Ancient Dragon in Arknights

Nergigante raised its head high and then slammed it down—this was its signature move, and it was perfect for dealing with Neltharion.

The enormous impact slammed solidly into Nesario, and the violent collision of his body with the ground nearly shattered all the bones in his body.

Even so, the claws in his hand never relaxed for a moment, and the tail that pierced into the neck of the Nergigante increased its force.

'Colombian swear word!' Nesario's spine should have been broken by now, and his lower body should have been completely out of control.

Biologically speaking, that should be the case—but this is a new continent, and in addition to the laws of matter, there is also a layer of idealistic power exerted upon Neltharion.

His will had not yet yielded, so—"Come with me...and die!"

For the first time, Nergigante, which had slaughtered countless lives and fought countless Elder Dragons, understood the emotion of "fear." Neltharion was probably more suited to Nergigante's power than its original form.

Chapter 133 The Power of the Steel Dragon!

When consciousness returned, a holy white light came into view. Looking up, countless stone statues of dragons, flying dragons, and beast dragons stood on the steps, like a magnificent history of the dragon race.

This is the final resting place of ten thousand dragons—the Hall of Ten Thousand Dragons.

Compared to his previous two cautious steps filled with awe, this time Nesario seemed much more skilled. Or rather, he was too excited at the moment. He looked up at the top of the steps with great joy—and sure enough, new colors appeared among the countless gray and white stone statues of the dragon statues at the top.

That was... a dragon?

"Wait... this isn't right, why is there only one? Is it because Nergigante and Kushala Daora have different ranks, making it more special?"

Nesario had excellent eyesight, even able to see the eyelashes of the sniper who ambushed him—but at this moment, he desperately hoped he was seeing things.

The steel dragon statue on the high steps had transformed into a gleaming metallic texture, indicating that it had come to "come alive." However, the Nergigante statue not far away remained gray and lifeless.

What does this mean?

This means that Nergigante is not dead!

"Although I know that guy has a strong regenerative ability... but that's his neck, you know. Most creatures would die if a hole was dug in their neck."

Complaining is useless; no matter how vicious the curse, the Nergigante will not die here.

Therefore, Neltharion had no choice but to accept the legacy of the Steel Dragon.

"But it's not unacceptable...at least it's not a complete loss."

With a steel dragon as a base, Neltharion's vacation was definitely worthwhile; after school starts, he can completely shed the title of "spell idiot" if he wants to.

'That girl, Allardy, was pretty good at manipulating the wind back then, wasn't she? Should we have her try her skills...?'

Nesario could laugh out loud just thinking about the scene.

'Your Originium Arts and spell altars are both exceptional—but in the next moment, they belong to me.'

Extending my hand, I felt a chill upon touching it—that was due to the steel exoskeleton. Just like its name, the Steel Dragon was completely encased in a steel exoskeleton, so touching it naturally gave me the cold, hard feel of steel.

As countless instincts, knowledge, and genetic memories flowed into Neltharion's mind, his path to becoming an ancient dragon officially began.

......

"Yawn... What time is it?"

Consuming the legacy of an ancient dragon is no small feat, but the wondrous feeling was so irresistible that he had completely lost track of time—even upon waking, he couldn't tell what time it was.

Reaching out to pick up the communicator, the electronic time on the screen was clearly displayed in front of Nesario—2:45 PM.

Good heavens... it's already afternoon.

Nesario sat up and looked around for a while, like someone who hadn't woken up yet—in reality, he was trying to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Suddenly evolving from a combination of "swiftness and claws" and "sharp blades and fire" into the King of Storms, he felt a sense of unreality.

"Let me try..."

At this moment, Nesario's senses were completely different from those of a normal person—a normal person can only judge the direction of the wind through the touch of their skin and the movement of the surrounding objects.

But at this moment—Nesario could clearly feel the direction, intensity, and scent of the wind, just like "seeing colors," something he was born with.

He spread his hands—and as he uttered the thought, the textbooks on the desk, the curtains hanging down, and other items began to sway, as if blown by the wind.

Whoosh—a small tornado formed in Nesario's hands. It was so weak that it couldn't cause any damage to the surrounding environment; but it certainly met the criteria for a tornado.

"Whew! It's done!"

Nesario jumped for joy, he was incredibly excited.

"Try this one next."

Nesario opened the window—the view of the Royal Guard Academy flowed into the room, the lazy sun casting its warm winter rays through the bare branches and illuminating the melting snow on the ground.

"Gale! Heed my command!"

Overjoyed, Nesario didn't care about being a chuunibyou anymore; all he wanted to do was see what he could do. As his call fell, branches, flags, weather vanes, and clothes drying in the sun all began to flutter; the wind had come.

"Nice!"

Neltharion clenched his fist and swung it in the air. Although he couldn't yet create storms and wind blades with his hands like Steelix, he would definitely be able to do so with time and practice.

"I......"

