#112 Party Disbandment (1)
A dragon’s corpse was a precious treasure in itself, without a single part that could be discarded.
The quality of the materials was one thing, but because it contained immense mystique, it was a substance favored for all manner of sorcery.
Moreover, dragons were currently on the brink of extinction.
Its value being what it was, they naturally couldn’t help but meticulously gather every last scrap of flesh.
‘That said, I have no intention of selling them anywhere.’
It wasn't as if he urgently needed money right now, and it was always the case that if you held onto such rare items, you would eventually find a use for them.
As for storage, there was Hans, who stood at the pinnacle of magic, so there was no need to worry.
Of course, they weren't merely storing away all the materials.
They had immediately used what was needed right away...
One of those was precisely dragon blood.
Dragon Blood.
It was.
“Hmm... the effects are certainly impressive. I had been feeling a bit stagnant lately.”
Heinz II, who had nourished his body with fine blood for the first time in a while, quietly muttered as he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hand.
Since 「Mixed-Blood Evolution」 was a skill that activated upon consuming a kindred species, his Bloodline Factor hadn't evolved significantly.
However, he could feel that something not indicated by the system—his very caliber—had risen a step through drinking the dragon's blood.
‘It must be because the vampire racial trait, 「Clan of Blood (True Blood)」, has grown.’
All his abilities had grown overall, and the efficiency of techniques that used blood had increased considerably as well.
Though he hadn't yet reached the level of Holy Blood, the experience of drinking the blood of an existence on the level of a dragon must have served as considerable experience.
“As expected, was drinking the blood of a higher-ranked opponent the condition for becoming Holy Blood?”
Thanks to the influence of numerous skills, Heinz possessed far greater power than vampires of the same rank.
Especially thanks to 「Mixed-Blood Evolution」, the Bloodline Factor that served as the foundation of his strength had been on a different dimension from others, yet at some point that growth had stagnated.
‘I had done enough to evolve the Factor, yet lately even when I drank blood, only my total energy seemed to increase; I didn't feel myself growing much stronger.’
Well, Heinz had been living rather peacefully these days.
Even in the most recent fight with the Brocoslack Clan, hadn't he embraced all the True Bloods without drinking their blood in order to fully absorb their forces?
For his original goal, having many useful talents was more advantageous than being strong alone, so he didn't regret it, but...
‘I gained a decent harvest this time too. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future, so there is no need to be swayed by every little gain or loss.’
It should be fine to comfortably enjoy today's achievements.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but his skin seemed to have improved as well; when he lightly brushed his cheek, he felt the same smooth complexion as always.
‘...I can't really tell.’
He lowered his hand slightly and looked at the dragon's corpse being dismantled.
The undead, having had their death energy sealed by Hans to preserve freshness, diligently busied themselves with their tasks.
On that site of fervent labor, contrary to the nature of the work, not a single drop of blood had fallen to the floor.
Naturally, that was the handiwork of the True Blood vampire present here, Heinz II.
‘Though that doesn't mean I drank it all.’
Blood was closely connected to other living tissues, so if he had greedily sucked out every drop, the materials could have spoiled.
In any case, consuming the blood of an entire dragon by himself would be pure greed.
‘No matter how effective Dragon Blood may be, the blood of the same target inevitably diminishes in effect.’
Thanks to that, he had also secured quite a lot of blood for other purposes.
Blood was an important medium for all manner of sorcery, so this would come in handy later.
‘For example... Hali's engraving, for instance.’
Higher-ranking engravings would require materials of a corresponding caliber, wouldn't they?
Though he did wonder if the current Hali even needed such a thing.
-Name: Hali
-Race: Dragonkin (Hybrid)
-Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Clear Mirror Still Water」
-Individual Traits: 「Mutation」, 「Physical Metamorphosis」, 「Bio-Aura」, 「Berserk Beast」, 「Gluttony」, 「Heart of the Mad Dragon」, 「Madness Control」, 「Jewel Eye: Coercion」, 「Super Regeneration」, 「Calcos-Style Combat Engraving」
-Special Notes: Absorbed the 'Heart of the Mad Dragon' containing powerful genetic information, replacing most of his body with draconic materials and undergoing Dragonkin Transformation. He controls the madness within his body centered around his heart and absorbs ambient madness. 'Jewel Eye' combined with the Dragon Eye
to allow him to enforce his will upon others more effectively.
