Lord: Sequence Master

Kobolds, without exception, are adept at mining, and the dragon-descended kobolds were no less skilled at digging tunnels. Under the relentless excavation by the two Sequence 5 warriors, the four kobolds dug several hundred miles beneath the desert surface, eventually reaching a hidden underground world.

The entire area was engulfed in green and ashen-white flames, burning unnaturally. Scattered across the landscape were bones and countless undead creatures, their bodies alight with soul fire.

Even when confronted by low-level skeleton soldiers with no sequence rank, the kobolds moved with extreme caution, fearing that any disturbance might alert a high-sequence undead lurking nearby.

It took several days for the kobolds to cautiously traverse a thousand miles, eventually reaching an abandoned mine in a remote corner of the underground world. There, undead formed from the corpses of dragon-descended kobolds wandered, but for some unknown reason, they did not attack the living kobolds.

While the kobolds made their careful journey, Rosen had already slipped into the eggshell unnoticed.

Once inside, he opened the Mysterious Study Room, creating a window that allowed him to observe the outside world. He no longer needed to figure out what lay within the kobold shaman's waist pouch, as the terrified shaman had already pulled out the eggshell himself.

"Master, our tribe was destroyed by a human..." the dragon-descended shaman, trembling, knelt before a ghostly dragon. It was clear that the dragon blood in the kobolds' veins came from this Ghost Dragon when it was alive.

The Ghost Dragon examined the Fairy Dragon Pearl, noting the traces of a human's scent. Though it knew it couldn't fully blame the kobolds, its anger boiled over, casting a curse of agony upon them. After watching them writhe in pain, the dragon temporarily suppressed its hatred toward humans.

Punishing its servants, the Ghost Dragon seized the Fairy Dragon Pearl and quickly harvested all the Dragon Source Corn within, refining them with its soul fire. Then, it placed the Fairy Dragon Pearl on a spiritual energy-gathering magic circle before leading the kobolds out of the dragon lair, likely intending to deal with the intruder on the desert surface.

After half an hour, Rosen stepped out of the Mysterious Study Room. Though he had spared the kobolds' lives, the Fairy Dragon's eggshell had practically delivered itself to him.

Without hesitation, he stored the eggshell in his Scavenger Space, along with the dragon crystals embedded in the magic circle.

Dragon crystals are a rare form of spiritual crystal, capable of regenerating spiritual energy by absorbing ambient energy, unlike regular crystals that disintegrate once depleted. Moreover, they produce unique spiritual energy properties.

Rosen continued searching through the Ghost Dragon's lair and found a sealed dragon corpse—a Sequence 3 dragon with a faint heartbeat. It didn't take long for Rosen to realize that this was likely the Ghost Dragon's body from when it was alive. The Ghost Dragon must have been using the Dragon Source Corn to resurrect itself.

After gathering undead-themed transcendent materials, Rosen's sixth sense warned him of danger. He mounted his mechanical pet and used Void Shadow Step to escape. Moments later, the furious Ghost Dragon returned and slaughtered the four kobolds in a fit of rage.

Rosen, already hundreds of miles away, happily sorted through his spoils.

Fairy Dragon Pearl: Miracle Artifact (Damaged)

 - Level: Sequence 6 (formerly Sequence 3)

 - Miraculous Attribute: Consumes transcendent materials to recruit a Fairy Dragon miracle creature.

 - Miraculous Traits: Dragon Lair, Dragon Slumber, Dragon Grave, Elemental Immunity, Elemental Orb, Void Phase, World Uniqueness, Eternal Indestructibility

Rosen studied the Fairy Dragon Pearl, gradually understanding its true value.

The Fairy Dragon Pearl was the last unhatched egg of the Fairy Dragon species. When the Fairy Dragons were driven to extinction, the egg transformed into a miracle artifact. A fully intact pearl would have no cracks, and within it would be an embryo capable of producing a Sequence 3 Fairy Dragon. However, the pearl had sustained severe damage, weakening its power significantly.

Still, its Eternal Indestructibility meant that it could eventually repair itself. The Ghost Dragon had suppressed its restoration, using it to grow Dragon Source Corn instead of allowing a Fairy Dragon to emerge, since Fairy Dragons were hostile to undead creatures.

The dragon-descended kobolds had likely served as fertilizer for the Dragon Source Corn.

Rosen placed time-attribute spiritual crystals and dragon crystals inside the eggshell to accelerate its restoration. He also transplanted the Dragon Source Corn to a safer location in his Divine Domain and sent the surviving kobolds there for imprisonment and eventual taming.

