Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 1424 Primal Intent to Devour!
Previously on Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100...
'She also bears the Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline,' Max determined in an instant.
At this point, he detected it with perfect clarity. The energy enveloping her, despite being held in check, held a subtle hint of chaotic dragon power. That power felt pristine and timeless. Still, an element in it stood apart from his version.
'But why does my bloodline crave to swallow hers?'
This puzzle weighed heavily on him.
Typically, bloodlines from the same roots would harmonize, push back, or form a clear order of power. The urge to devour marked a whole other level. It suggested merging. It meant one line could boost itself by taking in the other.
And in past meetings with carriers of the Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline, his own had always asserted dominance over them. So why this shift now? Why had that sense of supremacy given way to an overwhelming drive to consume her bloodline?
Max's gaze sharpened a touch as he examined her with greater focus.
Her energy was polished.
Excessively so.
While most followers let their dragon heritage spill out freely amid the skull's overwhelming force, hers stayed firmly in hand, nearly sculpted to flawlessness. No wild spills occurred. No battles arose with the dragon skull's presence. Rather, it blended seamlessly in serene balance.
'What sets her bloodline apart to ignite this craving?'
He mulled over potential reasons.
Did her heritage run cleaner?
Did it link more directly to the essence of real dragons?
Or maybe it stayed unfinished, ready for his bloodline to draw in and complete?
The idea of his bloodline advancing through consuming another's sent a shiver racing along his back. The drive struck as old and savage, like echoes from a primal age when dragons battled and fed on each other to rise in the chain of rule.
Max reined in the rising avarice inside.
The sensation unsettled him.
He refused to act like a creature ruled by raw impulses. As a cultivator, he held determination and logic. Still, he couldn't ignore how genuine and forceful the response truly was.
His stare rested on the dark-haired woman a bit longer.
She hadn't spotted him so far. Or maybe she had, yet opted to stay unresponsive.
No matter the case, Max grasped a key insight right then.
Their paths wouldn't end here.
And any mystery hidden in her bloodline tied profoundly to the heart of his being.
While Max worked to soothe the turbulent churn in his bloodline, the long-haired dark beauty gradually turned toward him.
It was just a basic turn.
But the second her eyes connected with his, an inner barrier in him broke.
Their stares held firm over the vast dome, through the smothering force of the dragon skull, past the waves of straining followers. In that brief instant, everything else blurred away. The weight, the whispers, the ordeal—all drifted into the background.
Then Max finally took in her features fully.
Her beauty struck him.
That simple, true impression rose first in his thoughts. Her face held fine yet keen lines, like the work of a precise artisan. Her complexion glowed softly under the dome's muted crimson glow.
Her eyes ran profound and shadowy, with a subtle spark of icy sharpness. No fear showed there amid the choking dragon force. No haughtiness appeared. Just calm vigilance.
Yet her looks weren't what broke his steady front.
The very moment their eyes linked, the turmoil in his frame exploded in strength.
It went beyond a quiet yearning.
It turned into a thunderous call.
The Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline inside him roared like a monster roused from deep sleep. His blood vessels heated up, nearly scorching from within. The chaotic dragon power twisted wildly around his center, swelling and straining at the edges of his restraint.
'What's going on?'
Max's breaths came a fraction quicker, even as his outer calm held.
The craving sharpened to a point.
It wasn't respect.
It wasn't desire.
It was the will to consume.
A basic urge to take in fully.
His bloodline spotted something in her it yearned for fiercely. Her very presence acted like vital fuel. His chaotic dragon power shook with such force that briefly, he worried it might burst free without restraint.
A soft black gleam flashed in his eyes then disappeared.
He gripped his hands tight without thinking.
The impulse grew fiercer still.
If it had murmured earlier, it now demanded obedience.
Devour.
Assimilate.
Claim.
A cold wave of understanding hit Max. This went far beyond usual harmony in matching bloodlines. This was a hunter's drive. His heritage didn't see her as a peer. It viewed her as something to hunt.
'Why?'
His mind whirled.
Did her bloodline hold a finer piece of a genuine Black Dragon?
Was it some altered form?
Or did it linger unfinished, poised for uptake by a stronger presence?
The chaotic power in him throbbed stronger as their locked gazes stretched on. He felt the dragon skull's energy nearby respond in a minor way too, like some long-gone echo awakened by their wordless clash.
In that instant, Max picked up on another detail.
Her energy altered just a bit.
Not on the surface.
But deep inside.
It stayed faint, but impossible to miss.
Her bloodline had stirred in response.
Her eyes tightened a fraction, as though she'd caught the same fierce unrest from him. A soft wave of dragon power flowed through her frame, kept in check and bounded, yet keen.
For a fleeting moment, the air between them crackled with tension.
Like two timeless creatures sizing one another up.
Finally, she turned her gaze away. And as she did, Max started to settle at once.
His pulse evened out, though far inside, the Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline churned without end. The craving didn't vanish once their eyes parted. It hung on, bubbling low, like a hunter that had locked onto quarry after ages lost in shadow.
'This spells trouble.'
He saw it plainly now. Letting this drive lead could strip away his command someday.
He drew in a measured breath and forced down the chaotic dragon power through pure resolve. The Dimensional Sovereign Body lent its aid, steadying his inner waves and locking away the wild rush before any escape.
But even with his calm restored, one fact stood unyielding.
His bloodline had targeted her.
And whatever enigma dwelled in her dragon heritage, it was a force his own core hungered for with frightful power.