Chapter 317: You’re Dumb

Selene stood and watched as the parasites kept rushing into the dome, disappearing from her sight. They never came out. This went on for several minutes, and she began to worry.

’This... Leon is mad. He’s a madman. Can he really survive them all?’

Having recovered a little, she decided to go help him. At that moment, the world suddenly felt brighter as the darkness vanished.

Selene blinked, staring at the mountain of corpses that had replaced the dome. The corpses were packed tightly, forming a kind of small hill.

’Where is he?’

She narrowed her eyes, and she soon caught sight of a movement.

A hand tore through the corpses, latching onto one dead body to pull its own body up.

Step. Step.

Leon finally stepped away from them. His condition... didn’t look good. The armor he was so proud of was torn in several places, reduced to nothing but scrap metal hanging from his body.

His left arm had turned black and charred, hanging stiffly by his side. Several large cuts and bite marks covered his body, and even a chunk of his neck was missing.

His right leg dragged behind him, causing him to limp.

Yet, he did not fall. He did not let go of the poleaxe either.

Selene’s jaw clenched hard, and she carefully reached for her sword.

"No need."

Her eyes widened in shock, feeling his hand pressing the weapon back into its sheath. When had he reached her?

Leon lingered a little, then passed her the poleaxe. Selene immediately kept it before he changed his mind.

"Are you...?" She shook her head. "You’re so dumb. We could have escaped. The fight wasn’t necessary."

Leon nodded. "I know."

"Then why?" She scowled. "Look at what you’ve become—half-dead!"

Leon went silent for a moment, then said, "But at least I’m still standing."

The moment he said that, he swayed. Selene quickly caught him, her gaze filled with helplessness and annoyance.

"What about now? Are you still standing?"

"With support, yes." He nodded. "Now, enough insults about my choice of actions. Find me a proper place to rest. Thank you."

Selene gave him the stink eye, but still cooperated. She let him lean against her as they left the battlefield and entered one of the cities.

There were many houses, so she chose the best one she could find.

There, she lay him on the cold floor and observed his injuries properly. Each one was deep and ugly, with bones exposed in some places. However, she could see that they were slowly recovering.

The torn flesh was being knitted together, and the lost pieces of flesh were regrowing. She stared at his neck for a moment, then glanced at his charred hand.

"How did you get burned?"

Leon shrugged—he tried to. "I shoved my hand up the mouth of a flame tiger. It spat flames, I pulled out its tongue. A win-win for both of us, I guess."

Selene frowned, still displeased. Sighing, she dropped to the ground beside him.

"Can you really recover from all that without a proper healer?"

Leon nodded. "I’ll probably need a few days, though."

"A few days?" Selene glanced at his arm again. "Well, alright. Let’s just hope the building doesn’t fall over our heads."

Leon chuckled, interrupted by a wince when his wounds hurt. The golden cat curled up between them, silent and ready to sleep.

Leon closed his eyes... and woke up three days later.

......

He had a dream.

In that dream, he was a tyrant. He ruled over a kingdom, doing as he pleased. War raged in that era solely because of him.

His people saw him as their god, others saw him as a mad king. He fought several wars, bringing down every enemy he faced.

Even stronger kingdoms fell to his power after being relentlessly besieged for months.

Many tried to stop him. Others plotted to assassinate him. They almost succeeded. But they all failed.

After all, he had a goal in mind. Everything else was just a journey to his goal. In the end, he achieved it.

He became the ruler of the entire realm. Confidence and satisfaction surged through him. He became proud and arrogant.

However, even his arrogance didn’t kill him. He only grew stronger. Higher worlds set sights on him, but they were taken down one after another. They underestimated him, scoffed at his words, and died for it.

He eventually reached the peak after years of constant warfare. Then, he remembered something. His arrogance cracked, and he was flooded with sorrow.

The dream blurred from there, and he couldn’t remember what else transpired.

When he woke up, he simply stared at the ceiling, still thinking about the dream. The dreams had been weird. He had initially thought they were his own imaginations. After all, he had read countless books and could even write one himself.

However, his imagination could never be this vivid.

’It’s almost as if I’m seeing someone’s life.

Blinking, he remembered the details of his last requirement. It had asked him to remember a fragment of darkness.

Curious, he checked the progress.

[Evolution Requirements to Tier Two]

[1. Survive an encounter with a Tier Three creature and make it acknowledge you as a predator (1/1)]

[2. Gain the loyalty of a thousand willing Evolvers under your banner (709/1000)]

[3. Retrieve the Heart of a Dying World. Time Limit: 6 months]

[4. Remember a Fragment of Darkness. Progress: 67%]

His eyes widened. ’67 percent? That’s higher than I imagined. And the number of Evolvers is increasing too. Hmm. Looks like Marie is doing a good job back home.’

He smiled slightly, then switched to his personal status window.

[Name - Leonel Wayne]

[Class - Darkness Addict]

[Level - 50(Tier One)]

[Race - Human]

[AGL - 400]

[STR - 400]

[STA - 400]

[Mana - (424/424)]

[Stat points - 27]

[Skills - [Dark Matter] [Shadow Execution] [Shadow Mantle] [Darkness Descent] ]

[Traits - [Martial Mastery] [Eyes of Discernment] [Silverback Hide] [Tier One Adaptation] [Fire Resistance] [Overdrive] [Song of Sorrow]...]

[Abilities - [Darkness/Shadow Manipulation] [Tier One Extraction] [Tier Two Mental Dominion] [Minor Teleportation] ]

[Observation: A fragment of darkness]

Narrowing his eyes at the last line, he reread it. ’So... the Star Stream thinks I’m a fragment of darkness, and I need to remember myself. Ugh. That sounds demonic as hell.’

Shaking his head, he closed the window and looked at himself. Most of his injuries had healed, and only his arm remained injured, still in the process of regrowing its skin. Seeing the redness of his flesh made him wince.

Suddenly, he noticed something else too. His clothes had been changed. He blinked twice to ensure he wasn’t dreaming.

"Eh?"

’Who the fuck undressed this Daddy?!’