Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods-Chapter 119: The Last Crown

[Trial of Ascension]

The world was frozen, literally.

Everything around Bel was locked in stillness, but not him. He was tearing through it all, a flash of destruction with every skill and power he had activated.

He didn’t think anymore. Didn’t need to. His whole body had become a brain, eyes darting, muscles moving on their own.

Every nerve was a sensor, hunting down anything that moved, anything that breathed, anything that regenerated.

And the moment he spotted something?

Boom. Gone.

His claws slashed, his fangs bit, his elements raged. He was pure offense, a whirlwind of violence, rushing higher and higher up the tower, climbing through the blizzard of monsters like they were nothing but paper walls.

His eyes burned, wide and wild, and he didn’t even bother breathing. No time for that. Just kill, kill, kill.

[ Level Up! ]

[ Level: 97 ]

He didn’t even stop to register it. His mana and stamina were crashing down fast, but it didn’t matter; he was almost there. The monsters kept getting tougher, too.

They weren’t falling with a single hit anymore. Some took five hits, ten hits. But that didn’t mean anything to Bel.

He moved so fast he could land a hundred blows in the blink of an eye. Slash after slash after slash, his claws moving so fast they were almost invisible, burning and poisoning them until they stayed down.

[ Monsters Slain: 4,732/5,000 ]

He gasped, body shaking, the edges of his vision starting to blur. Mana, low. Stamina, critical. His body felt like it was tearing apart from the inside, but he pushed on anyway, dragging himself up the final stretch of the tower.

Almost there. Almost there.

And then—

A black aura exploded out around him, chilling and heavy. Bel’s eyes snapped wide as a massive shape appeared, a giant slamming into him out of nowhere.

"Wha—?!"

He twisted fast, parrying the first hit just in time, but the sheer force smashed him sideways. His back hit the tower wall, and before he could react, the giant pinned him there, crushing him against the cold stone.

For the first time in forever, Bel was stunned.

How the hell did I get touched?!

The monster’s crushing weight held him there as both of them began to plummet down through the tower’s core.

His eyes darted wildly, and then he saw them.

All around, the monsters... were moving again.

No... my mana’s not empty yet. So how...

His breath hitched. He gasped out loud as he realized something.

The giants roared, thundering toward him, claws outstretched. He struggled, his rage building, forcing every drop of strength he had left into his limbs.

With a primal scream, he shoved the massive arm holding him, twisting his body at the last second, just as the other monsters slammed into the wall, shaking the entire tower, bricks and stone exploding outward.

But Bel was already gone.

He zipped across the battlefield like lightning, claws flashing, body whipping through the air. He attacked anything that moved, slashing and biting, burning and poisoning everything he touched, making sure the effects stuck.

His body ached, his lungs burned, but he didn’t stop, couldn’t stop.

But then, something shifted in the corner of his vision. He twisted just in time, narrowly dodging a massive claw that snapped down right where he’d been a second before.

His eyes flashed.

Knew it.

Some of these monsters... they could move, even in his world of stillness.

Bel gritted his teeth, heart pounding.

"Alright... you wanna dance?"

Bel’s hands gleamed as he grabbed the swirling black ball from his inventory, and in an instant, it transformed into a morning star, its spiked ball trailing chains that stretched endlessly.

He grinned, eyes blazing, his dark aura pulsing stronger, thicker, like a living shadow feeding off the chaos, but perhaps it was exactly what was happening.

With a roar, he swung the weapon, the spiky ball of death whipping around at insane speed, smashing monsters apart on contact.

Every hit exploded in a burst of force or cracked like thunder, blasting enemies into pieces. The chains snapped back and lunged out again, moving as if alive, hunting with him, like there were two of him tearing through the battlefield at once.

His aura swelled, black and heavy, and the deeper it grew, the better he felt, calm, powerful, unstoppable; even as his mana scraped empty.

He pushed on, reaching the 4,999 mark just as he reached what appeared to be the summit, a vortex swallowing the top of the tower.

But right there, Bel met the final obstacle: a gigantic guardian beast, its wings stretching wide like a fortress, armored scales gleaming as it hovered above, blotting out the sky.

Its glowing eyes locked onto him, a living wall of destruction descending from the vortex.

Bel’s eyes widened, breath ragged, and then his aura shifted, turning pitch black. His body trembled as every last drop of mana drained away and was replaced by something else.

His heart of ruin replaced the lost mana, and a new power manifested.

Bel launched upward, piercing straight through the claws of the beast, his body covered in black energy spilling into the beast like poison.

[Authority of Destruction: Ruin]

The ruin ability unlocked and spread passively, the monster began to wither from the inside out, its flesh crumbling, bones fracturing, like its whole body was made of cinder, breaking it down to nothing as Bel’s aura devoured it whole.

[Trial of Ascension - Completion]

[Quest Completed: Trial of Ascension] [Monsters Slain: 5,000/5,000] [Massive EXP Gained]

[Level Up!] [Level: 98]

Bel’s weapon pulsed once, then shrank back down, the endless chains coiling in and the morning star collapsing into a small, simple black ball.

It dropped into his inventory just as his body slammed into the tower wall, knocking the air out of his lungs.

He hit hard, crashing down in a mess of dust and rubble. For a moment, he just lay there, every muscle shaking, his breathing ragged and raw. His whole body felt wrecked, drained to the bone.

