Chapter 217: Chapter 216

The tattered Astra, riddled with holes, scattered like ash into the sky where the heat of battle had subsided. The scene was reminiscent of the gray snowstorm that fell in the Grave of Berserk Dragons.

"..." The Dragon King's eyes shimmered with complex emotions as he silently watched the scene. He recalled the war with the Shadow Army, a war he lost long ago.

The King of Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction Antares. The flames emanating from the 'Heart of the Dragon King' he gave to Suho were truly the power of destruction itself. That power was so devastating that it even inflicted permanent burns on the great Shadow Monarch, Sung Jinwoo...

Sung Jinwoo had already transcended the physical limitations of humans, becoming a being who could freely change his age and physique, yet the burns on his left hand from the Dragon King's attack remained as scars. Because it was such a powerful force of destruction, it was only natural that the ax Astra, born from the condensed mana of the Outer Gods, burned away without a fight.

Crack! Crackle! Fwoosh!

Soon, a change also occurred in Siddharth Bachchan's charred body. The star fragments embedded throughout the corpse cracked and shattered all at once. The star fragments in the bodies of the dragonid soldiers following him also shattered, and eventually, the mana of the Outer Gods condensed within them began to leak out like blue steam. Seeing this phenomenon occurring simultaneously everywhere, the Dragon King Antares scoffed as if he had expected it.

[The precariously maintained balance has collapsed. As expected, only dragons can withstand Dragon blood.]

As a rule, great power required a suitable vessel. The dragon blood, which had been forcibly suppressed by the Outer Gods's power, now ran rampant, burning them.

Fizzle—!

They turned to ash and scattered without a sound. But ironically, an expression of relief appeared on their dying faces. Just like the dragonids who became Suho's shadow soldiers earlier, they too could finally find peace. Their minds and bodies were possessed by the power of the Outer Gods, but their souls were in constant pain.

[This works out well. If we feed these guys' to Ragnar, his mana will increase a little.] The Dragon King Antares muttered so, spreading his short arms wide and taking a deep breath.

Swoosh!

The mana emanating from the corpses of the dying dragonids burned brightly and was absorbed into Ragnar's small body.

"Bloodstone?" Esil tilted her head as she watched the scene from afar. Noticing her gaze, the Dragon King clicked his tongue in displeasure.

[Don't compare it to the bloodstones of demon nobles. The blood of dragons is superior to the blood of any other race. The quantity and quality of mana are far more mighty and noble.]

"But all the dragons are dead except for one, right?"

[...] Antares silently glared at Esil for her cheeky retort. But what could he do about the truth? Just as only Esil remained of the demon nobles, the reality was that only one dragon remained. However, Antares's fierce glare was so intense that Esil averted her eyes and quickly ran to Suho.

"Suho! Are you okay?"

"...I'm okay."

"Are you really...?"

Contrary to Esil's concern, Suho really was completely fine. He recovered from all status effects upon leveling up, and the Heart of the Dragon King was no longer emitting heat. There was a minor problem that all his clothes had been burned away, but even that was solved by buying suitable garments from the shop window.

Fwoosh.

As Suho put on his clothes, the shadow's energy that had been swirling around his body and appropriately covering his vital parts gathered into one and transformed into Beru. Who wept and massaged Suho's shoulders.

[Kieek! You were amazing, my liege! Please forgive this incompetent servant who could only watch your suffering!]

"Why are you being so dramatic now? It couldn't be helped, for the experience points."

[That is, of course, true. How could I dare hinder your growth, my liege?]

"..."

He didn't know what to say. Suho stared intently at Beru. But it wasn't wrong. Beru was a shadow soldier belonging to Sung Jinwoo, not Suho. If he participated in battle, the experience points Suho gained would naturally decrease. It was also uncertain how much help Beru would actually be in combat.

'Even though I've been diligently feeding him magic stones, he's still in his shrunken form.'

Of course, this didn't mean that he hadn't recovered any mana at all. He knew why Beru was still maintaining his mini-Beru form despite recovering some mana. He wanted to prevent even the last shred of magic power from leaking. That's why Suho couldn't help but be curious.

'Just how strong was Beru?'

He now considered himself quite strong, but he still couldn't grasp the power of Beru, who hadn't even fully recovered his mana. That meant that Beru was either excellent at hiding his power, or Suho's sense stat was still far below Beru's...

[Kieek? Why are you looking at me like that?]

"..."

There's still a long way to go. Suho shook his head and turned his gaze to Esil.

"By the way, have you found any traces of the demons?"

"Yes. As you said, I'm sure there's a factory somewhere around here."

Apart from the large-scale battle that had taken place, Esil had been keeping all her senses alert to detect the presence of demons.

"I thought so."

It was strange that there would be no demons in a place with so much stardust. One of the main ingredients of starpieces embedded in the dragonids' bodies was demon blood, and the only beings who could make those were demons. And Esil, the only existing demon noble, had a mission to gather all the demons and rebuild the demon world. Of course, she also had a duty to personally punish those who were completely possessed by the Outer Gods.

'I'm still too weak. To be of any help to Suho, I need to at least recover my original power. And then...'

