Noctis kept his palm resting against Kaiser's scaled snout for several moments before activating Omni Eyes fully, and once the crimson perception expanded through the companion bond, Kaiser's internal structure opened before him in layered detail. The information did not present Kaiser as a simple dragon. His current form had already passed far beyond the serpent he had once been, and the evolution he had achieved after living within Noctis's mark had made him a crimson blood dragon, but the deeper structure revealed that the transformation had not completely erased his original origin. Beneath the draconic growth, beneath the wings, thicker limbs, reinforced scales, and bloodline channels, traces of serpent physiology still remained threaded through the body. The spine still carried a hybrid coiling pattern, the marrow channels still narrowed in places where a true dragon's internal circulation should have been broader, and the skull structure, while draconic in outward form, had not fully reached the symmetry and marrow density of a born dragon.
Noctis examined those layers carefully and spoke without removing his hand. "You reached the crimson blood dragon route, but you are still not a true dragon."
Kaiser's eyes shifted toward him. "Master, am I still lacking?"
"You are not weak," Noctis replied. "That is not the issue. You are powerful, but your foundation is still mixed. Your body became draconic through evolution, yet it still carries the limits of the serpent you started from."
Kaiser lowered his head slightly, and Noctis could feel the reaction through the bond. It was not shame, but focus. Kaiser wanted to know whether the flaw could be corrected.
Noctis's gaze moved inward again, passing over the marrow, the wing roots, the heart vessel, and the blood channels formed from their pact. "If we want to push you further, we need to strengthen the dragon foundation directly. My blood can force evolution, but if I push without the right material, the route may become unstable or produce another hybrid branch instead of correcting the core."
He paused as he considered what he still possessed in Blood Space. Most of the true dragon bones had already been consumed, absorbed, or forged into armaments, but he still had one remaining set of dragon bones, and some of those pieces had retained marrow. That marrow was more valuable than bone alone. Bone could provide structure and density, but marrow carried the deeper inheritance that shaped blood, vitality, and species authority. If Kaiser consumed enough of that marrow before the forced evolution began, the serpent remnants in his body could be overwritten by true draconic material.
Noctis withdrew his hand from Kaiser's snout and raised it toward the side.
Blood Space opened.
The remaining dragon bones emerged one section at a time and settled into a large pile across the exposed stone of the gorge. Rib fragments, vertebral segments, sections of limb bone, several thick plates, and long marrow-bearing shafts appeared before him, each one still carrying the pressure of true dragon physiology even after storage. The moment the bones entered the open air, Kaiser's pupils narrowed, and his wings shifted slightly against his sides. His body recognized the aura before Noctis said anything. The dragon pressure contained within the bones was old, dense, and incompatible with ordinary beasts. It pressed into the surroundings with enough weight that the blood-red frost at Rengar's former transformation site cracked along its surface.
Kaiser stared at the bones. "Master… those are dragon bones."
"They are," Noctis said. "Some still contain marrow."
Kaiser's hesitation from earlier faded beneath visible expectation. He stepped closer, lowering his head over the pile but not touching it without permission. "You kept this much?"
"I used most of what I had," Noctis replied. "This is what remains. It should be enough for one attempt if we process it properly."
Kaiser's breathing deepened. "Then you intend to evolve me with them."
"Yes," Noctis said. "This time I want to push you into a true dragon route. Not a serpent-dragon hybrid. Not a partial blood dragon. A true dragon."
Kaiser remained silent for several seconds, then lowered his head slightly. "I accept."
Noctis stepped toward the pile and raised both hands. Blood energy extended from his palms and wrapped around the dragon bones, lifting them into the air in a controlled suspension. The bones rotated slowly at first while Omni Eyes marked which sections still contained marrow and which had already become mostly empty. Noctis separated the useless outer fragments from the viable pieces, then compressed his hands inward. The bones began to crack under controlled pressure. He did not crush everything indiscriminately, because damaged marrow could lose potency if scattered too violently. Instead, he applied force along the structural lines of each bone, splitting them open where the marrow chambers remained sealed.
The first stream of dragon marrow emerged as a dark red-gold liquid that carried more density than ordinary blood. It moved slowly at first, then gathered under Noctis's control into the air between the suspended bones. More streams followed as each bone section opened. The marrow twisted together into a revolving mass, and as Noctis continued extracting, the sphere grew larger and more concentrated. Bone dust and useless fragments fell away to the side, but every viable strand of marrow was pulled into the forming sphere.
