Chapter 2201: Leaving The Divine Dungeon

Ignatius awakened his Divinity, the power overflowing from every scale and pore of his massive body while also carrying pure Spiritual Power that shimmered like living fire. He was not just the same as his siblings anymore. He was definitely special, far more special than any of them had ever been.

He was the first dragon that had died and been turned into a spirit, and from a spirit he had revived into a living dragon once more, all while carrying the full power of being a divine spirit after his latest evolution.

"With the Body of a Divine Dragon and the Soul of a Divine Fire Spirit..." he muttered in a deep, resonant voice, raising his enormous claws as his muscles tensed and bulged with raw, newly awakened power. "I am reborn..."

He no longer looked stupid or funny in the way everyone had grown used to. He looked like he had finally grown up, like he had finally become his true self, his fully realized self, the form he had dreamed of becoming so many times before when he was still only a small and frustrated spirit.

"Sylphy, my master," he spoke with deep reverence, looking down at me from his towering height. "I swear to help you fulfill your dreams, and free this world from those that believe they can manipulate it however they please."

"Ignatius...!" I muttered weakly, still struggling to process the sheer scale of the change. "You’re... a Divine Being now...! You did it...! I didn’t even need to give you any of the materials either... Wow, and to think I had carefully gathered them all for you!"

"HAHAHAHA!" he laughed loudly, the sound echoing like rolling thunder mixed with crackling flames. "I suppose that won’t be necessary anymore! I am reborn! Of flesh and blood...! But also of Spirit and Soul."

FLUOSH!

Suddenly his body rapidly shifted at will, transforming into a pure spirit form. A gigantic blazing figure now floated protectively beside me, unifying once more with my Aura and looking down at me with fierce, guardian-like intensity. His giant blazing claws looked capable of tearing entire mountains to pieces in only a few seconds.

"I never achieved my full maturity as a dragon when I was still alive," he declared proudly, "but now that I have been reborn, I have finally done it!"

"He can shift between spirit and living form at will?!" my brother asked in open disbelief.

"Indeed," Ignatius answered with growing confidence. "And there is no cooldown, nor any requirements, nor any cost either. I can do it freely, anytime, as much as I wish! Hahaha! Flesh, Bone, Spirit, and Soul... I am the master of my own existence, and I can freely weave all four of these components however I desire!"

Wow. That was truly amazing. I could already imagine how devastating he would become in battle by turning into elemental flames or pure spirit form mid-fight... kind of like me, or like some of the heroes who possessed complete elemental forms, such as Aquarina’s mother.

And this massive divinity he now carried was simply insane. It felt like an endless realm of living fire that surged and expanded whenever he moved.

"That’s amazing..." I said, still staring up at him in awe.

"I guess this is what he wanted all along..." my father sighed, looking at Ignatius with a complicated but proud expression. "Well, the debt has been paid, Ignatius. You’re finally, in every literal sense, alive again. You’ve truly revived."

"I guess I have," Ignatius nodded slowly. "Allan... my life changed the moment I attacked you and was slain. It never truly ended there. That moment brought me to your daughter’s side. I really didn’t like her much at the start, but... over time I’ve realized I’ve made a great friend, one for life."

"Heheh, you’ve gotten all nice out of nowhere," I chuckled softly. "I’m glad you’ve matured a little! The whole annoying little lizard bit was starting to get tiring and boring, honestly!"

"A-Annoying little... lizard bit?" he muttered, narrowing all six of his glowing eyes. "Ahem...! No, of course, I am... different now. Changed! I won’t let you easily irritate me anymore! Words cannot hurt me."

"You changed into that living form but went straight back to being a spirit, huh?" my mother wondered with a knowing smile. "I guess you’ve lived more years as my daughter’s spirit than as a living dragon at this point? Hah."

"W-What?!" Ignatius felt clearly offended. "That’s...! Ugh, no, it’s... I am only doing it for convenience. Where else would you fit a fifty-meter-tall dragon inside a normal house?!"

"Well, I guess you could just stay outside," my brother said with a teasing shrug. "That’s what would have happened if you were a giant dragon from the very start. But yeah, Mom’s right. You still feel mostly like a spirit, don’t you? So nothing has really changed."

"WHAT?!" Ignatius grew even more irritated, small flames flickering around his spiritual form. "E-Everything has changed! I’m different, I swear—" He suddenly noticed my quiet stare and cleared his throat. "What? No, I’m not angry, okay? I am not annoyed either. I’m actually really calm right now. Yeah. That’s the new me. Really new me. Mature Ignatius. I am an adult now, yep. That’s the new me."

Yggdra chuckled softly after watching him mutter these words to himself. "Oh Ignatius, please don’t push yourself this much. We know that you still love being yourself as well, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all~!"

"Yeah, take it easy man. We’ve all got different aspects to ourselves," Beelzebub nodded in agreement. "I’m proud of what you’ve become though. This is freaking amazing. Congrats!"

"I suppose you’re finally one of my peers," Armageddon added with a low chuckle. "Don’t let the words of mortals affect you too much. You’re above them now."

"Uuuggh... thanks, guys," Ignatius sighed, the flames around him settling a little. "Anyway, I guess we should get out of here. The pressure in this place is still freaking annoying."

I nodded in agreement. "Yep. Lolth, can we get out?"

The skies above us cracked open with a deep, resonant sound, and a long vertical fissure descended all the way down to where we stood. A swirling portal opened within the crack, leading safely outside.

"Through here. Hurry," said Htlol, her voice calm but urgent.

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