Chapter 210 - 205: The Second Fragment
The battlefield had changed.
John could feel it the moment the monster completed its transformation.
The pressure coming from the creature was no longer something he could casually ignore. Every breath it took caused the air around it to tremble, and the crimson energy covering its body had become so dense that it almost looked like liquid fire flowing beneath its armor.
John hovered above the ruined street, his black wings keeping him suspended.
His eyes narrowed.
The status panel remained in front of him.
**[ERROR]**
**Target classification updating...**
**Tier: 10 → ???**
The monster raised its head.
Its eyes locked onto John.
Then it disappeared.
John’s instincts screamed.
He moved.
A claw swept past his face.
The force behind it sent a shockwave through the ruins.
John twisted in midair and countered with his tail.
**BOOM!**
The monster was knocked sideways.
John followed immediately.
His wings accelerated him forward.
He struck the creature with both claws.
The impact pushed it through a stone building.
John didn’t stop.
He flew through the collapsing structure after it.
The monster emerged from the other side and swung its horned head toward him.
John blocked with his forearm.
The blow still sent him flying.
He recovered several dozen meters away.
Blood dripped from his arm.
John looked at it.
Then at the monster.
"You’re definitely stronger now."
The creature roared.
John’s grin disappeared.
This wasn’t the time to underestimate it.
He opened his status panel again.
**[STATUS PANEL]**
**Name:** John
**Race:** Ancient Black Dragon
**Level:** 14
**Evolution:** Ancient Black Dragon
**Dragon Bloodline:** Awakened
**Dragon Core:** Stable
**Dragon Form:** Active
**Mana:** 82%
**Vitality:** 91%
**Strength:** Extremely High
**Defense:** Extremely High
**Speed:** Extremely High
**Magic Power:** Extremely High
**Legacy Synchronization:** 8%
John frowned.
"Still eight percent."
Something was wrong.
He could feel something.
Not from the monster.
From beneath the ground.
A faint vibration traveled through his Dragon Core.
Once.
John froze.
The sensation disappeared.
Then it came again.
**Thump.**
His eyes widened.
That wasn’t his heartbeat.
It was coming from below.
**Thump.**
His Dragon Core answered.
The monster attacked.
John barely avoided the claw.
He flew backward.
"What the..."
The sensation returned.
Stronger this time.
Something beneath the ruined city was responding to him.
And then John felt it.
A familiar presence.
Ancient.
Vast.
Not hostile.
His eyes widened.
"The legacy..."
The monster roared and charged.
John looked at it.
Then toward the ground.
"So that’s where you are."
---
The monster slammed into him.
John was caught off guard.
Its claws struck his chest.
His scales cracked.
He was thrown through the remains of a tower.
**CRASH!**
John disappeared beneath the rubble.
Lythriel’s voice echoed from a distance.
"John!"
Darius grabbed her arm before she could move closer.
"Don’t!"
"But—"
"He’s fighting something at that level. Getting closer will only make things worse."
Lythriel clenched her fists.
She hated it.
But she knew he was right.
The rubble shifted.
A black claw emerged.
Then John rose.
Dust rolled from his body.
He wiped the blood from his mouth.
"That hurt."
The monster charged again.
John didn’t move.
His eyes were closed.
He could still feel it.
That strange resonance beneath the earth.
The second fragment.
It was there.
Very close.
And it was reacting to him.
Not to the monster.
To him.
John opened his eyes.
"Come on."
The creature was almost upon him.
"Just a little longer."
He waited.
At the last possible moment, John moved.
The monster’s claws passed over his shoulder.
John stepped inside its guard.
His claws drove into the creature’s chest.
The monster roared.
John’s black flames exploded from his claws.
The creature staggered.
John grabbed its armor.
"You’re not getting in the way."
He slammed it into the ground.
**BOOM!**
The impact created a crater.
John landed beside it.
The monster immediately rose.
John’s expression hardened.
It was incredibly durable.
His previous attacks had damaged it, but not enough.
He needed something more.
Then the resonance came again.
This time, it wasn’t faint.
**THUMP.**
The ground beneath them shook.
The monster stopped.
John stopped.
Both looked downward.
A strange golden light appeared beneath the cracks in the street.
The monster’s expression changed.
John noticed.
"You know what that is?"
The creature backed away.
For the first time since the battle began, it looked afraid.
John’s eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
The golden light grew stronger.
Then something answered from beneath the city.
A pulse of energy traveled through the ground.
It reached John’s Dragon Core.
The world went silent.
---
John’s vision disappeared.
For a moment, he saw nothing.
Then darkness.
Not empty darkness.
A vast space filled with stars.
Something enormous moved beyond them.
John couldn’t see its entire body.
Only a pair of ancient eyes.
He had seen them before.
Not clearly.
Not enough to understand.
But he recognized the feeling.
The Great Dragon.
The entity connected to the fragments of his legacy.
John stared into the darkness.
"What are you showing me?"
No answer came.
Instead, something descended toward him.
A small golden fragment.
It looked like a piece of crystal.
But it wasn’t really a crystal.
It was something older.
Something that felt alive.
John reached toward it.
The moment his hand touched the fragment—
**BOOM!**
His vision returned.
John was standing in the ruined city.
But something had changed.
The second fragment had awakened.
It wasn’t physically in his possession.
It was still beneath the city.
Yet he could feel it.
The connection was undeniable.
His Dragon Core pulsed.
His black scales began glowing faintly.
