Chapter 83: A Dragon's Dream Gone Wrong

Despite his hesitations, he kept his back straight and head high as his determined steps echoed in the rocky tunnel.

'Focus. The demonised kobold leader is powerful, but everything will work out just fine as long as you don't troll.'

With a short mental encouragement, his fingers tightened around his short sword. His knuckles whitening under the pressure, he emerged inside a broad cave and scanned the place.

Green demonic essence danced behind a horde of demented creatures. Like moths drawn to a flame, their insatiable greed for demonic essence consumed their minds as they tried to absorb it.

A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead as he saw them ignore the smoke rising from their pulsing veins and burning internal organs. Only power mattered to them right now, and they were trading their health and sanity for it. Yet, he overlooked them to squint at Maven's father.

Much taller than the others, it stood in the middle of the flames, its mad laughter and screams echoing for all to hear, "More! With more essence, I'll become a veritable dragon!"

'What dragon? You look like an ugly demonic beast spat by the demon realm itself!'

His brows twitched, and his nose scrunched at the disgusting features: eyes glowing an unnatural dark green like goose poop, grotesque muscles bulging under overly tensed skin as if they would burst out at any moment, and a pair of atrophied leathery wings dangling powerlessly behind its back.

He inhaled sharply, his stomach churning at the sight, and turned to his subjects.

"This is the hardest battle we ever fought, but I believe in you." He raised his blade, commanding attention with his charismatic posture. "Show these fools what veritable demons are by snuffing the fires of madness they ignited next to our territory."

After seeing their solemn nods, he moved first.

Like a furious gale, he rushed through the thousands of demonic kobolds, a rain of blood accompanying his steps as he swung his blade. Even if it wouldn't make a big difference, he wanted to help everyone as much as possible before reaching the leader.

As corpses collapsed to the ground with dull thuds and the scent of blood invaded the sticky air, the kobolds turned at the invaders and roared in outrage.

"More essence! Kill them all!"

The ground rumbled under the thousands of stomping creatures. Yet, in their hysteria and too focused on what they could see, they didn't bother to check behind and missed his bolting figure.

With one last glance behind, he resolved himself to focus on his own battle. Still, he placed his hand over his chest and prayed for everyone's safety as he reached the flame's center.

The moment the leader's fiery eyes landed on Adam's draconic horns, its shoulders trembled in delight, and its laughter's volume raised by an octave.

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"Hahaha! The bastard who sullied our ancestor's blood came to me!" It clawed at its face in a show of horror. "Let me kill you so Baal can give me more essence!"

Adam's brows twitched at the stupid accusation. Still, he didn't bother answering. Instead, his blade hummed as he mimicked Garduck's battle stance and waited.

'I can predict his strikes with how unstable his mind is and how impatient he looks.'

He analysed in a second, knowing the kobold's attack pattern wouldn't be sophisticated and that he would only rely on brute strength to overwhelm him.

'Even if he's stronger than me, I'll win if I can abuse it.'

His eyes narrowed into fiery slits, and his muscles tensed as the kobold indeed lunged at him like a feral beast. Its sharp claws glinted in his eyes, aiming to lacerate his face and torso.

Feeling the deadly strike whistle towards him and remembering Garduck's training, he took a short step to the side, evading the strike with minimal movement yet remaining within striking range. His arm rose next, the blade reflecting his solemn face as he swung it vertically to return the favor.

Before he could feel proud of his counterattack, the kobold's second arm blurred in his eyes.

CLANG

His sword trembled in his hand as an iron fist boosted by demonic essence met the blade about to sink into his adversary's skin.

He clicked his tongue at the missed opportunity, realising how troublesome the leader's sharp instinct would be in this fight.

Without waiting, he backed a step, the distant noise of his fighting subjects reverberating. His muscles tensed as an inner scream pierced his thoughts.

'I'll go all out from the start! I won't let you waste my time and risk my friends' lives!'

His own demonic essence roared to life in his veins, flooding his limbs with a tide of incredible energy and tripling his strength, speed, and endurance. His hair bristled at the blissful sensation, yet he rapidly moved to meet the kobold's descending claws.

Eyes burning a vivid emerald green, his arm cleaved the air in a silver blur, too fast for the kobold to react and too powerful for its skin to endure.

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The kobold stumbled back, howling in agony as the blood drizzling from its flying arm stained the ground scarlet.

Yet, it wouldn't die from such a wound. In fact, he saw its elbow shift disgustingly to stop the bleeding.

'I can use my energy for fifteen seconds only.'

Urgency fueling his movements, he closed the distance in the blink of an eye, his blade already travelling to its next target.

He saw the kobold's eyes widen as it scrambled to defend with its remaining hand, but he was faster—sharper.

His sword flashed in a savage arc, slicing through the kobold's knee before it could fully brace itself. It collapsed to one side, roaring in pain, but he didn't stop.

Instead, his face hardened as he shoved his blade down into the creature's chest, burying it deep into the dark, pulsing flesh.

Before it could reach the heart, the leader lamented and laughed simultaneously, its features distorting into something horrible. Two additional pairs of eyes suddenly opened on his cheeks, and its teeth glinted an inky dark color as they elongated.

"I'll become a dragon and take to the sky with my ancestors. You can't shatter my dream, not when I'm that close to achieving it!"

Adam's face paled, recognising the familiar gaming pattern as dark tentacles sprouted to replace the leader's missing arm and leg.

'Shit! It has a second phase!'