Villain's Rising

'I-I will die?' those were the first thoughts that flashed in Sam's mind.

The time itself had come to a standstill as Sam watched a fist shrouded in golden aura speeding at his face.

It was already too late….

He couldn't dodge, and he wasn't even entertaining the idea of blocking it.

How could he? Blocking the fist of a man who destroyed more than half of the moon in one mere single swing of his arm?!

He couldn't even tank the attack. The dragon scales on his body were capable of absorbing shock, but they were not going to stand a chance against an attack of this caliber!

In one single second, Sam's mind went through more than a gazillion of different possible ways to get out of this problem.

But no matter what path he may choose in his mind, the end result would always play down to be the same— his death.

'Am I going to die like this?!' Sam thought in his mind as the fist that was about to cause his demise kept on growing closer.

For a moment, all of Sam's strength left his body, and he closed his eyes. He was helpless. There was nothing he could do but accept his death– accept his fate.

But at that very moment, an image appeared in his mind. A picture of his father… and he was grinning.

'No!' he raged in his mind and shot open his eyes. 'If I die here, then everything I've been through would be for nothing!'

Sam won't accept a death this pathetic! He won't accept a fate this miserable!

If he dies here, not even a single trace will remain of his body. He will be erased… and forgotten.

No! He can't die like this here!

The strength that had left his body returned. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

'Forgotten? Me? No! That won't happen! I will survive this! I have to survive this!'

Right then, Sam's mind trailed onto a thought. It was an idea. An idea that could probably get him out of his situation!

Sam's power was [Biology Manipulation]. In theory, Sam was practically able to alter and temper with any life form as long as he knew his construct.

He could do many things. For example, control someone, kill someone, or revive someone with nothing but mere thoughts.

But his ability was far more powerful than that.

Sam could, in theory, create mutations in a life form and transmute it completely.

Sam has done mild mutations before. Like when turning humans into demons or when evolving reptiles into dragons.

However, he has never done an extreme mutation.

And there's a reason for that.

Since he was a child, it was drilled into his mind by his father that creating extreme mutations in a life form is absolutely forbidden.

At first, Sam didn't pay much mind to it. But when he studied the concept of mutation, alteration, and evolution, he understood why it was 'forbidden.'

You see, a species experiences mutations in its biological makeup naturally. And because it happens naturally, it's not dangerous.

However, Sam possesses an ability that rejects the very concept of 'natural.'

The mutations he performs on life forms aren't natural. And that's precisely why it's forbidden to cause extreme mutation.

Why, you may ask?

Well, what if he, by accident, creates a monster that he can't control?

When a mutation happens, the biological makeup of a life form changes.

To use his ability on someone, Sam needs to know their basic biological makeup.

What if Sam causes a mutation that changes the specimen down to its biological construct? Sam wouldn't be able to control it because he wouldn't know its biology.

And it's not like Sam can control the mutations. After all, he's a human.

A single mutation can sometimes lead to several other mutations, dormant or active. There's no way he would be able to predict all of them.

That's the reason why Sam needed a dragon's corpse to study its biology.

When he caused mutations in reptiles, he needed to know exactly what to do in order to evolve them into dragons, or else they could've become something else entirely.

So causing extreme mutations in a specimen was prohibited because there was no way to know what the end result would be.

It could be a monstrosity or nothing at all.

However, in the face of certain death, Sam's survival instincts kicked in.

He thought about altering his body and causing a mutation. But it wouldn't be random.

Sam needed strength to beat Starsuper. When Sam thought of the word 'strength,' only one thing came to his mind….

Dragons.

They were the epitome of strength!

Simply less than fifty of them overpowered Starsuper to the point where the latter was huffing and puffing for breath.

Sam needed that kind of strength.

No, that wouldn't be enough.

He needed a strength that could exceed that!

If fifty dragons weren't enough, then he needed the strength of one hundred— No, one thousand dragons!

(Sam! Don't do that!)

The voice in Sam's mind tried to stop him, but it was already too late.

Sam knew he was about to die anyway, but he wouldn't go down without a fight!

