novelraw Chapter 127: Destined
Chapter 127: Destined
The Cerberus Family never expected such an accident to arise from a sacrifice.
After transforming into a half-dragon, the once frail Geronimo became an unstoppable powerhouse.
The well-trained servants and guards of the Cerberus Family couldn't last a single move against him.
A flap of his dragon wings created a gale strong enough to knock them off their feet.
When Geronimo reached them, a light squeeze was all it took to crush their heads, helmets and all.
It wasn't just a strengthening of physical power; the tooth-filled mouths on Geronimo's body were powerful weapons. With a simple pounce, these mouths would voraciously devour flesh and blood—even metal armor couldn't withstand them, as if they were truly the mouths of a giant dragon.
Geronimo vented his rage frantically.
"Hahaha! Die! All of you, die, you lowly ants!"
Geronimo's appearance had completely changed by now; he looked nothing like a human.
He killed all the servants of the Cerberus Family, and the consumed flesh rapidly integrated into his body. His original height of 1.5 meters quickly swelled to nearly two meters. The dragon wings on his back became even more exaggerated, spanning nearly ten meters when fully spread, and grew dense dragon scales. Even his head sprouted curved horns.
The guards' weapons only sparked against his dragon wings, unable to penetrate the dragon scale defense, and they were killed by this half-dragon in despair.
Hundreds of fully armed guards on the square were killed and devoured by Geronimo. The evil shadow in the sky watched all this with satisfaction.
It had been too long. Finally, a true dragon's roar resounded on this continent again.
"Go, my child. Tell this world that the dragons have returned."
The voice of the Dragon Goddess Tiamat echoed in the sky, startling the Cerberus Family hiding inside the castle.
A man wearing a robe embroidered with dragon patterns stood up. He was the family genius, the Warlock Abraham Torres, who was just one step away from becoming a Legend.
Warlock is a very special class. They appear to be spellcasters, but their ability to cast spells does not come from their own wisdom, but from the gifts of the Patron they worship.
Simply put—being a sycophant.
The Feywild, the Abyss, the Hells, the divine realms of evil gods... these regions leaning toward the evil alignment are home to many powerful beings who enjoy accepting offerings from other intelligent life and becoming their Patrons.
This is a relationship similar to that of a god and a believer. The difference is that the object of worship doesn't have to be a god, nor do they need divine power; they just need to be stronger than the worshipper.
And this relationship rarely evolves into a religion because most Patrons don't have their own doctrines, nor do they care to develop a faith; they just occasionally feel like keeping some pets.
Warlocks are the Patron's pets, gaining bestowed power by groveling at their Patron's feet. Even more pathetically, Abraham Torres's Patron wasn't even the Dragon Goddess Tiamat, but some unknown devil from the first layer of Hell.
But Abraham Torres lived up to his reputation as a genius. Just a tiny gift from a devil allowed him to grow into a powerful Warlock, reaching the threshold of Legend.
Then came the successive sacrifices by the Cerberus Family, allowing Abraham Torres to completely break away from his original Patron. Now was the time for his transformation. If he could gain the favor of the Dragon Goddess Tiamat, becoming a Legendary Warlock would be a sure thing.
Who could have guessed that such a critical sacrifice would have an accident?
What was with this half-dragon?
After hearing the loud noise from the sky, Abraham Torres immediately teleported himself to the bloody square.
The members of the Cerberus Family were mostly dead. Their mutilated corpses were piled into a high tower by the half-dragon, and the half-dragon was sitting at the very top of the corpse tower, looking at Abraham Torres with mocking eyes.
Abraham Torres didn't attack immediately. Instead, he bowed to the giant evil shadow.
"Great Dragon Goddess, please allow your believer to ask a question. Is this half-dragon before me your kin?"
Geronimo also looked up at the sky. He had been so absorbed in his own pleasure just now that he hadn't really noticed where his power came from. Was it this evil shadow in the sky?
To Abraham Torres, the evil shadow was just a blurry shape, but in Geronimo's eyes, it was a colossal chromatic dragon with five heads.
Remembering his previous experience, Geronimo quickly knelt on the mountain of corpses, letting out a series of roars.
The Dragon Language passed down for generations in the Cult of the Dragon—Geronimo thought he had forgotten it, but it was actually etched into his soul.
Abraham Torres frowned. This scene didn't look right. The Cerberus Family's losses probably wouldn't be compensated. However, if this half-dragon really was the Dragon Goddess's kin, it wasn't unacceptable. He looked quite strong; Abraham could just take him as a hired thug.
However, to Abraham Torres's shock, the Dragon Goddess laughed wildly and issued a divine decree: "You two, begin killing each other now. Whoever survives will receive my blessing. True dragons grow through slaughter. Don't disappoint me."
Geronimo listened, confused for a moment. Just as he grasped the Dragon Goddess's meaning, three beams of crimson energy were already blasting toward him.
Abraham Torres reacted much faster than Geronimo. Without any hesitation, he gathered crimson energy in his hands and fired at the half-dragon.
