The Dragon’s Embodiment

”Please, just kill me already! ”

Vylan had given up on his third death. And Esecleus now found him boring. All the fun and excitement disappeared in an instant when Vylan surrendered, kowtowing, and begging for forgiveness. Begging Esecleus to kill him.

”You
e no fun, ” Esecleus uttered after having his exhilaration for quite a while already. ”Vylan… I have no use for you anymore. This is a farewell. ”

”Remember this, Esecleus! My family and all of my connections will know about my death! They will investigate and when they realize that its you that kills all of Lions Mane, they will hunt you even at the depths of hell! ”

”Oh, yeah? Im sure it will be fun. Let them go after me. After all, it is the thrill I seek in this boring world of ours. ”

[Blood Concentration: Mummify]

Out of all the Lions Mane members, only Vylan was not beheaded by Esecleus. The latter chose to suck all of the guild leaders blood out of him using his skill. And then, seal his blood in a jar before pouring a liquid that instantly melts the remains of Vylan.

There was nothing left of Vylan after that.

Esecleus heard a loud ing inside his head, and a window with readable texts in it showed up in front of his eyes.

[Congratulations on being the sole survivor of ”Dungeon X: Sacrifices For Life]

[You have been granted one random skill from your ex-guild members.]

[Would you like to see the details of the skills you received? Yes or No?]

”Hmm, No. Im tired. Activating my main magic had drained me of my mana. ”

And Esecleus remembered that he had to deal with Isha, and tell her what happened, constructing a lie he needs to make before going out.

”Ugh! What a pain! ”

Esecleus has no interest in his former guild comrades equipment. He lets them get buried inside the dungeon as it collapses. He hurried on his way, tore his cheap clothes, and lacerated himself to show that he had been attacked.

Crazily, he even cut off an arm to support his lies. Just to make it believable, Esecleus went to such an extent, bleeding excessively from his shallow wounds and tearing off his arm.

”Its about time sir Vylan and the others come out. ”

Isha looked at her wristwatch, seeing that there was only a minute before everyone except for Esecleus to come back from the threshold.

”They
e coming back! ”

A person emerged from the open wooden door that popped up in the middle of the road, that was near a church.

The secretarys joyful expression immediately vanished when it was not the person she was expecting to come out of the threshold. Her face went grim. She noticed that Esecleus was bleeding and his arm was missing.

”Esecleus? Why is he still alive? ”

”Its finished! Only one is coming out and its Esecleus! ”

The Hunters Organization personnel quickly ran to Esecleus aid along with the healers they had on standby.

[Healing Magic: Quick Recovery]

[Healing Magic: Restoration]

Quick Recovery lets the caster heal a targeted living being without magic. Any shallow or severe wounds would not be completely healed. It just stops the bleeding. In contrast, Restoration lets the caster restore any lost limbs or treat injuries back to normal if it has gone past the 1-hour rule. Any injuries after an hour would not be healed by Restoration.

Moreover, it would not restore a severed head if the target is already dead. Only living things that still have their souls intact can be treated by Restoration.

”T-Thank you… ”

Magic works wonders, really. Esecleus arm was brought back by magic. With the use of mana, magic transforms into cells and flesh his arm and body needed to go back to normal, as if nothing happened to him.

Isha came running. ”Hey, Esecleus! What happened inside? Where are Sir Vylan and the others? ”

She was worried sick, thinking that something bad had happened while they were trying to kill Esecleus, or the latter might have outdone everyone. And what she was seeing was just a facade.

Isha had her doubts already about Esecleus survival, but she was sure that Vylan and the others would not fall to a mere hunter like Esecleus, even after all the recent achievements she saw from Esecleus.

”Ahh! We were ambushed! All of us thought that the dungeon was empty, so we became complacent. ”

As though he was feeling pain, Esecleus went off with his acting skills.

”My head… I feel dizzy. ”

He clutched his head, showing pain in his face to further support his lies, and tried standing up as he intentionally lost footing.

”Take it easy, Esecleus. ”

[Vice-Chief Executive: Wright]

Wright suddenly became interested in Esecleus after singlehandedly clearing a B-rank threshold. He came out unscathed and Wright arrived there, ready to go in when Esecleus emerged with blood all over his clothes and the usual grin on his face. No one can wipe it off his face. He would grin whenever and wherever he wanted to.

”Just sit first and catch your breath. You don have to speak right now. We have time to hear the story. ”

But Isha was eager to know what happened, shaking Esecleus on his shoulders malevolently.

”Tell me, Esecleus! Where are Sir Vylan and the others?! ”

Isha was pulled away by other employees of the organization and was told to calm down.

”Rest assured, Ms. Isha. We will go there ourselves to check. ”

”The… ” Esecleus was trying to speak, reaching the air with his hand. ”The dungeon is collapsing. It might be buried by now in rubble. ”

One of Wrights men went inside the threshold and almost got hit by falling debris. Luckily, he was aware of what was happening, or else hed be crushed by now.

”I saw my life flash before my eyes! Esecleus is right! Its blocked, and its… closing already? ”

”But what about the monsters that ambushed them? Did they die? ”

Only Esecleus can answer them, and they expected him for them.

”They were chasing me. Vylan, all of Lions Mane, and the monsters died inside! And all I did was run away! ”

Emotionally, Esecleus showed remorse and pain in his eyes. He clenched his fist so hard, taking his acting top-notch to convince everyone even more.

”My life had always been hanging by a thread. I was standing on a thin line, surviving the harshness of this world. And honestly, I thought there was only cruelty and suffering waiting for me. But after running across an unidentified entity, I became overpowered. ”

Esecleus reminisces about his dark past. His days would start in the dirty alleys of a suburban area. He has nowhere to go, no parents to feed him, and never had a place to call home.

As the sun rises, all of the beggars, people who also have nowhere to go like Esecleus, would wake up early in the morning, looking for food. It was the only way to survive extreme hunger.

It was a race for all of them. And at the young age of six, Esecleus experienced everything, someone, his age should not be experiencing. All the harshness of this world, its unfair and unjust treatment of a young child was something he was molded into.

Esecleus was forced to grow up in such a discouraging and evil environment. So, to survive, Esecleus had to use every means possible. If he had to play the fool, he would gladly do so. In order to get out, Esecleus adopted traits he would use and became adaptive to his surroundings.

And by the age of ten, Esecleus sullied his hands dirty. He learned of the warmth of someones blood on his hands. Esecleus killed someone just for some spare food. Had he let it go, it would be him rotting five meters down the ground. Hmm, someone like him would not even get a proper burial. He might end up in the sewers and become food for sewage rats.

For months, Esecleus was haunted by the nightmare. The face of his victim would flash in his mind, bloodied and lifeless with its eyes staring deeply into his soul. He could not sleep and it was eating him mentally and emotionally.

And by the end of the year, at the age of fifteen, exactly three years later, Esecleus had his second kill. Unlike the first one where he suffered tremendous mental stress, going without sleeping for days, his second time was more of a subservient behavior.

”A voice was telling me to kill. I recently recovered from the trauma, and now my mind is telling me to become a total murderer. So I did. ”

Even so, Esecleus reached the point where he overcame his desire for blood. His natural instincts to kill, however, grew wilder and thus improving his knack for directing intense bloodlust, which would instantly have a weak-minded person down on their knees.

And when he became an adult, of legal age, Esecleus first set foot inside a threshold. He was inexperienced, and only heard about the monsters and saw them on televisions being sold in stores.

So, his first encounter with a monster was full of overwhelming nervousness, hands shaking, and panicking.

”Semper ad Meliora. ” Always onward towards better things.

~