Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods
Chapter 77: Fire, Ice, and Gold

Chapter 77: Fire, Ice, and Gold

Back inside the dungeon, the battlefield had changed.

An enormous orc towered above the shattered ground, lightning coiling around its hammer.

The creature slammed the weapon down, and a burst of electricity exploded outward, cracking the floating stone beneath its feet.

But Bel was already gone.

He leapt into the air, his feet dancing on a line of floating rocks. Then, mid-leap, he snapped his fingers.

A pillar of normal fire erupted from the air above, crashing down like a meteor onto the orc. Flames swallowed the monster whole, but then the orc roared.

It burst from the blaze, its body glowing with lightning. Sparks bounced off its skin, and the fire slid off like water.

Bel clicked his tongue.

"Tch."

A flying beast swooped down from above, fangs bared.

Bel spun on himself mid-air, his fingers brushing the beast’s wing for a moment. A pulse of blue fire ignited.

The creature screeched, engulfed, and crashed through a tree far below.

Bel landed on a lower platform just as a lightning wolf lunged at him.

[Eternal Ice]

The beast froze mid-leap, suspended in a block of crystalline frost.

Bel scanned left. Then right.

Monsters. Everywhere.

"Hah... this could be a problem."

He raised his arms.

His aura ignited, expanding outward in a dome of blue fire. The ground trembled as the heat swallowed the battlefield.

The monsters didn’t even scream.

[Level Up!]

[Level: 48]

[HP: 5,700 / 5,700]

[MP: 3,800 / 6,120]

[Stamina: 4,420 / 5,000]

Bel exhaled.

This was... strange. These monsters, even though they were from a Category D dungeon, were stronger than usual. Not just one or two, all of them.

And worse, some had strange resistances. His normal flame barely scratched them. Only Abyssal Fire or Eternal Ice worked.

Which meant his mana dropped faster.

It wasn’t hard, it was just... demanding.

More like a prolonged workout than a challenge.

Still, it reminded him of some past dungeons. Some with demonic energy were stronger than the norm. Could this be the same?

But then, another pulse in his perception.

More monsters, even stronger ones, appearing in the distance.

He narrowed his eyes.

"How many more are there? I’ve already killed hundreds."

He was annoyed outside, but smiled inside.

The experience was generous. One monster here was worth five from a regular dungeon. At this rate, he’d solve his evolution issue.

His only concern now was how long it would last.

The next wave approached.

Even from afar, he could feel it, way stronger.

He took a breath.

"Alright... if it’s power you want."

His eyes burned.

[Pressure]

A wave of purple and red aura erupted from him, surging like a tidal wave. It slammed across the battlefield, sweeping into the ranks of monsters.

[FEAR]

The beasts trembled. Some fell, others froze mid-step, their instincts overriding their commands.

But then...

Flames.

Bel ignited, his aura now cloaked in fire.

[Burning Soul]

He leapt forward, claws igniting.

A slash of fire cut through the air, carving a path through three monsters at once. They barely had time to register his movement before their bodies fell apart.

The battlefield became chaos.

Bel dodged a pouncing cat-like creature, spun, and slammed it down with a frost-covered palm.

A lightning serpent lunged, but Bel parried it mid-air, twisting into a counter-attack with a burning kick, launching it off the platform.

Another orc charged. Bel ducked beneath its hammer, struck upward with an ice spike, then spun into an Abyssal Flame kick that doomed its face.

His movements were sharp, precise.

Dodge. Strike. Parry. Flame.

Counter. Roll. Ice. Leap.

Mana and stamina slowly dropped, but Bel focused less and less on the details.

He had too many knives at his disposal.

Bel kept fighting, for so long that he had lost the track of time.

His body moved like a machine.

Claws ripping. Fire bursting. Ice spreading.

At first, the monsters overwhelmed him. But the more he fought, the more he learned.

He dodged faster. He struck cleaner. His magic blended with instinct. Soon, he could fuse his Abyssal Fire with his Burning Soul, making every burn a fatal effect.

