My SSS-Rank Innate skill: Infinite Adaptation core

Nova let out a cold sigh as he looked down at them.”Sigh... another group of brainwashed psychopaths.”

His expression darkened further.

”Seriously... what the fuck are the Emperors of the all races even doing? This world is more fucked up than I thought.”

Nova was in a truly foul mood.

These people weren’t ordinary criminals. They were pure psychopaths who had slaughtered an entire village and taken the children. He had no intention of giving them a clean death.

Rouve transformed into a small, sharp blade. A faint green glow ran along its edge — the power of Poison Fang fully integrated into it.

Before any of them could react, Nova moved.

In a blur of black lightning, he flashed through the group. The poisoned blade swept low in a series of precise, merciless cuts.

All of them suddenly lost both legs below the knees.

”AAAAAGHHH!!”

”GAAAAAH!!”

”MY LEGS... MY LEGS!!”

Screams of pure agony exploded through the forest. Blood sprayed across the ground as the severed limbs fell. The poison began spreading immediately, sending burning waves of pain through their nerves.

Even then, none of them begged for mercy.

Nova’s eyes turned colder.

He had underestimated just how fanatical this group was.

Without giving them time to adapt, he moved again. The blade flashed once more, this time cutting through arms. Hands and forearms dropped to the forest floor as fresh screams tore from their throats.

”ARGHHH!!”

”STOP... JUST KILL US ALREADY!!”

The black masks had been knocked off during the struggle, revealing twisted faces contorted in agony. Blood streamed from their eyes, noses, and mouths as the poison and trauma mixed together. Some were already choking on their own blood.

Nova still wasn’t finished.

He raised his hand and fired a volley of blood arrows. The crimson projectiles pierced through shoulders, thighs, and abdomens, pinning the remaining members firmly to the ground like insects.

Then he activated Soul Pulse — not at full strength, but in controlled, repeated waves.

The effect was immediate and far worse than physical pain.

”AAAAAHHHH!!!”

”MAKE IT STOP!!”

”MY HEAD... IT FEELS LIKE IT’S BEING TORN APART!!”

Soul attacks struck directly at the consciousness. The pain was pure, inescapable, and far more unbearable than any wound of the flesh. One after another, the fanatics who had previously refused to beg finally broke.

They began screaming for death.

Not for mercy. Just for the pain to end.

Nova watched them coldly. Soul-based torture was on a completely different level from normal methods, and he was already thinking about acquiring more soul skills in the future.

Then something unexpected happened.

Several of the mid-King Realm members who had been screaming the loudest suddenly began to change. Their bodies started swelling unnaturally, veins bulging as an unstable energy surged inside them.

Nova’s danger sense flared.

He instantly shot into the sky.

BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

One after another, the swollen bodies exploded in violent bursts of flesh and blood. The shockwaves tore through the forest, reducing those closest to the blasts into shredded remains.

Only a handful of peak King Realm experts who had been standing farther away survived — and even they were barely clinging to life, their bodies covered in grievous wounds. Among the survivors were a few humans, demons, and elves.

Liya’s voice echoed calmly in his mind.

{ Looks like this organization is even more ruthless than the Bloodmoon Cult. Asking for mercy is treated as betrayal... that’s why they refused to beg until the very end. }

Nova let out a quiet sigh.

He didn’t bother finishing off the remaining few. The poison and their injuries would kill them soon enough. He left them to die slowly in the dirt.

His attention then turned to the dragon.

The Emperor Realm expert was beginning to break free. Nova could feel Reality Override meeting stronger and stronger resistance.

Part of it was because the target was an Emperor, but there was another reason as well — dragons possessed the strongest mental resistance among all races.

The dragon’s eyes were already twitching. In a few more moments, he would fully escape the skill’s hold.

Nova’s expression remained cold as he prepared for the real fight.

The moment the dragon fully broke free from Reality Override, his expression twisted into something ugly.

Nova had already removed his mask earlier. The face underneath looked surprisingly ordinary — almost human.

{ Dragons can transform into human form, but only superior dragons are capable of it. There are also subspecies among them... you’ll learn about those later. }

Nova gave a slight mental nod as he observed his opponent.

Cold sweat was already streaming down the dragon’s face. When he turned around and saw the state of his subordinates — nothing but torn flesh, blood, and a few half-dead peak King Realm survivors who could no longer even speak — his rage exploded.

He turned back toward Nova, voice filled with pure fury.

”If you think you’ve cornered me, you’re wrong. That mental skill of yours was strong... but not strong enough to permanently hold an Emperor Realm dragon.”

A cold smirk spread across his face.

”Killing a few weaklings is nothing to be proud of. I hope you’re ready to face me, insect.”

The dragon lunged forward. An Emperor Realm sword materialized in his hand — clearly of higher quality and durability than Rouve in its current form.

Nova’s eyes lit up with interest for a brief second, but he quickly forced himself to focus. This was his first time fighting a true dragon. Underestimating the opponent would be foolish.

Their swords collided.

A violent explosion of power erupted between them. The surrounding space trembled, and fine cracks appeared in the air itself. Even though Nova had not officially stepped into the Emperor Realm, the force he released was already at that level.

The dragon’s eyes narrowed.

He couldn’t push Nova back... and Nova couldn’t overpower him either. They were evenly matched in raw power.

Realizing this, the dragon suddenly twisted his body and drove a heavy kick straight into Nova’s stomach.

BOOM!

Nova was sent flying several kilometers, crashing through the forest and leaving a trail of shattered trees in his wake. Before he could fully recover, the dragon was already upon him again, bringing his sword down in a powerful overhead strike.

Nova rolled aside at the last moment.

The blade smashed into the ground, creating a massive crater and sending shockwaves through the forest.

Seeing that his attack had missed, the dragon roared in fury.

”You can’t run forever, you bastard!”

Nova reappeared high in the sky, his expression slightly more serious than before.

”Shit... I underestimated him.”

Although this dragon wasn’t as strong as Vex had been, he was by no means weak. The only reason the fight was still manageable was because of the lingering backlash from Reality Override.

Without that earlier mental attack, the dragon would have been noticeably more dangerous.

Nova’s grip on Rouve tightened as black lightning began to faintly crackle around his body.

The real fight was only just beginning.

Nova’s eyes sharpened.

He activated judgment Flash together with Void Steps. At the same time, something far more shocking happened.

A powerful Dragonic aura suddenly burst out from his body.

The moment it spread, the surrounding air grew heavy. The aura was denser, purer, and clearly superior to the one belonging to the Emperor Realm dragon in front of him.

The dragon’s eyes widened in pure disbelief.

”Y-You... who are you?!”

Nova gave no answer.

In the next instant, his figure vanished.

Using Void Steps and Judgment Flash together, he reappeared directly in front of the dragon. Rouve transformed mid-swing, shifting from a blade into a massive war hammer crackling with black lightning.

Nova brought it down with full force.

BAM!

The hammer smashed into the dragon’s chest and launched him toward the ground like a falling meteor.

BOOOOOOM!!

The impact was catastrophic.

A violent shockwave exploded outward for

several kilometers, flattening trees and tearing up the earth. A massive, wide crater was carved into the ground where the dragon landed, dust and debris rising high into the air.

**

Thanks for reading...