Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: A Windfall Rolls In (2)
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‘They said it was similar to an ogre, right?’
That was the analysis of the monster from those well-versed in such creatures, based on various pieces of information before Harley emerged on the surface.
But they hadn’t been certain due to the many differences, and only now, seeing the beast with his own eyes, did he understand why they’d said that.
“Grroooaaar—!”
Even in the monster-infested northern mountains, ogres were apex predators.
They had tough hides that ordinary spears and swords couldn’t pierce, bones harder than metal yet elastic, and impressive regenerative abilities that healed most wounds quickly as long as they had enough nutrition.
On top of that, their bodies were packed with incredibly dense muscles that served as both weapons and armor, and they possessed acute senses that made hunting effortless. Truly a monster among monsters.
‘Even Harley, who was pretty strong back then, nearly died fighting an ogre.’
Their only real drawback was that maintaining those overwhelming physiques required spending most of their waking hours hunting and eating...
But in the monster-rich northern mountains, that was hardly an issue.
Krunch—!
And right now, Harley was playing a deadly game of tag with an ogre charging through the trees after him.
He glanced back, and his eyes met the beast’s two pairs of red eyes.
“Grrooo—!”
“Kekeke!”
Yes, not one pair, but two.
A height exceeding 6 meters, nearing 7, and a bulk far greater than a typical ogre.
Above all, there were two heads perched on its shoulders.
‘Twin-Headed Ogre...’
Four eyes, dyed red with madness, glared at him unblinkingly, while saliva dripped from two mouths lined with shark-like teeth.
‘I figured higher-ranked species would be more susceptible to madness, but...’
Just like with Harley now, the madness dwelling in a monster’s body accumulated as it was absorbed by predators.
And if this gluttonous ogre had been steadily devouring monsters deep in the mountains until now...
‘On top of that body, two heads affected by the madness?’
Organs like the brain were conduits for the madness embedded in the body.
Two heads meant twice the efficiency compared to other monsters.
Of course, it would consume more energy too, but for a creature that ate all day, it made little difference.
“Kieek!”
Harley twisted his body to dodge the charging monster and kept running.
He’d been luring it deeper into the mountains for about 30 minutes now, and the number of monsters swarming from all directions was steadily increasing.
Krunch—Krunch!
The smaller monsters lunging to grab the sprinting Harley were snatched up by the Twin-Headed Ogre chasing behind him and shoved straight into its mouths.
Like a marathon runner snatching water bottles along the course, it busily crammed them into its two maws with both hands, chewing and swallowing. It almost looked like a scene of pious labor.
“Kreee!”
“Kuheuk!”
If not for the constant screams of the monsters echoing around.
‘It really doesn’t stop eating. Well, this distance should be good enough.’
Harley, who had been maintaining a careful gap while racing through the mountains, gradually slowed and came to a stop.
Of course, he had no intention of just shaking it off.
‘The madness condensed in that single body outweighs everything I’ve accumulated so far. I can’t just let that go to waste!’
The moment he stopped, not only the Twin-Headed Ogre but monsters from all sides began surging toward him, targeting him.
The instinct ingrained in them to hostile toward intelligent beings not fully consumed by madness whipped them into a blind frenzy of murderous intent.
And Harley...
“Huuuuh—.”
In the accelerated flow of thought that slowed time around him, he slowly awakened his madness and drew forth his power.
As every cell in his body activated at once, white steam billowed from his mouth, and heat haze rose from his entire form.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Frenzy of the Beast and other skills activate simultaneously. His eyes ignited—one red, one green.
‘Yeah, who knows when I’ll get another chance like this.’
He’d been diligently absorbing magic stones under the guise of secret shamanic rituals, but that method had its limits.
But look over there.
Countless monsters charging solely at him.
And the vast amounts of ‘madness’ dwelling within them.
Ah! How tantalizing!
If he devoured them all, how much stronger could he become?
Crunch! Crunch!
His muscles twisted and swelled with a deafening noise.
His size surpassed 3 meters, his bloated arms extended with blade-like claws, and his legs morphed into those of a beast, sprouting sharp talons.
Strictly speaking, his previous combat state hadn’t been his full power.
“Kuhahat! This feels amazing! Kahahaha!”
All his senses—eyes, nose, ears—sharpened to the extreme, gathering information from the surroundings, and his gaping maw was now filled with rows of shark teeth.
With Mutation and Body Transformation unleashed to their limits, unrestricted by others’ gazes, he no longer resembled a human at all...
“Kekeke!”
But his combat power had risen to an entirely different level.
Whoosh—Whish—
The two axes strapped to his back detached with a whistle, spinning through the air.
Soon, the green flames blazing in his left eye leaped onto one axe, redirecting it toward the monsters baring their fangs at him.
“A feast fit for a king!”
Thus, the madness surging from his body dominated him completely, completing his battle form.
“Kiek?”
“Grooo—?”
The monsters’ reactions turned strange.
They’d been ready to kill him, eyes rolled back in fury, but now they hesitated, scanning their surroundings...
‘What’s this? Their hostility suddenly vanished? ...No way, are they seeing me as one of their own?’
Even the Twin-Headed Ogre that had been relentlessly pursuing him looked visibly confused.
Sure, it was aggressive enough to eat fellow monsters without hesitation, but chasing one prey this far just for a snack was inefficient.
Harley sorted his thoughts amid his reddened vision and the churning madness in his mind.
‘They must recognize me as fully consumed by madness.’
An unintended outcome, but a valuable discovery.
Using this method, he could now roam freely among monsters, as long as he avoided their food chain.
Of course, right now...
“First strike wins!”
Boom—!
He kicked off the ground and lunged at the Twin-Headed Ogre, now right in front of him.
“Grooong—!”
