"Claim the mission reward."
In the eastern forest, Marco claimed the reward without the slightest hesitation, and immediately after that came the scene the dragons witnessed.
Marco was already incredibly familiar with this phenomenon.
In fact, even the residents of Magnolia had long since grown used to it.
When they saw it, they merely sighed in passing, praised Marco for becoming stronger again, and then went back to whatever they were doing.
Only the Fire Dragon King Igneel and the other dragons were left standing there in shock, completely at a loss.
They even began wondering whether something had gone wrong with the world four or five hundred years later.
Had humans become this terrifying now?
[Congratulations. Sagittarius Gold Cloth has been unlocked!]
The system popup quickly appeared.
A new Gold Cloth had been unlocked.
High above, the image of a centaur drawing a bow and nocking an arrow suddenly shone brightly.
The arrow gleamed with light, as though it could pierce through everything in existence.
Sagittarius, also known as the Archer, was represented by a centaur, a mythical creature with a human upper body and the lower body of a horse.
The image of Sagittarius was taken from Chiron, the wise centaur of Greek mythology, drawing a bow and shooting an arrow.
Chiron was an all-round mentor proficient in countless skills, the teacher of many heroes.
Nearly every famous hero with a name had once been his student.
As for the Sagittarius Gold Saints, nearly all of them were also models among Saints, spiritual leaders among their peers.
They were powerful, upright, and possessed the spirit of sacrifice, much like the flawless heroes of myth.
Sisyphus, Aiolos, Seiya—almost all of them were like that.
Buzz!
Marco endured another round of baptism, feeling the changes in his body and the transformation of his Cosmo.
Just as he had expected, the improvement brought by unlocking a Gold Cloth was completely different from what slow, steady training could provide.
After this round of baptism, Marco could feel that his body had become even stronger, and his understanding of Cosmo had deepened.
He had grasped even more of Cosmo's uses!
"Haa..."
Marco let out a long breath.
The air he exhaled shot out like a sharp arrow, piercing directly into the ground and leaving behind a tiny hole.
"This feeling... My current Cosmo level should be considered mid-stage Sixth Sense now, right?"
Marco looked down at his fist.
He casually swung forward, and a terrifying gust from his punch howled out.
The roar of the broken sound barrier erupted as everything around him was blasted away.
This was no longer an ordinary sonic punch.
At the very least, it was several times the speed of sound.
"Seven Cloths puts me at mid-stage Sixth Sense. Eight should be late-stage Sixth Sense. Nine would be early-stage Seventh Sense, ten mid-stage Seventh Sense, eleven late-stage Seventh Sense, and collecting all twelve would be the Eighth Sense?"
Marco made a reasonable estimate.
Collecting all twelve Gold Cloths might directly bring him to the level of the Eighth Sense.
If the Seventh Sense was still limited to being a "god among men," then the Eighth Sense was already infinitely close to the concept of a true god.
At the very least, in this world, it would make him absolutely invincible.
Even if gods existed in this world, the power of the Eighth Sense would be enough to accomplish the feat of killing them.
As for the Ninth Sense, that was the true realm of the gods.
Marco temporarily could not imagine how to reach it. Perhaps he would have to unlock every Cloth.
But that did not matter for now. Once he entered the Eighth Sense, he would already transcend life and death.
Destroying planets or wiping out worlds would be nothing difficult.
Marco summoned the Sagittarius Gold Cloth.
The shining golden Cloth Box landed on the ground, the mark of the arrow-shooting centaur carved upon it.
It looked incomparably sacred.
Buzz!
With a thought from Marco, the Cloth Box opened.
The Cloth appeared in the form of the centaur constellation, vivid and lifelike. The human upper body drew a bow and pulled back an arrow, radiating power.
Buzz!!!
At Marco's call, the Sagittarius Gold Cloth quickly disassembled and transformed into armor that covered his body.
The Cloth fit him perfectly, and enormous golden wings spread behind him, gorgeous beyond description.
The golden radiance was so dazzling that it was almost impossible to look at directly.
"Arrow."
The first thing Marco summoned was the essence of the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, the weapon unique to it.
The Golden Arrow, which could pierce through all stars.
The Golden Arrow could be called Sagittarius's strongest weapon technique.
Normally, the Golden Bow was folded and stored at the lower back, while the Golden Arrow was shortened and hidden beneath the left shoulder armor.
When needed, both would be summoned automatically.
Holding the Golden Bow and Golden Arrow in his hands, Marco very much wanted to fire one shot and test the power of the Sagittarius Gold Cloth.
But there were too many past lessons about this sort of thing.
This was not something he could shoot carelessly.
So he barely managed to hold back.
