Chapter 144

“A wyvern?!”

My voice trembled a little at this unexpected answer. That was the kind of enemy that you usually had to gather a full party for…but then again, there was that time I beat one solo. Still, it was a victory achieved after Rex and the others had chipped away at its health. Yes, I now had a good idea of the way the wyverns moved, but I wasn’t confident that I could take on a healthy one. It would probably tear me to shreds.

“To be precise, it’s a lesser wyvern. They are a weaker type, but there are no Adventurers in this village… As a retired Adventurer, I do what I can to drive it back every time, but I am not able to finish it. What I want help with, is hunting it down.”

So that was the truth of it. Well, this was not the kind of thing to discuss with Daniela at our leisure. If Yis died, then the village would be destroyed!

Even more, there was a possibility that Daniela was fighting it herself just now. There was no time to waste. Still, I strapped on the Glampanzer, adjusted my armor and also took out the Schwarz Tempest. More haste, less speed, as they say. These were the times you had to make sure that your equipment was right. Daniela was stronger than me, so there was no way that she would be killed so quickly. I was confident in that. I would bet on it. Yis was a veteran, so he too began to prepare while taking everything into account. His armor was simple, but I could tell that the materials were good.

“Alright, let’s go. It should be attacking the farm.”

“Understood.”

Yis ran in the lead. There was a wind blowing at our back as if to rush us on. But it was probably just the spirits. I started to think that it meant that Daniela was calling me, and it made me anxious. Even though Daniela would have likely said, ‘calm down, you stupid bastard.’

Suddenly, I looked down and saw that Marco was running right next to me.

“Mister Yis. It’s Marco!”

“What?! Hey, Marco. You stay at home!”

Yis said roughly as he turned to look while we were running. But Marco did not listen. There was a look in the wolves eyes that suggested he would defy any such orders.

“Damn it. Don’t do anything stupid!”

“Ruff!”

To be honest, a forest wolf would just get in the way.

“Yis, a forest wolf won’t be much help…and he’s wounded.”

“Ah, perhaps I haven’t told you yet? Marco isn’t any old forest wolf. He’s part of a sub-species.”

“What?”

“To be exact, he’s a wald wolf. They are a rare breed that are sometimes born among forest wolves.”

I’ve never heard of them before. Were they different from abnormally evolved beings?

“No, their origins are different. Those creatures come to exist when they have lived a long time and have taken in very thick mana. And that causes them to evolve.”

“I’m surprised you know about that…isn’t that information classified?”

“Just as you know about it, Asagi. I have my sources.”

Yis said with a wink. Damn it, he looked cool.

“These wald wolves were born where mana was very thick. Apparently, they change in the womb when the mother is exposed to the mana. The mother might die if exposed for too long. However, even if she doesn’t die, it has a great impact on the weak, unborn pup.”

“And that’s how these mutant, wald wolfs are born.”

“Yes. …Hmm, I can hear it now. It’s at the farm, after all. And someone is fighting it!”

The streets were dark at night, but I could see, thanks to Nighteyes. We had been quite active at night recently, so it had leveled up and I could see better than usual. Past the buildings, I could see small but impressive wings within an enclosure. The shape of those wings were carved into my memory. Dragons.

“…Damn it. I forgot!!”

“What? Asagi!”

“I’m going on ahead!!”

Dragons. Dragons. Lesser wyverns are a species of dragons. The enemy that Daniela hates the most! Damn it. I should have listened to Yis when I had the chance.

I had Legs of the Forest Wolf on at full blast. I could no longer be so concerned for Yis now.

“Wha-t?!”

I apologized silently as I dashed through the air, leaving a shocked Yis. A flying wyvern would be less likely to expect an aerial attack. That was my immediate idea. But at the same time, I wanted to look down from above to see if Daniela was alright.

It was the center of the large farm. As it was night, the livestock were not outside. Instead, there was one unbelievable monster. It was smaller than the wyvern I had killed before, but its movements were very different. It was leaping around rapidly and dodging attacks. Its tail swept around in a smooth motion. Occasionally, it would bat its wings, sending a wind to rush through the grass.

As I thought, it was Daniela who was fighting the lesser wyvern. Her rapier was in her hand as she rolled and dodged the attacks, but she seemed slower than usual. Still, as someone who had seen her freeze with fear before, I had to sigh in relief that she was able to fight. I expected her to be shaking and about to be trampled. But Daniela had overcome her fear to the point where she was able to fight. Still, I could not keep her waiting any longer.

“I’m coming…!”

I held my greatsword up and sent a surge of blue magic into it. The sword was enveloped with a swirl of water that enhanced its cutting edge. I didn’t know how effective it would be against dragons, but it was the most powerful attack I was currently capable of.

I faced the ground and kicked the air above me. The green and silver wind launched me even faster towards the ground. I was targeting its wings. I thought about going for its head, but that seemed like a bad idea, considering I wasn’t sure if this attack would even work. The advantage of this ambush would be lost. So I was intent on going for the narrow joints of its wings. That was what I thought as I swung my sword.

“Daniela. Get out of the way!”

“…!”

I rose my voice when I was so close that the wyvern would not be able to react even if it noticed me. That was all it took for Daniela to jump back. The wyvern heard me too. It tried to turn its head to look up, but it was too slow. It almost looked like it was still as my sword came down. Perhaps if it had moved instead of looking, it would have been able to dodge it.

