#110
Dragon King Hunt (2)
As the Bone Dragon cracked and shattered while continuously regenerating and clinging on, the Undead King frantically unleashed spells, beating it senseless.
The Vampire aimed for weak points like the wing joints, while a peculiar being… no, a parasite of sorts, was busy causing chaos.
Kiyaaah——!
Feeling overwhelmed by frustration and anger, Heratos twisted his body again, unleashing his magical power with all his might.
Gooo—!
The hostile mana poured out like a raging torrent, and the closer one got, the more destructive it became, forcing them to distance themselves from him to minimize damage.
Heinz, who had been slicing into the Bone Dragon’s flesh using his sharp blood, pulled himself away without hesitation…
“Whoa!”
Puwuk—!
Harley, who had no intention of falling from this prime position, endured the force trying to push him away, turning his claws and feet into hooks to dig into the creature’s wounds.
Pududuk—Sizzle!
The tremendous pressure infused with mana erupted from the center of the creature’s body.
Despite having evolved many times, his body had previously sustained minimal damage, yet it began to tear apart and twist.
Even though he would recover through Regeneration, a significant amount of energy was still required. However, Harley, bleeding from every part of his body, laughed heartily without a care.
“Woohohoho! With the best nutrient right in front of me, these minor wounds are nothing!”
To maximize Physical Transformation, his mouth split wide like a snake, with jagged teeth densely packed inside.
Kwazik! Kwasijik!
Ignoring his breaking body, Harley busily moved his mouth, feasting on the dragon’s blood and flesh.
Those exquisite ingredients were absorbed into his body with the power of Monstrous Eating, transforming into immense energy, further enhancing his regeneration of his broken body.
And as this act continued…
The entity meets the conditions and grows. Skill Monstrous Eating evolves into the special skill Devour.
Finally, the Monstrous Eating skill transcended its limits and evolved.
‘Well, it was only natural after devouring so much dragon blood and flesh.’
To evolve a skill, there were prerequisites beyond mere proficiency, requiring an ‘offering’ unique to each.
To cling onto such a formidable Bone Dragon and consume its flesh while still alive was already an exceptional feat in itself.
On top of that, the experience accumulated from constantly using his monstrous physique would not be insignificant.
Seizing the moment when the torrent of mana emanating from the Bone Dragon halted, he sneaked a peek at the information on his newly acquired skill.
Monstrous Eating assisted in absorbing difficult-to-digest substances, allowing him to consume a larger quantity more quickly.
For one to maintain their combat ability, a tremendous amount of energy was essential, making this skill vital for him.
However, the newly evolved Devour was on an entirely different level.
‘This will definitely create some serious synergy with Harley!’
His gaze fell upon the scales of the Bone Dragon, which were beginning to regrow from its wounds.
Until now, he had only plucked them out and taken the flesh…
Zzeuh—
This time, he opened his mouth wide and simply bit down.
Crack!
The already solid scales of the dragon grew even tougher under the influence of Madness, making even Heinz II, whose abilities surpassed Trueblood, exert all his strength to break them.
Kwasijik! Kwazik!
Yet, they could not withstand Harley’s teeth for long, shattering like glass.
Given the act of biting and chewing, Devour’s strong bonuses came into play.
As he consumed a part of the Bone Dragon, something flowing within its body was also torn away.
‘What’s this?’
The effect was immediately visible to his eyes.
Unlike before, the regeneration of the area he had bitten into was significantly slowed.
‘This is impressive!’
It wasn’t merely an improvement in his ability to consume.
‘Did I just gain access to the very concepts that belong to Devour?’
In simple terms, he had just wholly devoured not only the flesh of Heratos but also the ‘Regeneration’ and ‘Madness’ intertwined with that area.
‘It seems the effect isn’t perfect yet due to my current level and proficiency… but this much is sufficient for now.’
Moreover, the meaning of ‘truly eating and digesting’ for him was not simple.
Using Mutation to engrain this new information and then applying Physical Transformation—
A deep blood-red scale sprouted from one of his arms.
‘…A scale from the Bone Dragon.’
To create horns, one would need to consume the target’s horn. To create a tail, one would need to eat the tail, and scales were no exception.
The reason he hadn’t before was that consuming the core stone containing all the genetic information would naturally solve the problem.
‘If it had been before, I wouldn’t have been able to produce scales until after eating the Dragon Heart.’
No matter how great Monstrous Eating was, it hadn’t been powerful enough to fully digest a dragon’s scale, so it was natural.
‘It’s not yet perfect. Still, for one scale, the absorption efficiency seems significant.’
While he had been chewing through the dragon’s body, continually evolving, the efficiency hadn’t been as high compared to the core stone.
Yet, seeing the completeness of the scale he had just absorbed hinted that the absorption rate had increased by several folds.
His thoughts delved deeper.
Harley’s Mutation was designed with the aim of collecting diverse genes and becoming a fully evolved being.
This was a miraculous product created using the blood of dragons existing in other worlds, entirely different from the dragons of this realm.
In Auterica, dragons were the closest beings to the peak of living organisms.
Moreover, this Bone Dragon had achieved body evolution beyond the limits of its individual due to being consumed by Madness…
‘Putting aside the penalties attached for now.’
This body was no ordinary one, and Harley would be able to withstand this much, thanks to that.
“Sss— I’m salivating. Kheukheuk!*”
Of course, devouring the dragon’s heart wouldn’t mean he could become a dragon completely.
Even if the efficiency increased, some losses were inevitable.
But right now, what mattered was that…
The heart of the Bone Dragon was right next to him, bringing Harley closer to completeness.
