Wings of the End – Níðhöggr's body lay sprawled across the ground. According to the game's mechanics, players were given a generous amount of time to harvest materials from it.
[Ding! Obtained Material: Dragon Scales ×150]
[Ding! Obtained Material: Dragon Blood ×200]
[Ding! Obtained Material: Dragon Meat ×280]
[Ding! Obtained Material: Dragon Heart ×1]
[Ding! Obtained Material: Dragon Crystal ×1]
…
Momonga worked quickly, using the tools in his hands to harvest one rare material after another. System notifications echoed endlessly in his mind, yet he continued without the slightest hint of irritation.
For someone with an intense collector's obsession, watching items steadily pile up in his inventory was pure comfort.
On the other side, Naohara was just as busy. While Momonga focused on harvesting materials from the dragon's corpse, Naohara handled the dropped equipment and items, gathering and sorting them by category.
A single glance around revealed no fewer than fifty items scattered across the area. As expected of a Hidden World Boss, and a dragon no less. Dragons were notorious for hoarding wealth, and the sheer value of the drops left even Naohara quietly astonished.
Gold coins alone amounted to a full two hundred million. On top of that were various relic-grade weapons and armor, mixed in with two precious divine-grade weapons, as well as a legendary-grade blade. Legendary equipment was already considered exceedingly rare in the game. Divine items were notoriously difficult to obtain, and as for World-Class Items, there were only two hundred in existence. Truly things one could only hope to stumble upon by chance.
Naohara, delighted, picked up three of the weapons and checked their stats.
A staff, a Dragon Demon Crystal, and a blade.
The staff was named Dragonkin's Blessing. Its overall attributes were fairly average, but it had one notable effect: it shortened spell chanting time. In addition, it granted a tenth-tier spell, Dragon Soul Protection. Once activated, it provided immunity against any tenth-tier or lower magic cast by an opponent. The cooldown was three days per use.
The Dragon Demon Crystal, on the other hand, was far more impressive. It could directly summon Wings of the End – Níðhöggr, manifesting with all of his original attributes. The summoned being was under the user's control and lasted for thirty minutes, usable once per day.
As for the final blade, Naohara stared at it and fell into thought.
[Dragon Destruction Sword]
[An ordinary-looking sword. If you feed it some dragon materials, you might get unexpected results.]
There was no further explanation. The entire description of this legendary weapon consisted of just that single line.
Deciding to give it a try, Naohara reached forward into empty space. A pitch-black rift opened in midair, and as he pulled his hand back, he was holding a pale blue heart pulsing with dense magical energy.
[Lightning Dragon Heart: A precious dragon heart with multiple uses.]
This was a material he had obtained long ago after hunting an elite Lightning Dragon.
He slowly placed the heart onto the blade. When the two came into contact, nothing dramatic happened. However, the change was visible to the naked eye. The heart's color steadily faded, the original pale blue quickly draining away until it became a lifeless gray-white.
A progress bar appeared on the weapon's interface. As it filled to completion, the heart resting on the sword had completely turned gray-white, thin cracks spreading across its surface.
Naohara checked the item information for the heart.
[Depleted Dragon Heart: A dragon heart whose essence has been completely drained. Its value is barely any different from roadside weeds.]
Interesting.
Naohara studied the item briefly, then opened the attribute panel for the Dragon Destruction Sword. He wanted to see what kind of changes would occur after it absorbed a dragon heart.
[Dragon Destruction Sword]
[A sword that appears ordinary, yet now gives off a refreshed impression. If you feed it dragon materials, you may gain unexpected rewards.]
[Dragonbane: The sharp blade inflicts wounds that cannot heal, placing the target into a bleeding state. The longer the bleeding persists, the higher the damage dealt.]
Compared to the previous panel, there was now a powerful additional effect. Naohara felt that he had acquired a rather interesting piece of equipment.
The only question was where this weapon's limits lay. If he invested enough dragon-type materials, could it evolve into a divine-class item, or perhaps even reach a level comparable to a World-Class Item?
He put the sword away in his backpack. Now was not the time to experiment. Everything could wait until they returned to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. The guild warehouse had more than enough dragon-related materials for him to burn through.
As someone who possessed the special class [Dragonslayer], he had hunted virtually every dragon in the game. The permanent, minor stat boosts alone made it more than worthwhile. Because of that, Nazarick might be short on other resources, but dragon materials were something it would never lack.
After sorting the remaining weapons and items, Naohara found that while some of them were decent, they were ultimately dispensable compared to Nazarick's existing stockpile.
Once he was done, Naohara walked over to Momonga. At the moment, Momonga was frantically harvesting materials, and the constant stream of cheerful expressions from his character made it obvious he was in an excellent mood.
"Naohara, how did it go? Did anything rare drop?"
Sensing his friend's approach, Momonga finished gathering. The powerful World Boss had been stripped completely clean. There was not even a single hair left. At the moment the harvesting ended, the remains shattered into fragments and vanished from the spot.
"This haul is amazing. This dragon crystal is the highest-quality one I've ever seen. It's perfect for adding to Nazarick's warehouse as a collectible."
Momonga spoke excitedly, holding up a massive crystal that immediately drew attention.
[Dragon Lord Core: A crystal core produced only by the most powerful Dragon Lords. It contains enormous energy, and its value is beyond measure.]
After appraising the crystal and reading its information, Naohara thought of the Dragon Destruction Sword he had just obtained. A dangerous little calculation quietly formed in his mind.
If this dragon crystal were absorbed as well, what kind of changes would happen then?
The idea sparked intense interest. Naohara's gaze gradually grew heated as he stared at the crystal in Momonga's hand.
Completely unaware of this, Momonga continued talking about placing it in the warehouse for safekeeping, not noticing anything strange about Naohara at all.
"Ahem, let's head back to Nazarick first. I have something I want to discuss with you."
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Naohara spoke to Momonga. He was already eager to put his idea into action.
"Alright, but why does it have to wait until we're back at the guild?"
Momonga nodded, then looked at his friend with a puzzled expression.
His instincts told him something was off. There had to be some sort of scheme involved. He knew Naohara's personality all too well. Every time his friend was about to cause trouble, he got this same uneasy feeling.
"I'll tell you once we're back in Nazarick. Relax, it's not like I'd harm you."
Naohara said righteously.
"Why does that sound so suspicious when it comes from you?"
Momonga muttered quietly.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. Let's go."
Momonga waved his hand, and a magic circle appeared.
[Gate]
With a flash of light, the two disappeared from the spot. When they reappeared, they were already standing in the Throne Room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Meanwhile, the terrain that had been left in complete disarray by the battle instantly returned to its original state after their departure, as though quietly waiting for the next challenger to arrive.