Because he was a dragon, he was naturally immune to the miasma that the demon created because even though he was a dark dragon he still had a divine blessing that made him immune to any powers from the darkness. He was still laughing when the woman suddenly attacked. Her claws reached for the man's neck but Ignius easily gripped the woman's wrist and twisted it with all her bones cracking and breaking.
"Not so fast, woman. Don't overestimate yourself just because you are a demon because your tricks won't work on me," Ignius informed her before he pushed her away. The demon's hand twisted back and returned to its original state.
The woman was furious and she started to attack using the same trick she used against Vain but all of it did not have an effect on the dragon. He would let her land an attack but it would not even scratch him because his scales were impenetrable. When the woman realized that the man was intentionally giving her the chance to attack, she became even more enraged.
The pressure she was giving off increased and her body even grew bigger. Her attacks became heavier but that did not matter to the dragon as he only used his hand to block and redirect the attacks. He was grinning as he saw the woman's face contorting more in anger.
The woman raised both of her claws and clasped them together before bringing it down with full force. She thought that she managed to crush the dragon but as the dust that floated in the air subsided, she saw that the dragon used only one hand to stop her attack. She grimaced but before she could do anymore, Ignius opened his mouth and breathed fire towards her.
His black fire immediately burned off the woman's body which revealed her demon core. Ignius grinned as he reached out the core and stared at it for a while. He moved the core on his palm a couple of times before he enclosed his palm around it.
"Are you giving that to the master?" Vain walked towards the man as he looked in fascination at the core.
"Yes. Why do you want it?" Ignius looked at the child and at his expression as he stared at the core. The twinkle in his eyes was unmistakable.
The look of fascination disappeared from the child when he heard the man's question. He looked up with a serious face and shook his head. He dared not because it was something that the master owned. He was okay with just gazing at it.
Ignius shrugged his shoulder before he tucked it away in his pocket. "If you say so. Now that we are done here, let's go back now because the master is waiting."
Vain nodded and kept himself from looking at the pocket that contained the demon core. They walked back to where the master was and saw that he was sleeping with Nahar who was standing beside him. He only opened his eyes when they were already a few steps away from him. Cygnus looked at them and at the child before focusing his gaze on the dragon.
Ignius pulled out the demon core and handed it to the master. "It seems that the child wanted that core," he suddenly said, which caught the child off-guard.
Cygnus raised a brow before looking at the demon core on his hand. The red glow it was giving was truly enticing but if the child wanted it then he could give it to him. He was an asset that he saved so it was only logical for him to take care of the child and make him stronger besides, his performance was also impressive.
"Then I will give it to you," Cygnus handed the core to the child which he happily accepted. Since it was given to him, he would use it properly.
In front of them, he raised the core near his mouth and slowly absorbed the essence from the core. The demon's core turned into a wisp of smoke that went into the child's mouth. After he absorbed the essence, they could see his veins glowing red for a second before it disappeared.
"Well, that went well," Ignius commented. "No wonder he did not die even after those experiments. His body is extremely compatible with demon blood and essence."
Cygnus hummed in approval because he already knew that fact. It was also one of the reasons why he chose to let the child live. It was rare for anyone to encounter someone with a body that was compatible with that of a demon.
ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm Ignius shrugged his shoulders and patted the child on the back. "You should continue to follow the master so that you can grow stronger."
Vain nodded his head. They then waited for the soldiers to wake up before they could leave. After approximately thirty minutes, they finally woke up. Marcus looked around and saw the young master together with three other people. He suddenly sat up with wide eyes because he recognized the child and the other person with them but the other one was someone he didn't know.
"Young, young master Rigel…" he called out because he was not sure as to what he should say in that situation. He was a bit confused as he looked around. "What, what happened?" He asked in confusion.
"Well, you almost died because of the explosion that the two-headed tiger caused and I managed to save you all, well, except for that one arrogant hero. The damage to him was great because he was not able to protect himself from the miasma that appeared after the explosion." Cygnus explained like what he did was normal when in Marcus's eyes it was not that simple.
He saw that the young master had not received any wounds and when the explosion happened, he saw a soft white light embracing him and the others. He knew that it was the work of the young master and he even saved the other two heroes. He managed to push himself up and checked on the heroes.
Marcus sighed when he saw that they were still breathing. He looked at Cygnus and grinned because even after all what the heroes said towards him, he still helped them. Cygnus held back the laugh that was about to burst out because of the thought from the soldier.
If the soldier knew what he did to the leader of the heroes, his opinion of him might change. Cygnus swallowed the laughter and controlled his expression. He waited for Marcus to check all of them before they could finally leave.
Marcus and Cygnus went to look for their horses but sadly they were gone. They could only look at each other in dismay. They returned to the place where the others were. Marcus remained silent because he was at a loss at what they should do.
"Since we don't have any means of transportation, let's just use the gate." Cygnus announced which made Marcus knit his brows.
"What do you mean?" he asked in confusion. He looked around but he saw no gates then he looked at the young master again who was now standing beside a door.
"This is a gate. Although it looks like a door, I still like to call it a gate." Cygnus tapped on the door and even banged on it.
Ignius walked to the soldier and patted him on the back that almost made him fall. "Don't worry you will be safe. Well, you might feel some nausea but that's okay because it would be only for a short while."
Cygnus pushed open the wooden door and gestured for Marcus to enter. The soldier was reluctantly looking at them because he was not sure if it was really safe. He trusted the young master but the door he did not trust because beyond it was only darkness.
Ignius carried the two heroes like sacks on both of his hands while Marcus and the two soldiers who were already awake looked at the young master once again. Cygnus gave them a smile and nodded his head. With that the three of them took a deep breath before they stepped inside the gate. Their bodies disappeared through the darkness.