#108
Rolling Pumpkin (3)
[Kuuuuuuu——!]
The dragon’s roar echoes again from within the mountains.
Harley and Heinz frowned at the sound of the spiritual pressure suppressing the existence of the lower being.
Of course, it didn’t have much effect on them, but this sound that stimulated their instincts was still annoying.
‘Was there a dragon nesting around here?’
To begin with, it was the foot of the vast northern mountain range, so it wouldn’t have been strange if a dragon or two had been trapped there…
What was important now was not that fact.
‘A being as big as a dragon was consumed by madness like this?’
Because the roaring sound I’ve been hearing since earlier was just not normal.
Just like Entrasio, who had become an undead bone dragon and whose voice was filled with the aura of death, there was now an aura of madness emanating from him.
‘It’s clear that this isn’t a normal situation.’
Although monsters are said to be susceptible to madness, dragons should be considered more intelligent than monsters.
It was also a life form with the highest intelligence and abilities among all the races of Outerica···.
Crunch! Crunch!
Even as Harley diligently chewed and swallowed the magic stone, her head was spinning as she analyzed the situation.
‘Anyway. That rare dragon was here, and it’s not in good condition right now?’
Their numbers were already small, but after the two Immortal King incidents, their numbers had decreased even further, and now they were practically an endangered species.
The Immortal King, who sought to cover the continent with death, was a threatening enemy even to the dragons, and naturally, they joined forces with the Continental Union to fight against the Immortal Army.
And the first Immortal King focused on thoroughly hunting down the dragons that would become the biggest obstacle to conquering the continent.
Even if it meant being pushed back on other fronts, the top priority was to reduce their numbers.
Thanks to this, the Continental Alliance was able to not only hold the front line, but also defeat the Immortal King, but the damage to the dragons had become irreparable.
The second Immortal King born in that situation was like driving a wedge in, and after that, dragons were not easily seen on the Aeon Continent.
Even if they existed, I thought they would only be seen in places where wars were fought and in the far eastern regions.
‘If you look at their nature, they wouldn’t easily become corrupt.’
With so many sacrifices, why is Entrasio the only undead dragon inherited by Hans right now?
‘Because of that lofty pride, if it seemed like it was going to be captured by the Immortal King, it would be common for it to blow itself up without leaving a single bone behind. Even if it got its hands on a corpse, it would be difficult to turn it into an undead because of its strong rejection reaction.’
It was vivid information from the parties involved, obtained through information from the previous generation that was passed down to Hans.
Even if it was somehow revived as an undead, other dragons would rush in and destroy it.
It could be said that they were a stubborn race that did not tolerate corruption, not even of themselves or their own kind.
‘It was a very lucky thing that Entrasio fell into Hans’ hands.’
But does it make sense that such a dragon would be consumed by madness that was so widespread across the continent that it had little effect on humans?
I still don’t understand it…
“Actually, whatever happens, it’s a good thing.”
“Hahaha! A dragon! What the heck is this?”
Heinz raised the corners of his mouth with a cold face, and Harley, who had eaten all the magic stones, jumped up from his seat and burst into laughter.
Yes, in fact, you should have checked the details yourself to find out.
“What does dragon meat taste like!”
An excited Harley raced towards where he sensed the bastard’s presence.
Perhaps because he had just filled up on energy, his steps were incredibly light.
“If it’s Dragon Blood, then I can eat it as long as I remove the madness. It would be a decent nutritious food.”
Heinz, who was looking at Harley’s back, lightly adjusted his uniform and disappeared from that place.
Naturally, his destination is also the source of the roar.
It was where the dragon was.
***
-It hurts, it’s painful, why am I like this, let’s kill him!
-It’s because of him. Who is he? Incompetent humans, stupid elves, smelly dwarves! And… I think there was another one?
-You’re injured, so you need to recover. To recover, you need to eat well. So let’s eat. Let’s eat a lot!
[Koooooooo——!]
The red dragon Heratos let out a roar in a dazed state as the noise rang loudly in his head.
