[00:10]

…

[00:00]

An explosion of dust and bricks burst out from the top of the temple and around its entrance.

Countless cursed goblins poured out, howling and screeching in a mad frenzy. All of them were clad in black armor and wielded sharp, high-quality weapons. Along with that, a thick, dark mana enveloped them, spreading waves of fear over the humans below.

"Just hold on for ten minutes," Carl grimaced, staring at the goblins in the distance. He signaled his comrades, and without any useless hesitation, he lunged at the bastards near the edge of the mana barrier.

At this moment, he decided to kill those humans—and at the same time, finish off the cursed goblins if the chance appeared. After all, his top priority was to devour as many dragon souls as he could. If he succeeded, reaching a three-star dragon soul was only a matter of time.

Killing the cursed goblins was also a option, but it was not enough good for him while still stuck at a two-star dragon soul. That was part of the reason why those with weak dragon souls could never reach higher ranks—not only because of their poor potential, but also the limited power that came with it.

If Carl tried his best in a Rank-E dungeon, even though he was a genius with the sword and had some tricks up his sleeve from the system, he could only manage to defeat low-tier monsters like goblins or orcs. But if he faced a high-tier monster head-on, the outcome would be all too obvious—it would be a one-sided fight.

"Don't blame me... hate your fate instead. Because right now, my top priority is killing you guys." Carl's cold gaze fixed on his prey, who still hadn't recovered from the shock of the cursed goblins suddenly emerging from the temple.

There was no way to run anymore.

Nigel, the first to come to his senses, realized how dire their situation was and quickly noticed Carl's presence. He shouted to his comrades, and together they unleashed the same [Flame Breath] skill at Carl, trying to block his advance.

The small streams of flame from each of them merged into a single, blazing river—turning into a sea of burning death. It was clear that if Carl didn't have some trick or prior preparation, once that flame engulfed him, there would be no guarantee he'd come out alive or unscathed.

Wynne felt a flicker of worry over Carl's reckless charge straight into the sea of flame, while Jordan only scoffed—hoping for the worst to happen to him.

When the combined strike finally ended, they all let out a breath of relief. To them, Carl was surely dead—nothing more than a pile of ashes now. No one, not a single person in this dungeon, could withstand that kind of attack... especially not someone with a weak dragon soul like Carl's.

Yeah, but Carl still had some hidden cards.

From a cloud of dust, an invisible shadow figure shot toward the crowd ahead — as fast as lightning, yet leaving no trace of presence.

Soon, a guy in the front row of the crowd suffered the worst pain of his life when a sword pierced straight through his chest from nowhere.

"You die first."

[Flame Breath activated!]

[Soul-Devouring Flame activated!]

The overlapping flames burst into the enemy's mouth, burning through every organ from throat to abdomen — exploding and tearing the wretched man apart. Attacking a spot without scale protection was a smart move — quick and fatal.

[System]: Target offered no resistance.

[System]: Soul Devoured: 100%

[Soul Rank]: ★★ Dragon (Progress: 44% → 48%)

Since he had unleashed the first strike, it was natural that his presence was now revealed beneath the overlapping cloaks — one of invisibility and one of cinders. Especially, his cinder cloak almost disabled all damage from the sea of flame.

Nigel froze for a second, dazed and bewildered, then quickly snapped out of it and shouted,

"KILL HIM!"

The men beside him quickly split apart, forming a line before releasing flame breath again toward the spot Carl had just been standing. Unluckily for them, Carl was no longer there. He had already slipped back into the darkness, hidden once more by his invisibility cloak — and thanks to the cinder cloak, most of the flames' damage had been erased again.

However… the problem wasn't just Carl anymore. The cursed goblins suddenly charged forward and attacked them.

At this moment, they had two big matters — not only Carl, but also the cursed goblins.

"Nigel! What do we do now?! There're too many goblins out there — at this rate, they'll kill us all!"

Nigel gritted his teeth in tension and fury as the perfect plan he had intended practically collapsed. Eventually, he prioritized the bigger matter.

He shouted after a few seconds.

"Try to keep standing until the mana barrier is disabled! And those bastards—we'll deal with them after we escape this place. Don't worry, we're all in the same boat. If we're dead, they're dead too."

