Chapter 111

Chapter 111
## Chapter 111

## Dragon Hunt (3)

The moment he began tunneling into the flesh of the Mad Dragon, Harley recognized that the undertaking was vastly more demanding than his initial estimations.

His capacity to survive without oxygen for extended durations spared him from suffocation, but the intensely volatile environment within the beast proved to be a massive hurdle.

Crackle!

Resisting the immense constriction of the muscles clamping down on him from every angle, he forged ahead with grim determination, keeping his jaws in constant, rhythmic motion. The slightest pause in his feeding would result in him being forcefully ejected from the wound.

‘I anticipated that neutralizing its cellular regeneration would be difficult, but this is absurd.’

The specific tissue Harley clamped his jaws onto suffered a drastic reduction in its recovery speed, carving out a passage, but the surrounding flesh behaved entirely differently. Because the dragon could no longer mend the targeted wound normally, it attempted to close the gap by rapidly multiplying and forcing healthy tissue forward, behaving much like malignant cells.

It was an extraordinary adaptation unique to the Mad Dragon, an entity that could no longer be classified as a standard living creature.

Naturally, this erratic proliferation was less swift than its standard healing factor, allowing him to gradually carve a path forward by consuming the tissue using “Voracity”…

‘How can an organism alter and expand its physical form so lawlessly? What happened to the fundamental laws of physics?!’

Muttering complaints in his mind, Harley persistently bored a passage using his altered mouth and serrated teeth. His massive frame, exceeding three meters in height, was compressed to its absolute limit to facilitate a more streamlined excavation.

As he diligently worked his way through the flesh, silently voicing his shameless grievances,

Rumble—!

Yet another powerful tremor rippled through the surrounding muscle. A dense wave of concentrated mana, produced directly within the depths of the Mad Dragon, surged outward with lethal intent, attempting to pulverize his entire form.

Crack! Crack!

The nature of this assault was fundamentally different from the shocks he had withstood while remaining outside. This time, the origin point enveloped him entirely, and the proximity was absolute. The terrifying force, unleashed indiscriminately to purge the intruder, possessed more than enough power to reduce him to a crimson slurry.

Faced with the unwavering resolve of the Mad Dragon to eradicate him at any cost, Harley…

Munch, munch!

Simply kept his jaws moving with single-minded focus, systematically mending his own tissue.

‘It must realize these efforts are futile. What a stubborn beast.’

Though the internal strike was significantly more potent than the assaults he had braved on the exterior, the actual harm inflicted remained relatively unchanged. In short, these were minor traumas that his body could easily counteract.

The credit belonged to his altered physiology, specifically the nature of his outermost layer.

‘The scales derived from the Mad Dragon are far more potent than I anticipated. The level of magic resistance is utterly staggering.’

While his modified jaws and curved talons remained identical to their previous states, obsidian-crimson scales now shielded his entire frame. He had completely shed any resemblance to a human being.

Having consumed a massive quantity of scales prior to entering the wound, this defensive layer was far more refined than during its initial manifestation.

‘Had I lacked this defense, I would have been forced to retreat and unsummon myself.’

Aided by the colossal surge in defensive power provided by the Mad Dragon’s scales, he managed to penetrate this deeply while sustaining only manageable trauma, such as fractured bones, ruptured vessels, and compressed internal organs. Without that shielding, his cellular recovery would have fallen behind the rate of internal destruction, forcing him to unsummon his avatar in a state of near-fatal collapse.

‘But the situation has shifted.’

Not only was he processing energy at an accelerated rate due to the heightened output of “Voracity”, but he was now directly integrating the dragon’s own latent ‘regenerative ability’. Fueled by the ultimate nourishment of dragon meat, he could effortlessly dismiss these internal injuries!

As Harley kept his jaw working relentlessly, the tissue that had suffered degradation from prolonged exposure to the volatile mana began to mend at a rapid pace.

Eventually, a definitive threshold was crossed.

《The target’s capacity for recovery has broken past its absolute ceiling. The trait “Regeneration” has ascended into “Super Regeneration”.》

Harley’s healing factor had finally progressed to the next tier through the continuous assimilation of the Mad Dragon’s inherent ‘regenerative ability’.

‘Excellent. I knew this milestone was approaching, but it has finally arrived!’

The immediate impact of “Super Regeneration” rippled through his physical form. Though the surrounding muscle continued to compress him from all sides and the mana pulses detonated without pause…

His tissue reconstructed itself at a significantly higher velocity, directly boosting the speed of his excavation.

Crack— Crunch!

It was somewhat frustrating that he could not voice his satisfaction with a booming laugh, given that his mouth was entirely occupied with consuming the flesh.

Furthermore, the fortunes did not stop there—.

‘…I have finally made it!’