Just then, he gained the capability to grasp it.
“Kahahat! Let’s see where that heart of yours is!”
Excited, Harley bit down again on the wounds of the Bone Dragon.
With the power of Devour, after moving his jaw a few times, the flesh he touched collapsed and flowed down his throat to be absorbed.
Kwadeuk! Kwaduduk!
He burrowed into the dragon’s wounds, devouring its blood and flesh as if digging a tunnel.
Normally, the wound would rapidly regenerate, preventing external intrusion…
But with its regeneration suppressed, nothing could hold him back now.
*
Kyarrggh——?
Hans, entangled in the black chains he summoned, felt something odd while wrestling with the Bone Dragon, Heratos, and observed his chest area.
A strange humanoid had been gnawing at him like a bug, but he had merely monitored, relying on his solid body and near-infinite regeneration.
Yet…
Once again, the pain surged, and something flowing within him was being ripped away.
Kiyaaah——?!
The blood flowing from the wound, and the regeneration speed was significantly slower than before.
The parasite hanging on his chest was slowly burrowing inside him, heading toward his heart.
Instinctively sensing danger, the Bone Dragon twisted his body fiercely, but Hans wouldn’t allow that.
Kuoooh——!
To hinder the Bone Dragon’s attempts to scrape out his chest, Entrasio dove in and embraced it.
In the midst of the fierce embrace between the two corrupted dragons, Harley’s lower half was wriggling, burrowing into the creature’s body through the ribs of the Bone Dragon.
Kheukheuk— Just stay still. It’ll be over soon. I feel so good knowing it’s my masterpiece that’s being completed.
Hans, who could be considered the creator of Harley, proudly proclaimed while casting another binding spell on the creature.
Though subduing a dragon enmeshed in madness was quite a task for him too, he felt a sense of fulfillment.
Kyaaah!
Perhaps driven by the threat to its life, Heratos began to vibrate like crazy, more frenzied than ever before.
In response, the surrounding madness surged, further strengthening his body.
Pududuk! Pududuk!
Muscles swelled, blood-red mana blazed fiercely.
The Bone Dragon Heratos bit and clawed at Entrasio, twisting its entire body.
Simultaneously, it tightened its muscles to kill the parasite burrowing into its heart, risking injury to his own body, pouring dense mana directly into his body, yet…
It was still burrowing deeper, little by little.
Kwaaan! Kwadeuk!
Realizing that removing the parasite was proving difficult, the struggles of the Bone Dragon intensified.
Entrasio solely focused on clinging to him, pouring all his mana into defense and restoration.
As a result, he could put up minimal resistance, but he was steadily being broken down. Yet the Bone Dragon was in an even more urgent situation.
Huuuuup——
So desperate that it showed signs of wanting to use its breath.
But.
“Planning on using your breath from this close? Seems you truly can’t see what’s right in front of you.”
Right beneath its jaw, Heinz II was already waiting.
With a full setup, including Concealment and Transparency.
“I feel like I haven’t had much of an impact until now. No matter how much it’s a dragon, I can’t let this end without adding some flair to it.”
He grasped the enormous blood sword that shimmered crimson in his hand.
Having amassed all the leftover blood he collected over time for the use of Refined Blood Essence, the sword was now filled with Heinz’s vampiric power, evolved to its limit thanks to Hybrid Evolution —
This was the ultimate medium from which he could draw out the effects of Blood Mystery to the extreme.
It seems he hasn’t worried about me at all. Is it because he’s too distracted or because he thinks it won’t matter as long as I’m left alone like before?
Considering the creature’s sense perception, Heinz thought that even the level of Concealment could be easily seen through if it just paid a little attention.
In this situation, it only showed its intent to contain Hans and Entrasio. It didn’t even glance his way.
Regardless of which it was, regret would surely follow.
The blood-red glow of his eyes perceived the flow of mana fluctuating as it prepared to unleash its breath and insight grasped it.
Though it was impossible to fully penetrate the Bone Dragon’s body due to a gap in power, if intense mana was flowing like this, there was no need for a clear view.
‘There it is.’
As Heinz slowly shifted his sword to his left hip, he gripped it with both hands.
This was the stance of the swordsmanship Heinz learned from Heinrich through Comprehensive Weapon Technique.
‘I could never replicate Rozia’s Holy Swordsmanship, but this is better than nothing.’
Anyway, what he needed to do now didn’t require exceptional swordsmanship.
Just…
———!
Using Acceleration, he swung full force.
In that instant, the blood sword elongated like a whip and sliced through the air sharply—
The tip of his sword, breaking the sound barrier, brushed smoothly past the Bone Dragon’s neck.
And after just a brief moment…
Shiiiaaaaak——!
Guguguguung—!
With the sound of air splitting, a shockwave spread along the path of the sword.
Puhwaahah—!
The giant neck of the Bone Dragon was lopped off halfway, blood pouring down like a waterfall.
Kaheuk——?!
Moreover, the mana that had been gathering to unleash the breath exploded from that very spot.
Of course, the already lethal wound became even more mangled beyond words.
Cough, Kehuk——?!
The Bone Dragon, suffering the most severe damage it had ever faced, staggered, unable to regain its senses.
Yet even at that moment, its wound was rapidly regenerating…
‘To regenerate from a wound this severe? That’s downright grotesque.’
Heinz licked his tongue lightly while recovering as much blood as possible from the use, storing it within.
Of course, even with Enhanced Regeneration, he could manage that much himself, but honestly, such regeneration for that size felt a bit unfair.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter now.’
That’s right, now it didn’t matter whether it regenerated or not.
Harley was finally right in front of that heart.