Esil swallowed hard. Through Suho's battle just now, Esil had clearly realized something... Suho was growing at an overwhelmingly faster rate than she was recovering her original power, even though she was S-rank by human standards. Even Suho, the son of Sung Jinwoo, was like this, so she couldn't even imagine how tremendous Shadow Monarch's power must be as he was currently engaged in an all-out war with Itarim in outer space. Moreover, what about those Itarim beings, against whom even Sung Jinwoo couldn't return to Earth because of the intense struggle? Seeing Siddharth Bachchan's 'Astra,' Esil shuddered at the glimpse of the power possessed by the Itarim beings. And she reaffirmed her resolve to shake off her fear.

'To lessen the burden on Sung Jinwoo, I need to recover my power as soon as possible and inherit the Monarch's power.'

The King of Demons, the Monarch of White Flames, Baran. To inherit his power, the first priority was to gather the demons scattered throughout the dimensional gap in one place. Esil pointed somewhere with her finger, following the traces of the demons she had discovered, and said to Suho,

"It was confusing because so many troops were concentrated in one place, but I think it's in that direction. Judging from the fact that the demons' presence disappears halfway, it's highly likely that they've hidden the factory inside a dungeon."

"Then there's a high chance that the dungeon is a fragment of the demon world."

"That's right." Suho nodded and turned towards the direction Esil was pointing. Seeing this, She asked flustered,

"Are you planning to go right away?"

"It'll be a piece of cake."

"You don't even know what's beyond the gate, and you're going in without any preparation..."

"I'll prepare now." With that answer, Suho's gaze turned to the side. There lay the corpse of 'Siddharth Bachchan,' turned into a pile of black ashes.

[Shadow Extraction is possible on this target.]

A smile appeared on Suho's lips.

"That's a relief. I was worried that his soul might be contaminated and extraction might not be possible."

Siddharth Bachchan. He would be a bit weaker than he was when he was alive if he became a shadow soldier, but Suho was already looking forward to how useful he would be.

[Uwaaaaaaaaaaa!]

In front of Suho's eyes, Siddharth Bachchan's shadow writhed like boiling lava, screaming like a demon from hell. He couldn't tell what the scream meant. Whether the end of that deep resentment was directed at Suho, who killed him, or at Itarim, who had played with his soul. But at least one thing was certain...

"Do you want to live again?"

[Kyaaaaaaaaa!"]

The scream of the dead intensified at Suho's question. Who smiled and willingly extended his hand towards the shadow.

"I have many questions for you. Arise."

[Attempting Shadow Extraction.]

[Extraction in progress...]

Ding!

[Shadow Extraction failed.]

"Hey, you..." Suho's solemn expression faltered for a moment. He really didn't expect it to fail. It felt good, though. The Dragon King Antares, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but chuckle.

[He's a proud one. He's a guy who consumed a lot of dragon blood, claiming to succeed me, so it wouldn't be very dignified to readily join the Shadow Army, would it?]

[You have two more chances.]

Hearing the Dragon King's words, Suho spoke again.

"Arise."

Ding!

[Shadow Extraction failed.]

[You have one more chance.]

"..." Suho's gaze intently focused on Siddharth Bachchan's shadow, which was flickering restlessly. The Dragon King Antares smiled again as he watched Suho fail once more.

[This proves one thing for sure. You were merely born as the son of the Shadow Monarch; you are far inferior to him.]

[Kieek! How dare he evaluate someone! My liege, don't be fooled by such an obvious provocation! To mock someone with such obvious words that aren't even worth paying attention to! It's possible for extraction to fail if the stat difference between the extraction target and you is too large.]

"..." Why was it? Why did Beru, who was trying to comfort him from the side, seem more annoying than the Dragon King who was teasing him openly?

'Stat difference...' Suho knew very well what those words meant. He had no intention of getting carried away.

'I was only able to kill this guy thanks to the heart the Dragon King gave me.'

From Siddharth Bachchan's perspective, who had become a charred lump of coal because of the Dragon King's heart, it was only natural that he wouldn't want to acknowledge Suho. But... So what if he didn't acknowledge him? There was only one truth.

'I have earned the qualification of the Dragon King.' It was a reward he obtained by fairly overcoming the Dragon King's trial. Therefore...

Thump! Thump!

Suho's hand rested on his chest. Feeling the strong beating of the 'Heart of the Dragon King' transmitted from within, he gave one final command to Siddharth Bachchan. With utmost confidence and arrogance.

"Arise."

Flare!

In an instant, with the warmth rising from the Heart of the Dragon King, Siddharth Bachchan's soul cried out.

"Kyaaaaaaaaa!"

"I, the son of the great Shadow Monarch and the one qualified as the Dragon King, command you. Arise and bow. You half-baked mutant who aspired to become a dragon yourself."

"Your name is now 'Sita.'"

Ding!

[Shadow Extraction successful.]

"Swooosh!"

A pitch-black shadow fiercely swirled over the charred ashes. The shadows intertwined, and a pair of black, dragon-like wings spread wide. A giant shadow dragonid with black smoke billowing from its entire body, a mixture of wyvern, naga, true dragon, and human form. The energy emanating from his entire body possessed power on a different level than any shadow soldier he had seen before.

[Sita Lv.1]

[General Grade]

[I heed your call, noble one.]

Sita bowed deeply before Suho, his magnificent wings spread on the ground. Hot flames blazing along his entire body.