BOOM!

The entire chamber shook violently as the beam of golden destruction collided with the pedestal.

A mushroom cloud of dust, pulverized gold coins, and magical energy erupted, consuming everything in a fifty-meter radius.

"YOUNG MASTER!"

Isabelle screamed, her voice tearing through her throat.

She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the mana exhaustion making her limbs tremble, and tried to run toward the explosion.

"Stop!" Lyra grabbed her arm, digging her boots into the ground to hold the half-demon back. "You can't go in there! That energy… it's chaotic! It will shred you!"

"Let me go! He's in there!" Isabelle roared, her eyes flashing red again, the edges of her control fraying.

The Guardian of Gold stood triumphant. Smoke poured from its mouth.

It had vaporized the thief. It turned its massive, craggy head toward the two remaining intruders, ready to finish the job.

But instead of dissipating, the smoke swirled.

A low, vibrating hum began to emanate from the center of the crater. It wasn't the roar of a beast or the hum of a spell; it was the sound of two opposing natural disasters forcing themselves to coexist.

Thump-thump.

A heartbeat. Loud enough to be heard over the falling debris.

Thump-thump.

The Guardian froze. Its instinct, honed over centuries of guarding this tomb, screamed a sudden, primal warning.

Inside the smoke, a pair of eyes snapped open.

One was a deep, abyssal black, leaking shadow like ink in water. The other was a vertically slit, glowing reptilian gold.

"System," a voice spoke from the dust, calm and commanding. "Stabilize."

[System Alert!]

[Dual-Core State Achieved.]

[Midnight Tome edited. Golden Dragon Aura assimilated.]

[Current Status: Harmony.]

[Warning: Physical strain is at 300%. Duration limited.]

"Good enough."

Whoosh!

A shockwave blasted the smoke away, revealing Damien Voss.

But he was no longer the same boy who had run toward the pedestal.

On the left half of his body, the pitch-black Shadow Armor of the Voss family coated him like a second skin, undulating with dark magic.

On the right half, brilliant, translucent Golden Scales formed of pure aura materialized, radiating a heat that distorted the air.

The two energies met at the center of his chest, swirling together in a violent but stable vortex.

Transcending the limits of a mage and the discipline of a knight, he had become a living catastrophe.

"You…" Lyra stared, her mouth agape. "What… what are you?"

Damien remained silent. He looked at his hands, clenching his fists. The power was intoxicating. It felt like he could crush a mountain.

The pain the System had warned about, the "soul-ripping" agony, was there, burning in his nerves, but the adrenaline of the power masked it.

He looked up at the Guardian.

"You broke my clothes," Damien said, dusting off his shoulder where the shirt had disintegrated, leaving only the magical armor.

"Do you have any idea how much my mother paid for these?"

The Guardian roared, enraged that the ant was still alive. It lunged, bringing a massive golden claw down with enough force to flatten a tank.

"Isabelle, Lyra, stay back," Damien ordered. "I need to test this."

Refusing to dodge, he stepped forward, raising his right arm, the one wreathed in Golden Aura.

BANG!

The collision created a shockwave that cracked the walls.

Isabelle gasped. Damien had caught the Guardian's claw with one hand. His feet had sunk inches into the stone floor, but he hadn't budged.

The Golden Dragon Aura flared, acting as an impenetrable shield against the physical weight of the monster.

"Heavy," Damien grunted, a savage grin spreading across his face. "But not heavy enough."

He twisted his hips. The Shadow Magic on his left side exploded.

"Shadow… Piercer!"

Black spikes erupted not from his hand, but from the Guardian's own shadow beneath it. They shot upward, impaling the beast's underbelly.

The Guardian shrieked, a sound of grinding rock, and tried to pull back.

"I didn't say you could leave."

Damien jumped. Eschewing flight spells, he launched himself with pure, explosive leg strength amplified by aura.

He flew like a cannonball, landing directly on the Guardian's snout.

"Dual-Art: Eclipse Strike."

He pulled his fist back. The Golden Aura concentrated around his knuckles, while Shadow Magic spiraled around his forearm to act as a thruster.

Light and Dark. Mass and Void.

He punched the Guardian directly between its eyes.

CRAAAAACK!

