Villain's Rising

-Ghuaaaaa!

-Ghaaaauuur!

-Kzzzzzz!

Fire. There was fire everywhere. Although it was the North Pole, today fire was raining down from the sky instead of snow.

Several majestic beasts who were more than capable of laying dust to a large city in mere moments were going all out to hunt a single prey.

Well, this certain prey was the world's strongest hero, after all.

Sam, who was now in his newly acquired dragon-human hybrid form, was watching the battle from the constantly melting snowy ground.

He had no intentions of jumping into the battle just yet. After all, even though he had grown even more powerful, he was still not certain of taking on Starsuper head-on.

That's why he was lying in wait for Starsuper to make a mistake. He was waiting for him to drop his guard— to open a gap in his defense.

However, after waiting for several minutes and closely observing Starsuper fight his army of Dragons, Sam found out one thing.

There was no gap in Starsuper's defense.

Even while he was fighting against 49 majestic fire-breathing dragons who were at least 20 times his size, Starsuper's battle awareness was on a completely different level.

Even while hitting his opponent or taking hits himself, Starsuper's eyes were constantly scouting his surroundings.

No surprise attack could ever reach him.

"Heh," seeing this, Sam couldn't help but let out a soft giggle.

Sam was once again reminded of the fact that he was vastly inexperienced when compared to the likes of Starsuper.

After all, Starsuper had lived for hundreds of years. The gap in experience was expected.

However, Sam was also reminded of one more thing.

No matter how strong Starsuper may be, he has a beating heart. If he can be wounded, he could be killed.

Right now, Starsuper's body was full of wounds. His hero suit was in rags, and his cape was burnt.

Burn marks had appeared all over his skin after enduring so many Dragon Breaths. His large muscular body, which was now visible to the world to see, was full of scars and cuts that he got from dragons' claws.

Yes, not only were the claws of dragons hard enough to cut Starsuper's extremely durable skin, but their fire breath was also hot enough to burn him.

Although his body was constantly regenerating, it was apparent he would soon reach his limit as his body won't be able to take this kind of abuse much longer.

When that happens, he will fall into a comatose-like state.

Although Sam was not satisfied with just making him fall asleep, he didn't have any means to kill him right now, either.

He really tried so hard to figure out a way to kill Willburns. But they were like pesky little bugs. No matter how many times you squash them, they will just keep coming at you. Truly disgusting.

As someone who could manipulate biology itself, Sam was utterly disgusted by Willburns.

However, after doing some research on Rebekah's blood, Sam got to know one thing.

The reason Willburns don't die and are so strong is because of their adaptability.

Their bodies can adapt to literally anything. That, coupled with their regeneration, which apparently can rebuild their body even if a single atom of them is remaining, makes them truly terrifying.

But Sam was still not convinced.

There is not a living creature in this universe that is made of carbon and can't die.

Regeneration takes energy. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed.

Let's say that they have adapted their bodies to constantly suck their surroundings' energy to power their regeneration or something like that; there must still be a limit to that.

If Sam can simply find that limit, he could do it. He could kill these pests known as Willburns.

(Or you can simply remove your limiters and then try to fight them)

Or he could do that. Removing his limiters is the priority. However, Sam needed to take care of Starsuper first so that he would not disturb him when removing his limiters later.

-BOOOOOOM!

-Keeeik!

What shook Sam out of his thoughts was a high-pitched squeak of a dragon. It wasn't loud and might scowl. No, it was a dying scream.

Instantly turning his head up, Sam saw a dragon falling down from the sky.

-Bhaaaaam!

A crater formed around where the dragon fell. The light in the dragon's eye dimmed as it tried to spread its wings in one last attempt to fly.

But in the end, the dragon died.

"Huh, he managed to kill that one off."

Sam had been watching Starsuper fight those dragons. And from the start, Starsuper was continuously focusing his punches on that single dragon while trying to avoid the other ones completely.

After 15 minutes of the continuous consecutive assault, Starsuper managed to kill that dragon.

That means a single average dragon can take on Starsuper for 15 straight minutes until their bodies stop regenerating.

That's not bad while keeping the fact in mind that Starsuper was going all out against these dragons.

"Sire, at this rate, I'm worried your Dragons won't hold out."

Lucas, who was quietly watching the battle until now, voiced his concerns.

He wasn't wrong. No matter how strong Dragons are, these Dragons were reptiles just a few moments ago.

They had gone through a major evolution merely a few minutes ago. They weren't accustomed to their strengths and weaknesses.

After all, Sam can create a dragon, but he can not teach them how to be a dragon. That's something that they could only learn with time.

"Sigh, you're right. Let's forget about waiting for him to let his guard down. That's never going to happen. I'll just jump in."

"Want me to cover for you, sire?"

"No, you go get Michael."

"Michael… sire?"

Sam looked at Lucas with a meaningful look. His completely black eyes even sent shivers down Lucas' spine.

After being transformed, Lucas had never been scared of anything.

He went against Lightbringer. He wasn't scared then. Hell, he even nearly killed Lightbringer.

He went against Starsuper and Eve. He wasn't scared even then, maybe because he had an escape plan ready.

He then once again fought against Starsuper. More than a battle, it was a death sentence. Even when he was going to get killed by Starsuper, Lucas didn't have a speck of fear in his heart.

However, when Sam merely looked at him, he felt like… He felt like he was standing in a graveyard.

"Lucas?"

"...Hmm?"

"I said, go bring Michael."

"Ahh… yes, but may I ask why, sire?"

"Huh? Isn't that obvious?"

Lucas tilted his head in confusion. Why was Sam asking to bring Michael here? How would he help them in this situation… Unless!

As if to confirm Lucas' thoughts, Sam spoke with a wide grin on his face.

"He should be done transforming by now. So go bring my brother."