Wasteland Echoer.

Adaloni slumped beneath the open stone coffin belonging to the Chooser, staring at the Chooser's bewildered, broken body and the scattered, mangled internal organs.

He originally thought that with the fall of the Chosen One, the order-level monsters that were attached to him and relied on his divine power to survive should also lose their lives. However, this was not the case. The "Hateful Muscle" that had separated from the Chosen One's heart did not stop. Instead, it accelerated its wriggling "steps" and "walked" towards the direction where Dark stood.

“Dark, it seems this white muscle is called ‘Hate Muscle,’ right? It wants to recognize you as its new master,” Adaloni said, pointing to the muscle that was gradually losing its color and turning white.

“When I was chatting with ‘Zero’ at the Grand Platform in Kanosk, he told me that ‘Hate Skin’ only corrupts humans and gods with weak wills. If it had the ability to resist mental interference, then ‘Hate Skin’ would be a near-perfect biological weapon.” Dark said, his gray eyes beginning to gleam with greed.

His face, which had just looked tired and sleepy from the battle, suddenly became energetic. As if welcoming a lost pet, Dark squatted down in front of "Hateful Skin", opened his arms, and unconsciously began to recite the Crusaders nursery rhyme.

"Children lost in the wilderness."

"You will find your way home."

"Don't worry or be afraid."

"The torrential rain and lightning are only temporary difficulties."

"Upon arriving home, head east."

"There is sweet honey and delicious milk there."

"And a warm home."

Suddenly, the "Hate Muscles" stretched upwards dramatically upon contact with Dark's body, expanding from its original size, which was close to the size of two hearts, into a thin sheet of muscle skin five meters high and three meters wide.

Dak's chanting seemed to further confirm the "Hateful Skin's" intention to recognize him as its master. As he stood up, the "Hateful Skin" gently covered Dak's body like a quilt, quickly penetrating the gap between his military uniform and body, transforming into a layer of muscle skin like flowing stream water, completely enveloping Dak.

“This is its second form, the ‘skin form.’ Just now, when it was attached to the Chosen One, it was in its first form, the ‘heart form.’ In the ‘heart form,’ the ‘Hateful Skin’ subtly influences the host’s mind, slowly causing him to develop evil thoughts, which in turn leads him to madness, chaos, and ultimately, destruction.” Dark explained to Adaloni, feeling the lightness and slight itchiness on his skin.

"The 'Hateful Muscle' in 'skin form' does not affect the host's mind. It simply exists as another layer of skin, providing the host with formidable strength, powerful muscles, and some mutated limbs in emergencies. In normal times, it can also assist the host in exercising muscles and improving physical fitness."

"'Hateful Skin' also works in conjunction with my [Troublemaker] class to continuously enhance my agility, and can even become a suit of armor for me in battle, making me impervious to blades and bullets, and making it difficult for them to cause fatal wounds. It is even stronger than the physical defense of the [Guardian]."

As he spoke, Dak took off his cotton-padded coat, which was already feeling unusually hot, revealing his bare upper body.

Adaloni stood up and looked over. Dark, who had fused with the "Hate Muscles," was much more muscular than before. If his body was the lean and muscular build of a Crusader soldier, it was now comparable to that of a boxer or bodybuilding champion.

The "Hate Skin" that appeared on Dark was not as dark and terrifying as that on the Chosen One; instead, it appeared exceptionally beautiful, perfectly matching the Crusaders' aesthetic of strength and power.

"You should put your clothes on. We're in the Shangling Emperor's underground palace, isolated from the freezing cold outside, so it's not so cold here. If you're still wearing this after we go up, you'll probably catch a cold." Adaloni shifted his gaze, suppressing a hint of jealousy towards Dark's newborn physique, and looked at the chosen one's broken body, advising him.

“Don’t envy me, Adaloni. Actually, you sensed the dragon-like monster before entering the dungeon, and so could I. The Chooser not only possesses the ‘Flesh of Hatred,’ but also another, a rank-specific monster belonging to you.” Dark smiled knowingly, put his cotton coat back on, walked behind Adaloni, and pointed to the Chooser’s relatively intact abdomen beneath his ravaged chest.

"Do you remember what the Chooser said before he attacked you?" Dark prompted.

