Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Mad Dragon Hunting (3)
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Just as he began burrowing into the Mad Dragon's body...
Harley realized that this task was far more difficult than he'd anticipated.
He had no issue with holding his breath for extended periods, but the hostile environment itself posed a massive obstacle.
Kududuk!
He endured the crushing pressure of muscles squeezing in from all sides, relentlessly working his jaws to push forward bit by bit.
If he stopped eating even for a moment, he'd be expelled right back out.
'I knew suppressing its regeneration wasn't the whole story, but this is ridiculous, isn't it?'
The areas Harley directly bit into healed at an extremely slowed rate, creating gaps he could exploit. But elsewhere, things were different.
Unable to regenerate damaged sections directly, the beast was multiplying healthy tissue like cancer cells, shoving it forward to fill the voids.
Something only possible for a Mad Dragon, which could no longer be considered a normal lifeform.
Of course, this regeneration was slower than usual, allowing Harley to devour chunks with Gluttony and inch ahead...
'Does it even make sense to inflate and reshape your body like this on a whim? Where's physics? Physics!'
Grumbling inwardly, Harley continued tunneling forward with his massive, freely morphing maw and saw-like teeth.
His body, which had exceeded three meters in length, was now compressed to its slimmest for smoother digging.
And just as he doggedly pressed on, shamelessly voicing his complaints...
Kugung—!
Another shockwave—countless by now—rattled his body.
A high-density mana wave erupted directly from within the Mad Dragon's body, laced with murderous intent as it sought to pulverize him entirely.
Pruduk! Pruk!
This was nothing like the external assaults he'd endured before.
The origin was all around him now, and not just close—the distance was negligible.
The indiscriminate pressure ravaged everything, necrotic enough to decay the surrounding space itself. It could reduce him to a puddle of blood without effort.
In the face of the Mad Dragon's iron will to expel the intruder at any cost, Harley...
Eujik! Eujik!
...simply devoured furiously, regenerating his body.
'It knows it's futile, but it's persistent.'
Though far stronger than the external attacks, the damage he sustained was negligible—much like before.
In other words, minor injuries he could easily recover from.
The reason lay in his altered appearance, specifically his skin.
'These Mad Dragon scales are more effective than I thought. The mana resistance is beyond imagination.'
His mutated maw and hook-like claws remained the same, but now his entire body was densely covered in dark-red scales.
A form no longer remotely human.
Having ingested vast quantities of scales beforehand, these were more refined than his initial attempts.
'Without them, I probably would've had to give up after a short while.'
Thanks to the explosive boost in defense from the Mad Dragon's scales, he'd reached this point with only minor fractures, ruptured vessels, and crushed organs.
Without them, his recovery couldn't keep pace with the destruction, forcing a summon cancellation in near-death state.
'Not anymore.'
Not only had Gluttony's efficiency improved for faster energy intake, but now he could directly absorb the beast's 'regeneration' as well.
With top-grade dragon meat as tonic, these injuries were trivial!
As Harley worked his jaws tirelessly, his body—shattered by prolonged exposure to hostile mana—rapidly mended.
After how many cycles of destruction and regeneration?
It finally reached a critical threshold.
⚔ STATUS UPDATE ⚔ The entity's regenerative power has transcended its limits. Skill Regeneration has evolved into Skill Super Regeneration. By ceaselessly stealing the Mad Dragon's 'regeneration,' Harley's own had finally advanced a step.
'Oh—nice. I expected this, but finally!'
He felt Super Regeneration's effects immediately.
Muscles still constricted from all sides, and mana waves assaulted with desperate fury.
Yet his body healed far faster than before, boosting his progress efficiency.
Kwaduk—Kwaduk!
He couldn't even flash a satisfied grin amid his frantic feasting.
And the good news didn't end there—
'...Finally, I've arrived!'
At last, Harley faced it.
Dokun—! Dokun—!
The Mad Dragon's Heart, throbbing violently.
In truth, the delay was due to its desperate interference; the actual distance wasn't far.
Less than ten minutes had passed.
'That thing.'
Harley gazed at the dragon heart—roughly the size of his own torso...
...more precisely, the crystal fused to one side, emanating a faint red glow.
This was the source of a dragon's power, the ultimate mana stone: the Dragon Heart.
However...
'I half-expected this, but yeah, can't use it as a medium.'
He hadn't fully decided how to handle the Dragon Heart.
Though leaning toward using it for his growth, a new avatar born from it was tempting too.
But seeing it firsthand, he knew instantly.
'...No skill response. The deep madness corruption is the issue, huh?'
This Mad Dragon's Dragon Heart couldn't serve as material for Customizing.
'The internal mana is fully tainted and twisted with madness. Less a Dragon Heart, more the essence of an entirely separate... 'Monster of Madness.'
Oddly, roots of madness spread from it throughout the body, interconnecting.
A far more advanced method than in previous monsters.
'...So it's controlling the whole body's madness centrally via the heart?'
A true dragon, even in madness.
It had devised efficient utilization despite corruption.
Unlike monsters merely fogging their bodies with it, this allowed precise deployment.
'Oh ho, this could be useful.'
