Light seeped from deep within the finger bone, flowing, settling, and solidifying across the surface of the joints.
The patterns inside the finger bone grew clearer and clearer, intricately woven together in countless layers. Every single line vibrated at a fixed frequency.
Hum.
The finger bone vibrated once.
The sandy seabed suddenly sank.
The seawater within a radius of several kilometers was pushed away by an invisible force. The water surrounding Ethan vanished instantly, leaving him standing in a vacuum.
The broken coral fragments, seagrass remnants, and dragon scales on the sand all hovered in midair, frozen in the exact state they were in when they were pushed away.
Hum.
The finger bone vibrated a second time.
Ethan's feet sank into the sand.
It felt as if an invisible palm had reached out from the void and pressed down on his head, attempting to crush him out of existence.
Hum.
The finger bone vibrated a third time.
The dragon's body had shriveled to less than fifty meters.
Boulder's eyes grew sunken, and the pale gold light in his vertical pupils was fading away.
His dragon mouth remained wide open, the muscles of his jaws withered to the point where they could no longer close.
The sharp claws on his feet had fallen off completely, and his webbing had dried and cracked into pieces.
A low whimper squeezed out of his throat.
Every remaining scale on his dragon body exploded at the same time.
The scale fragments did not fly outward; instead, they turned into motes of golden light in midair and were sucked toward the finger bone.
Next came the skin, muscles, tendons, and bones.
His dragon body began to disintegrate from the tail up. With every inch that crumbled, it turned into a shower of golden light that surged toward the finger bone.
The finger bone's vibrations grew increasingly violent.
The patterns spread from the inside of the finger bone to its surface, tracing an incomplete symbol upon the joint.
The symbol consisted of only a single stroke, less than a tenth of a complete rune.
Yet it was this single incomplete stroke that caused the seabed to begin to wail.
Boulder's dragon body had already disintegrated up to his chest.
His dragon heart lay exposed to the seawater. The deep blue heart was still beating, and with every throb, it burst with a torrent of golden light that rushed toward the finger bone.
The heartbeat slowed, while the motes of light grew denser.
Boulder's vertical pupils turned to look at Ethan one last time.
Those dragon eyes held a mixture of everything.
Rage, humiliation, madness, and something akin to liberation.
His mouth opened and closed with great difficulty, squeezing out a few slurred syllables that were instantly shattered by the seawater and the vibrations of the finger bone.
Then, the dragon heart exploded.
In an instant, the deep blue heart transformed into an intense ball of golden light, which was swallowed whole by the finger bone.
Boulder's dragon body disintegrated completely. His scales, bones, flesh, organs, and even the Wizardry Tools on his body—everything dissolved into golden light in less than a single breath, flooding into the finger bone.
The eight-hundred-meter-long Sea Dragon had vanished without a trace.
【Life Energy +126,584,723. Current Life Energy: 134,940,819.】
The finger bone hovered directly in front of Ethan.
The dark gold light had brightened to a blinding degree.
The single, incomplete runic stroke on the surface of the joint was burning, warping the surrounding space.
The finger bone turned slowly, aiming the single runic stroke directly at Ethan.
Hum!
The fourth vibration.
This time, the vibration was no longer simple pressure.
An indescribable force surged from the finger bone, silently piercing through the seawater, the Thorn Blood Armor, his skin, and his flesh, plunging straight into the very core of Ethan's existence.
A curse.
This was not Boulder's power.
Boulder had merely paid the price to activate the finger bone.
The true source of power was the finger bone itself—or rather, the entity connected to the other end of that incomplete rune.
The dark gold patterns paused on the surface of Ethan's body for a brief moment.
In the next instant, all the patterns vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.
His skin returned to normal, his blood flowed once more, and his muscles regained their vitality.
Tsk. Void Shield is just too overpowered.
The finger bone began to vibrate violently.
The single runic stroke on the surface of the joint flashed frantically, as if emitting an unbelievable shriek.
The patterns inside the finger bone began to disintegrate, snapping one after another.
Fine cracks appeared on the surface of the joint, expanding and multiplying rapidly.
The finger bone exploded.
Shards of bone shot out in all directions, each enveloped in a dark gold glow, leaving hundreds of golden trails in the seawater.
Before they could travel a hundred meters, the bone fragments vaporized on their own, turning into fine golden motes of light that were swept away and dispersed by the sea.
Ethan stood on the sandy seabed.
The surrounding seawater rushed back in, filling the vacuum that had been pushed aside by the finger bone.
The currents swept up the debris on the sand, swirling around his feet.
He looked down at his chest. His robe was intact, his skin was flawless, and not a single mark remained.
Ethan raised his head and looked toward where Boulder had disappeared.
Nothing remained but a patch of turbid water, mixed with tiny golden motes and unrecognizable residue.
“Tsk,” Ethan muttered, withdrawing his gaze. “What a pity. I can't even loot the corpse. Unlock passive.”
【Adding the 28th passive will consume 134,217,728 Life Energy. Confirm?】
Ethan stood on the sandy seabed as the surrounding water continued to churn with the residual energy from Boulder's death.
“Confirm.”
【Energy deducted: 134,217,728 points. Current energy: 723,091.】
【Generating passive...】
【Generation complete. Obtained passive: Alchemist's Touch.】
【Alchemist's Touch: When refining any item, material consumption is increased by 0.1% to 1,000%, and the effects of the alchemical item are increased by 1% to 10,000%.】
Ethan stared at the text appearing on the panel, his lips twitching slightly.
Holy hell.
Material consumption could increase by up to ten times, but the effect could be boosted by a hundred times.
No matter how he calculated it, this was an absolute steal.
Although he didn't have anything to refine at the moment, the potential of this passive was incredible. In the future, whether he was crafting Wizardry Tools or brewing potions, the returns would far outweigh the costs.
Combined with the previous Elemental Affinity and Cloud's Great Fury, this was already the third passive he had unlocked in a short period of time.
One leveled the playing field for all elemental talents, one made him stronger the longer a battle dragged on, and one pushed his alchemy gains straight through the ceiling.
How should he put it?
It was pure, unadulterated bliss.
No other words needed.
Ethan reined in his thoughts.
Passives were great, but now was not the time to stand around marveling at them.
A sharp gleam flashed in his eyes. He kicked off the sandy seabed, swimming toward the exit of the palace.
Boulder was dead, and his guards and attendants had already scattered like rats from a sinking ship.
But the ledger was not yet settled.
The Red-Scaled Sea Snake tribe.
Those creatures had skinned his subjects, wearing their hides to blend into the crowds, lurking right under his nose for who knew how long.
Among the thousands of human skins in the plaza, there was a chef he knew, an old woman who had once given him honey cookies, and many other familiar faces whose names he couldn't recall but had seen countless times.
They were all dead.
Their skins had been flayed while they were still alive, draped over the Sea Snakes as disguises.
Now that Boulder was dead, the Second-Tier Red-Scaled Sea Snake who had captured him was still alive, and the Red-Scaled Sea Snake tribe still remained.
Revenge, naturally, had to be thorough.
Still, he had to do some looting first.
After all, this massive castle had survived their battle relatively unscathed. There were bound to be good things hidden inside.
Rate on N.U.
