"Ha...ha... We've finally beaten it." said Ein.
With a pile of bones under a robe by their feet, the three familiars breathed heavily. They saw the chance of success from the very start, but actually achieving it was much harder than they thought it would be.
"Are you okay?" asked Brad as he looked at Jeanne.
While all of them were tired, Brad and Ein were mostly only physically exhausted, but Jeanne had reached the limit of her mana after handling all of the lich's ice spells. She wasn't in any danger of disappearing, but her recovery would take a while.
"Yeah, I'm, fine. I'll be better after I take care of this so go to master's side."
Although they defeated it together, neither Brad nor Ein objected with Jeanne getting to use Assimilation on the lich because only she could make the best use of its skills.
"Okay, be careful."
After checking up on Jeanne, Brad sent a glance to Ein and the two dashed towards where their master was. As she watched their backs, Jeanne felt sorry that she couldn't go with them, but the contract told her that her master wasn't in danger so she managed to settle down.
"My apologies, master. I'll be there as soon as I can."
***
As light green scales replaced my light-coloured skin, I remembered of how I was now capable of partially transforming into a dragon. Of what I had to do to become like this.
'To think I would get a chance to taste a dragon's heart.'
Right, the sacred beast of the forest offered me her heart. Whether it being literal was better than otherwise I didn't know, only half-believing that she could survive after I ate her heart, I climbed into the gap she tore open with her own claw.
I remembered wondering if it was okay for me to enter her with my dirty body, and then being burnt by her blood.
'Honestly, if it wasn't for that blessing I would have had quite the embarrassing death.'
After forcing my way through the boiling hot blood, I came upon the muscular organ that beat me in height. Seeing it up close like that was a first for me, but the pain from the scalding blood allowed me to focus on my objective. Hesitant at first, I placed my palms on its large heart and slowly leaned in to nibble. That was the last clear memory I had.
Unlike when I ate that priest, I was unable to watch my body drown in the pleasure of eating raw meat, but it was probably better that way. Even if I understood that it was just in my new DNA, I still hated that side of me.
"Are you okay?"
When I regained my clarity after stumbling out of her chest, the dragon looked at me with concern. I was quite not okay at the time, but I chose to act tough.
"Mhmm, I just took a little more than I could handle."
With her heart being that big, it was obvious that I couldn't finish it all, but in my berserk state I ate as much as I could without feeling apprehensive.
"Has it kicked in yet?"
"Hmm? What do yo-"
As if she triggered it, right after the dragon pointed it out I felt terrible pain all over my body. My stomach was surprisingly fine but everywhere else felt like I was being boiled alive while having big needles stuck inside of me.
"Gu-gu, grr!!"
I held back my scream but I was forced to the ground as I endured this torturous pain for a short length of time before it eventually faded.
[Integration of the Dragon Factor successful]
[A new skill has been unlocked.]
[Body has been restructured to adapt better to the introduced Dragon Factor.]
[Your Strength has reached the limit. A new skill has been unlocked. A new title has been obtained.]
[Unnamed
Race: Forest Dragon's Kin
Strength: 999
Agility: 890
Dexterity: 750
Defence: 820
Skills: Assimilation (Unique) | Curse Magic (MAX) (Rare) | Swordsmanship (level 3) (Rare) | Imbue Holy (Common) | Magic Eyes of Perception (Rare) | Fire Magic (level 4) (Rare) | Devotion (Special) | Berserk (Rare) | Hypnosis (Rare) | Forest's Blessing (Special) | Dark Magic (level 7) (Rare) | Necromancy (MAX) (Rare) | Bone Magic (level 6) (Special) | Mana Manipulation (Rare) | Barrier (Rare) | Superspeed Thought Processing (Special) | Drain Touch (Rare) | Dragon Eyes of Truth (Incomplete) (Rare) | Nature Magic (level 3) (Rare) | Dragon Form (Incomplete) (Special) | Regeneration (Special)
Titles: Heretic | Child of the Sacred Beast | Summit of Strength]
"Now that you've accepted the Dragon Factor, you should have the potential to evolve into a true dragon in the future. How do you feel?" asked the dragon as I was in a daze from looking at my status screen.
Looking back, the gain was definitely worth the pain but I couldn't be honest to her. I really did lack social skills.
"Fine."
