Chapter 129: Bloodline Awakened?

"How’s this possible?"

The demon’s voice was filled with disbelief as it stared at Reiji, its previous sneer completely disappearing. It couldn’t understand what had just happened. Only moments ago, Reiji had been struggling against it, yet now there was something completely different about him. The demon could feel two distinct auras coming from his body, one belonging to a dragon and the other belonging to a fox, and neither of them was something an ordinary human should possess.

Reiji didn’t know what had happened either. His body felt completely different from before, and although he could still feel the injuries he had suffered during the battle, the pain had become strangely distant. Something inside him had changed after that mysterious entity, the Dungeon Visitor, appeared and gave him that strange boost. He looked down at his body and noticed that his clothes felt tighter than before, and when he examined himself more closely, he realized that he had become much taller.

Smooth scales had appeared across certain parts of his body, covering areas around his shoulders, arms, sides, and parts of his chest. They weren’t rough or ugly like the scales of a monster. Instead, they were smooth and faintly shimmering with the strange power flowing through his body. Reiji also felt something behind his back, and when he looked, he saw a pair of wings extending from him. They weren’t completely ordinary dragon wings, but they clearly carried the characteristics of the Imperial Dragon Bloodline.

Then he noticed something else.

Nine tails were swaying behind him.

Reiji stared at them for a moment before realizing exactly what they represented. The Twin Nine-Tailed Fox Bloodline had also manifested itself, giving him the nine tails of a nine-tailed fox. His teeth had changed as well, with sharp fangs now visible whenever he opened his mouth, and even his overall appearance had changed drastically.

The demon was still staring at him, but before it could react, Reiji suddenly moved.

His fist slammed into the demon’s face with enough force to send its body flying backward before crashing into the wall. The demon’s head had been completely destroyed from the single attack, and Reiji stood there staring at his hand with a strange expression on his face.

He hadn’t used a skill.

He hadn’t activated Mana Manipulation or Shadow Step.

He had simply moved.

’What the hell?’

Reiji looked at his hand again before realizing the biggest difference. His speed had increased tremendously. His body felt lighter and more responsive, and every movement felt natural, almost as if his body already knew what to do before he consciously decided to move.

Then a laugh came from deeper inside the floor.

"Ha! So much for being a guardian of the bottom floors!"

Another demon appeared, looking at the corpse of the first demon with amusement. It laughed at its fellow demon for being killed so easily, seemingly more interested in mocking it than worrying about the intruder who had killed it.

However, the moment its eyes landed on Reiji, its expression changed.

It could feel the aura surrounding him.

The aura of a dragon.

The aura of a fox.

Two completely different bloodlines were radiating from Reiji’s body, yet somehow they existed together without any sign of conflict. The demon’s smile disappeared as it stared at him, finally realizing that the person standing before it was not normal.

"You’re..."

Before it could finish speaking, Reiji suddenly disappeared from its sight.

In the next moment, he appeared directly in front of the demon and drove his hand straight through its chest. The demon’s eyes widened in disbelief as blood poured from its mouth before Reiji pulled his hand back and allowed its body to collapse to the ground.

Two A+ Rank demons had died without being able to properly react.

Reiji stood there for several seconds, staring at their corpses before opening his system and checking the source of this sudden change.

[Imperial Dragon Bloodline – 50%]

[Twin Nine-Tailed Fox Bloodline – 50%]

Reiji stared at the two bloodlines displayed before him.

"Fifty percent?"

He blinked before looking at the status again, making sure he hadn’t somehow read it incorrectly. However, the numbers remained exactly the same. Both bloodlines were only at fifty percent, yet the power he was currently feeling was already something he could barely comprehend.

Based on the strength he was currently feeling, Reiji couldn’t help but compare it to the ranks he already knew. He couldn’t determine his exact rank yet, but if he had to compare this power to the strength of the Awakeners he had encountered before, there was only one conclusion he could reach.

S-Rank.

Reiji’s eyes widened slightly at the realization. He had fought A+ Rank monsters before and had nearly died against them. Even with all his skills and abilities, defeating something at that level had never been easy. Yet now, he had killed two A+ Rank demons almost instantly without even using a single skill.

And this wasn’t even the full power of either bloodline.

’If this is only fifty percent...’

The thought made Reiji pause.

’Then what happens when I fully awaken them?’

A small smirk appeared on his face as he clenched his fist. He could feel the immense power flowing through his body, and the realization that he hadn’t even touched the full potential of the two bloodlines made him even more amazed.

He looked at his reflection on a broken piece of glass lying nearby and froze for a moment.

His appearance had changed far more than he initially realized.

His features were sharper, his face was more defined, and he looked far more handsome than before. In fact, the face staring back at him looked almost unnaturally perfect.

"Being this handsome should be a crime."

Reiji couldn’t help laughing at his own reflection. With this face, he could probably get any girl he wanted, and if this was only the result of the current state of his bloodlines, he couldn’t help wondering what he would look like once they were fully awakened.

That thought made his smirk grow slightly wider.

He didn’t know exactly what that mysterious entity had done to him, but there was no point wasting time trying to figure it out now. Whatever had happened, it had given him an opportunity, and Reiji intended to make full use of the power he currently possessed.

He turned toward the staircase and started heading upstairs. There was still an entire building left to clear, and if this power was temporary, he wasn’t going to waste a single second of it.

The sixth floor was filled with mutated beasts, and the moment they noticed Reiji, they immediately charged at him. However, the battle that would have once required caution was now completely different. Reiji moved through the monsters with incredible speed, killing them one after another before they could properly react.

The seventh floor was the same.

Then the eighth.

Then the ninth.

Floor after floor, Reiji continued killing every monster that stood in his way. His body moved faster than before, his reactions were sharper, and the strange power flowing through him continued to make every battle feel easier. He didn’t even need to draw the Long Bone Sword anymore.

By the time Reiji reached the staircase leading to the tenth floor, he had already cleared several groups of A-Rank monsters, yet he still felt as though he hadn’t even begun to use the true power sleeping inside his bloodlines.

He reached the tenth floor and immediately sensed two powerful presences waiting for him.

Two demons stood together.

They looked almost identical, clearly twins, although one was much larger than the other. The larger one had a broader and more intimidating build, while the smaller one looked younger despite sharing the same facial features. They appeared like an elder and younger brother despite being twins, and both carried the same strange power.

Sound.

The larger demon raised his hand, and the air around Reiji suddenly vibrated. At the same time, the smaller demon prepared his own ability, the two powers working together perfectly. One could use sound to push while the other could use it to pull, allowing them to attack their opponent from opposite directions.

The moment they saw Reiji, however, both demons sensed the strange auras surrounding him.

Dragon.

Fox.

Their expressions changed.

They immediately understood that Reiji was not an ordinary human.

The two demons exchanged a quick glance before rushing toward him at the same time. Their combined sound abilities erupted as they attacked, one force pushing while the other pulled, creating a powerful combination that should have been difficult for anyone to withstand.

Reiji didn’t move.

He simply raised one hand.

The combined attack slammed into his palm, but his arm didn’t move even an inch.

The two demons froze.

Their eyes widened as they stared at Reiji in disbelief.

For the first time, they realized that the person standing before them was completely different from the one they had expected to fight.

Reiji looked at the two demons and slowly smiled.

"Is that all?"