“Krh—.”
In a corner of the site where the dragon was being dismantled.
Hali was crouched like a wounded savage beast, struggling to fully control his body.
‘If the species itself changes... that means this transformation was that significant.’
Even until now, Hali's body couldn't be called purely human.
Born as a test subject from biological experiments, he had all sorts of magical beast and monster genes mixed in.
Since he couldn't be defined as any specific race, it wasn't reflected in his status window, but if one insisted on a race name, ‘Mutation’ would have been the most fitting.
But this time, replacing most of his parts with high-performance dragon genes had affected even his identity.
The label 'Hybrid' was probably attached thanks to the remnants that remained unchanged.
Crunch
— Crunch—!
After devouring the 'Heart of Madness,' his frame, which had surpassed three meters again, began to shrink as it was gradually compressed.
His fangs, claws, and scales slowly retreated into his body, and the process continued for some time until he fully returned to his previous self.
And by the time the dragon's dismantling was more or less complete.
“Huu—.”
Having finally gained complete control over his body, he slowly rose and exhaled deeply.
Whish
— Simultaneously, a gentle breeze rose before him and the bushes swayed.
‘Huh?’
It was a phenomenon caused by the resonance between his overwhelming lung capacity and the 「Heart of the Mad Dragon」.
The wind speed wasn't that fast, yet it was excessive to say it was created by a mere deep breath.
‘As expected of a dragon’s heart. Not only my internal energy, but even the ambient mana moves in resonance with my actions. I'll need some time to get used to this, won't I?’
The Mad Dragon had completely lost its magical abilities but was instead specialized in the primitive use of mana, and Hali had inherited that trait as well.
Even after becoming a dragonkin, he couldn't use magic, but in return, the ambient mana greatly assisted his actions.
‘I'll need to allocate more mental strength and pay attention for a while. If I let my guard down, I'll cause an accident.’
It was a new problem on top of already struggling to properly handle his explosively increased muscular strength.
“Urra-cha-cha—! This is stiff! I'll need to loosen up on the way! Hahaha!”
Hali, who had roughly sorted out the situation, stretched briskly and burst into energetic laughter.
‘How did a journey started to obtain Jaonic's Pickaxe end up flowing all the way here?’
From the Twin-Headed Ogre to the mad dash through the northern mountain range, meeting a dragon and taking it down—truly an adventure more eventful than any other.
‘Though I gained a lot thanks to it, so I have no complaints.’
Not to mention Heinz's growth, which had been stagnant, Hali had truly become a monster.
Even after reducing his body as much as possible with the physics-defying 「Physical Metamorphosis」, his body weight reached the ton-class due to the tremendous density of his compressed flesh.
Considering his height was a mere 2.3 meters, it was an absurdity.
‘I'll need to train to reduce my body weight as much as possible by adjusting ambient energy. At this rate, I won't even be able to enter buildings.’
If the ground was weak, it could collapse, so he had become a body that needed to be careful in everything.
If there was any fortune, it was that the 「Heart of the Mad Dragon」 drew in ambient energy, slightly improving his energy efficiency.
If not for that, he would have had to eat constantly all day just to maintain this body.
“Munch, munch, still feels a bit empty though. I ought to fill my stomach.”
...It was a line from someone who had been eating nonstop until just a moment ago, but it couldn't be helped.
Transforming the body consumed enormous energy, and since his entire body had basically changed, his reserves had fallen considerably.
Wasn't it natural to replenish what was lacking?
‘There's plenty to eat, so no need to save. In the first place, they're all nourishing dishes that help more the more you eat!’
His gaze was already directed at the dragon meat piled up like a mountain on one side, freshly butchered.
