Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys Chapter 1468 - 504: Black Mist (Part 2)

On the opposite end of the hallway.

The female Goblin interrogator, who had been impaled and left hanging in the air, suddenly grabbed the whip at her hip. She looped it around the iron bars of a prison cell and pulled with all her might, wrenching her body free from the jagged metal spikes.

Despite the heavy loss of dark blood, she moved with surprising grace.

With a nimble hop, she lunged toward Rein. She snapped her wrist to free the whip from the bars, sending the long cord whistling through the air like a predatory snake aimed straight at him.

"It looks like I have no choice but to step in now." Rein had been cautious about the black mist, unsure of its exact nature, and had purposely avoided melee range with any creature tainted by it.

However, confrontation was now unavoidable.

Pinned between two attackers, Rein’s arms suddenly expanded, growing several times their original size. Shimmering dark silver scales broke through the skin, but the most terrifying transformation occurred at his fingertips, which elongated into razor-sharp claws nearly half a meter long.

Rein had opted for a partial Dragon Vein Transformation.

He relied on the immense natural resistance of his Dragon Bloodline to give him the courage to engage in close-quarters combat without fearing the corruption of the strange black mist.

"Clang!!!"

Sparks erupted as sharp horns collided with fierce Dragon Claws, producing a piercing metallic ring that echoed through the corridor.

The ancient Minotaur’s thunderous charge was stopped dead in its tracks by Rein’s massive Dragon Claw. Despite the beast’s black hooves desperately churning the ground for leverage, it couldn't push past his single-handed grip.

"Get back!!!"

With a powerful shout, Rein’s bulging, draconic arm heaved the charging ancient Minotaur to the side.

The massive beast was tossed like a heavy projectile, slamming directly into the human Wizard who was busy chanting. The two of them collapsed into a tangled mess, rolling across the floor like discarded gourds.

With the human Wizard’s concentration broken, the floating metal spikes he had prepared lost their magical fuel and clattered harmlessly to the floor in a chorus of 'ding ding clang clang'.

"Snap!"

The sharp crack of a whip echoed from the other direction.

A violent gust of wind heralded an incoming strike!

Rein was ready. He had only used one hand against the Minotaur specifically to keep his other Dragon Claw free to deal with the female Goblin interrogator. As the whip lashed out with the speed of a lightning bolt, Rein’s claw clamped down on it firmly, and he yanked the woman toward him.

Perhaps driven by the madness of the black mist, she refused to let go of her weapon.

This gave Rein the leverage he needed. After winning the tug-of-war, he swung her through the air like a flail, launching her directly at the struggling Minotaur and human Wizard.

"Boom!!!"

The female Goblin was small, but her body was dense and heavy. Combined with the force of Rein’s throw, the impact was devastating; all three enemies were sent tumbling together in a heap once again.

As they scrambled to stand, a high-pitched buzzing sound filled the air.

Something was rotating at an incredible velocity!

From their perspective, a thin line several meters wide blurred toward them like a flash of light.

From a side profile, the threat was obvious: a dark silver metallic disc with a gleaming, razor-sharp edge was skimming parallel to the floor, hurtling toward the trio.

"Whizz! Whizz!"

A sequence of wet, slicing sounds followed.

In an instant, the female Goblin, the ancient Minotaur, and the withered human Wizard all froze. Their bodies, varying in size and shape, became perfectly still.

A second of eerie silence passed before the results of the attack manifested.

The female Goblin interrogator had been butchered into three uneven segments. Her head and torso slumped to the ground, while her severed midsection fell away, leaving only two short legs still standing in place.

Because she had been leaning when the 'Blade-toothed Disc' struck, her remains settled in a grotesque, awkward heap.

The ancient Minotaur fared no better, though its end was more symmetrical. Its massive frame split down the center, falling to either side. Even its one remaining curved horn had been sliced, leaving it with two matching stumps.

As for the human Wizard, who had been slightly out of alignment with the others, the disc had merely sheared off the top of his skull at an angle, leaving the rest of his body mostly intact.

