#111
Mad Dragon Hunt (3)
Just as he began burrowing into the Mad Dragon’s body.
Harley realized that this task was far more difficult than he had expected.
The fact that he could not breathe for a long time posed no problem for him, but this hostile space itself was an enormous obstacle.
Crrrunch!
He endured the pressure of the muscles squeezing in on him from every direction and, without ever stopping the movement of his mouth, forced his way forward bit by bit.
If he stopped eating even for a moment, he would be pushed right back outside.
‘I had guessed that suppressing its regenerative ability wouldn’t be the end of it, but isn’t this going a little too far?’
The areas Harley personally bit into had their recovery speed reduced to an extreme degree, allowing him to create openings, but the other areas were a different story.
When directly regenerating the damaged areas became difficult, the thing began proliferating its intact parts like cancer cells and pushing them in to fill the gaps.
It was only possible because the Mad Dragon could no longer be called an ordinary living creature.
Of course, since that was slower than normal regeneration, he could still advance little by little by devouring its flesh with “Gluttony,” but…
‘Does it make any sense to swell and change your body however you like? Where did the laws of physics go, the laws of physics!’
Grumbling inwardly, Harley continued digging his tunnel with his enormous mouth, which he had transformed at will, and his saw-like teeth.
His body, which had been over three meters tall, had also been compressed to the limit and stretched into a sleek shape to make the excavation easier.
And just as he was diligently moving his body while spouting such shameless complaints—
Rumble—!
A shockwave, he had lost count of how many times it had happened, shook his body.
A dense wave of mana manifested directly inside the Mad Dragon’s body, filled with murderous intent, trying to crush Harley’s entire body.
Crack! Crkk!
This was different from when he had endured it outside.
This time, not only was the point of origin all around him, the distance was not merely “close.”
The terrible pressure, poured out indiscriminately to the point that it necrotized even the surrounding space without regard for its target, was more than enough to turn him into a handful of bloody pulp.
Faced with the Mad Dragon’s will to eliminate the intruder by any means necessary, Harley…
Crunch, crunch!
Simply kept moving his mouth hard and restoring his body.
‘It should know it’s useless. How persistent.’
It was a far stronger attack than what he had experienced outside, but the degree of damage he suffered was not much different from then.
In other words, it was an insignificant injury he could recover from as much as he liked.
The cause lay in his changed appearance—more precisely, in his skin.
‘The Mad Dragon’s scales are even more effective than I thought. Their resistance to mana is beyond imagination.’
His mutated mouth and hook-like fingernails and toenails were the same as before, but now dark-red scales densely covered his entire body as well.
He could no longer be called human by any stretch of the imagination.
Thanks to having consumed a large quantity of scales before entering, they had become even more complete than when he first created them.
‘If not for this, I really think I wouldn’t have lasted long before having to give up.’
Thanks to the dramatic increase in his defense from the Mad Dragon’s scales, he had been able to make it this far with only minor damage, such as his bones shattering, his blood vessels bursting, and his organs being crushed.
Without that, his recovery speed would have failed to keep up with the speed of destruction, and he would eventually have had no choice but to cancel the summon while on the verge of death.
‘Not now, though.’
Not only had the efficiency of “Gluttony” increased, allowing him to secure energy faster, but above all, he could now directly absorb the thing’s “regenerative ability.”
As long as he had dragon meat, the finest of tonics, injuries of this level could be shaken off in no time!
And so, as Harley worked his jaw busily, his body, broken down by prolonged exposure to hostile mana, rapidly recovered.
How many times had destruction and regeneration repeated?
At last, it reached a certain critical point.
《The individual’s recovery ability has surpassed its limits. The skill “Regeneration” evolves into the skill “Super Regeneration.”》
After endlessly plundering the Mad Dragon’s “regenerative ability,” Harley’s regenerative power had finally grown to the next stage.
‘Oh—good. I expected this would happen, but finally!’
He could immediately feel the effect of “Super Regeneration” in his body.
The masses of flesh were still squeezing in from all sides, and the mana waves continued with such intensity that they felt desperate.
But his body recovered far faster than before, and that directly led to an increase in work efficiency.
Crunch—crack!
