Rising god
Chapter 76: All Yours

Chapter 76: All Yours

Minutes after unleashing the Dragon’s Tongue, Baines’ throat remained raw and unhealed, forcing him to communicate telepathically.

-Wick, what was that?

He asked, his mind reeling from the display he had witnessed. The Wick he had just seen, towering with an aura that seemed to bend reality, had been a terrifying sight.

He had assumed Wick had broken through to a higher star level, but as the Ashentel domain dissipated, the subordinate’s power reverted to 7th-star.

-Ashenfall release.

Wick replied, his mental voice calm and precise.

’Release?’ Baines tilted his head, confusion etching his features. If that was the release, what had he been wielding all this time?

The realization struck him like a physical blow; he knew next to nothing about Ashenfall’s true potential.

But could he blame himself? But then again, he almost died because of that ignorance.

Before the domain, his Ashenfall might have held out, but the unleashed power would have obliterated him, leaving only his bones.

He retracted the ethereal chains, his gaze settling on the armored knights. The golden aura around them had dimmed, their postures now rigid with attention, awaiting command.

Now, things seemed a bit settled.

-Wick, round things up.

-Yes, Master.

Wick responded, slipping into the shadows.

He approached the nearest knight and pressed his hand against its armored chest with deliberate intent.

A soft Boom! resonated as he accessed his heart core, channeling energy into its essence.

In an instant, he vanished, reappearing in an empty void.

This space was similar to the domain the armored knights showed, and instead of a colossal dragon, it was a human-like figure looking at him.

’Soul,’ Baines thought, recognizing the entity. The figure’s presence was faint, but the figure before him was a sliver of the lightning dragon’s soul

-I have been watching you for a while, and I am—

The dragon began, its voice resonant with authority.

-Shut up.

Baines cut it off, his tone icy. The dragon’s expression shifted from surprise to shock, then to a simmering rage.

-Do you know who you stand before?

It demanded, its form trembling with indignation.

-A dead dragon.

Baines retorted, a sword manifesting in his hand, wreathed in the black flames.

The dragon’s eyes narrowed, sensing the unfamiliar violet power. This was the very reason it had observed Baines.

Without hesitation, Baines poured his seven years’ worth of soul energy into the blade.

-What?

The dragon gasped, recognizing the overwhelming force. As a being of ancient lineage, it could not mistake the potency of soul energy.

Baines lunged, the dragon retreating in haste, but it was too late.

’Heaven Arc,’ he intoned, the attack arcing from his sword in a devastating crescent.

-Arghhh...

The dragon’s scream echoed as the sliver of its soul, unable to withstand the combined assault of Ashenflame and soul energy, shattered like glass.

As the fragments dissipated, Baines returned to reality, the void fading.

’I’ve gotten rid of the influence now,’ he thought. Why else would those dragons be able to use their techniques if a part of the actual dragon wasn’t alive or present?

Shaaa...

Ashenfall flowed freely into the armored constructs, infusing them with violet energy.

Fifty armored knights had taken up half his reserve to transform.

Their golden armor retained its luster, but now wreathed in violet, their sword blades glowing with the same hue.

Just like their previous state, they all reached the 6th-star level in Ashenfall.

’Now names,’ Baines mused. The truth was, he was unwilling to burden himself with naming 50 knights, so,

-You are now First Sword.

He declared. The knight howled to the sky, its aura surging to peak 6th-star. Methodically, he named them down to the Fiftieth Sword.

Surprisingly, two managed to ascend to the 7th star.

34th and 49th swords, and automatically they assumed leadership roles. Afterwards, Baines transferred Sword, Body, Fist, and Palm techniques into their cores, enhancing their combat prowess.

"Haa..." Baines exhaled afterwards. He was spent, except he unleashed his Ashenfall again.

’We’ve spent so long here,’ he stepped forward through the aftermath of destruction, collapsed buildings, and scattered debris, yet he paid it no mind.

"Ban—" Ralph froze mid-step as he approached, his dagger raised against the approaching knights, but Baines waved a hand.

-Don’t worry. They’re with me now.

He reassured, slipping his hands into his pockets as the fifty knights trailed him like an honor guard.

