India's hero, Siddharth Bachchan. When he finally appeared, there was a brilliantly shining blue star in the center of his forehead. The man who was once a National Level Hunter had become the High Priest of the Foreign Religion. That wasn't all. Unlike Hwang Dong-su, who was also a High Priest, Siddharth Bachchan had become Variant 1, fully adapted to dragon blood. A pair of dragon-like wings spread from his back. Huge horns, like a crown, sprouted from his head. And scales covered his entire body like armor. He was truly a dragon-human hybrid. The perfect form, completely different from the other incomplete variants, was possible because the apostle of Itarim residing in his body forcibly compressed all the imbalance and chaos into his body.
Beru peeked out from Suho's shadow, recognized the divine power of the Outer Gods hidden within Siddharth Bachchan, and shouted: [My liege! It's an apostle of Itarim!].
On the other hand, Siddharth Bachchan's eyes trembled with astonishment as he looked down at Suho from high above. He never imagined it. That there would be a human who could withstand the power of Dragon Fear!
"No way. There's a human stronger than Liu Zhigang?" And that was even in a situation where the mighty Liu Zhigang was frozen in fear. But at that moment…
'…!'
The image of a man popped into Siddharth Bachchan's mind. The man who existed in the lost timeline that no one remembered anymore… Come to think of it, even in that era, there was a Hunter as strong as Liu Zhigang, no, even stronger. His eyes widened in astonishment as he remembered the man's name.
"…Could it be Sung Jinwoo?!"
'No! That's impossible!'
Siddharth Bachchan strongly denied reality at the sudden thought. It had been decades! Even Sung Jinwoo, the strongest Hunter on Earth, who was rumored to be far stronger than all the National Level Hunters in the world at the time, was still human! He, too, should have aged like himself by now. But look at that young Hunter! His appearance seemed to be of similar nationality to Sung Jinwoo, but anyone could see that he was only in his 20s! Moreover, the first thing Siddharth Bachchan did after regaining his old memories was to look for Sung Jinwoo, who would be living in Korea! The purpose, of course, was to persuade or kidnap him to be transformed into one of his dragonid soldiers! But that plan was bound to fail.
'Because he was nowhere to be found!'
Missing… Surprisingly, Sung Jinwoo had vanished from this world without a trace at the same time as the Cataclysm.
'So it can't be Sung Jinwoo!'
'No, even if it is Sung Jinwoo, so what?'
'I must be much stronger now anyway!' In this world where Sung Jinwoo had disappeared, only he could be the savior of humanity.
'I am the only savior chosen by the Gods!'
Flash!
Blue haze flared in Siddharth Bachchan's eyes.
"Even better! A test subject stronger than Liu Zhigang is more than welcome!" He shouted as he reached out his dragon scale-covered hand towards Suho.
"Capture that guy and bring him before me, my soldiers! My dragonid army, deploy!"
"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" At his command, the dragonids filling the sky roared and spread their wings. A fierce storm of murderous intent tore through the atmosphere, and countless attacks concentrated on Suho.
"Su-Suho…!" Esil's urgent cry was heard through the gusting wind. However, she was also trembling and unable to move due to Dragon Fear. All she could do was squeeze out her voice towards Suho with a worried expression.
Rio Singh and Liu Zhigang felt the same. They didn't know how Suho could withstand this terrible bloodlust and move, but they all prayed with one heart that he would dodge those tremendous attacks.
"…I'll create an opening!" Liu Zhigang barely managed to squeeze out his voice and shout.
He couldn't let such a promising young man lose his life so meaninglessly. If Suho was truly a growing Hunter, he would become even stronger in the future! And someday, he would grow into the one and only guardian who could protect the peace of humanity! Like… Sung Jinwoo!
"Kyaaaa!"
So he had to save that guy no matter what! He was already old. The future of humanity had to blossom from the hands of young people with such potential. A determined light appeared in Liu Zhigang's eyes. Cold sweat dripped down his entire body. Blood trickled from the corner of his clenched mouth. He barely endured the fear that weighed heavily on his entire bring and tightly gripped the hilt of his sword.
"Sung Suho!" Liu Zhigang gathered all his strength into one point. His forearm swelled up as if it were about to burst.
"…You at least, escape from here!"
And he swung his sword. Towards Siddharth Bachchan high above!
Flash!
Liu Zhigang's sword energy drew a semicircle, piercing through the stormy atmosphere and flying away.
"Kyaaa!"
The wings of the dragonids rushing towards the ground were torn, and their bodies were split in half in front of his sword energy. Blue blood poured down from the sky like rain. However, Liu Zhigang's attack, despite its tremendous power, ultimately failed to reach Siddharth Bachchan.
"Pathetic, Liu Zhigang."
Siddharth Bachchan flapped his wings lightly with an arrogant look. A wall of blue aura appeared, easily deflecting his weakened sword energy.
"You dare to defy me with your old and worn-out body, when even with all your might it wouldn't be enough? Surrender to me, become my soldier. And…"
Flash. As he spoke, the star fragment on his forehead glowed, and his eyes were filled with madness.
"I will grant you the glory of becoming an apostle of the great Itarim, just like me."
Bang!
"Whoa?!" The blue energy exploded, and Liu Zhigang's body was thrown back. At the same time, a dragonid that happened to be flying in the air mercilessly clawed at his body.
Thud!
"…!" Liu Zhigang plummeted vertically to the ground. Blood spurting from his mouth. But he wasn't just taking the hits passively.
"Kyaaa!" The dragonid that attacked him suddenly screamed and fell. Liu Zhigang's sword was now embedded near its heart.
