"Very well then," Nox grinned, eyes flashing.
He spread his hands wide, and a brilliant shockwave of light burst out from him—then immediately turned pitch black.
It was as if a dome of void had swallowed them all whole.
Everyone froze, feeling something foreign yet strangely familiar stab into their chests.
It felt like their hearts were exploding one after another. Mana surged violently through their veins. Most of them dropped to one knee from the sheer intensity.
"What the hell—!!" Raziel gasped.
"Ugh!" Valkor gritted his teeth as sweat rolled off his body, forming a small puddle on the ground.
"Stop fighting it," Nox's voice echoed. "The reason you're feeling this pain is because you're resisting. Don't fight—embrace it."
The dragons hesitated... and then embraced the foreign energy.
When they did, soft pulses of energy surged through their cores. No pain. No force. Just a strange warmth that flowed through their chests like a second heartbeat.
Moreover, a symbol of infinity appeared on their bodies.
[Ding! You've successfully tamed…]
[Ding! You've successfully tamed…]
[Ding! You've successfully tamed…]
Nox smirked as he saw the deluge of text.
"I said I'd empower you... I meant every word."
Now that they were officially his tamed companions, he proceeded to upgrade their elemental manipulation.
One after the other, status windows exploded before their eyes.
[Zara – Ice Manipulation → Frost Overlord (Ultimate Tier)]
[Valkor – Flame Manipulation → Inferno Overlord (Ultimate Tier)]
[Raziel – Lightning Manipulation → Divine Thunder (Ultimate Tier)]
[Celestis – Holy Light Manipulation → Divine Radiance (Ultimate Tier)]
[Nyxirith – Shadow Manipulation → Shadow Sovereign (Ultimate Tier)]
[Yuki – Corruption Manipulation → Abyss Empress (Ultimate Tier)]
The list went on and on.
"What... what is this!?" a Light Dragon cried out, clutching her glowing chest. Her entire body radiated soft golden light.
"I feel like I could fight five Scourge Champions right now!" Valkor barked, punching the air. A shockwave tore through a nearby ruined wall.
Even the quietest of them trembled in awe as their bodies surged with newfound power.
Energy coursed through their veins—hot and wild—like adrenaline laced with lightning.
They weren't the same people they had been ten minutes ago.
They were monsters now.
Nox simply stood at the center of it all.
He didn't flinch when the ground cracked beneath Raziel's casual lightning strike or when Drakes ice aura froze the floating debris. Even when Lumi blinked across space in a burst of radiant light, Nox didn't move.
Because he expected this.
He made them this way.
And they all felt it too. Somewhere deep in their cores was a flicker of shadow that wasn't theirs. They knew—without a doubt—they belonged to him now.
Yet... they didn't resist.
In fact, they welcomed it.
There was no mind control. No brainwashing. Their wills remained intact.
Their instincts screamed loyalty.
'So this is what it feels like to rule,' Nox thought.
The grin on his face was faint, but it never left.
"You all feel it, don't you?" he said.
They nodded silently, still processing the vast difference.
"I didn't just make you stronger," he added. "I gave you the power to survive what's coming next."
He turned toward the skyline, his voice lowering.
"The Scourge isn't going to wait. The longer we delay the inevitable, the faster the Dragon Realm will be engulfed in chaos."
Nox was certain of what he was saying. After all, the Frost Elder—his tamed pet—had mysteriously died.
For a Legendary-tier dragon to die like that... it could only mean things had worsened in the Dragon Realm.
Everyone's expressions hardened.
"We're not going to hide anymore." Nox raised a clenched fist. "The Scourge Dragons think we're prey."
"But we'll show them that we are predators."
The energy around the group thickened like a storm cloud about to explode.
Raziel, the Lightning Prince, stepped forward, lightning crackling behind him. "Just say the word, boss."
Valkor cracked his knuckles. "I say we start with the bastards who ambushed us."
Nox looked around at all of them.
Each one of them had the aura of an apex predator now—an aura that rivaled even champions. This wasn't just a party anymore.
[New Title Unlocked: Sovereign of the Lost]
[Effect: All bonded allies gain +10% power amplification when near their master. Loyalty gain increased. Resistance to corruption increased by 50%.]
Fifty percent resistance against corruption?
That might just tip the scale of this entire battle in their favor.
It was exactly what they needed in this critical situation.
Nox took a deep breath and requested the map Voron had handed to them. Earlier, Drake had told him about the vault where treasures were stored—and that was their first destination.
"The treasure vault is our first stop," he declared.
There were no complaints, no questions. Everyone agreed to the plan.
They began moving immediately, the bond tying them together making their coordination flow naturally. It wasn't disjointed like before—something Nox was very grateful for.
Zara approached him quietly as everyone prepared. Her gaze was unreadable.
"You planned all of this, didn't you?"
"More like adapted. I didn't think I'd be taming dragons today," Nox smirked.
She looked at him for a long moment, then said, "The initial plan was for you to tame me after defeating the Scourge, but right now, I have to admit—becoming your companion is much more beneficial than I thought."
Nox resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "That's what I've been trying to tell you."
"I was too naive then," Zara muttered. She didn't speak further, but she didn't walk away either. She stood close to Nox, as if wanting to show everyone that she was the closest to him.
And this rubbed Elise the wrong way. The Inferno Dragon couldn't help but sneak a peek at the two from time to time, jealousy shining in her eyes.
Nox turned back to the group.
The wind howled, as if the world itself knew a storm was rising.
With a smile sharper than fate...
A legion of apex predators behind him...
And an army of Scourge monsters ahead...
Nox raised one finger and pointed forward as all the dragons shot into the air.