A Novel Concept - A death a day, MC will live anyway!-Chapter 411 - 400: The Genesis of a Prince
A punch slammed into the wyrm's snout. An uppercut followed, snapping its head skyward just before a hook exploded one of its eyes. In a monochrome tableau, the Juggernaut set about disciplining the draconic beast.
The sun wyrm endured ten brutal strikes before it lashed out. A sweeping tail strike shattered one of Priam's ribs. Instead of bruising blue, the blow left a charred-black brand. The mark of scorched flesh. Ten of the wyrm's scales unfurled into blazing whips, each flaying the Champion with searing lashes that cauterized as they cut. The beast roared, a guttural cry lusting for violence.
Lvl Up: [Pyro Champion Physique] lvl 4
CONST +9
VIT +3
META (Endurance) +6
META (Authority) +9
A manic grin on his face, Priam roared in kind. With the force of over a hundred men, his vocal cords vibrated loud enough to shame a metal concert.
The wyrm hesitated, startled. A mistake.
Lvl Up: [Intimidation] lvl 19
CHAR +3
Tearing the flaming lashes from his opponent, weathering blows, landing savage kicks and headbutts, dodging fangs, the Juggernaut embodied his archetype. Under the dominion of Hecate's New Moon, there was no Concept nor Skill to cloak the brutality—only fists, claws, and fangs.
Sinking his teeth into the wyrm's throat of solid flame, Priam tore free a mouthful of fiery flesh and chewed. While the heat was charring his tongue, his taste buds registered a spicy kick. A miracle of synesthesia.
Priam swallowed. Fire is blood. Blood is fire.
Instead of an inferno, a torrent of draconic blood flooded his esophagus. His stomach began breaking it down, replenishing vital reserves. His regeneration demanded fuel; his vitality required calories to mend his body.
From the valley floor to the foothills beyond, the battle raged on. The forest trembled, while undead perished by the hundreds. A few Tier 2s, the ones still able to move beneath Hecate's glare, ventured too close and were annihilated by glancing blows from the titanic duel. Collateral damage.
Sun Points rained down as Priam's body adapted.
Lvl Up: [Pyro Champion Physique] lvl 5
CONST +9
VIT +3
META (Endurance) +6
META (Authority) +9
Lvl Up: [Sun Steel Body] lvl 33
CONST +6
META (Endurance) +3
Lvl Up: [Shear Resistance] lvl 25
CONST +7
META (Endurance) +2
Homo Elysian Obsession mirrored his physical burns on his soul. The agony was immense, but not as fierce as the wrath of dragons. So the duel escalated.
However, the world is not a place for a stagnant status quo.
The curse remembered its nature—a hiltless blade, capable of wounding its wielder as readily as its target. The monochrome sphere pulsed, expanding outward. Priam felt the dark power leave his left orbital and crawl into his own meridians like venom.
Lvl Up: [Adaptive Golden Meridians] lvl 33
META (Focus) +3
META (Endurance) +6
As the plague passed, his pathways withered, no longer able to channel energy. Hecate's New Moon dominated the aether, and Priam's own was no exception.
Lvl Up: [Adaptive Golden Meridians] lvl 34
META (Focus) +3
META (Endurance) +6
"Fuck!" he growled, feeling control slip through his fingers.
It was the kind of malfunction that lost fights. With [He Who Eludes Death] on a fifteen-hour cooldown, the glitch could even cost him his life. Priam tried to recall the curse. In vain.
Lvl Up: [Adaptive Golden Meridians] lvl 35
META (Focus) +3
META (Endurance) +6
A quarter of his cerebral meridians had gone necrotic. There was no more time to hesitate. A full moon was usurping his eye, and Priam grabbed it barehanded. Tearing the globe of shadow from his left orbit, he shoved it into the wyrm's body. The beast howled as liters of fire vanished on impact.
The reign of black and white came to an end. At last, the world remembered color.
The enemy's flames flared violently, forcing Priam to retreat, arms raised against the oncoming blast. A wall of heat, light, and plasma flung him backward nearly twenty meters.
Lvl Up: [Solar Resistance] lvl 29
CONST +2
VIT +1
When the brightness waned, the Champion opened his one good eye. Of the wyrm's original eight-meter bulk, only six remained. Its flames flickered with less vigor, and its glow no longer blinded. The creature hovered, bound to its territory, but too weary to strike.
Priam fared little better. Gasping for air, exhausted, he welcomed a few seconds of respite. Despite his fireproof physique and exceptional constitution, his hair had burned away in the opening seconds of the brawl. Third and fourth-degree burns marred his flesh. Hecate's New Moon had stripped him of mist and flame, and mental fatigue kept him from summoning a new Concept toga. Save for an intact pair of red boxers, he was a sorry sight.
"Arhh…"
"Yeah, tell me about it," Priam wheezed, before forcing a smile. "Let's end this."
"Arhh!"
