Chapter 702 Obtaining the Bloodline, Breakthrough 1
The moment he had lost consciousness, Lan had found himself in a sea of squirming bodies.
It had been just as disgusting as it sounded. Yet, it had only gotten even more horrific when Lan had realized that all of those bodies… Were actually those of all the people that he had acted as throughout his life.
Each time each and every one of them touched him, he was taken back to that moment when he studied them, and had found out almost everything about them in order to become an exact copy.
Each and every time this happened, Lan found that he would feel as if he were being pulled towards becoming that person forever, but each time, he was able to go back to who he was, mainly because he found that there was a shining island within himself which couldn't be engulfed by the waves that surrounded it no matter how much they roared.
Of course, that island…was what he had just found before all this had happened. It was like a safe place where he found solace with being himself, and it felt great to be there.
Each and every incident like this was a close shave, but with time, Lan became more and more accustomed with being with himself, and not being affected by anything on the outside.
He endured, and finally, it was over.
That… Was when Lan woke up in his body, and found that it had changed in many ways.
Yet, he had no time to slowly discover what these changes were, as he realized that he must have escaped from that spell that must surely have been designed to end his life.
But…why would anyone cast such a thing over their enemy where there was a chance that they would survive?
Lan got this question, but remembering the moniker that he had given to the Warrior mage, he understood that it was probably a futile one
Right now, his first priority was to leave this place, and currently, he was faking that he had actually gotten out of the spell.
Surprise was always the biggest factor in any fight, and he prepared to slowly open his eyes to take a peek and check whether the Mage still there.
Yet, this plan was instantly spoiled by a loud sound which actually made sweat appear on his brow.
It was a roar filled with mindless anger, and it hardly sounded like it was from a human.
Even goosebumps started to rise on his hands, and he wondered just what the f*ck that man had done.
Had he been lying? Had he just knocked him out and subjected him to all that before leaving behind a safeguard to eat him in case he did wake up?
Once again, Lan felt that it was all over, but even after a few minutes of bracing himself, there was no pain, and he didn't find any of the blood that he had expected would be pouring out of the many holes that would have pierced his body by now.
That was when he finally ventured a peek, and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the same room as before.
There were bodies littering the floor, and at first glance, he didn't find the mage in front of him.
Yet, that was when he looked behind him, and found the man seated in a meditative position, almost as if he was training.
Wait… If there were only bodies and this guy in the room, then where the hell had that roar come from?
As soon as Lan asked this question, another one echoed in the room, and it was so guttural that it made him instantly stand-up with the intention to defend himself. It was the fight or flight instinct of any individual that would be triggered when they heard something like this, and so, it was already too late to follow his plan of faking that he was still knocked out.
Lan looked around the room once more, and after a few moments, he realized that it was actually the mage who had been the source.
As for the reason behind him thinking this… It was because there were still the tell-tale signs of anger on his face. To be specific, his eyes were closed tightly shut, and his mouth was twisted into the state that it would be in if it had just let out a snarl.
Was he dreaming of something?
Oh well, what do I care?
He had never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so remembering that the utmost priority right now was to get the hell out of here, he gingerly headed to the door and tried to open it.
Only, the door didn't budge no matter how much Lan tried, and soon, he realized that there must be a formation sealing everyone inside this room.
Great… What now?
After carefully thinking for a bit, Lan understood that the best option…was obviously to have another go at his 'plan' before.
True, he had managed to survive that poison, but surely, no one could live with their head chopped off, right?
Lan got this thought as he stared at a scimitar that was lying on the ground that had belonged to one of the guards who had come to protect the money that the Bank had sent.
It seemed like the best thing to do, so he tiptoed towards it and picked it up before heading to the mage, who was still seated on the ground.
There was no other option, so hoping that the next thing he would see would only be the gushing geyser of blood that would erupt from the mage's headless neck, Lan raised the scimitar high and swung it with all his might.
What happened next would forever be seared into his memory as one of the most terrifying things that he had ever had to witness.
While the scimitar was still swinging, the eyes of the crazy mage opened, and they were so bloodshot that Lan was almost convinced that they weren't even eyes, and that they were just two balls of blood that happened to be in his eye-sockets.
This was accompanied by his mouth opening wide, and like an animal that had been starving for too long, he directly lunged towards Lan's neck as if he wanted to bite it open and suck him dry.
