The Three Kings’ Disciple (6)
005
The second stage of the Blood Demon Divine Art.
Tap.
Just as Rowoon had first pulled out the Iron Blood Orb from his fingertip, he pulled out something in the exact same pose.
The same shape as the Iron Blood Orb, but its color was different.
‘Blood Core Orb.’
A tiny bead the size of a millet, with a subtle purple glow.
Tap!
When Rowoon flicked his middle finger, the Blood Core Orb instantly began to fly.
Thwack!
The Blood Core Orb didn’t pierce through but remained stuck.
The opponent was not easy.
‘Dullahan.’
A mid-tier undead species.
For a headless knight, widely known, to naturally occur, it required tremendous evil energy.
In particular, its entire body was as indestructible as steel, repelling not only ordinary weapons but even weapons imbued with internal energy or magic power.
It was a great feat that Rowoon’s Blood Core Orb had pierced through such defense, but it was perhaps natural that it couldn’t inflict a greater wound.
However, the function of the Blood Core Orb was not just about increasing power.
Boom!
The Dullahan’s body, where the Blood Core Orb had been embedded, exploded.
This was the characteristic of the Blood Core, the second stage of the Blood Demon Divine Art.
‘Compression and explosion.’
Imbuing the Iron Blood Orb with the Blood Core was a power that changed not only its color but also its properties.
One of the functions of the Blood Core was to contain the power of explosion and detonate it from within the enemy.
And one more thing.
Fwoosh!
Green mist filled the surroundings.
The deeper one went into the Abyss, the denser the poison that dominated the entire space became.
Workers at the corpse disposal site would melt away as soon as they set foot, and even the supervisors would be no different.
“Tsk. Ha.”
But to Rowoon, even this dense poison was no different from fresh air.
Another function of the Blood Core.
‘Immunity to all poisons.’
Even the Red Blood had a slight effect of neutralizing poison, but it was incomparable to the Blood Core.
The Blood Core neutralized dozens, even hundreds of poisons.
‘Moreover, if poison accumulates in the blood, it naturally creates resistance.’
If it was a poison that wouldn’t kill him instantly, it would no longer work on Rowoon.
Rowoon continued to absorb the blood of the surrounding corpses, defeating mid-tier undead, and heading deeper and deeper into the Abyss.
And finally.
Thud, thud, thud.
He arrived at an area where even the Blood Core’s abilities could not easily detoxify.
The end of the Abyss.
“As expected… it was here.”
Where Rowoon had been aiming for.
***
There are monsters that are impossible to fight.
Those that are questionable whether the word ‘monster’ even suits them.
‘Calamities.’
Monsters that boast the highest level of danger and should never be confronted.
Humans cannot stop storms or tsunamis.
The same was true for monsters called calamities.
‘Transcendent species.’
Monsters whose levels cannot be measured and whose very existence causes the collapse of the world.
In the past, a calamity-level monster, the demon species Balrog, had escaped from a gate.
Just by breathing, the world burst into flames, and when it swung its burning whip, hundreds of players were literally torn apart.
Nearly tens of thousands of players were deployed to defeat Balrog, but the result was the same.
In the end, humanity gave up on defeating Balrog.
Instead, with the help of their allies, Eun and Einheart, they sealed Balrog somewhere in the world.
That was what a transcendent species was like.
‘But there are more famous ones than Balrog.’
The most well-known of the transcendent species, and an extremely vicious species.
“Dragon species.”
Those called dragons were exactly that.
The dragon species that appeared in the gates were not comparable to the Ancient Dragons called the guardians of Einheart, but they were worthy of the name calamity.
An indestructible body, the power to annihilate life itself through their breath.
They had not yet appeared many times, and even when their existence was detected, none had escaped the gate.
‘Except for one time.’
Of course, it wasn’t a perfect dragon species.
An existence that was lacking to be called a transcendent species, but its body was real.
“Corpse Dragon, Augolas.”
A corpse dragon, an undead dragon.
A form of a dead dragon that had been revived after harboring evil energy for a long time.
It could not use the mysteries or magic used by the dragon species, but it was a being that was not lacking to be called a transcendent species.
But its body was real.
Scales that could not be pierced even with weapons imbued with magic power, and the power to cause earthquakes with a single step.
‘Acid Breath.’
The creature that even used the corpse dragon’s unique breath was enough to be called a sub-calamity, even if it wasn’t a calamity-level.
The corpse dragon that escaped the gate was named Augolas.
Numerous players risked their lives to confront it.
As a result.
‘Augolas was hunted down.’
Naturally, the world was in an uproar.
What received the most attention was, of course, that.
‘The value of the corpse.’
According to the stories of Einheart and Eun, the corpses of dragons and drakes have infinite value.
Their blood is the best alchemy material, and their bones, if handled by a craftsman who can handle them, become unique-grade weapons just by being refined.
The value of their scales is countless, and above all…
‘Dragon Heart.’
The highest value of the dragon species was that.
Naturally, those who hunted Augolas were interested in its corpse, but.
“As expected, there was a reason why neither Eun nor Einheart stepped in.”
Corpse dragon.
An existence covered in poison, evil energy, and demonic energy.
Just touching the corpse would melt the entire body, and even if byproducts were collected, their original value could not be found.
The beings of Gehenna were interested, but Gehenna and other worlds were hostile.
The corpse of the corpse dragon could not be handed over there.
In the end, the corpse of the corpse dragon became a white elephant, impossible to dispose of and too precious to throw away.