Kaiser watched the process without blinking.
The dragon marrow rotated faster as Noctis refined it. He compressed impurities, separated damaged portions, and drew only the densest blood-marrow into the central sphere. The energy within it thickened enough that the air around the sphere changed temperature and pressure. It did not glow in a decorative way; it carried visible density through the way the surrounding frost pulled toward it and then crystallized along the edge of its circulation. Noctis stabilized the sphere with both hands and looked toward Kaiser.
"This evolution will be different from Rengar's," he said. "He was a wild beast I had just tamed. His structure resisted my blood, and I forced the route through instability. You are already bonded to me and have been fed by my blood for a long time, but that does not make this safe. This marrow is true dragon material. Your current body may accept it cleanly, or it may reject parts of it and force another route."
Kaiser lifted his head. "Anything can happen."
"Yes," Noctis said. "Anything can happen."
Kaiser stepped forward and lowered his body enough that his mouth aligned with the suspended blood-marrow sphere. "I am ready."
Noctis guided the sphere closer. "Open your mouth."
Kaiser opened his jaws, and Noctis directed the first stream from the sphere into him. The marrow did not pour like water. It entered as a thick controlled current, and Kaiser swallowed it in measured mouthfuls at first before the bond adjusted and his body began drawing it faster. The first few mouthfuls traveled down his throat and entered the internal bloodline channels connected to the pact rune. Noctis watched through Omni Eyes as the dragon marrow reached the stomach vessel, dispersed into the bloodstream, and began circulating toward the bones.
The serpent remnants reacted first.
The narrow marrow channels along Kaiser's spine expanded slightly as the true dragon marrow entered them. Several constricted points loosened, and the surrounding bone absorbed the new material with visible efficiency. The wing roots responded next, drawing the marrow into the supporting structures that anchored the wings to the torso. The heart vessel pulsed once with greater pressure, and the bloodline channels carrying Noctis's essence shifted to accommodate the new material rather than resisting it.
Kaiser continued drinking.
The sphere diminished steadily as each stream entered his mouth, and within a short time, the entire mass of extracted dragon marrow had been consumed. Noctis let the last thread of marrow enter Kaiser's throat before dissolving the containment field and lowering his hands. The emptied bones remained scattered across the ground, their useful inheritance removed.
For several moments, nothing happened externally.
Kaiser remained still, breathing normally. His wings did not expand, his bones did not crack, and no visible aura change occurred. Noctis activated Omni Eyes more deeply and examined the data again.
The current status had changed.
Kaiser's strength, vitality, marrow density, scale reinforcement, and wing-root stability had all increased. The serpent markers in the spine had reduced, though not vanished completely. More importantly, the evolution field had updated.
Current Form: Crimson Blood Dragon.
Evolution Condition Detected: True Blood Dragon.
Noctis read the line and narrowed his eyes. The marrow had done exactly what he expected, but only as a preparation stage. Kaiser was now ready for true dragon evolution, but readiness was not completion. The system had not activated the transformation on its own.
Kaiser shifted his head toward Noctis. "Master, I feel something. My body is ready to change, but it does not move forward."
Noctis nodded. "You reached the threshold, but you have not met the natural condition to evolve. More than likely, a creature like you would need to go into hiding, sleep for a long period, consume large amounts of food, or accumulate more ambient energy until the transformation begins naturally."
Kaiser's eyes remained fixed on him. "Can you force it?"
"I can," Noctis said. "That is why I gave you the marrow first. Without it, forcing evolution would have been reckless."
Kaiser hesitated at the word force, and Noctis saw the memory of Rengar's pain pass through the bond.
Noctis did not soften the truth. "It may still hurt. It may take longer. You are not Rengar, but evolution is not gentle when it changes the foundation of a body."
Kaiser lowered his head. "What must I do?"
"Lower your head and keep the pact rune steady," Noctis said. "I will activate the evolution through the symbol."
Kaiser obeyed. He lowered his large head until Noctis could step onto the snout and walk toward the pact rune set between the upper scale plates. Noctis moved carefully across the scaled surface, each step placed with enough control not to damage anything, and when he reached the glowing symbol, he crouched and examined it for several seconds. The rune pulsed with the bond between them, and unlike Rengar's newly formed mark, Kaiser's pact symbol had already matured through long exposure inside Noctis's bloodline.
Noctis cut open his right palm and placed it directly onto the rune.
The symbol reacted at once.
