Chapter 255

Humans are weak. To put it bluntly, if their physical condition is bad, even a slight tap could make them go “ugh” and die.

But even humans made of flesh and blood, or even metal like a lump of iron, have their limits. Over time, they weather, and if they receive more impact than they can handle, they shatter and break.

Only nature changes form without breaking, enduring eternally. That’s why people say nature is strong. There was a race that wanted to take that strength and make it their own.

A race that wanted to use the essence of nature, magical power, to surpass their innate limitations.

Even when fully grown, their height remained small like dwarves. Their physical strength was weak compared to their size. A race born more as prey than predators—the dwarves.

Even as adults, their physical abilities were inferior to those of human adults. They always lamented their physical frailty. No matter how great a weapon they held, if the user’s strength couldn’t support it, it would be less impressive than a kitchen knife.

Even wielding iron swords with all their might, they struggled to hunt a single wolf. They hadn’t even developed a method like Power Techniques.

How vast is nature? How extensive are the attributes of magical power? Could the ways to use magical power be limited to just one or two?

When everyone else was using Power Techniques, refining magical power into Power Techniques wasn’t difficult. You could just watch, learn, and imitate. But when such a concept didn’t exist, when no one had even thought of it, creating a technique like Power Techniques from nothing was nearly impossible.

However, with genius inspiration and astonishing coincidence, that opportunity was given to the dwarves as well.

The method they discovered had its flaws compared to the convenient Power Techniques. It was extremely painful and required superhuman willpower.

Like quenching steel with flame, they tempered their bodies with magical power, hammering and refining them as if forging weapons. This was the dwarves’ method of using magical power—the Refinement Arts.

Humans may be unfair, but nature is fair. Tempering and refining the body is more painful and arduous than enveloping it in defensive techniques. It feels like having your insides stabbed with a knife at every moment of training.

But in return, the results are incomparable to defensive techniques. With superhuman endurance and a long lifespan, if one overcomes the increasing pain and masters the Refinement Arts, they could wield the frail human body to throw even monsters with their bare hands.

The Primal Demon King Grimudo had an abundance of time and an extraordinary mental fortitude. He had long since reached the pinnacle of the Refinement Arts.

Monsters are no different from wild animals. Only a bird-brained creature like the Phoenix would follow something like a parent just because it was there from birth.

When young, they might listen, but as their bodies grow and their heads get bigger, that obedience fades. Of course, Grimudo used Mental Arts to bind their minds in advance, but some still acted out.

In such cases, lifting a monster with both hands and giving it a view of the sky would quickly silence the unruly ones!

In the wild, the best way to earn respect is through sheer strength. Pure physical power can even evoke awe from monsters.

Even dragons, with their highly developed brains, are no different. Azahadaka, the dragon, regretted challenging the Demon King within minutes.

[How is this possible… How can a human body…!]

Dragons knew nothing of human martial arts, nor did they train in close combat techniques. They never needed to. A stiff tail swipe was usually enough.

The monstrous strength from their robust bodies could crush opponents, even other dragons.

[How… How can he be this strong?!]

But the tail swipe, which had never been blocked before, was utterly useless against the Demon King. The dragon felt only a numbing recoil, as if it had struck an iron wall.

How could this make sense? A large creature striking a small one, yet the small one remained unmoved while the large one trembled.

The fact that mere human flesh didn’t break or shatter was truly shocking. Its toughness had surpassed anything humans or dragons could imagine.

But the shock at the body’s resilience was short-lived. Soon, the Demon King’s upper body swelled as he grabbed the dragon’s tail and pulled. The massive dragon was instantly terrified.

[W-Wait, hold on, ground-dweller! Little friend!]

As if such a small task didn’t even require effort, he silently lifted the dragon’s tail and slammed it down. The dragon, experiencing this for the first time in its long life, was speechless. It couldn’t believe the reality it was in.

[No, sir! Let’s talk this out…]

Before it could even process the immense force pulling its tail, its body gave in. Without moving, its vision shifted, and suddenly, the sky and ground flipped. By the time it realized it was the one flipped, its head was already buried in the ground.

