#108
The Pumpkin That Rolled In (3)
[Kwoooor!]
The roar of the Dragon reverberated once more from deep within the mountain range.
With the sound filled with spiritual pressure suppressing existence, Harley and Heinz frowned.
Of course, it didn’t have a huge effect on them, but the instinctive reverberation was still bothersome.
‘Was there a Dragon nesting in this area?’
It was vast land at the foot of the Northern Mountain Range, so having a Dragon tucked away would not be surprising…
But what was important right now was not that fact.
‘A being like a Dragon has been consumed by madness like this?’
The roars it had let out earlier had been anything but normal.
Like Entrasio, which became the Undead Bone Dragon infused with the energy of death, there was a strong air of madness emanating from this one as well.
‘It’s clear that this situation isn’t normal.’
Monsters are easily influenced by madness, but Dragons should be considered sentient beings rather than mere monsters.
And they were the most intelligent beings among all the races of Auterica…
Crack! Crack!
Even while Harley diligently chewed and swallowed magic stones, his mind was frantically analyzing the situation.
‘Anyway. That rare Dragon is here, and its condition is far from good, huh?’
With their already dwindling numbers from the two Undead King incidents, they were now at a state of near extinction.
The Undead King, who sought to cover the continent in death, was a threatening enemy even to Dragons, and naturally, they joined forces with the Continental Alliance to fight the army of the Undead.
And the first Undead King focused on systematically hunting Dragons, which would become the greatest obstacle to his conquest of the continent.
Even if he was losing on another front, his top priority was to reduce their numbers first.
Thanks to that, the Continental Alliance managed to not only maintain the front lines but also defeat the Undead King, but the damage to the Dragons had been irreparably large.
The emergence of the second Undead King after that was much like driving a wedge in, and afterward, Dragons were seldom seen across the Ion continent.
Even when they were, one would expect to find them far in the eastern regions, away from where battles had taken place.
‘Given their tendencies, they wouldn’t easily fall to corruption.’
After so many sacrifices, why would there be only one Undead Dragon, Entrasio, passed down to Hans?
‘It’s said that, due to their noble pride, if they feel they might be captured by the Undead King, they would rather self-destruct without leaving even a bone fragment, and even if a corpse was obtained, they would reject it so strongly that making it into an Undead was no easy feat.’
This was the vivid information obtained from the predecessors transferred to Hans.
Even if they somehow resurrected as Undead, the other Dragons would rush in to destroy it, no matter what.
They could be considered a stubborn race that would not allow the fall of even their kin.
‘It was extremely lucky that Entrasio came into Hans’ hands.’
And yet such a Dragon, widely spreading madness to the entire continent, had been engulfed without even having a big effect on humans. Was that even possible?
It was still hard to believe…
“Honestly, I don’t care what happened.”
“Haha! A Dragon! What a treat!”
Heinz raised the corners of his mouth with a cold expression, and Harley, having finished all the magic stones, jumped up with excitement.
Yes, in fact, the details would be revealed only upon direct confrontation.
“I wonder what Dragon meat tastes like!”
With excitement, Harley dashed towards the location where he sensed the creature.
Fueled by the magic he had just completely absorbed, his steps were extraordinarily light.
“If it has Dragon Blood, I bet once the madness is removed, it could be eaten. It would make a great health food.”
As Heinz watched Harley’s back, he lightly adjusted his dress and then disappeared from the spot.
Naturally, his destination was also the source of the roar.
Where the Dragon was.
*
-I’m in pain, I’m suffering, why am I like this, let’s just kill!
-It’s that thing! Who the hell is that? Good-for-nothing humans, stupid elves, smelly dwarves! There’s… there’s someone else, right?
-I’m hurt, so I need to recover. To recover, I need to eat well. So let’s eat. Let’s eat a lot!
[Kuoouuu!]
The noise ringing in his head made the Red Dragon, Heratos, let out a roar in a daze.
Suddenly, he felt good as if intoxicated.
Feeling good, the desire to enjoy this a bit more sprang forth.
For some reason, the body that had needed to hibernate for a long time was recovering rapidly, and now it felt like he could freely go outside.
‘Great, really great. I’m recovering faster than expected. Truly, this body is magnificent!’
Heratos was a Dragon who had suffered severe wounds in the war against the second Undead King three hundred years ago.
Unlike being too young to join the first one, the battles he experienced directly were easier than expected.
The inhabitants of the continent, as well as Dragons, weren’t fools and had prepared better than before through various measures.
It’s not that the entire Western region didn’t fall or that an empire wasn’t destroyed, it was just that compared to the first one, this was amazing defense.
…It would have been better if he hadn’t been a bit overly complacent, reveling in his accomplishments.
‘But where is this… Ah! This is the place I made. But why did I make it again?’
As a result, Heratos, who got trapped in a trap while fighting the army of the Undead, suffered serious injuries in the process.
Surviving the great war, where countless strong beings fell, was a stroke of luck, but the injuries he sustained were serious beyond reconciliation.
Deep wounds spread across his giant body, and through those wounds, the energy of death infused with the abyss seeped in.
No healing magic or holy law could work on the fatal curse that brought him to death’s door…
Until his last stroke of luck arrived.
Immediately, the entity behind the curse that gnawed at his body—the Undead King—was killed by the Special Task Force.
This allowed him to escape from the brink of death, but he was still in a precarious situation, so he utilized the most reliable means to recover.
‘Ah…? What was I thinking? Right, I was trying to get out. Since I’m hungry, it’s time to feast!’
He settled in a place swarming with monsters in the Northern Mountain Range, preparing for hibernation while installing various barriers for safety.
Dragon hibernation lasted for hundreds of years, during which the body’s growth and regenerative abilities were triggered to the max—there was no better method.