This is the first spell Warlocks master, and also their core spell—Eldritch Blast.
Three bursts of magical energy exploded on the defenseless Geronimo, tearing his dragon scales and shattering most of the teeth covering his body.
A Warlock spends their life researching how to increase the power of Eldritch Blast. Many of their advanced abilities are designed to enhance its effects: multiple casts, forceful push, extra enchantments, and so on.
This triple-cast Eldritch Blast was the peak of Abraham Torres's life, representing power with half a foot across the threshold of Legend.
Geronimo was blown away directly. The flesh on his body cracked open from the blast, revealing his deformed skeleton.
The half-dragon boy tumbled and crashed to the ground, landing in front of the slaves who hadn't died yet.
The bloody ritual had been interrupted by Geronimo, and since Geronimo had focused solely on slaughtering the Cerberus Family members, quite a few slaves had luckily survived.
Seeing Geronimo fall, critically injured, several slaves walked over with heartache, wanting to help this "hero."
If Geronimo died too, they would have no hope of survival.
But they didn't expect that as soon as they got close, the heavily injured Geronimo would spread his dragon wings and envelop them.
After a few screams, the dragon wings unfolded again, and Geronimo stood back up.
There were still several deep wounds on his body where bone was visible, but compared to before, he was much better.
At the half-dragon boy's feet lay several mangled corpses, looking as if they had been frantically gnawed on by wild beasts.
Geronimo didn't even spare them a glance. Even though they had been slaves captured by the Cerberus Family just like him, in Geronimo's eyes, they were just food to help him recover.
Abraham Torres frowned at this scene. The next Eldritch Blast landed on the surviving slaves.
He didn't want to fight a monster with infinite regeneration; he had to destroy his "healing potions" first.
The Eldritch Blast exploded among the slaves, corroding flesh and eroding souls, killing most of the pitiful wretches.
Geronimo roared, flapped his wings, and flew toward Abraham Torres.
Abraham Torres gathered Eldritch Blast again, trying to shoot down the half-dragon, but Geronimo dodged nimbly several times.
A spellcaster's Fly spell couldn't compare to dragon wings in agility, let alone speed. Even though Abraham Torres retreated with all his might, he was still caught by Geronimo.
They were close at hand, but Abraham Torres showed no panic.
He knew Geronimo would try everything to get close to him. At this distance, the Eldritch Blast wouldn't miss.
The gathered mana erupted instantly. The power of the three-stage Eldritch Blast hit at point-blank range.
One of Geronimo's dragon wings was completely blown to smithereens, and the force of the Eldritch Blast sent the wing flying.
He had clearly inflicted heavy damage on Geronimo, yet Abraham Torres's face changed drastically. He was shocked to discover that the dragon wing had detached from Geronimo's body *before* it was blown away.
This half-dragon had abandoned his wing in advance!
It was unknown how he severed the wing from the root, but now the impact of the Eldritch Blast fell entirely on the dragon wing. The wing was blown away, but Geronimo used the remaining momentum to rush in front of Abraham Torres.
Sharp claws gripped Abraham Torres's shoulders. The teeth in his palms tore through the robes, frantically devouring Abraham Torres's flesh and blood.
The sharp pain in his shoulder caused Abraham Torres to lose his cool. He tried hard to cast a spell, but he couldn't concentrate. In that half-second of hesitation, Geronimo opened his original mouth and bit down on his neck.
Just like a real giant dragon, tearing the enemy with claws and teeth, devouring their flesh.
Abraham Torres's blood, potent with magical energy, poured into Geronimo's throat, healing his wounds again. The severed dragon wing also began to regrow.
Abraham Torres wanted to resist, but he was shocked to find his body completely paralyzed.
The half-dragon's teeth seemed to carry a potent toxin, rendering him immobile the moment blood was drawn.
The two fell from the sky. Abraham Torres was used by Geronimo as a cushion, smashing hard into the ground. The powerful impact broke most of the bones in his body.
He had miscalculated. Just now, thinking victory was assured, he hadn't even activated his Shield spell, only thinking of luring the half-dragon in to deal a heavy blow. He never expected that he would be the one heavily injured.
Why did it turn out like this?
Abraham Torres was unreconciled. He clearly had many ways to deal with this half-dragon, but now he couldn't move a finger, forced to lie on the ground and let the opponent devour his flesh.
It shouldn't be like this. The old him would have been very cautious. How could a spellcaster fight a monster in such a risky way?
"No, I'm about to become a Legend. I am the hope of the family. I shouldn't die like this."
Before he died, Abraham Torres saw the smile of the evil shadow in the sky.
Abraham Torres suddenly gave up struggling. He understood everything.
True dragons grow through slaughter. The Dragon Goddess had incited his fanaticism, causing him to lose the caution a spellcaster should have. It turned out he was this half-dragon's food from the very beginning. He was only allowed to struggle for a while to teach this half-dragon how to hunt.
The moment the half-dragon was born, everything was already destined.
The flock of crows was still hovering in the sky, presumably impatient to feast, only this time they would be devouring the flesh of the Cerberus Family.