Chapter 284: Gluttonous Ifrit, and the Strange Power of Curses
Arthur reached out and gently ruffled Melina’s hair.
"Thank you for worrying about me. I’m fine," he said.
"Let’s go. It should be morning back home. Time for breakfast."
He usually entered the Lands Between at night in the real world. His battle with Placidusax had lasted most of the night.
Dawn was approaching.
Maliketh could wait.
Melina nodded and quietly extended her hand.
Arthur took it.
They left the Lands Between.
After Breakfast — Zen Garden
Once breakfast was finished, Arthur returned to the Zen Garden.
He withdrew all dragon corpses of drake-tier and above from storage.
Including Placidusax.
Before long, a small figure came running at full speed.
Ifrit.
She leapt straight into Arthur’s arms, clinging to his shirt.
Her other hand pointed at the mountain of dragon bodies.
"Master... are those for me?"
Her wide eyes shimmered with anticipation.
Arthur smiled.
"Yes."
"Yay! Thank you, Master!"
He tapped her head lightly.
"Don’t celebrate yet. Let me refine them first."
Ifrit obediently climbed onto his shoulder, allowing him to draw the extraction array.
Arthur sketched the magic circle with practiced ease, then adjusted the time-flow ratio within the formation.
"Master, how long this time?" Ifrit asked impatiently.
"A few minutes."
The Zen Garden already supported roughly 200x time acceleration.
Combined with Arthur’s own temporal authority—
Even refining over a dozen dragons, including a dragonlord—
Would take only minutes externally.
Bloodline Extraction
Minutes later—
Only scales, claws, and bones remained on the ground.
Above the magic circle floated a vast sphere of crimson liquid over a hundred meters in diameter.
Pure bloodline essence.
Arthur could compress it further into crystal form.
But he chose not to.
Over-condensed essence would be too volatile.
If he compressed that entire mass into a fist-sized crystal—
Ifrit would likely explode upon ingestion.
Instead, he purified impurities and stopped there.
Ifrit stared at the massive sphere.
"...Master, how do I eat something that big?"
Arthur chuckled.
"You don’t. You soak."
External absorption was safer.
Placidusax’s bloodline ranked above her current tier.
Direct ingestion could damage her organs.
Absorption through scales and skin—
Safer.
Slower.
But Arthur controlled time.
That was irrelevant.
"Can I go in now?"
"Go ahead."
Ifrit dove headfirst into the crimson lake.
Moments later—
A muffled dragon roar echoed from within.
Arthur didn’t even need to guess.
She’d swallowed some.
He shook his head with a faint smile.
Should’ve clarified first.
He knelt and added a continuous healing array beneath the bloodline pool.
The roaring lessened from constant to intermittent.
He hadn’t used direct healing spells deliberately.
Ifrit had the personality of someone who would keep eating scalding food no matter how badly it burned her mouth.
Better to let her suffer a little lesson—
With safety measures.
After reinforcing the formation, Arthur maximized the time acceleration around the essence pool.
Then he collected the leftover scales, claws, and bones.
Half would reinforce the Death Staff.
Half would strengthen the Dark Moon Greatsword.
Both weapons were due for upgrades.
If nothing went wrong—
This refinement would push Ifrit to the true Saint Dragon tier.
Even with acceleration, it would take time.
She wouldn’t be coming out anytime soon.
Arthur left the Zen Garden.
There were external matters to settle.
Like the promise he made to Harry.
He had received Bellatrix’s wand days ago.
But he had been busy hunting dragons in Farum Azula.
Now—
With the dragon population thoroughly reduced—
It was time.
Arthur took out Bellatrix’s wand.
Curse power surged in his palm.
The same peculiar authority he had obtained from Mohg.
It lacked the brute force of blood magic.
But it was far more insidious.
If used properly—
It could kill without leaving a trace.
He did not intend to curse Bellatrix to death.
Not yet.
He had promised Harry something first.
To find her.
Advance Chapters Available on Patreon
patreon.com/WhiteDevil7554
