Overpowered Awakening: I Became Invincible With A Broken Talent-Chapter 184: The Robed

His unbroken focus remained on the corpses on the ground, so much so that he did not notice the arrival of a newcomer, one who observed his emotional trauma grow with a satisfied grin on its face.

Marlon finally lifted his head from the gory sight and met the mocking looks on the faces of the two Aurax. The dragon-tamed one was mounted atop its bone dragon, while the second squatted comfortably within the heaps of monster corpses beneath its colleague.

The new Aurax carried an unsettling presence, far more ominous than that of the dragon tamer. Simply gazing into its eyes was enough to make one tremble. This particular Aurax was wearing a rough, ragged-looking robe that seemed to have been stitched together from human flesh, stained with dried blood and decorated with tiny, unmistakable body parts such as fingers and eyeballs laid randomly across the robe.

While the Aurax did not resemble an animal in the slightest, it still gave off the impression of a pissed-off, starving feral beast.

"How do you like my presents, huh?"

The Feral Aurax stood up from the heap of corpses as it asked the question, its expression remaining completely unchanged.

The question itself was simple, yet it sent a fit of blind rage surging through Marlon.

He gritted his teeth and, without a single consideration for his own life, blasted toward the Aurax, which appeared totally unfazed by the abruptness of the attack.

Norian’s hands stretched outward, his mouth agape as he attempted to stop him from committing what was clearly tactical suicide, but alas, he was already too late.

Marlon had closed the gap.

Venom Rage automatically activated itself. A pale green energy aura combined with a fiercer, darker one, the two converging together to form a thick, oppressive layer over his body. His body underwent the usual transformation, though far more violent this time. His skin turned a rotten green, his hair became fully green, and his eyes glowed with a fierce red hue.

Threatening to humans, yet nothing more than a playful gimmick in the eyes of the Aurax.

"DIE!!"

Marlon’s voice echoed violently across the ruined streets as he struck.

His punch carried so much force and so much raw power that it completely cleared the entire heap of corpses around the Aurax, sending massive debris and the remaining nearby buildings flying several meters away.

"Feisty..."

Yet the attack itself was ineffective. The Aurax’s robe did not even react to the violent wind pressure.

Its fist rose casually into the air and caught Marlon’s punch as though it were nothing more than a child’s strike.

"Truly impressive, this one," it commented calmly.

"ABSOLUTE DEATH STRIKE!"

Marlon bellowed, his rage completely blocking out all forms of anguish as his fist remained trapped within the Aurax’s iron-tight grip.

The forbidden energy of death surged outward from his body in a circular wave before swiftly returning to him.

However, as the skill itself described, there was no immediate death when used on targets above S-rank.

Instead, a smoky black tattoo shaped like a skull appeared on the Aurax’s forehead.

It was the mark of death. While it did not kill, it reduced combat power and significantly slowed recovery.

A subtle frown appeared on the Aurax’s face. It raised its free hand and touched the mark on its head, only for a mocking smirk to form shortly after.

"Such a cool title for such a useless skill..." it said as its eyes met Marlon’s raging gaze.

The Aurax lifted its free hand once more. Dozens of monster body parts from afar began to move, forcibly assembling themselves into a crude humanoid shape. Then, without warning, it teleported.

The reassembled corpse, oozing with an ominous aura, appeared directly in front of Marlon.

The corpse raised a finger, and with a single flick—

Marlon’s entire body was sent flying in the opposite direction at an astonishing speed. He covered hundreds of meters in mere seconds, blasting straight through multiple buildings that had the misfortune of still standing.

Dozens of buildings were left devastated along the path of destruction, and finally, Marlon’s momentum came to an end in a rather unfortunate way.

His body was gruesomely stabbed into a gigantic neon signboard atop a small building, a gaping hole torn open in his chest as he hung limply from the signboard.

He coughed out a mouthful of blood as life gradually drained from his body, and after only a few seconds, his vision darkened completely.

Thankfully, the reassembled corpse, which was only at S-rank, was not powerful enough to cause permanent death. He was revived quickly, already sliding off the signboard as his body recovered.

Fortunately, he managed to catch himself using flight before hitting the ground.

Before he could regain himself completely, another devastating explosive sound rang out, drawing his gaze toward a distant location. There, he saw a body being propelled toward him at an unstoppable speed.