It was almost a shame that he could not express his joy with a refreshing laugh because he was too busy continuing his act of feeding.
And the good fortune did not end there—
‘…Finally, I’ve arrived!’
At last, Harley was able to face it.
Thump—! Thump—!
The violently pulsating “Mad Dragon’s heart.”
In truth, it had only taken so long because of the thing’s desperate interference; the distance he had traveled itself was not that great.
The time it took had not even reached ten minutes.
‘That is it.’
Harley looked at the dragon’s heart, about the size of his upper body… or more precisely, at the crystal fused into one side of it, emitting a faint red glow.
That was the source of a dragon’s power, and a rare treasure even called the greatest magic stone.
The Dragon Heart.
However…
‘I expected as much, but as I thought, that can’t be used as a medium.’
In truth, he had not made a definite decision on what to do with the Dragon Heart.
The scales had been tipping toward using it for Harley’s growth, but a new avatar born through it as a medium was also extremely appealing.
But once he faced it directly and confirmed it with his own eyes, he knew at once.
‘…The skill isn’t responding. Is the problem that it’s been contaminated by the madness of the Abyss after all?’
This Mad Dragon’s Dragon Heart could not be used as an offering for “Customization.”
‘The mana inside has been completely tangled up with madness and transformed. This is less a Dragon Heart and more the essence of something entirely different… an independent “monster of madness.”’
On top of that, by some strange mechanism, the madness dwelling throughout its entire body was connected to it as though roots had spread out from that core.
It was a far more advanced method than anything he had seen in the monsters he had encountered thus far.
‘…I see. It’s controlling the madness throughout its whole body from the center, using the heart as a medium?’
Should he say it was a dragon after all?
Even while encroached upon by madness, it had devised its own method of using it efficiently.
Unlike monsters that merely spread it through their bodies like fog, this method would allow madness to be injected where it was needed, when it was needed.
‘Oho, this looks quite useful.’
And that was not bad news for Harley either.
After all, it would all become his.
Harley smiled fiercely as he crawled toward the heart and slowly reached out his hand.
Thump—! Thump—!
Perhaps sensing the crisis, the heart began beating even more violently.
At the same time, horrible mana and madness mixed together and erupted like a storm, but—
“Khahahaha! What a fussy little tantrum! Quietly become one with this body!”
Ignoring the burden placed on his body, he opened his mouth wide and bit into the transformed Dragon Heart in one bite.
And at that very moment.
The “madness” spread throughout the entire body of Heratos the Mad Dragon…
Was slowly torn away by “Gluttony,” as if being uprooted.
***
[Krghhh——!]
Thud—!
The Mad Dragon’s body, which had been thrashing about even as it recovered from the fatal wound to its neck, suddenly froze and collapsed to the ground.
The reason needed no explanation.
It was only natural, since Harley, who had infiltrated its body, was devouring its heart.
Because its life force was so strong, it did not die instantly, but its life was already no different from a candle before the wind.
And beside the incapacitated Mad Dragon—
“Hooh… This, perhaps now?”
Heinz, who had appeared silently at some point, looked at the creature as it continued to twitch and his eyes gleamed.
The madness contained in its body had been connected to and controlled by the heart, and now Harley was sucking that madness through it.
Like pulling up sweet potato vines… no, like slurping up long noodles.
Slash!
When Heinz’s hand swung lightly, the Mad Dragon’s neck, which lay there unable to resist, was cut, and blood splattered once again.
Because its defense had weakened noticeably compared to before, the wound ended up deeper than expected.
“Its regenerative ability… has decreased as well. Quite considerably.”
But that was not what mattered right now.
There was an urgent matter he needed to confirm.
Heinz carefully dipped his outstretched fingertips into the dragon blood, then brought them to his mouth.
“Hmm.”
And a moment later, a satisfied smile slowly formed on his lips.
At some point, long fangs had protruded from his mouth, pleased by the highest-grade dragon blood.
‘It does require cooperation with Harley, but that much is nothing.’
The purified blood Heinz drank contained Harley’s careful consideration as he controlled the madness at the heart.
He had taken measures to filter the blood going to the wound in the neck several times, supplying blood that was as clean as possible.
