23 A Dragon's Evolution.

Mark practically unhinged his jaws like a snake as he shoved the apple in his mouth. When he bit down on it, his teeth felt like he had just eaten pure glass and the juice of the apple felt like he had just drank boiling acid. He did not dare spit it out as he chewed the apples' flesh into mush.

He also did not let any of its energy spill out of his mouth as he swallowed the entire thing. He felt agony as the apple went down his esophagus and into his stomach. When it entered his stomach he felt his draconic body begin to break down the apple and absorb its powerful energy.

[This is where the danger will begin. The apple will destroy your body like you were in Tarturus while healing you. Your job is to not lose yourself to the pain.]

'Got it.'

Mark exhaled and closed his eyes as he felt pain engulf his being. At the same time, Ddraig sent the powerful aura from his blood along with the apple to help Mark out. The apple's energy and Ddraig's aura flowed through his mana pathways and body.

They even entered his soul which was what was causing the agony to spill out everywhere. This was why the apples were sought after as they sped up training time many times over. Tartarus was a place of pure torture it would not let its prisoners die. It healed them as the torture went on and this was what was going on to Mark through the apple.

His body began to be destroyed and repaired over and over again. As for his bloodline, it began to grow purer as it absorbed the powerful energy of the Apple of Torment and Ddraig. Though this was not the only thing that was happening and why they could be dangerous.

When its power entered his Boosted Gear, it brought out the negative emotions of his predecessor. Their emotions and consciousness began to rise from the Boosted Gear and enter into his mind and soul.

Elsha and Belzard let them pass on as they were protected by Ddraig. As for Mark, he could feel their whispers and how they wanted him to join them and fall to the Juggernaut Drive, not master it.

They could not accept that as Mark would prove that they were just weak. Mark grinned as the many consciousnesses in his soul were just where they were needed.

'Now that you are here, become my power.'

The powerful Space and Time blessing in his soul reacted and sent pulses of power shattering many of them. This gave Mark the time to begin to devour their consciousness and absorb them. With each one that he consumed, he gained their memories and their knowledge.

Some ran back to the Boosted Gear, but Ddraig and Mark stopped most of them.

[Partner, do not lose yourself to the tide. This is more than even you could take.]

'I got it Ddraig.'

Mark's soul, body, and mind were all growing stronger as he purified the Boosted Gear of the worthless remnants of the past. Mark began to radiate a terrible fiendish aura as consuming this much consciousness was never a good idea. Mark knew that and he did not plan to keep most of the memories he had received.

He sent his consciousness into his soul which had gotten much bigger. As his body was also growing stronger, his body and soul were still in the balance. He dived into the center of the Space and Time blessing and began to purify his soul once more.

Here he began to go through all the memories he had gained, but most of these he discarded like useless garbage. He only kept the ones that pertained to the skills and power of the former Red Dragon Emperor.

Mark's soul compressed and grew stronger the more he purified. Ddraig appeared here in his full form which looked a lot stronger and clearer. He dived into Mark's soul which sent the power of Ddraig's flames through it.

[Mark, I will help you. Absorb a part of my soul and energy and begin to refine your soul. As long as I have your Dragon Mana, I will be able to heal my soul in time so don't worry about me. Once we go through these memories we will continue to the next step.

It is time to forge your Dragon Soul. No need to wait as I did not expect this to happen. It is time.]

'Thanks, Ddraig. I appreciate it.'

Once the two of them were in Mark's soul they worked hard going through each set of memories from the former Red Dragon Emperors. Mark was the first who had unlocked Ddraig's other sealed ability so he only learned more about using the Boosted Gear.

Neither Mark nor Ddraig had any idea how long they worked or how many memories they burned through and absorbed, but it was in the hundreds. Only through the powerful energy of Ddraig, the Apple, and the blessing in his soul did Mark get this done.

Once his soul was free of useless memories Mark and Ddraig prepared for the next part.

[Ready Mark?]

'Ready.'

Ddraig sliced off a shard of his soul which caused the Dragon to roar in pain. Though he did not let this shard leave as he handed it over to Mark who dragged it within his soul.

Here, Mark began to fuse this shard into his soul while he used Dragon Mana to forge his soul like it was a sword. With the aid of Ddraig the two of them worked on each inch of his soul. This process took them what seemed like years, but they did not stop.

After what seemed like 12 years, Mark felt his soul compress down as the energy of Ddraig's soul shard, Dragon Mana, the Apple, and the Space-Time blessing all fused into his body, soul, Bloodline, and Dragon Heart. This powerful fusion of energies caused Mark's bloodline to mutate and mature at a rapid rate.

His blood boiled in his body and his bone marrow burned up before being replaced with something stronger. This snapped him out of his soul space appearing back into his body. Mark exhaled as he opened his eyes which glowed with fire, Space-Time, and the energy of Tartarus.

He felt his body be reworked into something better than before. Mark rose to his feet and roared a powerful draconic roar. In an eruption of energy Mark's body transformed into his new form.

