The world turned white as a crescent of ice erupted from Shadow. Not ordinary ice, but Nexus Forged Ice. Condensed and refined through the Ice Nexus Elemental Sword Art.
The attack crossed the battlefield instantly.
Seeing its spread, the drake quickly reacted. Stone rose from the earth as a wall nearly six meters thick formed before it.
The ice slash collided, freezing the wall solid and breaking through easily, before continuing towards the drake.
CRAAAAACK!
The drake barely managed to dodge, even then one of its forelimbs was caught. Ice spread across the scales as the limb froze completely.
The drake roared in anger and the resultant sound shook the forest.
For the first time ever in its life was it injured and that was caused by a Novice Rank weakling.
Daniel's eyes narrowed slightly because the attack had worked. The ice itself had never been powerful enough to seriously injure the Earth Drake, but because the battle until now had merely been preparation. The first application of Lightning Dominoes had never been intended to wound the beast.
Every strike, every movement, every brief contact between Shadow and the drake's scales had carried traces of lightning mana into its body. The amount had been insignificant individually almost harmless. Yet dozens of tiny arcs had accumulated beneath its scales, spreading through muscle tissue and nerve pathways.
The effect was subtle at first, a slight delay in movement or faint numbness in its limbs.
The kind of weakness most opponents would never notice chalking it up to battle tiredness however Daniel did.
Then Daniel layered the Ice element over it, famous for restraining and invading. When Frozen Horizon struck the drake's forelimb, the ice mana didn't simply freeze the scales covering the surface. It followed the pathways already opened by the lightning and cold seeped through the microscopic gaps.
Invading its muscle, fibers blood vessels and the mana channels beneath the scales.
The drake's physical defenses were extraordinary, however its internal resistance was not.
The Earth Drake smashed its frozen forelimb against the ground destroying more of the forest.
CRACK!
Shards of ice scattered in every direction.
Most of the frost disappeared immediately but Daniel could still sense remnants of ice mana buried beneath the scales, slowly spreading deeper with every heartbeat.
The drake sensed it too as its golden eyes locked onto Daniel once more. This time there was no contempt or dismissal within them. No assumption that the small human before it could simply be crushed beneath overwhelming strength.
It had realized something dangerous— Daniel's attacks weren't aimed at its body but aimed at what lay beneath it, its only weakness.
The realization visibly irritated the creature as a low growl rumbled from deep within its chest.
"Congratulations." Anna slowly drifted backward, holding back the urge to laugh at his misfortune.
"For what?" Daniel never took his eyes off the drake, though he was curious how could an Earth Drake appear in a Novice Dungeon.
"You've successfully offended the dragon lizard."
Realizing it was being called a lizard, the Earth Drake roared. This time the sound carried genuine fury. The surrounding forest shook violently as trees bent and leaves scattered.
The ground trembled beneath its feet, then something changed. Deep beneath the creature's granite-like scales, faint golden lines began glowing.
Daniel's expression immediately became serious because he recognized exactly what he was seeing— The draconic bloodline, the tiny fragment of true dragon heritage hidden within the Earth Drake's body. It was activating, not fully. Yet even a fraction of a fraction of true dragon power remained terrifying.
Golden light spread through the drake's body like molten metal flowing beneath stone.
Its muscles expanded and its scales brightened as its aura exploded outward.
BOOOOOOM!
The earth itself responded. Massive stone pillars erupted from the ground and boulders weighing several tons rose into the air.
Cracks spread across the forest floor.
The dungeon seemed to tremble beneath the pressure.
"Daniel, I am gonna interfere now, absolutely can't defeat a beast capable of fighting Fifth Stage of Apprentice Rank Awakeners." Anna's expression instantly lost all amusement.
For once, Daniel didn't argue.
The drake's bloodline activation had changed everything. The creature was no longer merely an Apprentice Rank beast. Its body was now borrowing strength from a higher power. Even if only temporarily, the tiny fraction was enough.
BOOOOOM!
The Earth Drake charged again, this time the entire forest shook beneath its advance. Stone pillars erupted from the earth around Daniel while countless boulders launched through the air.
The beast had completely abandoned caution. It wanted him dead from the depths of its soul.