[Ouchhh…]

Normally, a loud crash and shaking earth would highlight its embarrassing state, but this time, the earth shaking first was some consolation. The ground muffled the noise, somewhat hiding its shame.

[Y-You really want to do this?!]

Struggling to rise, it shook its head to clear its mind and shouted in anger. But while it could fool others, it couldn’t fool itself.

After just one exchange, its confidence plummeted. It regretted accepting the fight, intoxicated by the useless superiority of being a higher race.

‘This mental attack!’

Even a dragon couldn’t casually unleash high-level magic without effort. Distributing magical power to the Magic Core and calculating the desired spell took time. Powerful spells that could affect Grimudo were inevitably complex, causing even dragons a slight delay.

Grimudo didn’t seem inclined to give her that time. The mental attacks kept disorienting her, disrupting commands to the Magic Core. It felt like a swarm of demons was crawling and cackling in her head. The disgusting sensation of parasites wriggling in her brain wasn’t just a feeling—it was real.

Magic that could be cast instantly using the power of draconic language wasn’t strong enough to harm Grimudo. Using such magic was just a waste of power. It was better to use that power to strengthen her body and fight physically.

*Thud!*

[Huh…?]

As she gathered magical power throughout her body to face the Demon King, she felt an oddly hollow sensation at the tip of her tail. It wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. She had felt something like this before.

[What is this…?]

Back when she was very young,


a long, long time ago,


during that phase all creatures go through,


even dragons have a moment of vulnerability in their hatchling stage.

Molting.


When the scales or armor covering the body become too hard.


Something species with fragile skin, like humans, never experience.

Shedding the old shell while encased in a new one, the most painful process for all hatchlings. That memory was still vivid for Azahadaka, who had long since passed her infancy.

But why was that feeling now coming from her tail, already that of a mature dragon? Because the scales on her tail had been ripped off entirely!

[Y-You… damn… bastard…!]

Grimudo had grabbed her tail and torn off flesh and scales alike! Dragon scales and Power Techniques were useless against the Demon King’s grip.

Watching from a distance, Yanid winced and tucked her tail in. Roka also nervously hid her tail. As fellow tail-bearers, they silently mourned for Azahadaka. They could roughly imagine the pain she was feeling.

[Get off me! How dare you touch me there!]

The enraged dragon thrashed and struck at the Demon King with its forelegs. But Grimudo silently continued his work.

Whether the dragon roared, flapped its wings, swung its tail, or pressed down with its forelegs, he endured it all, relentlessly tearing off chunks of flesh. Each handful he grabbed fell away, like a tiny ant gnawing at a person.

*Kraaaah!*

Even unleashing Dragon’s Roar had no effect. The Demon King, having trained in Mental Arts for centuries, didn’t even blink. If anything, the roar sounded like a pitiful wail.

The dragon was losing its composure. It realized it had no more tricks left. Its strongest weapon, its breath, remained, but from this angle, using it would mean losing its own tail first.

With Grimudo perched on her tail, tearing off chunks of flesh, attacking him with her breath would mean sacrificing her tail. She would have to choose between her tail and her life, like a lizard shedding its tail to survive.

[…Help me.]

In the end, she chose to save both her tail and her life, at the cost of her dignity. Already like a cow awaiting slaughter, she had nothing left to hesitate over.

[Don’t just stand there! Help me! I’m really going to die!]

So she begged for help without hesitation. Her dignity was bruised, but what could she do? She had to survive first.

“Hurry, Master. Help her. She needs treatment quickly.”

As soon as she begged for help, Roka urged Kyle. Her once-lush tail fur had shriveled in fear, looking as if it had been drenched.

Yanid nodded in agreement beside her. Kyle, without a tail, couldn’t understand. Only those with tails could share this unspoken understanding.

Just having someone step on your tail is enough to ruin your mood, but going through something like this? Forget mood—it could kill you from shock!

Fortunately, Roka’s plea wasn’t too late. Soon, a stream of Divine Power flowed into the dragon.