"Phew!... That took care of them."

Aron wiped the blood from his face as he stepped on the head of a Faceless Horror. With each turn and passage, more of them emerged. Fortunately, they appeared in groups of two or three at most, providing Aron ample opportunity to dispatch them with ease.

"Aron! Over here," Raum called, hovering near a large steel door. Aron approached the door and peered through the small window.

Inside, only darkness greeted him. However, at the far end of the room, a large purple crystal floated in the air.

"That's the core." Raum landed on Aron's shoulder, pointing with his wings at the crystal. "What now?" he asked.

Aron remained silent, deep in thought. He wanted to swiftly destroy the core and then search for the girls. The words spoken by his alter ego left him on edge.

'Hang in there, Freya'

[Master, be careful. A monster is guarding the dungeon core.]

'A monster? How do you know?'

[From the memories of the consumed creatures.]

'Ah! Yes, I forgot you transformed all of their memories into The Shadow Library. Now, what can you tell me about the guardian?'

[It's a twisted version of the Faceless Horror. It has one head, four torsos sharing the same spine, four arms, and eight legs. From the memories, it can walk on walls and jump extremely high.]

"I see," Aron processed the information, his mind racing. This twisted Faceless Horror could be challenging to deal with, especially since Aron lacked his equipment, mainly the chained mace. For Nightfall, he sensed that the axe was inside the room.

'System, how much time has passed?'

[At least 12 hours, Master. Your status has returned to normal, and your body is healed from Wrath's powers.]

'Good… Now, show me the new skill.'

…

[Unique skill: Greed: "Accumulate, Empower, Defense"

- Passive: Your desires are amplified, and with every new treasure you accumulate, the stronger you become. Treasures are based on the dragon's desires, manifesting as two primary sources:

- Blood Bonds: People who swear allegiance to the dragon and share their blood with the dragon become living treasures. The deeper the bond, the more potent the treasure. Each ally contributes to your strength passively (5%)

- Dragon's Nest: The territory marked as the dragon's nest is a treasure in itself. The accumulation of wealth, artifacts, and the essence of the dragon's hoard empowers you. The more defensive and secure the nest, the greater the passive strength it provides.]

…

The first thing Aron noticed was no active effect, only passive. However, the effects were quite favorable.

'With Blood bonds, I can empower my allies. The stronger they become, the more beneficial it is to me.'

Consuming his blood would give the girls a better chance to awaken their true potential or improve existing ones. However, Aron wouldn't give his blood easily; they had to earn it.

Aron isn't foolish; he could already imagine the troubles he would face if word got out about his blood reaching public ears.

'Let's avoid that for now… hmm? The Dragon's Nest is good, but I don't have a way to mark my territory.'

'Hey, System, is this all?... I mean, something is missing in the skill?' Aron inquired, confused.

[What do you mean, Master?]

'Well, I have the knowledge and used Greed to consume monsters, but I don't see it in the description.'

[One moment, Master]

[Analyzing]

[Master, it appears that Greed is a flexible skill and could be merged with any skill, resulting in additional active effects.]

'Oh! That's interesting. Show me the new effects.'

[Understood. So far, only three skills are affected by Greed.]

…

[Greed and Wrath Fusion: The Crimson Shroud

- Create a Dark-red mist around the dragon (current: 100m). The mist will slowly steal the life force and apply a debuff.

- Enemies killed while having this debuff will increase Wrath's active duration (2s on each kill) and simultaneously decrease the drawbacks duration (5m on each kill).

- Caution: The fusion can only be activated once a day, and the debuff will be applied to anyone inside the mist, friend or foe.]

…

'Wow! What a great effect. I can see huge potential in this.' Aron imagined himself slaughtering an entire army just with this fusion.

'A one-man army… hehehe, I like it.'

Raum narrowed his eyes, seeing the creepy grin on Aron's face.

'I don't like this smile; whatever he's thinking, it will never be good for his enemies.'

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

…

[Greed and Pride Fusion: The Dragon's Nest

- This Fusion will allow you to mark the territories of your Dragon's nest.

- In the nest, you have total authority. You can create and reshape the land as you like using the words of power—Dragon's tongue.]

…

'Oh! There it is. I was worried for nothing… Dragon's tongue? System, is it draconic?'

[Yes, Master, as a Dragon, your words have power.]

'Good, we'll experiment with it later… Now, to the last fusion.'

…

[Greed and Mana Manipulation Fusion: Driven by the Dragon's deep desire for power, a unique fusion was created: Gluttony

- Gluttony: "The devourer of Greed"

- As a dragon, you possess the ability to devour defeated monsters, stealing their life force and memories. This process can be initiated during or after battle. The stronger the monster, the greater the boost to your experience, Dragon core, and the potential to gain unique skills or knowledge related to the devoured creature.

- Caution: Too much memory can affect your mind.]

…

Aron instantly picked up on the last part, wondering about the possibility that this Gluttony might be solely responsible for him losing his memories.

According to the system's words, the skills Aron was unlocking were not new to him; he was rediscovering his old skills. Aron, in the past, had these skills, leading him to wonder if he used Gluttony too much, messing up his mind and resulting in losing every memory he had.

'Is it possible, System?'

[Yes, Master. Having too many memories from different creatures can result in many problems. The best-case scenario is you ending up with multiple personalities, and the worst one is that your mind will just… you know, head goes… BOOF!]

A shiver ran down Aron's spine at the thought of losing his mind or worse, BOOF! No more head on his shoulders. Fortunately, the system's next words wiped his worries instantly.

[No need to worry, Master. I'll transfer every consumed memory to Shadow Library and store it as information; this way, the chance of your memories mixing up is zero.]