Of course, even with such efforts, it was impossible to completely remove the madness, but…
“Ptoo.”
Unless it was completely soaked in madness like at first, this much was merely an impurity that Heinz, who had already surpassed true blood, could easily filter out.
[Ah… aaah—!]
At that moment, a dying voice resounded low.
The dragon Heratos, now freed from madness, breathed faintly and moved only its eyes to sweep over its surroundings.
[Why am I… And the Immortal King has revived…? And just what are all of you…]
Apparently it had not lost its memories from while it was consumed by madness, as the dragon rambled on incoherently, seemingly confused by the current situation.
Even in the face of the final questions shown just before the flame of life went out, Heinz gave no answer and sank his teeth into the wound at the nape of its neck.
‘It’s been a while, so I should eat my fill.’
As it happened, he had also used up a fair amount of the blood he had stored, so he intended to stuff himself to the bursting point this time.
When it came to blood, physical limits meant nothing to him.
[Ahh… The Immortal King… has returned again. What is this world to do now…]
Heratos’s words, muttered to itself, gradually faded.
He felt sorry for it as it faced death, but he still had no intention of answering.
‘If I run my mouth needlessly, information might leak out without me realizing it, so it’s better to keep quiet.’
Who knew?
The thing that was thought dead might revive in another body, be reincarnated, or regress to the past.
[…Immortal King…]
While he was thinking that, Heratos’s gaze turned to Hans, who floated in the sky and silently looked down.
The red dragon sent him a gaze filled with some complicated emotion…
…And with its eyes still fixed on Hans, it soon quietly breathed its last.
‘Concern about the Immortal King, is it? It seems to have a lot of lingering regrets.’
Considering how it had reacted when it first faced Hans, and the relationship between the previous Immortal Kings and dragons, it was not incomprehensible.
‘Still, this generation’s Immortal King has no intention of destroying the world, so please, rest in peace.’
Rather, he hoped it would understand that he was working hard to protect the world.
If he had not been here this time as well, would the Mad Dragon not have grown into another calamity for the continent?
[Khehehe, perhaps because of the influence of madness, its bones are extremely sturdy. These will make good materials.]
So do not feel too wronged if I take some of your bones and use them.
‘Ah, and also its blood, horns, scales, and…’
In any case, he would use them for a good cause, so Heratos would surely understand.
***
“Phew—.”
Harley was curled up with his eyes closed.
His entire body burned hot, and white steam constantly poured out from it.
His muscles swelled and shrank of their own accord, and the sounds of bones twisting and flesh tearing continued without end.
This was on a completely different level from the evolutions he had undergone so far.
Even simply accepting a dragon’s genes would have placed a great burden on his body, so it was only natural, since he had absorbed in full the madness he had stolen wholesale from the Mad Dragon.
That madness, far exceeding the amount that had increased greatly when he hunted the twin-headed ogre, tried to swallow Harley just as it had swallowed the dragon.
‘There’s too much, so controlling it is difficult. …I’ll have to use the method that was imprinted on the Dragon Heart.’
He began weaving together the madness that filled his body, strand by strand.
Just as the Mad Dragon had extended roots throughout its body to control the madness, Harley carefully laid circuits through which the madness would pass within his own flesh.
And at last—
《The individual’s racial value has been changed to “Dragonkin (Hybrid).” You have acquired the special skill “Mad Dragon’s Heart.”》
《The individual has fulfilled the conditions and has grown. The skill “Jewel Eye: Telekinesis” evolves into the special skill “Jewel Eye: Coercion.”》
《The individual has fulfilled the conditions and gained enlightenment. You have acquired the special skill “Madness Control.”》
Crack! Crkk!
Hsssss—!
The evolution of the flesh, which he had already experienced several times.
In accordance with that change, the quality of the elements that made up Harley, such as his muscles and bones… no, their very rank itself, rose sharply.
“Haa—.”
When he slowly opened his eyes, red and green glows burst from the darkness and illuminated the surroundings.
The vertically slit pupils of his two sharp eyes quietly surveyed the area.
The place where a dragon that had lived for long ages had died.
Within that dragon’s body, a new dragonkin finally opened his eyes.