The Fairy Dragon Pearl was placed inside the Time Tower, where fivefold time acceleration sped up its recovery. For now, its miraculous traits remained unusable, but Rosen knew that once it was fully restored, its true potential would be revealed.

Rosen decided that when he reached Sequence 6, he would make the Fairy Dragon his pet and transform it into a messenger of the spirit world.

In the meantime, he spent half a month gathering the materials needed to recruit the Fairy Dragon, eventually completing the process just as the Fairy Dragon Pearl finished its initial restoration.

The cracks on its surface healed, and it now resembled a flawless jade orb.

Rosen activated the Dragon Lair trait, and the transcendent materials were absorbed, forming a Fairy Dragon embryo. In two days, a fully formed Sequence 6 Fairy Dragon was born.

The Dragon Lair allowed for the incubation and recruitment of Fairy Dragons, while Dragon Slumber sped up their recovery. The Dragon Grave trait ensured the Fairy Dragon could resurrect after death, and the grave could spawn more dragon-related transcendent materials.

The Elemental Immunity trait nullified same-level elemental damage, while Elemental Orb could store and enhance elemental skills.

Finally, the Void Phase trait enabled the Fairy Dragon Pearl to teleport instantly to preset coordinates.

Fearing the power of the Fairy Dragon, the Ghost Dragon had never dared fully restore the pearl. It was a case of "buying the case and discarding the jewel."

Rosen decided not to immediately awaken the Fairy Dragon, allowing it to remain in Dragon Slumber and absorb the knowledge from its bloodline.

Whether due to refining the Fairy Dragon Pearl or for other reasons, Rosen noticed his spiritual growth accelerating.

Rosen's next task was to upgrade his territory. He began with the Divine Beast Stable, enhancing it to Sequence 7. This ensured that Gray Mouse, after consuming the Golden Apple, would remain under his control. No new traits appeared, but Rosen suppressed any until Sequence 6, when a powerful trait would emerge.

Next, he upgraded the Alchemical Castle to Sequence 7, fusing it with a spiritual tree to make his soul the castle's core, giving him perfect control over it. After the evolution, Rosen renamed it Ashen Castle, representing the remnants of civilization.

Ashen Castle: Divine Building

 - Level: Sequence 7

 - Sub-Buildings: Castle Hall, Towers, Spirit World Watchtower, Steam Power Tower, Elemental Barrier Tower, Dungeon

 - Divine Traits: Machina Spirit Life—Gained high-level machina spirit intelligence from fusing with the Sequence Spiritual Tree.

 - Divine Traits: Ashes of Civilization—Collects ashes of civilization to strengthen the castle.

With the upgrades complete, Rosen prepared to ascend to Sequence 6. The Time Hunter potion recipe and the materials were no challenge for him to obtain.

Time Hunter Potion Recipe:

 - 600g of Bronze Dragon Blood

 - 100g of Heartwood from a Forest Ancient Tree

 - 50g of Sequence 6 Dragon Blood

 - 5g of Fang Powder from a Fanged Giant Bear

 - One Bronze Dragon Reversed Scale...

The potion, once crafted, appeared as a dragon crystal. Rosen consumed it, and as it dissolved, his Hunter Sequence transcendent essence began to transform.

Whispers filled his ears, and visions danced before his eyes. Rosen had expected the ascension to be more painful, but the process was surprisingly smooth.

As his spirituality sublimated, transforming him into a Sequence 6 Time Hunter, Rosen understood the reason for the ease of his transformation.

Rosen possessed two critical advantages during his ascension: the Dragon King's Blessing, a protective force originating from a Bronze Dragon of Dragon King level, and the Miracle of the Ashen Flame, a Sequence 0 miracle.

Though Rosen couldn't fully refine the Miracle of the Ashen Flame, its passive protection minimized the harm from the whispers originating from the potion. These whispers weren't merely harmful but contained fragments of Hunter Sequence knowledge and power, essential for Rosen's evolution. Without the Ashen Flame, the whispers could have overwhelmed him, but now they were left intentionally active, aiding his transcendent essence's transformation.

Time Hunter: Able to steal time from the prey after the hunt.

With his ascension complete, Rosen felt a newly awakened innate skill embedded within his essence, unlike any skill he had encountered before. This was a unique power, tied to the mysterious forces of time itself.

He summoned a Sequence 7 Hydra from the Divine Beast Stable and activated Ashen Armor-Piercing through the Dragon King's Wrath, firing a single shot. The attack ignored the Hydra's defenses, dealing true damage and instantly killing it.

As the Hydra died, Rosen sensed a force of time flow into his body, though he wasn't yet sure how to use it.

The Time Hunter trait had never been documented before, making Rosen's abilities unique in the history of the Hunter Sequence.