Installing all those barriers with an injured body had indeed been a struggle, but using all his magical equipment and even his own blood as mediums, he managed to complete it.
However, after the last stroke of luck, calamity struck…
To amplify his recovery to the utmost, he had drawn in energy from the surroundings and set up a barrier that lured monsters to absorb their life force.
How was he to know that another abyss would open, spreading ‘madness’ across the entire world, and gathering that madness in the bodies of the countless monsters surrounding his domain.
Of course, there had been countermeasures for various unusual circumstances built into the barrier, but surely there could be no means of counteracting the madness from the abyss.
Thus, he ultimately fell into hibernation, letting the madness accumulate within him, which eventually completely polluted his mind.
[Kwoooor!]
Flutter—! Flutter—!
Heratos burst out of the nest he had created with a powerful flap of his wings.
His body had already fully recovered.
Having hibernated for quite some time and accumulated a considerable amount of madness, it was only natural.
‘Ah— this fresh air. But it’s a little disappointing. If only there were a bit more blood smell mixed in. The scent of burning would be nice too.’
Totally consumed by madness, his thoughts reached absurd conclusions without his awareness.
‘…Yeah. There should be a human city nearby. Let’s give it a breath attack!’
That way, he could enjoy both the scent of burning and the screams all at once.
As he chomped through the prey, he could surely savor the taste of blood as well.
The Dragon, Heratos, could survive just by absorbing mana, needing no food, but such a fact was no longer on his radar.
Consumed by madness, he didn’t even glance at the monsters lying around his domain, gauging the distance to where humans would likely gather instead.
‘Then, let’s go… huh?’
At that moment.
A presence that stimulated his senses approached quickly, making loud noises and radiating explosive life force.
‘…Human? No, is it really a human? And there’s another one. Almost missed it. Is that a vampire?’
Drip—
Upon recognizing them, saliva flowed from his enormous mouth.
His eyes turned red, devoid of a single shred of rationality, yet Heratos felt no hint of abnormality in his state.
He merely thought.
‘First, should I taste those things as an appetizer…?’
He was simply overwhelmed by the sudden surge of appetite.
“Ha ha ha! It’s a real living Dragon! Wow, I’ve never seen one like this before!”
“He’s completely consumed by madness. I can’t expect any rationality from him. The key will be how he’s been enhanced.”
The quasi-human and vampire who rapidly reached Heratos calmly observed him, sharing their assessments, but he showed no reaction.
Be it what the ingredients said, he not concerned whatsoever.
‘Should I start with that juicy-looking one? It would explode with life force with every bite, right? The vampire would be quite a delicacy as well.’
Just as he was deliberating on this…
Suddenly, a flash flickered in his mind.
‘Huh? Why am I doing this?’
His sharp mind detected a sense of unease in his behavior.
Riddled with madness, his mind began to think logically again.
He wondered why he had been merely watching them quietly.
As a result.
[Kreurgh!]
He opened his mouth wide and threw himself at them.
‘Right! I’ll just eat them both at once!’
There was no need to deliberate!
He had planned to enjoy the feast in the human city, so for now, he could simply swallow them whole and move on.
Thus, Heratos, with heightened bodily abilities, tore apart the space they occupied in the blink of an eye…
“Whoa—!”
Whoosh— Kwah—!
Having been in combat readiness, Harley easily dodged the spot, swinging his huge, inflated hand to smack the gigantic head.
[Grurrrr?]
For a moment, Heratos was taken aback by the sudden impact, and a dark figure silently landed on the bridge of his nose.
“Excuse me.”
Shhh— Swaaaak!
The sharp, blood-red thread shot from his hands, slicing through the giant pupil in an instant.
Heratos, surprised at the tremendous reaction speed, couldn’t even cover his eyes.
The lashes got cut, causing blood to gush from both eyes momentarily.
[Kraaaah!]
Was it pain, or was it rage?
With his bleeding eyes tightly shut, the dragon’s fierce roar shattered the air, and a shockwave of massive magical power erupted from his center.
Heinz, who had momentarily retreated from the attack, was about to rush back towards the creature but hesitated for a moment.
“…He’s already recovered.”
Before long, Heratos had opened his glowing red eyes, miraculously without a single scar.
‘It felt like the attack was a bit shallower due to the eyelids.’
The reaction speed and durability of his hide were beyond his imagination.
Considering the devastating healing ability and overwhelming size, as well as the destruction he could wield…
“Haha! This is going to be tough for both of us!”
Of course, Heinz and Harley wouldn’t be easily defeated by him.
Their physical specifications could not be ignored, and judging by the current situation, it appeared that the Dragon had sacrificed magical capabilities for brute strength due to the madness.
Moreover, surprisingly, he showed no intelligent behavior contrary to the reputation of Dragons, simply behaving like an enormous lizard driven by instinct.
‘But if such a giant lizard possessed that kind of regenerative ability… It would be pointless no matter how much we tried to beat him.’
They would be trapped in an endless cycle.
‘No, unlike us, limited by our energy, the Dragon can absorb energy from the surroundings for his recovery.’
In the end, they had no choice but to retreat.
Their compatibility against such a gigantic lizard was not favorable.
Even if they were to ignore overwhelming strength, they weren’t at that level yet.
‘Then there’s no other way.’
What could be done at that time was to bring in a suitable companion.
And then…
In a certain point in the air, darkness momentarily lumped together.
Hooouu—
As if a hole had been pierced in the sky, the darkness absorbing all light finally called forth a being before disappearing.
And at that moment…
Even though the sun was shining, the brightness of the world dropped as if filtered.
[Khehrh— A Dragon afflicted by madness… this could be a great ingredient!]
The calamity that drove Dragons to the brink of extinction.
It descended upon the scene.