"Not bad. But… that's all." Siddharth Bachchan had long since lost interest in Liu Zhigang. His gaze had been fixed on someone else all along.
Just then, the frenzied attacks of the dragonids poured down on Suho. But even in the face of that mighty terror, he didn't back down an inch and smiled. Now that he had reached level 99, the dragonids in front of him were no longer of interest to Suho.
[Tsk.] The Dragon King Antares had a dissatisfied expression, but he couldn't break his promise to Sung Jinwoo.
[You've finally earned the qualification.]
Ding.
[The 'Job Change' quest completion reward has arrived.]
[Would you like to check the reward?]
[Y/N]
"Accept reward!" The moment the system window appeared, Suho immediately accepted the reward handed over by Antares.
Ding!
[Acquired the title 'Candidate for the position of Dragon King'.]
Fwoosh!
"…!" Suho's eyes widened. Suddenly, a hot inferno erupted from deep within his chest. The tremendous energy swirled around his entire body like a snake, turning into a black-red flame and raging fiercely.
"Ugh!" Beyond his vision, blurred with immense pain, Suho saw Ragnar, no, the Dragon King Antares, smiling.
[Let's see how you endure this… My trial is just beginning.]
[Title: Candidate for the position of Dragon King
[The minimum qualifications to undergo the Dragon King's trial have been met.]
[The King of Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction Antares, has acknowledged the player's qualifications.] [Effect – 'Heart of the Dragon King': Mana +100,000]
Thump!
The Heart of the Dragon Emperor!
At that moment, an enormous concentration of magical power appeared inside the right half of Suho's chest.
Thump! Thump!
"Ugh…!"
The fierce flow of mana emanating from the Heart of the Dragon King rampaged through Suho's entire body, relentlessly pounding his insides. As a result, his HP, which had been restored by the recent level-up, began to plummet in real-time. But even in that tremendous pain, he gritted his teeth and endured, screams escaping from his lips. This was a kind of pride contest. Having declared that he would inherit the power of the Monarch who was already defeated and killed by his father, he couldn't bear to show weakness in front of him. But the more he endured, the more intense the pain became. But as Suho staggered, unable to focus,
"Kyaaaa!" A dragonid, dodging Liu Zhigang's sword energy and reaching Suho, opened its massive jaws wide to bite him. Vicious fangs were visible within.
"Nooo…!"
"Watch out, above…!"
Urgent screams erupted from everyone who witnessed the desperate situation. But that was when it happened.
"S-stop."
Suho, struggling in the hot flames, suddenly reached out his hand towards the dragonid that was right in front of him. Then, surprisingly, the creature that was about to bite him stopped right in its tracks.
"…Huh?" Liu Zhigang's and Suho's other comrades' eyes widened at the strange sight.
'Why…?'
Suddenly, the wind stopped. And so did the dragonids that were about to attack Suho. The mutants themselves had a look of incomprehension in their eyes.
"Wh-what is this?" Siddharth Bachchan, who was commanding the army from high above, also couldn't hide his confusion.
"What the hell are you doing?!" His empty shout echoed through the heavy silence that appeared in the absence of wind.
Suho was still engulfed in flames and the pain was still there. It was a terrible heat that made him feel like his whole body would melt away at any moment. But despite that, he realized something….
'Heart of the Dragon King'
The terrific ability that increased his mana by a whopping 100,000. With this enormous magic power, he would be able to summon shadow soldiers to his heart's content from now on. But, that wasn't what was important right now. More significant was the fact that the Dragon King had acknowledged him. Suho had proven himself worthy of inheriting his power.
'Therefore…' Suho realized…
"Stop." Even in this terrible pain, he instinctively gave the order. To all the 'dragons' in front of him.
"Dragons."
"…!"
"Bow before me." That one sentence was enough. At that moment, the dragon blood flowing through all the dragonids reacted to Suho's voice.
"Kyaaaaa!" Against their will, they stopped flapping their wings and began to fall from the sky!
[That's it.]
Antares's lips curled up in satisfaction. The real Dragon King's trial hadn't even begun yet. Suho had just reached the starting line. But this was enough against these crude creatures born from a few drops of dragon blood.
[King of all dragons. That is the authority of the Dragon King.]
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The ground shook as if there was an earthquake. However the true cause of the tremors were the dragonids falling like a meteor shower.
"Wh-what the hell! What's going on!"
Siddharth Bachchan screamed from the sky in a frenzy at the shocking sight. It was ominous! Extremely ominous! Even more so because the most dragon blood flowed through his body. But he endured thanks to the power of Itarim residing within him.
Engulfed in black and red flames. Suho raised his head again, looked at Siddharth Bachchan, and said:
"Now… only you are left."
* * *
[Status Window]
Name: Sung Suho
Level: 99
Class: None
Title: Candidate for the position of Dragon King, Wolf Slayer, Natural Enemy of Insects, Demon Slayer
HP: 52,641/96,140
MP: 113,699/113,699
[Stats]
Strength: 204
Stamina: 108
Agility: 108
Intelligence: 117 (+10)
Sense: 108 (+5)
(Available stat points to distribute: 0)
[Skills]
Passive Skills: Tenacity Lv.7, Dual Swordsmanship Lv.3, Martial Arts Lv.1, (Unknown) Lv.max
Active Skills: Ruler's Authority Lv.1, Shadow Extraction Lv.2, Shadow Storage Lv.1, Monarch's Domain Lv.1, Storm Slash Lv.3, Giant's Armor Lv.1, Iron Body Technique Lv.4, Bloodlust Lv.1, Grasslands Wind Lv.1 (Possession Only), Elfen Step Lv.1.