But humans, faithful to their desires, found a way to use this corpse.
‘Purification.’
Using Einheart’s knowledge to naturally purify the corpse dragon.
“Pouring poison and evil energy into countless corpses…”
Extracting that evil energy and poison into human bodies.
In other words, purifying the corpse of the corpse dragon using sacrifices.
“Hwasan Guild, you crazy bastards.”
That was the true reason for the existence of the Hwasan Guild’s corpse disposal site.
At the end of the Abyss, slaves were thrown in to purify Augolas’s corpse, and those slaves were poisoned by several times more potent poison and evil energy than other corpse disposal sites, slowly dying.
If tens of thousands of people died here, the corpse dragon would be purified and become usable.
“It’s good for me.”
Because the Hwasan Guild, which received a huge amount of wealth, had agreed to handle that heinous act, the corpse of Augolas was here.
Splish.
When he stepped on the ground melted by poison, the ground caved in like mucus.
Splish.
Melting the old shoes that had become rags, dyeing his feet a deep green.
Splish!
Even though he had reached the level of the Blood Core and become immune to all poisons, he could feel the pain of his entire body burning.
But if he could absorb the blood of the corpse dragon…
“I can endure it.”
He would soon reach the extreme of the Blood Core and move on to the next stage.
Splish. Sizzle!
As he got closer to the corpse dragon, the more potent poison was melting even Rowoon’s skin.
If he delayed any longer, the corpse dragon’s poison would penetrate the Blood Core.
Therefore.
Tap!
Rowoon placed his hand on Augolas’s corpse.
“Ugh.”
Unbearable poison and evil energy spread throughout Rowoon’s body.
Poison and evil energy that could turn even a ranker into a puddle of blood in an instant.
But Rowoon, with the power of the Blood Core and the function of Rebirth…
“Blood Demon Absorption.”
He began to absorb the blood of the corpse dragon, Augolas.
***
When he first became a disciple of his masters, and when he didn’t realize what their true purpose was, he had countless imaginations and plans.
If he went back to that time, that place, what should he do?
What should he do to get stronger quickly and take revenge?
What was never missing from those plans was this right now.
The absorption of the corpse dragon.
It was a thought he had as soon as he learned the Blood Demon Divine Art.
“Keok-!”
The corpse dragon’s blood flowed through his blood vessels, inflicting tremendous pain.
‘It’s not impossible.’
He had simulated it dozens, hundreds of times.
He had told his masters about this.
His masters were right.
‘It’s going to hurt like hell.’
It was a pain that could have broken his mind if he didn’t have countless experiences of death.
The corpse dragon’s poison melted his skin, melted his blood vessels, and melted his bones.
Even so, it was heading towards his blood core according to Rowoon’s will.
‘A dragon is a dragon.’
It must have been left for a long time, but the amount of magic power remaining in the blood was more tremendous than he had thought.
But that was rather…
“Kueuk!”
It was giving him more pain than he had imagined.
Swish!
The corpse dragon’s blood continued to flow into his palm.
And at some point, his blood core was full.
‘Crazy.’
Even though he had reached the stage of the Blood Core and condensed his energy, and the size of his blood core had expanded through Rebirth, he had not been able to absorb all of the corpse dragon’s blood.
‘If I let go, I’ll die.’
He was certain that if he let go now, the internal energy and blood in his blood core would flow back and melt his entire body.
But if he continued to accept it, his blood core, as well as his entire body, would explode and die.
It wasn’t an unexpected situation.
When he told his masters about his plan.
‘With a corpse dragon, this could happen.’
‘It depends on what the original species of the corpse dragon is and how long it has been left…’
‘In that case…’
His masters had provided the answer.
The title of ruler of the world was not something they had obtained for free.
‘Do it like this.’
The teaching of the Demon King Berzena.
Rowoon regained his composure and opened his eyes.
His eyes were filled with poison, and a green light flickered.
“Damn it.”
Another curse word came out.
“I didn’t think I’d experience this so soon.”
The method suggested by the Demon King.
‘Rebirth.’
To undergo Rebirth once again.
The pain of the corpse dragon was already as powerful as Rebirth.
His blood vessels and bones were melting.
It was no different from carving himself.
Rather, he would use his current state to undergo another Rebirth.
‘But that alone may not be enough. In the first place, a dragon’s mana is different from that of a human. Therefore, the best way to absorb and utilize a dragon’s mana is…’
He recalled the teachings.
‘Become a dragon species.’
An absurd statement.
If someone else had said that, he would have said so.
Changing species, he had heard it was possible in very special cases, but becoming a dragon species was not something that could be done just by wanting to.
‘What are you worried about?’
But Berzena had said with a smile.
‘What you are trying to become is a species of a much higher level than that. Think of a mere dragon species as a passing stage.’
Blink!
Rowoon opened his eyes wide.
What he was trying to do now was not to become a complete dragon species.
It was to change his blood, blood vessels, bones, and organs.
He had learned some of the biological information from Berzena, and.
‘It’s right in front of me now.’
The corpse of the corpse dragon, the data of the dragon species, was right in front of him.
Nothing was impossible.
‘I even contained chaos.’
Rowoon closed his eyes and began to entrust his entire body to the corpse dragon’s blood.
How much time had passed?
Rowoon half-opened his closed eyes.
In the continent of Eun, they called it this.
A body that only a special being born between a dragon and a human could have.
“Dragon Bone Body.”
He had succeeded in another Rebirth.