No, no!
Herzog was consumed by extreme fear. He couldn't bear the thought of losing the power he once held, not again.
"Who?! Who is it?!" He roared at the sky, his anger tinged with a deep, invisible terror. It felt as though a massive, unseen hand gripped his heart, squeezing the air from his lungs.
Suffocation overwhelmed him, and he shrieked in panic, "Come out! Come out now!"
But the empty sky above gave no response.
Chaotic elements gathered in the sky, swirling into turbulent streams as if they were about to unleash waves of destructive energy.
Under the solemn draconic incantation of the White King, Jung Von Herzog, high-level Word Souls were easily cast.
Yet, in the very next moment, the chaotic turbulence vanished.
The first authority to fade was his control over the elements of the world.
Herzog was terrified beyond measure. He realized he could no longer see or manipulate the elements. This meant his dominion over the world was gone.
No longer could he alter the skies with a thought or effortlessly destroy cities and islands.
"No! I am the White King! I am Herzog! No one can take my authority from me!"
With a sudden pull of his wings, Herzog dove vertically downward, slicing through the clouds like a blade and leaving shockwaves in his wake.
He wanted to flee. Even with his monstrous and terrifying Dragon King form, he lacked something critical—the heart of a true Dragon King.
From the beginning, Herzog had been nothing more than a coward, a petty creature hiding in the shadows of the sewers. His essence had never changed.
The roaring airflow and violent sonic booms created rings of turbulence around him as he surged forward.
Escape!
He had to escape as far as possible!
Though he still didn't know what had caused his authority to fail, Herzog's timid and cowardly nature drove his decision.
Without hesitation, he chose to flee rather than face the unknown threat with the bloodthirsty defiance of a true Dragon King.
His gray-white, blade-like wings sliced through the clouds, pushing his speed to many times the speed of sound.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Compressed air burst with a thunderous roar, like the firing of a massive cannon.
A distinct rift tore through the sky, its booming sound resonating among the clouds. Even humanity's fastest weapons couldn't match Herzog's speed at this moment.
Herzog had no idea where he was fleeing to—he only wanted to get far away.
But then, the leathery wings on Herzog's back vanished as if they had never existed, like a cruel regression.
"No! No! No!"
Herzog's eyes widened as he let out a terrified scream and roar.
Without wings, how could a dragon soar through the skies?
Next, Herzog lost his balance entirely, unable to control himself. Like a meteor entering the atmosphere, he plummeted at incredible speed, trailing a fiery tail hundreds of meters long.
The sheer pressure and destructive force he carried smashed directly into the heart of a bustling city below.
BOOM!!!
The vibrant metropolis was instantly shrouded in a massive cloud of dust and debris upon impact.
A cataclysmic explosion sent a mushroom cloud towering a thousand meters into the sky. The shockwave, carried by a violent wind, tore through everything within sight.
Skyscrapers were crushed to rubble in an instant. Countless stones and debris surged forth like a flood out of control, engulfing everything in their path.
Despite such a devastating fall, Herzog did not die. He crawled out of the ruins in a pitiful state, his once-pristine gray-white scales cracked and oozing blood.
At that moment, the looming threat of death had never felt so real. Herzog roared and screamed in terror, "Who is it? Come out now!"
But in the ruins of the city, who could possibly answer him?
"Whoever you are, I'm willing to share the world's power with you!" Herzog backed down—or perhaps it was fear that made him do so. He shouted in panic, "This world is vast. We can share it! If my information is correct, the four Dragon Kings haven't awakened yet. You must need an ally, right?"
RIP!
A gray-white dragon scale was forcibly torn from his body and fell to the ground.
Herzog's pupils contracted sharply. The body imbued with the mighty power of the Dragon King began to shed its ashen-gray scales, flaking off piece by piece like autumn leaves falling to the ground.
Soon, the floor beneath him was littered with them. The excruciating pain of having his scales forcibly torn away made him let out agonizing screams.
"Ah, it hurts! It hurts so much! It's killing me!"
Herzog tried desperately to stop the scales from falling, but his efforts were futile. In no time, all the ashen-gray scales covering his body were stripped clean.
Beneath the scales, crimson, bleeding muscles and strong, sinewy fibers became fully exposed.