“Kekeke!”
The beast, which had been watching him calmly, immediately countered the attack.
Once collision occurred, they fought until one died—that was their way.
Thus, the humanoid beast and the massive monster fiercely clashed.
“Hmm, indeed. Quite an interesting place.”
A cold voice echoed from where Harley had stood moments ago.
“Keeek?”
“Grrrk—?”
At the same time, the monsters that had swarmed Harley and were now awkwardly clustered turned their gazes there en masse.
In the midst of the dense, rugged forest stood a man whose attire clashed with the surroundings.
A impeccably ironed black tailcoat, the kind nobility might wear.
Hair slicked back neatly, pale skin, red eyes.
And sharp fangs revealed with a cynical smile.
The new lord of the Brocoslak Clan, the shadow ruler of Talia Kingdom.
Heinz 2nd.
“Grroooaaar—!”
The encircling monsters roared in unison and charged at Heinz.
Even one head of the Twin-Headed Ogre, locked in a life-or-death struggle with Harley, glanced that way briefly—showing just how much his appearance drew their attention.
“Even dyed in madness, a living being is still a living being.”
Yet Heinz muttered calmly as the monsters surrounded and lunged at him.
His right hand slowly rose.
“As long as blood flows in that body, it’s futile struggling.”
His body spun gracefully like a dance...
And his right hand traced a circle around him.
And then.
Shiiiik—Splat!
The bodies of the monsters caught in that trajectory were sliced apart, tumbling to the ground.
Their varying heights meant severed parts differed—necks, waists, legs...
But survival wouldn’t matter.
Not when the area had become a sea of blood.
Mystery of Blood Red, blue, green...
The multicolored blood, freed from its owners’ bodies, was instantly subjugated by Heinz.
Forged by his iron will, it became weapons laden with killing intent.
“Kweeek!”
“Kruheek!”
It ravaged the still-breathing monsters, gradually growing in size.
Blood called to blood, expanding the carnage and claiming more victims.
“Hm...”
An overwhelming sight, yet Heinz only slightly furrowed his brow as he watched.
‘The monsters’ vitality makes them hard to control. And though the resentment in their blood is weak, the madness filling its place is annoying.’
Madness began evaporating the moment the host died, but fresh blood from newly slain monsters still retained a significant amount.
If not for Hybrid Evolution granting him overwhelming blood control, such ruthless slaughter would’ve been impossible.
To beings below a certain level, he was a walking calamity.
Of course, that also meant he struggled against superiors...
“Grooo...”
Slice—
“...Gurk!”
A troll burst through the storm of blood, only for its head to separate and fall.
A jet of ultra-high-pressure blood from Heinz’s fingertip then pulverized its brain and heart simultaneously.
“This level is all the same. Let’s see how these taste... Ptui—!”
He brought a bit of the hunted monster’s blood to his lips, then spat it out immediately.
Blood tainted by madness was utterly vile.
Vampires gained power by draining life force and mana through the ritual of drinking victims’ blood.
Monster blood was already inefficient, filled with warped vitality rather than proper mana, and the added madness contamination made it inedible.
“Tch. As I suspected. No helping it.”
Heinz continued massacring the oncoming monsters, manipulating their blood to extract the magic stones from their hearts and gather them in one spot.
Whish—Thud!
He caught the green-glowing pickaxe ‘Elinne’ flying toward him and stored it in his extradimensional magic tool.
This was one reason he’d come here himself.
‘Heinz had nothing pressing anyway.’
He’d gathered what intel he could, and expanding his influence was going smoothly.
Harley wasn’t suited for mass slaughter, so he’d positioned Heinz as backup in case he got swarmed...
‘I didn’t know fully unleashing madness would prevent monsters from striking first. Still, retrieving the pickaxe was necessary, and we’ve collected plenty of stones now.’
Heinz nodded to himself and turned to watch Harley.
“Kuhahaha! This guy’s tough! Ripping into him feels great!”
“Groooaaang—!”
The Twin-Headed Ogre—no, now a ‘Single-Headed Ogre’—was being torn apart by Harley, who was less than half its height.
In his beast form, he overwhelmed it barehanded, without weapons.
‘Well, Harley’s always been stronger unarmed anyway.’
He’d relied on weapons while blending into civilized society, but his true weapon was his monstrous body.
Stab!
Finally.
His razor-sharp claws pierced the ogre’s chest, and Harley ripped out its heart—magic stone and all.
Crunch! Krunch!
He chewed and swallowed it whole, and madness exceeding all he’d absorbed before surged through him in an instant.
His heart pounded wildly, blood raced, muscles swelled, heat poured from his body...
‘What’s new about that.’
By now, it was familiar.
Ignoring the maddening whispers rattling his skull, Harley reverted to human form, snatched his axes from the air, and re-slung them on his back.
“Uhahat! Feels refreshing after working up a sweat! Time for a snack?”
He plopped down before the pile of small monsters’ magic stones and shoveled handfuls into his mouth.
Crunch! Crumble!
Separate from the madness, the Twin-Headed Ogre had further strengthened his body and improved energy storage efficiency, so he planned to stock up.
But then.
As Harley peacefully consumed his “supplements”...
[KUOOOOOH——!]
A roar laden with immense power erupted from deep within the mountains.
The staggering shockwave rippled outward, shaking the air and vibrating the ambient mana.
The sheer presence in that sound sent chills down his spine, instinctively heightening his tension to the max.
‘This is...?’
Harley and Heinz 2nd’s gazes simultaneously turned toward the source.
The energy felt different, but he’d recently experienced similar resonances often.
Specifically... from Hans, and his subordinate Entrachio.
Which meant the source of this roar was—
‘A dragon?’
The dragon slumbering in the north had awakened.