The monsters kept burning continuously, until they were reduced to nothing.

But it had a cost.

Mana.

With this combo, his mana was drained way faster. Sure, if he inflicted [Burn], he didn’t have to keep casting a magic attack, the burn alone was enough to kill.

The problem?

It was hard to inflict it when he was surrounded and couldn’t hit the same target three times in a row when ten more kept jumping him.

The rates weren’t enough.

Then his eyes widened.

"Wait... Rate... Of course!"

He snapped his system open mid-dodge, a lightning fang brushing past his cheek.

[Unallocated Stat Points: 10]

He didn’t even hesitate.

[Luck: 1 ➔ 11]

The stat locked in.

A lightning wolf roared and lunged. Bel twisted aside, his claws grazing its leg.

[Burn]

Blue fire erupted on the wolf’s leg.

It howled.

Bel landed, breathing heavy, his eyes wide with excitement.

Around him, monsters circled. Dozens.

And then, he smiled.

"Now I get it."

He raised his hand.

[Eternal Ice.]

A blast of frost exploded outward.

It spread like a wave, swallowing the beasts, freezing air, cracking stone. The ice grew, climbing the floating rock, spreading far across the valley.

Monsters screamed. The world turned pale blue.

Then...

Silence.

Everything was still.

A new geographical creation filled with frozen beasts in mid-attack.

The land... dead quiet.

Bel caught his breath, leaning forward slightly with his hands on his hips.

Steam curled from his back, his torn outfits singed and flapping behind him in the fading wind.

The floating valley was dead quiet. Nothing moved anymore. Not a single monster in sight.

It had been a long time since he’d pushed himself this far.

[HP: 5,700 / 5,700]

[MP: 980 / 6,120]

[Stamina: 2,640 / 5,000]

"Hah..." he exhaled slowly, his breath fogging lightly. "Damn... That much mana?"

A gamble, sure, but terrifying to see all this precious mana that reduced.

But he had to do it, because he needed time to think. To experiment something.

The moment he had dumped every last unallocated point into Luck, something had clicked, and now he really wanted to check it.

He raised a hand and summoned the familiar blue glow of his system.

[SHOP]

The tab opened with a soft chime, the curved panels of items spinning into view. But this time...

His eyes widened.

[Current Gold: 1,892]

"Whoa. Seriously?" he blinked. "All that just from these guys?"

He could confirm it now. Gold wasn’t just something found in treasure chests.

Here, he earned gold by killing monsters. But he missed the time to calculate the amount.

He must’ve taken out hundreds of monsters already, many resisting fire and ice.

He scrolled through the items. There were more than before.

[WEAPONS ]

Reinforced Iron Dagger [+25 ATK] [350 Gold]

Ember Blade [+35 ATK, Fire Affinity] [500 Gold]

[WEAPONS - SYNTHESIS]

Weapon Core Fragment [Common] [120 Gold]

Refined Blade Shard [Rare] [300 Gold]

[MATERIALS - SYNTHESIS]

Elemental Dust (Ice) [90 Gold]

Abyssal Spark [Rare+] [400 Gold]

Bone Resin [Uncommon] [180 Gold]

[POTIONS]

Minor HP Potion [30 Gold] (+500 HP)

Minor MP Potion [30 Gold] (+400 MP)

Minor Stamina Potion [30 Gold] (+300 Stamina)

Bel’s eyes scanned each line, his brows raising higher with every new item.

It all looked so interesting, materials, weapons, shards that weren’t there before.

The possibilities ran wild in his head.

"Hm... That’s not what I expected."

For a second, he hesitated. He had opened it with a plan in mind. But now, seeing all this?

He tapped his chin, his thoughts racing.

"I had something in mind... but maybe... just maybe I could take it even further."

His eyes gleamed, and then he chuckled to himself.

"Yeah... it might just work. If I can pull this off, it’ll change everything."