Chapter 75 - Averice

At the moment, the area was cleared where Caelum was before the Gold Dragon God who turned into a human form. He appeared to be a malnourished middle aged man with long unkempt hair and jagged teeth. His eyes couldn't keep out of the gold that Caelum produces. The women were at the side to spectate their fight while the two prepared themselves.

Caelum felt that his magic was not just gold and there is more to it. He wanted to see what kind of power a gold dragon god possessed without copying the magic from him. Taking off his cloak and other outfit where only his pants with a simple sleeveless tank top remain that showed his dense muscles. 

"This is all mine once I defeat you, right?"

Viernes was eager to fight him and claimed his prize that Caelum merely nodded. 

"I'll count to 3 and once it hits zero then we can start."

"Fine! Let's start! This gold shall be mine kukuku!!"

He laughed creepily while Caelum took stances prepared to temper his body since he was close to opening his second gate and needed to find something that could train his flesh. Viernes flared his magical energy covering its forearm with golden dust greedily looking at Caelum. 

"3…2…1…"

Once it hit zero, the two vanish from their spot before powerful shockwave cause ripple of energy to burst into the air and saw Caelum forearm block his strike before giving his own yet it was evaded by Viernes who swiftly twisted its body then tried to strike his face but he was quick enough to lean back and counter his opponent attack. Unfortunately, their fist collided and canceled each other yet Viernes didn't let it stop him. 

"Gold dragon god….Roooar!!"

A vortex of Ethernano gathered within his mouth before blasting a powerful beam of golden light that dispersed the clouds apart. One would think that dispersing a cloud would be easy yet in order for it to be moved, one would need a nuclear bomb due how dense cloud are. 

Caelum was able to evade and upper cut his chin then executed a combo of triple strike front body. Viernes felt the pain from his attack yet his thought quickly went to the gold and increasing his magical energy that suddenly made him realize what kind of creature he was dealing with. 

'His being fueled by greed…'

At that moment, his mind and heart which also his nature was in sync that caused him to grow stronger. This is the power of understanding the power of The One magic. This is the reason why Natsu could come on top because he knows what he desires and what he is fighting for that increases his power even more. It was bullshit but that is the nature of magic.

This could also be said as Faith energy which turns billions of beliefs into reality even those that should not exist will be born. Though, Caelum would only gain that power once he forms his inner world and gains divine spark. 

Caelum noticed that his opponent became faster using the gold due to immobilizing him but he was able to distance himself and strike it with enough force to destroy them.

'Wait am I…getting slower?'

He notices that his perception is growing weaker but barely noticeable while Viernes seems to continuously grow stronger as the fight goes on. Caelum then realized what he was doing and distanced himself even more.

'His…robbing of my strength!? Is this an effect of his magic?? Rather than Gold Dragon God it's more appropriate to call him the Avarice Dragon God.'

Caelum commented on keeping himself at a distance while trying to find a weak spot or wait until he overloads himself with his strength. He wasn't using any Energy and purely relied on his physical innate strength which came from his race. 

"Stop moving!! That gold is mine to take!!"

Viernes roared leaping forward towards him then tried to strike Caelum with the stolen strength from him, However, the moment it was about to hit Caelum was the time that he redirect the force then circulate it before using the momentum to strike the Gold Dragon God that send him several kilometers into the mountain range. 

He was amazed by the strength and power that the dragon god possessed despite holding back in case he accidentally killed it. Caelum used [ Shundō ] to move instantly to where Viernes was standing and stared at him with murderous intent.

'It seems this is going to be troublesome.'

Without a single word, Viernes struck him while receiving Caelum punch having a perfect deadlock then proceeded to execute a series of punches where his strength was being stolen by the Gold Dragon God. However, the opportunity shower itself and Caelum felt his blood boiling in excitement having been so long since there had been enemies that could make him feel alive. 

Every moment spent tempered his flesh and tore his muscle into pieces while being healed instantly. Their fist pushed everything back having a shockwave like hurricane where each strike grew stronger, faster and more precise. 

'Why am I fighting? What is my goal?'

Caelum thought to himself having gained insight in magic telling that one needs the perfect unification of thought and feelings to grow stronger. In the beginning it was only for his family and to have fun yet this was not enough reason to push himself. 

'Sapphire shouldn't be the only reason.'

He thought to himself while his fight raged on where Viernes growing weaker and weaker each strike collided with each other. Caelum could see that Viernes fought for greed while the canon Natsu fought for his friend. 

'I want to….surpass everything…I want, no I will transcend perfect….transcend Paragon!'