"How confident are you now?"
"Hmph," instead of straight up answering I turned around before I continued.
"I'll be back with good news."
It wasn't too long ago yet when I thought about how I attained this form there was a tinge of nostalgia.
"Yo-yo-, you!"
With my skin changed to scales and sharp fingernails extending from my hands, I snapped out of my reminiscence due to the intense rage and hatred emanating from the undead lord.
"What is it?"
"You! I thought your presence was similar, so this is the reason! You dare lay your hands on my possessions!"
"First of all, I don't remember you owning anything I have. Second of all,"
It would have been a hard battle without eating her heart, but now it was only a matter of wrapping this up quickly just in case she lied about how long she could hold out for.
"Even if I stole from you, do you think you can do anything about it?"
"Grr!! Attack!!!"
With its eyeball flames the brightest I had ever seen, the undead lord ordered the zombies and skeletons to charge at me. A reckless and foolish move.
With a snap of my fingers, holy bones pierced and crushed the incoming forces. In Dragon Form both my physical and magical abilities took leaps in power so whether the undead lord would admit it or not, this battle was already over.
"Gah!!!!"
After seeing the swift deaths of its pawns, the undead lord roared and tried to revive them but that was of no use. After all, there's no way I would want to waste energy killing them again. Just like how I didn't want to waste time comparing skills anymore.
I pointed my index finger at the undead lord, and shaped my hand like I was making a gun.
"Bang."
Without any extra preparation a ray of white light fired from my finger, but it was only able to smash the barrier that the lich raised.
'Hmm, again.'
I repeatedly fired Holy White Blaze Cannon but the lich's barriers would always stop me.
'Was it always so tough?'
Since I was making no progress I lowered my hand, and at that moment the undead lord appeared in front of me with a speed I nearly couldn't react to. It had regained its composure but you could hardly tell from the fist it threw. Though its body was now more compact, the force behind its punch still created a crater beneath our feet. However, using one palm to catch its fist, I was left unharmed.
'So even this can't surpass the limit.'
While it was definitely stronger than before, without breaching the limit of 999 there was no way it could beat me in this form. Once the undead lord realised this, it quickly tried to escape, but my hand was tight on its. And since I could use Imbue abilities from my feet in Dragon Form, it was a fatal mistake to allow me the chance to grab it.
"Gah!"
Starting from its fist, holy bones burst out from its skin and this trend continued until the shoulder. It was only stopped because the enemy was rather decisive.
The undead lord quickly ripped its right arm off, but since it had been infected with holy attribute the arm wouldn't regrow.
I threw away the arm I held and aimed at the undead lord, but before I could use Holy White Blaze Cannon, several bones blocked my view. I was confident in being able to blast through them, but I lowered my hand and looked at the one who interfered.
"I guess I shouldn't have ignored you."
Switching my attention from the undead lord to the lich, I stretched out my hand. The undead lord swiftly got in between my hand and the lich, but that was a fruitless effort. As I clenched my fist, the lich was also crushed into infinite little bits.
"Nooo!!!"
With the second death of the lich, the undead lord lost its only method of keeping up with me, or at least that's what I assumed.
'This is, unexpected.'
Everything up to now was within the possibilities I accounted for, but the undead lord burning its own soul wasn't. Putting aside the fact that doing this meant that it would definitely die soon after leaving this space, I didn't expect it to be so conscious of its soul. After all even I didn't know how to do this despite spending an unknown amount of time studying my soul.
'Is there some trick to this or do I not have the aptitude?'
I had many questions but they could be ignored; what was important was how I was going to respond. Especially since the dark grey fumes that rose from its body were more intimidating now that it had managed to breach the limit.
Strength: 999+
My curious side started acting up but I quickly suppressed it and at the same time I made the decision to finish this battle even if I needed to get a few self-inflicted injuries.
"Before I end this let me ask, who are you?"
I had no reason to answer the undead lord, but on a whim I replied.
"Just someone trying to get some peace and quiet."
Then, I used the combination of Imbue Darkness and Imbue Holy on my right hand. Even in Dragon Form and the fact that this combo was less volatile than curse and holy, my hand slowly melted under the influence of these two powers.
'I'll finish it in one punch.'
Without any prior agreement, we both clenched our fists. The next collision would be the end.
~Part 1 End~