When using the Golden Arrow, one had to focus Cosmo into the arrow. If fired at full power, the arrow's might would be astonishing. It could almost be called the strongest single-target technique humans could wield.
Practically no one could block it.
Even with the power of the Seventh Sense, firing the Golden Arrow was enough to wound a god.
Moreover, although Marco appeared to be holding only one Golden Arrow, it could actually be fired repeatedly. It did not require a physical arrow, or rather, every arrow fired would become real.
Even without wearing the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, he could use Cosmo to directly manifest the phantom forms of the Golden Bow and Golden Arrow.
Of course, the power would be weaker than when wearing the Gold Cloth.
Most importantly, the Golden Arrow could carry more than one person's Cosmo.
Its capacity was almost limitless.
Even if all twelve Gold Saints joined forces, the Golden Arrow could easily bear their combined power.
"Too strong. As expected of the only constellation besides Libra that comes with a golden weapon. This Golden Arrow is absurd. Holding this bow, I almost feel like I could shoot a planet apart."
Marco toyed with the Golden Bow and Arrow set, feeling his confidence surge.
If the Black Dragon Acnologia came over right now, Marco could immediately draw his bow and shoot down the Black Dragon.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A violent wind swept over as five dragons approached, flapping their wings.
Marco nearly failed to resist the urge to draw the bow and give each of them one shot.
He had just been thinking about drawing his bow to shoot down the Black Dragon, and then five dragons immediately flew over.
One of them was even darker than the Black Dragon himself.
That truly dark dragon was the Shadow Dragon.
He was exactly as his name suggested, so black he looked like a mass of shadow.
This was the real "Black Dragon."
Compared to him, Acnologia was hardly black at all.
At least Acnologia still had plenty of markings on his body. The Shadow Dragon was pure darkness.
"Marco! What is this...?"
The moment the Fire Dragon King Igneel landed, he could not help speaking.
He really wanted to know whether Marco's strength had truly increased, and whether he had become much stronger than when he fought the Black Dragon.
"That's right. I've grown stronger again. Although I'm still far from my peak, I'm definitely much stronger than I was when I fought that Black Dragon." Marco spoke calmly.
Judging by his punching speed, this statement was definitely true.
Before, he had only just entered the sonic realm. Now, he had surpassed it.
Of course, he was still far from the speed of light.
To approach light speed, he would at least need to reach the completed peak of late-stage Sixth Sense.
"Are you... serious?"
The Fire Dragon King Igneel opened his massive dragon mouth, finding it difficult to believe.
Was Marco truly not joking?
He was already this powerful, yet he could still achieve such a huge breakthrough so easily?
He could still become even stronger than before?
"Why would I lie to you? Is there any need for it?" Marco spoke speechlessly.
If he had grown stronger, then he had grown stronger. What was there to lie about?
If Igneel did not believe it, should he take an arrow and find out?
"Then now, are you willing to go with us and challenge that Black Dragon?"
Sensing Marco's displeasure, the Fire Dragon King Igneel did not continue questioning him. Instead, he immediately seized the opportunity to invite Marco again, hoping Marco would go with them to eliminate the Black Dragon.
There was no helping it.
Marco's existence was simply too important.
He was someone who could severely wound the Black Dragon.
As long as Marco could do that, then the five dragons, fighting with their lives on the line, could definitely kill the Black Dragon.
Igneel had long since prepared himself for sacrifice.
As long as the Black Dragon could be eliminated, his death would be worth it.
"Actually... there's still no need to rush."
Facing the Fire Dragon King Igneel's invitation to team up, Marco still shook his head.
Before the Fire Dragon King could grow anxious, Marco added, "But we can start searching for information about the Black Dragon. If he continues committing evil, then we'll go stop him and destroy him.
If he remains quiet and is simply hiding somewhere to heal, then we won't take the initiative to attack him. I've said it before. Time is on our side."
Marco's words calmed the Fire Dragon King down.
Putting aside the question of whose side time was truly on, at the very least, Marco had clearly stated his attitude.
If the Black Dragon appeared again to cause destruction, then Marco would definitely act together with the dragons to eliminate him.
"Why are you so unwilling to pursue victory now? Killing him while he's injured should be the better choice, shouldn't it?"
The Iron Dragon Metalicana was deeply confused.
"First, you need to be able to find the injured Black Dragon. Second, even an injured Black Dragon is not helpless beast. No one can guarantee there will be no casualties during the battle."
Facing Metalicana's doubts, Marco gave his reason.
What he wanted was a zero-death clear.
If they faced the Black Dragon now, Marco was not confident he could protect the lives of these five dragons.
In a battle of this level, life and death were often decided in an instant. At least for now, Marco was not confident he could save everyone.
That was why he was not in a hurry to fight the decisive battle against the Black Dragon.
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