After the scales were stripped away, the once steel-like muscles and sinews began to dissolve, as if drenched in concentrated sulfuric acid.
The process was agonizingly slow. But it wasn't sulfuric acid—there was no way a Dragon King's body, strong and resilient enough to withstand molten lava, could dissolve so easily.
Yet the reality unfolding before him left Herzog utterly baffled. He couldn't comprehend why this was happening or who was responsible.
Pain! The pain was unbearable!
How could such excruciating torment exist in this world?
He endured the agony of every inch of his flesh dissolving until, at last, he could barely scream anymore.
"No, I was wrong! Please, I beg you, don't take it away!"
Like a pathetic clown, Herzog fell to his knees, bowing repeatedly and slamming his head into the ground, pleading with the unknown force not to take away his hope.
"I don't want the world anymore! I'll be your slave, anything you want—just don't take it away from me!"
But alas, his punishment was far from over.
After the muscles and sinews dissolved, the next torment awaiting Herzog was the extraction of his bones.
"Ahhhh!!!"
One by one, the Dragon King's sinister dark-golden bones were pulled out.
Herzog could only moan weakly. He could feel the Dragon King's strength—power he had painstakingly usurped—vanishing completely.
He was no longer the White King. The overwhelming sense of power, the authority to destroy worlds with a single thought, and even the ambition to ascend to the throne of the world—all of it crumbled like a ridiculous dream.
"No, I am the White King! I am Herzog!" Herzog's pupils lost their focus. The once-mighty White King had reverted to a frail, cowardly, despicable old man.
Everything he once possessed seemed like an illusion, and the pain of losing it all gnawed at his very soul.
"Do you like the ending I wove for you, Dr. Jung von Herzog?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed.
In the depths of despair, Herzog lifted his head. Someone was slowly walking toward him.
This figure had short, golden, curly hair, wore a pure white robe, and possessed pale golden eyes as pure and clear as a baby's gaze. His gentle, warm smile was unmistakable—it was someone Herzog knew all too well.
"It's... it's you? Adam Anglewid!"
Herzog's eyes widened in terror, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Ascending to the rank of the White King must feel remarkable," Adam remarked with a faint smile, his eyes rippling like a calm lake. His tone was that of a gentleman narrating a tale. "You should thank me for letting you experience the power of a White King before your death."
"It's you! It's you! It was you all along!" Herzog screamed, his face contorted with fear.
"Indeed, it was me—the one who wove this dream just for you."
Adam walked closer. As he approached, his golden hair darkened, turning jet black, and his youthful face began to shift. His appearance transformed from that of a young man to a teenager.
Despite his youthful features, an oppressive aura emanated from him—one that seemed utterly incompatible with his appearance. It was as though he were a deity ruling over all creation.
The cold and detached air around him struck Herzog like a thunderclap. His heart stopped, overwhelmed by suffocating terror. In his mind, horrifying screams and howls twisted and tormented his very soul.
"Aaaahhh!"
Herzog collapsed to his knees, clutching his head and wailing in agony.
Mysterious, intricate patterns, like otherworldly glyphs, extended from the void, intertwining with his flesh as though they were reshaping his body entirely.
At that moment, Herzog awakened—shaken from the collapsing dream.
He looked down in horror at his body, now entangled in snow-white fungal tendrils. Within his flesh, the sacred relic continued to drain his very bloodline. At last, his mind shattered completely, and he let out a piercing scream.
"Who are you?!"
"What are you?!"
"Tell me! Tell me!"
Herzog's voice grew weaker and weaker until the sacred relic consumed him entirely, leaving behind only a pile of bones.
Having drained Herzog's bloodline power, the sacred relic's punishment was complete.
Though it carried no purifying effect and still contained remnants of the White King's will, such traces posed no threat to Adam. He let the sacred relic's blood flow into his body without resistance.
"I am... Uchiha Sogetsu!"
In the depths of his subconscious ocean, Uchiha Sogetsu raised his arm triumphantly, drinking a "Dreamweaver" potion. He transformed into the mythical form of a gray-and-white dragon, proclaiming in a divine voice:
"The Mind Dragon, Dreamweaver, White King— Adam Anglewid!"
********
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