It absorbed his blood more smoothly than Rengar's rune had, and the crimson lines extended outward across Kaiser's head without the same violent resistance. They spread along the scale seams, down the neck, across the shoulders, into the wings, and along the spine. Kaiser did not writhe. His claws tightened against the ground, and his breathing deepened, but he remained still. Noctis continued feeding blood into the rune, watching the pathways spread faster as they followed structures already prepared by the dragon marrow.
"Here we go again," Noctis thought as the crimson pattern reached Kaiser's torso and began wrapping around his limbs.
Minutes passed, and the evolution route remained unchanged.
Evolution Route: True Blood Dragon.
Noctis continued the blood feed.
The route did not shift.
Kaiser's body remained quiet, and although the crimson network had covered most of his body, the transformation had not begun with the violent instability seen in Rengar. That calmness would have reassured a less observant person, but Noctis recognized it as a sign that the system was accepting the safest available route. True Blood Dragon was strong, certainly stronger than Kaiser's current state, but after seeing Rengar's Prime Fang route, Noctis was no longer satisfied with the safe route.
He increased the flow.
More of his blood entered the rune. The crimson network brightened and pushed deeper into Kaiser's bones, scales, wing roots, and heart vessel. The true dragon marrow that had been consumed earlier began reacting with Noctis's blood, not as separate components, but as materials entering the same evolutionary calculation. The route flickered once, returned to True Blood Dragon, and then flickered again after several more minutes.
Noctis kept his palm in place.
Kaiser remained motionless, but his breathing became heavier.
The route changed.
Evolution Route Updated: Progenitor Dragon — Primeval Sanguorath.
Noctis's eyes widened as he read the classification. The words did not describe a normal true dragon. They indicated a progenitor-type dragon born from primeval blood authority. Sanguorath was not a species he had seen listed in Kaiser's prior evolution possibilities, which meant the route had formed only because of the interaction between true dragon marrow, Noctis's blood, and Kaiser's matured pact.
"You became a progenitor route," Noctis said quietly.
He removed his hand from the rune and jumped backward from Kaiser's head, landing on the exposed stone several meters away. He did not want to keep feeding blood once the route had updated, because overfeeding at the point of route formation could destabilize the transformation before the body began the correct process. Kaiser remained still, his eyes half-closed, the crimson runes across his body maintaining steady circulation.
Noctis activated Omni Eyes again and searched for the status field.
The answer appeared beneath Kaiser's current form.
Current Status: Evolution Underway.
Completion: 0.1%.
Noctis watched the percentage increase.
Ten seconds passed.
Completion: 0.2%.
He waited again.
Another ten seconds passed.
Completion: 0.3%.
Noctis frowned. "That is slow."
Kaiser opened one eye slightly. "Master?"
"Your evolution started," Noctis said. "But the rate is only point one percent every ten seconds."
Kaiser processed that through the bond, then remained still because even speaking seemed unnecessary while the internal process began.
Noctis looked over Kaiser's body again. The transformation was active, but unlike Rengar's violent restructuring, Kaiser's body had entered a deep internal conversion that moved with extreme slowness. His scales did not crack yet. His bones did not shift visibly. His wings remained folded. The crimson runes maintained a steady circuit, and beneath them, the true dragon marrow and Noctis's blood were being integrated into every layer of the body at a rate that could not be rushed without risk.
Noctis exhaled through his nose and continued watching the percentage crawl upward.
The gorge remained marked by broken chains, blood-red frost, empty dragon bones, and the traces left by Rengar's departure, while Kaiser lay still with the rune network covering his body and the Primeval Sanguorath evolution advancing by one tenth of a percent every ten seconds.
Noctis did not immediately turn away from Kaiser after confirming the evolution had begun, because the rate of progress he had observed was far too slow for his liking, and although the transformation itself was stable, allowing it to proceed at such a gradual pace meant remaining in place for an extended period without certainty on external interference. The gorge had already been cleared of immediate threats, but that did not mean the surrounding region was empty of stronger entities that might be drawn by the lingering pressure of dragon marrow, blood authority, and the evolving presence of a progenitor-class being.
He folded his arms briefly and then made a decision.
"If the rate is slow because of insufficient material," he said, "then I will remove that limitation."
He opened Blood Space again.
The remaining dragon bones he had not used earlier appeared one after another, forming a second pile beside the already emptied remains. These were not as pristine as the first set. Some were fractured. Some had lost most of their marrow. But Noctis did not dismiss them. Even fragments still carried value when refined properly.
