461-472

Chapter 461 Back To Rian

There was not even the need for him to convince his people to fight by his side. They were more than ready to become stronger and face all kinds of dangers.

Aiming to become stronger, fighting for their freedom, and making sure that they would be able to create a place that was safe and sound from all kinds of threats, the Undying Group was ready to rumble.

Thus, the only somewhat difficult task was the question of how to conquer Cansum as quickly as possible, without creating any other problems.

Dilan was pretty sure that this would be quite difficult, but Sven and the others had come up with a pretty decent idea.

"Leader, how about you kill all Tier-3 existences, overwhelm all Temples, and eradicate the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction while we will take care of the weaker opponents and the political issues?

As long as you use your whole combat prowess, it should be possible to intimidate everyone enough so that they wouldn't dare to do anything funny when the Undying Embassy arrives!" Sven explained his rather simple plan and Dilan approved it without much thought.

"Sounds like a good plan," He readily agreed, only to recall something of interest, "but I need to come up with something for a day to make sure that I can overwhelm and annihilate everything as you desire!"

The small group of higher-ups looked at Dilan, who smiled from ear to ear upon realizing that their leader had a plan in mind. Though he didn't seem to feel like sharing his idea with anyone else, the fact that he had thought of something was enough to instill some more confidence in them.

"Do you need something?" Yvonne just asked and Dilan turned in her direction with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"Just a million Essence crystals and the ability crystals we talked about during the last few days!" He replied and a frown appeared on the face of the three women, Sven and William. They knew very well what ability Dilan was talking about but they couldn't really believe that he was ready to bind that ability to his Essence Crystal.

It didn't really make much sense…except…his plan was something much more complicated than they could fathom for now.

"The trading hub should have more than enough Essence crystals, so that won't be a problem… and about the ability crystal… you probably know more than anyone else what you should do and what you should not," Sven responded and Dilan agreed with him.

He sent someone over to bring him the Essence crystals and the ability crystal he desired while discussing more about their plan with the others. There were lots of gaps and loose ends in their plan and the next half an hour was used to make sure most of these gaps would be removed or filled as much as possible.

Afterward, Dilan was handed over his storage ring with everything he needed inside.

However, instead of leaving immediately which had been his earlier plan, Dilan began to turn a bunch of humans into Vampires. He used his Blood Vyrm bloodline to turn the humans and it was not long after that their strength increased by a large margin.

Dilan ordered around his Slaves and made them do various tasks as well. They were already loyal to him but he told them to heed the commands of his closest people as well.

He delegated Victoria, Yvonne, Kathrine, Williams, and Sven enough authority to order his Slaves and use them to complete the tasks freeing himself of the rather mundane task. That also would allow him to traverse to farther and unchartered territories to annihilate everyone, who didn't succumb to his reign and overwhelm the others without worrying about the situation back home.

Once Dilan finished all of this, he left the Sanctum with a suicidal plan in mind.

"I should be back in a few days… probably," He bid them farewell before he disappeared from everyone's sight.

Even without the activation of an Ability, Dilan's Agility stat reached 550 Units. His equipment was extremely powerful, he had a very useful title, and Dilan's raw stats were also very high, to begin with.

Thus the moment he dashed in one direction it was as if he had vanished into thin air. The only thing he left behind was dust and rubble from the loose soil his steps stirred up.

"What exactly is his plan?" Kathrine asked when Dilan had already disappeared but Victoria could only answer with a shrug.

She didn't have the slightest idea what Dilan might be trying to do, which was contrary to Yvonne, Sven and Willaims who had an inkling about what their leader was actually trying.

"He is probably on his way to Rian," Yvonne shared her opinion and both Kathrine and Victoria turned their heads in Yvonne's direction.

"Rian? Wasn't that the place you guys had been in when the Primordial Ascension occurred? Why would he want to go there?" Victoria still didn't understand a thing but a loud "Ohhh!" escaped Kathrine's mouth as realization dawned upon her.

Victoria stared at the others while trying to figure out what was going on but they didn't want to tell her what exactly Dilan had in mind.

"It's a secret. If he succeeds, you will definitely be surprised!" Sven said in a hushed tone and a faint smile emerged on his lips before he cleared his throat,

"But we have other things to take care of. We have to form different units and finish our preparations before Dilan returns. We have a continent to conquer, after all!"

Meanwhile, Dilan was on his way to Rian just like the others had presumed. To them, his plan had become much clearer than before because there had been a bunch of things that pointed in the direction of the Rian mountainside hospital.

But even then, it was quite obvious that the others couldn't be certain whether Dilan would succeed with his 'not so secretive' secret plan.

It took Dilan not that long before he reached Rian, the city that was located between the Shikan plains and the mountainside.

The mountainside had turned into a replica of an active and erupting volcano. Lava was spilled over the entire mountainside and there was no sight of a monster let alone life around him.

Dilan only clicked his tongue disapprovingly but he was not further bothered. The enormous amount of hot and molten lava was something he had expected to find. Thus, it was not something that should annoy him, to begin with.

If anything, it only did not allow him to walk on solid ground and march towards his destination to have an easier time taking care of everything.

But that could be solved by activating [Mantle of Elements]. He summoned one Intermediate Earth Spirit and used its power to make sure that he could control the earth below the lava. He pushed it aside and a huge lava river spread in all directions was created all around the mountainside.

This created several paths that could be used by everyone to walk around as long as they had a certain fire resistance. Dilan didn't really need to care about that, which was why he had an easy time climbing up the mountainside.

The only downside was the scorching high temperature in his surrounding area. It was extremely hot and Dilan began to sweat buckets.

Dilan replaced the Intermediate Earth Spirit with an Intermediate Wind Spirit and it was no sooner that powerful air currents began wafting around him.

He took a deep breath to calm his head, retrieved the Orb of Mantras, and accessed his spatial ring to bind a new ability, and to be ready to release all the Essence crystals he had collected at once.

"Are you still here, you fat-ass lizard??"

Chapter 462 Plan Of A Maniac

Dilan was halfway up the mountainside when a terrific roar reverberated in a range of several hundred kilometers.

The loud and booming noise made the mountain he was climbing on tremble violently and soon his body started to shake tremendously as well.

He could clearly hear his heartbeat ringing in his ears and feel the adrenaline that shot through his body as the tremors around him intensified.

Stones and lava were flung around but Dilan ignored this. He was mostly focused on the events occurring in front of him and he didn't miss out on noticing the situation he had been eagerly waiting for.

A several-meter-long head of a red-scaled Dragon emerged from the top of the mountainside and a pair of several hundred-meter-long leather wings spread out, releasing a terrifying heat that was strong enough to blast away the air currents around Dilan.

He felt the searing heat splashing in his face that made his hair curl, but he didn't mind it at all. He stared at the crimson reptilian eyes that were fully focused on him and a bright smile appeared on his face.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins, excitement spread through him and the desire to fight the Red Dragon ignited deep inside him.

All of a sudden, the Red Dragon's eyes changed color, turning into miniature suns when it opened its mouth to release a Dragon flame that could melt everything in its wake.

Dilan felt the heat before anything else and he didn't hesitate to use [Short distance traveling] to protect himself from the terrifying flames that could melt the stones all around the Dragon flame.

His sky-blue eyes started to gleam and his excitement skyrocketed at the sight of the Dragon flame that was much stronger than the power the Blazing Spinosaurus had been able to exhibit.

'Power Appraisal says that this dude has the power of a Peak Tier-4 existence while actually being a Mid-Tier-4 existence…seems like the Divinity Fragment of the Sun Temple increased the Dragon's power even more than its racial traits did!' Dilan figured, feeling interested in the increase of strength the Red Dragon had attained after devouring the miniature sun divinity fragment.

"Fight me, you fat-ass Lizard!" Dilan screamed at the top of his lungs while retrieving all Essence crystals from his storage ring. Over a million Essence crystals seemingly emerged out of nowhere and Dilan accessed all of them at once.

He led the strands of Essence toward the Orb of Mantras and activated the Cursed Mantra [Laguna de Leviera]. Dilan didn't know much about the Cursed Mantra but what he knew was enough for him to be confident that he could defeat the Red Dragon using it.

"Your stats might be high and your strength even higher, but why would I be worried about something as insignificant as that?" He shouted while a dark hue was released from the Orb of Mantras in an explosive manner. It spread out rapidly and tried to shroud the living beings in its surroundings.

However, as there were no other living beings in the vicinity except Dilan and the Red Dragon, the dark hue could only spread out to the Red Dragon, focusing it as the only entity.

Dilan was spared as he was the wielder of the Orb of Mantras and the whole potency of the Cursed Mantra [Laguna of Leviera] affected the Red Dragon.

What ought to be a Curse to decrease the stats of tens of thousand of beings at the fourth Tier and below ended up only concentrating its effects on a single being, a lot more than it was supposed to.

