[Sacrificial Black Hole] is a technique that not only absorbs the energy of its wielder and the opponent, but turns that energy into an attack that decimates everything around it.
This is why it's called a suicide skill—it's meant to use both your energy and your opponent's energy against the opponent. It's an effective trump card but has severe backlash. For example, one must sacrifice a great deal of one's lifeforce in order to activate the skill. That lifeforce will not be returned even if you do survive.
Arnold is putting his clone's energy on the line just for this skill. Even if it dies, he can just conjure another clone and have it teleport back here to take Suarif's soul.
Depending on how much energy is used, this skill can even destroy a small country. But that's a bit too excessive as he doesn't want to disintegrate Suarif's body.
Maybe it's Plesiduxis' influence making him sympathetic enough to leave Suarif's body behind so that he can be buried…
…
Suarif unleashed his ball of energy the moment Arnold's fists collided.
The black dome surrounding Arnold expanded rapidly, colliding with the lightning energy that the Dragon Lord of Wrath unleashed.
The world shook and sky roared as the two energies tried to gain dominion over each other.
Just the shockwaves alone decimated countless critters, trees, water sources and vegetation in a 5km radius. If there were any living humans before this, they would've been particles of dust right now.
"Ghhhk!" blood erupted form all Arnold's orifices as he tried to hold his fists together.
Just like two of the same poles of a magnet refuses to stay together, the energy unleashed by this skill threatened to separate his hands, to kill the skill. But letting the space energy win will lead to his death.
But the risk is worth it. With the lifeforce of the four dragon loprds combined with his own, he'll be able to kill Suarif.
"Haaaaahhhh!" screaming till his throat bled, he tensed up every muscle in his body till his body screamed at him, just to hold his fists together.
**
The forest biome had turned into a wasteland, most trees scorched by the blast while a giant crater became a new lake for the rivers that ended up getting caught in the blast.
There were no signs of life left in the forest, a consequence of having this much power.
Pity barely manifested in Arnold's mind as he coughed up blood—yes, he was still alive.
But he wasn't the only one.
Suarif, charred from the blast he himself created, could barely support his massive body, his legs trembling and blood falling like water down a waterfall.
"Lost the strength… to speak, huh?" though his glare was still as strong as before, all that came out of his throat were gurgles.
A large chunk of his neck and chest was incinerated in the blast.
Arnold pulled out potions and began to drank them. They were of the highest tier, so effective and potent that they can regenerate limbs.
But they barely did anything for him.
While not as extreme as a thirsty man putting his tongue under a faucet dripping what little fell, the potion barely energized him. It could heal his body and cleanse the blood, sure, but it can't recover all that lifeforce he lost. And with all that lifeforce gone, he can't hold onto the Aether much longer since even his internal energy reserves have almost dried up.
"I have one thing left to do…" Arnold raised his hand, pouring the last bits of Aether into his next skill.
[Sword Tribulation] – The skill given the name "Bane of Giants and armies".
While not on the level as he usually could, there were still a hundred golden swords struggling to maintain their glow as the energy he poured into them just wasn't enough to keep it active for too long.
Suarif tried to spread his wings but he turned his head, to find both his wings gone.
In a final struggle, he roared but all that came out was a gurgle. He used every ounce of strength to charge at Arnold. While he was on the verge of death, his jaws still functioned perfectly so he could crush his opponent with his bite alone.
"If you had learned martial arts, I would've lost a while ago…"
But dragons are too prideful to use the techniques created by humans. This pride can lead to their deaths.
The golden swords above quickly gathered in a single spot, creating a ball of light that almost matched the intensity of the lightning energy Suarif used moments ago.
When all the swords finally gathered in that place, the light took shape, revealing a gigantic sword of light. Arnold swung his arm down and, within milliseconds, the sword responded.
It drew a downward arc slash.
It sliced cleanly through Suarif's neck.
Boom—!
Rumble—
The Dragon Lord of Wrath's head fell to the ground, still holding a fiery glare in its eyes. Its mouth moved for a few seconds trying to say something but then the light in its eyes dimmed.