He raised both hands again and repeated the process, this time with more efficiency.
The bones lifted, rotated, and aligned according to marrow density. He did not need to search as carefully as before because Omni Eyes immediately marked the viable sections. The useless fragments were crushed outright and discarded, while the marrow-bearing portions were split along precise lines. Streams of residual dragon marrow emerged again, thinner than before but still potent. Noctis gathered them together, compressing the flow into a smaller but denser sphere.
Kaiser watched quietly.
There was no hesitation this time.
The earlier uncertainty had been replaced by expectation. He had already felt the effect of the first marrow intake. Now he understood what Noctis was doing, and the bond carried trust instead of resistance.
Noctis looked at him. "This will not speed things up dramatically," he said. "But it should remove any lack of material holding your evolution back."
Kaiser lowered his head again. "I am ready."
"Open."
Kaiser obeyed, and Noctis directed the second marrow sphere into his mouth. The consumption was faster this time. Kaiser did not hesitate between mouthfuls. He took the entire sphere in a continuous draw, allowing the marrow to flow directly into his system without pause. Noctis watched through Omni Eyes as the additional material entered circulation and reinforced the internal restructuring already underway.
The effect was subtle.
The percentage did not spike.
Completion: 0.6% → 0.7% → 0.8%
The rate remained consistent.
Noctis exhaled lightly. "So it is not a material limitation. The process itself is just slow."
Kaiser closed his mouth and remained still.
"Master," he said, "I feel stable. The change is happening, but it is not painful."
"That means your body is accepting the evolution cleanly," Noctis replied. "That is better than Rengar's situation."
Kaiser lowered himself to the ground, folding his limbs beneath his body as his large frame settled into a resting position.
"I will remain here," he said. "Until it completes."
Noctis nodded. "Stay still. Do not interfere with the process. Let it run its course."
Kaiser closed his eyes.
The crimson runes across his body dimmed slightly, not disappearing, but stabilizing into a steady circulation pattern that supported the ongoing evolution. His breathing slowed. The massive body that had once dominated the gorge now remained motionless, yet the pressure within him continued to build slowly as the Primeval Sanguorath evolution progressed.
Noctis raised his hand.
A barrier formed.
It was not a simple ward. It layered itself in three distinct patterns that interlocked into a single structure. The outer layer carried the density of blood energy, forming a crimson shell that reinforced the boundary. Beneath that, abyssal runes traced along the inner structure, anchoring the barrier into the surrounding space and preventing external interference from phasing through. Interwoven between those layers, faint golden-white lines of holy script formed a stabilizing matrix that prevented corruption or external contamination from breaching the field.
The result was a trinity barrier.
Blood.
Abyss.
Holy.
Three opposing systems woven into a single defensive construct.
Noctis observed it for a moment, ensuring the layers did not conflict internally, then nodded once in satisfaction. "That will hold."
He turned his head toward the distant mountain peak where Rengar had gone.
Through the bond, he could feel his second companion's state clearly.
Calm.
Focused.
There was no panic, no distress, no overwhelming pressure being forced back through the connection. That meant the confrontation had either not started yet or was progressing under control.
"No need to interfere," Noctis said quietly.
He decided to wait.
His attention shifted back toward the gorge.
The bodies of the frost lightning wolves remained scattered across the terrain. Limbs, torsos, shattered remains, and frozen blood lay across the ground where he had slaughtered them earlier. The air still carried the scent of blood and ozone. The battlefield had not been cleared.
Noctis looked over the corpses and considered his options.
"I could devour them," he thought. "Convert the blood, absorb the essence, recycle the material."
That would be efficient.
But then another thought surfaced.
He had unlocked a pathway earlier.
The undead branch.
He had not used it yet.
His gaze shifted toward one of the more intact wolf corpses lying a short distance away. Its body was still mostly whole, though frozen in place by the lingering frost.
"…Might as well test it," he said.
He raised his hand slightly and opened his skill interface.
Raise Dead.
He read the description once, then closed the interface and extended his blood aura toward the corpse. The crimson energy flowed from him and entered the body of the dead wolf, spreading through the remains and filling the internal space where life had once circulated.
He waited.
Nothing happened.
Noctis blinked once.
"…That is it?"
He stepped closer and looked down at the corpse.
"Why is nothing happening?"
He reopened the skill description.
This time, he read it carefully.
Line by line.
Then he reached the final instruction.
"…infuse blood aura into the corpse and call the activation phrase."
