Chapter 306 - The Great Expedition (8)

Black magic.

At first, it was called dark wizardry, but the name was later changed to black magic because the Magical Spire didn’t want regular magic to be associated with it.

From then on, magic and black magic were considered completely different things. Magic was a power that was made from pure mana, respecting the moral principles of humans.

Black magic, however, didn’t have to come from pure mana. One could also use blood, life force, souls, and other such elements to practice black magic.

The usage of those elements, or of any form of energy, to harness transcendental powers that violated human ethics and morality was labeled as black magic.

Therefore, pure mana wasn’t enough to unlock the secret of eternal youth.

Eternal youth meant not growing old and not getting sick, but the root of aging and sickness was the passage of time, a force that humans were completely powerless against.

However, Dracan had achieved eternal youth by fueling himself with the life force of others. Thus, it was hard to consider his Reborn spell as just magic.

“Phahaha! This kind of attack is no use!”

The Magic Arrows that filled the sky were like piranhas, constantly tearing Dracan’s flesh. However, no matter how many arrows dug into his flesh, he didn’t feel any pain. That was especially strange because Henry’s sea of arrows also included some fiery ones, meant to inflict burning pain, arguably the worst kind of pain.

On top of that, Henry had just enhanced his mana arrows to make them more painful, intending to make Dracan pay for messing with him.

But even though Henry’s Magic Arrows were now empowered, Dracan still wasn’t fazed at all by it.

“Okay, let’s see just how long you can laugh at me like that!”

The volley of arrows ripped apart Dracan’s flesh and muscles unrelentingly. Blood sprayed in the air, but it was evaporated by the arrows before it reached the ground.

There was no end to Henry’s Magic Arrows; whenever he ran out of them, he just summoned more, casting them with properties that would inflict even more pain.

“How disappointing! Is this the extent of the power of an 8th-Circle Archmage?”

Even though he couldn’t even take a single step forward due to the hail of arrows, Dracan still had the nerve to act bold, trusting the power of Reborn.

Henry became even more angry and, with a cynical smile, he concentrated on generating more and more Magical Arrows.

But no matter how many spells Henry cast, Dracan maintained his relaxed expression. In stark contrast, Henry’s rage showed no signs of abating.

As time went on, Henry’s Magic Arrows gradually changed their shapes to eventually look like spears.

Magic Spears.

This spell was similar to Magic Arrows, but given that the spears were longer than the arrows, they inflicted significantly more pain that would last much longer.

The more he amplified his spell, the angrier Henry became.

The constant rumbling of the spears decimating the ground filled the air.

Dracan smirked as he realized that the magic piercing his flesh had turned from arrows to spears. Of course, even when he smirked, parts of his face were being blown off, his shoulder blades pierced, his thighs ripped open.

By enduring Henry’s magic with his whole body, Dracan had used about fifty of his spare lives.

“Alright, this is getting too much,” Dracan said out loud.

Dracan decided not to waste any more lives. He had demonstrated the greatness of Reborn in exchange for fifty lives, which he considered to be a pretty good deal.

Dracan inhaled deeply, his chest swelling up like the vocal sac of a frog.

Henry took a few steps back and frowned, but he still maintained the power and speed of the spears.

However, as Dracan grew larger like a pufferfish, Henry’s Magic Spears were becoming less effective. It wasn’t the spears losing their speed and power, but Dracan’s body becoming harder and more durable.

Seeing that his attack was no longer effective, Henry gave up on it and stopped the waterfall of spears.

Dracan’s body had swollen so much that his neck was barely visible. With a chuckle, he said, “Excellent choice.”

Then, his pufferfish-like body split open from his lower abdomen, unleashing a massive explosion.

BOOM!

Dracan detonated himself, releasing an enormous mana wave.

The explosion was almost as colorless as the wind, but the heat it emanated was so intense that it burnt all nearby plants to ashes.

It was a scorching shock wave. However, Henry blocked it with his Magic Shield as though it was nothing, keeping his eyes fixed on Dracan. His body sagged to the ground like wet leather.

There seemed to be something inside Dracan’s loose skin, something sharp and pointed pushing upward, stretching the part of his body that would’ve been his back.

The thing inside Dracan kept pushing through his seemingly hollow body more and more, and when it finally tore through it, Henry could see a sharp set of claws.

‘Claws?’

The torn skin fell to the ground, revealing the silhouette it had been wrapped around. However, the thing that emerged from the loose skin couldn’t be called human. That wasn’t the Dracan Henry had seen a few moments ago.

It was a monster, one that Henry had never seen before.

“That’s...”

The creature was incredibly grotesque, and there was only one word that Henry could think of when he looked at that monstrosity.

“Chimera?” Henry said almost instinctively.

Even though he had never seen such a monstrosity before, its appearance still reminded him of a Chimera.

“Haha, I’m not a Chimera. I’m a

human

that’s been reborn and evolved into something far greater and superior,” said Dracan.

Despite his monstrous form, Dracan declared that he was human. Moreover, despite his hideous appearance, his voice hadn’t changed one bit, which made it all the more grotesque.

