Episode 108 Rolling in the Pumpkin (3)
[KuoOoooooh—!]
The dragon's roar echoed again from the inner mountains.
Harley and Heinz frowned at the sound, which contained a spiritual pressure that suppressed lower beings.
It didn't have much effect on them, but the instinctive stimulation was still annoying.
'Was there a dragon nesting around here?'
It wasn't strange for a dragon to be living in the vast Northern Mountains…
But that wasn't the important thing right now.
'A dragon, consumed by madness?'
The roar they were hearing was definitely not normal.
Just like Entracio, the Bone Dragon, whose roar was filled with the energy of death after becoming an undead, this dragon's roar was overflowing with the energy of madness.
'This is definitely not a normal situation.'
Monsters were more susceptible to madness, but dragons were closer to intelligent beings than monsters.
They were the most intelligent and capable creatures in Auterica…
Crack! Crack!
Harley continued to munch on the magic stones, analyzing the situation.
'Anyway, there's a dragon here, and it's not in good condition, right?'
Dragons were already rare, and their numbers had dwindled even further after the two Immortal King incidents, to the point where they were almost extinct.
The Immortal King was a threat even to dragons, and they naturally joined forces with the continental alliance to fight against the undead army.
And the first Immortal King had focused on hunting down the dragons, which were the biggest obstacle to his conquest of the continent.
He prioritized reducing their numbers, even if it meant losing ground on other fronts.
Thanks to that, the continental alliance was able to hold the line and eventually defeat the Immortal King, but the dragons suffered irreparable losses.
The second Immortal King was the final blow, and after that, dragons were rarely seen in the Ion Continent.
They were mostly found in the eastern regions, far from the war.
'But they're not the type to easily succumb to corruption.'
If that were the case, why would there only be one undead dragon, Entracio, among Hans's subordinates?
'They have such strong pride that they would rather self-destruct than be captured by the Immortal King. And even if their corpses were obtained, it was difficult to turn them into undead because of their strong resistance.'
That was the information he had obtained from the memories of those who had experienced it firsthand.
Even if they somehow managed to resurrect a dragon as an undead, other dragons would relentlessly pursue and destroy it.
They wouldn't tolerate the corruption of their own kind, let alone themselves.
'It was incredibly lucky for Entracio to fall into Hans's hands.'
But did it make sense for a dragon, which had suffered such heavy losses, to be consumed by madness, which had little effect even on humans?
He still couldn't believe it…
"Actually, it doesn't matter how it happened."
"Kkahahahat! A dragon! What a jackpot!"
Heinz grinned coldly, and Harley jumped up from his seat, bursting into laughter.
Yes, the details were irrelevant.
"I wonder what dragon meat tastes like!"
Harley, excited, sprinted towards the source of the roar.
His steps were light, as he had just replenished his energy.
"If we can just remove the madness, we can eat dragon blood. It would be a great tonic."
Heinz watched Harley's retreating figure and quietly disappeared.
Of course, his destination was also the place where the roar originated.
Where the dragon was.
____________________
-Painful, agonizing, why am I like this, let's just kill them all!
-It's all his fault. Who is 'he'? Incompetent humans, stupid Elves, smelly Dwarves! And… there was someone else, wasn't there?
-I'm injured, I need to recover. To recover, I need to eat well. So let's eat. Let's eat a lot!
[KuoOoooooh—!]
Red Dragon Heratos roared in a daze, his head filled with noise.
And then he felt a sense of euphoria.
He craved more of this feeling, so he wanted to express it even more.
For some reason, his body, which had been in a state of prolonged recuperation, was rapidly recovering, and he felt like he could finally go outside.
'This is great, it's better than I expected. I've recovered much faster. As expected, I'm amazing!'
Heratos was a dragon that had been seriously injured in the war against the second Immortal King, 300 years ago.
Unlike the first Immortal King, when he was too young to participate, the battle he had personally experienced was much easier than he thought.
Both the humans and the dragons weren't fools, and they had made more effective preparations than before.
Even though the western regions were lost and an entire empire collapsed, it was a huge improvement compared to the first Immortal King's reign.
…If only he hadn't been so complacent and let his guard down.
'But where is this… Ah! I made this place. But why did I…?'
Heratos had been caught in a trap while fighting the undead army and was seriously injured.
He had survived the great war where countless strong individuals perished, but his injuries were too severe to be dismissed as mere luck.
Deep wounds all over his massive body, and through them, the death energy of the abyss seeped in.
No healing magic, not even holy magic, could cure the deadly curse, and Heratos was facing his demise…
When his last stroke of luck arrived.
The Immortal King, the source of the curse that was eating away at him, was finally slain by the expedition.
Thanks to that, Heratos, who had been on the verge of death, was given a second chance, but he was still in critical condition, so he used the most effective method for recovery.
'Ah—? What was I thinking? Right, I was going to leave this place. I'm hungry, I need to eat a lot.'
He settled down in a corner of the Northern Mountains, where monsters were abundant, and set up all sorts of barriers for safety before entering hibernation.
A dragon's hibernation lasted for hundreds of years, and during that time, its body grew and its regenerative ability was maximized, so there was no better method.