“Sss, gulp.”
Swallowing the drool trickling from his mouth, Hali immediately headed there, diligently stockpiling energy into his body like a bear preparing for hibernation.
***With numerous undead mobilized, it didn't take long for the dragon's dismantling to be fully completed.
[Good work, Malcolm.]
Hans nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the byproducts neatly sorted by material—meat, bones, organs, and so on.
[It was nothing...]
Death Wizard Malcolm, who had led the undead in completing the butchering, respectfully bowed his head and stepped back. Hans naturally made his way to the pile of dragon bones and looked them over.
[Hoo
— Marvelous, indeed.]
Simply piling up bones carried such presence that one could feel a certain momentum.
Perhaps because the influence of cells overly activated by madness remained, the skeleton was thick and sturdy, making it an excellent material in itself.
‘Under normal circumstances, it would have been quite tricky due to a dragon's powerful lingering thoughts.’
A dragon's noble spirituality
would not easily accept being turned into an undead even after death.
Therefore, the work required a complicated process of corrupting it over a long time, but...
‘Since it had already fallen to madness, it seems no special preparation is needed. A burden lifted.’
The most bothersome and labor-intensive part was already resolved.
Truly, it was like the ingredients had been prepped and cooked, and all that remained was to warm it up and eat.
‘Of course, perhaps because it was influenced by the abyssal madness, other dark mages would have quite a hard time handling this...’
For Hans, who commanded 'death' stemming from the same abyss, such things posed no problem at all.
‘No need to delay. Shall we begin right away?’
Preparations progressed in rapid succession.
Using 「Forbidden Knowledge」, he set up a dark mana barrier for the ritual, arranged undead to erect a makeshift altar, and even processed some of the dragon's organs to be used as offerings.
The procedure was quite simple compared to the scale of the ritual, but how could the conditions be the same for him, the Undead King, as for an ordinary dark mage?
Thus, once all preparations were complete, the ritual finally began.
At the center of the altar, where numerous undead were regularly positioned to constitute a stable array.
Facing the dragon's remains, Hans slowly reached out his hand.
[Now
— What is your name? Tell me.]
At the same time Hans lightly caressed the pile of bones, the energy of death slowly welled up from the Undead King's Heart located in his chest.
As death silently spread around him, vegetation began to wither, and before long, frost formed everywhere as the temperature dropped below freezing.
[Yes, you are Heratos.]
OOOOO—!
Immense dark mana instantly covered the surroundings and began to resonate with the undead composing the altar.
It gradually permeated the dragon's bones.
[I am the King of the Dead
and the ruler of death; I shall grant you a second life.]
A dragon in life would never have allowed such a thing.
No, how many would choose undeath in the first place?
Let alone allow themselves to be subjugated as a slave by the one who killed them.
[You shall tread the earth of the living once more. Of course, a very small price shall follow.]
But seducing a dead consciousness that retained only fragmentary thoughts and had already fallen was not a difficult task for Hans.
[...Now, I am your master.]
For he was the Undead King who had reached the pinnacle of necromancy.
Hwooooom—
The death and dark mana filling the surroundings were instantly sucked into the dragon's remains.
Space vibrated from the flux of immense energy, and some of the undead comprising the altar crumbled.
Inside the barrier that shook violently.
And from between the grass and trees that had died from the aftermath of the ritual.
[———!]
At last, a new undead opened its eyes.
***“Hahaha! Then shall we be off!”
Hali put away the subspace magic tool filled with dragon meat and began moving south, where the party would be.
“It’s been a while; I should check on Heterosis.”
Heinz II, who had been lightly surveying the surroundings, disappeared from the spot.
After the two departed, what remained in the forest turned to ruin by the battle's aftermath was...
[Krhmm
— Since I've come all this way, shall I look around? I do hope there are plenty of useful ones nearby.]
The Undead King Hans, surrounded by numerous undead, and.
[Kuaaaa——!][Kyaaaa——!]
Nothing but two Bone Dragons.