With their enemy torn apart by their own hands, the Dragonkin Soldiers had finally achieved their revenge.
Only then did the Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella gradually calm down.
As the fury faded, it seed to lose the strength that had been sustaining it all along and collapsed heavily into the waters below.
The injuries it had accumulated while facing Astel alone had already reached a level that even an artificial war machine could no longer ignore.
The fact that it had remained standing for so long was astonishing in itself.
Its head was badly damaged.
One enormous eye, completely exposed after the destruction of its protective skull, slowly turned and fixed itself upon Lucian.
Lucian leapt down from the giant throne and walked toward the wounded soldier.
The two Dragonkin Soldier Ashes lowered their heads on either side in greeting.
Reaching the fallen Dragonkin Soldier, Lucian t the gaze of the eye, which was nearly half his height.
Within that eye, his reflection was clearly visible.
The Dragonkin Soldier seed to be committing his image to mory.
Lucian extended a hand toward it.
"You possess self-awareness, don't you?"
"If not, then there's no point in continuing this conversation."
The Dragonkin Soldier stared at him silently.
Its jaws opened slightly, producing a low rumble.
Blood flowed from its mouth, staining the waters beneath it crimson.
Though incapable of speech, it had given its answer.
Lucian nodded.
"Your revenge has been fulfilled."
"The things you were ordered to protect are gone."
"I'll offer you a choice."
"You may choose to follow and leave the Eternal City of Nokstella."
"I can give you a chance to live beneath the open sky, witness real thunder and lightning, and soar through the heavens like a true dragon..."
He paused, allowing the Dragonkin Soldier ti to process his words.
"If you reject that path, that's fine as well."
"I'll heal your injuries."
"You can remain here and continue carrying out your final orders."
"But the decision must be yours."
"Choose according to your own will."
"If you do that, then I'll acknowledge you as an individual rather than a re tool."
The Dragonkin Soldier drew a deep, ragged breath.
It seed to be thinking.
Its eye shifted toward the two spectral Dragonkin Soldiers nearby.
Without their assistance, it likely could not have completed its revenge.
That was a great debt.
And debts had to be repaid.
Seeing straight through its simple reasoning, Lucian spoke before it could dwell on the matter.
"You don't need to concern yourself with their help."
"They chose to fight of their own accord."
"It wasn't my command."
"What I want is absolute loyalty."
"The kind that follows regardless of circumstances."
"Not sothing purchased with small favors."
"So listen to what you truly want."
The Dragonkin Soldier fell into confusion.
It had been created as a weapon.
Weapons did not need personal desires.
Seeing this, Lucian shook his head.
"You don't even know what you want?"
"After all these years, you'd think you would've made at least so progress."
"Even the Mimic Tear that only knows how to imitate others has done better than you."
"And there are two of them."
The Dragonkin Soldier fell silent.
It knew what a Mimic Tear was.
But it couldn't understand what Lucian ant.
Inside Lucian's body, Asimi's core spun thoughtfully.
'Hm?'
'Was that a complint?'
'Well... I'll take it as one!'
The Dragonkin Soldier's gaze beca distant.
It seed to be searching for sothing within the emptiness of its own existence.
Its eye drifted toward the ancient remains surrounding the throne.
Bound by its orders, it had never left this place.
It had watched Nokstella's destruction and remained at its post.
Even when every instinct within it had cried out otherwise.
But those it had been ant to serve were gone.
They would never return.
It had been born a soldier.
Created for battle.
Created to defend the Lord of Night.
Yet now it could do neither.
Long ago, it had already lost the purpose for which it was created.
At last, as though sothing inside had finally been released, the Dragonkin Soldier raised its head and roared.
ROOOAAAR—!
The Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella chose to follow its own heart.
Just as it had chosen hatred and vengeance when confronting Astel.
It no longer wished to remain here, slowly fading away in the form of an incomplete imitation dragon.
Lucian smiled and gestured toward the two Spectral Dragonkin Soldiers.
The two spirits imdiately moved into action.
One on each side, they forced open the Dragonkin Soldier's jaws and pulled out the broken section of Astel's tail that remained lodged inside.
The jagged spikes tore through flesh as it ca free, dragging out part of the soldier's ruined tongue.