The status panel appeared.
**[ANOMALOUS RESONANCE DETECTED]**
**Source identified.**
**Great Dragon Legacy Fragment — Second Piece**
**Compatibility: Extremely High**
**Fragment has recognized the current vessel.**
**Legacy Synchronization attempting to increase...**
John stared.
The number changed.
**Legacy Synchronization: 8% → 9%**
It stopped.
Then another line appeared.
**[Second Fragment Resonance: Active]**
John’s eyes widened.
"The second piece..."
He finally understood.
The first fragment wasn’t the end.
There were more pieces of the Great Dragon’s Legacy scattered throughout the world.
And this place contained another one.
But he didn’t have time to think about it.
The monster roared.
John looked up.
The creature was charging again.
Its body was shaking.
Its temporary Tier Eleven state was becoming unstable.
The resonance had affected it too.
John smiled.
"Looks like you’re having trouble."
The monster released a crimson beam.
John inhaled.
Black flames gathered inside his chest.
But this time, something was different.
The flames were denser.
More controlled.
They carried a faint golden edge.
John’s eyes widened.
The second fragment was affecting his power.
Not increasing it dramatically.
Refining it.
His mana wasn’t simply becoming larger.
It was becoming cleaner.
More efficient.
John understood immediately.
"That’s what you do."
He smiled.
"You don’t give me power."
The crimson beam came closer.
"You teach me how to use the power I already have."
John opened his jaws.
The black flame erupted.
The two attacks collided.
But the result was completely different from before.
The crimson beam began losing ground almost immediately.
The monster pushed harder.
John pushed back.
His black flame became brighter.
The second fragment continued resonating with his Dragon Core.
John’s mana flowed through him more smoothly than it ever had.
His control improved with every second.
The crimson attack collapsed.
John’s breath struck the monster directly.
**BOOOOOOM!**
The creature was thrown backward.
It crashed into the mountain.
John followed.
He wasn’t going to give it time to recover.
The monster tried to stand.
John appeared above it.
His claws came down.
**CRACK!**
Its armor shattered.
The monster roared and swung wildly.
John dodged.
He struck its exposed side.
Another crack appeared.
The creature’s aura began collapsing.
John could feel its energy dropping.
**Tier 11 Temporary State: 67%**
Then—
**54%.**
The monster was losing the power it had sacrificed its life to obtain.
John landed in front of it.
"You were strong."
The monster struggled to stand.
"But you forced your way into a realm your body couldn’t sustain."
Its crimson eyes stared at him.
John raised one claw.
"And now you’re running out of time."
The monster roared one final time and charged.
John met it head-on.
Claw against claw.
The impact shook the ruins.
John pushed forward.
The monster pushed back.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then John’s Dragon Core pulsed again.
The second fragment resonated.
John’s black flames exploded across his arm.
He drove his claw through the creature’s remaining armor.
The monster froze.
John stopped just short of its core.
He could destroy it.
But something made him hesitate.
The creature wasn’t attacking anymore.
Its eyes had changed.
The hostility was gone.
It looked past John.
Toward the ground.
Toward the place where the second fragment rested.
John followed its gaze.
The monster slowly lowered its head.
It wasn’t surrendering.
It was recognizing something.
John’s eyes narrowed.
"You knew."
The creature made a low sound.
Not a roar.
Almost like an answer.
Then its body collapsed.
John pulled his claw free.
The monster fell.
Its aura disappeared.
The battlefield became quiet.
John stood there, breathing heavily.
He looked at his status panel.
**[TARGET DEFEATED]**
**Threat: Tier 10 / Temporary Tier 11**
**Condition: Defeated**
**Evolution: Failed**
**Reward: High-Tier Monster Core**
John ignored the reward.
His attention was elsewhere.
The second fragment was still resonating beneath him.
He could feel its presence clearly now.
But he also sensed something else.
A direction.
Not a voice.
Not a command.
A pull.
The fragment was pointing him somewhere.
John looked toward the horizon.
"So you want me to go there."
Darius approached carefully.
"John."
John turned.
"Yeah?"
Darius looked at the fallen monster.
"Is it over?"
John glanced back at the corpse.
"Yeah."
Lythriel finally ran toward him.
She stopped when she saw his injuries.
"You look terrible."
John smiled.
"I’ve looked worse."
"That’s not reassuring."
He laughed.
Then the ground trembled.
Everyone became silent.
John’s smile disappeared.
The second fragment was still resonating.
But now the entire ruined city was responding to it.
The ancient black gate beneath the city began to glow.
John stared toward it.
He didn’t know what was behind that gate.
And for once, he wasn’t going to rush toward it.
He had learned enough.
The Great Dragon’s Legacy wasn’t simply a source of power.
It was a trail.
Each fragment was connected to the next.
And somehow, John had become the vessel capable of bringing those fragments together.
He looked at the status panel one last time.
**[Great Dragon Legacy]**
**Fragments Resonating: 2**
**Synchronization: 9%**
**Next Resonance: Unknown**
John closed the panel.
"Looks like our journey just got a little more complicated."
Darius looked toward the glowing ruins.
"Do you know what comes next?"
John shook his head.
"No."
He smiled faintly.
"But I think I finally know what I’m looking for."
The second fragment had awakened.
The battle was over.
And for the first time, John could feel that his journey toward the truth of the Great Dragon had truly begun.
---
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200 ps = 2 Extra Chapter
1 Golden ticket = 3 Extra Chapter