Reincarnated With The Degenerate System-Chapter 240: Calm Before the Storm Part 2

More days passed.

Still no signs of Darkness or their associates. But news from the capital city painted a different picture—things were getting messier by the hour.

Election season had arrived, and with it, rising tensions that crackled through every news broadcast.

Samantha had stayed off the grid so far, but one text came through:

After the election, Darkness would move to the next phase. That gave me a narrow window—just enough time to finish the outer walls of my fortress and prepare for the worst.

For now, I focused on what I could control: my army, my defenses, and myself. I’d even started mass recruiting Seekers, binding them to my will one by one.

Being isolated out here had its advantages. News traveled slowly. Our activities stayed under the radar.

Perfect.

My hands moved across the stone floor, fingers tracing intricate patterns as I embedded rune after rune into the chamber.

Each symbol pulsed faintly as it locked into place, connecting to the others in an invisible web of power.

The walls around me gleamed—a special alloy, expensive enough to bankrupt most organizations. I layered it with rare minerals to amplify its properties.

The Dragon Ritual.

Shadow and I were linked, yes. Our souls intertwined. But my body? My flesh and blood? They hadn’t inherited the dragon bloodline.

Lucky for me, I had her. With just a sample of her blood, I could recreate the ritual as many times as needed.

It wasn’t perfect—not compared to being born with dragon heritage—but it was a path forward. A way to reclaim the power I once wielded in that other world.

"Done"

I stepped back, surveying my work. Four urns surrounded the central circle, each one positioned at a cardinal point.

Originally, these vessels were meant to contain pieces of four different dragons—fire, water, wind, and earth. But Shadow had evolved beyond that. She became multi-elemental.

I have collected her scales over the past months, filtering them, isolating a single element in each urn. Red for fire. Blue for water. Silver for wind. Brown for earth.

Other forces existed, of course. Lightning was one of them. But it was not a pure base element. It came from a mix.

Lightning formed when wind and water clashed at high speed. Wind created friction and movement. Water carried charge. When both were pushed hard enough, the air ionized and power burst out as lightning.

Ice worked the same way. Water slowed by wind lost heat and hardened.

Lava came from earth mixed with fire.

The four were the roots. The rest were branches.

Taking a deep breath, I began chanting in the ancient dragon language. The words felt heavy on my tongue, each syllable resonating with power that predated any civilization.

My voice echoed off the walls, and the ground trembled in response.

Thank God I’d set up a barrier beforehand. The aura spilling from the magic circle would’ve caused mass hysteria otherwise.

Even my Seekers, trained and conditioned, wouldn’t have been able to handle this level of raw magical pressure.

My voice grew louder, vibrating through the chamber. The urns responded, glowing faintly at first, then brighter.

Each element answered the call—fire crackling with heat, water rippling with moisture, wind howling silently, earth groaning deep.

I lifted the chalice. Inside, Shadow’s blood gleamed crimson.

All urns reacted instantly. Beams of elemental light shot toward the chalice—red, blue, silver, brown—all converging on the blood.

The crimson liquid shimmered and shifted, slowly transforming into molten gold as it absorbed the elemental energy.

Because everything came from a single source the process flowed smoothly. No resistance. No rejection. The elements recognized each other, merging seamlessly.

Soon, the golden liquid swirled inside the chalice, glowing brighter with every passing second. Beautiful. Powerful.

But not enough.

Something was. lacking.

This gold was refined, yes. Strong enough for most. But not for me. Not for what I needed.

Back in that other world, Arden’s body was the bottleneck. His physique couldn’t handle a higher concentration of dragon blood.

But this body? My real body? It was that of a high-level cultivator.

Stronger meridians. Denser bones. A core capable of handling far more pressure.

Which meant... I could go higher. Push beyond the standard limits.

Through our bond, I called her.

’Shadow. I need more blood’

She was in the next chamber. The moment my thought reached her, I felt her response.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor. Then she entered, her massive form filling the ritual space. The urns flickered in her presence, recognizing their source.

Without hesitation, she lowered her head and bit down on one of her own scales. Thick, luminous blood welled up—brighter than what I’d collected before. Fresher. More powerful.

The chalice reacted violently, pulling the blood toward it like a magnetic force. The liquid inside shifted again, the pale gold deepening.

