Mangowo

Chapter 147: Tethered to... Rot

(Another beefy chapter! Enjoy!)

A tentacle shot out in the sewer’s murky twilight like a serpent with bad intentions, aiming to giftwrap the elven bastard. But just as it closed in, the knife-eared prick dissolved into a puff of shadow-smoke, and all I snagged was disappointment and the distinct cologne of unwashed superiority.

Worse? A hot knife pain lanced through my tentacle tip—now lying on the ground like a rejected noodle. No blood, just a surgical amputati...

Chapter 146: Tethered to Ruin

Turns out my gut had been spot-on. Everything Alice told me lined up a little too well—this entire circus was choreographed to whip up as much chaos as magically possible. From where I stood, I could already see smoke curling up from parts of the Lower District. But with that many Gold Ranks prowling around, the mess was more or less bottled up. Their real prize had been the Upper District, but that masterstroke fizzled spectacularly.

Which left us with the Middle District. J...

Chapter 145: Hangrier by the Day

[Another beefy chapter! Enjoy!]

The alleyways were slathered in that freaky pearlescent ooze—glowstick puke meets alien snail trail—while the crates hosted a gallery of deflated specters. Seventeen? Eighteen. Nineteen. Correction: twenty. I rematerialized mid-swipe, introducing number twenty to the masonry with prejudice. Wall got a fresh coat of phantom slurry.

It’s funny—how their ‘blood’ turns squid-clear once they die. Like the darkness itself ba...

Chapter 144: Today Is a Feast Day

[Apologies for the delayed chapter, author's been dealing with a minor(?) health issue. To make up for my own mediocrity, I made this one extra beefy.

Also, quick note regarding a concern brought up in the last chapter’s comments: the current update schedule is just temporary. I’m working on rebuilding my backlog, and if all goes well, I should be back to the usual four updates a week soon!

Anyway, happy reading! Had a lot of fun writing this one.]

Panic was alrea...

Chapter 143: Coincidence Doesn’t Live Here

Name: Jade
Level: 40(MAX)(+)
Species: Wraithscale (Draconis) (IV)

Alignment: Judgement (Lightning)

Attributes:

• Strength: 369

• Durability: 266

• Intelligence: 394

• Willpower: 261

• Mana Points (MP): 154/154

• <...
  2025-04-07 00:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 142: Logically Bulletproof, Emotionally Stifling

Lotte went quiet for a moment, and I got why. Yeah, that was a pretty dumb question. Felt like I’d just lost a couple of brain cells. Obviously, it meant a stage beyond what people called the peak—beyond gold.

I vaguely recalled Gwen mentioning something about this continent being a ‘suppressed zone.’ How folks here thought Gold Core was the pinnacle of power simply because they couldn’t push past it. Kinda fascinating, really.

And looking through that lens, it made tota...

Chapter 141: Professional Reality Arsonist

I… had no idea what I’d unleashed this time. But a gut-wrenching instinct whispered—no, screamed—that it was something far worse than Belle’s ritual. Worse than summoning Barn. And considering that fiasco, that was saying something.

It didn’t even feel like I had called forth a ‘thing’ or a ‘someone.’ No, it was more like a command, a switch flipped somewhere deep in reality’s wiring. And whatever it did, I had a front-row seat to the show. The moment...

Interlude 3.8

[Phew, finally wrapped up this chapter. This idea was brutal to execute, like one of those concepts that sound delicious in your head but turn into a nightmare when you actually try to write them while keeping the narrative clear. Maybe I’m just sleep-deprived, lol. Anyway, it’s done, and I’m kinda proud of how it turned out. Enjoy the chappie! This’ll be the last interlude for a while, back to Jade next chapter.]

Veyan had his reasons for thinking death was inevitable. Fir...

Interlude 3.7

[Wanted to apologize for the slow updates these past few days, just some complications at my day job, and I’m trying to avoid burnout. But I’m figuring things out, and updates should return to normal, maybe even by the next one. Thanks for your patience!

Also, I added this as an interlude because, as I started writing the chapter, I felt Jade had too little agency, she was mostly just narrating events. After thinking it over, I scrapped that approach. Veyan might be the better choic...

Chapter 140: Showtime

"You look absolutely radiant, Jade! The moons themselves are sulking in your shadow!"

I glanced up at Viera’s beaming face. Had she been dabbling in poetry? Draped in a lavish lavender gown, she looked every bit the birthday girl—because, well, she was. The ball was hers, after all. I returned her smile, polite but measured.

"And yet, every constellation bows to your spotlight tonight," I volleyed back, playing along. Her scales flushed a gleaming rose-gold.

Interlude 3.6

[one final beefy interlude before we dive back into Jade’s POV! Happy reading!]

The world, Lord Veyan decided, was a gilded lie wrapped in silk and deception.

He stood atop the marble staircase, one gloved hand resting on the obsidian pommel of his ceremonial sword—ceremonial only in appearance. The blade itself was a relic, forged by the ancient master blacksmith of Sablethorn, passed down through generations like an unwanted heirloom. It had been his father’s once, until...