The lone survivor slowly approached the head.
Ding—!
· Quest has been completed!
· Title obtained – [Dragon Slayer]: When fighting any of the dragon subspecies, your stats increase by 25%.
"System… can you… take control… of me… for a second and… extract… the so—" before he could finish, he fell unconscious, drowsiness hitting him immediately after the adrenaline wore off.
◊◊
"Ugh… So even a clone can get tired, huh…" he was laying on the ground with his back on the ground staring upwards, "How long was I out?"
--A few hours. Soul absorption took an hour.
"I see… Hold on!" he flew up, "The dragon lords!"
--They are still under hypnosis. Due to continued use of the Halo, Player Arnold is now able to use it more efficiently and even when unconscious, so long as a constant energy flow is maintained. From records, Sebas taught Player Arnold to maintain a constant energy flow even when sleeping when you were 8 years old. The energy consumption increases when asleep so you should be careful doing this.
The point of this is to constantly be on guard of your surroundings and have your Soul Weapon manifest to protect you. Arnold never really needed it as he has an abnormally perceptive Warrior Sense but it came in handy today.
"Ah…" he pulled out Luxtivin and looked at his reflection on the dark purple blade, noticing his eyes were still red, "That's good…"
He looked to the stray panel in the corner of his vision—the quest completion window.
"Where's my reward?"
There was a title but you can't exactly call that a reward. It's not like he's constantly going to be killing dragons so it's basically useless to him.
--Answer: Reward will be granted by Ladiath. Killing a dragon lord does not advance the story, influence the characters, or benefit the System in any way.
"I guess the devs never intended for players to actually meet Ladiath unless you're on a second or evil playthrough. His questline is basically just freeing the Offspring from the Demon Realm, helping him obtain a soul and storm the heavens. That goes against the point of the game. If the divine realm collapses, so will the continent. There will be nothing left to save."
Then what's the purpose for his existence? He has such a ridiculous power that makes it impossible to kill him. Unlike the Star Beast, Arsnoria and other villains, his power is unpredictable. It's even stranger than the Soul King's curse.
"Let's finish up here and head back then. My internal energy might be on the verge of running out but at least I have some to spare." He took a look at the destruction, "What country am I even in now?"
After storing Suarif's body in Inventory, he teleported back to the castle.
**
Remarkably, they were still under the hypnosis just like the system said.
"I wonder if this eye would work on Ladiath… No, probably not." As he hovered near the ceiling of the castle, he pondered, deciding to abandon the idea entirely.
After he opened his Inventory, Suarif's body flew out, along with his head, crashing onto the floor with a heavy thud and rumble that shook the mountains. He immediately sensed the dread felt by the dragon lords upon seeing their brother's corpse.
Nyrathrom and her siblings boiled with rage. After using this ability for so long, he's grown to be able to sense a bit of what they're feeling.
If the hypnosis was released now, Nyrathrom tear him apart.
Arnold took a look down the hallway of this castle. He's always wondered what these dragons kept in this castle. Considering they're ancient beings who saw several eras of humanity, they must've collected some strange and mysterious things as trophies.
Should he pillage it?
No, he didn't have the time for that. If anything, he wanted to end the skill right away to feel whole again. Splitting your subconscious into different beings feels very strange and hopefully he doesn't have to do it too much.
It's a pity Mian Xi's skill only works on a cleared mind so he actually had to work hard in that fight.
'I should still keep an eye on the capital after recovering my internal energy so I can't rest just yet.' He'll have to eliminate every variable that will threaten the direction of the original story.
The heroes must suffer just as they did in the game.
Anyway, while he does find splitting his subconscious unpleasant, he still needs to report his success to Ladiath. These clones will come in handy for multitasking in the future.
He was excited for what else he can unlock in the system's new skill tree, exclusive only to him.
"Now then," he undid the hypnosis and put the Virgin's Blood Ring and Luxtivin back into his Inventory, "Shall I return?"
The moment the Halo's power vanished; several earthshattering roars came from all directions and all four dragon lords charged at him.
Before they could tear him apart, he faded into particles of light.
