After hearing Ying Li's response, Richard fell silent. Under the collective gaze of the villagers, he activated his flight ability and soared across the lake toward the Dark Gate.
Within moments, he arrived before the imposing structure—a massive barrier composed entirely of dragon scales that towered several stories high. Standing before the peculiarly shaped portal, Richard studied its ancient craftsmanship, then took a deep breath.
Raising his right hand, he summoned his Omega-level matter manipulation powers.
Matter decomposition!
Under the influence of his ability, the dragon-scale gate began to disintegrate like smoke dispersing in wind. In mere seconds, the Dark Portal—which had contained the Dark Dwellers and Soul Eaters for millennia—vanished completely.
Witnessing this from across the lake, Ying Li, Guang Bo, and the others adopted grave expressions. Though none had ever personally encountered the Dark Dwellers or Soul Eaters, they had studied the ancient texts left by their ancestors. One certainty remained unquestioned: these entities posed an extreme threat. Otherwise, the Divine Dragon and Ta Lo's founders would have chosen to eradicate them outright rather than merely sealing the portal.
With the Dark Portal's barrier removed, the Soul Eaters emerged first—smaller creatures with hideous appearances, bat-like membranous wings, and multiple tails of varying lengths. They swarmed from the cave behind the former portal like wasps defending their violated nest, immediately converging on the one who had "liberated" them.
Despite their overwhelming numbers—hundreds, perhaps thousands strong—Richard regarded them with casual indifference. As the Soul Eaters descended upon him, he summoned the Hellfire he had plundered from the Spirit of Vengeance.
Golden flames materialized around him, hovering within a meter or two of his body. Unlike Ghost Rider's transformation, Richard merely conjured the mystical fire, allowing it to linger in his vicinity.
The contained flames lasted only momentarily before expanding outward like a fiery hurricane. The Hellfire spread in all directions with astonishing velocity, growing increasingly massive as it expanded. Within seconds, the inferno had engulfed every Soul Eater that had launched itself at him.
As otherworldly beings from the dark dimension, Soul Eaters possessed immunity to conventional physical damage. Ordinary attacks posed no threat—they barely registered as minor irritations. Without dragon-scale weapons, Ta Lo's guardians would be as defenseless as ordinary humans against these predators.
While the Soul Eaters resisted common physical assaults, Hellfire clearly fell outside their range of immunities. When the mystical flames made contact with the creatures, they demonstrated power far exceeding even dragon-scale armaments. Each Soul Eater touched by Hellfire evaporated instantly, without even the opportunity to vocalize its agony.
When Richard recalled the expanding flames, every last Soul Eater had vanished without trace, as though they had never existed.
The spectacle left Ying Li, her sister, Guang Bo, Ming Yue, and the assembled villagers stunned in disbelief. Though they understood Soul Eaters could be destroyed, their knowledge suggested only dragon-scale weapons or dragons themselves could harm these entities. All other attacks were presumed futile.
Richard had now demonstrated a crucial truth through direct action: Soul Eaters weren't nearly as formidable as Ta Lo's people had believed. Their perception of the creatures as insurmountable threats stemmed from their own limited power. With sufficient strength, even without dragon-scale weapons or Hellfire, energy-based attacks alone could annihilate these beings.
Having effortlessly dispatched the Soul Eaters, Richard retrieved Masamune from his system space. The moment he drew the blade, the cave behind the former Dark Portal began to collapse, massive boulders crashing down like a stone avalanche.
In the next instant, the Dark Dweller emerged—a creature bearing the same hideous characteristics as the Soul Eaters but magnified hundreds of times in size. It burst from the rubble like a ravenous beast breaking free of its cage.
In terms of sheer mass, the Dark Dweller dwarfed any adversary Richard had previously confronted. Yet in raw power, it fell significantly short of opponents like Dark Phoenix or Ghost Rider.
The massive entity soared skyward, unleashing a thunderous roar that seemed to express thousands of years of pent-up rage. Witnessing the Dark Dweller's emergence, the villagers' faces grew ashen with an instinctive, primal fear.
Richard, holding Masamune, ascended slowly to position himself before the colossal creature. The Dark Dweller acknowledged his presence with an enraged bestial howl before activating its soul-devouring ability. It opened its maw—filled with countless razor-sharp fangs—attempting to extract Richard's soul from his body.
Unfazed by the creature's assault, Richard methodically enveloped Masamune's blade in Hellfire. Rather than fully demonizing the sword, he simply allowed the mystical flames to coat its surface. Alongside the Hellfire, silvery-white lightning crackled along the blade's length.