Causing such an extreme mutation, that too on this level and in such a short amount of time was probably going to be very dangerous.

If not from Starsuper's punch, then he would probably lose his life by doing something he couldn't undo, but he was ready to take his chances!

It was do or die, and the Progenitor was surely not going to buckle up and die without a fight!

Right when Starsuper thought his victory was certain.

Right when Starsuper's punch was about to connect.

Right when Starsuper was about to avenge all his fallen comrades, it happened.

Just an inch.

His fist was just an inch away from Sam's face when the black-haired body's body exuded a bright violet glow.

Following it was a bright flash of violet light, almost as if a huge bolt of violet lightning had been summoned in space.

Starsuper had to squint his eyes when bright violet light fell on his pupils before a huge silent explosion occurred with Sam's body at its epicenter.

-Swooooosh!

A majestic tidal wave of violet energy surged in all directions from the epicenter, sweeping Starsuper a few hundred miles back from the force.

Confused, Starsuper regained his balance after getting swept away by the tide of violet energy surging from the center of the explosion.

What could possibly be strong enough to push Starsuper such a long distance back when he utilizes 70% of his full strength?!

He narrowed his eyes and looked where the bright flash of violet lightning fell to find his answer.

And when he did so, he felt the color draining from his face. Black lines appeared on Starsuper's forehead, and his eyes shot wide as a sheer sense of terror sank in.

This time, it was Starsuper who had a look of dread on his face.

At first, all he saw were massive obsidian shards like scales.

He had to bend his neck all the way back to see the horror that he was going to face.

A huge dragon, slightly bigger than that of the size of the moon.

It was a dragon clad in obsidian scales. Bat-like wings were attached to its back while long, sharp spikes ran down from its head to tail.

A pair of large obsidian horns protruded from the side of its head and curved sideways like a crown. Sharp spikes-like nails adored its claw and hindlegs.

To describe it big would be an understatement. And even though its very existence spelled death and destruction, it carried a sense of unnatural allure.

It still had its eyes closed.

Still, the sheer size of the thing was utterly ridiculous!

'Did he turn himself into a dragon? Is that even possible?!' Starsuper thought.

Of course, it wasn't possible. Doing such a thing was against the rules of nature itself! It was akin to a human being able to breathe in water.

Yet, here it was.

Without thinking anything, Starsuper pulled back his fist. The dragon still had its eyes closed; Starsuper couldn't wait out this chance to attack!

However, before he could even swing his fist, the dragon opened its eyes.

A mere glance of the mighty god-like creature induced fear into the very being of Starsuper.

He felt like he could die just by the dragon's stare!

How long had it been since Starsuper felt the threat of death? No, the real question was, had he ever felt the threat of death before?!

Starsuper shook his head.

'No, I can't falter!' he told himself.

Yes, with his full strength, there was nothing that could stop him!

With such delusions in mind, Starsuper pulled back his arm again.

'Initiate Overdrive at 100%!' he yelled in his mind.

[Setting Overdrive at 100%

Reconfirmation required. Are you sure?]

'Yes!' Starsuper clicked his tongue. He had no time for this. He knew doing this would probably leave some everlasting damage on his body, but he had no choice.

He had a lingering feeling that anything less than 100% of his strength wouldn't be enough to take down this monstrosity.

A golden screen appeared in front of Starsuper.

[Overdrive… 100%]

[It's suggested to carry out with precautions and turn off overdrive after 10 minutes of use.]

'Yeah, yeah, no need to tell me twice!' with all his strength backed up in his right arm, Starsuper clenched his jaw.

Golden aura accumulated in Starsuper's right hand. It kept on growing bigger and brighter until it looked like he was holding a mini sun in his hand.

Using his full power while being so close to earth wouldn't be very safe, but Starsuper made sure to direct all his force opposite from the blue planet.

After all, all this time, he had been fighting while keeping earth on his back so that his shockwave wouldn't hit it by misfire.

'Die, you bastard!' After letting out a curse for Sam that he would never hear, Starsuper swung his fist with every ounce of his strength.