Arnold von Berkley… was the second human being in history to take down a dragon lord.
◊◊
-Cloning skill has been cancelled. Strength allocation on cooldown – 6 hours.
-Prepare for backlash of combining human consciousness.
It wasn't even a second later that the warning came that he felt a splitting headache assault his head. It felt like his skull was being slammed with a hammer.
"Ugh!"
"G-Guild Master!?" Tenma shouted in worry when Nova bent down while grunting, worried that it might have to do with the evil spirit.
In truth, Gederick's martial spirit is still fighting the spirit. Such a troublesome opponent.
"Are you okay, Guild Master?" Galadriel, dressed in her full armor, came over as well. With her new class, she's even stronger than he was in his original body.
"Y-Yeah…" there was a pained expression on his face but he nodded.
'Fuck, the backlash is intense.' Even now his head was pounding.
Looking behind him, he saw a crowd of adventurers walking the forest path, numbering in the several hundreds of people. There were some mercenaries who joined in as well, probably to reap the same benefits but all help is welcome.
"I-I'll perform a spell on you so please hold on." Secta—no—Shealis caught up seeing him struggle.
For some reason, this woman's Condition showed: Admires Nova's leadership skills. Wishes to travel with Nova more to witness his heroic deeds.
"Uhm, 3rd-Rank Magic [Feel Better]."
'That didn't sound like a real spell.'
After a white light embraced him, Arnold was instantly refreshed by the divine spell. His headache vanished and he even felt a bit stronger.
"T-Thanks…" He knew what spell she used but couldn't maintain a straight face at this divine titan who lacks such basic common sense.
Hearing that, she smiled.
'Don't grin so proudly at me like that after casually using a 7th-Rank spell!'
7th-Rank Magic – [Giants Rejuvenation]
Looking at her sparkling eyes, he was starting to amuse at the thought of revealing that he's Arnold von Berkley. But he's not that sadistic. He still needs this air-headed Divine Titan for the battle ahead anyway.
"Nova, you suggested scouting ahead earlier," Daraia came up to him, "I'm going with you."
"Alright…"
He wanted to check if Serz's route was still in business. If so, he'd have no choice but to eliminate them all since they'll be hostile to such a large group. He'd have to kill the route manager as well who didn't keep his end of the promise despite Arnold taking care of the demihumans.
"Shall we get going then?"
After he nodded, Daraia turned to the ground, "Walk a slower pace! There might be danger ahead of us so Nova and I will be going ahead to scout."
"Take care of the group while we're ahead, Elora." He said to his vice guild master, also equipped in her full gear, coupled with magic sheets stuck to her staff like talismans.
"Roger!"
**
Nova and Daraia ran ahead, their figures merely a smear in the eyes of an ordinary human.
"I have to say," now a kilometer away from the others, Daraia spoke to him, "I was skeptical when that hooded merchant said you could help me become astronomically stronger than I am now. But looking at your party members, they're clearly different from the rest. Just by looking at them, I can tell Galadriel is far stronger than I am while that Tenma girl is on my level despite becoming an adventurer not even a week ago."
"Do you feel disheartened as a leader?"
"Of course not. It makes me determined to grow stronger knowing this isn't my ceiling." She flashed a grin.
"Let's focus on that after we finish this quest."
He was planning on getting on the HQ's good side by becoming an SS-ranker anyway. All that changes is that there's less work for him. Now he can obtain information and quests not known to the general public or even the adventurers. Only the SS-rankers would have access to this information and quests.
"A carriage." On guard, Daraia called out.
In the distance was a carriage parked next to the road—no horse in sight. Near the carriage stood a man with dark skin, clearly foreign to this country.
"I know that guy."
"Huh?"
The man soon spotted them and approached after taking off his hood.
"My friend~" the man smiled, showing his white teeth and speaking in a foreign accent.
"Is everything alright with the route?"
"Yes, the path is clear thanks to you. Due to your hard work, most of the demihuman camps are deserted so you should be able to cross the border safely."
Hearing this, Daraia glanced at him, "I was expecting us to fight the demihumans, who's overrunning the borders of both the empire and the Holy Kingdom but you thought this far ahead before I did?"
