Chapitre 468 : Hastenach’s Envy (Patreon)

Priam Character Sheet by the Discord guys! or https://anovelstatus.github.io/ by @fmorel / Fred on discord. Patreon key: FC9LXDxYC2uDsmQaL7w1dXCOCTTYY4Plus: the Discord. Come say hello!

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The proper response to provocation was often disdain. Some driver honks because you didn’t launch forward the instant the light turned green? Flip him off and move on, as you would only ruin your day by dwelling on it.

The proper response to a dragon was often to flee. Or to play dead, if you ran slower than the people beside you.

From these premises, the proper response to a dragon’s provocation was logically to display your disdain by fleeing. Wrong! Just as two negatives can produce a positive, sometimes you have to catch the world off guard to earn its respect. At least, that was Priam’s view.

“—you have such tiny arms.”

Objectively false when compared to the average human male in his twenties. Still, Priam couldn’t suppress a growl as he remembered his pre-Tutorial body. Before the System quantified his strength, he hadn’t always been diligent about hitting the gym…

Anyway, it was time to make the beast bleed.

Mist.

The Juggernaut vanished, riding his Concept to reappear a meter from a colossal slit pupil. No living being appreciated having that natural weakness targeted, and Hastenash reflexively shut his eyelid. A series of spectral scales flared, layering over the physical ones to shield the socket. A double defense the Juggernaut wasn’t certain he could break head-on, especially with a blitz attack. 

That left cunning.

Priam focused on his killing instinct. Easier said than done, but Jasmine had trained him. Drawing on [Homo Elysian Predation], he concentrated his violent intent on the enemy’s eyes. I’m going to blind you!

The drake tucked his head, convinced the Juggernaut was aiming for the seat of his vision. Instead, the latter rode his mist again to emerge at the base of the monster’s tail. A key limb for balance and attack, but not vital; thus poorly protected. The ideal target for a crippling strike.

[Hoplite Slash].

The skill was only rare, but amplified by his legendary kinetic mastery and guided by a gold-ranked spear, its cutting power was nothing to scoff at. Muscles swollen by Micro, Priam struck.

The shimmer of spectral scales appeared too late, most of them still guarding the drake’s skull. Blood sprayed. The tail hit the ground. 

Without wasting a second, Priam unleashed Pyro, [Kinetic Sovereignty], and Promesse. A storm of flames rose within the Colosseum as a combo of blades descended. The drake dodged the onslaught, while the Juggernaut made no effort to stop it, too busy turning the severed appendage into overcooked minced meat.

“Tiny arms that are more than enough to slice you like sushi,” Priam grinned, invigorated by his success. He landed, barely grimacing as he felt the mash of scales, bone, and cooked flesh cling to his feet like mud. “Good luck putting that back together.”

“Don’t eat your words,” replied the phantom thirty meters away. “One of my ancestors was an Immortal lizard. I bear a fragment of her core.”

Priam’s expression darkened as he watched the raw stump of his opponent’s hindquarters boil. In less than a second, bone, vertebrae, muscle, and scales regrew, just as when the Juggernaut invoked the Merit of his Hydra Title.

“Not bad,” he admitted through clenched teeth. “Let me check if your other tail grows back just as easily.”

“Which one?”

“The tiny one.”

Hastenash growled.

Priam growled back, then dashed forward. Midway through the distance, a thin filament of aether appeared at the height of his neck. Imperceptible to the naked eye, it was Domain which spotted it. Charging at full speed, Priam barely had time to limbo under it to avoid decapitation.

A second, solid strand of aether coiled around his foot like a noose. With a grunt, he used [High Aether Manipulation] to dispel the trap… and was countered by a will wielding a superior tool.

He got [Ideal Aether Manipulation]?!

The snare violently yanked his leg upward. Lifted off the ground, Priam poured raw power into the noose to erase it, betting on quantity to overcome quality. The thread shattered. Finally free, he became aware of his disadvantageous position. He was fifteen meters above the ground, upside down, with his back to an enraged drake. Twisting midair, Priam flipped to face his opponent.

Hastenash had pivoted sideways, his regenerated tail lashing through the air to catch Priam mid-flight. The Juggernaut gauged the danger, then smirked. The limb was ten meters too short to reach him—

Space contracted, collapsing the distance between them. Before Priam could raise a defense, the spike at the end of the tail drove into his navel. The bone failed to pierce his skin at first, then reality folded again.

Lvl Up: [Space Resistance] lvl 12CONST +9

A pseudo-Mythic skill! This bastard has a core!

Bypassing constitution and resistance, the drake’s tail plunged into the Juggernaut’s flesh. Priam twisted to protect his spine, and the stake burst out through his back, fouled with blood and bits of intestine. A nasty wound.