The Dragonkin Soldier endured the process without complaint.
It seed completely indifferent to pain.
Its gaze never left Lucian.
Only after the barbed fragnt had been removed did Lucian reach out his hand.
Looking at the unyielding warrior before him, he smiled.
"I admire you."
"You are a born warrior."
"A masterpiece of the Nox Dynasty."
"Your body may be that of an incomplete dragon..."
"But your spirit is not incomplete."
"So let finish what was left unfinished."
"Join the glorious evolution."
Warm golden light flowed from Lucian's hand and bathed the battered Dragonkin Soldier.
Under its healing radiance, wounds began closing at astonishing speed.
Flesh regenerated.
Bones reford.
The devastating damage suffered during battle rapidly disappeared.
Yet one thing failed to recover.
The scales that had been shattered and torn away showed no sign of returning.
Suddenly, the Dragonkin Soldier let out a cry of pain.
The central Great Rune had appeared upon Lucian's body.
Its power was now fully at work.
Evolution was never painless.
Long ago, Lucian had analyzed the power of the Ancient Dragons through Selinsax.
Now he was attempting sothing new.
He was trying to recreate that power within the Dragonkin Soldier.
It was also a gamble, one that might eventually help cure the Albinaurics.
After encountering the Crucible within Euporia, Lucian had gained a deeper understanding of the essence of life itself.
The Crucible represented the source from which life diverged and evolved.
Within it lay fundantal laws governing living beings.
New scales began erupting across the Dragonkin Soldier's body.
Not the fragile remnants it once possessed, but thick, stone-like scales that forced the old fragnts away as they grew.
At the base of its spine, a powerful tailbone extended outward.
Muscle and flesh rapidly ford around it.
These stone scales were not being created from nothing.
The Dragonkin Soldier had always possessed traces of Ancient Dragon power within its body.
Its very existence was the result of different lifeforms being combined together.
Lucian was rely drawing out the dormant draconic power hidden within it.
Then he fed that power with more of its own kind, nurturing it and guiding it forward—
until the legacy of the Ancient Dragons could truly manifest within the Dragonkin Soldier once more.
If the subject had not been such a unique creature, Lucian would never have been able to perform a transformation like this.
True stone scales gradually spread across the Dragonkin Soldier's body, replacing the crude imitations it had possessed before.
Those old scales had been poor copies to begin with.
They hadn't even covered its entire body.
The Dragonkin Soldier was steadily moving closer to the form of a true Ancient Dragon.
Only its head was different.
There, Lucian deliberately altered the design.
Following his vision, layers of heavy stone scales reshaped the Dragonkin Soldier's head into sothing far more rugged and intimidating.
Ancient Dragons possessed a certain elegance in the shape of their necks and skulls.
But the Dragonkin Soldier was a warrior.
A warrior should look the part.
Once the final layer of scales covered its head, the transformation was complete.
The Dragonkin Soldier threw back its head and roared.
Its newly enlarged jaws looked capable of swallowing the heavens themselves.
Bracing itself, it pushed upward.
Then, for the first ti, its previously weak hind legs fully supported its weight.
It stood.
Its already massive fra appeared even larger now that it was upright.
The Dragonkin Soldier spread its wings.
With a powerful beat, it shot into the sky.
Its wings had beco fully developed draconic wings, comparable to those of an Ancient Dragon.
Because of its hybrid nature, however, they lacked the golden coloration of true Ancient Dragons.
Instead, they glead with an icy blue hue.
The Dragonkin Soldier soared freely through Nokstella's artificial night sky.
As it flew, red and blue lightning danced across the waters below, intertwining and clashing.
Lucian nodded in satisfaction.
The effort had been worth it.
The modification was a complete success.
The Dragonkin Soldier eventually descended once more.
Landing before Lucian, it lowered itself onto one knee and bowed its head.
The Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella offered him its loyalty.
From this day onward, it would no longer be a mindless tool bound by commands.
It would be a warrior fighting of its own will and honor.
As the Dragonkin Soldier pledged itself to him, another achievent lit up within Lucian's achievent panel:
[Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella]
Before facing Mohg, Lucian had possessed four remaining uses of his cheat abilities.
