Chapter 84: Hero Coronation! SS-Rank Vira Instantly Ascends to SSS-Rank!

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Hero Coronation! SS-Rank Vira Instantly Ascends to SSS-Rank!

[Obtained: Void Echo (Legendary-Rank · Staff)]

[Magic Attack: +2,800]

[Attribute 1: Spell Casting Time Reduced by 45%.]

[Attribute 2: Spell Damage Increased by an Additional 70%.]

[Attribute 3: After each spell cast, the damage of the next spell is increased by an additional 30%. Stacks up to 3 times.]

John glanced at the staff in his hand, Whisper of Decay, then looked at the newly acquired Void Echo.

Its stats were more than twice as high, and it even came with an additional effect.

Without hesitation, he immediately replaced his old weapon with the new one.

With the stacking damage bonus from his new weapon combined with Myriad Layers of Slaughter, John didn’t even want to imagine how high his damage output would become after a full combo.

Satisfied, he closed the status panel and finally stood up, walking toward the two sisters.

Who would have thought that even after all this time, Ophelia still hadn’t let Vira go.

"Your wing membrane was bent when Bladeborne knocked you down earlier."

"That must be why you couldn’t fly properly. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had any trouble."

"Sister, I’m really fine. Stop squeezing it! You’re going to pull all my feathers out!"

"Spread your wings again. Let me have another look."

"Ugh, you’re so annoying!"

Vira rolled her eyes, her water-blue vertical pupils filled with helplessness.

"Ophelia, you weren’t like this before. We haven’t seen each other for hundreds of years, and now you’re suddenly so nagging. Does that dragon who has a crush on you know you’re like this?"

Ophelia’s hand stopped.

Her dark golden vertical pupils narrowed.

Vira immediately shut her mouth and shrank her neck, muttering quietly.

"Fine, fine. I’m sorry."

John was momentarily speechless as well.

Only then did he walk over and clear his throat twice.

Both women turned around simultaneously.

Almost instinctively, Ophelia and Vira dropped to one knee. One placed her right hand over her chest, while the other hurriedly copied the gesture.

"My Lord."

John waved for them to stand and shifted his gaze to Vira.

He wanted to test out his new talent.

"Don’t move."

John spoke, then extended his hand.

A warm golden glow gathered in his palm before gently settling over Vira’s head.

[Hero Coronation Activated——]

[Target: Vira (SS-Rank)]

[Upgrading Quality...]

[Congratulations! Vira’s quality has been upgraded to SSS-Rank!]

The golden radiance seeped into the top of Vira’s head, and her entire body trembled slightly.

Her water-blue hair began floating gently without any wind. Faint golden patterns appeared on her dragon horns before gradually disappearing.

John opened her status panel.

[Hero: Vira]

[Race: Primordial Ancient Dragon]

[Class: Battle Assassin (Melee Burst / Stealth Ambush)]

[Quality: SSS-Rank]

[Level: Lv1 (0/10,000)]

[HP: 15,000/15,000]

[Attack: 4,500]

[Defense: 1,100]

[Skill 1: Dragon Fang: Formation Breaker (Lv1 · Active) — Unleashes a devastating Dragon Fang slash that pierces through enemies ahead, dealing physical damage equal to 500% of Attack to all enemies in a straight line. Also reduces their Armor by 30% for 8 seconds. Cooldown: 25 seconds.]

[Skill 2: Shadow Devour (Lv1 · Active) — Merges with the shadows and instantly appears behind the target, launching an assassination strike that is guaranteed to critically hit. Critical damage is increased to 800%. If the target is under a control or slowing effect, the attack additionally deals True Damage equal to 10% of the target’s maximum HP. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Cooldown resets upon killing the target.]

[Skill 3: Twin Arts of War and Shadow (Lv1 · Passive/Aura) — While in formation, all Warrior-type and Assassin-type units under her command receive a 200% increase to all attributes. Warriors additionally gain 15% bonus HP, while Assassins gain 15% additional Critical Hit Rate. Current formation capacity: 1/2,000. Increases with Hero level.]

