Gauss fired a few missiles at the blue dragon's corpse.
Then he drove Bigby's Hand forward and flipped the blue dragon's body over, inspecting it inside and out.
Only after confirming it was completely dead did he finally let out a breath of relief.
Normally, back in the past, once the monster codex gave him a kill notification, there would have been no need for this extra inspection.
But after the abnormal incident with Eden, Gauss had no choice but to be more cautious. In the end, it was only a little extra time spent confirming things.
Once he finished checking, he immediately released the Dragon-Ghoul Dual Synchronization enhancement.
"Hah…"
He exhaled.
Power was rapidly draining from his body.
For once, he felt a rare sense of weakness.
Fortunately, that weakness was only a sensory discomfort caused by the sudden drop in strength.
The actual cost of Dragon-Ghoul Dual Synchronization this time was much lighter than expected.
And the main credit for that belonged to the bloodline power he had drawn from the true dragons, which had replenished part of his expenditure during the battle.
After adjusting his physical condition, he looked at the Adventurer's Manual.
"Path of Transcendence: Kill five types of transcendent monsters (4/5). Reward: Randomly draw one racial talent from a transcendent monster."
"Because you have slain legendary-race creatures—true dragons—the title [True Dragon Slayer] has improved (4/100). Your attacks against true dragons will become stronger, and there is a small probability of triggering dragon-specialized true damage."
"Purple-grade racial talent [Dragonseed] is absorbing bloodline energy…"
"…"
The blue dragon had also successfully joined his transcendent talent reward pool.
And then…
After the brief weakness from releasing his enhanced state faded, Gauss quickly sensed an unprecedentedly abundant surge of blood energy flowing into his body from every direction.
"So hot!"
"Hah…"
Gauss raised a brow.
He realized that even the breath he exhaled was burning hot, with faint mist rising from it.
This bloodline absorption seemed different from the previous ones.
Was it because this young blue dragon's bloodline power was stronger?
Or…
Joy appeared on Gauss's face.
In his perception, the [Dragonseed] bloodline power inside him was circulating in an unprecedentedly intense and flourishing state.
That organ, like a miniature dragon heart, was slowly and forcefully pumping scorching blood into every part of his body.
It was like a flower that had been budding for years finally blooming inside him.
Thump!
Thump!
Gauss's heartbeat became clearly audible.
The sound of that beating heart spread rapidly through the air. It was not especially loud, yet it passed easily through obstacles along the way, allowing everything within several thousand meters to hear that powerful rhythm.
Thump!
Hephaestus, who was licking the blood from the edge of his mouth, looked up in confusion toward the source of the sound.
When he realized the sound was coming from Gauss, a look of dawning understanding and curiosity flashed across his face.
What kind of grand event is Master doing now?
As a dragon, Hephaestus was far more sensitive to draconic bloodlines than other creatures.
Because of that, even across nearly three kilometers, he could clearly sense that the draconic bloodline on Gauss—already much stronger than his own—was still rapidly growing stronger.
That aura made him involuntarily remember the mother he had only briefly seen in his youth.
Was Master truly going to become a dragon?
Hephaestus could not help letting his thoughts wander, expectation flashing in his heart.
The only regret he had about Gauss was that Gauss did not possess a massive, beautiful dragon body like his.
If Master also had a dragon's body, then he would be a perfect being.
Outside the valley, the massacre being carried out by the clay creatures Gauss had released was also drawing to an end.
The last relatively large gnoll tribe was desperately resisting the assembled clay army.
Just as they fought in blood and desperation—
Thump!
A majestic and powerful sound, like a divine drum being struck in heaven, rang beside their ears.
Thump!
They felt a terrifying force seize their entire bodies.
Very quickly, their limbs began to weaken.
Under that mysterious "drumbeat," what little fighting strength the gnolls had left quietly collapsed.
The battle instantly became one-sided.
Meanwhile, Gauss, the source of everything, was immersed in the wonderful experience of rapidly growing stronger.
Every restless heartbeat brought improvement to every part of his body.
His blood was being rapidly purified.
Large amounts of blood were refined through high-speed circulation into richer true blood.
Normally, if this process continued at such efficiency, Gauss would very quickly become a dried corpse.
Fortunately, every part of his body was also producing new blood at maximum efficiency.
Blood production, purification, blood production again, purification again…
In just one minute, all the blood in his body had been completely replaced several times over.
That new blood, filled with magic, collided through his body and strengthened his organs and tissues.
It was like a master craftsman was hammering and refining his body.
The first thing to change was his blood vessels.
