Percy accessed his spatial ring and retrieved a Monster Card.

  “You better be exactly what I’m looking for!”

  Percy grumbled, fusing with the Card that had manifested in his hand while the Abomination continued consuming more and more demon carcasses.

  The binding process was smooth. The Monster Card’s compatibility with Percy was higher than he’d hoped. It took merely seconds before he was done.

  [Black Wyvern Card has been bound.]

  [All Card Slots have been occupied.]

  Percy ignored the notifications and looked back to study the battlefield. The common soldiers didn’t know what was happening, but they were excited at the arrival of someone whose mere presence enraged the Devil.

  Simultaneously, bits of the fear instilled in their hearts was replaced by courage once they noted that their king regained his senses. King Phillip fought more fiercely than before, but that was not all. Their king evaded the Devil’s attack by timing his strikes with the Beast King. The Beast King and King Phillip attacked and retreated together. It felt like they were the same as they inflicted numerous gashes, albeit small ones, all over the Devil’s body.

  They were not only stalling time but took advantage of the Devil’s fury to injure him. Maybe. Just maybe the mortal realm wasn’t lost just yet.

  The pack of Moonlight Wolves emerged from the battlefield and pursued the demons who’d breached through the final line of defense. At the same time, Percy checked his newest Monster Card, preparing it for the fight that lay ahead.

  [Black Wyvern]

  [Potential: Guardian????]

  [Augmentation]

  [Greater Agility Boost???]

  [Dragonic Wrath????]

  [Transformation: Wings?????]

  [Wyvernflame???]

  [Greater Agility Boost] was stronger than Blue’s Agility Boost. Yet, despite two Boost Augmentations of the same type not overlapping, Percy invested in the Glacial Roc’s Agility, pushing it to great heights. But that was not all. Percy did a lot more than that.

  [5,136,892,971 Prosperity has been consumed.]

  [Glacial Roc’s Potential has been upgraded to [Guardian?????].

  [Gnoll Warlord’s Potential has been upgraded to [Guardian?????].

  [Black Wyvern’s Potential has been upgraded to [Guardian?????].

  [Glacial Roc’s Augmentation[Advanced Agility Boost] has been upgraded to [Greater Agility Boost???]

  [Black Wyvern’s Augmentation [Greater Agility Boost???] has been upgraded to [Greater Agility Boost?????].

  [Black Wyvern’s locked Augmentation [Wyvernflame???] has been unsealed.]

  [Black Wyvern’s Augmentation [Wyvernflame???] has been upgraded to [Dragonbreath?].

  [Black Wyvern’s Augmentation [Dragonic Wrath????] has been upgraded to [Dragonic Wrath?????].

  [Your Tier increased by one rank.]

  …

  …

  [Your Tier increased by one rank.]

  Percy upgraded as much as possible, enhancing almost all Augmentations drastically, but he lost himself in the fight underneath, forcing him to ignore the dozens of notifications appearing in the corner of his view.

  Simultaneously, watching countless men and women struggling in the fight against the demonic forces while enduring the pain of adapting to the new and upgraded Augmentations was not easy.

  Percy wasn’t surprised when the rank-ups nearly took him out. He expected to rank slightly, especially after his Gifted affinities increased once he reached the Ascended Tier.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Still, he overcame the floods of mana and the alterations the Augmentations instilled in his body.

  But that was not owed to his toughness or because Percy was special. No. He was painfully aware that all those rank-ups and Augmentation enhancements should have killed him. But they did not do that thanks to the ace Old King had given him.

  For a few minutes, maybe a little longer, his body rapidly adapted to its changes. It would be several times faster than the norm, all thanks to him surpassing his limit—quite literally.

  The drop of blood he’d obtained from the Old King made all of it possible. It changed everything, including his connection to Dragon Fang.

  [Dragon Fang(Syreablade) – Perfect/Soulbound(Percy Kain) – 2.341,433,229 Prosperity.]

  [Dragon Might], [Absolute Slash], [Vampiric Slash]

  [Growth?????],[Super Sensory???], [Limit Break?????], [Cataclysmic Dragon ?????]

  Maybe not everything had been unlocked, but [Dragonblood] evolved, while [Limit Break] was unsealed alongside the runic enchantment [Vampiric Slash]. However, neither unsealing the Augmentation and runic enchantment nor the evolution of [Dragonblood] had been initiated via Prosperity.