He caught a glimpse of red hair.

It was Norian Sterling.

Marlon immediately altered his trajectory and rushed to intercept him. At such a terrifying pace, if Norian were to land on anything blunt or pointy, it would result in instant death.

Marlon arrived just in time. Using every ounce of strength and agility he could muster midair, he pushed Norian downward, halting his momentum and redirecting his flight path toward a much safer trajectory.

However, the cost was immediate.

Marlon absorbed the full remaining momentum and was blasted backward until his body slammed violently into something solid.

It seemed luck was not on his side.

His body crashed into a half-destroyed construction site behind the building. Broken concrete slabs littered the area, and from the shattered ground rose dozens of thick, exposed iron rebars, the kind commonly found in unfinished buildings.

His back struck them at full force.

A horrifying sound echoed through the area as several rebars stabbed straight through his body.

One pierced through his left shoulder and tore out through the front. Another impaled his lower abdomen, ripping through flesh and organs before stopping his body midair. Two more punched through his thigh and side, pinning him against the tangled steel like a lifeless corpse mounted on spikes.

Blood erupted violently, splashing across the concrete and rusted iron.

Marlon’s body jerked uncontrollably as the last remnants of momentum finally died out, leaving him hanging helplessly among the rebars.

Unlike before, his body did not slide off, as the metal bars held him firmly in place.

Yet death did not come.

His Sovereign Crimson Physique forcefully held his body together. Since his heart remained intact this time, he could not die as easily as he had previously.

And the pain was torture beyond the physical.

He gritted his teeth, ignoring the agony and the blood dripping endlessly from his body.

Using the final fragments of his sanity, he summoned a mirror clone unit and left them with a brief message.

Fortunately, the clones possessed flight. They moved instantly. One clone alone was enough to carry out the task. It grabbed the steel rebars and, with a forceful pull, tore Marlon’s body free, ripping away flesh as his body fell slowly toward the ground.

Two other clones flew in and caught him mid-fall.

They landed gently and laid his body on the ground. He was still alive, though barely conscious. His body began recovering painfully, and this led to his final order.

One clone clenched its fist and punched directly into Marlon’s heart area, killing him instantly. All mirror clones vanished at the same time.

[Deathless] activated immediately. The gaping wounds closed, all injuries vanished, and his body returned to a perfect state.

Marlon’s eyes fluttered open, greeted by the harsh glare of the sun.

He lifted his upper body slowly, a hollow expression fixed on his face. He was lying several meters above the ground atop a collapsed building.

From that height, he spotted Norian’s body lying motionless on the ground below, unconscious but alive.

Marlon retracted his gaze and stood up. His expression remained hollow, as though the ability to display emotions had been stripped away from him.

He stared toward the direction where he could still sense the threatening aura of the two Aurax.

A thought urged him to use mirror clones for combat, but another reminded him just how utterly useless both he and an S-rank guardian were before the Aurax. Draven was even worse, reduced to nothing more than a human ping-pong. Using clones that could barely muster C-rank power was not only pointless, but outright stupid.

He made his decision.

He would challenge them again.

He was the only hope left in the current situation.

Marlon blasted into the sky, pushing [Flash] and [Flight] to their highest output.

The two Aurax quickly noticed his approach.

The Feral Aurax grinned happily.

"You weren’t lying. The chosen one truly possesses the power to cheat death."

It spoke to the dragon tamer before turning its gaze back toward Marlon.

"Are you going to play with him first, or do you want me to go first as usual?"

The dragon tamer ignored the Feral Aurax entirely. Its arms remained folded, its expression completely uninterested.

"Hehe, my plaything then."

The Feral Aurax gave a simple nod toward the reassembled corpse standing obediently behind it.

The corpse levitated, and with a deafening sonic boom, it rocketed straight toward Marlon.

It moved at a speed imperceptible to humans, even to guardians.

Marlon did not see it coming. He only saw it disappear, and in the next moment, he found himself waking up buried inside a crack dozens of feet deep. He had already died, and [Deathless] had revived him.

Before he could even move, he heard the sound of the wind crying and once more, darkness claimed him.

....

DEATHSKETCHER HERE:

Guys, how do you see this current arc?