Harley was at last staring directly at his objective.

Thump—! Thump—!

The ‘Mad Dragon’s Heart’ was pulsing with violent, erratic beats.

Though the journey had been protracted by the dragon’s desperate counter-measures, the physical distance covered was quite brief. The entire trek had concluded in under ten minutes.

‘So that is… ’

Harley observed the organ, which matched the dimensions of his own torso… specifically focusing on the crystalline formation embedded into its side, pulsing with a low, crimson radiance.

This was the fountainhead of the creature’s immense power, a relic frequently heralded as the ultimate magical gemstone.

The Dragon Heart.

However…

‘I had a suspicion this might be the case, but I cannot utilize this as a catalyst.’

In truth, he had been undecided regarding the optimal application of the Dragon Heart. While he favored leveraging it to fuel Harley’s personal evolution, the prospect of manifesting a brand-new avatar using the artifact as a base held significant appeal.

Yet, a singular glance in person settled the matter instantly.

‘…The trait remains completely inert. Is it due to the corruption of the deep madness?’

He was incapable of offering this specific Mad Dragon’s Dragon Heart as a component for “Customization”.

‘The internal mana has become entirely intertwined with the madness, altering its core nature. This can no longer be classified as a standard Dragon Heart; it is closer to… the concentrated essence of an entirely separate, autonomous ‘entity of madness’.’

Furthermore, this core was intrinsically tied to the insanity permeating the dragon’s entire physiology, extending outward like a network of spreading roots. It represented a far more sophisticated integration than anything observed in ordinary monsters previously.

‘…Is it regulating the madness across its entire frame from a centralized point, utilizing the cardiac core as the anchor?’

A testament to the nature of a dragon. Even while thoroughly lost to insanity, it had structured a specialized system to wield that very corruption to its advantage.

‘Well, this actually presents a distinct benefit.’

This reality was far from a disadvantage for Harley. In the end, every ounce of it would simply be converted into his own power.

Harley let out a predatory grin and hauled himself toward the pulsing core, reaching out with a clawed hand.

Thump—! Thump—!

The organ began to throb with even greater ferocity, as though recognizing its impending doom. Simultaneously, a tempest of volatile mana and concentrated madness erupted outward, yet…

“Kkahahahat! You certainly put up a fight! Submit quietly and merge with this vessel!”

Paying no heed to the immense strain wracking his frame, he unhinged his jaws and bit directly into the corrupted Dragon Heart.

At that exact moment,

The pervasive ‘madness’ that had saturated the entirety of the Mad Dragon Heratos…

Began to be systematically extracted, pulled loose as if being yanked out by its very foundations, under the overwhelming force of “Voracity”.

—

[Kuhurk—!]

Boom—!

The Mad Dragon, which had been thrashing wildly despite its efforts to mend the grievous injury slicing through its neck, instantly locked up and crashed heavily onto the earth.

The catalyst for this collapse was undeniable. Harley, having infiltrated its internal structure, was systematically consuming its cardiac core, rendering this outcome inevitable. The creature avoided instant expiration solely due to its monumental racial vitality, though its thread of life had worn dangerously thin.

Standing beside the paralyzed form of the Mad Dragon,

“Oh… If the opportunity is now…?”

Heinz, having materialized without a sound, observed the twitching behemoth with gleaming eyes.

The madness binding its physical form was anchored to its heart, and Harley was actively drawing that corruption out through the core. It was akin to unearthing a string of root vegetables… or rather, smoothly consuming an endless strand of noodles.

Whoosh!

With a swift, fluid motion of Heinz’s arm, the Mad Dragon’s throat was fully cleaved, sending a torrent of crimson fluid spraying outward. The blade bit far deeper than his previous strikes, owing to the creature’s drastically compromised defenses.

“Its healing factor… has plummeted as well. Swept away almost entirely.”

Yet, that detail was of secondary importance at this moment. There was a far more pressing matter requiring immediate verification.

Heinz carefully gathered a drop of the dragon’s blood onto his fingertip and touched it to his tongue.

“Hmm.”

A brief moment later, a look of profound gratification settled over his features. His predatory fangs had already extended, thoroughly stimulated by the exceptional quality of the dragon’s lifeblood.

‘I will require Harley’s assistance, but that poses no true obstacle.’

The filtered blood Heinz was consuming had been meticulously isolated by Harley, who was managing the corruption directly from the cardiac core. He had purged the fluid traveling toward the cervical wound multiple times to ensure the cleanest possible harvest.

Naturally, completely eradicating every trace of the madness was an impossible feat even with such measures…

“Tsk.”

However, because it was no longer thoroughly saturated as it had been originally, the minor corruption remained an impurity that Heinz—having already ascended past the threshold of a True Blood—could effortlessly isolate and neutralize.