The amplified power of the Cursed Mantra showed its effect only a moment after Dilan had unleashed it. He was ready to rumble and activated [Demon Summoning] using 200 units of Mana, followed by using an additional 200 Units of Mana to accelerate the circulation speed of the Essence strands.

Using [Bearer of Pain], Dilan replenished the vast majority of his Mana by using his Life force. This increased his stats by 50% because his Life force ended up with just a tiny trace of what it had been before.

If Dilan's Life force was usually a house-sized flame, it was currently only the size of a car. But that was not worrisome as the size and volume were exactly what Dilan had required to make sure that his stats would be amplified by 50% through [Bracing Pain].

Afterward, Dilan used [Switch] by reallocating some of his Mana and Stamina to increase his Agility, but that was not where Dilan's enhancements ended.

He activated [Walk of Thunder] with mere two Units of Mana, [Second Acceleration] using some mana, [Master of Gravity], [Mantle of Elements] to empower his weapons with the might of an Intermediate Wind Spirit, [Power Up], [Burst Regeneration], [Undying], [Taunt] and last but not least [Holy Light].

Dilan was prepared to use more means to increase his stats and to power up but he could already feel that his body was on the verge of bursting apart into fragments.

Being at the Peak of the second Tier with the physique of an unparalleled Warrior, an occupation that increased his physique, a powerful Constitution, and an Armor Set that increased his physique, Dilan's Agility ended up crossing 1500 Units.

This was not something he could endure longer than a few minutes, and even that was already a rather generous prediction.

But Dilan was ready to leave no stone unturned. He had activated the vast majority of abilities that could be of any use and he dashed forward after he attached the Orb of Mantras to his belt.

He unsheathed the Cursed Dagger and ended up disappearing from his spot, just to appear closer to the Red Dragon that was breathing powerful dragon flames in an attempt to disintegrate the dark hue that affected the Dragon's combat prowess and stats.

The Red Dragon's combat prowess was drastically decreased, which Dilan could see very clearly by using [Power Appraisal].

Making use of this, Dilan slashed out at the snout of the Dragon, piercing both the Cursed Dagger and the Blessed Blade deep inside its flesh.

The Red Dragon roared out and it shrouded its entire head with blazing flames but Dilan simply ignored this by twisting the blades in the Dragon's snout before pulling them out as he shot forward again.

'So that's the restricted power of a Mythical existence…a legendary monster that is considered to be an overlord of the sky…seems feasible for me to take care of!' Dilan thought and it was not long after that he had inflicted more than a hundred deep gashes and cuts upon the three-hundred-meter-long body of the Red Dragon.

"How about this? Become my aide and together we will reign supreme on Milarn!" Dilan roared so as to ensure that his words would reach the monster's ears, and the reaction of the Red Dragon was intense.

The Red Dragon roared out in anger, it shook its entire body and searing hot flames shot out from in between the gaps of the red scales.

The whole Dragon turned into a blazing flame, only to be covered by the dark hue that kept infiltrating the Red Dragon's body every now and then.

Dilan was severely affected by the blazing flames and his skin began to sizzle due to the scorching heat, but he kept ignoring it.

He could use [Undying] in its strongest form repeatedly to ensure his continued survival and it was not as if his Health stat was low, to begin with, either.

"I might be a Maniac, but I will make you bow to me!!"

Chapter 463 I'm Too Weak?

The Red Dragon roared out in pain and anger.

Dilan's body shook wildly but he ignored everything around him as he dug the daggers deep through the scales of the humongous monster.

He wanted to get his hands on the Red Dragon but it was more important for him to make sure that it would start listening to him.

Dragons were said to be prideful existences. If that was truly the case, light injuries wouldn't be enough to subdue the Red Dragon.

The effect of the Cursed Mantra would wear off after five minutes, and that was also the highest amount of time Dilan gave himself until he would collapse due to the strain his body was currently forced to endure.

He was fine with all of that because he was ready to kill the Red Dragon if it wouldn't get tamed and keep fighting pridefully.

The Red Dragon was just a means to help him to become stronger, not a necessity.

"Succumb to me, and everyone will be happy!" Dilan shouted out loud while blazing flames surrounded him. His skin was slowly getting burned but that was the least of his worries.

His eyes were gleaming brightly and he used all his might to suppress the excitement that was bubbling inside him.

In the end, his entire existence was telling him to fight with the intention to kill the Red Dragon, but that was not actually what Dilan wanted to do.

Nonetheless, he inflicted a bunch of injuries upon the Red Dragon, whose temperature increased manifold once again.

At this point, Dilan couldn't endure the heat of the Red Dragon anymore.

The heat was on par with the searing hot temperature of the meteorite that had rained down on him.

This was more than enough to tell Dilan that he had to retreat for a moment.

He used [Short distance traveling] once again and ended up hovering up in the air 500 meters away from the Red Dragon.

Dilan activated [Undying] once again while collecting mana from the surrounding area.

"Follow me!!" He thundered, amplifying his voice with mana, and all the bloodlust he had accumulated since the Primordial Ascension.

The bloodlust was a result of all the existences he had killed, and that meant quite a lot considering that Dilan had taken the life of more than a hundred thousand monsters.

Dilan had long since stopped counting but he knew that the number was extremely high.

The Red Dragon, who was restricted by the Cursed Mantra, trembled for the first time since it had emerged on Milarn and that was more than enough for Dilan to start smiling vibrantly.

'Is it afraid?' He wondered upon seeing the monster's reaction and just a moment later the scales of the Red Dragon's head started to turn into molten lava.

Yet, instead of looking like ordinary lava, it was almost as if the scales all over the Red Dragon's head turned into tiny replicas of the sun.

Dilan instinctively retreated when he saw this but he was a tiny moment too late as some of the metamorphosed scales turned into serpentine-like pits of lava that lunged out for him.

Before he could move, the serpents dug their fangs deep inside Dilan's right arm and his stomach, injuring him severely.

Gritting his teeth as a jolt of pain shot through his body, he slashed at the serpentine-like flames by using the Blessed Blade. It was shrouded with powerful air currents and had [Holy Light] activated which allowed Dilan to free himself.

However, he also noticed that his right hand didn't work properly anymore. The attack of the Red Dragon had inflicted enough damage to his arm to temporarily incapacitate him from wielding the Cursed Dagger properly.

'Fuck this shit!' Dilan cursed in his mind before he sheathed the Cursed Dagger in the scabbard at his belt. Through this, he could ensure that he would still receive the stat amplification of Xealtron. He was in desperate need of the stats, especially now that the situation was spiraling out of control.

"Listen to me, you fucking bastard!" Dilan shouted in the Demon tongue all of a sudden as he turned into a flash. He appeared at the back of the Red Dragon and slashed right in the center of its wings, trying to inflict severe damage using the Blessed Blade.

With the Blessed Blade even the Red Dragon's powerful defense was not strong enough to block his attacks. That was also why Dilan didn't have to worry too much. He was given the opportunity to injure the Red Dragon severely, but he had hesitated to do so before.

After all, he wanted to tame the Red Dragon, not kill it. However, achieving what he had planned seemed to become more difficult the more he thought about it.

[You speak in the Demon tongue?] A hoarse, yet somewhat feminine voice resounded through Dilan's mind just when the Blessed Blade pierced through the Red Dragon's flesh and dug deep inside it.

The Dragon roared out in pain and Dilan reacted quickly to prevent any other incident from occurring.

He used his mana to conjure winds that were strong enough to blast him high in the air, and it was just a moment after he had distanced himself from the Red Dragon that its entire body had turned into molten lava.

The mountain the monster was standing on began to melt and it was only a matter of time before the entire mountainside would be flattened to ground level.

"I spoke to way too many Demons not to know the Demon tongue. If you want me to, I can even summon a Diamond Tier-3 Demon, though I don't really think that they will be strong enough to help me fight against you. Your power is simply too high!" Dilan explained and he acknowledged that the Red Dragon was a lot stronger than expected.

The true extent of the Red Dragon's power was not something Dilan had been able to comprehend until now but he could clearly tell that it had to be one of the strongest existence on Milarn…for now at least.

He was certain that the Red Dragon was the missing piece for his plan to conquer Camsun as quickly as possible, and with that in mind, he changed his plan altogether.

"Just think about it, if you side with me, we will become the strongest! I don't want to make any promises I cannot keep, but as long as you stay by my side, I will give my best to protect you, if necessary!" Dilan proposed, only to hear a burst of laughter that resounded through his mind.

[Hahahaha…you, protecting me? You cannot even fight against me head-on after putting a Curse on me! How can you be confident of protecting me if you're too weak to defeat me?!] The voice of the Red Dragon resounded in Dilan's head once again, and a bright smile emerged on his face.

"Who said that I'm too weak to kill you? I think you're forgetting that I'm trying to subdue you, not kill you right now!" Dilan thundered and a tremendous amount of killing intent emerged from all over his body, aiming straight for the monster.

"Let me show you how a Tier-2 existence like me can deal with a Mythical creature at the fourth Tier!"

