CHAPTER 181: FIFTH

A bloodbath of epic proportions ensued. The weapons riled up in trying to regain Elian’s favor fought in deranged ways.

Using Living Metal to create a flooring without friction, shooting even those that surrendered, and butchering those from the race they came from. The vast disparity between the old and new Naga was like night and day.

At the back of the chaos, Bianca and Elian sat in a hammock made from Dominator variants. The Anchor had a face full of bliss as her Tyrant hugged her from behind. Like a spoiled cat, she opened her mouth for Elian to pop in a grape-sized core fragment.

As she munched, Bianca snuggled into her Tyrant’s arms. "Elian, don’t you see how badly the children wish to gain your forgiveness?"

"..."

Elian refused to answer; instead, he crushed a core in his hand and carefully broke the sharp tips from the fragments. Bianca’s entire body trembled when she saw the care her lover put into her food. Batting her eyelashes, she gazed at him and murmured in bliss.

"Darling, won’t you please forgive them? What mother would want her children and husband at odds?"

"You are growing more shameless with these analogies, Bianca."

Giggling, the witch playfully nibbled on Elian’s finger, "and whose fault is that? Who is the lecherous, handsome devil who makes me feel like I own the world? No woman would be able to remain normal when she receives such lavish affection."

Elian let out a heavy sigh as he answered, "Fine. I will forgive them for you. Still, I find it annoying that everything is so easy. We should have hit this dungeon first. I can’t even blow off steam as even the Knight-class Naga are so weak."

The couple watched as Alpha stabbed then crashed against large, bulky Ocean Pythons with his Snake Cavalry. Despite being of the same size, Alpha and his naga-centaur hybrids acted like heavy-mounted knights and trampled everything in their way.

Despite the ones they fought having Knight classes, the enemy was pulverized and ripped apart into scraps of meat. The Anchor had already been subdued by Epsilon. The Tyrant, the supposedly strongest being in the dungeon, was being beaten one-sidedly.

His opponents? Two former Naga turned Weapons.

Gamma and Beta, who once had heavy frames, now sport vastly different bodies. The former acted like a water elemental, moving like ocean waves and then disappearing. The latter used his new appendages to move around from place to place like a monkey.

"Have you both abandoned your pride as Naga, you bastards!" he cried.

Yet a wave of Living Metal crashed into him from the back; it had such force that it slammed him into the ground. The enemy Tyrant’s body had so many open wounds that it was a wonder it still hadn’t bled to death.

"Kuak! Fight me properly! I am—Aggh!"

It couldn’t even finish its word before large tentacles of black started whipping the enemy Tyrant. Beta’s arms turned into long appendages that joined the slugfest with the dozen arms he had around his lower half. Like a squid or octopus, the Naga tenderized his opponent mercilessly.

Harder than using blades, each tentacle crushed and crushed the enemy’s flesh. For some reason, rather than ending it quickly, the Gamma and Beta took their time and tortured their opponent slowly.

"How does it feel, huh? You egotistical prick! To be toyed with and at the mercy of others?"

"I am going to enjoy turning your bones into paste before eating you!"

Elian couldn’t help but grimace. Despite fighting under his command, the Naga were letting their true desires come out. Whoever this Tyrant was, it appeared that Gamma and Beta had histories with him—bad ones from the looks of it.

But as the snake Tyrant was so weak he couldn’t believe it, Elian didn’t intervene. So long as he got the mark, he would be satisfied. And if either of the Naga bastards decided to steal the mark, then Elian would just kill them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Meanwhile, loud explosions resounded from the east. The culprit? The last of the Named Naga, much like her siblings, Zeta similarly changed her form. She lost her serpentine body and traded it for a spider-like base, like an Arachne.

But that was not what Elian found interesting; it was the other parts of her body.

Rather than remain true to spider anatomy, Zeta took her new form a step further. She had multiple mortars where her abdomen was supposed to be, and rather than arms, she had Gatling guns connected to her shoulders.

The former Naga effectively turned herself into an assault platform more terrifying than a tank. Raining mortars from above, Zeta and her tribe rained fire on the enemy army. If that was not enough, they advanced unleashing onyx rounds, turning everything into dust.