The sound was sickeningly loud. The impact didn't just break the stone skin; it sent a vibration through the entire construct.

The Guardian's head snapped back, and then, from the point of impact, cracks spiderwebbed down its neck, across its torso, and down to its tail.

For a second, time seemed to stand still.

Then, the Guardian exploded.

Tons of gold ore and earth mana collapsed into a pile of rubble. The massive beast was reduced to gravel in a single blow.

Damien landed gracefully on top of the pile of debris. He exhaled, and the golden scales and shadow armor slowly faded, retreating into his skin.

He swayed slightly, his face paling.

"Young Master!" Isabelle rushed forward, catching him before he could stumble.

"I'm fine," Damien said, steadying himself on her shoulder.

He felt like his mana veins were on fire, and his muscles had been torn apart and stitched back together.

"Just… a bit tired. That move uses a lot of fuel," he muttered, his eyes slowly regaining their original color.

He then looked at his DP counter.

0 DP.

He was basically broke. He had spent nearly everything to get here. But looking at the pile of rubble that used to be a Peak 4th Order monster… it was worth it.

"You…" Lyra walked up, kicking a piece of the Guardian's head. She looked at Damien with a mix of fear and awe.

"You killed a Guardian Beast with one punch. That's… that's not a 3rd Order feat. That's not even normal for a 4th Order."

"Also, aren't you a mage!?" Noticing the faint golden aura still lingering on him, Lyra was stunned.

Even back in the Elf forest, she had never heard of someone using aura and mana together; perhaps this power could indeed save her people.

However, before she could process her thoughts, Damien's somewhat proud voice came into her ears.

"I told you," he said while straightening his jacket and regaining his composure.

"I'm greedy. Why choose between magic and aura when I can have both?"

He looked around the room. The Guardian was dead, but the treasure remained. Mountains of gold coins, jewels, and mana crystals littered the floor.

"Isabelle," Damien said, his eyes gleaming. "Open the Void Gem."

"Yes, Young Master?"

"Take it all," Damien commanded, sweeping his arm across the room. "Every coin. Every crystal. Every scrap of gold from that golem's body."

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "You're looting a tomb? Isn't that… disrespectful to the Dragon?"

"The Dragon is dead, Lyra. We are alive. And we have a war to fight," Damien said coldly. "This gold isn't for luxury. It's for weapons. It's for bribes. It's to build the army that will save your people."

He picked up a large, fist-sized mana crystal and tossed it to Lyra. She caught it, stunned.

"Take it. It will help heal your injuries before we get to Gravestone."

Lyra looked at the crystal, then at Damien.

The skepticism she had held since Silverwood finally evaporated. He wasn't just a rich kid with big talk. He was a monster. And right now, a monster was exactly what she needed.

"Understood," Lyra said, pocketing the crystal. "I'll help pack."

It took them an hour to clear the room. The Void Gem, capable of holding a small house, was nearly filled to the brim with wealth that could rival a small kingdom's treasury.

Damien checked his status one last time.

[Name: Damien Voss]

[Age: 12]

[Status: Dual-Core Practitioner (Initial Phase)]

[Assets: Massive Wealth, 0 DP, 2 Loyal Subordinates (Isabelle, Lyra)]

He walked to the exit of the dungeon, the cool night air of the surface blowing down the tunnel.

"Young Master," Isabelle said, standing beside him, her hand resting on her dagger. She seemed more confident now, seeing his strength. "Where to?"

Damien stepped out of the cave. He looked down from the mountain path toward the valley below.

In the distance, the lights of Gravestone flickered.

And on the edge of the town, a massive, dark stone structure loomed like a stain on the landscape.

The Slaver Fortress.

A name that had appeared once in the novel before. From this fortress, many later prominent non-human heroes and villains were born, including one of his favourites, the beast girl Leona.

"Speaking of which, Leona should be there around this time."

He could imagine the elves inside. He could imagine Leona, the beast-girl, locked in a cage.

He remembered the scene from the novel where the slavers branded their captives.

His blood boiled, but his mind was ice cold.

"We have the power. We have the money. And now," Damien said, his eyes glowing in the dark, shifting between blue and gold. "We have a target."

He turned to Lyra and Isabelle.

"Let's go. Tonight, the Slaver King dies."

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