Under the scouring of that blood, his vessels became far tougher.
Thump!
With the next hammer strike, his bones gave off dense tremors.
Gauss frowned slightly.
The tempering and strengthening of his bones caused him some pain.
Thump!
Gauss hovered in midair.
Another dull heartbeat rang out.
This time, with Gauss as the center, broken stones within a hundred meters began to tremble slightly.
Tiny particles of dust and sand seemed to be pulled by some invisible force, slowly floating upward and quivering in midair, as though bowing toward some unseen center.
Hephaestus flew to a position several hundred meters from Gauss and began guarding him.
He lowered his forelimbs slightly, his golden vertical pupils reflecting Gauss's figure.
In his vision, Gauss's body was wrapped in a visible crimson-gold aura. That aura churned and expanded continuously, faintly outlining the phantom of a dragon with its head raised and wings spread.
Dragon pressure.
Pure dragon pressure, condensed into reality.
Boom!
A soul-level pressure descended upon the valley.
Every living creature in the entire valley prostrated itself at that moment. Whether it was wolves in the forest, rabbits, insects, or even invisible microscopic life in the air, all of them suppressed their movements and did not dare stir in the slightest.
If someone could see the direction in which all of them bowed, they would discover a terrifying phenomenon:
nearly every animal, large or small, was facing the direction where Gauss hovered.
As if offering the highest respect to the descent of a king.
Thump!
Another heartbeat echoed through the valley.
Every bone in Gauss's body finished its tempering, emitting a tough white-gold sheen from within.
It was a quality far sturdier than steel.
Once his entire skeleton finished refining, Gauss's strength began to soar.
On the surface, strength seemed tied to muscle fibers. But at its root, it might be more closely connected to the bones.
Improvement in the skeleton helped raise the upper limit of physical talent.
After the bones, more of his organs and tissues began transforming.
Internal organs, skin, eyes, ears…
Blood faintly shining with gold seeped from his eye sockets, ears, and pores.
Yet it did not look especially bloody or horrifying. Instead, it carried an indescribable holiness.
At the same time, the concrete manifestation of his class rank inside his body shattered and reformed.
Large amounts of mana surged inside him like tides.
Under the agitation of that mana, rings of light rippled outward with him as the origin point.
Hephaestus, still bowing, raised his eyes and watched the scene, longing flashing through his pupils.
At this moment, Gauss was so powerful and beautiful.
But why had the dragon transformation he had been waiting for not started yet?
Thump!
Under Hephaestus's slightly confused gaze, the transformation of Gauss's body began to stop.
That overwhelming aura gradually withdrew into him.
Just as everything was about to end, Gauss faintly heard a lofty, ethereal voice beside his ear.
"Thy name is: Gauss Chaos."
Who was speaking?
A flicker of confusion crossed his mind.
He opened his eyes, and light slowly returned to his indifferent gaze.
"Purple-grade racial talent [Dragonseed] has successfully advanced!"
"Gold-grade [Dragon King's Bloodline]"
"Thou bearest the blood of a king, child of chaos."
Gauss looked at the concise advancement description, but there was no disappointment on his face.
He could feel just how great his improvement had been this time.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
This harvest was not unworthy of the great risk he had taken to go deep into the forest and complete this dangerous commission.
And he could feel that [Dragon King's Bloodline] was not comparable to ordinary gold-grade talents.
All he could say was that absorbing the bloodline power of four true dragons had exceeded imagination.
The improvement it brought was so great that even he, having just opened his eyes and regained his senses, felt a little overwhelmed.
This newly advanced talent appeared on Gauss's panel as an incomparably deep gold.
Beyond the upgrade to his racial talent, the bloodline power of [Dragon King's Bloodline] was so strong that it had forcibly broken through his class levels as well.
"Main class Mage Level increased to: 9"
"Secondary class Sword Soul level increased to: 6"
"Strength +1"
"Constitution +1"
"Intelligence +1"
"Charisma +1"
Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma had all improved.
His panel had now become:
Strength: 17 → 18
Agility: 17
Constitution: 17 → 18
Intelligence: 20 → 21
Perception: 16
Charisma: 17 → 18
Among all his attributes, the most significant change was Intelligence.
His earlier feeling had not been wrong.
Raising Intelligence from 20 to 21 was a qualitative breakthrough.
After crossing that threshold, he could feel his brain entering a very strange state.
So sleepy…
He had just finished a battle and undergone a full-body transformation, so logically he should have been excited and energized.
But the change in his brain gave Gauss an intense, irresistible drowsiness.