"He said he was a dragon, and he... originally possessed the royal blood of the Flame Empire, so it's not surprising that he has dragon blood." Adaloni stared questioningly at the Chooser's abdomen, at the spot emanating an increasingly strong aura of dragon blood, and asked, puzzled:
"The royal family of the Flame Empire are all descendants of the Supreme Ancestor Emperor Yan Jun. Yan Jun combined with the dragon race, and thus the five major branches of the Flame Empire royal family were formed. Any royal family member born in Flame City, Southern Capital, or Jiang Prefecture will possess the bloodline of the dragon race."

"However, their bloodline is very small, less than 5%, so they cannot use any dragon skills. But the royal family of the Flame Empire is long-lived enough. People like 'Valiant' Yan Ding, 'Calm' Yan Sheng, and 'Scholar' Yan Ming all have lifespans of over a hundred years... Gods like the Chosen Ones emit more life energy when they die, and when they combine with dragon blood, they will produce a similar effect."

“But I smelled the same aura of a Ranked Monster as ‘Hateful Skin.’ If you don’t believe me, try touching it with your hand… your claw.” Without saying another word, Dark picked up Adaloni’s still-mutated dragon claw and slammed it into the Chooser’s abdomen.

hum!
A heavy hum echoed throughout the core area of ​​the underground palace, a space transformed from the "Dwarven Core Domain".

The sound waves caused half of the fixed searchlight overhead, which relied on the [Light] ore for illumination, to break and go out.

Even the spider lilies on the ground that had just been summoned by the Chosen One exploded, withered, and died, oozing out a turbid, putrid liquid that looked like fresh blood.

"The power of the dragon race is higher than that of gods and demonic energy. The Creator's 'Principle' states: The Creator created the world at the end of chaos. In the long years after His claws cleaved through chaos, He created animals and plants, and created humankind in His own image." Dark gazed excitedly at the abdomen of the Chosen One, which shone with a red glow, and recounted:

"He endowed humankind with 'wisdom,' but He knew that divine power was too arrogant and human power too pragmatic. Therefore, He created the dragon race above all other creatures. It can be said that the dragon race itself is a god, a god that exists simply by virtue of its existence."

"Existence for existence, how do you understand that?" Adaloni asked as he used his dragon claws to slash open the Chooser's abdominal muscles, penetrating even deeper into the internal organs and bones of the dragon-like, order-ranked monster.

“Gods can abandon their bodies and traverse the universe with only their consciousness, but dragons cannot; they can only move about on this planet. However, if a god were to descend to earth, he would be suppressed by the power of the dragons. This is why the Lord of the Night chose to deceive the dragons and declare war on other intelligent races, rather than directly controlling the dragons to rule the world,” Dark explained. Just as Dark was about to elaborate on what he had learned, he suddenly noticed that Adaloni's eyes had frozen for a few seconds.

Soon, as a red glow spread from his hands throughout his body, Adaloni felt particularly "intimidated" by some powerful and eerie creature. His body trembled uncontrollably, and his eyes dimmed from deep red, as if his consciousness had been forcibly injected and distorted.

Fortunately, this situation only lasted a few seconds. As Adaloni let out a hearty laugh, Dark realized that Adaloni had finally returned to his half-dragon form.

"A long-lost feeling of power." Adaloni let out a long sigh, as if he had just finished a long sauna. His whole body was soaked, and droplets of sweat dripped down his smooth, firm, and beautiful scales, gradually gathering into a murky pool of sweat at his feet.

Upon closer inspection, Dark noticed that Adaloni had a silver bracelet on his wrist, slightly smaller than his already very muscular half-dragon arm, which was pressed tightly against his skin and almost embedded in his muscle.

"Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha..." The joyful sounds emanating from Adaloni's deep voice echoed and reverberated throughout the underground palace, much like the sounds of thieves and ruin hunters who had just obtained treasure.

The swelling muscles and new scales brought Adaloni's body ultimate pleasure, while the constantly recovering dragon bloodline allowed his spirit and soul to achieve near-perfect sublimation.

The overwhelming sense of power was enough to suppress all fear and panic. The abundant physical strength made the dragon feel more joyful and confident. In the midst of the extreme power and spiritual confidence, Adaloni actually opened its dragon mouth full of sharp fangs and let out a breath that had been suppressed for thousands of years towards the sky.

call!
The fierce flames ripped through the dim space, completely shattering all the remaining fixed searchlights. As the flames rose further, the makeshift barrier made of searchlights was destroyed, revealing the space leading to the ground.

