He dived toward the creature, his wings folding against his sides as he plummeted. The centipede screeched, its body coiling and snapping upward to meet him. Arthur twisted mid-air, his claws raking across its segmented body. Sparks flew as his obsidian talons tore through its armor, leaving molten gashes in their wake.
The centipede screeched again, this time in pain. It lashed out, its body curling and snapping with surprising speed. One of its spiked limbs grazed Arthur’s side, leaving a faint crack in his armor.
Arthur roared, the sound shaking the cliffs around them. His tail lashed out, slamming into the centipede’s head and driving it back into the ground. He landed heavily, the impact sending a shockwave that cracked the earth beneath him.
Before the centipede could recover, Arthur opened his jaws wide, molten energy gathering in the back of his throat. A brilliant beam of destructive energy shot forward, engulfing the centipede in a blinding explosion.
When the dust settled, all that remained was a smoldering, molten crater.
[Congratulations. You have slain: Massive Scorcher Centipede. Infamy +20. Essence absorbed: 15%.]
Arthur growled low in his throat, his molten veins pulsing faintly as the absorbed energy coursed through him. He could feel it—the power growing stronger, feeding his destructive core. He opened his status screen, scanning it quickly.
Path: Neutral (No Change) Infamy: 72 Power of Destruction: Intermediate (Progressing…)
He closed the screen with a flick of his claw. The neutral path remained, though he didn’t know how long that would last if he kept this up. He wasn’t evil—not yet—but the line was growing thinner with every step.
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One kill at a time.
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Arthur stood on the edge of the lava crater, his massive form hunched over as he lowered his head to drink. The molten liquid sizzled against his obsidian lips, flowing down his gullet like scalding nectar. His physiology had changed so drastically that the very substance which would have incinerated his former self now felt like the purest refreshment.
Around him, the Badlands stretched out in eerie silence, a desolate wasteland stripped of its life. The towering drake had made sure of that. To his left, a mountain of bones loomed—an imposing monument to the creatures he had obliterated and devoured over the past week. Their remains were piled haphazardly, bleached by the relentless heat and time, and a faint stench of decay hung in the air.
Arthur raised his head, molten eyes glinting as he surveyed his handiwork. His wings flexed idly, casting massive shadows over the crater. A low rumble escaped his throat, something between a growl of satisfaction and a sigh of boredom. He had fed, fought, and obliterated without equal for days on end, yet something gnawed at him—a strange emptiness that couldn’t be filled by destruction alone.
Just as he prepared to move on, the system’s familiar voice cut through the haze of his thoughts.
[Congratulations. You have discovered one of the ten World Items of the Middle Realms: The Codex of Creation.]
Arthur froze, his molten veins pulsing faintly brighter as the words registered. His molten eyes flicked to the shimmering interface hanging in the air, casting an ominous red glow against the barren cliffs of the Badlands.
"World Item?" His voice rumbled low, a deep growl echoing through the scorched wasteland. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He turned his massive head toward the lava crater, suspicion thick in his thoughts. The oppressive heat no longer bothered him—it was just part of his existence now—but this? This was something else entirely. A part of him bristled, his instincts warning him that the system’s tone was far too calm for the implications of what it was offering.
The system’s interface expanded before him, lines of glowing red text unraveling like the pages of a forbidden tome.
[Item: Codex of Creation]
[Description: The Codex allows the bearer to create anything they desire, bound only by the following rules:]
The Law of Equivalent Exchange: For something to be created, something of equal value must be sacrificed.Knowledge Required: Creation is limited to what the bearer understands or possesses a blueprint for.
Energy Catalyst: Destruction Essence.
Arthur’s molten pupils narrowed, his claws digging into the cracked earth beneath him. Create anything? The promise sounded ludicrous—like something out of the fantasies he used to read about in his past life. His massive jaw tightened as the system continued.
[Do you wish to claim this item?]