  It was all owed to the Cataclysmic Dragon’s blood, merging neatly with Percy. It overwhelmed Percy for a moment, attached to the awakened Azure Dragon’s blood coursing through his veins, and only became part of him without retaliation after sensing Dragon Fang. The blood drop and Dragon had once been part of the same mighty creature, and finally they had reunited in the body of a mere human.

  If Percy was to be honest, he had no idea how he’d survived this. He could have sworn death was knocking on his doors, yet the reaper left him without cutting the final thread connecting him to the mortal realm. Percy would have been happy to know how he survived because the last thing he remembered was unbearable pain. The agony had been endless, occupying every inch of his body.

  But no matter what had happened, Percy was alive and stronger than ever. The Cataclysmic Dragon’s blood was running through his veins, fueling Percy with power.

  [Limit Break] was also active and unleashed to the fullest, granting him a few minutes to safely surpass his limit until everything came crashing down.

  A few minutes is all I need. It is…all I have!

  He summoned the Black Wyvern mid-air with a mental command. His connection to the creature wasn’t as firm as the bond with Blue and Hyean, but that mattered little.

  The Black Wyvern looked like a miniature version of the dragon halos Percy and his father had manifested when they tested if royal blood was running through his veins. However, the Black Wyvern was not as massive as the dragon halos. It may be a mythical, powerful creature with mighty leathery wings and an appearance akin to a dragon, but it was smaller and had only two legs.

  It screeched at the top of its lungs when Percy summoned it and flapped its mighty things. Its lizard-like head flicked to the ground, death, and destruction flickering in its eyes.

  “Pursue and kill the demons who’ve breached our defenses. Don’t burn anyone from the united forces, and come back to burn the demonic forces alive when you’re done,” Percy ordered verbally while commanding Blue mentally.

  The Glacial Roc descended to the ground near the defense lines, whereas the Black Wyvern transformed into a black flash in the air. He heard the monster’s roar again and saw grand flames burning Demons and earth alike. The Black Wyvern went on a killing spree, eliminating those who’d bypassed the defense lines in no time.

  Simultaneously, the Abomination went wild as well. Since Percy unraveled the possibility of consuming the Devil, of controlling the Devil, the Abomination was out of control. It didn’t go against Percy’s order, but it never fully returned to Percy, knowing that more demon corpses were being prepared by the second.

  Every demon dying on the battlefield was being consumed within seconds. They struck the ground, the life in their eyes dimming slowly, and disappeared moments later.

  The Prosperity reaching Percy accumulated, but he didn’t have a swift way to spend as much Prosperity as possible because every Augmentation-upgrade cost exponentially more. That was suitable when he had enough Prosperity to increase several Augmentations, but it wasn’t helpful now that he had tens of millions of Prosperity left to use.

  He didn’t wish to waste it either, but his current top priority was to increase his rank further. He had to use [Limit Break] as long as it was active. Investing all Prosperity the moment he received it was the easiest way. After all, he couldn’t constantly check his balance, or the cost to upgrade his Augmentations.

  Not now that he’d properly entered the battlefield. Percy emerged before a Greater Demon with Dragon Fang rippling in his hands. He cleaved through the Greater Demon, killing the creature on the spot. He tried using [Consume] on the Greater Demon, but there was no time to think about it.

  First, his Abomination was already on the way. It consumed the Greater Demon’s corpse faster than he could command it.

  Second, more Greater Demons were already coming for him, a Demon Lord leading their group. He had no time to think about the most cost-efficient way to rank up and increase his strength.

  Thus, he chose the simplest path.

  His Prosperity was invested in the Capture Card.

  [63.236.682 Prosperity has been consumed.]

  [Mythical Card’s capture rate increased.]

  Percy’s expression dimmed. He didn’t have to waste any time checking how many Prosperity points he would have to accumulate to invest in the Capture Card, but it wasn’t like the mythical card improved his strength. It was frustrating, but the simplest strategy he could think of.

  He had to progress rapidly.

  The Glacial Roc screeched in agreement and shot back into the air. Blue seemed to expand as it ascended into the air, but Percy no longer inspected the Glacial Roc. He stayed focused on the Greater Demons, until a barrage of icy feathers poured from the sky like daggers. The Greater Demons died on the spot, whereas the Demon Lord blocked most attacks.

  The Demon Lord looked to the sky, which was a grave mistake. Percy turned into a flash, the Syreblade flickering in the morning sun's light as it cut through the Demon Lord’s chest, triggering [Vampiric Slash], draining the Demon Lord’s life rapidly.