Under the eternal night, the two adversaries circled each other in silence, thirty meters above the earth. Only the wails of the undead horde below broke the silence. Both knew that the tricks they had used thus far would not be enough to finish this duel. It was time to get serious.
So they opened their mouths, and drank the aether.
Like twin vortexes, both would-be dragons siphoned every drop of energy they could muster for one final, world-shaking blow. Beneath the Necromoon's crimson gaze, the ambient light dimmed, swallowed by the sun wyrm. Priam, in turn, spiced the devoured aether with one of his Concepts.
The capacity of a dragon's lungs was directly proportional to the purity of its bloodline. Unsurprisingly, both monsters ceased inhaling at nearly the same instant. Then came the moment to exhale.
The sun wyrm unleashed a condensed laser, moving at the speed one would expect of a photon. A Solar Breath.
Anyone else would have countered with their own blast. The Juggernaut thought differently. What better way to get an ideal prerequisite for [Solar Resistance] than by tanking a sun wyrm's ultimate attack? A mad gamble, but Priam had not earned Thaal's favor for nothing.
All that remained was choosing which body part to sacrifice. A lesser warrior might have offered their off-hand. But as the wyrm's jaws flared open with sun-bright light, Priam thrust his chest forward.
The radiant beam crossed the distance faster than thought. It slammed into his torso like a molten lance, obliterating his human heart. A sacrifice dramatically fitting for a Story. Besides, I have a spare.
Lvl Up: [Solar Resistance] lvl 30, 31, 32, 33
CONST +8
VIT +4
Impaled by a star spear, Priam grinned. My turn.
From the Juggernaut's throat erupted an avalanche of mist. Along with ambient aether, he had infused the breath with his Concept, imbuing it with light's weakness. The Mist Breath surged forth, meeting the Solar Breath.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Millions of droplets acted as tiny prisms, scattering the stellar beam in every direction; refracting, bending, bleeding the attack into harmless fragments.
Within his Domain, Priam sensed the light struggling to bend toward him. However, the mist was too thick, the cloud too dark. The wyrm's Concept failed its wielder. Of the devastating Solar Breath, less than a fraction of a percent reached Priam—and that was weathered by his body.
Having vanquished its twin, the Mist Breath surged onward. An astronomical volume of water reached boiling point and beyond, but heat could not halt its momentum. The cloud rolled forward like a tsunami of fog, a storm of droplets smothering the sun wyrm's flames like a high-pressure cleaner, quenching its fury, and washing its heat away.
When Priam closed his mouth, the wyrm resembled a shriveled worm. With a gaping hole in its chest, the Juggernaut hovered closer, near enough to feel the dwindling heat of dying embers. The wyrm let out a frail chirp before closing its eyes. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
The mass of a star determines its lifespan. With most of its body destroyed and its will depleted, the sun wyrm no longer had the fuel nor the Concept to produce flame or light. Each second drained its meager reserves without hope of restoration. Like a starving, thirsting human, it withered.
As the last sparks of consciousness faded from its gaze, its spectral form dispersed, leaving behind a lone core. No longer generating sufficient gravitational force to remain aloft, it fell. Priam caught it in his hand.
A solid crystal of aether, glimmering like diamond, and lighter than ice. Physically, at least. Spiritually, the core's weight was intense. Its surface was pierced straight through: one hole to emit aether, the other to receive it. An artery and a vein, for a heart not made of flesh. Unlike a natural organ, this one was etched in runes, the largest meaning 'Holy'. Opposite it, a sigil for 'four' glowed. A ripple of aether later, the character shifted to 'three'.
As a Holy Guardian, the sun wyrm possessed multiple lives. Same as Moonie.
A flare of heat and aether hissed from one hole of the core, igniting into flame the instant it touched air.
"Nope. I like my enemies to stay dead. [There is no Heaven]."
Projected through his Domain, the skill sank its fangs into the wyrm's soul and shredded it. A horrible end, but one fight had been enough for Priam. Three more would be nothing but a tedious chore: he had defeated the sun wyrm, and that was enough for his Story.
Lvl Up: [There is no Heaven] lvl 7
WILL +9
The flame flickered out, then reignited. A 'two' now replaced the 'three'.
Priam's brow furrowed as he understood. Unlike his typical foes, the sun wyrm wasn't a natural being. It was an artificial creation of the System, an organic machine. For most beings, tearing apart their soul meant a permanent end. But a Holy Guardian's soul could be reset. Reflashed, factory state.
It wouldn't be the same sun wyrm, but its ego didn't matter; only its mission did.
"Sad existence..."
Priam raised the core just as the flame of a new life began to rise, phoenix style. Plasma began to expand, shifting into a snake-like body, when Pyro snapped its jaws shut on it. Resonating with the Concept, the Juggernaut's soul clamped down, halting the wyrm's rebirth as it began forming new scales. The Champion erased them, then flayed the fiery flesh beneath, scattering the ignited tissue. A draconic will tried to assert itself, but its authority over fire was insufficient. Not to mention the Tier 0s—few Tier 1s could boast an affinity or understanding equal to Priam's with his Concepts. He was a Pyro Champion, while the sun wyrm was just a light user. This wasn't a fight, but an execution.
