Dark Dragon: The Summoned Hero Is A Villain - Chapter 217

Chapter 217: Rat King
The tide of now enraged rats crashed against Noah like a living wave of claws and teeth.

He moved through them like he was a farmer, harvesting wheat.

He didn’t care if they died or not. Afterall, none of them held any traces of his affinities. They couldn’t give him spells.

A rat lunged for his neck and he ducked low, sweeping his leg out.

The creature flipped in midair, and before it landed, a bolt of darkness shot from Noah’s hand.

Devour.

The rat’s body collapsed into itself, devoured in seconds, leaving only motes of fading mana behind.

Two more came from behind.

His tail whipped out, impaling the first through its throat.

The second reached his shoulder, but Noah twisted and slammed it into the ground, driving his heel through its skull.

Cracks split across the stone floor as blood hissed under the mana in the air.

“Persistent vermin,” he muttered.

He raised his hand. Frigid Hunger. A hundred layers.

Frost rolled across the cavern, encasing everything in a blue-white shimmer.

Several rats froze mid-pounce, their bodies turning into icy statues.

Noah shattered them with a kick, shards scattering like glass.

Yet they kept coming. Dozens of glowing red eyes closed in from every side.

He sighed and drew more mana, his shadows surging outward. “Eternal Cradle.”

The air thickened, and the energy coiled outward in a ten-meter radius, and the life drained from everything caught inside.

The squeals of the rats turned into wet, choking gurgles as their bodies shriveled, their vitality feeding into Noah.

The power rushed through him, warm and intoxicating, until only a handful of the largest remained.

That was when the air split with a roar.

The King Rat leapt from its perch, landing hard enough to shake the cavern.

Its claws gouged furrows into the rock as it glared at him, saliva dripping from its jaws.

The lesser rats scattered to make room, their frenzied cries rising in pitch.

Noah squared his stance, grinning. “Finally.”

The King Rat lunged, a blur of muscle and fur.

Noah flash-stepped aside, narrowly avoiding its fangs.

It wheeled around with shocking agility, tail snapping like a whip.

The blow caught him in the ribs, flinging him backward.

Pain lanced through his side, but he righted himself in mid-air, landing in a crouch.

“Fast,” he admitted. “But not fast enough.”

He cast Null Stride, vanishing from sight.

The King Rat spun, searching, but Noah reappeared above it, driving a glowing fist down onto its head.

The impact cracked the boulder beneath them, sending stone fragments flying.

The beast shrieked, thrashing wildly.

It swung again, claws raking his chest.

The blow sent him skidding, blood trailing from his lips. Noah growled, gathering his mana.

“Pillar of Judgement!”

A lance of fire crashed down from the illusory sky hole above, engulfing the King Rat in flames.

The beast shrieked, its fur igniting and its flesh charring, yet it didn’t die.

It burst through the flames, still burning, maddened beyond reason.

Noah met it head-on.

His tail whipped out, catching its hind leg, pulling it off balance.

He drove his knee into its jaw, sending teeth flying.

Then, with a roar, he poured every ounce of mana he had left into his next strike.

“Devour!”

The shadows erupted, swallowing the creature whole.

It screamed, its body collapsing inward, devoured piece by piece.

The sound echoed through the cavern until only silence remained.

Noah stood there, chest heaving, the stench of burnt fur and blood thick in the air.

Slowly, the Devour spell released its grip, leaving behind only dust and faint tendrils of dissipating mana.

Then, the energy hit him, a surge of power, raw and potent.

His veins thrummed with it, strength flooding his limbs.

Noah rolled his shoulders, flexing his fingers as the last traces of fatigue faded.

“That’s more like it,” he said quietly.

The frenzied energy that had once filled the cavern turned into panic.

Dozens of rats screeched and scrambled for the boulders, claws scraping against stone in their desperate bid to flee.

Noah straightened, rolling his aching shoulders.

His shadows rolled off of him, hungry.

“You started this,” he murmured. “You don’t get to run.”

He raised a hand. Eternal Cradle.

The spell expanded outward, the air thickening like tar.

The fleeing rats froze mid-scamper, their bodies trembling as their strength drained away.

The sound of chittering faded one by one until only silence remained.

A few managed to crawl past the radius of his spell, limping toward their hidey holes.

Noah exhaled, summoning as many layers of Frigid Hunger as he could.

Frost surged across the floor, creeping up the walls and over the rats’ bodies.

They froze in place, statues of ice glimmering beneath the strange sky.

He walked among them, his boots crunching softly against the frozen floor.

Every few steps, a rat would twitch, and his darkness would lashed out, swallowing it whole.

Minutes later, the cavern was silent again.

There was no movement, and no sound.

Noah stood in the center of the battlefield, eyes scanning the now-empty chamber.

Then, with a quiet exhale, he dismissed his spells. The frost melted away, and the shadows retreated.

That was when the cavern began to tremble softly.

Dust drifted down from above, and then, there was a crack.

Two portions of the far wall split apart, stone grinding against stone as they shifted and slid away.

Behind them, two tunnels yawned open, each vanishing into darkness.

Noah studied them for a moment, his eyes narrowing.

Both were wide enough to fit something large. He smirked.

“Right it is.”

He stepped into the right-hand tunnel, the sound of his boots echoing against the damp stone walls.

The air here was warmer, and a faint vibration traveled through the ground beneath his feet.

Then, it came. The distant, rhythmic sound of hooves.

Noah grinned, his heart beating faster with anticipation.

“Finally,” he murmured. “I was starting to get bored.”

“If this is a Minotaur,” he said softly, grinning wider, “then this trip just became worth it.”