After that, he looked up and stretched his wings, flying into the air along with his comrades. He thought that if they did, those monsters might act a little differently when attacking them. He was clever, but wrong about one thing — those monsters could fly too.

"I'm kinda jealous," Carl muttered as he watched the battle raging in the sky.

Nearby, after easily smashing a cursed goblin, Wynne landed and asked carefully,

"Are you okay?"

Carl just sighed.

"There's no need to worry about me. Focus on yourself."

Ignoring her, Carl quickly ran forward, eyes scanning for prey. He occasionally used his invisibility cloak to hide from the enemy's perception and launched sneak attacks.

Against enemies on the ground, things were easy. As for those in the air, he could use mana threads to trap and pull them down before finishing them off.

Everything was going smoothly. Of course, he wouldn't kill all the humans who were still fighting against the cursed goblins. To make sure the battle didn't turn one-sided, Carl made sure to balance his kills properly.

Following his own rule — for every human he killed, he'd take down two cursed goblins. But when he saw things turning bad, he immediately changed it: for every human, three cursed goblins.

Overall, depending on how the battle went, he'd always make the better call.

[System]: Target offered no resistance.

[System]: Soul Devoured: 100%

[Soul Rank]: ★★ Dragon (Progress: 48%->52%)

…

[System]: You have slain a cursed Goblin

You have received 10x Monster Card

…

[Soul Rank]: ★★ Dragon (Progress: 52%->72%)

…

[System]: You have slain a cursed Goblin

You have received 10x Monster Card

…

[Soul Rank]: ★★ Dragon (Progress: 72%->92%)

''Almost there.''

[Soul Rank]: ★★ Dragon (Progress: 92%->96)

''Come one. Just one guy more.''

Carl prowled behind the ruins, glancing up as he searched for good prey. It would be perfect if the target was already on the brink of death.

"Oh... it's you. Fucking traitor."

Carl frowned when he saw Gibbs fighting two cursed goblins. Indeed, the guy had some skill — managing to fight two cursed goblins alone — and Carl had to give him some credit for that. However, at this rate, Gibbs would die sooner or later. Not by the goblins, but by Carl.

"You look tired, my friend."

Carl grinned devilishly, quietly sneaking closer to the nearest spot to Gibbs from the ground, lurking behind a broken pillar in his blind spot.

At that moment, Gibbs finally managed to defeat the two cursed goblins after a relentless struggle. His scaled dragon body was covered in deep cuts from countless slashes, bleeding nonstop.

With a pale face and ragged breath, Gibbs dropped to the ground, hiding in a corner where the goblins couldn't see him — at least for a few minutes, before he had to fight again.

It was obvious — he was the perfect prey for a hunter like Carl.

"I won't let that opportunity slip away."

Carl slowly approached Gibbs from behind.

A few seconds later, Carl licked his lips, now standing right beside him. Gibbs barely sensed his presence — understandable, after such a brutal fight and Carl had been even using the invisibility cloak.

"Should I attack him from behind?"

…

"Yes… I would be more of a coward than a brave man."

[Plasma Breath activated!]

In an instant, Carl unleashed a plasma blast at Gibbs's left arm from behind, vaporizing it and drawing a deafening scream of pain.

Before Gibbs could shout again, Carl grabbed his jaw, silencing him, and slammed him into the ground.

"How pitiful… but I suppose that's a fair price for stabbing me in the back, huh?"

Carl blinked a few times, then smiled faintly. He couldn't wait any longer for the moment he'd reach three-star dragon souls.

'Guess you don't need a some kind of last words.''

[Flame Breath activated!]

[Soul-Devouring Flame activated!]

Again, two flames quickly wrapped Gibbs and engulfed him into the endless burning pain.

[System]: Target offered no resistance.

[System]: Soul Devoured: 20%

…

[System]: Soul Devoured: 50%

…

[System]: Soul Devoured: 70%

…

[System]: Soul Devoured: 100%

[Soul Rank]: ★★ Dragon (Progress:96->100%)

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[Attributes] (★★★)

Strength : 182x3

Agility : 137x3

Vitality : 108x3

Intelligence 93x3

Wisdom : 95x3

Available stat points: 50

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