The battle against Mohg had consud two of them.
Victory had restored only one use through an achievent reward.
Later, he had spent another use to remove Miquella's enchantnt.
Now, with this achievent completed, his remaining uses had climbed back to three.
Not an abundance, but enough to feel reasonably secure.
Closing the panel, Lucian looked at the transford Dragonkin Soldier.
Although he had not yet fully awakened every beneficial trait hidden within its mixed lineage, he had corrected many of the flaws caused by its imperfect creation.
Most importantly, he had guided all of its draconic traits in a positive direction.
The Dragonkin Soldier now possessed strength comparable to that of a genuine Ancient Dragon.
Granted, it would only asure up against the weaker mbers of that species.
It couldn't compare to Selinsax, let alone the legendary Ancient Dragons known throughout history.
Even so, for a creation whose kind normally reached only hero-level strength, the change was nothing short of miraculous.
Lucian waved a hand.
"I still have a few things to find nearby."
"You probably won't be much help with that, so stay here for now."
"When it's ti to leave, I'll take you with ."
The Dragonkin Soldier understood.
Without protest, it settled down to wait.
Lucian dismissed the spirits of the other two Dragonkin Soldiers before leaping back to the cliffs above and returning to Nokstella.
This ti, his destination was the grandest building in the city.
The structure consisted of two levels.
The upper level led directly to the final Black Moon Church.
That was where the Moon of Nokstella awaited.
Lucian wasn't in a hurry to claim it.
First, he intended to loot every treasure chest he could find.
With that goal in mind, he headed toward the first floor and pushed open the massive doors.
Inside the dark hall stood a conspicuous treasure chest positioned before a statue surrounded by bones.
Without hesitation, Lucian walked toward it.
But the mont he reached the center of the room, a thunderous crash echoed behind him.
A Silver Tear dropped from the ceiling.
As it landed, it transford into a gigantic black sphere resembling a miniature dark moon.
The massive ball imdiately began rolling toward him.
It was a classic Silver Tear trap.
Wait until the target relaxed, block the escape route, then strike.
Unfortunately, it had chosen the wrong victim.
Lucian glanced at the incoming sphere.
Then he casually threw a punch.
The iron-like mass was pierced straight through.
Lifting it with one arm, he hurled it out of the building.
The Silver Tear instantly reverted to its liquid form, splattering limply against a distant wall.
Left behind in Lucian's hand was its core:
a Silver Tear Larva.
Storing the larva away, he returned to the treasure chest.
Fortunately, the contents did not disappoint.
Inside rested a Great Ghost Glovewort, one of the finest spirit-tuning materials available.
Lucian quietly put it away.
Although it was a valuable item, he wasn't particularly excited.
Spirit tuning had limited value to him.
Even ordinary Ghost Gloveworts saw little use in his hands.
Most spirit ashes naturally possessed excellent compatibility with him and could already perform near their full potential.
Still, he made a ntal note to strengthen a few of the spirits that had served him faithfully.
No sense letting valuable resources go to waste.
After storing away the Great Ghost Glovewort, Lucian headed toward the upper level.
Just then, Asimi suddenly reacted.
Its core began wriggling inside his body before erging entirely.
After forming a temporary body, Asimi looked around excitedly before locking onto a particular direction.
"My lord, I think I've found the location of the Tear Chalice."
"I'm going to retrieve it. I'll et up with you afterward."
Without waiting for a reply, Asimi shot off toward one of Nokstella's isolated buildings.
Lucian simply shrugged and continued toward the Moon of Nokstella.
If Asimi could retrieve the chalice independently, that saved him the trouble.
Once it brought the chalice back, all he had to do was drink from it.
He couldn't help wondering whether this next enhancent would finally allow Asimi to reach complete maturity.
Along the way, Lucian cleared several more rooms.
His collection of Silver Tear Larvae increased by two.
At the sa ti, he discovered additional treasures:
2 Somber Smithing Stone [7]
1 Somber Smithing Stone [8]
After gathering the miscellaneous loot, Lucian finally entered the Black Moon Church, where the Moon of Nokstella was kept.
Inside the church, two Silver Tears had already transford into human forms.
Weapons raised, they turned their attention toward Lucian.
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