Chapter 500

Chapter 500: Snatching the Monument from the Dragon’s Jaws

"Oh no…" Midi hadn’t anticipated the Corpse Two-Horned Dragon possessing such an ability to directly sense changes in the Black Dragon monument. His face paled.

Meanwhile, Alexis and Thor—currently scrambling to escape—spotted Midi’s presence.

"That bastard actually followed us here!" Thor’s eyes flashed with rage.

It kept happening—Midi always stayed one step ahead. This time, Thor the mighty "Warrior" had been reduced to mere bait. While he’d fought desperately to evade the dragon, Midi had seized the Black Dragon monument. The injustice burned Thor’s pride.

Beside him, Alexis simmered with silent fury. For him, nothing else mattered but claiming the Black Dragon monument. After all his efforts to reach it, he’d sooner die than let Midi steal it from under his nose.

Yet the angriest of all was the Corpse Two-Horned Dragon itself.

With an earth-shaking roar, the beast abandoned its current prey and charged toward Midi, its colossal frame moving with terrifying speed.

Midi activated his storage ring, swallowing the three-meter monument whole. The remaining pieces—monument tip and base—lay dozens of meters away. No time to retrieve them.

Even if he fled now, his movement sluggish under the gravity field’s weight, the dragon would overtake him instantly.

Then blue starlight engulfed him.

Mind-related ability: Star Shift.

Teleportation through psychic energy.

At Midi’s current level, neither Star Shift nor Heavenly Dragon Strike could breach this gravity field. The true caster was Eighth Apostle Rot. Though merely a Will Entity now, Rot’s past as a supreme expert made trivial work of escaping such petty constraints.

But escaping the gravity field was only the first hurdle. Now Midi had both the enraged dragon and his two bitter rivals hunting him. One misstep meant death.

Pressure honed Midi’s focus to razor sharpness.

No more holding back. Blue light ignited in his eyes as he unleashed Half-Sight Perception.

Psychic energy flooded the underground space.

"He’s a psychic user?!" Alexis blurted. The invasive scan crawled over his skin like ants—unshakable, unbearable.

Thor resisted better thanks to his Demon Dragon bloodline, but still grimaced at the psychic chill.

Through Half-Sight, Midi perceived everything—the dragon’s murderous lunges, Alexis’ twitching fingers, Thor’s pounding heartbeat. Each gravity field the dragon hurled found empty air as Midi danced through the labyrinthine cavern, choosing paths that forced the clumsy beast to slow.

When even the dragon struggled, Alexis and Thor exchanged glances. Pursuit was pointless now. Catching Midi at full flight? Impossible. Killing him? Laughable.

Even if they killed Midi, they’d still have to face the level 71 Corpse Two-Horned Dragon’s attack. Though eliminating him would feel satisfying, profit remained their main motivation for fighting. The most profitable choice now wasn’t chasing Midi – it was seizing the remaining Black Dragon monument pieces while he was distracted!

"Did that bastard foresee even this?" Thor spat through gritted teeth as Midi’s figure retreated. Alexis gave one last cold glance at the fleeing man and dragon before turning away. "Even if he did, we’ve no alternatives. We return now."

The two descended to the underground space’s deepest layer. Like Midi earlier, they gritted through the gravity field’s pressure until reaching their targets. Thor claimed the monument’s base – one-third the size of what Midi took. Weaker Alexis settled for the smallest tip.

As they stored their prizes in storage rings, the cavern trembled. A black dot expanded where the monument once stood. "Space rift? Impossible!" Both men paled. Space rifts signaled a small realm’s collapse, like cracks dooming a glass tank. With the monument gone, reality itself was unraveling. They fled without another thought.

Meanwhile, Midi felt the spatial tremors while fleeing. "Is Crystal Dragon Fortress collapsing?" Panic rose – he still needed to exchange for the Beginner True Dragon Body Refinement Technique. Suddenly his Black Dragon Remnant Token pulsed, encasing him in black crystal energy that streaked through space at blinding speed. The Corpse Two-Horned Dragon’s furious roar echoed behind empty air.

Midi materialized in Dragon God Temple alongside Alexis and Thor. Soon others appeared – Mason, Raison, Zaknavan, Death Scorpion fighters – until all Black Crystal Forest warriors gathered. Tension crackled like gunpowder, though the Black Dragon Remnant Token’s glow kept everyone frozen in place.

The Dragon Head’s voice boomed: "The seventeenth monument’s retrieval dooms this Black Crystal Forest. Congratulations on achieving top resource collection – 100,000 Black Flame Coins each."

"But what of Crystal Dragon Fortress?" Midi pressed.

"Only this forest collapses," Dragon Head clarified. "You took its lifeblood – the Black Dragon monument." Before Midi could inquire further, the entity urged: "Exchange now. Your coins become worthless after the collapse."

Even Alexis focused intently – 100,000 coins could buy 300 Volcano Potions (Level 7!) if nothing else. Death Scorpion fighters browsed mid-tier lists, but Midi’s group accessed high-tier exchanges. His two Crimson Crystal Lotuses fetched 800,000 coins. Combined with existing funds and base earnings, their total hit 2 million. After keeping 1 million, Midi split the rest equally – 250,000 each. They’d agreed long before Mososbury City’s Fighter Selection; his leadership justified this.

"1.25 million coins," Dragon Head intoned. Midi didn’t hesitate: "Exchange for Beginner True Dragon Body Refinement Technique." Anticipation threaded his calm voice.