Chapter 464 Soul Space

The Blessed Blade might only be 30-centimeters-long but that didn't really matter against an opponent such as the several hundred meter long Red Dragon.

The inflicted wounds were, at most, 30 centimeters deep and that was not exactly enough to severely injure the Red Dragon.

This was also the reason why a large number of wounds all over the Red Dragon's body could only be considered shallow. Dilan understood this very well but he was not exactly bothered by this.

On the contrary, Dilan was exhilarated that the Red Dragon was still certain of having an upper hand.

The Mythical creature was laughing at him for thinking that he was stronger than himself, even if the current situation may look different. After all, Dilan had a total of four deep wounds on his body that were inflicted by the Red Dragon's attack.

Two holes were in his stomach and a large amount of blood continued to gush out of him while the remaining two holes had been inflicted in his right arm, preventing him from properly wielding the Cursed Dagger.

Dilan's combat prowess was drastically reduced due to the aftermath of the attack, yet, the Red Dragon was perfectly fine…or so it seemed.

Its strength was drastically reduced due to the influence of the Cursed Mantra and it was also very obvious that the strongest defense of the Red Dragon had been removed in several dozen spots all over its massive body.

Its scales had been destroyed by the impact and terrific sharpness of the Blessed Blade and that was clearly visible now that all scales had turned into replicas of the sun's flaring lava.

There were dozens of gaps all over the Red Dragon's body, and by observing them intently, Dilan could clearly see the pulsating flesh below.

This was more than enough for Dilan to sheath the Blessed Blade and to retrieve a different type of weapon, which he procured from one of the three settlements he and the others had destroyed in the short time they had been on the mysteriously different planet.

An azure-colored spear with a crystal clear blade had manifested in Dilan's left hand. He grasped the spear shaft with his right hand as well, but this didn't really help him much other than hurting him tremendously.

However, the pain allowed him to stay fully focused on the task ahead. By circulating the winds around him and using his tremendously high Agility precisely with the [Master of Gravity] ability, Dilan's speed became much faster than that of the Red Dragon.

He was pretty sure that his Agility would even be higher than that of the Red Dragon without it being influenced by the Cursed Mantra. Dilan was confident in his capabilities and the Red Dragon was still underestimating him.

He was only a Tier-2 Ascender, after all!

Yet, underestimating Dilan was the biggest mistake the Red Dragon could do, especially after everything it had already witnessed. It was obvious that Dilan's stats exceeded that of a Tier-3 existence by far right now, but the Red Dragon was too ignorant to see and accept the glaring truth.

It was too prideful to acknowledge that there were other existences with the capability to increase their power to the extent that they could fight beings of a higher Tier than theirs.

This was also why Dilan was able to emerge less than a meter in front of the wounds the Red Dragon had already sustained before he pierced out the two-meter-long spear.

Dilan was attacked by the sun serpents, which was why he couldn't focus a lot on inflicting mortal injuries. However, by using the special effect of the azure spear, Dilan was able to turn the shallow injury that had been inflicted with the Blessed Blade.

[Power Drill] was the effect of the azure spear and the function of that effect was pretty obvious.

The spear's blade began to rotate around its own axis at a rapid pace and the aftermath caused tremendous damage to the Red Dragon.

Yet, before it could even react, Dilan had already pierced the azure spear deep inside the Red Dragon two more times.

"You see, the moment I will attack your eyes, your ears, your butt, and your wings, you will end up as a cripple! Follow me and you will be fine or reject my offer and I will kill you!" Dilan gave the monster two options to choose from.

Three minutes had passed since the start of the battle and Dilan could clearly tell that his time was running out. His body was slowly tearing apart and he could tell that he would face permanent damage if he kept using all of his abilities.

[Undying] was activated but that was barely enough to make sure that he wasn't torn apart at any moment.

However, Dilan made use of that to keep running around while awaiting the answer from the Red Dragon

As he did not receive an answer even after ten seconds had passed, Dilan started to insert more mana and air currents inside the azure spear to increase the lethality of his attacks.

He returned to the back of the Red Dragon, who slashed at him just to start tearing apart the area between the Dragon's wings.

"Don't force me to tear apart your wings from the roots, or you will be a red lizard rather than a dragon!" Dilan warned and he received an earth-shaking roar as a response.

[You darn human!!!] The Dragon shouted in his mind but Dilan didn't even think of listening to the curses of the Dragon. He increased the damage of his attacks and made sure that his opponent would face as much damage as possible.

The strength of the Red Dragon was slowly dwindling, which could be seen in the intensity of the metamorphosed scales' color density and the fact that it's roars were getting weaker.

Dilan's entire body was covered with molten skin, blisters, and multiple other injuries but he ignored all of that because he knew that his situation would improve sooner or later.

There was no need for him to hesitate, or be bothered about any kind of injury as his body would heal and overcome all types of injuries even if it might take a while.

Thus, Dilan activated the newest ability he had bound to his Essence crystal to show the Red Dragon what he wanted from it and that his offer was much more serious than it first thought.

Dilan activated [Soul Space] a passive ability that required three passive ability slots to be bound to the Essence crystal…an ability that had no grading and no real description.

This ability was what Dilan wanted to make use of when facing the Red Dragon and it was no sooner that he activated [Soul Space] that a small golden-colored box the size of a dice appeared in front of Dilan.

"Become mine and you will become the strongest of your kind! If not, become my nourishment so that I can take someone else and give them the opportunity to devour your body, evolve, and become my loyal follower!" Dilan said in a tone of finality.

He had had enough, which could be seen clearly. Dilan activated [Mantle of Elements] to summon an Intermediate Lightning Spirit to further enhance the power of the azure spear and it was just a quarter of a second later that he disappeared from his earlier location.

Through this, he evaded the blazing flames of the dragon and its claws and he appeared in front of the Dragon's ginormous eyes, pulling the spear backward, ready to pierce it into its eyes!

"It's now or never!"

Chapter 465 Forced Relationship

"It's now or never!" Dilan shouted.

He was in front of the Red Dragon's left eye, pulling back the azure spear, and was ready to pierce the drilling spear blade deep inside the eyeball of the monsters that didn't want to succumb to him.

Meanwhile, the Soul Space was hovering in front of his chest. It was dice-sized and golden in color.

​ The Red Dragon was fully focused on the Soul Space for a second, and it recalled making use of its blazing flames way too late.

Dilan's body was shrouded in blazing flames and it was only a matter of time before he would be incinerated.

However, that was exactly what motivated Dilan to go all out.

He thrust the rotating azure spear forward while ignoring the pain that spread through his entire being.

The azure spear shot forward and it was just about to pierce deep inside the huge eyeball of the Red Dragon when the voice of the dragon resounded in his mind.

[Are you sure that you can make me the strongest?]

The Red Dragon sounded hesitant as if it didn't want to believe what Dilan had said before.

Dilan looked at the Dragon's reptilian eyes through the blazing flames and he could easily see the unwillingness to succumb within them.

'Looks like this one is hard to tame. As expected of a proud Mythical creature that is unwilling to acknowledge it has been defeated!' Dilan thought with a bright smile on his face as he slowed down his thrust.

There were only millimeters between the tip of the azure spear and the huge Dragon eye when Dilan finally stopped his hand from moving further.

"You really dislike losing, don't you?" Dilan asked with a grin as he was burning like a torch.

The Red Dragon saw this clearly and an involuntary shudder went through the Mythical creature's entire body.

How was it possible for the human to stay so calm and composed while being literally on fire?

[I never lose!!] The Red Dragon thundered and Dilan just nodded his head.

"Alright then. If you never lose that's fine with me, just bind yourself to my Soul Space and become one with me!" He stated in a clear imposing voice once again.

[A mere human dares to speak to me like this?! Are you tired of living?] The Dragon roared out.

"This mere human can kill you whenever he wants to. I think you are the one tired of living if you are still speaking like that!" Dilan countered.

He didn't have much time left to goof around and he felt like the Red Dragon knew that very well which was why the creature was stalling time.

That was also why he slashed at the Red Dragon's eyebrow, cutting it through very easily.

"I'm a Tier-2 Ascender and I'm strong enough to defeat a Mid Tier-4 Mythical creature that devoured the Divinity Fragment of the Basic Sun Temple. I think you know very well what I'm capable of!" Dilan explained rather simply.

It was quite obvious that he could defeat the Red Dragon if he wanted to but it was even clearer that he was the one with the upper hand rather than the Red Dragon that was tens of times his height.

[I didn't go all out yet! You are not worthy of witnessing my true powers!] The Red Dragon thundered, just for Dilan to interrupt.

"It's not like you don't want to show me your true powers but more that you cannot do that yet!" Dilan corrected before he pushed the dice-sized Soul Space toward the center of the Red Dragon's head.

It was the area where the Dragon's Essence Crystal was located and Dilan was prepared to push the Soul Space all the way inside.

Realizing the threat, the Red Dragon roared out threateningly, just for Dilan to release all his killing intent at the same time.