“Dark, I can feel that 50% of the dragon blood in my body has been restored. I am in better condition than when I walked out of the Gate of Karlov a thousand years ago. Look, doesn’t my body look more like a real dragon than those half-dragons in history?” Adaloni looked at Dark with his newly formed vertical pupils, forcefully puffing out his arms covered with crimson scales to demonstrate his strength.

At the same time, his broad dragon tail swayed unconsciously, sweeping the ground to show his inner joy and excitement.

“Indeed, compared to the photos Dark showed me, you look more like a dragon than a human,” Dark nodded and commented.

Now, Adaloni is covered in crimson and solid dragon scales. Except for small areas on his abdomen and chest that still retain human skin, Adaloni, once clothed, shows no trace of his human nature.

The handsome head that originally belonged to a human boy has now become a dragon-beastman. Apart from the outline slightly retaining the human appearance, the perfect arrangement of dragon horns, whiskers, and even teeth shows Adaloni's impeccable dragon identity.

In addition, Adaloni's physique had also expanded. In Dark's opinion, he was now about 2.1 meters tall, and his muscles were much more robust than when he absorbed the "Hate Muscles," making him look like a Lost One with the ability to enhance his muscles.

What deserves the most praise are those wings that truly belong to the dragon race. The crimson wings are exceptionally wide, and a crimson dragon eye grows slightly above each of the shoulders. When fully extended, they exceed ten meters in length. With a slight tremor, they even create a miniature hurricane around them, and the strong airflow almost makes Dark lose his balance.

However, to his surprise, after Adaloni reverted to his half-dragon, or rather, dragon-beastman form, he stood there strangely stiff, his eyes unfocused as he stared ahead, muttering incantations.

After about two or three minutes, Adaloni finally recovered from this worrying state.

Then, he walked up to Dak, stroking the "Khitan Lis Ring" around his neck with one hand, and told Dak about the information he had just seen:
"That ordinal demon is the sacred relic of the dragon race that I sensed three days ago. It's called 'The Return of the Dragon,' a sacred relic created with the soul of the first dragon leader imprisoned in the Dragon Realm, whom the Crusaders call Orichik."

"A sacred relic?" Dark asked curiously, subconsciously reaching out to touch Adaloni's solid dragon scales and the bulging, firm muscles beneath.

Adaloni didn't mind this kind of admiration among comrades, and continued:

"'Dragon's Return' possesses pure power, the power of the dragon race. Its function is also simple: it allows humans to temporarily possess the bodies of dragons to fight, but the user will die after all their blood vessels burst after the battle."

"If used by a dragon or someone with dragon blood, it will activate all the dragon power within the body and deepen the dragon bloodline. Thanks to Hoshino Shota and Light, who have been feeding me 'Dragon Scale Powder' and using 'Crimson Dragon Roar' to help me awaken my dormant and lost bloodline, I have been able to possess this true half-dragon body."

“Dark, I will never be able to, nor will I ever have, a human form again. The ‘Khitan Rys Ring’ has absorbed enough ‘sorrow’, and the ‘Dragon’s Return’ has been combined with my bloodline and soul. The dragon bloodline within me will only grow stronger and stronger.”

“I don’t care, Adaloni. Abandoning your human body is no big deal. Your dragon form… is even more handsome, even more worthy of admiration.” Dark stared at Adaloni’s robust dragon-beastman body and praised him.

“See that, Dark? Right above us, there are two elevators that have been broken for a long time. This means that the entire underground palace has been neglected for years, and the means to leave this place have been broken. But, look further up, the daylight of the surface world has appeared.” As Adaloni spoke, he quickly stepped forward, and in the dim light, he grabbed Dark’s body and lifted him up.

Then, Adaloni began to flap his powerful dragon wings. "Having regained my half-dragon bloodline, I now have the ability to take you away from here. You should know that dragons possess a special ability that no other flying species has."

"What special ability?" Dark nestled in Adaloni's arms, hugging his strong, broad chest tightly, and asked.

“The ability to take off vertically!” Yadaloni said, flapping his wings even more vigorously.

Soon, Dark saw his and Adaloni's feet slowly leaving the ground. He held Adaloni's body, getting closer and closer to the daylight overhead, his hand still clutching a "memory core" that radiated warmth. (End of Chapter)