[Background: Vira, a Primordial Ancient Dragon whose soul was sealed for hundreds of years before being awakened once more through Styx Ferry.]

John nodded in satisfaction.

"Not only is her Attack high, but her Defense is even higher than Arno’s. So this is what a Battle Assassin looks like?"

Of course, he also understood that despite her impressive stats, neither of her two offensive skills was quite as powerful as the individual abilities possessed by Ophelia or Arno.

However, she made up for it with her versatility and defensive capabilities.

Besides, it wouldn’t make sense for one Hero to excel at absolutely everything. That would destroy the balance between Heroes.

John withdrew his hand and asked gently,

"How does it feel?"

Because John had told her not to move, Vira was still standing rather stiffly.

Hearing his question, she cautiously moved her wrists and shoulders, then spread her dragon wings and flapped them twice.

Her eyes gradually lit up.

"I feel much lighter. And I seem to have a lot more strength, too."

She clenched her fist, producing a series of faint cracking sounds from her knuckles.

"Thank you, my Lord."

John nodded and replied warmly.

"Good. Your level is still low, but you’ll become much stronger as you grow. Once we return, we’ll help you farm some monsters."

After speaking, he opened the map and marked a route back to their territory, one that passed several monster spawn points without taking them too far off course.

"Let’s go."

Ophelia and Vira simultaneously transformed into their dragon forms.

Ophelia’s enormous purple crystal dragon form spread its wings, boasting a wingspan of nearly a hundred meters.

Vira’s dragon form was noticeably smaller. Her entire body was water-blue, and her wingspan was only slightly more than half of Ophelia’s. Her back was just large enough for one person to sit on.

John glanced at Vira’s slender dragon back and couldn’t help thinking that Ophelia had been right.

Her body really was on the frail side. Even her dragon form was considerably smaller.

"Arno, go with Vira. Bladeborne, you’re coming with me."

Arno nodded, his white-robed figure silently settling onto Vira’s back.

Bladeborne lightly pushed off with his toes and landed on Ophelia’s spine, finding a spot toward the rear where he sat cross-legged.

The two dragons took off one after another.

Clearly still worried about her younger sister, Ophelia deliberately slowed her flying speed.

Her behavior was completely different from when she had previously carried John.

John noticed it immediately and couldn’t help letting out a laugh of disbelief.

"Heh."

Ophelia seemed to hear him.

Whether deliberately changing the subject or genuinely curious, her voice soon rang out.

"My Lord."

"Hm?"

"Forgive me for asking, but what kind of magic did you use to resurrect Vira? Are there any side effects?"

She paused, and for once, a trace of hesitation crept into her voice.

"I remember that the Dragon Knights you resurrected before... had completely lost their minds. I’m worried that Vira might also..."

John leaned back against the dragon’s spine.

Understanding her concerns, he thought for a moment before deciding to tell her the truth.

"I don’t mind telling you. One of my authorities allows me to bring people directly back from the Underworld."

"However, the method I used to resurrect your subordinates is slightly different from the one I used on Vira."

He organized his thoughts before continuing.

"Your Dragon Knights can be resurrected no matter how many times they die."

"But with your sister, I used Styx Ferry. Her soul was brought back completely intact, and her body was reconstructed as well. That’s why she remembers everything."

Ophelia’s wings paused for a brief moment.

"As for how many times she can be resurrected, I honestly don’t know."

John spoke candidly.

"This is the first time I’ve ever used this authority."

Ophelia remained silent for a while before finally responding sincerely.

"I understand, my Lord. Even so, this is already more than I could have ever hoped for. Thank you."

"Hm."

John acknowledged her words, but inwardly, he was still thinking about the matter.

He had never turned a Hero into an Undead before.

But judging from the fact that Vira had retained all her memories, it seemed that even if one of his Heroes died in battle, Styx Ferry could still bring them back.

In other words, every Hero effectively had two lives.

However, Vira had already died once.

What would happen if she died a second time?

According to the skill description, there’s a good chance she’d be gone for good.