No matter what Cyr said, the azure dragon never resurfaced. Cyr turned his gaze away, disappointed.
He had realized something:
This dragon had eaten humans.
It possessed nen—not borrowed from being around humans or absorbing their aura, but its own innate force.
Normally, creatures like this… shouldn't have nen.
Chimera Ants didn't have it at first either. They only developed nen after consuming humans.
Even then, they couldn't use it right away. Neferpitou had learned how to cultivate nen from members of the captured survey teams.
But this dragon… clearly had no proper training method.
It had awakened its ability through eating humans, but had no idea how to actually use it. Its control was crude, its power mediocre—far from worthy of what should've been an awe-inspiring, storm-wielding might.
If it had known how to train nen, its strength would've been far beyond what it was now.
But Cyr had no intention of giving it that knowledge.
Unless, of course, it emerged, knelt at his feet, and pledged loyalty on the spot.
"Not coming out?" Cyr sighed. "In that case…"
…then he'd kill it.
That thought sparked another:
If he killed this dragon now, wouldn't it make things easier for anyone who ventured to the Dark Continent in the future? One less disaster to face?
What a helpful guy he was.
"Blue." He stretched out his hand, and a powerful suction pulled the azure dragon from the depths.
In an instant, it was yanked from the water, trapped in a field of blue energy that clung tightly to its form, preventing escape.
No matter how it thrashed its tail, it couldn't break free.
"One last chance," the white-haired boy said, hands held level, fingers forming a loose grip around empty air.
"Be my pet, or…"
He grinned—a twisted, feral grin.
"Become my food."
His red eyes glowed with dark and merciless killing intent.
A flicker of hunger—true, primal hunger—seemed to shimmer in them.
The thrill of Ryomen Sukuna came from devouring.
And Cyr, who had inherited not just his power but even his constitution, also found joy in consumption.
The other thing he enjoyed… was battle.
The dragon didn't respond with words.
Instead, it roared, calling forth storm clouds and crashing waves, determined to fight to the death.
"So, that's your answer," Cyr murmured, almost regretfully.
Then food it is.
It may look like an azure dragon, but it wasn't the real thing.
Cyr wasn't sentimental about it.
"Guess I'll find out what dragon tastes like today," he said quietly, brows lowering, mouth curling into a smile.
Wasn't there an old saying? In the sky, dragon meat; on the ground… donkey meat?
He'd never had dragon before.
As his words fell, the crashing waves and red energy fell in tandem.
"Domain Expansion—Malevolent Shrine."
A blood-red night fell over the darkened sky.
A crimson moon replaced the clouds, and pools of blood and pale skulls spread out to replace the sea.
Countless unseen, razor-sharp attacks slashed across the dragon's body.
With the sharp clang of steel, its scales fell off piece by piece.
Beneath the scales, blood-soaked flesh was exposed.
Then came the decapitation.
Its massive head dropped with a thud, blood flowing endlessly in thick streams.
Within the domain, another blood pool was added.
Skin flayed, tendons stripped, bones picked clean…
In the end, a new pile of pale white bones appeared—taller and larger than all the others.
[Ding… Detected host has slain a wandering dragon. Congratulations, host, on earning the title: Dragon Slayer.]
The system's notification chimed in abruptly.
"Could this title be implying that a dragon slayer is destined to become a dragon?" Cyr asked with amusement, tugging at a thought that had recently fascinated him.
The system didn't reply. It was always this silent—rarely responding—and Cyr didn't really mind.
A dragon slayer becoming a dragon…
Before that happens, there's one necessary step: bathing in dragon's blood.
Only by being stained in dragon's blood can one become the dragon.
"Well then… guess I'll take a bath," he said with a light chuckle, looking down at a newly formed blood pool—just the right size for soaking.
Inside the domain, the environment was under his total control.
Transforming the blood pool into a steamy hot spring was merely a matter of intent.
He stripped off his clothes and sank into the blood bath, letting out a comfortable breath as the temperature hit just right.
The dragon's blood didn't stink. In fact, it emitted a strange, pleasant fragrance—clean and oddly refreshing.
Just the smell alone was enough to imagine how delicious its meat must be.
He soaked for about half an hour before rising, drying off, changing clothes, and dispelling the domain.
Chunks of neatly carved meat and bone dropped into the sea.
Cyr used Blue to catch them midair.
Malevolent Shrine was an interesting domain.
For every creature Cyr killed within it, a corresponding pile of bones and a small blood pool or pit would appear.
The size of those remnants depended on the creature's strength.
Now, compared to when he first obtained the domain, there were many more bone piles and blood pools.
"This…" he muttered, frowning at the towering mound of meat and bone.
With a body that stretched a hundred meters, even after removing the scales, skin, and bones, the remaining meat was still calculated in tons.
"…Better finish eating it soon," Cyr said, rubbing his chin.
Otherwise, it wouldn't stay fresh.
Because there was just so much of it, the three Chimera Ants got a share this time too.
The group practically ate until their stomachs bulged.
Cyr even stripped off his upper clothing to let the mouth on his belly join the feast.
The three ants, seeing for the first time that a human could have a mouth on their stomach… fell into a suspicious silence.
This guy…
He still insisted he was human, even like this?
Four eyes. Two mouths. What kind of human could do that, huh?
Maro had never seen it either, but he acted like it was nothing. In fact, noticing that Cyr's two hands weren't enough, he voluntarily took on the job of feeding the stomach-mouth.
That way, Cyr only had to feed the mouth on his face.
Now he finally understood why Ryomen Sukuna originally had four arms.
Two hands… one to feed each mouth… just wasn't efficient enough.
Raw dragon sashimi tasted better than raw fish.
The roasted skewers were great too.
Even dragon meat soup turned out delicious.
Maro used more than a dozen cooking techniques, making sure not even the bone marrow or tendons went to waste. Everything turned out tasty—nothing was a miss.
The group ate for half a day, and still couldn't finish.
Sora could eat sixty pounds in one sitting. Cyr, thirty. Maro… had a practically negligible appetite. The three Chimera Ants each ate about the same as Cyr.
All together, they barely got through just over a hundred pounds.
With several tons of meat… it would last them at least half a month.
Morrow froze the leftovers with his ability. Out in the wild, he was like a walking freezer—perfect for preserving food.
"So full…" Cyr said, standing at the ship's bow, patting his flat belly and eyeing the mouth on it.
That mouth was much bigger than the one on his face—its tongue too.
After making the contract with Sora, a marking had appeared on its tongue.
It looked… pretty sinister.
Cyr manually shut the stomach-mouth, and with a casual swipe, it vanished.
They stayed on the ship for over half a month. During that time, they finally finished all the meat. And at last—they spotted land.
A vast continent stretched out before them, seemingly circling the waters where their ship had drifted. It extended endlessly, with no visible end in sight.
At the same time, Six Eyes detected countless life forms across the land—all of them powerful.
But just ahead of the continent, there was a zone shrouded in violet-red mist.
Within that region, Six Eyes could detect no signs of life at all.
It was as if… the mist itself disrupted or blocked all sensory perception.
"We finally made it…" Cyr and the others disembarked, setting foot on the vast continent.
°°°
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