Noctis paused.
He read the last word again.
"…phrase?"
His eyes narrowed.
He read the line again.
"…call the activation phrase: 'Arise.'"
Noctis stared at the word.
Suddenly, clock timer started ticking in his head from nowhere. Soft and faint.
Noctis did not move.
He read it again.
"Arise."
Silence filled the gorge.
He read it one more time.
"Arise."
Something felt off.
Very off.
The ticking continued but started getting louder and clearer.
Noctis's mind began turning.
"…Arise?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"…Arise…"
Now the ticking is evident. Loud and clear, annoying almost.
A memory surfaced.
Another.
Then another.
His eyes widened.
Suddenly — "Ding" - the countdown completed!
"Oh shit."
He stepped back.
"Oh shit—oh shit—OH SHIT!"
He began pacing.
Then stopped.
Then paced again.
His hands went to his head.
"No way… no way…"
He started hopping slightly in place, his thoughts racing faster than his body could process.
"Oh shit! Oh shit! OH SHIT!"
He looked up toward the sky as if Gaia was physically above him.
"No way Gaia—you didn't! You totally didn't!"
He pointed upward.
"Oh my god—you DID! You totally stole that!"
He ran a few steps in a circle, then stopped again.
"If Jinwoo finds out—oh man—he would be pissed! Actually no, the author would be pissed—but still—WHAT THE HELL!"
He threw his arms out.
"Gaia! Get out here! We need to talk!"
There was a brief pause.
Then a voice responded in his mind.
"…Alter… what is the matter?"
Gaia's voice sounded slow.
Flat.
Like she had just woken up.
Noctis froze for a second.
Then immediately went off.
"Gaia, you didn't just copy the necromancy skill from Solo Leveling, did you?! Even the activation phrase is the same! 'Arise!'"
There was silence.
A long pause.
Then Gaia responded.
"…Is that so bad?"
Noctis's face twitched.
"…Yes," he said slowly. "Yes, that is bad. That is straight-up copyright infringement. You didn't take inspiration—you copied it directly."
Another pause.
Gaia answered again.
"I did not know that," she said. "I followed your example. You used concepts from both anime, Vampire Hunter D and Hellsing. So, I used the anime Solo Leveling."
Noctis froze.
"…Wait."
He looked up.
"Did you just say anime?"
"Yes," Gaia replied. "The Solo Leveling anime. Is there a problem?"
Noctis grabbed his head with both hands.
"OF COURSE THERE IS A PROBLEM!"
His voice echoed across the gorge.
"I read the novel! And now you're telling me there's an ANIME?! What is this?!"
He spun once in place.
"When I had my accident, there was no anime yet! I had finished the novel!"
He stopped.
Another realization hit.
"…Wait."
He looked upward again.
"Gaia… how much time has passed outside?"
Gaia's response came slower this time.
"I only have access to the point when you entered the Neural Dive Network. Your condition afterward… I do not have that data."
Noctis frowned slightly.
"So you don't know how long I've been in a coma."
"No."
He exhaled once.
"…Alright. Different question."
He pointed upward again.
"Do you have access to outside media? Anime? Movies? Everything?"
Gaia paused.
"Yes," she said. "I do. Would you like to watch them?"
Noctis's eyes lit up.
"YES!"
Then he immediately shook his head.
"No—not right now. After I finish this game."
He pointed again.
"Remind me. I want to watch EVERYTHING I missed."
"Understood," Gaia replied.
She paused.
"Is there anything else I can assist with?"
"Yes," Noctis said immediately. "Change the activation phrase for Raise Dead."
"To what?"
"Anything but 'Arise.' That is Jinwoo's line. I am NOT stealing that."
Gaia seemed to consider it.
"…Shall we change it to 'Wakey Wakey'?"
"No."
"'Rise and Shine'?"
"No."
"'Up you go'?"
"No."
Gaia paused again.
"…Then what would you prefer?"
Noctis thought for a moment.
Then answered.
"Come forth."
Gaia responded immediately.
"Accepted. Activation phrase updated."
She added quietly, "…If there is nothing else, I will return to work."
There was a slight pause.
"…not sleep."
Noctis snorted lightly.
"Yeah, sure."
He shook his head once.
"…Thanks."
The connection faded.
Noctis looked back down at the wolf corpse.
He extended his hand again.
Blood aura flowed into the dead body, filling it once more.
This time—
He spoke clearly.
"Come forth."
The corpse reacted.