"Fuck it. You have one chance! Accept the bond and become stronger with me or die and become my nourishment!! I don't have much time to waste…" Dilan was annoyed and he tightened his hold further on the azure spear to pierce it inside the creature's thick skull at any moment.

The Red Dragon went deathly still and it looked deep into the now crimson eyes of the disfigured body of Dilan just to start growling.

The Mythical creature was having an internal conflict but that was something Dilan didn't bother about anymore.

He activated [Undying] once again before he shoved the Soul Space inside the head of the Red Dragon.

There was no need to be bothered about saving the creature's life because it was do or die. His time was running out!

The Dragon continued to growl but the Soul Space was already inside her, leaving an imprint on the Red Dragon's Essence Crystal to turn the monster into one of Dilan's loyal existences.

He showed no mercy and created the imprint on the Red Dragon's Essence Crystal.

This took him longer than expected and Dilan could clearly feel that he would get reduced to a sack of meat and bones.

His right arm looked like charcoal by now and he could clearly feel that the rest of his body would soon follow suit.

However, it was just before anything worse could happen that the situation changed in its entirety.

The lava-like scales of the Red Dragon reverted back to their original red color, the oppressive authority of the Red Dragon was retracted and Dilan was freed.

In response, he stopped utilizing most of his stat amplifying abilities.

He only left [Undying] fully utilized, draining his mana.

A soothing feeling spread through his body and it was only a matter of time before his condition began improving, making him feel a lot better than before.

He was still standing on top of the Red Dragon's snout, but there was no killing intent radiating from him anymore.

He smiled lightly because he felt the raging emotions of the monster erupting within him and instinctively knew that his new ability's effect had worked out even better than expected.

Soul Space was a unique ability that required three passive ability spots to be occupied. At the first glance, one would think that the ability was not that powerful but Dilan could tell that it was worth far more than three passive ability slots.

Being an ability that grew with the strength of the user, Soul Space would grow into something very interesting for Dilan to use.

"Seems like you've accepted me. That was a good decision…and your only way to survive," Dilan spoke in the human language, just for the Red Dragon to start growling.

[You bastard!!] She lashed out at him, growling menacingly as her maw opened wide to snap Dilan's neck.

However, at the mere thought of attacking him, the Red Dragon began roaring out in massive pain.

[What did you do to me?!?] The Red Dragon shouted once again but Dilan didn't focus on her anger anymore.

He could feel the Dragon's anger spreading through his entire being, so there was no need to actively worsen the situation by provoking her.

It would only make things more annoying.

"You accepted the Soul Imprint, I didn't do anything except shove the Soul Space deep inside you. And I think you know what that means!" Dilan began to smile brightly.

The situation was to his liking even though endless pain spread through him.

However, because he had finally been able to subdue a mighty beast such as the Red Dragon, the pain was more than acceptable!

Chapter 466 Start The Conquest

The Red Dragon needed some time to accept the fact that she had surrendered to a mere human.

This was hard for her to digest, especially that Dilan had created a Soul Imprint on the Red Dragon and that the human had merely been at the second Tier, yet, strong enough to fight a Tier-4 Mythical creature.

Dilan, on the other hand, was having an easy time. He was healing from his injuries while sitting calmly on the Dragon's head.

"Fly to the center of the Shikan plains first. When you see the Scorpio temple, you have to turn right. Once you find a valley where a bunch of humans and Vampires are located, land on the ground," Dilan ordered before he lay down on his back.

He was trying to heal his body as quickly as possible but Dilan could clearly tell that he wouldn't be able to tend to his wounds before they would arrive.

The Red Dragon could fly through the air and her stats were extremely high. The Cursed Mantra's effect had worn off and she was only a little bit affected by the aftermath.

Dilan didn't really worry about that and he trusted the power of his Soul Space ability enough to relax and take a deep breath.

Even when the Red Dragon soared into the air as per his commands, Dilan didn't open his eyes or look down. He was unbothered by the height and the only thing he did to make sure that he would heal faster was to use [Switch] to reallocate his Stamina, Agility and Strength stat to increase his Health as much as possible.

Dilan's injuries were bad and every normal Ascender would have died by now, but there was no need for him to fix his whole body. That had been an issue when the meteorite had crushed him to near death.

Right now, his condition was much better, which was also why he was quite unbothered as he arrived at the Sanctum.

When the Red Dragon landed on the ground with a loud thump, all Ascenders scampered away to save their lives. Some of them could clearly recall the Red Dragon and the terror they had felt when they had fled from Rian, while others had never seen a Dragon before.

Their eyes were blankly directed at the Red Dragon, whose humongous size and presence were more than enough to make everyone shudder.

"We're going to die…" One of the Ascenders blurted out the thought he harbored deep down in his heart, and his legs began to tremble not long after.

Many were of a similar opinion but nobody dared to reveal their doubts because the higher authority of the Undying Group had appeared. They stood in front of everyone and looked upward, staring straight into the red eyes of the Mythical creature.

"Dilan…are you there?" Sven asked carefully, hoping that he hadn't misunderstood the situation.

"Of course, I'm here," Dilan answered before he yawned and stretched his body. He got up from the head of the Red Dragon, and looked down to the ground, but didn't jump.

"Are you guys ready to conquer the continent?" Dilan asked in a quiet voice and the eerie silence that swept through the entire valley was enough to make sure that he could be heard clearly.

At first, no Ascender answered him first because they could clearly see Dilan's disfigured appearance and numerous spots where his white bones protruded through his charred flesh.

Dilan looked more like a monster than most monsters right now but nobody dared to say anything against him.

The women's eyes widened in terror while the men stared at him in awe wondering how Dilan could be so unbothered about the unbearable pain he must be feeling right now.

They started to revere him more than before and roared out loud.

"Let's conquer Camsun!!"

Dilan smiled when he heard the raging chants that reverberated through the whole valley and satisfaction swept all over him.

"Alright then, I will induce terror and fear within everyone, while you guys have a little bit of fun as well…but not too much, my old rules will never cease to exist!" Dilan declared and everyone could clearly tell what he meant by that.

One of his most important rules was to never even attempt to violate someone. He had a zero-tolerance policy for traitors, rapists, and all kinds of other pieces of shit.

Dilan knew that he was not a saint or a good person either but those rules applied to himself as well.

He had a clear goal in mind and he would do whatever was needed to achieve it. Now with the Red Dragon by his side, this would become even easier. He patted the Dragon's head and she ascended into the air.

"Never be afraid to lose if you know that you'll be able to stand up again. Stay strong and make the best out of yourselves!" Dilan said in an imposing manner that struck a chord with his followers.

The Red Dragon rolled her eyes but she followed the mental commands she had received. As she spit out her Dragon flames in the air, the surrounding temperature increased drastically and everyone looked fearfully in the direction of the Dragon as she set off.

Dilan kept riding on her head, not bothering to hold tightly onto anything. He focused on healing his body while the Red Dragon did everything to make sure that the Shikan plains would become Dilan's playground.

"Maybe it won't be that hard to conquer the continent…to think that he actually succeeded in submitting the Red Dragon…just how strong did he become?!" Williams wondered out loud in jealousy, while the others could only exchange glances.

"I am just happy that he is on our side and that Dilan is not a bad person. He won't harm us, and I doubt that he will do anything to the people who are willing to follow him or submit to him…" Kathrine shared her honest opinion while Yvonne let out a sigh.

"That might be correct, but he will kill all those who don't accept him as their leader…that's his way to Unite Camsun…" Yvonne revealed, finding the answer to the doubt that had erupted within her.

"You think that he won't follow the plan we came up with earlier?" Sven asked her, feeling puzzled.

He knew that Yvonne could clearly feel the death aura that revolved around someone because her Origin ability was that great. Her [Angel of Death] ability allowed her to do many things others were incapable of. Thus, she could even tell when death would strike someone.

"Oh, that's not what I meant. He is still following the earlier plan, just that now he will help us out by killing those who will never succumb to the Undying Group. He will get rid of the black sheep to unite Camsun as quickly as possible," Yvonne explained before she continued to add,

"Looks like he has become impatient after taming the Red Dragon!"

Looking at the fleeting picture of the powerful Dragon, everyone felt complex emotions flashing through their entire being. Many of them sighed deeply but everyone was able to tell that the situation was more to their favor than anything else.

It wouldn't actually be a problem if Dilan killed whoever he wanted to. It was not even something new if they were to be honest with themselves.

He always did whatever he wanted.

Chapter 467 Bow Or Die

The Shikan plains might seem like a ginormous place but the number of big settlements was less than a few dozen. Countless monsters roamed all over the Shikan plains, and it was not necessary for Dilan to do anything against them to unite the continent.

Sweeping through the settlements with the Red Dragon made things a lot easier because everyone was given a 'pleasant' demonstration of the Mythical creature's dragon breath before they were given the chance to surrender or to fight Dilan and the Red Dragon.