Then I felt good again, as if I was intoxicated by something.
As I felt better, I felt a desire to enjoy it more.
For some reason, my body, which had been recovering for a long time, was recovering rapidly, and I felt like I could now go out as much as I wanted.
‘Good, very good. I recovered faster than I thought. This body is truly great!’
Heratos was a dragon who was badly injured in a war with the Second Immortal King three hundred years ago.
Unlike the first time he was young and could not participate in the war, the battles he experienced were easier than he thought.
The continentals and dragons weren’t stupid, and it was only natural that they responded more efficiently than before through various preparations.
Even though the entire western region was lost and one empire was destroyed, it was still a great achievement compared to the first.
···It would have been better if he hadn’t been so intoxicated by his own performance that he let his guard down.
‘But where is this place… Ah! This is the place I made. But why did I make it?’
As a result, Heratos fell into a trap while fighting the Immortal Army and was seriously injured in the process.
It was fortunate that he survived the great war where countless strong men were dying without mercy, but the injuries he suffered were so serious that they could never be dismissed as such.
Deep wounds appeared all over its gigantic body, and the abyssal aura of death seeped through them.
Heratos, who was facing death due to a mortal curse that no healing magic or sacred law could work on…
The last bit of luck came.
At that time, the subject of the curse that had been eating away at his body, the Immortal King, was defeated by the Death Squad.
Because of this, he, who was on the verge of death, was able to recover, but since he was still in critical condition, he used the most certain means to recover.
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‘Ah—? What was I thinking? Yeah, that’s right. I was just about to get out of here. I’m hungry, so I’m going to have a big meal for the first time in a while.’
They settled down on one side of the northern mountain range where monsters were rampant, set up all kinds of barriers for safety, and began preparing for hibernation.
A dragon’s hibernation lasts for hundreds of years, and there is no better way to achieve this as the body’s growth and regenerative powers are extremely active during this time.
It was truly a life-threatening task to set up all those barriers with my injured body, but I was able to complete it by using all the magical tools I had been saving up and even my own blood as a medium.
However, after his last stroke of luck, misfortune befell him—.
In order to maximize recovery power, he gathered energy from the surroundings and also installed a barrier to lure monsters and suck their life force.
How could he have known?
Who would have thought that the abyss would open again, spreading ‘madness’ throughout the world and accumulating it in the bodies of the monsters swarming in his domain?
Of course, the barrier was equipped with defenses against all kinds of abnormal situations, but there was no way it could deal with the madness of the abyss.
As his body fell into a defenseless sleep, madness continued to build up, eventually reaching the point where it completely contaminated his brain.
[Kuuuuuuu——!]
Flutter—! Flutter—!
Heratos, who had escaped from the nest he had made, flapped his wings roughly.
The body had already been completely recovered.
Not only had he been hibernating for quite some time, but the amount of madness accumulated in his body was by no means small.
‘Ahh— this refreshing air. But it’s a bit disappointing. It would be nice if there was just a bit more of a smell of blood. The smell of burning is also nice.’
His mind, completely consumed by madness, made leaps and bounds without him even realizing it, reaching absurd conclusions.
‘···Yeah. There seems to be a human city nearby. I guess I can just shoot a breath shot at it!’
Then, it seemed like I could enjoy my meal while savoring the smell of burning food and the sound of screams at the same time.
Also, if you chew the food raw, you can savor the scent of blood as well.
Heratos, a dragon, could survive by absorbing mana and did not need to eat anything, but that fact was already out of his mind.
Consumed by madness, he didn’t even glance at the monsters scattered around the area, and instead measured the distance to where there would be many humans.
‘Then, let’s go… okay?’
At that moment.
He felt something stimulating his senses.
A being that approaches at high speed, making a loud noise, and radiates explosive life force from its entire body.
‘···Human? No, is it really human? And there was another one. I almost missed it. Is this a vampire?’
Gulp—
As he recognized them, drool flowed from his huge mouth.
