Chapter 76: Assassination Attempt [1]

Craig landed amidst the swirling embers, his dark golden eyes fixing upon the nightmare towering before him.

’It’s massive!’ Craig’s heart skipped a beat.

The 2nd-Tier Alpha Red-Scaled Deer stepped out from the shadows of the ironwood grove—a monstrous titan standing over six meters tall.

Its frame was clad in thick, obsidian-tinted red scales, and its two colossal, jagged antlers stretched outward like crowns of charred bone.

Glowing, predatory orange eyes burned with cold sentience from above its maw.

SHRIEEEK!

The Alpha unleashed a deafening sonic screech, revealing its dual Awakened Traits.

Dark crimson fluid erupted from the gaps in its scales, instantly hardening into a crystal-like Sanguine Armor.

Simultaneously, dozens of jet-black Abyssal Blood Needles manifested around its antlers, hovering with lethal precision.

’A trait?’ Craig’s eyes slightly narrowed as he observed, ’This beast is damn strong...Tch’

Suddenly, Craig’s lips curled into a wild, fierce grin.

"Show me what a 2nd-Tier overlord can do!"

He had mustered the courage to attack, this is all for the sake of his breakthrough and ascension.

SWOOSH!

Triggering his first A-Grade Talent—Speed Demon—Craig’s perception of time slowed to a crawl.

His physical momentum doubled in a flash, turning him into an blurred crimson streak as he closed the distance in a microsecond, driving his sword straight toward the Alpha’s throat!

SPARK!

His steel struck the beast’s hardened neck, producing only a violent spray of sparks.

The Sanguine Armor completely absorbed the kinetic impact. Before Craig could retreat, the Alpha’s orange eyes flared, firing the swarm of Abyssal Blood Needles point-blank!

Craig swept his blade defensively, but the kinetic force was catastrophic.

Three black needles impaled his chest and abdomen, blasting him backward across the hot earth.

He crashed into a burning ironwood trunk, coughing up dark, corrupted blood.

THUMP! THUMP!

The six-meter titan charged, its massive hooves descending to crush his skull.

Craig activated his second A-Grade Talent—Sensory Disruptor.

Focusing his intent, he forcibly linked the Alpha’s visual perception to his own boots.

SCREECH?!

Blinded by the alien visual feed, the Alpha’s head wild-swung, its massive hooves missing Craig by inches and smashing the ground into cratered rubble.

However, as the titan thrashing in confusion, its colossal tail whipped around like an iron beam, catching Craig dead in the ribs!

CRACK!

The sound of shattering bones echoed through the grove.

Craig was thrown fifty feet, bouncing off the scorched dirt. Pain flared across every nerve ending.

His Divine Draconic Physique kicked into overdrive, its inherent cell regeneration working frantically to knit his fractured organs and internal bleeding back together.

Yet, the raw Abyssal mana laced within the 2nd-Tier’s attacks was too toxic.

Craig felt the warmth of his regeneration slow down and freeze—his Divine Draconic Physique had reached its absolute healing limits.

Blood dripped from his mouth, his ribs shattered, and his vision swam. But deep within his chest, his Dragon’s Heart thundered with unyielding, sovereign defiance.

This was the exact wall he needed.

’Is this where I stop?’ Craig screamed inwardly, his golden eyes burning with pure, unadulterated fury.

’NEVER!’

’I..I....I MUST BREAKTHROUGH!!’

Relying purely on sheer, unbending willpower, Craig forced his broken body to its feet.

Ignoring the horrific, tearing pain in his soul, he spammed both A-Grade Talents simultaneously—stacking Speed Demon and Sensory Disruptor over his physical limits, even as the dual strain shredded his neural pathways.

SWOOSH!

Blurring past human comprehension, Craig bypassed the confused beast’s guard.

The invisible ceiling holding back his martial standing shattered to pieces as his spirit breached the threshold of the Sword Runner class.

Craig could feel it, he was already in the Peak-stage.

Rising into the air, Craig delivered a single, flawless, dark-mana-infused vertical arc straight through the unarmored gap beneath the Alpha’s jaw!

"Val’Maror Keturah!"

(I’ll kill that thing here and now!)

CSHHH!