Great news for Harley, too.
Everything would be his anyway, right?
Grinning ferociously, he crawled toward the heart, slowly extending a hand.
Dukung—! Dukung—!
Sensing danger, it pulsed even harder.
Simultaneously, horrific mana and madness erupted like a storm.
"Kuhahaha! Quite the tantrum! Be good and become one with me!"
Ignoring the strain, he gaped wide and crunched the corrupted Dragon Heart in one bite.
And at that instant...
The 'madness' permeating Mad Dragon Herathos's body...
...was slowly uprooted and torn away by Gluttony.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ [Krheouk—!]
Kuung—!
The Mad Dragon's body, thrashing wildly even as it regenerated its fatal neck wound, froze mid-motion and collapsed.
The reason was obvious.
Harley, the intruder inside, had devoured its heart.
Its immense vitality prevented instant death, but its life now flickered like a candle in the wind.
And beside the neutralized Mad Dragon...
"Hoo... Now's the time?"
Heinz appeared silently, eyes gleaming at the twitching beast.
Its body-wide madness had been centrally controlled via the heart, which Harley was now draining it through.
Like unearthing sweet potato vines... or slurping long noodles.
Chwaak!
Heinz swung lightly, severing the Mad Dragon's neck as it lay helpless. Blood sprayed anew.
Its weakened defenses allowed a deeper gash than expected.
"Regeneration's... diminished too. Significantly."
But that wasn't the priority now.
A more urgent check was needed.
Heinz carefully dipped a fingertip in dragon blood from the neck wound and brought it to his lips.
"Hm."
Moments later, a satisfied smile curved his mouth.
His fangs had extended, pleased with the premium blood.
'Requires coordination with Harley, but that's trivial.'
The purified blood Heinz drank bore Harley's meticulous touch: he'd filtered it multiple times through the neck wound to supply the cleanest possible.
Of course, even that couldn't fully purge the madness...
"Ptooey."
But for Heinz, beyond True Blood, this impurity was easily filtered—unlike the initial, madness-soaked samples.
[Ah... Aaa—!]
A dying rasp echoed lowly.
Herathos, freed from madness, panted its final breaths, eyes scanning surroundings.
[Why am I... And the Immortal King has revived...? And you all are...]
It retained memories from its madness, babbling in confusion at the situation.
Heinz ignored its final queries, sinking fangs into the nape wound without reply.
'Time to feast properly after so long.'
Having depleted his stored blood reserves, he planned to gorge.
Physical limits meant nothing to him where blood was concerned.
[Ahh... The Immortal King... has returned. What now for this world...?]
Herathos's mutterings faded.
Sorry as Heinz was with death looming, he had no intention of answering.
'Better to shut it up than risk spilling info unwittingly.'
You never knew.
It might revive in another body, reincarnate, or regress through time.
[...Immortal King...]
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Herathos's gaze shifted to Hans, hovering silently overhead, gazing down.
The red dragon's eyes, filled with complex emotions, fixed on Hans...
...until they stilled, breath ceasing quietly while still locked on him.
'Worried about the Immortal King? It had quite the grudge.'
Not incomprehensible, given Hans's first encounter and the historical dragon-Immortal King enmity.
'This Immortal King has no world-ending plans, though. Rest easy.'
If anything, he'd appreciate recognition of his world-saving efforts.
Without his intervention, this Mad Dragon would've ravaged another continent.
[Kuhuhut, the madness sure toughened these bones nicely. Prime material.]
So don't begrudge him taking some bones.
'Oh, and blood, horns, scales...'
Anyway, for good use—surely understandable.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Huu—."
Harley huddled, eyes closed, body scorching hot as white steam billowed ceaselessly.
Muscles swelled and shrank chaotically; bones twisted, flesh tore—sounds unending.
This evolution dwarfed prior ones.
Even just accepting dragon genes would've strained him severely, but wholly absorbing the Mad Dragon's vast madness—far exceeding the Twin Head Ogres'—was inevitable overload.
It sought to devour him, just as it had the dragon.
'Too much to control. ...Time to use the method imprinted in the Dragon Heart.'
He wove the overflowing madness into strands.
Like the Mad Dragon's root-like circuits, Harley meticulously laid pathways through his flesh.
And finally...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity's race grade has changed to 'Draconian (Hybrid).' Acquired Special Skill Mad Dragon’s Heart. ⚙ SKILL EVOLUTION ⚙ The entity has met the conditions and grown. Skill Jewel Eye: Telekinesis has evolved into Special Skill Jewel Eye: Coercion. ⚙ NEW SPECIAL SKILL ⚙ The entity has met the conditions and attained enlightenment. Acquired Special Skill Madness Control. Pruduk! Tuduk!
Shiiik—!
The familiar bodily evolution.
His components—muscles, bones, and all—didn't just improve in quality; their very tier surged dramatically to match.
"Haa—."
As he slowly opened his eyes, red and green glows pierced the darkness, illuminating surroundings.
His vertically slit pupils sharply surveyed the area.
At the site where an ancient dragon had perished after long years.
From within its body, a new Draconian awakened its eyes.