CHAPTER 126: DRACONIC ESSENCE

"Roar!"

Before Malcolm could look behind, Lucien once again roared in hunger before directly disappearing from his position.

Malcolm’s hand, which was grabbing his shoulder, just lay in the empty air as Lucien was gone before he could even register.

"What-?"

The speed at which Lucien disappeared was so fast and instant that Malcolm only managed to see his faint shadow before losing his position.

And the most important thing he noticed was that Lucien wasn’t using the teleportation skill he showed him before.

Instead, he was purely relying on his physical body to move at a speed that would put even an assassin to shame.

"Roar!"

But he didn’t get to be distracted too much, as once again a loud roar broke the tranquil environment of the entire Dimensional Vault.

"Swish!"

Only, this time, the roar was so loud and powerful that it directly swept away all the mist around, revealing the clear figure of a huge dragon that had left its place.

It was the same dragon covered in blazing red scales that shimmered like molten metal, its horns curving back like black spears.

Only, rather than coiling around the enormous chamber with its eyes closed as if sleeping, it was now awake and roaring in response to Lucien.

"What—how is this possible?"

When Malcolm saw such a scene in front, he was just as shocked as Velmara.

After all, wasn’t that figure a dragon corpse, an asset to be sold by their Goldveil family?

When did it become alive again?

"No, it isn’t alive."

However, after the initial shock, Malcolm suddenly realized that although the huge dragon was now up and roaring out of its confines, its eyes looked hollow just as before.

Moreover, he couldn’t sense any kind of sanity or any life in such a massive figure.

Rather, it almost resembled a corpse reanimated by a necromancer. Malcolm could feel that this dragon was just reacting to Lucien’s awakening as if it was acting on...

"Instinct... it is acting on instinct."

Sure enough, even Velmara realized what was happening right in front of them. But he saw more.

"It seems its Draconic Essence is still intact, and it reacted to Lucien’s Dragon King physique awakening."

When he said those words, Velmara visibly turned greedy as his wings fluttered silently as if even he was tempted to fly over and grab that thing.

After all, essence and blood were two different things. If he could absorb draconic essence, he was sure that he could fully awaken his ancient bloodline of Vermillion, directly returning to his roots.

Not to mention how strong he could get.

"Sigh... this kid is so lucky."

However, Velmara had already learned his lesson, and he wasn’t going to act on impulse anymore.

Moreover, he wasn’t going to steal something from Lucien, who was clearly in the process of transformation.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t greedy and jealous.

"Do you think I should let him get close to that dragon?"

Malcolm, of course, saw Velmara’s reaction and was quite satisfied by his control over his greed.

So, he ignored his gaffe and asked something else instead.

After all, right now Lucien was heading toward the roaring figure of the dragon at extreme speed.

Due to his physical awakening, his body was now far more powerful than before.

Hence, he could already use 198 points of agility entirely, directly displaying a speed that was almost close to the peak of the Arcanist Realm.

He had directly jumped two full realms without even knowing it. No wonder Malcolm was caught off guard.

To be honest, if not for the absurd situation of the reanimated dragon, he would probably doubt his eyes at how Lucien was traveling like this, as just awakening a physique shouldn’t change someone this much.

"I don’t know. But we should probably stand close and help him if possible. He isn’t of right mind."

Velmara heard Malcolm and gave his advice before swiftly changing his shape to maximum size.

Fortunately, the Dimensional Vault they were in was very large and quite stable.

So, it wasn’t a problem for a few ruckuses to go unnoticed. Maybe they made it this tough because there was a dragon corpse sealed inside.

"Let’s go!"

Once he was at full size, Velmara allowed Malcolm to ride him before disappearing, reappearing right next to Lucien.

Although Lucien was very fast, he was just using his physical power after all. His speed was indeed impressive, but it wasn’t enough to outrun Velmara yet.

"Roar!"

But right now, Lucien was far gone from using his strength wisely. The only thing on his mind was the extreme hunger that just wouldn’t leave him alone.

His entire body was trembling with craving, each cell within him burning in hunger, asking for relief, pleading for sustenance.

And that sustenance was the thing right in front of him that he needed: draconic essence. With his newly awakened senses and the faint resonance, he could feel the essence, taste it in the air, before even touching it.

It didn’t take long for Lucien to arrive at the massive figure of a dragon that was looking at him with those hollow, lifeless eyes.

After roaring one time in response to Lucien, it was now just standing steadily, purely on instinct, while waiting for him to get closer.

And as the distance closed, so did the thrumming from its heart that was slowly getting louder and louder.

It almost felt like a rhythmic drum beating in response to something.

"BANG!"

Just as Lucien came close to the massive figure of the dragon, both Velmara and Malcolm heard something colliding.

The sound was very low at first, almost drowned by the constant roar of Lucien.

But it got louder and louder until it was clear for them to hear.

"What is that?"

Velmara couldn’t help but mumble and looked toward the place where the sound originated, only to find that it was actually from the chest of the dragon.

"Draconic Essence, it is trying to come out of that dragon’s body."

Malcolm spoke in a solemn tone after realizing what was happening.

Now that he looked at everything clearly, the reason this dragon roared just now and was behaving like this was because its essence was telling it to.

Draconic essence, as the name suggests, was a condensed manifestation of a dragon’s origin, born and tempered in their bones.

Although it didn’t have its own consciousness, due to its high origin, it had the ability to choose its vessel.

And the vessel it now chose was Lucien, who was in extreme need of it right now.

"You are right... he is indeed quite lucky."

Malcolm said to Velmara after realizing the ins and outs of things.

Since such a thing had already chosen Lucien, the danger was now far lower than he imagined. Only, it seemed the essence was having a hard time coming out of the body of that dragon.

’Can it... get out?’

"Bang!"

Just as Malcolm doubted and thought of helping if necessary, his eyes widened in shock as he saw Lucien suddenly hurl himself forward with explosive force, landing directly upon the dragon’s chest.

In an instant, he was already in the area of the dragon that was trembling, drumming loudly, and swelling as though something within was trying to burst free.

Then, to his astonishment, Lucien clawed at a crimson scale with one hand, while the other, already hardened with the same draconic scales, smashed right at its chest, desperately trying to puncture through.

Even his teeth tried to sink into the dragon’s chest, biting madly to quell his unbearable hunger.

He looked exactly like a starved hound that had finally found meat. Only, Lucien was unable to get the meat yet.

After all, what he was trying to puncture with his bare fists was a Lord Realm dragon.

Even if it had been dead for who knows how long, how could its body be so easily torn apart?

If not for the dragon itself breaking apart the restrictions around it, and the draconic essence allowing Lucien to get close, he wouldn’t have even been able to come this far.

Lucien’s crazed attempts managed to leave nothing but faint scratches upon its scales, while his own body split and bled from the force of impact, his wounds piling up with each futile strike.

Rather, the attempt of the draconic essence from inside was fruitful, as it managed to dent the chest ever so slightly.

Only, at this pace, it might take far longer for it to come out, during which Lucien might just die of hunger.

But even though the situation was out of hand, Lucien did not stop for even a moment.

His eyes were already crimson, his sanity drowned by the storm of hunger raging inside.

So, with every ounce of his massive strength, he sought to tear the dragon open, as if driven only by instinct and desire.

"It seems I have to help him. Velmara, get closer and protect Lucien while I prepare the spell."

Malcolm saw the situation and decided to help Lucien. But even for him, piercing a dragon’s chest while keeping Lucien safe wasn’t easy.