Chapter 57: Incarnation Of Greed

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Incarnation Of Greed

Elian dropped his wooden pitchfork. His old knees hit the soft dirt of the potato field. For sixty years, this secluded valley had known nothing but quiet breezes and gentle rain. Now, the sky itself was bleeding blue light.

Buzz!

​All of a sudden, a swirling hole of unnatural magic hovered directly over his prized apple orchard.

The deafening sound of shattering glass echoed across the hills.

To his surprise, a colossal beast made of moss and gray stone plummeted from the floating portal.

BANG!

It crashed into the earth, rolling violently through the orchard and snapping dozens of mature trees like dry twigs.

There was a silver haired girl clinging desperately to its back.

​Elian hid behind a low stone wall, his heart hammering against his ribs. He watched a pale young man in a dark coat step out of the blue light, landing gracefully on the ruined grass.

​Before Elian could even process the destruction of his livelihood, the sky shrieked again.

​Two massive crimson claws gripped the edges of the magical tear.

A monster from the darkest nightmares forced its way into the human lands.

It was a dragon of impossible proportions, morbidly fat and covered in thick red scales. The beast crushed the ancient oak grove beneath its tremendous bulk. It roared with a fury that made Elian’s ears ring.

​The farmer pressed his face into the dirt. He expected the end of the world. Instead, he witnessed a slaughter.

​The fat dragon inhaled deeply, its massive chest expanding.

Buzz!

A blinding torrent of green fire erupted from its jaws, washing over the hill where the pale man stood.

The intense heat instantly vaporized the morning dew.

Elian squeezed his eyes shut, fully expecting the young man to be reduced to scattered ash.

​When he opened his eyes, the pale man was completely unharmed. He stood in the center of a blackened crater, his dark coat untouched by the roaring flames.

Whoosh

​The young man then leaped into the air with terrifying speed. He did not use wings. He simply vanished and reappeared directly above the massive dragon.

His fist, glowing with dark purple energy, slammed viciously into the dragon’s snout.

BOOOOOM!

​The impact sounded like a cannon firing inside an empty cathedral, creating a visible shockwave thag ripped through the valley.

The remaining apple trees were completely uprooted. Elian was thrown onto his back by the sheer force of the wind.

"Roarrrrrr!"

​The colossal dragon roared in pain, its massive head slamming into the bedrock. Blood the size of rain barrels splashed across the green grass.

.

Next, the beast frantically swung its spiked tail, trying to swat the tiny human out of the sky.

​But the pale man caught the tail with one bare hand.

​Elian watched in horror as the small human completely stopped the momentum of the ten ton beast.

The young man then spun his body, lifting the entire morbidly obese dragon completely off the ground.

Then, Wmwith a casual flick of his wrist, he hurled the massive reptile across the valley.

KA-BOOOOOM!

​The dragon crashed into the opposite hillside, triggering a massive landslide of rock and soil. Dirt buried the beast, but it immediately erupted from the rubble, blinded by psychotic rage.

​It charged forward, its heavy footsteps causing rolling earthquakes. It opened its jaws to bite the young man in half.

​The pale man simply smiled and raised his hand

Instantly, a spinning black hole appeared from his palm.

The violent vortex of pitch black magic began pulling the light out of the air.

​The charging dragon suddenly halted, its reptilian eyes widening in absolute panic. It tried to dig its claws into the dirt and retreat, but the gravitational pull of the black sphere was absolute. The beast shrieked as its massive, fat body was slowly dragged through the dirt toward the floating man.

​Elian clamped his hands over his ears. He realized he was not watching a battle between equals. He was watching a predator play with its food.

Within three minutes, the dragon was pummeled beyond recognition.

​The pale man beat the dragon so mercilessly that its indestructible jaws completely broke apart. Green blood oozed from his maw like a fountain, and wherever the blood fell, it burned the grass like lava.

​It could be imagined how powerful the Dragon Lord was, and yet the pale man had defeated him so easily.

​Elian gulped. As a simple mortal, he had never seen such ungodly strength in a human. But as he saw it now, a desire for power rose within him.

​How long would he cut grass and feed the cows?

How long would he endure the torment of greedy landowners?

​But alas, he didn’t know the path.

​He looked at the pale man, who could be the only person capable of guiding him.

So he pushed himself up from the dirt.

His old knees shook violently with every step he took across the completely shattered apple orchard.

​Krono snapped his glowing eyes toward the approaching human. He wiped a streak of residual energy from his chin, his expression turning entirely bored.

​Elian did not hesitate.

Thud!

He immediately dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead firmly into the scorched earth.

​"Absolute master of the slaughter, I am just a pathetic farmer. I have spent 40 years suffering under the boots of cruel men. I beg of you. Please allow me to become your humble servant. Teach me the path to true strength."

​Krono let out a cold, deeply mocking laugh. The intentions of the frail mortal were painfully obvious.

The old man was incredibly weak, physically broken, and completely devoid of any magical talent. Krono had repeatedly told Nova he did not carry dead weight.

He slowly raised his right hand, fully intending to disintegrate the pathetic mortal into a pile of gray ash and continue his journey.

​Just out of pure instinct, Krono passively activated his Omni Devourer core to appraise the target before erasing him. He fully expected to see a meaningless, single digit combat rating.

​Instead, his divine vision strangely glitched.

Rumble!

​The sky seemed to darken for a fraction of a second.

​Target Name: Elian.

Race: Mortal Vessel.

Combat Rating: Zero.

Hidden Trait: Incarnation of Greed.

Status: Unawakened Primordial Sin.

--

​Krono froze completely.