Cracks formed along the chalice’s rim.

"Shit—"

I moved fast, hands flying through the air as I carved additional runes mid-ritual.

Mana poured from my palms, forming stabilizing layers around the vessel. If I didn’t reinforce it now, the whole thing would shatter and the ritual would fail catastrophically.

The bright gold continued darkening, turning deeper.

Dark gold.

More cracks spread across its surface despite my reinforcements.

"Hold together," I muttered through clenched teeth, switching back to the dragon language. Each word carried authority, commanding the elements to obey. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Shadow stepped closer, lowering her massive head beside me. Her presence stabilized the ritual. The bond between us tightened, syncing our heartbeats until they pounded in unison.

The dark gold blood swirled violently now, almost sentient in its movement.

Before things spiraled out of control, I made my choice.

I tilted the chalice back and drank.

The effect was immediate and brutal.

A violent crack echoed from inside my body. My spine arched involuntarily as golden light burst through every pore in my skin.

It felt like lava tearing through my veins, burning away everything in its path.

My teeth loosened. One after another, they broke free and fell, blood filling my mouth as new ones began forcing their way through my gums.

"Damn it—"

This wasn’t supposed to be this violent. Good thing, I still had a trump card.

Through a mouthful of blood, I activated my werewolf transformation ability. My regeneration spiked instantly, flesh knitting itself together as fast as it tore apart. Bones reformed. Tissue regrew.

At the same time, I forced my Qi into circulation, pushing it through every meridian in controlled, desperate cycles.

Support spells layered over my body—stabilization, reinforcement, pain suppression.

My goal wasn’t comfort. It was survival.

The dragon bloodline began its purge, burning away my original blood cell by cell. My old physiology was being erased, overwritten by something far more superior.

I clenched my fists and held on, refusing to scream despite every instinct demanding I do so.

If I lost control now, there would be nothing left to regenerate.

The ritual consumed me entirely. Time became meaningless—seconds felt like hours, hours like seconds.

All I knew was pain and transformation, death and rebirth happening simultaneously within the same body.

Finally—finally—something changed.

The burning began to fade. The pressure lessened. The golden light pulsing beneath my skin stabilized into a steady rhythm.

I sagged, dropping to my hands and knees. Every nerve still screamed in protest, but the worst was over.

"Father... are you okay?" Shadow’s voice echoed. "Father, wake up!"

I wanted to respond, to reassure her, but my body was completely spent. My vision dimmed, the golden light inside me pulsing one last time before everything faded to black.

When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at the vaulted ceiling of the ritual chamber.

Shadow was curled beside me, her massive wing draped over my body like a blanket, keeping me warm and protected.

"Father! You’re awake!" Relief flooded her voice.

"I’m fine," I started to say, then paused.

A sensation unlike anything I’d felt before coursed through me—raw power, refined to its absolute limit.

"No... I’m better than fine."

I clenched my fist experimentally. Dragon energy coiled around it instantly, bright and fierce, responding to my will like an extension of my own body.

Shadow’s eyes widened. Through our bond, she could feel it—the density of my bloodline now. More refined than even her own natural-born heritage.

It was a feat that should have been impossible. Humans weren’t meant to surpass dragons.

"You..." she whispered, amazement and concern mixing in her voice. "Father, your blood... it’s too pure. The concentration—"

"So you can feel it too?" I grinned despite the lingering ache. "Good. That means it worked."

I stood slowly, testing my new body. Everything felt different—stronger, faster, more responsive. The world seemed sharper, colors more vivid, sounds more distinct.

This was what I’d been missing. This was the power I needed to face what was coming.

Shadow watched me carefully, worry still evident in her expression.

"Are you certain you’re alright? That level of refinement... Father, it could have killed you."

"But it didn’t." I placed a hand on her snout, feeling the warmth of her scales. "We’re connected, you and I. Your blood recognized mine. That’s why it worked."

She leaned into my touch, still concerned but accepting.

Outside the ritual chamber, I could sense my Seekers moving about, completely unaware of what had just transpired. The barrier had held. Perfect.

Now came the real test—learning to wield this new power before Darkness made their move.

After the election, the real game would begin.

And when the hour arrived, I would rise and carve my name across the sky, so all would learn what it meant to be unrivaled.