“Haaah!”

There was a flash of blue. And then the wyvern’s right wing came off cleanly.

“GAGHHHHHAAAAA!!!”

The wyvern swirled around as it cried in pain. I moved away and picked up Daniela.

With Legs of the Forest Wolf, I carried her away and moved into the shadow of a building.

“Sorry that I’m late.”

“It is fine…you came…!”

Daniela wrapped her arms tightly around me. I held her back, happy that she was unharmed. Her hands and body were shaking. She must have been scared. It was a battle with her childhood trauma. Of course, she would be scared.

“Are you injured?”

“No… I knew you would come. So I did my best.”

“Thank you…I’ll finish this quickly.”

“Mmm…I will be waiting.”

Daniela’s arms unraveled from around me as she wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. I brushed her disheveled hair from her face and stood up. Through Presence Detection, I could tell that the lesser wyvern had stood up and was now searching for me. I needed to show myself quickly, or it would start breathing everywhere.

I knelt down and kissed Daniela on the cheek before darting off. I passed the building and deliberately appeared right in front of it. The wyvern saw me and roared with rage.

“GRRRRAAAAGGHH!!!”

“Shut up, you bastard. You tormented Daniela! I’ll kill you!”

I held the greatsword up and ran. The lesser wyvern beat its remaining wing to create wind. But the wind from a single wing would not do much…

“Ggg…Agh!”

Surprisingly, the wind cut at my fingers and cheek. I had assumed that it would be an ordinary wind. I had actually witnessed a wind attack by dragon magic before, but not an attack through the beating of wings. That was because Rex and the others had hurt the wings so bad that they were useless… But it seemed now that dragon magic affected the beating of wings as well. Lesson learned…I wouldn’t be hit by it again.

A gap opened between us again, and this time the wyvern came to bridge it. It’s two legs stomped on the ground and its open jaw showed countless teeth as it attacked. I slashed horizontally with my greatsword, trying to cut it before it could cut me. But the wyvern was no fool. It quickly closed its mouth and clamped over the sword.

It was wounded, but it could still move. And as a dragon, it’s power was immense. It swung its head to the side, nearly prying the sword from my grip. I tried to hold on, but found myself being carried off of the ground. And so I used Legs of the Forest Wolf to cover me, allowing me to move without going against the force pulling me. The wyvern must have thought I let go then, because its jaw loosened and my sword slipped out. I was still airborne and upside down as I swung my sword at the wyvern below me. Its claws slash through my clothes, but my sword continues to fall at the same speed. The blue of the blade glows in the darkness of the night, falling towards its target…but no. There was a horrible sound as the blade bounced off of its scales.

“Tsk…so it didn’t work.”

The last wyvern I had fought had also blocked all swords. Magic attacks were effective, but not swords enhanced by magic, it seemed. As I valued speed, I had avoided using magic, but it seemed that I would have to cover the blade with water like before… I probably should have went for the head when I had the chance, but there was no point in thinking about it now. But I had only been able to take the wing because it hadn’t been expecting me. Taking the head when it was completely alert would be almost impossible.

“GRURURURRRUU…”

The lesser wyvern growled as it snapped at my sword again. While this one was smaller, it didn’t necessarily mean that it was weaker. The look of murderous rage in its eyes was real.

But suddenly, the lesser wyvern cried and let go of my sword. I used Legs of the Forest Wolf then and jumped through the air and landed behind it. Now I was able to see the Yis had come and was cutting at the wyvern’s tail.

The lesser wyvern turned around, feeling the pain. Yis predicted an attack and lifted his sword to block it. But I wouldn’t let it attack at all. It’s back was open. And that tail was long as hell. This time, I sent a surge of blue magic through the sword, wrapping the blade in water as it swung down.

“Argaaahhh!!”

The greatsword cut through the dragon scales with ease. Both flesh and bones were severed and the tail was cut off at the root.

“GGGRRYAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!!”

It stumbled with a cry of pain. It’s dragon wind burst into a chaotic storm around us. I somehow managed to dodge it as I rushed towards Yis.

“I underestimated you! That was incredible!”

“No! I just have great weapons!”

“Marco and I barely played a part!”

In fact, had I not had a greatsword with blue magic, my attacks would have been very pathetic. I would have just been tickling it with an ice sword, probably. This sword really helped me. I was so thankful to Kasil and the blue-colored blacksmith.

The wyvern could not balance itself without a tail, and it was wobbly on its feet. But more than that, the pain was taking over. Eventually, it would not be able to stand, and then it would be over. The only thing left was to take off its head.

“I’ll deal the final blow!”

“Be careful, Asagi. It can be the most dangerous during these moments!”

I nodded as I walked forward. The wild wyvern looked at me. I didn’t know if it was anger or fear, but it howled and howled.

I held the sword up and imbued it with magic. It was as if the wyvern recognized what this meant, and it began to suck in its breath. It was going to try and end this here and now.

It was going to breathe.

However, that meant it was open for a second.

In that instant, an explosion of wind erupted around my legs and shot me forward. There was no time for anyone to see the flash of blue when I attacked and the head flew off. Its breath came the moment that my sword went through, and the head was launched into the air. At the same time, fresh blood shot out of the stump and covered the ground with red.

“In the end, speed beats everything.”

I thrust my sword into the ground and turn around. What I saw then was the lesser wyvern. Life was gone from its eyes as it sunk into the ocean of blood.