The combo didn’t stop there. The tail snapped, hurling the Champion into the ground with inhuman violence. On impact, his body slid along the appendage without breaking free. Priam screamed as he felt barbs tear into his organs. The vicious drake’s natural weapon bore reverse hooks like a fishhook, dealing damage on extraction and locking the prey in place. 

With a grunt of effort, Hastenash raised his tail again, ready to hammer his opponent to kingdom come.

For most people, agony clouded the mind. The Juggernaut was not most people. He had been chosen by his patron because suffering sharpened his senses. Under the clarity of pain, Priam understood he had to act quickly, or be battered like a rag doll. He just needed a plan. A good one. 

[Homo Elysian Inspiration] answered in the clutch. Drawing on his eidetic memory, his mind sparked with preternatural creativity. Thoughts and ideas collided until one clicked, whispering a way to turn the tables.

As the drake hurled Priam toward the ground once more, [Kinetic Sovereignty] froze his body in space. If the legendary skill slid off the enemy, it could still be used on himself. 

The phantom activated his muscles, but to no avail. Trapped within the Juggernaut’s body, the tail might as well have been stuck in a block of ice. 

Teeth clenched, Priam then invoked the regeneration of a hydra. The hole in his torso closed around the tail. 

The apparent stupidity of the move shocked Hastenash.

“Has the pain driven you mad?”

Priam didn’t answer. Eyes closed, he called upon [Chimera]. The talent responded, ready to fuse some flesh.

Thanks to Micro, the Juggernaut felt his entrails press against the scales of the tail embedded within him… then his body started to exchange cells. Like a graft taking to its rootstock. Not so surprising, as the nature of a chimera was the fusion of multiple bodies.

Priam’s blood flowed into the drake’s tail, and a microscopic war began. More than a mere superficial bond, the Homo Elysian was biologically grafting himself onto the beast, and neither organism accepted it. Rejection set in, the Juggernaut’s and the phantom’s cells waging a merciless war.

“You dare use your body as a biological weapon?!” roared the drake.

“You abandoned your honor first,” Priam shot back, confident in his move. His body was smaller than his opponent’s, but a virus could bring down a colossus. And when it came to resisting, adapting, or mutating, the Juggernaut did not lose.

The arena fell into total silence. At its center: a tensed drake, his tail impaling a focused human. It didn’t look good, but the real battle was invisible.

Where Priam observed the conflict like a general, Hastenash experienced it like a soldier. The drake seemed capable of directing his cells to some extent—something impossible with Micro I.

Either he has Micro II, or he can boost his Supremacy. I’m leaning toward the latter. After all, dragons are the supreme bloodline most tied to the body. Would explain his bursts of speed.

If Priam could afford to speculate, it was because he was winning effortlessly. His cells were extraordinarily adaptive, venomous, corrosive, and possessed [Virus Resistance]. To the resistance, Hastenash’s body was but a massive reservoir of pathogens. 

From the phantom’s grimace, Priam could imagine the course of the microscopic war: his cells ravaging enemy tissue, stealing glucose, oxygen, and nutrients to evolve and replicate endlessly, recycling and feeding on the enemy’s body. This wasn’t a battle. It was an invasion. One the drake had never stood a chance in.

Three minutes later, Hastenash raised a claw with a furious snarl, and amputated his own limb to sever the connection.

“Loser,” Priam smiled.

“You madman. You’re nothing but a parasite!” roared the drake, before widening his eyes. A trickle of blood ran from his nostrils. “What—”

Lvl up: [Curse Anathema] lvl 9DEXT +9WILL +9META (Endurance) +9

“Don’t curse me,” Priam winked before wrinkling his nose. A putrid stench seeped from the tip of the tail still lodged inside him. His cells had digested the flesh like a bacterial colony.

Grasping the tail embedded in his torso, Priam tore it free with his bare hands. Deprived of aether and corroded by his cells, the draconic flesh proved fragile. Lowering his gaze, the Champion inspected the hole in his abdomen. The wound was ugly, requiring months of lifespan to heal. Not sure it’s worth it.

Condensing his mist, Priam plugged the hole in his stomach with an icy seal before lifting his eyes to his now half-tailed opponent.

“Not regenerating this time? Didn’t enjoy my deadly touch?”

“I have some deadly touch for you,” growled Hastenash. “If you want to finish this in close quarters, I’m your drake.”

Priam declined with a shake of his head. Even with [Chimera], close combat is still dangerous for me. At mid-range, he can pressure me with his Ideal aether proficiency. That leaves long range.

Matching the frequency of his soul to his first Concept, the Champion summoned an omnidirectional wave of mist. Beyond concealing him, the fog would serve as a medium to his mist rides.

Reappearing behind the beast, Priam attacked. Pyro answered his call in the form of a spear, which he hurled. The incandescent projectile slammed into the monster’s chest. Packing enough energy to melt a tank, the shot pierced the spectral armor, but did little more than blacken a few physical scales. The drake hadn’t even bothered to dodge.