Arthur’s mind churned, doubts clawing their way to the forefront. His gaze darted back to the crater of molten lava, rippling softly in the oppressive heat. His claws flexed unconsciously, and his wings twitched in agitation.
"Claim it?" he rumbled aloud, the suspicion in his voice evident. "Why me? Why here? This is too convenient. Systems don’t just hand out powers like this without a reason."
He felt the weight of the moment settle over him, heavy and inescapable. The mountain of bones piled high beside him loomed in the corner of his vision, a reminder of his rampage over the past week. It had been an unrelenting spree of slaughter, and not once had he encountered anything that suggested something this… godly existed. Until now.
"Why wasn’t it found by someone else?" Arthur growled, his molten veins flaring brighter as his frustration mounted.
The system responded.
[The Codex of Creation has remained dormant in this location for eons, sealed by the unique energy of the Scorching Badlands. The presence of Destruction Essence in your core has unsealed it.]
Arthur’s molten eyes widened slightly. Eons? His tail lashed against the ground, sending tremors through the desolate landscape. The idea that such a powerful artifact had been hidden here all along sent a ripple of unease through him.
"And no one else could have claimed it?" he asked, his voice sharper now.
[Incorrect. Volcranax himself chose this region as his domain due to the Codex’s dormant energy. However, his essence was insufficient to awaken it. Only a being with active Destruction Essence and a sufficiently advanced core could fulfill the conditions of unsealing.]
Arthur’s suspicion deepened. His molten pupils darted back to the mountain of bones and the faint shimmer in the lava. Volcranax. The name rang through his mind like a warning bell. The so-called king of this hellish land had staked his claim here for a reason, and now Arthur understood why.
A slow grin spread across his jagged maw, tempered with unease. "So that overgrown lizard was squatting here all this time, hoping to crack the shell? And I just waltzed in and took it?"
He glanced back at the system’s interface, the words [Yes/No] still glowing faintly in the center of his vision.
His grin faded. This power could change everything, he thought, the weight of the decision pressing down on him. But it was also a gamble—a massive, unpredictable gamble. Was this a trap? A gift? Or just another piece in a cosmic game he didn’t fully understand?
The mountain of bones loomed larger in his mind’s eye. He had killed everything in the Badlands to sate his hunger, but it had only served to remind him of his monstrous nature. Now, the Codex dangled before him, offering something… different. A tool to shape, not destroy. To build, not merely consume.
"Fine," he growled, his voice steady despite the storm of thoughts in his mind. "Let’s see what this thing can do. Yes."
The system reacted instantly.
[Congratulations. You have claimed the Codex of Creation.]
[Synchronizing...]
The air around Arthur shifted, growing heavier as the ground trembled beneath him. A faint hum resonated through the Badlands, the sound growing louder with each passing second. Arthur’s molten veins flared brilliantly as the Codex materialized before him, a shimmering book of light and runes spinning rapidly in the air.
The hum reached a crescendo, and the Codex shattered.
Fragments of glowing light surged toward Arthur, striking his body in waves. He snarled, instinctively bracing himself as the energy flooded his form. His head snapped back, and he roared into the sky, the sound shaking the ground for miles around.
Pain lanced through his skull, and he felt something shift. A new weight pressed against his brow, unfamiliar yet strangely fitting. Slowly, Arthur raised a claw to his forehead, his jagged talons brushing against the smooth surface of a newly-formed third eye.
His vision flickered, colors bleeding together before separating into something far more intricate. The world around him transformed—where before there was only heat and ash, now he could see streaks of energy swirling like streams of light.
Red flakes of energy drifted through the Badlands like motes of fire, concentrated heavily around the lava crater and the bones piled beside him. His molten pupils narrowed, his third eye pulsing faintly as his focus sharpened.
Then, the system spoke again.
[Warning: Volcranax has awoken due to sensing the Codex’s presence within you.]
[Something wicked this way comes.]
The ground beneath him shook violently, a deep rumbling growing in intensity as cracks spiderwebbed across the molten landscape.