His mana? Gone. His stamina? Barely a bit left. He was a shell of himself, chest heaving, eyes half-lidded, just trying to breathe.

[HP: 87,300 / 105,000]

[MP: 0 / 142,000]

[Stamina: 3,500 / 90,000]

[EXP: 36,500 / 1,250,000]

[Unallocated Stat Points: 350]

His body stayed covered in that thick, swirling dark energy, hugging him like a second skin. For a long moment, he didn’t move, frozen in place, too wrecked to even think straight.

And then... something shifted.

Bel’s eyes snapped wide as he felt a jolt inside.

[Stamina: 3,500 → 15,000/90,000] [HP: 87,300 → 95,000/105,000] [MP: 800 → 16,000/142,000]

His eyes flicked down at his hands, his breath catching. His stats were jumping quickly, like his body had flipped some hidden switch. He stayed perfectly still, heart thundering in his chest, but even this feeling started vanishing.

Wait...

He blinked. His heart was pounding a second ago, and his energy was rising. But... he just stopped feeling them.

No fatigue. No pain. No exhaustion. It was like his nerves had been switched off completely.

He slowly pushed himself up, standing to his feet, the dark aura still pulsing around him, thicker and heavier than before. His claws flexed out by instinct, his breath coming slow and easy now, too easy.

[Quest Completed: Cloth of Destruction] [Reward Activated: Cloth of Destruction Awakening]

[Mantle of Ruin Unlocked]

Negates a percentage of all incoming attacks

Protection against divine and demonic interference

For every 1% reduction in HP, all stats receive a stacking bonus

[Quest Completed: Void Orb Enhancement] Objective: Defeat 5,000 Greater Demons

Bel stared at the new message, breathing slowly and steadily. He gripped the orb and then it pulsed, glowing deep and dark.

[Quest Completed: Void Orb Enhancement]

[Void Orb Awakened]

Gains a permanent stat boost proportional to the user’s current power

Can absorb and replicate any ability similar to the essence it absorb

Bel’s dark aura rippled, swirling outward. His whole body shivered as the mantle of ruin came alive, as his own body.

His skin, his scales, every inch of him was the mantle, a subtle, almost invisible breath pulsing softly, tinting him with a deep glow. His scales gleamed sharply under the dark haze, and slowly, a permanent purple aura wrapped around his body.

But the biggest change...

He winced. A small cut on his back, where a jagged scratch had been bleeding out, closed itself, the blood that oozed out shining bright purple before vanishing.

Bel glanced at his arm, where a bruise was the reward of his massacre. Purple. His blood, all of it, was now purely purple, thick with raw, unnatural power.

He flexed his hand slowly, staring. His fingers trembled slightly.

He couldn’t even feel the full extent of his strength yet. But his instincts screamed it: there was something new inside him, something huge.

Perhaps it was because his wisdom and intelligence had reached spectacular heights, his mind seemed sharp, understanding many things, as if the pieces of a puzzle were falling into place effortlessly.

"Dragon blood..." he muttered, eyes narrowing.

Legends he remembered from books in the capital’s library flashed through his head.

Dragon’s blood was said to grant incredible power: rapid regeneration, immense strength, and near-limitless vitality. But it also carried a hidden curse. The blood, rich with raw energy, could slowly erode the body from the inside, damaging organs, overloading muscles, and risking violent mutations if not controlled properly.

Too much power too fast could burn its host out completely. He stared at his clenched fist, heart pounding. That wasn’t just a legend anymore.

He was that.

Bel’s eyes darkened. His grip tightened.

"All of this... what am I even doing here anymore?" he whispered. "This war..." He exhaled hard, shaking his head. "Maybe... maybe when I get out of this place, I should just leave it all. Go away."

His eyes lifted, sharp and thoughtful.

"But... I need to be sure that if another Demon Lord tries to cross me, I can erase it."

His mind flicked, Vezalia. Her voice, her attitude, her weird mix of fear and respect. She’d been scared of him betraying her. Demons were counting on him.

He fell silent, staring at the swirling aura around his hands. For a long second, he just stood there, thinking.

His jaw clenched tight. A tiny part of him... still couldn’t shake her. Still felt tied to her. Indebted.

"Maybe... I should call her," he muttered, eyes distant.

At this instant, she might be the only thread keeping him tied to this world, the last anchor before he cut everything loose.

[New Quest Received: Mark of Destruction] Objective: Defeat the King of the Titans at the top of the Tower of Ruin and claim his crown to complete the trial.

Bel’s eyes flicked up. The tower loomed above him, monstrous and endless, spiraling higher and higher with circular staircases winding up into pitch darkness, vanishing into the void like there was no end.

He stared hard. At long last, here it was. The final wall, the last obstacle, before reaching his complete form.

He chuckled under his breath, shaking his head.

"A crown. There’s always some damn crown in my way." His smile twisted, half amused, half bitter. "Starting to feel like this trial is showing me how to deal with them."

His wings unfurled, powerful and wide. He crouched low, the aura around him thrumming louder, wind gathering at his feet.

"One more step," he whispered. "Let’s end this."

With a sharp kick, he launched upward, wings tearing through the air as he shot toward the top of the tower, ready to meet his final challenge.

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