to get beaten to death, you’d better come at me with everything you’ve got, you fat lizard.”
“What a vulgar species.”
The 10th Round begins.
The moment the barrier lifted, Jeramis unleashed the authority stored within his Dragon Heart.
The Coordinator of the Noble Race. An ability that allowed him to absorb the power of his kin—each considered an avatar of their respective elements—and wield it at will.
The consecutive battles had left the air thick with the mana and lingering will of the defeated dragons. Jeramis’s heart absorbed every last drop, amplifying his own power.
Multicolored mana shimmered across his black scales.
“My strength now rivals that of a worm-class dragon! What will you do now, mortal?!”
Dragons who grew stronger with the passage of time. ‘Worm-class’ was the title given to dragonkin who had lived for over three thousand years.
The Heavenly God watches Jeramis.
The Shadow of Twilight watches Jeramis.
The constellations who had been watching Jinho. Several who sponsored the dragon race now turned their attention to Jeramis.
Even as blood kin of the Dragon Lord, perfectly controlling that power was no easy feat. Absorbing it was one thing, but digesting power that exceeded one’s limits was another matter entirely. It was only natural that so much interest poured toward Jeramis, who had accomplished it so effortlessly.
“Behold! Countless stars whisper to me!”
“Who cares? It’s noisy.”
“What did you say?”
“Do you fight with your mouth?”
“How crude, even while the constellations watch.”
“Enough. Just die already.”
Shrink
A Seon magic technique that folded space itself. The moment Jinho took a single step, he appeared right in front of Jeramis.
There had been a [Teleport Delay] spell interfering with spatial domination, but it failed to stop the activation of Shrink.
Jeramis panicked but quickly rearranged his mana, unleashing a barrage of spells.
“As expected, you’ve learned nothing.”
Blessing of All-Devouring Erosion
Blessing of Greed
Power rivaling that of a worm-class dragon. The force of each spell had more than doubled, yet every single one was sent straight back at Jeramis.
The strength or weakness of the power didn’t matter. What Jinho wielded were blessings that interfered with the very laws of nature. They had to be opposed with equal standing in terms of mana or willpower.
While Jeramis blocked the reflected spells, Jinho concentrated the inner energy from his dantian and explosive demonic energy into both arms.
Superhuman Strength
Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts - 13th Form
Yellow Dragon Fang
Superhuman Strength, which had risen to 4-star after absorbing multiple essences. The latter half technique of Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts, Yellow Dragon Fang. The moment the two forces collided, he pushed the repulsive power to its maximum with Eclipse.
A pure wave of power surged forward like a vortex. The explosive demonic energy and inner force that slammed into Jeramis’s chest crushed and shattered his scales.
“Kuaaaaaah!”
Jeramis, who had grown stronger by absorbing the power of multiple dragonkin, let out a pathetic scream far sooner than he had expected victory.
Earth (3) dimension side has achieved victory.
All members of the victorious dimension side will be promoted to Diamond rank.
Only 40% of the defeated dimension side will be promoted.
Promotion numbers will be determined by contribution.
The dragon, scales torn and body reduced to a well-tenderized lump of meat. Jeramis’s corpse turned to dust.
“Worm-class was still manageable.”
-You say that after completely toying with him?
“It wasn’t a proper fight.”
The descendant of the Dragon Lord. He hadn’t expected him to be able to use the authority passed down through the bloodline. He had done well gathering the scattered power in the air, but just like with Rene, he couldn’t properly utilize the amplified strength.
“I struggled quite a bit too, you know.”
Both hands, repeatedly destroyed and regenerated. Did he think amplifying inner force and explosive demonic energy through collision was easy? His arms had been reduced to nothing but bare bones.
He had only won by regenerating quickly during the brief opening while Jeramis endured the shock, then pressing the attack without pause.
It hadn’t been an easy opponent by any means.
-In any case, you have overcome another hurdle.
“I’ve finally reached the starting line.”
The floor where one faced competitors from countless dimensions. Only past the 60th floor did the Tower of Babel reveal its true nature.
Harsher missions. Far stronger competitors. And the accelerated erosion of the Tower if one’s entire race performed poorly.
“I can’t afford to let my guard down if I want to prevent the Age of Ruin from ever coming again.”
-Do not forget revenge, either.
“As if. Stopping the Age of Ruin is just a side goal.”
My true objective was the destruction of the Old Gods who had created the Tower. Until I brought down the real enemy, I would neither look back nor stop.
-Yeo shall walk with you.
“I’ll be counting on you.”
I smiled at the goddess.