Next, he refined the Time Archer skill crystal, quickly integrating it into his abilities. Since both Time Hunter and Time Archer were derived from the Bronze Dragon, he suspected that the synergy between them would unlock immense potential.

Time Archer: Miracle Skill

 - Passive Attribute: All skills can carry the power of time.

 - Active Attribute: Upon activation, all skills can consume time power to erode the prey's time.

 - Miracle Trait: Time Dragon Crystal—Absorbs and stores time power.

The time power Rosen had been accumulating merged into his soul, forming a Time Dragon Crystal. Curious to test its limits, he summoned another Hydra and activated Time Archer, using a weak mental bullet imbued with time power.

As the bullet hit the Hydra, Rosen felt its lifespan, originally over 300 years, diminish by 100 years, completely draining the time power stored in his Time Dragon Crystal.

The implications were terrifying. Time Archer could erode an enemy's lifespan, and with enough stored time power, it could potentially erase years—perhaps even centuries—from a target's life with a single strike.

Rosen tested further and discovered the upper limits of this ability. For example, when a creature with 100 years of life remaining was killed, Time Hunter could steal 10 years of its time, storing it in the Time Dragon Crystal.

The maximum storage of the crystal was tied to Rosen's own lifespan, currently 10,000 years due to his demonic bloodline and the Golden Apple's effects. This allowed the crystal to store 10,000 years of time power. If fully activated, Time Archer could consume this stored time to erase 1,000 years from a Sequence 6 being's life.

For higher sequences, the effect scaled—500 years for Sequence 5 and 250 years for Sequence 4. While this seemed excessive for lower-level enemies, the true terror of Time Archer wasn't just in reducing lifespan—it also affected spirituality.

For instance, stealing time could cause the prey's memory to shift, making yesterday feel like it happened 100 years ago. In the midst of battle, this would disrupt an enemy's rhythm, causing them to forget the ongoing fight as if it were a distant memory.

This created a powerful skill interruption, potentially fracturing their memories and leaving them vulnerable. Against long-lived creatures, particularly those at Sequence 3, the loss of centuries could lead to instant death.

However, using Time Archer required a constant supply of long-lived transcendent creatures in his Divine Beast Stable, as the Time Dragon Crystal could be quickly depleted in drawn-out battles.

In Thunder Imperial City, Rosen used the Mage Tower to teleport to the capital of the Thunder Empire for a skill crystal trade. He possessed a Sequence 6 Beast King skill crystal, a rare drop from the Sea Dragon Beast King. Originally intending to learn it, Rosen decided to trade it after creating the Beast King's Wrath skill, which negated the need for another Beast King ability.

His destination was Marquis Raith's estate, a floating island surrounded by storm clouds. Upon arriving, Rosen was greeted by the marquis's butler and escorted to the island's Mage Tower, then teleported to the castle.

Rosen had only interacted with Marquis Raith through the virtual network, so he was surprised to be greeted so warmly in person. Raith's embrace, however, set off alarms in Rosen's sixth sense and mind-reading abilities. He quickly realized Raith had ill intentions.

Because Rosen had downplayed his status as a hereditary duke, introducing himself as a count during their virtual exchanges, Raith had assumed he was a lesser noble and was likely planning a double-cross.

During the feast in Raith's grand hall, Rosen remained calm, using the Main God Computer to contact the Assassin's Guild for information on Raith's true intentions. The guild confirmed that the skill crystal Raith offered was genuine, which reassured Rosen. However, he knew a trap was waiting.

After dinner, Raith invited Rosen to stay the night, explaining that the skill crystal was stored at the Imperial Bank and would be available in the morning.

Rosen thanked Raith and was escorted to a guest room. Meanwhile, Gray Mouse, Rosen's pet, stealthily entered Raith's shadow, monitoring his every move.

Now a Sequence 6 creature, Gray Mouse had a new ability, void shadow stealth, making it virtually undetectable. Through Gray Mouse's eyes, Rosen watched Raith retreat to his study, hesitating before sending a Spiritual Messenger to his wife, the marquise.

The marquise read the message and understood Raith's intent without opening it. She sighed, changed into a nightgown, and made her way to Rosen's room.

Rosen immediately grasped Raith's plot: the marquis intended to frame Rosen for an affair with his wife, providing justification to kill him in a fit of rage.

Rosen, however, had other plans. In the Void Studio, he began painting the guest room with exact precision, duplicating every detail. Once the painting was complete, he would lead the marquise into the painting world, while his self-portrait clone would replace him in the real room.

By making the marquise disappear, Raith's plot would fail, and he would lose both his wife and his scheme.

(End of Chapter)