Interlude 3.5

The trees stood twisted, shriveled husks of their former selves, not a trace of life clinging to their bark. It didn’t feel like some targeted curse. No, this was something worse—like the very air had leeched them dry just by existing. Vorak wouldn’t put it past something exactly like that.

The Veilwoods stank of burnt sage and… something else. He scrunched his nose. Definitely something fouler. Sulfur, maybe? Or was it that sickly metallic tang of fresh-spilled blood? Hard to t...

Interlude 3.4

Devotion. A curious word.

Velimir lingered in the corridor’s embrace, swallowed by its shadows, as the term slithered into his mind unbidden. Devotion. A word the weak clung to, dressing their cowardice in something noble—gilded rot, if one were feeling poetic. True devotion, in the tongue of the Ancestors, meant hunger. A feral, unblinking thing that gnawed at the marrow of one’s ethics until only bone remained.

What grew in those coddled from birth, untouched by claw or gr...

Chapter 139: Tomorrow, the City Burns

I stood in front of Lotte, eyes big, round, and adorable. The kind of help me stare only a desperate little dragon could pull off.

Her sigh finally echoed in my head.

“This certainly is a precarious situation.”

I nodded rapidly. “Hmm hmm. Very precarious indeed!”

“Alright then.” Her voice sharpened. “List every rune you saw. Their precise positions. Any objects that stood out—anything that might be part of the ritual...

Chapter 138: When the Reaper’s Breath Frosts My Neck

The book’s leather binding creaked as I passed it to Lysska. Outside, wind howled against the windowpanes, transforming the snowfall from a listless drift into a frenzied white swarm. Frost etched skeletal patterns across the glass, and every few seconds, a gust rattled the shutters hard enough to make the tea cups tremble.

Lysska barely acknowledged the handoff, flipping the book over and thumbing through the pages like she already knew exactly where to look. Vyra was absent today—...

Chapter 137: Walk. Don’t. Look. Back.

[Apologies for the wonky schedule lately! To make up for it, I’ve crafted an extra-long, meaty chapter for you all. Enjoy!

Now, onto the elephant in the room: What’s been eating my time beyond the usual grind of my day job? Great news! First book is nearing its release and will soon be available on Amazon in both eBook and paperback formats. I’ve been knee-deep in finalizing the manuscript before handing it off to professional editors, which has diverted some...

Chapter 136: All According to My Gloriously Draconic Schematics!!

The winter chill lingered, slipping through the lone open window like an uninvited guest, making the curtains flutter in protest. Not that it bothered me. Maybe it was my, well, unconventional biology, but weather just didn’t seem to stick anymore.

Still, today felt like a good day. The sun bathed the snow-crusted leaves in the garden outside my dorm window, and soon, all that frost would melt away, leaving nothing but fresh, untamed green beh...

Chapter 135: Lie

I stared at Alice for a long moment, letting the silence stretch between us before finally speaking.

"Are you certain about this, Alice? I don’t doubt your ability to remain hidden, but we have no real idea what lies on the other side. Are you sure you’d be fine?”

Her answer was immediate. “That is precisely why I offer myself, mistress. The unknown is best approached by those prepared to become a shadow within it. This is the best option. Are you… worried about me?” 2025-02-28 00:30:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 134: A Feint or a Fracture?

The mana crystal pendulum in Alice’s hands gave a violent shudder before coming to an abrupt halt. It refused to tilt even a fraction in either direction. I let out a sigh.

“Divination failed, mistress.” The doll lifted her head, the threads of her blindfold knitting themselves back into place from the edges. “The threads fray here,” she murmured. “It’s blocked. Anti-divination wards on the other side. I won't be able to see anything.”

Damn. I’d suspected as much...

Chapter 133: Damsel or Demolitionist?

The moon draped its pale spotlight over the warehouse’s fresh new look—let’s call it post-apocalyptic chic. Cratered walls, avant-garde bone mosaics, and that unmistakable ambiance only mass liquefaction can provide. The air still carried the ghost of poison, an iron tang laced with the cloying sweetness of ruptured organs. Its potency had long since burned out—no surprise there, considering how devastating it had been. Now, all that remained was a strangely pleasant cit...

Chapter 132: The Predator Reclaims Its Place

Chaos. If Sara had to distill the scene before her into a single word, that would be it—pure, unrelenting chaos. And yet, she could do nothing but watch, a prisoner in her own body, as it danced to the tune of another’s will.

The young guard she’d been eyeing earlier suddenly snapped, letting out a high-pitched, animalistic squeal before turning his crossbow on his comrades. Then another succumbed—eyes wild, movements frantic—as he unleashed a volley from his own damn...

Interlude 3.3

[Sorry for the delay, poor author suffered a severe case of writer’s block. Spent an hour staring at the screen before accepting defeat and calling it a day out of sheer exhaustion.

Back now, though. Block’s (somewhat) gone. Enjoy the chappie!]

The night breathed through rotting brickwork, its exhalation frosting the dirty snow beneath Sara's scaled boots. Silence draped the Warrens like a shroud - the good kind of silence, where screams get digested before they escape ...