[Ah… Aaaah—!]

Right then, a fading, fragile voice resonated through the clearing.

The Dragon Heratos, finally liberated from the suffocating haze of insanity, drew shallow breaths and scanned the area using only his eyes.

[Why am I… And the Immortal King has walked the earth once more…? And who are you individuals…?]

His speech was fragmented and bewildered, suggesting that despite his liberation, he retained the agonizing recollections of his time spent under the sway of madness.

Heinz offered no verbal reply, choosing instead to sink his fangs directly into the massive neck wound, entirely dismissing the creature’s final, dying inquiries.

‘It is time to feast properly after such a long deprivation.’

Having depleted a significant portion of his personal crimson reserves, he intended to replenish himself entirely from this harvest. When it came to the consumption of blood, physical volumetric limits did not apply to him.

[Aah… The Immortal King… has made his return. What fate awaits this realm…]

The fading murmurs of Heratos grew increasingly faint. While a flicker of pity existed for a majestic being meeting its end, Heinz maintained his resolve to leave the questions unanswered.

‘Maintaining total silence is the wisest course to ensure no critical data is inadvertently compromised.’

In a world of magic, anomalies occurred. The beast might potentially find resurrection within an alternate vessel, undergo reincarnation, or even manifest a reversal of time.

[…Immortal King…]

Midway through those calculations, Heratos shifted his fading gaze toward Hans, who remained suspended in the open sky, silently observing the scene below. The Red Dragon stared up at him with a profoundly complicated gaze…

…Before quietly drawing his final breath, his vacant eyes remaining locked upon Hans until the very end.

‘Is his final anxiety tied to the actions of the Immortal King? He carries a massive weight of lingering attachments.’

Such a reaction was entirely logical, given the sheer terror the dragon had displayed upon his initial sighting of Hans, alongside the historical friction that had traditionally defined the interactions between Immortal Kings and dragonkind.

‘Yet, the reigning Immortal King harbors no desire to bring ruin to this world, so he may depart in tranquility.’

It would have been comforting for the beast to recognize that the figure above was actively striving to safeguard the realm. Had it not been for his intervention, would the Mad Dragon not have escalated into an absolute cataclysm for the entire continent?

[Hehehe, the skeletal structure remains incredibly robust, likely reinforced by the prolonged exposure to madness. It will serve as magnificent crafting stock.]

Thus, do not harbor too much resentment regarding the repurposing of your remains.

‘Ah, and there is the matter of the blood, the horns, and the protective scales… ’

In any event, these resources would be channeled toward productive endeavors, an outcome the creature would surely condone.

—

“Whew—”

Harley remained curled in a tight posture, his eyelids firmly shut.

Plumes of white vapor continuously billowed from his flesh, which radiated a blistering heat. His muscle groups expanded and compressed autonomously, accompanied by the distinct, perpetual sounds of shifting skeletal structures and tearing tissue.

This transformation existed on an entirely separate plane from any evolutionary advancement he had previously navigated. Simply integrating the genetic blueprint of a dragon would have placed an immense strain on his vessel, but he had additionally localized the concentrated madness harvested from the Mad Dragon, making this violent reaction completely expected. The volume far eclipsed the collective reserves he had gathered during his hunt of the Twin Head Ogre, actively threatening to subvert his consciousness.

‘The volume is too massive to regulate haphazardly… I must employ the structural network that was etched into the Dragon Heart.’

He began to systematically reweave the chaotic madness saturating his form. Mirroring the exact methodology the Mad Dragon utilized to manage the corruption via an internal root system, Harley painstakingly constructed localized pathways for the madness to circulate safely through his physiology.

At long last, the process solidified.

《The target’s racial classification has shifted to ‘Dragonborn (Hybrid)’. You have unlocked the unique trait “Mad Dragon’s Heart”.》

《The target has fulfilled the necessary benchmarks and undergoes advancement. The trait “Gem Eye: Telekinesis” has ascended into the unique trait “Gem Eye: Coercion”.》

《The target has attained profound comprehension via fulfillment of conditions. You have unlocked the unique trait “Madness Control”.》

Crack! Crack!

Whoosh—!

The violent reconfiguration of his physical form—a phenomenon he had already experienced multiple times—reached its apex. The fundamental quality… indeed, the very tier of the components comprising Harley, spanning from his musculature to his skeletal foundation, advanced exponentially to align with his new nature.

“Haa—”

He slowly parted his eyelids, and twin beams of crimson and emerald light pierced the dimness, casting a vivid glow over the immediate area. His eyes, now defined by sharp, vertical slit pupils, serenely evaluated his surroundings.

Within the hollowed remains where an ancient dragon had finally perished, a newly forged Dragonborn opened his eyes to the world.