This was just one too many moments of near death for Lan, and his poor heart was nearing its limit. Still, one last time, it put out a burst of adrenaline due to the fear, but even as Lan prepared to jump backward to save himself, the mage seemed to come to his senses.
He blinked and seemed to recognize what was going to happen if he didn't stop himself, as Lan had obviously been too slow. The man had moved faster than any Human Fighter, and Lan had understood from this the reason behind his earlier plan failing.
Casting some sort of spell, the mage stopped himself and flew backward almost as if he had been hit by a wall, and it was clear that it was the only way to stop that much momentum.
Of course, he was unfazed by this, and as he stood up, he underwent a startling transformation.
The grey cloak he was wearing transformed into a golden, shining robe with a coiled dragon, and his face changed into one that seemed very familiar.
Wait… Wasn't that the very king that Lan had just impersonated?
Why the hell was this guy turning into him now? Did he want to do something sick and twisted, like killing him with the face that he had trusted to get him out of that sticky situation?
As if this wasn't cause for surprise enough, his next words seemed so nonsensical that Lan wondered whether he had gone completely crazy.
"I am the King of Lanthanor, and this was all a test to awaken a sleeping power inside you."
It almost seemed that these words had been prepared to sound grand and majestic, but now, they were thrown out without any of that, which was the reason behind Lan's reaction.
Little did he know that this was true, and that Daneel was actually still reeling from what he had just been through.
The offer from Drakos had been very much appreciated by Daneel, as he had realized right away that it was the best method to reach the amount of comprehension he needed regarding the essence of what it meant to be a Dragon.
Drakos had asked whether he should start from the beginning, and then go through all of the major moments of his life. This would obviously take too long, so Daneel had taken a decision that he now realized was pretty stupid.
He had asked Drakos whether there was any moment when his true nature had taken over, and as the Ancient Dragon replied that it had been during one of the only fights that he had gotten into in his life, Daneel asked to be placed into that memory.
And that… Was when he had experienced what true rage was.
Drakos had even warned him that it was something that even he stayed away from, and that he didn't know what kind of effect it could have on Daneel. However, thinking that it was just a harmless memory that he would be living through, Daneel had told the Dragon to proceed.
Even remembering it caused shudders to go down his spine.
Drakos had chosen the exact moment before the outburst which had apparently been later controlled by the Emperor and then sealed until a later date when Drakos had been given access to it, and told that he should never touch it, and only use it as an indication to see if he was reaching that state.
It had been a simple scuffle, apparently, instigated by those who were jealous of his natural talent in formations. There had been two individuals in front of Daneel, but they hadn't even looked like humans - no, their faces had seemed as if they had turned into burning demons, and for some reason, Daneel just felt so… Angry.
It was almost as if they had killed his parents, and that if he didn't kill them right now, he would die.
He had been consumed by that rage, and it had even begun to give him power. Drakos had been using a physical apparition while his real body was elsewhere, but even without him controlling it, he could feel that it had risen from its position and was coming here, right now, to breathe fire and fury upon the world.
He hadn't wanted to stop there, either. Each and every thing he saw seem to be mocking him, and his anger kept increasing by leaps and bounds, until finally, even Daneel's real body had become affected, causing him to lunge forward like that before.
Thankfully, Drakos had seen this and stopped the memory, giving Daneel that brief moment of time when he had managed to use the Basilisk's Breath to save the life of the subordinate on whom he had spent so much time.
Now, he breathed in and out, trying to calm his beating heart and throbbing mind, as he finally understood why the call of fury was so tempting.
In that state, he had felt invincible! He had known that the more he destroyed, the more power he would get, which was in line with the first description of the Bloodline of the Divine Dragon that he had heard about. 'Destruction begets power' had been the exact phrase, and it was perfect to describe this species.
This had also made him understand just how great of a feat it was the Drakos had never succumbed to it, and for that, he had to applaud the Dragon's sheer willpower to never give in and to continue to abide by the memory of his father.
After a minute, the King of Lanthanor finally managed to get back to normal, and he decided that taking it slow was probably the best approach.
So, putting it aside for now, he prepared to end this step, which made him say the statement that horrified the poor man in front of him. All the blood drained from his face, and he looked as if he had seen the most terrifying ghost of this life.
"Long story short, just sit there so that I can drain most of your blood. Don't worry, you'll stay alive, but you won't be able to walk for a month. So if you need to experience the feeling of voluntarily going to the bathroom one last time before that, I suggest you do it now."