It was only obvious that the humans surrendered to Dilan at the sight of a several hundred meter long flamethrowing Dragon. If Dilan wouldn't be as powerful as he was right now, even he would have to succumb to the Red Dragon just like the Ascenders before him who were presented with the choice between surrendering or dying.

This made things a lot easier for Dilan. He conquered the Shikan plains in no time, overwhelming two rather new temples and all the human settlements he could find.

Afterward, it was time for the Undying Group to make sure that the temples and humans would be under his banner until his abyss advancement mission was completed. What happened to them afterward was none of his concern.

He didn't care if they wouldn't want to be under his banner once he finished advancing to Tier 3, and it was actually better if he had fewer people to take care of.

[I have never seen anyone being told to conquer an entire continent just to advance to Tier 3. Usually, the first three Tiers are the easiest to advance…] The Red Dragon spoke in Dilan's mind using the Dragon tongue.

By now, Dilan could understand the Dragon tongue pretty well. This was owed to the fact that his imprint was on the Red Dragon and because he was in possession of a high-ranked Language comprehension ability.

"I have heard of that and it makes sense under normal circumstances. But as you must have noticed, my combat prowess is incomparable to beings at the first three Tiers. Right now, with the use of the legendary equipment I received during my Second Tier advancement mission, I could already be considered a Low Tier-4 existence.

That's probably one of the reasons why the system gave me a more difficult abyss mission if one were to exclude the fact that I am the only one to possess a Divine occupation on Milarn," Dilan muttered while staring at the starry cloudless sky. It was late at night and three days had passed since he had subdued the Red Dragon, but they were still tirelessly traveling through Camsun.

Dilan had left the Shikan plains for the first time since they had left the Rian mountainside hospital but he was not worried in the slightest.

He had fully healed by now and he was ready to give his all to fight the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction in Camsun to achieve his goal.

However, before taking care of the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction, Dilan wanted to make sure that the rest of Camsun was under his control.

He knew that the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction had annihilated everything in their wake, which meant that the south was completely devastated. There was nothing for him to conquer once the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction had been taken care of.

Knowing that fact it would make sense for Dilan to rather allow them to grow stronger so that he would have more and stronger Essence crystals to absorb after he finished advancing to Tier 3.

[I'm still baffled that a human could attain a Divine occupation so easily… It has been eons since that happened the last time…] The Red Dragon was revealed. She had become much more comfortable with Dilan by now, which was mostly because she was not an Adult Dragon yet.

Her pride was not as intense as the greed and pride of ordinary Mythical Creatures. Nonetheless, she knew a lot about the Primordial Ascension, where they had happened in the past, and a lot more things Dilan didn't know about.

While traveling around with the Red Dragon, he talked a lot to her. Dilan also chatted with Ariel Silvertale a lot which was how his knowledge improved slowly but steadily.

"If you think about it, everyone had the chance to attain a Divine occupation. It doesn't really matter what race I belong to," Dilan merely said with a shrug.

He was pretty sure that his life would have been a little bit different if he wouldn't chosen [Kirak's Vassal] as his Divine occupation. In that case,he would have gotten his hand on a legendary occupation instead. He might not be as strong as he was right now but given his Origin ability and various other factors, Dilan was pretty sure that he would have become powerful, nonetheless.

"And if you think about it, it's quite obvious that the first two advancement missions are not that difficult for others. Ordinary Ascenders have quite low stats even after reaching the limit of their Tier's status. I mean as Tier-1 existence your stats can only reach up to 75 Units while a Tier-2 existence can only reach double that.

Only after that will the status gap truly be noticeable. For example, I doubt that I will be able to defeat Peak Tier-5 existences after reaching Tier-3. I mean, think about it. Someone at the Peak of Tier-4 already has a strength which is equivalent to 2000 times the average strength of their own kind without an Essence crystal!" Dilan was sharing his insights and talking with a lot of interest indicating that he was in a good mood, which was quite easily noticeable.

The Red Dragon had noticed that Dilan would occasionally have mood swings according to the situation he was in. This made things sometimes very easy to cope with, and very hard during other times.

That was also why Dilan had been very interested and in a rather good mood when he figured out the truth behind the stat difference of certain beings.

The stats of Dragons and other Mythical creatures were much greater than those of humans, and the reason for that was the simple fact that their stats were 'stronger' than others.

First of all, the Primordial Ascension restricted the strength of stats in a subconscious manner. This was to prevent the newly awakened planet from facing destruction the moment Mythical creatures or races with enormous innate strength emerged on the planet.

By now, these restrictions were slowly being lifted because the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction were accelerating the maturation process of Milarn, giving the planet the necessary strength to endure the terrific prowess Dragons and other beings possessed.

It would take a while before the restrictions would be lifted completely but Dilan could clearly tell that the Red Dragon was getting stronger even without the need to absorb more Essence crystals.

Dragons were very powerful beings from the beginning of times but with the emergence of Essence Crystals, their strength increased by leaps and bounds.

Even with stats much lower than others, they would be capable to tower above the vast majority of existence. Their power was supreme and there were only few existences with powers that rivaled theirs while possessing the same or similar stats as theirs.

In fact, if not for the restrictions of the Dragon's strength, it would be impossible for Dilan to defeat a Tier-4 Dragon while being in the second Tier!

[You really are a weird human. I wonder if you will be strong enough to face True Gods, the Veilures, and other beings. Though…it's bothersome that I will have to be by your side for that, whether I want or not…]

Even if the Red Dragon was slowly getting accustomed to being around Dilan, it was not as if she had actually planned to play around Milarn and conquer it. She had prepared herself to fully digest the Miniature Sun Divinity Fragment because that was something she had yet to do.

Her strength would increase a lot more in the following months and Dilan knew that he had to get a lot stronger as well, otherwise, things would get a lot more complicated when it came to controlling the Red Dragon.

However, for now, it was the most important to continue conquering the rest of the continent.

But that was not really difficult because Dilan didn't spare anyone, who dared to reject his 'nice' offer to allow them to surrender under his banner.

He clearly told them what would happen if they were to dare reject him, but there were still some prideful humans, and Temples that would rather die than bow their heads in front of others.

Thus, Dilan ended up massacring everyone.

Chapter 468 Only Ones Left

[The host has attained an extraordinary achievement. The title [Domination] has been granted! Congratulations!]

[[Domination] -Gold-

The host has conquered all kinds of lands and holds dominion over 100,000,000 Ascenders.

The host's charisma increases when wearing this title.

The host's intimidation increases when wearing this title.

Other beings will find it harder to resist the commands of the host when the title is equipped!]

"That one is quite helpful, that's for sure!" Dilan acknowledged when he finished reading through the first batch of system notifications he had received.

However, there were still a lot more notifications to comb through.

[The host has attained an unimaginable achievement. The Title [Dragon Rider] has been granted! Congratulations!]

[[Dragon Rider] -Platinum-

The host has ridden a Dragon for more than 300 hours!

The host's Mana control increases by 30% when riding a Dragon

The host's ability to move with the flow when riding a Dragon increases drastically.

The host's communication ability with the Dragon he/she rides elevates by leaps and bounds.

The host's stats increase by 5% when riding a Dragon.

The Dragon's stats increase by 5% when the host rides it!]

[The host conquered 75% of the continent and started his journey toward greatness. The title [Beyond the Stars] reacts drastically to this achievement. Follow the path you have started, and power will follow suit!]

"The new titles are good, but Beyond the Stars is still the best!" Dilan muttered to himself when he finished reading the last message. He was pretty sure that the last message indicated something very simple; the ability would grow to a higher rank or quality when Dilan would completely conquer Cansum.

That was pretty interesting and it allowed him to feel a lot better about conquering the entire continent.

"Do I have to conquer Milarn in its entirety to keep upgrading Beyond the Stars or is it fine to conquer other planets as well? The latter should be a lot easier…" He mumbled and the Red Dragon agreed to what he said without knowing what exactly his mumbling was about.

[Conquering Milarn will become more difficult with time. The Higher Lifeforms will descend soon to get their hands on the Primordial Ascension's system and they will want to turn Milarn into their personal grounds of nourishment. After all, the Primordial Ascension only chooses extraordinary planets to awaken them!] The Red Dragon spoke while spewing out blazing flames that burned thousands of Ratmen at the same time.

They were currently in a temple that worshiped the Pest God and Dilan couldn't be bothered with maintaining an amicable relationship with that kind of race. Their livelihood depended on the complete destruction of the ecosystem wherever they went.

Thus, their death was unavoidable.

Dilan had killed thousands of beings since they had departed to conquer Cansum but he was far from done. The Hordes of Chaos and Destruction were the last hurdle he would have to overcome, and that was something he wanted to achieve with his people, the Red Dragon and his own strength.

The Red Dragon was only supposed to kill those whom Dilan and the others couldn't defeat even if they wanted to and she would help out those who were simply too weak to defeat their opponents.