Hastenash snorted. “My rival is the prodigy of the phoenix. Do you truly think Pyro can defeat me?”

“A man can dream,” Priam replied before jumping. Beneath his feet, quicksand had opened. Definitely a Sand Concept. Or an Earth Concept?

A pair of flaming wings unfurled from the Juggernaut’s back. A single flap propelled him above his target, Promesse in hand, arm raised.

Railgun shot. A mix of [Spear Launch] and [Kinetic Sovereignty].

The weapon broke the sound barrier before striking the enemy’s eye.

A tear of blood running down his maw, Hastenash fixed Priam with his last valid eye. The vertical pupil gleamed, and it was like an icy hand clenched around the young man’s hearts. Paralyzed by sudden terror, he lost control and fell.

Lvl Up: [Petrification Resistance] lvl 2CONST +3

In two awkward strides—the loss of his tail unbalancing him—the drake was upon Priam. Five talons fell from the sky like guillotines. When the challenger regained his senses, the monster’s upper left limb was already pressing down on him. Before Priam could react, he was crushed into the ground.

Beneath him, the sand influenced by the phantom’s Concept was as hard as diamond. The grains scraped against his right cheek, and a pinch slipped into his mouth. Priam spat, planting his hands on either side of his torso as if to do a push-up, and shoved to break free.

The drake might as well have been a mountain. With the creature’s full weight on his body, the Juggernaut didn’t budge an inch.

As he struggled to rise, a claw pressed into his right shoulder blade. His skin dented, but resisted puncture. The maxed, epic [Shear Resistance] was doing its job.

“Even an overclock from a draconic-boosted Micro can’t deal with your defense. Your resistances are well in the legendary rank,” growled Hastenash before calling out, “Nidhogg’s smite.”

Fuck!

Priam wasn’t the only one with Merits. An acrid smoke soon rose from the contact point between his skin and the claw’s tip.

Lvl up: [pH Inert] lvl 3CONST +3

As if a drop of the most powerful acid in the world had been placed on it, the epidermis gave way in a second. The dermis took five times longer. Finally, the hypodermis vanished almost instantly. After piercing all three layers of skin, the talon dug into the flesh beneath.

Lvl up: [pH Inert] lvl 4CONST +3

Priam screamed. Acid burns were maddeningly painful, and the smell of his melting flesh, unbearable.

[Shear Resistance - Epic] has reached level 60—

Without even reading the rest, Priam wanted to accept the upgrade. Maybe the legendary skill would save him? His addon warned him: [Shear Resistance] could merge with [Sun Steel Body] at the legendary rank. Not taking that path would be criminal for his future.

Lvl up: [pH Inert] lvl 5CONST +3

In the time it took to think, the claw had passed through the superficial muscles and begun drilling into the shoulder blade. The flat bone held for ten breaths before giving way.

Lvl up: [pH Inert] lvl 6CONST +3

The pain paralyzed Priam. In a moment of weakness, he was tempted to accept the upgrade to [Shear Resistance]. To sacrifice his potential to end the torment.

His draconic pride rebelled.

Clenching his teeth, the Juggernaut dismissed the notification and pushed again to free himself. [Kinetic Sovereignty] reinforced him, roaring as his meridians heated under the flow of aether.

To no avail.

Lvl up: [pH Inert] lvl 7CONST +3

Ignoring the Juggernaut’s futile efforts, the talon pierced deep muscle, slipped between two ribs, punctured the pleura, and burst into the right lung. Dimly, he heard a voice.

“Nidhogg’s smite is slowing? Don’t tell me you got a corrosive resistance too.” A sigh. “I dare not imagine the years of suffering and dedication it took to reach this level of tankiness. A pity; it won’t save your draconic heart,” said the dragon, pressing further.

Crushed against the ground, struggling to breathe, Priam understood. If he did nothing, he would lose one heart. The second would come, then death. The Juggernaut balked at ending this way, but his position was weak and his options bad. Pyro and Mist could do nothing. Multiplying his constitution with Sigurd’s blessing would only delay the inevitable by a minute… and mere days before his High Tribulation, burning that invulnerability card felt foolish. Only one way was acceptable.

Sell his heart dearly.

“A draconic heart? It’s a Tribulation heart, for a Tribulation Heavenly dragon, you stupid lizard. The kind you’ll never have,” Priam taunted the envious drake.

For a second, the claw stopped drilling. Then, once the message sank in, it was joined by two others.

“Mine!”

With a grunt of effort, Hastenash tore through the lung until his talons closed around Priam’s second heart, the one he had gained from the wyvern of his quadruple Tribulation, the aptly named Tribulation Wyvern Heart.

“MINE!”

Like a snapshot, a phantom copied not only abilities, but temperament. Filled with greed and envy, the drake pulled.

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