Chapter 179: The Dragons

The monsters he had faced so far were unique, with some even possessing new abilities. One such example was a small pack of lunar wolves, eight-feet-tall monsters with sharp teeth, rapid movements, and a form of stealth that made them almost invisible at night.However, all of these traits were the result of a skill known as Lunar Charge, which he later obtained through Drain.

As long as they were under the moonlight, they would never run out of aether. Their overall attack power and movement speed would be boosted by a small yet important margin as a bonus.

When Marlon merged with the skill, unfortunately, it was already morning, and the moon had long since left the sky. As a result, he did not get to use it as much as he wanted.

Nonetheless, with such a skill in his possession, and with fierce battles seemingly happening all across Arden, there was a high chance that he would be able to use it later.

As well as the other skills he had obtained and merged with.

[ Aether Eater (A-rank, active) You can easily absorb and refill aether by consuming items or food rich with energy. ]

[ Beastamina (A-rank, passive) Just like a raging beast, your stamina is extraordinary, enabling you to go on for days, even weeks, without tiring out. ]

[ Flash (A-rank, passive) Your overall movement and attack speed is boosted by 80% constantly. When stamina is low, once the user runs, his stamina gradually regenerates. ]

With the current level of Drain, he had obtained over five hundred skill books so far and five talent awakening crystals, which he had not gotten the chance to use yet. The skill books were easier to equip than awakening crystals, but not only did he already possess most of them, he even had their upgraded versions. Thus, storing them and looking for a suitable user later, for example, his friends, was the best decision.

Speaking of his friends, he had long since begun to wonder what had become of them.

One part of him believed they had been slain, devoured by the monsters that rampaged through Arden, while the other part of him believed they were safe, or at least hoped that they were.

He was not as bothered about his family’s safety as he was with his friends. Not even once did it cross his mind whether his parents were still alive. For one, he would even love it if they were dead. They were that useless.

Regardless, he ensured that worry did not linger in his mind. It was a major distraction, especially in his current situation.

It was already closing into the late hours of the morning, with the radiance of the sun sweeping across the mayhem below.

In one busy and once industrious area, now filled with collapsed towering buildings, corpses of both humans and abnormalities, and smoke rising from structures that had caught on fire, Marlon could be seen standing still, facing his first Aurax enemy since the last one he had encountered earlier.

The Aurax stood gallantly atop a massive bone dragon, its hands folded as it stared at Marlon with calm, composed eyes, an element noticeably lacking in the other Aurax he had dealt with thus far.

In the sky surrounding the bone dragon were other terrifying dragons.

Flame Dragons with shiny orange scales and blazing red eyes.

Ice Dragons with scales finely formed from thick glaciers and an old, oppressive aura that seeped outward across the air.

Aside from those two easily identifiable dragons, there were others of different scale colors, varying abilities, and distinct natures of aura.

They all flapped their wings in the sky, sending strong gusts of wind across the ruined city as they stalled in place and watched Marlon, awaiting the command of their leader.

Marlon stood with a fearless expression on his face, his head lifted toward the sky as he met the gaze of the calm Aurax. Surrounding his feet were the corpses of monsters, his feet and clothes heavily soiled with blood, with bits of flesh even clinging to his attire. He ignored the discomfort as he activated Inspection on all of his opponents.

As always, there were no details revealed about the Aurax. Its status was filled entirely with question marks.

As for the dragons, except for the bone dragon, which sat firmly at SS-rank, the others were S-rank.

They were within the capability of Absolute Death Strike, the only problem being the distance between them. However, with the Flight skill, that problem was already covered.

As for the Bone Dragon and the Aurax, he intended to test the effect of the Mark of Death on them, as so far, they were the only enemies above S-rank that he had encountered.

As his gaze remained fixed on the bone dragon, carefully analyzing it, the massive creature flapped its wings at the telepathic command of its master and lowered itself steadily toward the ground, only halting once it had reached a considerable height above the ruined streets.

The Aurax did not break its composure despite the movement. Its arms remained folded, its eyes cold and fixed on Marlon below.

Now that it was closer, Marlon obtained a clearer look at it.

It stood at least six feet tall, much taller than every other Aurax he had seen before. Its eyes were golden, and its horns were also gold, almost fully golden except for a faint dark hue near the base. This alone made it different from the others, whose horns only contained a tiny amount of gold, with black dominating the rest. Aside from its physical features, the gaze in its eyes and the aura it radiated felt far more seasoned and composed.

Marlon did not need a seer to know that this Aurax was stronger, possibly an Index-3, or perhaps even an Index-4 being.

Even with his new version of Punch of Death, killing it was impossible.

With its level of composure and experience, rage-baiting it would be far more difficult.

And worst of all, it commanded an entire dragon horde as its soldiers.

Their massive figures formed shadows that loomed over dozens of streets in an oppressive manner.

But Marlon ignored them. His focus remained entirely on the Aurax.

The lips of the Aurax parted slightly.

"I imagined you to be a lot older and impressive."

It spoke.

Its voice was cold, composed, and dripping with disappointment.

Marlon did not react. He did not even speak.

"A dumb human too?" the Aurax said, with irritation seeping more clearly into its voice.

With a flick of its fingers, two flame dragons from afar in the sky blasted forward toward Marlon.

They spewed massive balls of flame filled with intense heat that could easily melt metal, hurling them toward him as their roars tore through the sky and filled the air with terror.

Marlon blasted away from his position, utilizing his new movement skill, [Flash].

With the explosion came a powerful shockwave. Shrapnel spewed everywhere, dents formed across the ground, melting deeper and deeper due to the sheer intensity of the attack.

The dragons could still sense that their foe remained alive.

With irritated roars, they unleashed several more attacks in rapid succession.

Using the distraction, Marlon activated [Flight].

Fortunately, the effect of [Flash] did not only boost movement on land, but also significantly enhanced his aerial speed.

With his eyes locked onto the two targets, who happened to be flying close to one another, he maneuvered through their attacks and rapidly closed the gap between them.

Once positioned directly between the two dragons, he activated Absolute Death Strike.

The atmosphere seemed to hang still, and time itself slowed for that brief moment.

From Marlon’s body spewed ghostly black energy that radiated outward flashingly in a circular wave around him.

The two massive flame dragons, capable of tearing down entire cities if given enough time, were grazed by the radiation of this fearsome energy.

The radiation only lasted for a split second before circling back toward Marlon and disappearing completely.

Time resumed, and the atmosphere returned to normal.

The two massive dragons, once strong and mighty, began descending uncontrollably toward the ground as their enormous bodies started to corrode.

Due to their immense size, it took more time for them to deteriorate, unlike the Aurax and other smaller monsters he had previously used the skill on.

A total of thirty seconds was all it took for them to completely rot into dust and vanish from existence.

[ You’ve slain x2 Inferno Dragon Kings.

EXP +32,000,000 ]

[ Death Reaper active... You’ve obtained 1,900,500 Aether Points and 3,555,000 Health Points ]

[ Aether Points: 1,000,000/1,000,000 ]

[ Aether Points capacity has risen to max. Enter A-rank to upgrade further. ]

[ Health Points: 100,000/100,000 ]

[ Health Points capacity has risen to max. Enter A-rank to upgrade further. ]

Marlon ignored the notifications as he feasted on the expression on the Aurax’s face.