Dracan puffed out his chest proudly and shook off the fluids that had resulted from his evolution process.

His lower body was similar to that of a snake, and his upper body was massive and muscular, similar to that of an ogre warrior. He also had a pair of wings on his back, their size so huge that one couldn’t tell which creature they had been taken from. On his breast was an abnormally large lion head.

On top of the amalgam of creatures was Dracan’s face, his ghostly pale face that had a purple hue to it, along with his pure white hair.

Dracan spread his arms, and the lion’s head attached to his massive chest opened its mouth as if to show off its majesty.

“This is the true power of Reborn! After creating this spell, I finally grasped what the main goal of anthropology is! To allow humans to transcend their nature and become superior creatures!”

Indeed, it was Dracan’s fixation, or rather, obsession with pure anthropology, his philosophy, and his stubbornness that had created this nameless creature standing in front of Henry.

Dracan raised his sharp claws, with which he had torn through his old skin, and pointed them at Henry.

“Five hundred lives! This body was made with only the best parts of a hundred different creatures. This, Henry Morris, is the pinnacle of advanced anthropology, the pinnacle of evolution, that no other creature in this world can match!”

Even though it didn’t seem like Dracan was shouting at the top of his lungs, Henry still felt like his eardrums were about to burst. If it weren’t for his Magic Shield, he might’ve actually gone deaf.

In response, Henry frowned and strengthened his Magic Shield.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Dracan’s ferocity was off the charts. He was radiating an indescribably powerful energy just by revealing his true form.

As Henry watched all of this unfold, he was certain of one thing.

‘He’s gone completely insane. I’m sure of it.’

Henry thought that it was madness, arrogance, and the curse of knowledge, all spurred on by ambition and greed, that had caused Dracan to turn this way.

‘But I guess it’s a good thing.’

Henry reached out and summoned the Colt Sword, the emerald-colored Aura already enveloping him.

‘It’s a good thing that he’s arrogant. Otherwise, he would’ve recognized his limitations and used Arthus’ divine power.’

Dracan was intoxicated, completely drunk on his grand achievement. And so, despite the fact that he was an entire Circle below Henry, Dracan was under the illusion that he could easily defeat Henry because he felt like he had only awakened the 8th-Circle thanks to his master, who had paved the way for him.

This illusion of surpassing the 8th-Circle was Dracan’s lifelong goal, something he had long dreamed of.

After gripping his Colt Sword, Henry stomped on the ground, causing his Aura to burn even more fiercely.

Seeing this, Dracan exclaimed, “Oh, emerald Aura? Now that I think about it, you’re not just a wizard, right? Shame on you! Despite being the disciple of the great Archmage, you failed to maintain his reputation, and you also learned some worthless swordsmanship!”

“Armor on.”

Znggg!

Henry continued preparing himself for the upcoming fight without paying attention to Dracan’s mockery.

He held his Colt Sword and put on his Colt Armor. He also wrapped himself in the Magic Armor he had been using ever since he had come back to life.

“Khahah! Go ahead and give it a try! A magic swordsman? Don’t be ridiculous! I’ll show you exactly how disastrous your cowardly decision was!”

Boom!

The Aura that enveloped Henry gradually grew darker until it matched the hue of pine leaves. In contrast to the green light, Dracan’s red energy had grown darker than blood and was sizzling fiercely.

“Hhraaa!”

- Khaaaa!

The lion on Dracan’s chest matched his ferocious scream, their combined voices producing an uncanny roar that would send chills down anyone’s spine.

Following that, Dracan stretched out his wings and flew at Henry with tremendous speed.

Henry took a proper stance, slightly leaning forward. He then bolted at Dracan, causing the ground underneath his feet to crack like a spider web.

Crack!

The sole magic swordsman on the continent threw himself at the roaring monster. However, the monster was faster. It was unbelievable that such a large and heavy-looking creature could move so swiftly.

As the two forces of contrasting colors clashed, the dark green light split apart the red one.

Whoosh!

Henry’s dark green Aura pierced through Dracan’s red energy, the impact generating a bright flash of light.

After the white brilliance faded like mist, Henry was standing behind Dracan, holding his Colt Sword diagonally in the air like a victory flag.

“Ju-just... How...?” Dracan murmured in disbelief from behind Henry.

Dracan’s voice trembled as he looked at the long bloody trail that extended from his chest all the way down to the snake’s tail.

However, that didn’t sound like the voice of someone who was scared of their impending death.

Dracan’s voice was trembling because he was shocked to see his own body, which he believed to be the pinnacle of human evolution, slashed apart.

Seeing this, Henry said in a cold tone, “I told you. You’re only a 7th-Circle.”

“Nonsense!”

As Henry mocked him, Dracan used his wings to get to Henry, not caring that his lower body was barely clinging to the rest of his body.

But just as Dracan launched himself at him, Henry said, “Klever.”

- Yes, Master!

Toop!

In a flash, Dracan was gone. Only his lower half was left before Henry, a monstrous mass of writhing flesh.