Under the watchful eyes of Ying Li and the villagers, Richard raised the empowered Masamune and executed a casual swing toward the Dark Dweller. As the blade cut through the air, it generated a massive crescent-shaped energy wave hundreds of meters long, wrapped in both Hellfire and argent lightning.
Heaven Severance!
The colossal energy arc passed through the Dark Dweller's body as effortlessly as a hot knife through cream, cleaving the enormous entity in two. The battle was over the moment the Hellfire-infused attack connected—Richard knew this with absolute certainty.
His assessment proved accurate. The bisected Dark Dweller survived merely seconds before its body began to disintegrate from the point of severance at an alarming rate. Within five seconds, the creature that had terrorized Ta Lo's people for millennia had vanished completely.
The villagers gazed at Richard—suspended in the air with his silver hair flowing in the breeze, Masamune gleaming in his grasp—with expressions of awe and complexity.
He actually did it. The Dark Dweller is dead. Is this his true power?
These thoughts and more cascaded through the minds of Ying Li, Guang Bo, and the assembled crowd.
After vanquishing the Dark Dweller, Richard immediately activated his Plunder ability. Though the creature's appearance had been repulsive, its soul-sucking capability was undeniably impressive.
[Gain new ability: Soul Absorption!]
[Soul Absorption: Absorb the souls of other creatures to strengthen yourself!]
As usual, the system's explanation remained characteristically terse. Nevertheless, it sufficed for Richard to comprehend the fundamental nature of his newly acquired power.
After dismissing the information panel visible only to him, Richard retained Masamune rather than returning it to his system space. Under the curious stares of the villagers, he flew over the lake's surface.
Then, like a silver meteor, he plunged into the waters and disappeared from view.
What is he doing? Could he be planning to...
Watching Richard descend into the lake with Masamune in hand, an ominous thought occurred simultaneously to Ying Li, Guang Bo, and the others.
Though the lake appeared ordinary on its surface, it harbored an extraordinary secret—it served as the dwelling place of Ta Lo's "guardian deity," the Dragon.
The villagers' suspicions weren't unfounded; Richard had indeed come seeking the Dragon. However, his intent wasn't to slay the creature, but rather to claim it as his personal mount. While he harbored no desire to become a Ghost Rider, he saw no reason to forego acquiring a unique steed for himself.
Soon, Richard reached the lake's depths and encountered Ta Lo's "guardian deity." Externally, Ta Lo's Dragon resembled those depicted in various myths and legends, though Richard couldn't help feeling it lacked the aesthetic majesty of dragons from certain other cultural traditions. It also seemed to project less overwhelming dominance than he'd expected.
Nevertheless, it would serve admirably as a personal mount.
Upon seeing the Dragon, Richard wasted no time, immediately establishing telepathic communication with the ancient being. Though revered as Ta Lo's "patron saint," the Dragon obviously couldn't speak vocally—and even if it could, the depths of the lake would have rendered audible communication impossible.
Time passed gradually. Five, then six minutes elapsed.
Just as Ying Li, Guang Bo, and the others began to worry that Richard might be attacking the Dragon, the lake's placid surface began to rotate counterclockwise. Within seconds, a massive vortex hundreds of meters in diameter formed before their astonished eyes.
Transfixed by this sudden phenomenon, they concentrated their attention on the swirling waters. As they watched, Ta Lo's "guardian deity" ascended through the vortex, defying physical laws as it soared into the sky.
Though the distance was considerable, they immediately spotted Richard standing proudly atop the Dragon's head.
Following a "cordial" negotiation, Richard and the Dragon had reached a mutually beneficial arrangement: The Dragon would willingly serve as Richard's exclusive mount and assist him in governing Ta Lo. In exchange, Richard would assume the Dragon's "guardian" responsibilities, protecting the realm from external threats.
Seeing Richard positioned atop the Dragon, Ying Li, Ying Nan, Guang Bo, Ming Yue, and the other villagers collectively exhaled in relief. Though unaware of the specific terms discussed between man and mythical beast, they understood two crucial points: the Dragon accepted Richard's presence upon its head, and Richard harbored no intention of harming the ancient guardian.
After experiencing the incomparable sensation of dragon-flight firsthand, Richard directed the creature to soar over the village. Then, under the watchful eyes of the assembled villagers, he executed a graceful leap from the Dragon's head, descending lightly to land before them.
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New Fanfic
Marvel x Star Wars: Avengers in the Clone Wars
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