His heart seems to feel weight being lifted having finally found his reason and became certain what he truly desires. Caelum wanted to reach the pinnacle of power where he stood before everyone else and was capable of protecting everyone he loved. He could feel the strain was slowly removed from his heart and mind having understood more of what he truly aimed for. 

At that moment, he gave one last strike and Viernes fell into the ground while Caelum woke up from his thoughts and realized that the forest had turned into a desolate land from the aftermath of their fight. He looked down at the beaten dragon god who was still trying to stand up wanting to gain what he wanted.  

"I didn't feel any magical power from you. Did you really only use your physical strength to contend with a dragon god?"

Selene couldn't help but ask despite knowing that it was true upon the display of his tenacity and power to fight using his innate strength. Caelum merely smirked before healing and dressing himself then lifted the unconscious dragon god back to his cave. 

"Alright, we already finished with him, now let's find the next dragon god."

"Are you going to just leave this gold behind?"

"Yeah, he earned it. I got something more valuable than gold itself."

"What would that be?"

"Clarity."

He started walking away leaving Selene confused about what he meant but shrugged it off and followed him as the group left the unconscious Viernes to his accord. After a while, the Gold Dragon God woke up like nothing happened and began to look around spreading his sense to find his opponent only to find them gone.

"My gold!!"

Viernes roared in anguish that he was not able to acquire his prize only to turn and blink a few times.

"Gold!"

He quickly dived into the mountain of gold laughing maniacally in delight upon gaining yet another treasure. From afar, Caelum couldn't help but chuckle at the sight seeing one of the most powerful creatures in this world was easily pleased by measly gold.

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Few weeks later, Caelum headed their way to the next target which was the Water Dragon God, Mercphobia. At that time, he spent majority of it in unifying his magic especially the addition of Viernes, that was an Avarice Dragon magic that gave the power to steal other people power and grow stronger the greedier thee individual was.  

However it had a corrupting effect that once consumed would enter a frenzy mode especially when they set their sight in treasure. Caelum revised the magic to remove the impure part then added it into his [ The One Magic ].

His Sea of Consciousness or Spiritual Sea had solidified rather than expanded, having more definite shape than the misty cloud of rivers that contains his memories and experience. 

He felt near breaking through the Xiantia and shed the leftover impurities to finally be unbound by the mortal needs. Caelum ended his training and continued their journey to find the Water Dragon God.

"Is he at the bottom of the sea?"

Caelum hovering in the middle of the ocean, having found him using the Spiritual sense. He sighed seeing how troublesome it would be trying to fight him underwater. 

"That's his territory and Mercphobia rarely would come to the surface. Few people call him the Leviathan where he would devour ships that stumble upon the region where he slumbers."

"Master, should we try to lure him out?"

"No need, I'll handle the rest."

He dived into the water descending in tremendous speed trying to reach the bottom where Mercphobia was slumbering until it noticed his presence and immediately used a water dragon god roared that head his way but he merely struck it with his fist.

The pressure of the water was weighing on Caelum yet it was the perfect environment to adapt into. 

"Who are you and why come to my region!?"

"I'm just here to subdue you and compare myself with dragon gods." 

Mercphobia wondered if he was an idiot for having foolish reasons but didn't care and began to sense a wave of water attack that appeared like a blade slash that Caelum struck. He was surprised at the power of his opponent yet didn't stop him from trying to shackle him using the surrounding water. 

Caelum was surprised when the water felt alive and couldn't move for a moment then witnessed Mercphobia gather magical energy in his mouth before blasting yet another Dragon God Roar straight into his opponent that reaches even the surface. 

Mercphobia turned to see his intruder was unmoving and removed the shackle then quickly tried to eat him believing he had done. 

"Checkmate."

In an instant, Caelum recovered from the attack and soon gathered his strength into his fist that caused Mercphobia to see 'Death' head his way then soon feel the force colliding into his scale that instantly knocked him out cold.

'As expected he would be a lot stronger within water than outside.'

He stared down at the unconscious dragon having been slightly bruised by the attack earlier due to the fact that the water had given him more power than the surface. This was his territory that gave him the best environment possible and gave an endless amount of magical supply. 

Caelum quickly healed him before ascending back into the surface and everyone was waiting for him. 

"So who's next?"

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Unknown location. Three cloak individuals could be seen standing in the mountain range looking afar into the distances. 

"Our lord had said that this transgressor had been going around fighting the dragon gods. We should head to one of them and wait for him to come, then prepare a trap."

"I still can't fathom how mortals could hurt our lord."

"We should not treat that 'Thing' as a normal mortal. Let us go and prepare. Disappointing our lord is the last thing we should ever do."

The other two nodded while the grassland and forest around them began to wither before completely turning into desolate land where even the animals were killed in the process. They soon vanished from their spot and headed toward their destination.