Chapter 42: A Quiet Discovery

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: A Quiet Discovery

"I’ll take everything you’ve got."

ROOOOOOAR!!

It attacked.

Everything disappeared.

Wind.

Lightning.

Destruction.

The attack swallowed everything.

Damon’s eyes widened.

His body screamed.

Move!

Move!

MOVE!

Crack!!

Silver lightning exploded.

He twisted barely...Just barely.

The attack grazed his side as blood sprayed.

His left shoulder exploded with pain.

But he survived.

And more importantly...

The Drakelion had overcommitted.

Its damaged body couldn’t withstand such a skill.

Its balance broke.

Its chest opened.

And its eyes widened.

Because Damon was already there.

His grin was crazier than ever.

"GOT YOU!"

Crackle!

Lightning surged through his entire body. The knife in his hand sang.

His speed exploded beyond his limits.

The Drakelion tried to retreat. It was too late.

Damon leaped.

Using the broken pillar beside him, he pushed himself even higher.

Then...

He flipped in midair.

And came down like a falling bolt of lightning.

"THIS IS YOUR END!"

BOOOOOOM!!

His knife pierced straight through the Drakelion’s eye.

And before the beast could even scream...

Damon released every last bit of lightning into its head.

CRACK!!

Silver currents exploded from every wound.

The giant body froze.

Its movements stopped.

And the golden eyes slowly lost their light.

Damon landed heavily.

Blood covered his body. His breathing was rough.

Yet he still stood.

Behind him...

The massive body of the Stormwing Drakelion slowly collapsed.

BOOOOM!!!

The entire ruin shook.

And the mighty ruler of the floating ruins... Fell.

*****

The moment the Drakelion crashed to the ground, Damon finally allowed himself to breathe.

Thud!

The huge body slid across the ruined floor before becoming completely still.

"...It’s over."

His voice came out hoarse.

Only now, when the fight had truly ended, did the adrenaline fade.

And with it came pain.

Sharp pain.

Every cut.

Every bruise.

Every torn muscle.

"Hiss..."

Damon sucked in a breath and almost collapsed.

His whole body felt heavy.

The excitement from moments ago vanished, replaced by exhaustion.

Even standing became difficult.

"No, no, no. Don’t you dare pass out now."

He bit his lip hard.

The taste of blood filled his mouth and forced him to stay conscious.

Slowly, he dragged himself toward one of the walls where the corpses of the scouts rested.

The ruined hall had gone quiet again.

Too quiet.

The remains of the battle lay everywhere.

Broken stone.

Burn marks.

Deep claw marks.

And scattered bodies.

Damon didn’t look at them for long.

The dead deserved respect.

But right now, he needed to survive.

"Forgive me, everyone."

He searched through their belongings.

Bandages.

Medicine.

A few preserved rations.

Some monster materials.

Then suddenly... His eyes widened.

"Healing potion?"

A genuine smile appeared.

His luck really hadn’t abandoned him.

Carefully, he uncorked the bottle and drank slowly.

Warmth immediately spread through his body.

"Haa..."

The effect was incredible.

The wounds didn’t disappear instantly, but the burning pain lessened.

His body felt lighter.

The bleeding slowed.

Even the terrible fatigue that threatened to knock him unconscious eased greatly.

"It really skips half the suffering..."

He chuckled softly.

"No wonder people are willing to spend fortunes on these things."

For the first time since the battle ended, Damon relaxed against the wall.

Healing potions weren’t common.

Ordinary people could spend their whole lives without seeing one.

Even experienced Elemental Users treasured them.

The great families stocked them for their important members.

After all, a dead genius was worthless.

Unfortunately...

Damon had never been important enough.

The Calloway Family could afford such things.

They had simply never considered him worth the investment.

Yet strangely enough...

He no longer cared. Not anymore.

His life now felt bigger than that.

He had entered Tempest Hollow merely trying to survive.

But somehow...

Without realizing it...

He had grown stronger.

Much stronger.

He had survived countless battles.

He had obtained Freya.

He had explored deeper than anyone imagined.

And today...

He had brought down a High B Rank beast.

Even now, thinking about it felt unreal.

A smile slowly appeared.

"Heh."

He looked at his hand.

"I actually did it."

The old Damon would’ve never believed it.

Neither would’ve Earth "Philip".

But here he was.

Alive.

And growing.

"I like this life."

Dangerous? Absolutely. But exciting too.

He preferred this. Much more than the boring days from his previous world.

After resting a while, he stood up again.

His body still hurt, but he could move properly now.

The remaining supplies of the scouts became his next target.

He found preserved food.

Water flasks.

Several low-grade beast cores.

Some Wind Ores.

A few Aether Crystals.

Even several medicinal herbs.

Clearly, the scouts had gathered resources on their way here.

"Looks like you guys worked hard too."

He stored everything carefully.

Then another surprise appeared.

Two more healing potions.

Damon nearly laughed.

"Jackpot."

Those alone were worth a fortune.

He carefully tucked them away.

Freya would definitely need them someday.

Then he looked toward the dead scouts.

"It isn’t stealing."

He nodded seriously.

"I’m simply making sure your efforts don’t go to waste."

A second later, he burst out laughing as he took all including their storage bags.

"Yeah..."

"That’s definitely stealing."

Still smiling, he bowed slightly.

"Thanks."

Next came the corpses of the two High B Rank beasts.

Now that was real wealth.

Even damaged remains possessed tremendous value.

Especially the Drakelion.

Although much of its body had been ruined, many important parts remained intact.

Its scales.

Its claws.

Its wings.

And most importantly... Its core.

The moment Damon dug it out, he froze.

Inside the crystal core swirled two elements.

Wind.

And lightning.

The sight alone was beautiful.

A rare dual-element core.

His heartbeat quickened.

"This thing..."

He swallowed.

"I’m rich."

Actually rich.

He carefully stored it away.

The wolf’s remains weren’t forgotten either.

Though its body had suffered heavily under Freya’s attack, there were still enough valuable materials left.

By the time he finished harvesting everything, several hours had passed.

"Haa..."

He stretched slowly.

"Not bad."

Freya still slept peacefully inside the second core.

Her consciousness remained faintly connected to him.

He could feel her.

Safe.

Comfortable.

Resting deeply after exhausting herself.

Damon smiled.

"Sleep well."

"I’ll handle the rest."