Chapter 180: The Dragons (2)

In history, there had only ever been one Inferno Dragon King, and it had taken a squad of more than five guardians to fully subdue it.And within the span of one minute, Marlon had tirelessly taken down two of such threats.

There were no hunters nearby, nor were there any other human witnesses, as they had either been killed or taken away to safety.

The only intelligent witness, the Aurax, stared at Marlon with a perplexed expression that slowly returned to its usual composed state, followed by a hint of amazement.

"That power..." it uttered slowly before pausing. It did not speak any further.

Marlon remained floating midair, positioned at the same level as the bone dragon, though a great distance separated them.

From up here, he could see them clearly. Their gathering appeared even more fearsome from such a height, and their numbers even more threatening. When he counted them, there were at least three dozen in total.

Absolute Death Strike had a cooldown time of ten minutes, and its range of effect was still minimal. If he positioned himself well and used their aggression to his advantage, he would be able to take down two per activation. But that would require more than three hours to eliminate the entire horde.

He looked past the difficulty of the horde and instead imagined how much experience points he would earn from them.

With the x5 reward bonus he had obtained from his rapid clear rate, he had been able to level up twice after slaying the Inferno Dragon Kings. If the other dragons yielded the same amount, he might be able to reach A-rank within a few hours, or at least get close enough.

He was already at level 225, needing just twenty five more levels to enter the rank of an A-rank guardian.

Just as he was imagining this, he spotted a flare of red hue bursting forth from afar, moving at an incredible speed toward the position of the dragon horde.

The energy was felt by both the Aurax and the dragons, causing them to turn toward it.

As it drew closer, a familiar figure was revealed, one that Marlon quickly recognized.

Norian Sterling.

The hunter closed the distance just as an ice dragon squeaked and blasted an attack toward him.

Nonetheless, with a single punch, the dragon was sent crashing down toward the ground.

Norian ignored the other hordes that became aggressive toward him and floated beside Marlon in midair.

He gave him a nod while analyzing his progress.

A small frown formed on his face when he discovered Marlon’s new level, but he did not speak further about it. According to Axel Storm, this outcome was meant to happen.

The Aurax observed the newcomer, and a smile slowly crept onto its face, seemingly finding Norian interesting.

However, it found the idea of striking up a conversation too boring. With a flick of its wrist, all the dragons present, except for the bone dragon it rode upon, roared heavily with aggression and darted toward the two humans.

"You can hold your ground, I assume?" Norian asked, completely ignoring the incoming charge.

Marlon nodded softly. He activated all the necessary skills and blasted toward the hordes.

Norian did the same.

Very soon, the sky transformed into a fierce and bloody battlefield.

Towering dragons against two humans was a battle that even the greatest predictionist on Arden would never imagine.

Explosions followed after roars.

Clashes followed after shrieks.

The sky thundered with battle cries and chaos.

The blood of the dragons poured onto the earth like rain, yet none of them had fallen.

They all seemed to possess an unnatural stamina, even for dragons.

They would clash, leaving behind deep craters in the earth and large visible wounds on their scaly bodies, only to rise again a minute later and resume the fight with the same ferocity.

Norian was able to keep up with this chaos without the use of any skill, as he was a veteran who had mastered the art of war for over a decade.

As for Marlon, thanks to Beastamina and Flash, which significantly boosted his stamina during rapid flight, he was able to keep up as well.

However, stamina, speed, massive health points, and vast aether point reserves were not enough to keep him completely out of danger.

One of the dragons, one with white translucent scales, spun through the air and whipped its long, thick tail into Marlon, sending him hurtling toward the ground.

He was propelled downward at a terrifying pace. No matter how hard he tried to maneuver his descent or utilize flight, the force behind the attack was far too overwhelming.

He braced himself for resounding pain, not death. The attack was deadly, but he was deathless to beings of S-rank and below. Pain was the only thing he feared.

That fear surged the moment he landed, crashing into the ground and creating a massive crack from the impact.

His mind shattered as unimaginable anguish surged through his entire being.

He felt it. The pain of his bones cracking into fragments, and the indescribable agony of his skin, flesh, and muscles tearing apart violently. If he had to describe it with a single word, it felt as though his body was being pounded into a paste of flesh and bone.

The pain was so overwhelming that, for a split second, he blacked out.

He could not tell how much time had passed before his vision returned, but he felt something that made his body tremble.

His muscles stitched and merged back together. He could hear the sound of his own bones being repaired at an unnatural rate.

The sensation continued relentlessly.

He could not see anything, as dust blinded his eyes. Debris pressed tightly against his body within the crack formed by his descent. The only sounds he could hear were those that indicated Norian was still battling the dragons above.

After a few minutes, the sensation finally ended. All pain vanished, and his body was whole once more. Strength and control gradually returned to him.

’What just happened?’ he could not help but ask himself.

Since nothing was attacking him at the moment, likely because they assumed he was dead, he used the time to think and eventually reached a conclusion.

That earlier attack had quite literally killed him.

But he was deathless.

His body had resurrected and repaired itself almost immediately.

Yet that was not how the skill was supposed to work.

He had expected invincibility against attacks from S-rank beings and below. Instead, he had only been granted a special privilege that allowed him to defy death itself.

A chilling cold spread through his being as he realized that without the skill, his life would have ended just moments ago.

"FUCK!"

He cursed aloud.

Pumping aether into his flight, he burst out of the temporary grave formed by debris and shattered earth.

With a new surge of motivation mixed with rage, he flew back toward the battlefield.

The cooldown of his skill, Absolute Death Strike, had already ended. He reached a group of dragons that had spotted him and were flying toward his position.

Among them was the dragon with white translucent scales that had technically killed him minutes earlier. The other two were earth dragons with rough brown scales.

The rage within him surged violently at the sight of his killer.

He activated Absolute Death Strike just as the two dragons began preparing their attacks.

An aura of death spread outward in a rapid circular wave, after which the two dragons plummeted toward the ground, their bodies deteriorating far faster than usual.

[ You’ve slain x1 Earth Dragon King.

EXP +18,500,000 ]

[ Death Reaper active. You’ve obtained 800,000 Aether Points and 2,000,000 Health Points ]

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

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

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

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

[ You’ve slain x1 Wind Dragon King.

EXP +19,500,000 ]

...

He ignored the notifications and continued forward toward another dragon that had closed the distance.

He activated Divine Punch, sending it tumbling away, then released a spiral of blood energy toward another dragon’s eyes, blocking its vision.

Norian gripped the horn of a raging earth dragon and frowned as he observed its aggressiveness.

He called out to Marlon.

"Now is not the time to lose your mind."

Marlon heard him.

But he did not obey.

A sudden madness surged within him, one he could not tell whether it stemmed from having experienced death or from something else entirely.

That madness soon became something the dragons themselves feared.