Thump—Nesario wanted to say something, but before he could finish speaking, he felt his vision tilt backward, and finally, the black horn smashed the floor.

"Huh?"

What was going on? Nesario struggled to get up, but at that moment, he felt weak all over; along with that, there was a huge gurgling sound coming from his stomach.

Nesario was hungry! Extremely hungry!

"Damn..."

Afterwards, Nesario, despite being weakened, desperately crawled to the cafeteria.

Logically speaking, the afternoon is not mealtime, so the cafeteria should not be open.

But the Royal Guard College has extremely rich resources—the dining hall is open all day until the lights go out.

Therefore, Nesario enjoyed the full range of services from dozens of chefs.

Several students had enormous appetites, and the cafeteria chefs had long remembered them—although cooking for them was arduous and tiring, the chefs' vanity was greatly satisfied at that moment as they watched their hard work being devoured with happy expressions.

The chefs prepared eight servings of meat for Nesario, as usual, but this time, Nesario was not full.

"Not enough! Give us ten more servings!"

"!?"

"Quack! With such a terrifying appetite, what in the kitchen can possibly withstand it!?"

So, with only two weeks left before the start of the second academic year, Nesario set another record.

That is the record for competitive eating—a record that probably won't be broken for decades to come.

After eating and drinking his fill, Nesario calmed down and began to analyze the reasons.

"The law of conservation of energy states that previous high temperatures, muscle power, and endurance were already extremely taxing; now—influencing or even controlling natural phenomena like strong winds. This taxation won't be insignificant..."

Nesario realized that he had to change his way of replenishing energy—ordinary food was no longer enough to meet his needs.

Terra is not a new continent—the new continent is a land of outstanding people and abundant resources, with life energy throughout the world being incredibly rich.

The flowers and grasses by the roadside, some with mild properties, can be used as medicine to heal bones, while others with more explosive properties can be used as materials for weapons and traps.

The creatures in the wild are all enormous, and the energy in the Crystal Land has even overflowed and condensed into gems.

Chapter 134 The Embryo of Forbiddenness

"Gemstones? Oh yeah... there's that too."

Nesario suddenly remembered something from the past—he had been infected by high-energy molten rock, and fragments of Originium had pierced his body; but he did not contract Oripathy, and not even a trace of Originium remained in his body.

Based on the law of conservation of matter and the rampage of Nergigante's genes, Neltharion roughly guessed that a portion of Nergigante had broken down the Originium within its body. It even used this energy to get some fresh air and casually killed a few Sarkaz mercenaries.

"Am I now able to wield this power?"

Nesario was so excited this morning that he was completely absorbed by the Steel Dragon's power, and he didn't even have time to check his physical condition before he started eating.

Yes, I need to take a look before I can feel at ease.

Neltharion quickly returned to his room and swiftly took off his shirt—his healthy body was reflected in the mirror, though unfortunately, the Nergigante's thorns and scales were still there.

"Sigh... It wasn't that simple after all. I thought that when I woke up, the Nergigante elements had completely succumbed."

Nesario sighed, just about to put on his clothes and give up the pointless struggle—but as if sensing its will, the protruding scales and thorns instantly retracted, gradually disappearing into the skin without leaving a trace.

"this......!"

Double happiness!

"Steel Dragon, Nergigante—they shall all be mine!"

With the power of two ancient dragons at his disposal, Neltharion will no longer be afraid, even if the Duke himself takes action.

"But this energy consumption..."

Nesario tried it out—he attempted to grow thorns on his arm, and after a short while, several white thorns pierced through his skin and emerged. The process looked quite frightening, but that was the effect on the enemy.

"I remember it also had regenerative abilities..."

Nesario took out a fruit knife and tried to make a cut on himself to test his recovery ability.

As a result... even after the fruit knife broke, he still couldn't cut his own skin.

Every time he stabbed, the originally soft skin would immediately harden—a change that seemed impossible to turn off on its own.

After experiencing it several times, Neltharion realized the essence of this ability—the Nergigante's regenerating shell and Kushala Daora's exoskeleton were both hidden under the skin.

"But this level of hardness is probably only effective with Nergigante's abilities... Kushala Daora's bones should be as hard as steel."

After searching its mind, it came to the conclusion that the Steel Dragon's legacy states that its exoskeleton was also obtained by consuming minerals; according to the Steel Dragon's memories, it had even seen a special creature covered in golden armor due to consuming too much gold.

"So that means the Iron-Eating Life event has been replicated, right?"

With the Nergigante's corruption eradicated, Neltharion's greatest crisis was resolved, while lower-priority threats—such as the Duke's watchful eye and Victoria's vigilance—were dealt with.

To be honest—Nesario no longer takes them seriously!

Although he is currently unable to fully unleash the power of the ancient dragon due to a lack of energy, the Duke and the military can still defeat him by sending several high-ranking combatants.

"Perfect timing, I'll go see Elune and Vina. Good moods should be shared."