With his hand firmly clutched on the Rank 4 Black Sword, Vaan used his other hand to claw at the wyrm with his sharpened nails.
Ka-cha!
The wyrm's hard scales ripped off under the extreme sharpness of Vaan's claws, which even surprised him.
He didn't expect his sharpened nails to possess such a high level of sharpness, even for a partial transformation.
It was an even better weapon than his Rank 4 Black Sword.
The bloodline of a Rank 6 being or higher could not be underestimated, not at all.
Ka-cha! Ka-cha!
Vaan cracked and ripped the wyrm's hard scales off one by one, exposing its softer and more vulnerable flesh underneath.
Nevertheless, damage done to the wyrm's tail end would be minimal. If he wanted to inflict fatal damage, Vaan had to aim for the wyrm's upper body or head.
Shortly after he stored away his Rank 4 Black Sword, Vaan clawed his way up on the wyrm's back while being hit by earthen fragments.
Nevertheless, the damage was insignificant thanks to his Earth Spirit Body and high earth affinity.
Before long, he reached the wyrm's upper body. He immediately started ripping off its hard scales and exposing its vulnerable flesh.
Roar!
The Magma Wyrm roared painfully.
It shrugged its body furiously in an attempt to shake Vaan off its body but to no avail. He stuck to its body like a splinter that wouldn't come out.
After he cleared a patch of hard scales, he didn't hesitate to dig into the wyrm's flesh with his claws and make his way inside its upper body.
Ding!
<You have been burned by lava>
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt<You have regenerated from your burns>
<You have been burned by lava>
<You have regenerated from your burns>
<Your flesh has been tempered>
<You have gained one point in defense>
…
The lava on the wyrm's body continuously burned Vaan, but his Peak-rank Regeneration, which his Lycan Transformation further enhanced, instantly healed all his wounds.
From time to time, he also received the 26% natural regeneration buff of his Earth Spirit Body.
Scorching-hot blood gushed out of the wyrm's open wound and also burned him, but like all other burns, they were instantly healed.
The constant damage and regeneration tempered his flesh and increased their defense.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
Nevertheless, Vaan ignored the improvements and went straight for the wyrm's heart, which wasn't hard to locate due to its powerful beating rhythm.
'Your rampage ends here,' Vaan's gaze glinted with sharpness.
In the next instant, he quickly tore up with wyrm's heart with his claws, causing large volumes of blood to gush out and soak his entire body.
His entire figure temporarily disappeared inside the sea of blood that poured out of the wyrm's heart.
Ding!
<You have burned by the Magma Wyrm's dragon blood essences>
<You have regenerated from your burns>
<Your flesh has been tempered>
<You have gained one point in defense>
…
Ding!
<You have obtained a drop of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence>
<Do you want to absorb it? Y/N>
<Note: Absorbing the drop of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence will cause your Immortal Lycan Bloodline to mutate and alter its bloodline awakening path>
…
Amid the string of system notifications, Vaan was surprised by one particular section.
'A drop of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence? No wonder the Magma Wyrm was so powerful…" Vaan thought.
But more importantly, where did the Magma Wyrm obtain the drop of Fire Dragon God's blood essence in the first place?
'An inheritance?' Vaan wondered.
Nevertheless, he quickly considered his options.
There was no doubt that the drop of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence was a priceless treasure. But whether it was useful to him was a different matter.
'Unless I acquire more blood from Balmodon the Undying, it will be difficult to further awaken the Immortal Lycan Bloodline. Although other options exist, they aren't exactly easier either,' Vaan mused.
'But I can't exactly keep following down the same path as the Balmodon the Undying to become an Immortal Lycan either. It has its cons.'
For example, there was a chance that Balmodon the Undying could track him in Gehenna due to him sharing the Great Devil's bloodline.
Furthermore, there was also a higher chance that he could be suppressed by the Balmodon the Undying, even if he somehow managed to reach the same level of power as the Great Devil one day.
After all, Balmodon the Undying was the primogenitor of the Immortal Lycan Bloodline.
On the other hand, dragons were a superior race of beasts that could date back to ancient times. Given their great strength and wisdom, plenty of benefits could be gained from assimilating their bloodline.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmFurthermore, it was the bloodline of the Fire Dragon God, no less.
It was definitely a good thing if he could fuse the bloodline of the Fire Dragon God and the Immortal Lycan and create a new bloodline that was free from the restrictions of both sides.
Although he would be embarking on a new path, he was confident in his ability, knowledge, and the system.
That said, a single drop of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence wasn't enough for him to give up the pure Immortal Lycan Bloodline.
As such, Vaan refrained from making a hasty decision and kept the drop of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence stored inside his Heaven-Swallowing Space.
'If there's indeed an inheritance ground of the Fire Dragon God hidden in the Thousand Fog Mountains, offering more of its blood essence, then I will assimilate its bloodline,' Vaan decided.
Ding!
<You have been burned by lava>
<You have regenerated from your burns>
<Your flesh has been tempered>
<You have gained one point in defense>
…
The system continued to spam him with notifications.
However, after the Magma Wyrm had its heart destroyed, its movements eventually stopped, life faded from its eyes, and its temperature gradually dropped.
Eventually, the lava was cooled to the point that it could no longer hurt him; it only kept his body hot.
At the same time, his clothes had been reduced to ashes.
In other words, he was butt naked.
Step, step, step…
As Vaan climbed out of the wyrm's body, Astoria finally caught up to him with Topaz, only to realize the threat had been eliminated.
"Teacher Raphna, you… are you all right?"
As Astoria asked, she covered Topaz's eyes with one hand but not hers with the other.
She stared at his bare body from top to bottom twice.