Without struggle, Pyro imposed stillbirth upon the dragonkin. Resurrection only mattered if it succeeded. One of the many reasons [He Who Eludes Death] was supreme.
Just as Priam was tooting his own horn, the sun wyrm's core finally displayed 'zero'.
Title acquired!
[Thanato-Collector - Silver] - You have slain the same being thrice, never in the same way. It means two things:
Your enemies are tenacious.
You are vindictive.
Among phoenixes, the worst criminals are sentenced to death. Repeatedly.
META (Chance) +20%
Priam grimaced at the description. He was well aware that a particularly vengeful enemy could make him suffer endlessly. If he ever fell into sadistic hands, [He Who Eludes Death] would be a curse.
The heavens rumbled, pulling him from his dark thoughts. A presence descended, just as omnipotent as the System, but wilder. More arrogant. More tyrannical.
The dragon thrives on victory.
The draconic Law summoned the phantom of the sun wyrm—or perhaps it ripped its image from the river of time—and condensed the defeated creature into a tear of gold and plasma.
Priam raised his hand to receive his prize. The drop slipped through his skin, into his bloodstream, and rushed toward his draconic heart. The organ pulsed. Priam smiled as transformation rippled through his body.
His spectral scales—transparent and therefore useless against the wyrm's light—that covered his skin hardened. His third lung, source of his Breaths, expanded. The muscular fibers of the wyvern heart he had stolen grew denser. Nearing a qualitative evolution.
Bloodlines:
Phoenix: 6%
Dragon: 4% (+1% via Draconic Victory)
"Now that the phoenix isn't twice as pure as the dragon, I can almost hear [Chimera] grumbling," Priam murmured before smiling. "If both bloodlines follow the same pattern, I only need one more percent before my first draconic atavism…"
As the Law of Dragons retreated, the System returned. It, too, had rewards to bestow on the Ace who had just defeated a Tier 1 Duke.
You have defeated [Sun Wyrm (Mutated) - Tier 1 - Elysium Duke].
Nobility equivalent to Tier 0 - Elysium Prince.
Review of your Story…
Quests - Acceptable.
Achievements - Satisfactory.
Titles - Outstanding.
[Elysium Duke - Mythic] becomes [Elysium Prince - Genesis]!
[Elysium Prince - Genesis] - Each of the seven layers of Elysium is a Vestige: the ruins of a vanquished universe, repurposed to create a world vibrant with aether. In this rarefied crucible, predators and prey abound. Strife is constant, and only the strongest rise—some, all the way to the heavens.
At the court of the firmament, the stars are called Royalty.
To ascend further on the cosmic hierarchy, you must defeat an alien Monarch.
Where the Duke begins to conquer, the Prince integrates his new lands.
Letter of Nobility (Elysium):
Baron - Designate a territory shielded from the creation of wild rifts and Concept storms.
Viscount - Instantly return to your territory - cooldown: (Ten to the power of Soul Tier) years.
Earl - Unlocked Sub-System: Army.
Marquess - Defend your territory against an invasion to earn a reward (5 Necro Waves defeated.)
Duke - Elysian laws allow you to exploit (1) wild rift. A successful exploitation strengthens your Nobility Title. (Valaryth 84 is currently exploited).
Prince - Grants access to Quest Creation. See details.
"Genesis…" Priam let the word roll across his tongue. A Tier 5 was called a Demiurge because they created a world. For the same reason, the corresponding rank was Genesis. "Fitting."
It wasn't the only thing that pleased Priam. Royal duties were heavy, but so were the perks. The latest update in the Sun Shop made his mouth water. For prices ranging from half a million to fifty million Sun Points, he could now purchase truly ridiculous rewards.
And then there was Thaal's promise. Become a Prince, and the System will handle the rest, the Administrator had said, referring to Mind Ennoblement. A prerequisite for unlocking things like [Curse Resistance].
Soul Baptism, Body Tempering, Mind Ennoblement; the trinity that leads to the Zenith.
Priam was ready.
[Citizen of the Aether - Silver] is evolving…
Status:
PHYSICAL:
Strength 1 253
Constitution 2 247 (+57)
Agility 1 652
Vitality 2 163 (+25)
Perception 994
MENTAL:
Vivacity (D) 666
Dexterity 985
Memory 1 208
Willpower 1 310 (+12)
Charisma 1 010 (+6)
META:
Meta-affinity (O) 1 446
Meta-focus 900 (+11)
Meta-endurance 1 677 (+52)
Meta-perception 871
Meta-chance 1 203 (+114)
Meta-authority 927
Potential: 33 825 (+38)
Tier 0
[Tribulation]: Five Tribulations pending.
Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 1 200 / 3 attributes > 1 800 / 1 attribute > 2 400
Next arc already complete on Patreon (50+ chaps ahead) if you want to find out what happens next!
https://www.patreon.com/ANovelConcept
