Chapter 36: Undead fire dragons
"Huh? It can’t be." Roy frowned and answered.
He took a closer look at the cube but didn’t see anything special about it.
"Well, with someone like you, who’s never gone to any class or school, lacking information is obvious."
Roy glared at Carl for a while, but he couldn’t argue back since it was true. He had no family, just lived alone at the bottom of society, where everyone had to kill each other to survive. He never even had a chance to learn anything except some survival skills.
However, there was a big problem: knowledge was the only light that could improve his life, or at least help him move forward properly. Without it, his life would just be stuck here forever.
The more knowledge he had, the more light he could bring into his life.
But being called stupid and ignorant—it was really unpleasant.
"So, Mr. Know-it-all, mind sharing some knowledge with me?"
Carl grinned.
"All ears, kid."
"When someone’s on the brink of death, you just transfer your mana into the cube. Then, a devil dragon’s soul will appear from the cube, bite, and consume that unlucky soul. After that, you just eat the balls from the cube, and finally, your soul gets boosted."
Roy scratched the back of his head.
"In short, the cube devours the souls of the dying, recycles them into balls, and the balls enhance my soul."
Carl nodded. "That’s right... You seem to have caught on."
To be honest, Carl was really bad at explaining things to people.
Roy grimaced, staring at the cube, then asked,
"Tell me its side effects. Something like this—you’re giving it away without the slightest regret. Just one reason: Its damage is bigger than the benefits it gives the user."
Carl raised the corner of his lips in amusement.
"Big brain, sharp eyes, kid."
Carl pointed his finger at Roy and said,
"Your soul is affected by other souls. The more you take in, the more you lose your mind. At some point, you’ll forget... Who am I?"
Carl smiled.
"Interesting, huh?"
"Like a gift from a devil," Roy muttered.
Carl scoffed.
"Come on, boy. I’m not a devil. I’m just trying to make you useful."
Roy gazed at the cube, thinking hard about his choice. After a minute, he gritted his teeth and nodded.
"I got it."
Carl smiled.
"Best choice. Anyway, without it, sooner or later you’ll die with that weak dragon soul of yours once we get out of here. That outside world’s only for the tough ones."
"Alright, enough nonsense. We’ll clear this dungeon before the sun rises. Tomorrow, I’ll so busy."
Carl observed the forest ahead and glanced at Roy.
"How many undead dragons can you summon?"
"Five. And I can keep them alive for about ten minutes, if they don’t take too much damage from monsters," Roy answered.
"So, what’s the range you can control them?"
"No limit. As long as I’ve got mana to maintain them."
"What a useful boy." Carl grinned. "First order—summon them all and clear the forest ahead."
Roy frowned. "Are you serious? That won’t work. The forest is too vast, and I’ve only got five dragons. They can’t just blindly kill everything. Instead, we should push forward and find a hunting ground to wipe them out one by one. It’ll take more time, but it’s the only real option."
Carl smirked.
"What ignorance. You called me Mr. Know-it-all, didn’t you?"
Roy twitched his eyes for a few seconds before shouting and summoning the undead dragon.
The ground trembled, sending waves of dust into the air. From below, bony claws emerged, dragging themselves upward.
The air was no longer fresh; instead of the earthy scent from before, only the stench of corpses spread across the place.
Five undead dragons fully rose from the ground, radiating the aura of death. With milky eyes, they stared at Carl as if awaiting his command.
"Damn it! I’m the summoner here." Roy’s face was pale and lifeless after calling forth five undead dragons. Yet, instead of obeying him, they acted as though Carl were their master.
It was unfair.
"Don’t be mad, boy. Guess they don’t follow a summoner weaker than themselves."
"Besides, you obey me, and they obey me. Not much different, is it?"
Roy’s face twisted in frustration, but after a moment, he clenched his teeth and forced himself to accept it.
"Well done! I’ll handle the rest." Carl glanced at the five dragons the size of trucks.
[Flame Breath activated!]
In an instant, Carl unleashed a storm of fire at the undead dragons, engulfing them completely.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Roy froze in shock beside Carl. He couldn’t understand what Carl was thinking.
Summon undead dragons, then kill them?
He had already lost 70% of his mana to summon them, and now, trying to maintain them while enduring Carl’s firestorm was impossible.
But a few seconds later, he realized something.
The undead dragons were unharmed. Of course—he only needed mana to keep them stable.
"Our new name is... undead fire dragons."
The undead fire dragons looked at each other, marveling at their new power.
Their bodies were cloaked in crimson flames, yet the fire didn’t harm them at all. Instead, the flames acted like a second layer of armor. Unlike ordinary armor that only blocked attacks from outside, this fire armor could strike back as a weapon.
It was like thorn armor.
"My undead fire dragons... Ah, no. I mean, Roy’s undead fire dragons."
"GO AHEAD! CLEAR THE DUNGEON!"
The five dragons roared loudly with satisfaction, as if a god had just bestowed a decree upon them. Without hesitation, they lunged toward the forest ahead, their dead flames blanketing every tree and blade of grass.
Carl nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Roy, who stood in silence, his face empty as he stared at the burning forest.
"Don’t worry. I can control my flame. It only harms what I choose."
Roy slowly turned his face toward Carl without saying a word. Then he dropped to his knees and roared out in pain.
"DAMN IT!"
Yeah, He just got through a big shock since he was a rightful summoner of the dragons here, not Carl.