With that in mind, Dilan exerted [Walk of Thunder] with more than 20 Units of Mana before he unsheathed the Blessed Blade and the Cursed Dagger. He activated [Mantle Of Elements] as well, summoning an Intermediate Fire Spirit to shroud his blades' blazing flames before he jumped down from the flying Red Dragon.

By now, his only concern was how long it would take before he finished conquering the continent rather than questioning if it was even possible.

The Red Dragon alone was already enough to conquer the entire continent, and then there was his overwhelming strength along with the fact that he had many loyal subordinates.

His Undying Group was filled with loyal Ascenders, which was something Dilan was quite happy and proud about.

His Ascenders had helped him a lot in making sure that nobody would dare to disobey him after he had forced them to submit to himself. This had made things a lot easier and it was time to meet up with them once again.

Thus, once he had killed all the remaining Ratmen with the help of the Red Dragon, Dilan waited for the others to arrive.

"Do you want to take a look to assess how strong the strongest being belonging to the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction is right now?" Dilan asked while they were waiting.

He had collected the corpses of the Ratmen to separate them from their Essence crystal neatly before setting aside the remains so that he could sacrifice them once he got back to any of the temples he had conquered.

Dilan had collected so many Essence crystals that he was ready to activate the Orb of Mantras several times if necessary. However, he hoped that this wouldn't be necessary because it was a waste of precious resources; resources he would be able to use later to improve his stats and level after advancing.

[I can do that but if I encounter a Chaos Dragon…good luck…] The Red Dragon could only say before she flapped her large wings. It was quite obvious that she was not confident in defeating a Chaos Dragon on her own and that was something Dilan was a little bit bothered about.

'If not even she can defeat a Chaos Dragon, I wonder how we're supposed to wipe off the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction from Milarn…' Dilan thought and he got a bad feeling. However, something was weird.

It was hard to describe his current feeling because he was pretty sure that he had both good and bad feelings at the same time. That was weird and Dilan didn't actually want to be in such a situation again as it was never good to feel like this.

According to his experience so far, when something extremely good happened, something bad would soon follow suit.

This was troublesome, and Dilan soon figured out what exactly the troublesome part was.

"The Hordes of Chaos and Destruction are on their way to the Shikan plains!" Sven said not long after he and the others finally met up with Dilan and the Red Dragon.

"The Shikan plains? Does that mean they're just charging through the Bellian Forest, or did they already conquer it?" Dilan was a little bit dumbfounded to hear Sven's words but he tried to stay composed.

"I have no idea! Some scouts say that they saw some groups belonging to the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction charging through the Bellian Forest, while others turned into followers of Lumberjacks. They're turning the whole forest upside down!" Sven tried to explain quickly and it was quite obvious that he was losing his composure.

However, Dilan couldn't help but look at his strategist in confusion.

"I understand that you're a little bit flustered, but is there really the need for you to be like this? Most of our people are with us here, and the others can save themselves by hiding in the underground tunnels we dug for situations like this," Dilan spoke quite nonchalantly but Sven's expression turned ghastly.

"They have stone worms that are several kilometers long as their underlings, and a Giganotosaurus as well…"

Chapter 469 Against The Hordes

"Dinosaurs are really coming back to bite our ass, aren't they?" Williams tried to joke but nobody felt like laughing.

After Sven had reported what was going on, Dilan and a bunch of his people had ridden on the Red Dragon to fly back to the Sanctum, and what awaited them was certainly not funny to see.

The situation was quite troublesome because some worms that were created out of stone destroyed everything below the surface. They received nourishment from the stones, soil, and living beings that resided in the ground that they devoured.

Their sizes continued to increase and it was visible to Dilan's eyes the moment they broke through the surface but that was not even the biggest problem.

"I cannot really sense how strong they're. The power they exhibit is pretty obvious but other than that, there is nothing for me to measure their strength…" Dilan revealed when he had used Power Appraisal just to fail miserably.

He frowned deeply at the sight of the dozen stone worms all of which were humongous in size before his gaze moved over to the Giganotosaurus, the biggest predator Dilan could recall from the ancient times when Dinosaurs had reigned on Milarn.

Its hide was tough enough to endure the blazing flames of the Red Dragon, while its powers were versatile, allowing it to do many things that seemed impossible for others to achieve.

[The Giganotosaurus seems to have an Anti-Magic ability that covers its hide!] The Red Dragon said when she felt that her Dragon breath had no effect.

She was ready to descend to the ground and engage in close combat but Dilan lifted his hand to stop her from doing anything.

"Just give me some of your Dragonic Mana, and I will take care of the rest," Dilan said calmly as he unsheathed the Blessed Blade.

He inserted some Mana inside the Blessed Blade to make sure that the Red Dragon knew what he was trying to do, and it was not long after that the Blessed Blade's [Holy Light] began to shine brightly, embracing the blade tightly

The Blade's sharpness and endurance increased as more mana was inserted in it. Thus, the moment Red Dragon transferred some of her highly potent Dragonic Mana, Dilan's entire body jolted, just for the Blessed Blade to shine in a dazzling brightness that could turn someone blind.

Dilan felt like the blood running through his veins had been replaced by searing hot lava. Every single cell of his body hurt, yet, Dilan endured the unbearable pain. That was the only thing he could do, either way, and he was already accustomed to pain, to begin with.

Pain was not new for him, and it was like a second skin that he wore over his body. After all, being able to feel pain meant that he was still alive and kicking.

With that in mind, Dilan activated [Switch] to reallocate his Stamina and Agility to increase his Strength by 300 Units. Afterward, he activated [Power-Up], the Cursed Dagger's [Blood Sacrifice], [Walk of Thunder] using more than 50 Units of Mana, [Second Acceleration] with more than 50 Units of Mana, [Undying], and [Master of Gravity] before he inserted a tremendous amount of Mana inside the Blessed Blade.

Even if the Blessed Blade had just a 30-centimeter-long dagger blade, Dilan knew that this was more than enough to finish the Giganotosaurus. That was something he was certain about because he could clearly perceive the traits of the mighty beast.

[All beings belonging to the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction work together with the use of a certain Organ they possess. It's called Swirl of Chaos and provides them with access to the power of Chaos. Some develop the ability to control the powers of Chaos and Destruction as long as they gain a certain understanding of the Swirl of Chaos.

However, this organ is very fragile and dangerous. If you inflict a serious enough injury on it, the Swirl of Chaos will explode, which will destroy the organs within the monster. You can kill it with one blow!] The Red Dragon proposed before the image of several spots where the Swirl of Chaos could be located appeared in Dilan's mind.

Dilan thanked the Red Dragon for helping him out before he turned into a flash as he jumped down to the ground, where the ginormous Giganotosaurus was already waiting for him.

"You don't have to wait anymore, I'm coming!!" Dilan shouted out loud before drastically increasing the gravitational force around himself.

Simultaneously, he summoned the Intermediate Wind Spirit to make sure that he was pulled faster to the ground. Powerful air currents blasted upon his back and Dilan's smile widened as he turned into a purple meteorite that impacted on the ginormous Giganotosaurus.

The Giganotosaurus was unable to react fast enough as Dilan had already crushed on its back. The Blessed Blade dug deep inside its flesh and it was not long after that the terrific force of the impact allowed Dilan's fist and forearm to sink inside the Chaos Monster's flesh.

Dilan unleashed the Dragonic Mana from within the Giganotosaurus and he activated [Mana Slash] over and over again. Simultaneously, he unleashed Inferno of Disintegration inside the monster.

He twisted the Blessed Blade inside the pulsating flesh of the monster that roared out in pain before it started to thrash itself around.

It didn't take long for the Giganotosaurus to notice that Dilan would never let go of the Blessed Blade and that it was only a matter of time for the injuries it had sustained turned into lethal wounds.

Thus, the Giganotosaurus threw itself on the back, while preparing to activate a bunch of abilities that required some time to be charged.

'You're planning something, huh?' Dilan thought when he sensed the tremendous amount of mana that circulated through the Giganotosaurus.

Just a moment later it had already thrown itself on the back, squashing Dilan underneath its humongous body. The sound of breaking bones resounded through the surrounding area but not a single groan could be heard as all the other noises got drowned due to the noise of a bunch of Stone worms shooting out of the ground.

At first, it looked like the Stone worms were about to attack the Giganotosaurus but upon taking a closer look, it was pretty clear that the situation was a lot different than expected.

The Stone worms shot toward the back of the Giganotosaurus, the area where Dilan was squashed.

He was bleeding from head to toe and his left arm got twisted horribly. It was clearly broken and Dilan was not able to properly maintain his grip on the Blessed Blade anymore.

Despite that, his arms were still stuck deep inside the Giganotosaurus, preventing him from losing his grip.

The Stone worms were just about to reach Dilan when the situation changed altogether.

All of a sudden, the Giganotosaurus was lifted from the ground, and Dilan took a few seconds to realize what was going on.

Only when he saw the Red Dragon's maw crushing the neck of the Giganotosaurus was he able to figure it out.