Both eyes were already bloodshot and he could not feel a single shred of reason, but Heratos did not feel the slightest abnormality in his condition.
just.
‘First, should we try those as appetizers…?’
I was just ruled by a sudden surge of appetite.
“Hahahaha! It’s a real living dragon! Wow, this is a first!”
“He’s completely consumed by madness. You can’t expect him to be rational. The question is how he was strengthened.”
The phantoms and vampires that arrived in front of Heratos in an instant calmly observed him and gave their own comments, but he did not respond in any way.
I didn’t care one bit what the groceries were saying.
‘Should I start with that juicy looking one? It looks delicious, bursting with life with every bite. Vampires would also be quite the delicacy.’
That worry was short-lived.
At one moment, a flash of light appeared in his head.
‘Huh? Why am I doing this?’
His brilliant mind sensed something odd in his actions.
And the brain that had been consumed by madness began to think logically again.
Why was he just standing there and watching them?
in result.
[Crash——!]
He opened his mouth wide and flew towards them.
‘Yeah! Just eat them both at once!’
There was no need to worry in the first place!
I was planning on having a proper meal in the human city, so for now I’ll just eat it in one bite and go on my way.
In that way, Heratos, with his greatly enhanced physical abilities, tore apart the space they were in in the blink of an eye···.
“Whoop—!”
Phew— Kwaaang—!
Harley, who was already in a fighting stance, easily dodged the spot, then swollen up and lifted the giant head with his right hand and struck it down.
[Crunch——?]
Heratos was momentarily taken aback by the sudden shock, but a dark shadow silently descended on the bridge of his nose.
“illustration.”
Shhh— shhh!
Sharp streams of blood shot out from his hands and instantly cut through those huge eyes.
Heratos covered his eyelids with incredible reaction speed, but how could Heinz’s attack be blocked by such thin skin?
My eyelids were cut and blood spurted out from both eyes.
[Kuaaaaaa——!]
Was it pain or was it anger?
With the dragon’s rough roar, his eyes tightly shut with blood streaming down, a huge magical power exploded around him, creating a shockwave that distorted the surrounding space.
Heinz, who had momentarily stepped back from the attack, hesitated for a moment before rushing at the bastard again.
“···It’s already recovered.”
Heratos’ eyes, which had suddenly opened and were burning red, were completely intact, without a single scratch.
‘I felt like the attack was a bit shallow because of my eyelids.’
The bastard’s reaction speed and the durability of his leather were beyond imagination.
And if you think about that incredible resilience and the destructive power inflicted by that overwhelmingly large body…
“Hahaha! This will be hard for the two of us.”
Of course, Heinz and Harley won’t be taken advantage of by him.
Their physical specs are also absolutely unimaginable, and it looks like that dragon’s physical abilities have skyrocketed due to madness, but its magical abilities have actually deteriorated.
In addition, contrary to its reputation as a dragon, it showed no intelligence at all and simply appeared like a giant lizard that was true to its instincts.
‘But if a lizard of that size has that kind of regenerative power… even beating it a hundred times would be useless.’
You will be trapped in a never-ending, infinite loop.
‘No, unlike us who have limited energy, dragons can recover by absorbing the energy around them.’
In the end, there will be no other ending than them backing down.
They were not very compatible with those giant lizards.
If only I had overwhelming power, I could ignore even that…
True Blood Vampire Heinz II and Savage Warrior Harley were not yet at that level.
‘Well then, I guess there’s nothing I can do.’
If it doesn’t work, what can I do?
There is no choice but to bring in an opponent of that level.
and.
Darkness suddenly gathered at one point in the sky.
Gooooo—
The darkness that had sucked in all light as if a hole had been made in the sky finally disappeared after calling out to it a single being.
At the same time···.
Even though the sun was brightly shining, the brightness of the world suddenly went down as if a filter had been applied.
[Kuhhhhh— A dragon steeped in madness. This looks like it would make good material!]
A disaster that pushed dragons to the brink of extinction.
He descended there.
