Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 893: Half a Day

At that moment, it felt as if the color had been drained from the world itself. Not replaced by golden radiance or divine brilliance, but by gray. Everything around them flattened into something lifeless, like a black-and-white photograph left too long in the sun, barren and stripped of warmth. Even the deafening clashes of battle, sounds that should have shaken the heavens, were severed mid-impact, leaving behind an unnatural stillness that pressed against the chest.

No one could hear anything. It was not that their ears had failed them, but that sound itself no longer existed in this space. Luna’s voice continued beside them, her mouth moving as she chattered on without pause, yet not a single syllable reached anyone. Not even Luna herself could hear her own voice. The silence lingered, heavy and suffocating, stretching far longer than it should have. Panic spread across every face, color draining as the seconds crawled by, each heartbeat feeling like an eternity under that oppressive void.

Nearly two full minutes passed before the gray-white world finally began to change. Color seeped back in slowly, like ink bleeding across paper, spreading unevenly until shapes regained depth and life. With it came sound, rushing back all at once. The sudden noise was chaotic and shrill, and Ethan winced as Luna and the smaller ones screamed at the top of their lungs, half in terror and half in relief. The moment they realized they could hear again, they clamped their mouths shut, exchanging embarrassed and shaken looks.

"Kid, what are you waiting for? Finish your damn trial! Or we all die here!" the Dragon of Consumption roared as he shot skyward, his massive form surging through the air with reckless urgency. His target was unmistakable: the Fortune Dragon.

"What are you doing?!" Ethan bellowed, his voice raw as he watched in disbelief. The Dragon of Consumption opened his enormous maw, descending like a mythical glutton finally granted his greatest wish. Ethan knew this desire all too well. The Dragon of Consumption had always dreamed of devouring the Fortune Dragon, and now the Fortune Dragon hung motionless in the sky, unmoving and unresponsive. Ethan could no longer sense it at all. Not its presence, not its vitality. Its life force had vanished without a trace.

Across from them, the angel remained frozen mid-strike, sword held in a downward slash as if time itself had seized it by the throat. Both combatants were locked in that single instant. Then, just after Ethan’s roar, the golden greatsword in the angel’s hand began to crumble from the hilt outward. It disintegrated piece by piece, like sand scattered by an unseen wind, dissolving into weightless powder before vanishing entirely. The arm holding it followed, then the rest of the feathered figure, until nothing remained at all.

In that same moment, the Dragon of Consumption swallowed the Fortune Dragon whole.

Ethan’s vision went red. His eyes burned, veins standing out as fury surged through him. "You son of a bitch," he snarled as his teeth grinded so hard.

"Ooooo—" The Dragon of Consumption’s body twisted violently as the Fortune Dragon settled within him. His catfish-like form warped and convulsed, and from his throat burst a roar that was unmistakably draconic. This was no distorted imitation, but a true dragon’s roar, ancient and primordial, as if it carried the weight of countless ages echoing through time itself.

In the blink of an eye, his body transformed. The slick, ungainly shape vanished, replaced by a deep purple, five-clawed divine dragon. That purple hue did not last. Slowly, golden scales emerged, spreading across his body until his form mirrored that of the Fortune Dragon from before. Yet between those scales pulsed a flowing purple-gold light, alive and restless, as though every scale possessed its own breath.

"Damn it. Damn it. Two incomplete forms fused together. I can’t launch any attacks like this," the purple-gold five-clawed dragon muttered, speaking clearly in a human tongue. He raised his front claws, studying them with a frustrated scowl before lowering them again. "This will have to do."

His gaze shifted, locking onto Ethan with a depth that made Ethan’s skin prickle. "You’ve got half a day."

With those words, the dragon twisted his massive body and positioned himself above Ethan and the others. Ethan didn’t understand what he meant. His eyes were still bloodshot, his breathing heavy as he glared upward, confusion and rage twisting together in his chest.

"Dragon God, Nirvana Shield!"

Every scale on the purple-gold dragon flared with blinding light. The remaining seven angels spread their wings in unison, their cold gazes fixed forward as they charged without hesitation. Yet no matter how fast they moved, they could not outrun that flash of gold. The dragon’s body vanished in a single burst of purple-gold radiance, replaced by a rapidly expanding bubble of light that formed before everyone’s eyes.

In an instant, the barrier enveloped Ethan and the others.

The angels’ attacks struck moments later. One by one, seven golden greatswords slammed into the surface of the bubble, each blow carrying crushing force. Bam, bam, bam, the impacts rang out, yet the barrier did not so much as tremble. The energy-forged blades dissolved on contact, breaking down into nothingness as wisps of gold were absorbed into the shield itself. With each strike, the purple-gold light only grew brighter.

The angels were left gripping nothing but the hilts of their weapons. They exchanged glances, unease flickering across their otherwise impassive faces, before slowly retreating and hovering in place, motionless and wary.

Ethan’s gaze sharpened as he studied the barrier. He could feel it clearly now. It carried the power of consumption. The purple-gold dragon was nowhere to be seen, which meant this bubble was no mere construct. It was his transformed body, a fusion born from the Dragon of Consumption and the Fortune Dragon. The dragon’s final words echoed in Ethan’s mind. ’You’ve got half a day.’ That told him everything he needed to know. This shield would last roughly twelve hours.

Watching the angels’ attacks be absorbed, consumed, and converted into defensive power, Ethan understood that the barrier was effectively impenetrable. What he did not know was what would happen to the dragon once the shield faded, or what price would be paid for buying this time. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Half a day, huh?" he muttered.

His bloodshot eyes no longer lingered on the seven feathered figures above. Instead, his attention shifted to the milky-white frozen lake beyond the barrier. Step by step, he walked toward it, each footfall leaving a deep imprint in the pale mud beneath him. When he reached the edge of the shield, he stopped. The purple-gold barrier stood less than half a step from the lake’s surface. One more step would put him on the ice itself.

He did not know that this lake forbade others from setting foot upon it. The thought never even crossed his mind. Fear simply did not exist in him anymore. He glanced back once at the hovering angels, then moved forward.

The shield offered no resistance at all.

Ethan stepped onto the ice.

A sharp whoosh cut through the air as the milky-white Qilin snapped out of its deathlike stillness. It shook its massive head and charged straight at him without hesitation. There were no elaborate feints or complex techniques. Just like before, its opening move was a raised front hoof, ready to kick.

That kick had once been terrifying, fast enough to send Ethan flying with a single blow. Now, as it came toward him, it looked almost ordinary. Not because it was weaker, but because Ethan could finally see it clearly. Before, all he had perceived was raw speed and overwhelming power. Now, every detail was laid bare. The lifting of the leg, the gathering of force, the precise thrust forward, each movement resonated perfectly with the surrounding space, as if the world itself were cooperating.

A normal punch was like a car slowly accelerating, always fighting against wind resistance that sapped its speed. This kick was nothing like that. It was as if there were no resistance at all, reaching maximum velocity instantly. That absence of drag caused its power to multiply, turning speed into pure destruction.

"Huh?" Ethan’s eyes lit up as realization struck him.

There was something eerily familiar about this kick. It shared a core principle with his own self-created slapping technique. His slaps avoided lethal force, concealed killing intent, and shifted unpredictably to leave no opening, but they sacrificed raw power in exchange. This Qilin’s kick was the opposite. It stripped away all complexity and subtlety, reducing everything to a single, overwhelming truth. See it or not, it did not matter. The attack was coming, and it would crush whatever stood in its way.

There was a certain unmistakable presence to it, a feeling that power alone could override all else.