'Phew… Next time say the good things first… I almost lost my nerves here.'

"Are you done, Aron?" Raum suddenly asked, cutting Aron's conversation with the system and pulling him back to reality.

"Sorry, buddy… I was lost in my thoughts for a second," Aron replied, taking a deep breath and shaking off the lingering unease about the potential risks associated with Gluttony.

"I'm done, Raum. It's better if you stay here; the monster inside can walk on walls and jump really high."

Raum frowned; he didn't like staying behind, but he wasn't stupid. A monster like that could easily reach him in the air—Raum's only advantage.

"Alright, Brother, be careful."

Nodding, Aron tightened his grip on Python, slowly pushing the door.

The steel door groaned as it opened, revealing the ominous darkness that lay beyond. The only source of light was the purple crystal—the dungeon core—floating in the air at the far end of the room.

Aron stepped cautiously into the room, senses heightened. From the consumed memories, he knew that the guardian was clinging to the ceiling, waiting for his prey to get closer to the core so he could strike.

Fully aware of this, Aron walked slowly toward the purple core, eyes scanning the shadows above. The air was thick with tension as he moved with calculated steps, Python at the ready.

The twisted Faceless Horror remained hidden in the darkness, a silent predator observing its prey. Aron reached the center of the room, his gaze fixed on the glowing purple core. The moment he extended his hand, the guardian dropped from the ceiling with unnatural agility.

Aron instantly dropped to the ground, rolling on his back. He grabbed Python with both hands, the blade pointing upward.

QEUIII!

The monster howled in agony as the blade pierced right between its eight legs.

"Do you like it?"

The screams filled the room, and the monster struggled to free itself from the blade. The monster was huge; just one of its legs was at the same height as Aron. When leaning and trying to use its four arms to grab Aron, the blade went deeper into its flesh.

"HAHAHA… Don't worry, there's more where that came from."

Covering his right fist with Mana, Aron slammed repeatedly on Python's hilt, pushing the blade deeper, cutting through flesh, and reaching the spine that held the four torsos together.

QUEIII. QUEIII

Aron's relentless assault continued, each strike punctuated by the monster's agonized howls. The twisted Faceless Horror writhed in pain in desperation to free itself; it kicked the floor with its eight legs to create distance.

It succeeded, but Python remained embedded in its flesh. Aron left the blade specifically to drain the creature of blood.

"To me!" Aron raised his hand to shoulder level, calling.

BOOM!

Bursting from beneath the floor, a Greataxe, black as a moonless night, made its way to Aron's grip. Aron's hand closed around the handle of the black axe, feeling its weight and the cold, ominous energy it exuded.

Nightfall was back in his possession, and with it, he dashed toward the monster, cutting three of its eight legs with a wide arc swing.

BOOF!

The monster lost its balance and fell to the ground, allowing Aron to jump on its torsos, delivering a powerful blow to one of them.

The twisted Horror tried to stab him with its long claws, but Aron was one step ahead. He resummoned Python to him, and with a swift, motionless strike, he chopped off all the monster's arms. Yet, he didn't stop there.

Python's pointy tip found its way to the monster's throat.

"Die"

Aron kicked hard, pushing Python's blade deeper into the monster's throat, silencing its agonizing cries. The twisted Faceless Horror convulsed in its final moments, and soon, the room fell into a chilling silence.

[You have Killed: Elite Faceless Horror]

[300XP]

"Not bad, but…"

Aron placed a hand on the monster, taking a deep breath, commanding.

"Gluttony"

Instantly, the ethereal jaws of the dragon materialized on his hand, swallowing the twisted horror completely. The process was swift, and as the monster's essence was consumed, Aron felt a surge of power coursing through him.

[You have Consumed: Elite Faceless Horror]

[1200XP +4 cores]

"Aaah! That's better. No need to leave anything behind."

Kaaah!

Raum came flying, hopping on Aron's shoulder.

"Brother, that was fast. I wish I could do the same."

Aron gazed at the little raven softly and rubbed the feather under his chin.

"You will, one day, buddy. I'll make sure of it."

Raum nodded in happiness; growing stronger was all the raven cared about. This way, he could always stand beside Aron.

Turning around, the two approached the dungeon core. Aron prepared to strike the core, breaking it. However, suddenly, Raum stopped him.

"Look there, Aron."

"Huh?" Aron crouched, looking under the crystal. He saw strange glass pipes coming from beneath the floor and sticking to the core. The purple energy of the core floated through the glass pipes.

"Interesting." Curious, Aron and Raum jumped through the hole made by Nightfall since it was close to where the pipes went down.

Beneath was a secret room.

Some kind of lab where the Demon Xenodrake performed his experiments, evidenced by the incomplete monsters on the stone tables. Some were missing limbs—arms, legs, heads—others were impaled on the walls with long black nails.

Not far away from where they landed, Aron saw his chained mace. He rushed toward it, grabbing it with both hands and kissing it multiple times.

"I missed you, little girl."

"..." Raum stared blankly at him. "Seriously, Aron?"

"Yes"

"..."

"Kaaah!" Raum shook his head in defeat. "Sometimes I wonder who's the real you, Brother."

"The bloodthirsty, kill-everyone-in-my-path Aron or the kind, loving, a little dumb Aron?" tilting his head. "Maybe both?"

"Shut up!"

"Huh?" A sudden glow from behind a cover caught the attention of the two.

Approaching it, Aron removed the cover, revealing a huge glass tube filled with a purple substance.

Inside the tube was a child, a young girl of 5-6 years old, floating inside the substance.

The girl suddenly opened her eyes and gazed at Aron, her eyes widening in shock, and she spoke.

"Father?"