Bear School Astartes

I am being ’preyed upon’...

Realizing this, nothing could describe the feeling in Smaug’s heart at this moment.

It is an evil dragon.

In this era, due to the Creator God Ilúvatar’s rules, extraordinary powers gradually retreat to the western Undying Holy Land of Valinor.

It should have been the most reckless and powerful being.

Even if it forcibly occupied a kingdom, devoured and burned all the dwarves, no one would dare to interfere.

Even sitting atop a mountain of treasure, no one would dare to rob it.

The dwarves daring to regroup and return to the Lonely Mountain already amazed Smaug.

It had thought it had thoroughly frightened and disheartened the dwarves.

But this was understandable, as hatred has always been a powerful motivator for action.

And the hatred stemming from the destruction of the Lonely Mountain Kingdom, for the dwarves, was the most irreconcilable and irreplaceable enmity.

Sorlin Oak Shield’s arrival had initially unsettled Smaug, but then it understood.

But now?

...I’m being ’eaten’!!!

”Get away! Get away!!”

Smaug mumbled with its broken lower jaw.

This dragon, which once slaughtered a Dwarf Kingdom and a human city, an unequivocal beast, now had an ineffable... panic in its voice!

It never knew that being ’eaten’ could be such a terrifying and painful experience!

And not only is the dragon’s body being consumed by Valerian steel mixed with Extinct Dragon material, but it is also happening on that enormous greatsword even Smaug found excessive.

Each drop of blood made Smaug feel uneasy.

...That sword wasn’t just ’eating’ its flesh!

Something more important, more essential, from each blood drop touched the sword’s surface and vanished.

It was as if... liquid touched some searing flame and was vaporized instantly!

Blood can regenerate, but that obscure feeling Smaug couldn’t quite grasp was so vital that losing even a little terrified and disoriented the dragon.

And Lann felt fantastic.

The [Tendon Coil] had become part of his body.

After being nourished by the dragon’s flesh and blood, there was a taut pleasure over his body.

All the skin and superficial muscles underneath, the tensile lines had become more resilient during this process. They slightly took on a crystal characteristic, the black glossy spikes from the Extinct Dragon.

The enhanced texture of the [Tendon Coil] gripped, squeezed, and rubbed against the muscles, transmitting vibrations through Lann’s body, reaching his cochlea as a leather-like ’squeak’.

It felt like wrapping sports bands around his body.

Instead of discomfort, the precise binding brought a rush, his entire body surged with energy under the constraint!

However, the repair ability of the [Basil Washi Crucible] was unsurpassed, aiding the temporary [Tendon Coil] serving as a ’feeding organ’, providing direct and abundant nourishment to the body, speeding up the recovery of Lann’s hand wounds.

In less than half a minute, the skin over the whole palm and fingers healed completely, as good as new.

Of course, what Lann ’ate’ could not compare with the efficiency of [Muddy Stream·Destruction] in size.

Neither was the psychological pressure on the same level.

Smaug’s terrified roars echoed throughout Long Lake Town, causing the distant elves to clutch their ears painfully in disbelief.

They couldn’t understand what Smaug was saying.

The dragon claiming it was... being ’eaten’?

But understanding wasn’t important; what mattered was Smaug’s current actions.

The dragon that had come with fierce intent to destroy everything now drooled uncontrollably from tension and fatigue, blood and shredded flesh falling from its wounds.

Its massive and resilient body seemed lost in panic.

Frantically shaking its injured wing claws in desperation, ignoring the heart-wrenching pain of the wounds.

Disregarding the loss of balance and stability from the erratic, uncontrolled movements.

It resembled a frightened deserter desperate to flee the battlefield.

”Get away!!!”

Smaug continued to roar.

But it was already cowering, and the darkness that had loomed over Long Lake Town due to his arrival began to dissipate.

The thick clouds overhead thinned, allowing moonlight and starlight to peek through the gaps.

In its terror, Smaug’s chest and throat glowed again with a blazing light.

It was a sign of its dragonfire breath.

Smaug intended to unleash dragonfire on itself once more!

Its malevolent long neck swung in fear, dragonfire ready to burst forth.

”But your fire... I’ve seen through it!”

On Smaug’s broken wing, Lann’s deep, slightly luminous beast-like eyes, looked unflinchingly at the fiery red glow in Smaug’s throat.

He held up [Muddy Stream·Destruction], running with firm steps and exceptional balance atop the unpredictably swaying Smaug!

Toward the dragon’s chest!

Running from the wing to the chest initially wasn’t too bad since the wing’s shape provided a bit of an arch.

But approaching the chest became increasingly difficult, for Smaug’s chest stood vertically against the ground.