(Image here)

A 35-meter-tall mix of a Dragon and a Fiend. Two giant scaled barbed wings spread out from his back, a long spiked tail, two forward curving horns, and a demonic draconic face, and he stood on two thick muscular legs.

Mark exhaled as pure heat emerged from his lungs. All over his body thick red, black, silver, and even new ones that looked like they glowed with the glow of galaxies spread over his body. Mark roared a roar filled the Bounded Field, which drew the attention of Runeas and Rias.

How could they not when where Mark was once training stood a giant bipedal dragon was roaring? Overwhelming heat, oppressive gravity, time that seemed to warp and colorful energy surged from Mark.

Mark's giant left arm was covered in the Boosted Gear which grew larger and stronger. As for his right arm, the blessing of Ares was glowing like fire. Though this did not last as Mark saw the Spartan symbol move toward his chest covering his scales in the burning Mark of Sparta.

As for the Boosted Gear, Mark and Ddraig had purified it of most of its negative emotions and allowed Ddraig to do this to it. Mark's power flowed through the Boosted Gear which Ddraig used to evolve the Boosted Gear.

Its shape was the same as before but the color was a much darker red and black. The green gem in the middle now glowed with the power of Mark, not just Ddraig. Mark looked at the Boosted Gear worried for his friend.

"Ddraig, you still ok?"

[I am fine, the shard I gave you of my soul was a small one. On my own, it would take me maybe two years to heal, but with your mana and power from my blood, I will be back to my peak in 6 months.]

"I promise to free you from the Boosted Gear in time Ddraig. My friend."

[Thank you. Now, take time to get used to your new power. We will continue the next phase when you stabilize yourself.]

Mark exhaled as Ddraig was right. At the moment his bloodline, body, and soul were all unstable. He would also need rest like Ddraig to let things settle down. He could feel it, his bloodline was not yet at the level of a Heavenly Dragon. Though, it was finally enough to call himself a true dragon.

Maybe even a Dragon King, which was below a Heavenly Dragon. He still had a long way to go to surpass Ddraig, but he had gained some real power now.

"I feel like I just ascended."

[Good. Now, try to return to your human form.]

Mark dragged his domain back into his body and in a blaze of power, he returned to his human form. His human form had gotten quite a bit more muscular than before, but his height had not increased much at all.

Mark took a step out of the formation and stretched his body out. He felt the overwhelming power of his dragon form condensed into his human body. The Boosted Gear on his left arm felt more natural like a part of him.

When he willed it his arm returned to normal while he touched his chest. The blessing of Ares had fused with him and become his power. What it did he did not yet know, but it could only be good.

He walked toward Grimnar's cocoon which began to shake as he began to hatch. It began to absorb Mark's power right now to evolve.

When the cocoon's energy was devoured what emerged was just what Mark wanted. Grimnar was now a three-headed dog with dragon wings like before. Now, he was part Cerberus, Dragon, and Hellhound meaning he needed a new name.

Each of his heads had horns like a dragon and he flew toward Mark happy to have evolved at the same time as his master. He dived into Mark's arms who happily held the three-headed dog.

(Image here)

"So, how does this work?"

Mark sent his mana into Grimnar's mind and found that he still only had one mind. Though his two new heads had semi-brains at the base of their heads while Grimnar's brain had gotten stronger.

It was less Grimnar having more minds and just having his mind expanded. Mark turned around when he noticed Runeas and Rias flying over. For a moment they were just stuck staring at Mark and Grimnar.

The silence was broken by Runeas though.

"So, I guess you are a true dragon now?"

Mark nodded.

"Yeah, that apple did more things than I could have expected. I will fill you two in on the details later, but right now, I and Ddraig are about to pass out."

Mark put down Grimnar and walked toward the two devil ladies and rightfully passed out. All the work Mark and Ddraig had done had drained everything out of them so the two became unconscious.

Rias and Runeas both caught Mark who was out cold at the moment. Rias looked kind of worried for him as she looked at her Ancestor.

"What do we do?"

Runeas picked Mark up and held him like a princess which looked weird. Mark looked like some biker while Runeas looked like a small teenage girl.

"Nothing, we just let him rest. Come on, let's get out of here."

Runeas teleported them all back outside the Bounded Field into the old training room. She placed Mark on the bed before and crawled into the bed with Mark. Grimnar jumped into bed and cuddled up to his master to protect him. Meanwhile, Rias watched this with a small blush.

"What are you doing Ancestor?"

Runeas smiled.

"Just call me Runeas and I am going to sleep with him until he wakes up. Some care like this will make him feel better."

Rias crawled into the bed on Mark's right side while Runeas got left. They both just cuddled up to Mark as Runeas dimmed the light in the room. Rias had to say that cuddling up to Mark was quite relaxing.

Both Devil women just took this chance to give Mark some comfort as he was unconscious. Though they also closed their eyes and fell asleep quite fast as Mark's aura was rather relaxing in this state.