With a sigh, Ralph asked, "What happened? That skeleton suddenly moved us away."

’Wick did that?’ Baines wondered, then reached to touch Ralph’s head. "What are you doing?" Ralph asked, narrowing his eyes.

-I thought you wanted to know?

Ralph relented as Baines used Eye to transfer the recent events, his battle with the dragon soul, and the knights’ transformation into Ralph’s mind.

"Argh..." Ralph winced, then his eyes widened.

It was so vivid, like he was there. His brother’s mastery of techniques amazed him, he also got chills from Wick’s unexpected power.

However, among everything, there was one that didn’t go well with him.

"Why do you limit your weapons like that?"

-Huh? What do you mean?

Baines asked, puzzled.

"The way you use your weapons, they tremble when you strike, right? That means you’re at second resonance," Ralph muttered, analyzing aloud.

-Wait, what stage are you?

Baines paused and asked.

"I reached third resonance as I broke through," and he replied with a shrug like it was nothing.

Ralph’s surprise mirrored his own; his brother’s sword talent was extraordinary.

As they reached the main mansion, they reunited with the first and second executives and the surviving Dawnless members.

At first, they were wary of the new armored knights with them. Their power terrified them, however, they followed behind without a word

Nearly 200 5th-stars had joined the assault; now, just over 100 remained. That was how weak they were.

Baines thought about investing in them for a while. Against even one-sun rank family, they would have been annihilated, and this was just a family with no rank, and almost half their strongest were gone.

"Master," Wick emerged like a butler, ushering them inside.

The mansion was a charnel house, dead guards, servants, and knights littered the halls as they passed through. The group was on alert, thinking of entering another stage of battle, however, it was already over.

Wick led them to the throne room, where Yill Treyl, the Black Rose remnants who had failed to escape, and a few others awaited. Their condition didn’t look good. All their bones had been broken and shattered.

Whimpers of pleas for their lives escaped only to fall on deaf ears.

Baines’ eyes hardened the moment he saw them and unleashed the ethereal soul chains to wrap them all, except Yill.

And without hesitation, he pulled out his hand,

"GAHHHHHH!" Their final screams achoed as he yanked out the chains, extracting the souls.

Their bodies crumbled to dust.

The unseen process sent a shiver down the room. Though the souls were invisible, the agony in their screams was palpable.

They felt it from within them, what would happen if he yanked out that chain binding them.

After this, who in their right senses would dare betray him?

-He’s all yours.

Baines told Ralph, leaving Yill to his brother’s mercy.

-Everyone, wait here. Gather anything you can find in the meantime.

He instructed, following Wick, who hinted at something to show him.

They materialized in a vast, trashed laboratory, shattered tubes, overturned tables, and scattered experimental tools, however, none of it caught his attention.

It was all taken by the center. At the center lay a monstrosity: the hundred-meter black dragon from the domain.

Its corpse crackling with golden lightning, exuding a pressure that weighed on the air. ’It’s dead but still exerts that pressure,’ Baines noted. He had to activate his heart core to mitigate the strain.

Then he checked the state of the soul.

’As expected,’ the soul of the dragon was still present and about twice the size of what he saw in that realm.

Without delay, he sent ethereal chains to ensnare it.

-Ahhhhh, you, you still torment me.

The dragon’s soul wailed.

’This proves it. This dragon must’ve made a deal with the Treyl head. It couldn’t act directly, so it created those knights to watch the situation,’ Baines deduced.

The armored knights were too perfectly made to have been thought up by some researcher.

But the main question was, ’How did they find this dragon?’

-Will you answer my questions?

-B-Brat, release me now.

Baines shook his head, he shouldn’t have bothered talking to it in the first place. And he yanked out the soul free.

-ARRGHHHHHHHHHH...

The chain retreated, merging with his slave chains.

Afterwards, the pressure vanished and the lightning faded, signaling the end of the dragon.

-Wick, are you currently doing any research?

-Yes, Master.

And it began listing its ongoing projects.

-So, you need the dragon heart?

-Yes, Master.

-Take it.

Wick didn’t hesitate any further and attacked the neck with surgical precision, extracting the heart with a deft pull.

This signaled the end of the Tyrell family.

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