"Didn't I say that I would be fine without you?" He asked out loud, his voice not showing the slightest hint of weakness or the fact that he was injured.

He just smiled at the Red Dragon as if he was perfectly fine.

[I can do whatever I want!] The Red Dragon retorted but Dilan just laughed.

"No you can't."

Chapter 470 Swirl Of Chaos

The Red Dragon lifted the Giganotosaurus high up in the air while tearing large chunks of flesh out of its neck.

The Giganotosaurus struggled to face the Red Dragon, and its condition only worsened further when the Dragon's razor-sharp claws dug deeper into the monster's flesh.

Dilan saw all of this with great interest but he was a little bit bothered.

"You took away all my joy," He teased the Red Dragon while continuing to burst-release Mana Slashes through the Blessed Blade. The Blade was digging deeper into the Giganotosaurus' flesh and it was only a matter of seconds before the Mana Slashes reached and injured the organ Dilan had been trying to reach.

The Swirl of Chaos was damaged and Dilan was able to feel a devastatingly high amount of compressed power being released in an explosive manner.

'That one is definitely dead…' He mumbled before using [Short-distance traveling] while tightly holding onto the Blessed Blade.

Dilan appeared on top of the Red Dragon, whom he patted lightly with a faint smile on his face.

"Throw the Dino to the worms!" Dilan ordered and the Red Dragon followed his command, throwing the Giganotosaurus right in front of the Stone worms.

Afterward, the Red Dragon flapped its huge leather wings and they ascended high into the air.

What followed next was a huge explosion that released an eerily cold breeze of wind and a powerful suction force that was almost strong enough to pull the Red Dragon into it.

Upon looking down, Dilan's eyes widened. He saw a huge swirl of silver-colored water below him. Whatever the water touched was suctioned inside it and devoured in an instant.

Dilan didn't want to imagine what would happen to him if he would get pulled inside the silver water. It caused his hair to stand up on its end and manifest powerful winds that propelled the Red Dragon higher into the air.

[This is the unleashed Swirl of Chaos. Not even Tier-5 existences can escape the Chaos once it comes in touch with them!] The Red Dragon informed Dilan who simply nodded his head.

He could clearly see why the Swirl of Chaos was so dangerous.

"So the Chaos Monsters could basically turn each other into living weapons and sacrifice one another to kill their opponents?" Dilan asked so as to confirm his theory. He could tell that he had figured out something disturbing and it was truly bothersome.

Dilan imagined a Tierless Chaos Monster getting turned into cannonballs, or highly lethal grenades and his expression worsened.

[The power of each Swirl of Chaos varies a lot. The higher the Chaos monster's Tier, the stronger the Swirl of Chaos. So usually you would have to sacrifice a Tier-4 Chaos Monster to attempt to kill an ordinary Tier-5 existence. That's not exactly worthwhile, especially if there is no guarantee that you can kill others with the unleashed Swirl of Chaos,] The Red Dragon replied in a much calmer tone than before. They were still running away from the suctioning force of the Swirl of Chaos, but the current situation seemed quite easy to overcome.

The Red Dragon was not worried about their survival and neither was Dilan. As for the others, who were still riding the Red Dragon, using all their might to hold onto her horn, larger scales, or wings so that they wouldn't get pulled into the Swirl Chaos, they were doing relatively fine as well.

They were still alive, had witnessed the power of stronger Chaos Monsters, and by now had realized that Dilan and the Red Dragon possessed the necessary combat prowess to fight head-on against the stronger monsters of the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction.

[The Giganotosaurus should have been the strongest Chaos Monster in Cansum and we defeated it. How about we conquer all of it now?] The Red Dragon asked Dilan once they were high in the air.

The Swirl of Chaos was still wreaking havoc on the ground but that was not something they had to pay much attention to.

The Stone Worms were dying and the Giganotosaurus had already been reduced to particles after the Swirl of Chaos had been unleashed due to external forces.

"Alright, let's leave then. We can wipe off the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction in its entirety in a few weeks if the Giganotosaurus was the strongest Chaos Monster in Cansum. That will be a walk in the park!" Kathrine exclaimed just before the sound of a smack followed by a pained cry fell on everybody's ears.

"Ouuch!! Why did you hit me?!?" Kathrine whined. She stared deeply into the dark eyes of her younger sister, who glared back at her.

"Because you're acting as if you're the one to kill everyone, not Dilan or the Dragon!" Yvonne tried to put her sister in her place. Kathrine was being way too shameless in her opinion, which is why she thought of scolding her.

Dilan only looked at the interaction between the sisters fondly and he began to miss his own sisters.

He might not have the same bond with his sisters as Kathrine and Yvonne had. It was different, but not weaker by any means.

"What about their Essence crystals?" Williams asked all of a sudden. He pointed at the Swirl of Chaos that was still destroying the surrounding environment.

Everyone's attention flicked toward Williams, who noticed what he had just said. He smiled in embarrassment and cleared his throat.

"I was just saying…" Williams tried lamely before Sven interfered.

"Let's forget about the Essence crystals for this instance. We don't want to die and 10ish Essence crystals are not worth the risk.

We can collect more Essence crystals after we eradicate the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction in Camsun!" Sven suggested and Dilan readily agreed.

"Rory and I will kill the Chaos Monsters that split up from the Hordes and you guys will gather with everyone to fight the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction head-on.

We have prepared enough Magic Scrolls and other means to fight them…and we have this!" Dilan explained his plan before revealing the Orb of Mantras as well.

Dilan was pretty sure that the Undying Group wouldn't have a hard time fighting Tier-2 Chaos Monsters and those that were weaker than them, but the more problematic fellas were those stronger than the second Tier.

There shouldn't be many of such existences but even a small number was dangerous enough to create an existential crisis in the Undying Group.

Dilan could summon a Peak Tier-3 Demon, control Rory, the Red Dragon, and he was extremely powerful on his own. Thus, he was capable of dividing his strength to a certain extent, even though that might not work well.

"We will set you off and leave then," Dilan said before he patted Rory's huge scales. She set off again and it was only a matter of time before the Dragon and Dilan were left on their own once again.

However, they didn't waste any time and started reclaiming the lands that had been conquered by the highly destructive Chaos Monsters.

Dilan was willing to rush through the rows of his opponents and annihilate everyone as quickly as possible but instead of fighting recklessly, he decided to slow down his progress to make sure that he killed every single potential threat.

That way he could be reassured that his mission would be completely successful by all means, and that was the only important thing that mattered after all!

Chapter 471 'Normal' Eyes

Twisting the Daggers he had rammed into the thick hide of his opponent, he let out a groan as a fountain of blood splashed onto Dilan's face.

He was already drenched in sweat and blood so it didn't matter if he was bathed in blood over and over again.

A bright smile appeared on his face as the rhinoceros collapsed on the ground, the last traces of Life force wiped out of its eyes.

He removed the Chaos Monsters' Essence crystal that shone in a faint grey color.

The power of Chaos resided in the Essence crystals and Dilan was actually not sure if they would harm him upon absorbing them.

Rory, the Red Dragon, was certain that the Chaos Essence Crystal could be used for something good, but she had no idea of their exact use.

"They're not harmful, but what is their use? Vampires and Werewolves have unique Essence crystals but no other race seems to have them…" Dilan wondered while inspecting the Essence crystal intently.

He looked over to Rory while his crimson eyes that gleamed in interest reverted back to their usual blue color.

[I have no idea what you're talking about. I have never seen different types of Essence crystals. Those only exist in legends! Don't play with me!] Rory was getting cheeky and Dilan could only sigh.

By now the Red Dragon had grown comfortable with Dilan. She had finally realized that their life was bound together in certain ways.

It was impossible for him to kill her and force her to do things that would end up in her death, while Rory couldn't betray, injure or disobey him.

The Soul Space would probably strengthen Dilan with Dragonic powers but until that happened quite some time would have to pass.

Dilan was quite calm right now. The Hordes of Chaos and Destruction were a lot weaker than he had expected, even more so now that he had Rory by his side.

Nonetheless, the number of Chaos Monsters had increased to an extent where even unimaginable strength was not enough to take care of everything.

They could defeat whoever they wanted and whenever they wanted, but things became trickier the moment the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction split up.

By now, Dilan and Rory had defeated several smaller fractions of the Armies that had formed as a result of the split of the Hordes and it was now time to face the bigger parties.

These bigger parties had a tight formation and stayed close to each other and they worked hard to create and alter numerous Gates.

Dilan and Rory had entered a few Chaos Gates to take a look at them, and what they found was pretty interesting.

The plants and monsters within the altered Gates were evolving. Their strength increased by leaps and bounds and it was only a matter of time before they would emerge on Milarn to cause death and destruction.

Dilan was quite interested in that because he hoped for more Tier-3 monsters to emerge on Milarn.

However, even if there wouldn't be many Tier-3 monsters it would be fine.

Dilan could just step through a Gate within a Gate to wreak havoc in other worlds.