Each of the five named Naga transformed into vastly different combat styles that had barely anything in common. And while it looked extremely weird, Elian could not argue with the results.

The sheer size of the enemy army dwarfed the ten thousand Elian had conquered. It was around five times more. The last time Elian fought such staggering numbers was when he fought against Virexar.

"Were snakes’ reproduction always this... effective?"

"Not really. This was the effect of human intervention. To ensure they would never be hunted to extinction, the dungeon was altered to give them plenty of living space."

"Huh? Then all those buildings and ruins..."

"Yes. It’s like someone placing coral in a fish tank. The Bloodright of Conquest used training dungeons like this as incentives to recruit members. But unlike the other two factions, they promoted freedom and autonomy."

"Doesn’t it seem like humans are the bad guys?" Elian murmured in passing.

Bianca scoffed, "it’s like the concept of livestock. Raising animals just to be killed. It has immense benefits, but as the animals lead pampered lives as opposed to the wild, can they even complain? Now, come here and give me a kiss."

Chuckling, Elian answered Bianca’s adorable plea. He grew blissful at the time he and Bianca shared in the Ysh-Natul. The dungeon itself was immensely easy, so much so that it felt like a holiday, especially when compared to the Karnathi dungeon.

Elian couldn’t help but feel grateful that they could take it easy.

After all, after this, the battles would only grow harder.

If one considered the current landscape, the whole world was actually in chaos. It was just that Elian and Bianca were in an isolated dungeon that made it seem the opposite.

The human cities were in open rebellion, with Elian actively trying to gain control of four more.

The big Three may not or not know of the battle royale coming. According to Woody, once Elian gains his fifth mark and completes an invasion, he gains the right to summon all candidates for a death match.

His forces were actively trying to train and get stronger. All because once Elian claims Earth, they will enter the Crucible for real. And although Elian plans to quickly protect Earth from invasion, until the axis worlds are set, she is still vulnerable.

Just thinking of the battles to come made his head hurt. But when Elian felt the warm chill of Bianca’s body against his, he knew he didn’t exactly have a choice.

An Alchemist and a Psychomancer, two jobs even monsters wanted. And Bianca Valestra, Elian’s Anchor, was both. This was not even counting that once Bianca actually became an Anchor, she would put her life on the line for him.

As all these thoughts swirled in his mind, he felt his body unconsciously tense. But before his mind could spiral into dark thoughts, cold fingertips caressed his cheek. Their chill felt comforting, like a pleasant wind on a brutally hot day.

"We will get through it all, Elian," Bianca vowed, "so long as we’re together."

A single statement with not even a shred of doubt.

The future was uncertain; their enemies were both powerful and without number. Yet the fingers of the woman in his embrace intertwined with his. Though they lacked flesh, he felt his body relax.

"Yeah. For our happy ending, right?"

"Mhm. For our happy ending."

As they chatted, the five named Naga meekly came closer. They presented the heads of the Ysh-Natul Tyrant, Anchor, and Knights. Neither Elian nor Bianca even bothered to look at their scans.

Gamma inched slowly to hand over the enemy Tyrant’s head to Elian. "My Tyrant, I present to you the head of our former Tyrant. Please touch its forehead to receive Ysh-Natul’s mark."

"You seem to not even respect this bastard enough to use his name; do you have a grudge?"

Gamma, the water-elemental Naga, bowed and stepped back after Elian took the head.

"Yes, I personally vow eternal service to my Tyrant. Thanks to you, I was able to gain my vengeance. We all did."

Elian didn’t even bother to listen and just nodded. He touched the forehead of the Ex-Ysh-Natul Tyrant and received a message.

[Alert: Tyrant candidate has completed one of the prerequisites. Subjugate the expedition of five different races.]

[Earth Wide Announcement: Elian Reed has received his fifth Tyrant mark. Once all remaining Tyrant prerequisites have been fulfilled, the Crucible for Earth can now be summoned. Eligible Tyrant Candidates: 4. Glory be to the Tyrants!]

"Alright, fifth mark get. Time to invade another world."