"Thud!"

When the Wizard’s remains finally hit the deck, Rein didn't move. He didn't approach to inspect the corpses; instead, he narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming more grim than it had been during the entire fight.

In that moment,

Two streams of black mist began to leak from the corpses of the Minotaur and the Goblin. Because they were so close together, the vapors merged instantly, boiling into a larger, throbbing mass of darkness.

Simultaneously, a black beetle crawled out from the Wizard’s cloven skull. It transformed into a dark arc of energy and dove into the swirling mist.

The addition of the beetle caused the mist to erupt in a frenzy, like cold water hitting boiling oil. Something monstrous began to take shape within the shadows.

Suddenly, a dark claw thrust out from the center!

Rein watched intensely, noting that the limb looked like an eagle's talon—skeletal, yet radiating a sense of lethal power. It was pitch black and wreathed in smoke, as if it had been plucked straight from the abyss.

That first claw was only the beginning. A second one followed almost immediately as the mist continued its violent evolution.

"An eagle? Some kind of raptor?" Rein muttered.

But his theory was quickly proven wrong by the next stage of the transformation.

Four more limbs, shaped like the serrated scythes of a praying mantis, sprouted in rapid succession from the area where a chest should be.

"Scythes for arms?"

Rein stopped guessing. There was no longer any need.

The full horror had finally stepped out from the black fog.

Rein’s caution reached its peak.

He had never encountered a creature so nightmareish in design. The monster lacked traditional arms; instead, four black scythes lined each side of its upper body, supported by a pair of talons below. Its head was a thicket of spikes, housing a maw filled with rows of needle-like teeth.

It was enveloped in a shifting black haze that made its physical form flicker in and out of reality.

It looked less like a living being and more like a terrifying abstract concept brought to life. It was an entity that defied the laws of the natural world.

Furthermore, the moment it solidified, Rein’s internal instincts screamed in warning. The last time he had felt this level of dread since becoming a Dawn Wizard was during his encounter with the ancient fire dragon, 'Anguskin'.

"Is it possible this monster is as dangerous as Anguskin?"

"This black mist is truly a catastrophe."

"It’s no wonder the capital of the ancient Goblin Empire fell if this was what they faced."

Rein’s thoughts were cut short as the black horror lunged.

"Hiss~~"

The beast unhinged its jaw, letting out a piercing shriek that sounded like the collective wailing of damned souls, a sound designed to shatter one's mental focus.

At the same time,

The creature’s talons tore into the metal floor with every stride, propelling it forward with blinding speed. As it closed the gap, it exhaled a wide cone of black mist directly at Rein.

"Sss!"

By now, Rein’s transformation was nearly complete. A Void Dragon’s Head and a Red Dragon’s Head had manifested from his neck.

Facing the cloud of corruption, Rein unleashed his own counter-attack: Dragon’s Breath!

"Roar!!!"

"Fiery Breath!" A torrent of flames erupted from the Red Dragon’s Head, expanding from a narrow stream into a massive inferno that filled the entire hallway.

"Void Breath!" The Void Dragon’s Head simultaneously spat out a stream of pale blue fire, aimed directly at the creature.

"Boom!!!"

The collision of the black mist and the twin dragon breaths was violent, sending hurricane-force shockwaves rippling through the corridor.

Suddenly, a massive black shape leaped through the smoke and debris, its four scythe-arms raised to strike Rein down!

Rein’s own dragon claws tore through the air to meet the attack!

"Zizz~"

Rein’s claws slammed into the creature’s black, scaled hide, sending a shower of sparks flying. Despite being made of mist moments ago, the monster’s body was now as hard as a reinforced alloy.

In the exchange, a new mark appeared on Rein’s body—a shallow but clear scratch across several of his dark silver scales. While he wasn't bleeding, the implication was shocking.

In a contest of raw physical power, Rein’s dragon form was actually being slightly outperformed by the monster.

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