Chapter 218: The Abandoned Lone Beast

"Tap~"

A crisp sound rang out, and then a Magic Stone materialized out of thin air a few inches before the bony creature's eyes and dropped down.

In an instant, the bony creature caught that familiar, delicious scent from this strangely appearing stone.

Following a joyful cry, the bony creature decisively picked up the Magic Stone in its mouth and began to chew it.

It worked!

Upon hearing the bone dragon's cheer, the black-robed figure knew he had succeeded!

He shouldn't run into any problems for a short while, right?

With that thought, he fainted away in spectacular fashion.

Clearly, the act of opening the Space Ring earlier had been extremely taxing for him, who now had only his consciousness left.

"Hey, strange voice, is there any more of that delicious stuff?"

After swallowing the Magic Stone in two or three bites, the black-purple flames in the bony creature's eye sockets grew considerably stronger once more.

Savoring the lingering sense of comfort in its mouth, the bony creature brazenly spoke up again.

Little did it know that this time, it would receive no response for quite a while.

Somewhat puzzled, it asked again in a low, cautious voice, "Mr. Delicious, are you still there?"

"……"

Yet all that awaited it was still utter silence.

This time it finally caught on—the delicious Mr. seemed to have left. For a moment it lowered its eyes, at a loss, and murmured, "He... he left?"

Its voice grew quieter and quieter, as if reluctant to part.

Deep in this great rift, an empty place no creature dared approach, it had always been sleeping, absorbing the faint Light Point energy in the air. This was its first time communicating with a being from outside, so much so that it felt an urge to keep talking on and on.

But now, Mr. Delicious had left again, and the surroundings had gone quiet once more, leaving it—eager for the very first time to talk with someone—unable to adjust.

This leaving without a word always gave it that familiar feeling of being disliked, of being abandoned.

It seemed to recall once more the hazy sensations from before its birth, that voice—seemingly so gentle and warm, yet uttering words cold enough to pierce the bone.

Just like icy blades stabbing into its body one strike after another, and then its body was tossed lightly into the endless pile of junk and wreckage.

"Kill them! Revenge!"

After a long pause, it suddenly spat out a hateful, inexplicable line.

Then it lowered its body once more, resting its bony dragon-head on the ground, silently staring at the familiar pitch-black floor.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, giant beasts frolicked freely, reveling in the beauty of nature.

While it could only huddle forever in that dark, cramped cavern.

……

Time began to slip slowly away.

The bright sunlight outside gradually dimmed; the various giant beasts began heading back to their lairs, or gathering in groups to brace against the coming night and the dangers it brought.

Soon, the Golden Crow set in the west and the Jade Rabbit rose in the east—night truly fell.

Yet it still lay dazed in that dark cavern, motionless.

A peculiar instinct it was born with meant that even now, without eating or drinking, it could sustain its normal activity by absorbing the faint residual energy at the bottom of the great rift.

But this ability, coveted by other creatures, had once again, for a newborn that had received no teaching or inheritance, pulled it further away from that vital act of feeding that sustains life.

It did not understand what life was, nor what death was; it was an undead, a lone beast, unwanted by anyone, drifting between life and death.

Time slipped quietly by, and the night passed quickly.

Along with the first ray of bright sunlight, like a blade slicing through thick fog, light poured into the bottom of the great rift.

A new day had begun.

And at this moment, the black-robed figure's withered consciousness finally caught a breath and slowly awoke.

One had to admit, a half-god level consciousness was truly tough and resilient—after all that torment, it could still recover clarity within a day.

Hm? What is this situation?

Upon waking, the black-robed figure was instantly stunned, staring in bewilderment at the bone dragon lying motionless in the dark cavern.

As an undead creature, after devouring the full power of a being whose body was at the peak of Legendary and whose realm was half-god, shouldn't it need some time to absorb and strengthen itself?

Just lying there motionless like that—wouldn't the power it had eaten simply go to waste and dissipate?

All that pure power just dissipating away—what a waste! What a sin!!

In an instant, the black-robed figure's face twisted into a bitter grimace. As a powerhouse who had risen from a weak mortal to half-god, he could not stand seeing power wasted like this.

He had risen from the bottom, countless times yearning for yet never obtaining that beautiful stroke of luck (a powerhouse falling into despair and being devoured by the weak, who then rises), and now it had appeared right before his eyes—and he was the protagonist of it, yet the other party didn't even cherish this fortunate power.

It had to be called irony—the greatest irony for him.

For a moment, the black-robed figure was in tears, feeling as though his very heart was bleeding.

No, he could not bear to watch his hard-won power go to waste like this.

Normally, when one had been devoured and crushed until only consciousness remained, seeing the other party foolishly not absorb one's power would be the best outcome—but the situation now was a little special.

Having been struck again and again by this otherworld, the black-robed figure had gradually changed his mind, deciding to share both glory and ruin with this bone dragon; he absolutely could not allow this to happen.

At this moment, the bone dragon's foolish weakening represented a diminishment of his own future potential.

Thinking of this, he slowly spoke up from within the bone dragon's mind, "Hey, little fellow, what's wrong with you?"

"Hm~?!"

In an instant, the bony creature that had been lying dazed and motionless on the ground, upon hearing this both familiar and unfamiliar voice, saw the flames in its eye sockets surge violently, as if greatly startled.

"You—you didn't leave?!"

A startled, somewhat twisted voice with a sobbing tone rang out.

The black-robed figure was stunned; his thoughts spun rapidly, and he quickly pieced together the general situation after he had fainted.

That sentimental fool of a dragon had once again forgotten what it had just said.

But the emotion it transmitted at this moment also gave rise to a strange feeling within him.

He could not help but reply softly, "I didn't leave. My body has been swallowed by you — how could I leave in such a short Time? Earlier I had merely fallen into a faint."

"N-no, you didn't leave? That's good, that's good. Faint? You mean you fell asleep?"

The bone creature's voice rang out, as though it had absolutely no common sense.

The black-robed figure paused, uncertain whether it was appropriate to say so, and replied, "Well, more or less."

"Oh, then that's good."

After this voice, the gloomy cavern fell silent for a while.

"Hey, what's your name? My fath… that bad dragon once said that every living being has a name that belongs to it alone."

After a long pause, the bone creature's slightly bashful words came through.

"M-me? You're asking me?"

Caught off guard, he was asked his name by what appeared to be a dim-witted, 常识-less undead creature.

The black-robed figure, who had been thinking about how to remind it to absorb the power carried within his body, was for a moment unable to react. He blankly echoed the question before finally coming back to his senses.

……

(End of this chapter)