'Now.' Anna sighed as she lifted up from Daniel's shoulder, "You know, I was hoping not to reveal myself."
The next moment— Crimson flames exploded outward. The surrounding temperature surged instantly. A pressure vastly superior to the drake's bloodline erupted across the battlefield.
The Earth Drake skidded to a halt, its golden eyes widened.
For the first time since the battle began— Fear appeared in tis eyes.
Anna rose into the air, her tiny form expanding.
One meter.
Three meters.
Five meters.
In moments, her true form dominated the forest once more. Crimson wings stretched across the battlefield like burning clouds. Countless ember-like patterns illuminated the air.
The Earth Drake roared defiantly as Anna looked down at it.
"Cute."
Hearing this the drake immediately became even angrier.
Daniel silently observed. The situation had become rather one-sided.
The Earth Drake possessed a fragment of dragon blood but Anna possessed the dormant bloodline of a Monarch Butterfly. The difference was enormous.
The drake attacked anyway, lunging forward.
Golden light erupted from its scales as earth mana gathered around its claws.
Anna casually flapped a wing and a sea of crimson fire descended.
WHOOSH!
The Earth Drake disappeared beneath it. The resulting explosion flattened half the forest. When the flames finally faded, the beast crashed through several trees before collapsing.
Its scales were cracked, aura was unstable and its bloodline power fading rapidly.
Defeated, yet somehow still alive.
Anna landed nearby lazily, shrinking back to her small size, "I only used enough force to knock it unconscious."
Daniel nodded, then his gaze shifted toward the drake, something felt strange.
The moment he approached, the dark cracks of Devouring Paragon suddenly appeared across his arms.
The talent activated by instinct.
Looking at this Daniel's eyes narrowed. This wasn't something that had even happened in his previous life.
"That's new." he muttered as black energy surged from his palms. The unconscious drake trembled violently and golden light erupted from its body.
"Daniel." Anna's expression changed remembering how the same thing had happened to her.
"I know."
The Devouring Paragon wasn't extracting mana, vitality or flesh at that moment. It was targeting something deeper. Something older, encoded within the drake's very existence— The True Dragon Bloodline.
Golden streams of energy emerged from the beast, tiny at first.
A fragment of draconic essence was forcibly separated from the Earth Drake's body. The beast roared despite being unconscious, its entire body convulsed.
The golden energy condensed into a droplet.
A single drop, yet within that drop seemed to exist endless mountains, storms, and ancient authority.
True Dragon Bloodline.
Or rather— The microscopic trace of it hidden within the drake.
"You can do that?" Anna stared in disbelief.
"I can though the target must either allow me to do that or must be weaker than me by a large margin. I did the same thing to you but in a very limited quantity, though i was focusing on the bloodline essence rather than the bloodline itself."
"That is horrifying." A strange glint passed by her eyes as she wondered if Daniel could do the same thing to her in the future.
The golden droplet suddenly shot forward, straight into Daniel's chest. Neither of them had time to react.
The moment it entered his body—
BOOOOOOM!
An overwhelming pressure erupted inside him.
Daniel's vision instantly darkened, his consciousness was dragged inward.
Deep inside himself, toward a place beyond flesh.
Beyond mana and blood. A place where bloodlines themselves existed.
There—
The fragment of Monarch Butterfly bloodline suddenly awakened. Golden butterfly wings spread through the darkness.
At the same moment— A colossal draconic silhouette emerged from the opposite side. The two bloodlines immediately sensed each other and instantly decided they hated one another. The dragon roared and the butterfly released a shrill cry.
Due to this sonic fight, the darkness itself trembled.
Daniel stared at it in fascination. Not even in his previous life did he possess two of the top bloodline in Heavens Paradise, "...Wonderful."
The two bloodlines charged and just as they were about to collide—
Something opened its eyes.
Far deeper within the darkness, beyond the bloodlines. A presence that had remained silent since Daniel's reincarnation. The soul that had once stood at the pinnacle of existence.
Both the The dragon and the butterfly froze. The two bloodlines suddenly became very quiet.
Because for the first time since entering Daniel's body— They had noticed who they actually belonged to.