Chapter 46: Miasma Upgrade

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Miasma Upgrade

Then, within a fraction of a second, the mist violently expanded, forming a terrifying, swirling vortex of dark energy directly over the silk pedestal.

​"What in the world is that? Is this a part of the show?"

​"Guards! Protect the crystal immediately!" the auctioneer screamed in sheer panic, frantically backing away from the podium.

​But It was far too late.

Buzz!

The black mist descended upon the Legendary Mana Crystal like a starving beast.

There was no magical explosion. There was no sound of shattering glass. There was only a sickening slurping noise, exactly as if the shadows themselves were drinking the violet light.

​One second later, the black mist completely vanished into nothingness.

​The silk pedestal was entirely empty. The crown jewel of the night was gone.

​A suffocating, dead silence fell over the grand auction hall. Hundreds of elite guests stared blankly at the empty stage.

​"Where is it? Did the crystal just disappear?" the green-scaled merchant whispered, rubbing his eyes in absolute disbelief.

​"Lock the iron doors! Seal the entire building right now!" the captain of the auction guard roared, drawing his heavy broadsword and rushing the stage.

"Nobody leaves this hall! Someone has used high-level spatial magic to steal the merchandise!"

​"You absolute fool!" an elderly dragon scholar screamed from the front row.

His entire body was shaking uncontrollably, his eyes wide with absolute horror.

"That was not spatial magic! Did you not see the pitch-black fog? Did you not hear the horrifying rumors from the Northern Gate?"

​The guard captain froze in his tracks. The color rapidly drained from his scaly face as the terrifying realization finally hit him.

​"The Dragon Devourer," the noble on the balcony whispered, his voice trembling with pure terror.

​"He is here!" a wealthy baroness shrieked, clutching her pearl necklace and pointing frantically at the dark shadows in the corner of the room.

"Heavens! The Devourer is inside the auction house! He just ate the crystal, and now he is going to eat us all alive!"

​Absolute chaos erupted. Even those highly dignified nobles violently shoved each other out of the way, desperately sprinting toward the locked exit doors like frightened animals.

And the Elite guards were mercilessly trampled under the massive stampede.

​"Open the doors!"

​"Let us out of here! I do not want to be eaten!"

​"Forget the gold! Run for your lives!"

​The auctioneer collapsed to his knees on the empty stage, weeping over the lost fortune, completely unaware that an entire mile away, a young human boy was smiling in the dark, successfully digesting his first legendary treasure.

---

One mile away from the panicking auction house, Krono stood quietly on the rooftop of an abandoned clock tower, completely hidden by the darkness of the night.

Buzz!

​Suddenly, a swirling vortex of pitch-black mist materialized right in front of him. Hidden within the dark fog was a core of blinding violet light.

​"Welcome back," Krono whispered.

​The mist immediately shot straight into his chest.

Hum!

​The exact moment the pure essence of the Legendary Mana Crystal entered his human body, Krono felt as if he had just swallowed a living star.

His crimson eyes shot wide open, and his veins illuminated like cracked glass.

​"Argh!" Krono gritted his teeth, dropping painfully to one knee.

​The density of the magical energy was absolutely terrifying. It violently ripped through his narrow, human mana pathways, shredding his internal channels and instantly rebuilding them to be vastly wider and infinitely stronger.

His Miasma clashed with the pure violet mana, completely devouring it and rapidly converting it into dark energy.

Buzz! Buzz!

​Ding!

​[ Legendary Mana Crystal successfully devoured! ]

​[ Tremendous amount of pure energy detected. Converting to Miasma... ]

​[ Miasma capacity has expanded astronomically! ]

​[ Mana pathways have been permanently reinforced. ]

"Huff huff..."

​Krono panted, wiping a trail of dark blood from his mouth. His entire body felt terrifyingly light, brimming with an apocalyptic amount of raw, destructive power.

But very soon, this excruciating pain faded.

He felt an intoxicating, godlike high feeling.

​With a mere thought, he summoned his status screen to see the exact results of his very first remote extraction.

​[ ULTIMATE DEVOURER SYSTEM (STATUS) ]

​[ Name: Kronor De Volcan ]

​[ Age: 7 (39) ]

​[ Race: Human (Base) ]

​[ Title: Mad Slayer ]

​[ HP (Health): 300 / 300 ]

​[ Miasma (Mana): 50,000 / 50,000 ]

​[ Satiation (Hunger): 98% (Excellent) ]

​[ Strength (STR): 880 ]

​[ Agility (AGI): 860 ]

​[ Vitality (VIT): 970 ]

​[ Intelligence (INT): 190 ]

​[ Willpower (WIL): 75 ]

​[ SKILLS ]

​• Draconic Fireball (D), Mind Corruption (D), Web Weaver (D), Water Breathing (E), Aquatic Camouflage (D), Tremor Step (D)

​[ INNATE SKILLS ]

​• Adult Soul (Passive)

• Photographic Comprehension (Passive)

​[ SYSTEM SKILLS ]

​• Omni-Devourer (SS)

​Krono stared at the staggering numbers in stunned silence.

​His Miasma had not just increased. It had exploded completely out of control, reaching a volume far beyond anything a human child should ever be capable of holding without exploding into pieces.

His Omni-Devourer skill had successfully updated on his status sheet, perfectly replacing his old Absolute Absorption.

​He slowly clenched his small fist, and the space around his knuckles distorted slightly from the overwhelming amount of the dark energy now flowing freely through his veins.

"Fifty thousand Miasma... I am one step closer to hunting the real dragons."

​He had been fighting dragonoots until now. But the real challenge begins when you face a noble dragon.

​They can transform into massive dragon forms, the size of mountains for an adult, and their elemental power rises to a catastrophic level.

Malakor was living proof of that brutal reality. Despite being nothing more than a spoiled youngling, the arrogant noble had nearly killed Krono during their first encounter.

​Because of that harsh lesson, Krono did not dare to underestimate the apex race in the slightest.

​To stand face to face with a fully grown dragon, he would need oceans of magical energy, and he would need physical strength hundreds of times greater than the limit of a normal human body.

​Expanding his offensive arsenal was also a vital necessity. Currently, his only direct attack spell was [Draconic Fireball], which was laughably inadequate for killing a mountain-sized beast.

​He would need to focus entirely on absorbing raw physical stats and deadly combat skills next.