This sleepiness was not physiological.
It came from a deeper level.
It was like a pupa needing to form a cocoon before becoming a butterfly, like a snake needing to shed its skin before growing, like powerful dragons always entering long slumbers.
He did not even have time to fully feel the improvements throughout his body.
Sensing that the Silent Cage had very little time left, he hurriedly resisted the intense sleepiness and began collecting the spoils at extreme speed.
Fortunately, before setting out, he had considered the massive size of true dragons and borrowed a large storage bracelet from Barry's bearded guild president.
Normally, large storage devices like this were strategic-grade resources. The Adventurers' Guild would never casually rent them to ordinary adventurers.
If the guild dared to lend one, the adventurer would dare to run off with it.
Even with the guild's strength, retrieving it would not necessarily be difficult, but it would still introduce unnecessary variables.
But because Gauss's status was special, he had successfully borrowed one from the guild.
After storing the four true dragon corpses inside the storage space, Gauss flew to the dragons' lair.
He swept through it hastily.
Whatever he encountered, he stuffed into the storage bracelet without even looking.
Gold coins, treasure chests, shed dragon scales, strange tools, and even a chest placed on some kind of magic array—everything was packed up and taken away.
It was not that he was being careless or sloppy.
He simply did not have much time left.
The Silent Cage had less and less duration remaining, and the drowsiness spreading through the depths of his mind like a plague was growing heavier.
After finishing the sweep in a rush, he flew out of the dragon nest.
At that moment, the barrier above suddenly melted away like frost, and he once again saw the real sky.
"Haa…"
He could not help yawning.
The sleepiness was getting stronger.
Although he badly wanted to lie down right there, Gauss knew he absolutely could not sleep in this place.
Very soon, transcendent monsters would come to investigate.
He called Hephaestus over and gave him a few instructions.
They could not fly toward human territory now, because that would run straight into the Green Dragon Queen's army.
So he could only do the opposite—head deeper into the forest and find a safe place to enter his long sleep.
Once the direction was decided, the man and dragon quickly disappeared deeper into the forest.
At Barry's far outskirts.
Thump, thump, thump!
Orderly drums sounded across the battlefield.
The first defensive line of Barry's city guard stretched across the entrance to the plain. Two low mountains formed a passage several hundred meters wide between them. This was the first natural barrier on the road to Barry's main city. Beyond it lay a vast, open plain.
Dozens of hidden magical cannons had been installed on the low mountains, their barrels pointed toward the southern sky.
In the valley below stood over ten thousand city defense soldiers and adventurers.
Of course, these people were not the entire force in this war. Many more were distributed across various border battlefields in the form of legions and small teams.
At this moment, every pair of eyes at the valley entrance looked in the same direction.
The southern horizon was stirring.
Thump, thump, thump!
Even the earth seemed to be trembling faintly.
The forest was moving.
A closer look revealed that it was a flood formed from countless monsters.
The Green Dragon Army had appeared.
Through telescopes, senior officers saw the densely packed figures at the edge of the forest.
Even from such a great distance, the sight made their scalps tingle.
But those monsters were not the most terrifying part.
The lens slowly shifted upward.
Past the hideous monster ground troops.
Past the flying monster army that blotted out the sky.
Deep within the clouds, a pair of wings vast enough to cover the heavens churned through the cloud layer.
It was an almost perfect dragon body.
The clouds, which should have been white, had been stained dark green by that great being's presence.
The sight filled people with an instinctive sense of oppression.
Lord of the Jade Forest in the borderlands.
The Green Dragon Queen.
Aesselas.
Almost everyone present was seeing her true form with their own eyes for the first time.
And only then did they realize that the true weight of a dragon's descent was something words could never describe.
Her body displayed a beauty so powerful it felt beyond comparison.
Her entire form was covered in deep, layered emerald green. Her scales refracted a dazzling sheen beneath the sunlight, as if she were draped in armor forged from molten jade.
Her neck was long and elegant, its curve extending from her shoulders like a bow drawn to its limit. Four curved dragon horns stretched backward from her brow and temples, forming a natural crown of bone.
At this moment, as she soared through the clouds with wings outspread, her head was held high.
Suddenly, she seemed to sense something.
She turned her head and looked behind her, confusion flickering through her originally calm and indifferent vertical pupils.
An aura that caught her attention had briefly appeared deep within the forest, only to rapidly vanish again.
Although she was curious, she clearly had no time to search for it now.
The commanders she had left behind in the forest would naturally investigate that anomaly for her.
What she needed to do now was crush the ants beneath her.
~~~
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