It was a near-death experience to set up all those barriers with his injured body, but he managed to complete it by using all the magic tools he had saved and even his own blood as a medium.
But there was one misfortune that followed his last stroke of luck.
To maximize his regenerative ability, he had gathered the surrounding energy and even set up a barrier to lure monsters and absorb their life force.
How could he have known?
That the abyss would open again, spreading 'madness' throughout the world, and that his territory would be filled with monsters overflowing with it.
Of course, the barrier was prepared for all sorts of contingencies, but there was no way to defend against the madness of the abyss.
And so, the madness accumulated in his body as he slept, eventually completely contaminating his mind.
[KuoOoooooh—!]
Flap—! Flap—!
Heratos emerged from his nest and flapped his wings wildly.
His body had already fully recovered.
He had been hibernating for quite a while, and the madness accumulated in his body was also considerable.
'Ah— This refreshing air. But it's a bit lacking. I wish there was a bit more blood and the smell of burning. That would be perfect.'
His mind, completely consumed by madness, had already reached a bizarre conclusion.
'···Right. There was a human city nearby. I can just breathe on it!'
Then he could enjoy the smell of burning and the screams of humans all at once while having his meal.
And if he chewed on them alive, he could also savor the scent of blood.
As a dragon, Heratos could survive by just absorbing mana, so he didn't need to eat anything, but that was already irrelevant to him.
Blinded by madness, he ignored the monsters swarming around his territory and assessed the distance to the nearest human settlement.
'Then, let's go… Huh?'
At that moment.
He sensed a presence that stimulated his senses.
A being approaching at high speed, emitting explosive life force.
'…A human? No, is that really a human? And there's another one. I almost missed them. Is that a vampire?'
Drool—
He drooled as he recognized them.
His eyes had already turned crimson, devoid of any reason, but Heratos didn't notice anything wrong with his condition.
He was just…
'Should I eat those guys as an appetizer…?'
Overwhelmed by his sudden appetite,
"Kkahahahat! It's a real dragon! Wow, this is a first!"
"It's completely consumed by madness. There's no point in expecting any reason. The key is how its body has been strengthened."
The humanoid and the vampire arrived in front of Heratos in an instant and calmly observed him, but he didn't react.
He wasn't interested in what the ingredients were saying.
'Should I eat the juicy-looking one first? It looks like it would be delicious, with life force bursting out with every bite. The vampire would be a nice delicacy too.'
As he was contemplating,
'Huh? Why am I…?'
A flash of insight suddenly struck him.
His extraordinary brain sensed something was wrong with his behavior.
And his madness-addled brain started to think logically again.
Why was he just staring at them?
And the conclusion was…
[KuoOoooooh—!]
He opened his mouth wide and lunged at them.
'Right! I can just eat them both at once!'
There was no need to hesitate!
He was planning to have his main course at the human city anyway, so he could just swallow these guys whole and be on his way.
Heratos, with his enhanced physical abilities, instantly devoured the space where they were standing…
"Hooop—!"
Whoosh— Kwaaang—!
Harley, already in battle mode, easily dodged and punched the dragon's massive head with his enlarged right hand.
[Kuruuuuk—?]
Heratos was momentarily stunned by the sudden impact, and then a dark figure silently landed on his nose.
"Excuse me."
Whoosh— Crack!
Two sharp blood streams shot out from his hands, instantly slicing through the dragon's massive eyes.
Heratos quickly closed his eyelids, but they weren't thick enough to block Heinz's attack.
Blood spurted from his eyes as his eyelids were cut.
[Kraaaagh—!]
Was it pain, or was it rage?
The dragon roared, its eyes bleeding, and a massive wave of energy erupted from its body, distorting the surrounding space.
Heinz, who had retreated from the impact, tried to charge at the dragon again but hesitated.
"···It's already recovered."
Heratos's eyes, which had been glowing red, had already healed, with no trace of injury.
'I felt the attack was a bit shallow because of the eyelids, but...'
The dragon's reaction speed and the durability of its hide were beyond imagination.
And considering its monstrous regenerative ability and the destructive power of its massive body…
"Kkahahahat! This might be too much for the two of us!"
Of course, Heinz and Harley wouldn't be defeated.
Their physical abilities were also extraordinary, and it seemed like the dragon's magical abilities had regressed as its physical abilities were amplified by madness.
'And it's not very intelligent for a dragon. It's just a giant lizard acting on instinct.'
'But a lizard of that size with that kind of regenerative ability… We could fight it all day and it wouldn't make a difference.'
They weren't a good match for a giant lizard like that.
They couldn't just rely on brute force to defeat it.
Heinz the Second, a True Blood vampire, and Harley, a barbarian warrior, weren't at that level yet.
'Then, there's only one thing to do.'
If they couldn't handle it, they had to bring in someone who could.
And.
A point in the sky was suddenly enveloped in darkness.
Goooo—
As if a hole had been torn in the sky, the darkness devoured all light and then…
It summoned a being.
At the same time…
The world darkened, as if a filter had been applied, even though the sun was still shining brightly.
[Kuhhuhuhut— A dragon consumed by madness. This could be a good ingredient!]
The disaster that had driven dragons to near extinction.
Had descended upon them.