Doing so would turn him into someone comparable to a Demon King known in novels, Mangas, and animated shows, but that was not what he was after.

He needed the strength to make sure that he could survive and attain the goals he had in mind and if that was only possible by conquering, or eradicating other planets they would have to succumb to his selfish desires. That was just how high his determination was.

"Let's finish off the remaining ones and return tomorrow to eradicate the rest!" Dilan suggested and Rory roared out in response.

Her head lunged out and her row of razor-sharp blade-like teeth sunk into the Rhinoceros corpse that was ripped apart.

Dilan simply watched Rory gobbling down the unempowered Swirl of Chaos without saying a single word.

[Are you not curious why I eat the Swirls of Chaos?] Rory asked when she sensed her silence. There was no malice in her voice anymore and it was quite obvious that she had accepted Dilan as her partner in crime.

Dilan might have forced her to accept his Soul Imprint but it was true that Dilan was strong enough to make a premature Dragon accept him despite being only at the second Tier.

"You want to get stronger by eating them. Isn't that kind of obvious?" Dilan shrugged his shoulders before he got onto Rory's huge claw.

She flapped her wings and they ascended into the air to annihilate the remaining Chaos Monsters.

In the next half a day, death was close on their heels as the duo destroyed everything around them, reaping the souls of the Chaos Monsters that were supposed to kill everyone, expand their powers and attain many more goals.

The sun had gone down and it rose again.

A heavy and steady stream of rain poured down on the duo who were shrouded in blazing flames.

There was a fist-sized Intermediate Fire Spirit around Dilan, engulfing his skin naturally.

His eyes were shining in a bright red color as he circulated mana through them.

"There is nothing, not even our people," Dilan mumbled, trying hard to see something in the rain.

Due to his Blood Vyrm bloodline, his eyesight was extremely sharp, and it improved further especially when his bloodlust increased.

Thus, Dilan could see everything in a range of more than two kilometers because it had only been a short time since he had killed thousands of monsters.

Rory was not interested in the Chaos Essence crystals. Her focus was fully directed on the deactivated Swirls of Chaos rather than the Essences.

She wouldn't gain anything from devouring the Essence crystals, either way. Her Tier was too high in comparison to theirs.

That was also why Dilan made all the gains when he finished advancing to the third Tier.

He would make huge gains the moment he finished advancing, which was why he was very satisfied with himself.

[I can sense them in the fog. But the fog is weird and is weakening my senses. It's probably the result of a Chaos Monster's powers!] Rory commented but Dilan didn't really get it.

"But there is no fog…" He mumbled to himself, only for Rory to laugh lightly.

[You shouldn't use your normal eyes.] She said after a while once she had calmed down a bit.

"What do you mean with 'normal eyes'?" Dilan asked.

Rory had spoken a few times about similar things such as "Mana Vision", "Spiritual Perception" and so on but until now Dilan hadn't really given it much thought.

He had been sure that they were something he would get in the future as well and that it was just because his Tier was too low.

However, that didn't seem to be the entire truth because Rory showed him clearly what exactly was going on.

[Wait, I will show you what I mean!] She said before her Draconic Mana erupted, shooting towards Dilan's eyes that began the itch and burn at the same time.

[Here, take a look at what's hidden from the eyes of mortals!]

Chapter 472 Inside The Fog

A steady stream of Draconic Mana kept being inserted in Dilan's body. It circulated through his eyes which caused them to shine brightly.

The insides of his pupils started to turn red and the itching and burning sensation kept getting worse. However, Dilan kept his mouth shut.

He grit his teeth and simply accepted the changes that occurred to his vision.

The changes metamorphosed his eyes temporarily, turning them into serpentine eyes that were able to see much more than Dilan was actually able to see.

His eyes turned into an identical version of Rory's, giving him the same vision she possessed.

"What is that?" Dilan's jaw dropped to the ground when he saw that everything on the ground was covered in dense, grayish fog. Under normal circumstances. Dilan wouldn't be able to see anything through the fog that seemed to have appeared in his sight without warning, but he could clearly see everything that ought to be hidden by the grey fog.

"Everyone is there…." He mumbled before his companion decided to give him a detailed explanation of what was actually going on.

[You're currently seeing through a replica of my eyes. Your sight is similar to mine right now, though a bit inferior. With enough mana, you would be able to do much more with them than seeing the Gray Mana Fog, or your people.

Just think of it as an isolation barrier that prevents people from inside to see anything outside the fog, and that no mortal being is able to see what is happening within the Gray Mana Fog.] Rory said and Dilan nodded his head in interest.

"So that's how it is…but doesn't that mean there should be a Mythical being or something that transcends the mortal threshold, nearby?" He inquired, figuring that there shouldn't be Gray Mana Fog without a being creating, or controlling it.

It was too much of a coincidence that the Gray Mana Fog had appeared at the exact spot where Dilan's Undying Group and many strong people he had killed in the last few days were.

There were more than ten thousand Tier-2 Ascenders on the ground in front of them, and they all belonged to Dilan in one way or another.

They were free from harm right now. No monster could be found around them and they were able to breathe without problem as well.

And that was why Dilan didn't feel too bothered about the Gray Mana Fog even though it might be the creation of a Mythical Creature.

[The Gray Mana Fog could have been artificially created as well. There is not actually the need for a fourth Tier Mythical creature to join the fight, especially if they're Chaos Monsters!] Rory said quite nonchalantly and Dilan agreed to it.

"Alright, then let's go down to meet up with the others," He then said before Rory descended to the ground next to the Undying Group.

Rory had to release her Dragon breath to push aside enough of the Gray Mana Fog so that they could descend properly.

Upon landing, Rory was surrounded by Ascenders, but none of them pointed their weapons at her.

They knew that Rory belonged to Dilan's group and that Dilan was here to fight by their side.

Thus, he was greeted heartily as everyone took a breath of relief knowing that their chances of survival increased by leaps and bounds with Dilan by their side.

"Did the scouts find the Hordes of Chaos and Destruction already?" Dilan asked, first things first. He looked over to Sven, who was in charge of the Undying Group in Dilan's absence and Dilan could see a trace of uncertainty in his eyes.

"The surrounding area is a little bit weird. The scouts found signs of Chaos Monsters but they seem to be concealed due to external factors!" Sven explained, and Dilan immediately thought about the Gray Mana Fog.

'Seems like Chaos Monsters can hide inside the Gray Mana Fog as well, even from people within it…' Dilan arrived at this conclusion in his mind while Rory added,

[Your Ascenders cannot see the Gray Mana Fog, which is also the reason why they cannot see the Chaos Monsters inside it.

You shouldn't have any problems with that for the next few hours until the power I lend you has worn off.]

Dilan surveyed his immediate surroundings and he could easily tell what was going on.

Tens of Chaos Monsters had sprung up in front of him and more of them followed suit in no time.

"We're about to encounter them. Get into position and don't be afraid to fight them head-on!" Dilan shouted after he jumped on top of Rory's head.

His vocal cords were augmented with the use of Mana and everyone's attention turned over to him.

"Everyone here is much stronger than what you guys believe about your strength. Trust your powers, don't get over excited and rush too far ahead, and we will certainly survive!" He added, shouting at the top of his lungs.

His shrill voice echoed through the surroundings and utter silence followed suit for a few seconds until the first few Ascenders couldn't contain themselves anymore.

"Let's slaughter these bitches!!"

"Kill them all!"

"I'm ready for a massacre!"

"Skin them alive!"

Listening to all these comments the corners of Dilan's lips began to twitch.

He remained silent but his expressions were a clear indicator of what he thought about their words.

"Looks like you guys are ready to fight. In that case, let's go!" Dilan let out a war cry, before raising his hand high in the air.

One of his Rings began to glow brightly and a large amount of Mana was drained from his body before a ginormous Inferno erupted high into the air.

Rory roared out and a terrifying, highly oppressive pressure emerged from deep within her body.

Everyone except Dilan felt the true lethality of the Dragon Authority Rory had released at this moment.

The Ascenders felt suffocated, their legs gave in and their eyes watered.

"Was that really neces-…well, nevermind," Dilan said and he shrugged his shoulders after a moment.

'If I am allowed to show off, Rory might as well do the same,' He only thought before retracting the remaining power within the Disintegrating Inferno.

The temperature decreased again but Dilan could see something that interested him quite a bit.

"It looks like some of them can see the Gray Mana Fog and all the Chaos Monsters in front of us," Dilan announced as he looked at his Ascenders.

Sven's eyes were widened and it was obvious that his mind was rattling. His expression revealed his doubts, including the fact that they would have to fight millions of Chaos Monsters with a numerical advantage worse than one in a thousand.

That was bad but Dilan didn't care about that. He and Rory were ready to kill millions of opponents while the others were supposed to finish off care of as many of them as possible using various means.

All of his Ascenders were ready and their preparations were more than enough to be assured of their victory, or so Dilan hoped.

But whether that was truly enough or not was something they would only be able to tell in the future.

And this future was something Dilan looked forward to.