Ten inches of cold steel pierced straight through the underside of the Alpha’s skull, driving into its brain.

The six-meter titan froze, its glowing orange eyes dimming before its massive frame crashed onto its side, dead.

Craig collapsed onto his stomach beside the corpse, his lungs burning and his body completely broken.

With agonized, trembling movements, he dragged himself inch by inch across the bloody dirt, carving out the glowing Abyssal Mana Core from the beast’s chest.

Without hesitating, Craig forced the raw core down his throat to devour its power.

[ CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE CONSUMED A TARGET ORGANISM ]

[ INITIATING DIGESTION MODE... ]

[ ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! ]

[ UNABLE TO PROCEED WITH DIGESTION DUE TO HOST’S ASCENSION PHASE ]

[ ASCENSION HAS BEGUN ]

The moment the core hit his stomach, absolute internal disaster struck.

The raw, violent assimilation of the 2nd-Tier trait clashed violently with the ongoing physical re-alignment of his newly awakened Sword Runner body!

Unable to directly fuse.

His digestive system and his martial breakthrough fought for dominance, throwing his internal organs into total turmoil.

ARGH!

Craig broke down completely, clutching his stomach as his body paralyzed itself in agonizing spasms.

Blood poured from his lips, and his vision blurred into darkness.

Craig lay collapsed on the scorched earth, his body completely paralyzed by the internal war raging within his core.

The violent assimilation of the 2nd-Tier core clashed against the physical re-alignment of his Sword Runner ascension, sending agonizing shockwaves through his nervous system.

Dark blood continuously welled in his throat, dripping onto the ash-covered soil beneath his cheek.

Yet, despite his broken physique and blurred vision, Craig’s mind remained sharply, sovereignly vigilant.

His heightened senses—forged by the constant pulse of his Dragon’s Heart—picked up the faint, methodical rustle of dried leaves amidst the crackling flames.

Step. Step. Step.

"Who’s there?" Craig’s voice reverberated through the air, not hiding his panic.

With excruciating effort, Craig forced his heavy neck to turn, his dark golden eyes narrowing into bleeding, reptilian slits as he stared into the swirling smoke.

Five tall silhouettes emerged from the pitch-black mist, their dark combat robes rustling in the heated air.

Their faces were completely obscured by eerie, bone-white ghost masks, each carved with hollow, lifeless eye sockets.

Four of them radiated the sharp, refined aura of seasoned Sword Runners, while the central figure—their leader—emitted the heavy, suffocating weight of a true Sword Sage.

Polished, curved katanas glinted sinisterly in their hands, reflecting the flickering embers of Dark Sister’s dragonfire.

Instead of moving with the frantic haste of common mercenaries, the five assassins walked with slow, leisurely strides, casually surrounding the paralyzed Viscount.

They didn’t view him as a dangerous target anymore—merely a dying dog waiting for the slaughter.

"Is this truly the grand Seventh Successor of the Darkstar lineage?" one of the Sword Runner assassins sneered from behind his mask, his voice dripping with dry amusement.

"The reports painted him out to be an untouchable prodigy who conquered the Myrain Viscounty in a single night."

"A prodigy?" another assassin chuckled softly, resting his heavy katana against his shoulder.

"Look at him. Crawling in the dirt, choking on his own blood like a butchered pig. He couldn’t even handle the backlash of his own reckless breakthrough."

"How pitiful," the third ghost-masked figure added, shaking his head with mock sorrow. "To think the blood of the Seventh Successor ends here in a burnt, mediocre C-level danger zone...... killed by his own foolish ambition before our blades even touched his neck." ℴℴ𝘮

The Sword Sage leader stepped forward, his cold, unfeeling eyes locking onto Craig’s trembling, blood-soaked form through the white mask.

He slowly raised his curved katana overhead, the blade humming with a sharp, lethal coat of concentrated aura.

"Enough chatter," the leader commanded in a flat, ruthless tone.

"A crippled Viscount is still a Viscount. Slice off his head, collect whatever he has left, and let the flames consume the rest."

Lying helplessly in his own blood, unable to lift a single finger, Craig locked his golden eyes onto the descending steel, his spirit burning with an unholy, quiet wrath.