"I handled the situation before the HQ even decided to partake in the joint quest."
Taking that as a jab, she smiled bitterly, "The board of directors didn't understand the gravity of the situation despite me trying to convince them. As you know, mobilizing more than half of the country's adventurers for one quest doesn't happen very often. And who's to say most of the adventurers aren't busy with important quests that can have consequences if not handled in time or abandoned prematurely? It may even damage the relationships we have with the quest givers."
"Thinking of your people isn't bad, Guild Master. But you shouldn't be worrying about damage to your position as a Guild Master for decisions that has the fate of the world at stake."
"Forgive me for not being informed about how serious this situation is." Her bitter smile curled even more.
"If the thing called the World Tree is the reason our world has mana and prevents demon portals from forming, it's pretty obvious that it dying will have drastic consequences even if you didn't know it can begin Ragnarok and throw the realms into chaos."
"Shouldn't the blame lay with the queen who didn't make the quest public in the first place to get more supporters?"
"Setariah might be an Elf but she cares for the lives of reckless humans who want to reach some imaginary finish line first."
"She should've contacted me first."
"The SS-rank parties have as much authority over the adventurers as you do, not in terms of profession but their contributions to the world. Whereas you are in a position where you have to worry about the damage to the funding and support you receive, which can be impacted by your decisions."
Just as revolutions can start with the rise of one popular and respected peasant, regardless of the king's power, adventurers choose to follow the adventurers they look up to.
Sure, they wouldn't have been able to amass nearly half the country's high-ranking adventurers but the number of adventurers who fight purely for the safety of their home country were still in the majority. Maybe they're driven by whatever profits they'll lose if the World Tree dies, but they're still thinking of their home country if they fight, regardless if there'd be a reward.
That's how the strongest guilds fought back in the day. They didn't think of the profit they'd gain because at that point in their careers, they already had enough in their treasuries and only move for their own enjoyment and to protect.
If some ancient endgame boss, that needs entire guilds of hundreds of people to take down, suddenly invaded the server, the players will fight to protect their bases and the region they reside in.
The SS-rank adventurers are the same—well, most of them. But the exceptions don't really matter.
"Ugh, you win this time, Nova."
The groups of adventurers could already be seen in the distance. Seems like nothing went wrong along the way.
"U-Uhm, will you need anything else from us, sir? We'd like to do business again in the future." The route manager tried to join the conversation during their heated discussion, rubbing his hands together, clearly intending to use Arnold's abilities in the future.
"Sure, I'll come find you. I'll ask again: are you sure the route is clear?"
"I'm positive about the route like I said but… You know that ancient monster that suddenly popped up?"
The one Selia summoned. The route manager was told to steer clear of the region where they left it.
"What about it?"
"There are whispers that the Tigerkin Beast Lord is going to try and subjugate it so the demihumans might flock to this part of the country again once it's dead. And I hear that they have their eyes on the Elven country. As you know, when a war goes on for too long, supplies start to run out—simple yet terrifying truth for their targets. As such, the best thing to do is raid a region for supplies and equipment for your troops. I'm not saying it's certain but since you all are going there, it's best to be on guard since all the Beast Lords might support this decision."
"I was expecting this…" Daraia murmured to herself then spoke up, "Hopefully we can talk it out. Though the other side consists of barbarians so that's wishful thinking…"
That would be troublesome. Arnold doesn't want to fight so many demihumans. What was the point of acting discreet in preparations for this joint quest then if those savages can just do something like that anyway?
'Guinevere better hurry up and put an end to that war. I don't want to get involved.'
Thinking of her, he recalled that he promised Adavire something. Since he has his clones and the Inventory feature, he can just teleport back and forth and have the clone return the ring whenever necessary.
'But first I have to recover my internal energy…'
"…Thanks for the information." Arnold shook the man's hand, choosing to put that possibility at the back of his mind.
After bidding farewell to the mysterious route manager, they waited for the rest of the group to catch up before continuing on their journey to the Thalivielle Kingdom.