Getting the second batch of wyverns was even easier than before. Fearing that whatever made the first half of their air forces go mad and murder their riders, the second half made the sensible and reasonable decision that they liked living more than flying and grounded their mounts. They leashed the wyverns with strong steel chains, not unlike those seen in container ships' anchors back on earth. But they chained all the beasts together.

I approached from above, invisible. But the wyverns picked my presence and started to get agitated. Was it the scent or the Dragon Bait title? I don't know. But they just knew I was around, not where I was.

"Damn, ground those wyverns! They are going crazy too!" Some demon guard shouted. The tamers came and used their authority to calm down the beasts. It is a harsh thing for a tamer to do. It lowers the loyalty of the tame monster and is the last resort. But from the lack of remorse of the wyverns, after their tamers died, I think the demons care shit for their rides. It is the opposite spectrum of how we deal with our tame monsters back home. Shraaizar is my sister, and the man-meat-loving mantis called Mittens would put his ass on the line for Helen. I'll put them out of their misery.

With the wyverns doped on tamer authority, I went around and possessed the biggest one. The effects of the authority attempted to dominate me, but my magic stat is almost triple the tamer's score. I stood low and charmed the other wyverns. I'm not repeating the mistake of killing the strongest one.

My host's tamer came to check on the interference he felt. "Hey, Benorass, girl. Are you feeling sick?" I feel a little remorse for doing this with the kind guy, but I focus on the image of the two flame fist females dead with demon arrows in their bellies. Yeah. That is the spot. Have a poison sting. "Gaaa!" He screams as the venom flows in his veins and saps his life in a matter of minutes.

I spread my wings and try to touch all the other five wyverns. The commotion startled the tamers, and the released wyverns crawled forward and under my host's wings dragging along the heavy chains.

Name: Benorass (female) Race: [5] Galewing Wyvern (lv: 52) Monster Rank: A Prowess: 139+20 (HP: 7286) Agility: 111+20 (Stamina: 1578) Magic: 53+20 (MP: N/A)

The +20 is my possession boost. The tamer back then had died, I just mixed up the stats bonuses.

Teleport, murder, level up. Benorass was spared. But since the tamer link on the other wyverns was not severed, their tamers have been alerted that their rides are no more. But now they are without an air force and without their Captain. Headless and legless. That is how I like my demon armies.

I move Benorass to the isolation chamber and cast {Create Thrall} on her. With her hostility gone, combat ended.

Helen (4-Wizard) +4 levels (63 > 67) Marcy (5-Guild Master) +5 levels (60 > 65) Zahariel (4-Wizard) +2 / +2 levels (racial: 68 > 70 (☆) / job: 68 > 70 (☆) ) Beowulf (4-Wizard) +5 / +5 levels (racial: 59 > 64 / job: 59 > 64) +88 SP

I stored the bodies in the item box as always and returned to the safe chamber. "Did you hit the cap, buddy?"

The seraph is with a huge smile on his face, "Yes! I did it! Both racial and the Job. I'm going to level up Acolyte now. If you please!"

I change his job as requested.

"But do angels evolve like monsters?" Marcy raises a good point.

"Of course not!" The angel is as psyched as a kid on Halloween with a barrel of candy, albeit a little offended at the comparison. "We are not monsters. We do something even better! But it is a surprise. About that demon company that is marching on us, what are we going to do now?"

Maybe I should get a little offended that he got a little offended at being compared to a monster, but I'll be the bigger guy here. Literally and figuratively.

I am tired. Getting to zero MP and Stamina is mentally exhausting. "We are going to sleep until dawn, and then murder the bastards. They can retreat, they can advance. They are dying either way. It is still a three-day march to reach us. Two if they force the march, one if they run. But it is impossible with their supplies and heavy equipment."

"My pups have almost reached the cap. Just one or two more levels" reports Helen. We left Mittens back at the Hill, to reinforce the defenses.

"Awesome. I look forward to the evolution of your familiars, Helen. Hold on, everyone. We are teleporting back home." We join hands and go back to Willow Hill. "And now your leader commands, everyone sleeping!"

Helen jumps and hugs my neck from behind, "It is so good!"

"What is it? What is so good?"

She looks up and smiles, "You didn't freeze checking the wards! I was worried you would go crazy, you know? Weakening those invaders also lifted your worries. Come, let's go get some quality sleep, I'll take all this bad stress out of your system. Marcy, come!"

The next day started with some crafting. I joined three saddles in a row to make transportation for everyone. I will possess Benorass and carry the rest of the party to assault the marching demons. It is bad that enthralled subjects cannot be considered willing targets for possession, but with my upgraded stats from leveling up, I can ride inside Benorass for almost the whole day. it might get cut short because combat really burns Stamina and Magic Points, but she is enthralled, I can dismiss and recover.

Before we go, I should check on the defenses and feed the prisoners. Cloude and Kochurearc are arguing about the placement of the scouting and defense parties. They are using one of the knight's mess hall tables that were set as a picnic table in the open. There is a map of Willow Hill and some wooden figurines over it they move back and forth like it is some war game.

"Kochurearc, you should listen to what others have to say. Cloude has experience working on the defenses of the human town. He fought an invading orc horde, and if it were not for the lack of able swords, he would have driven the orcs back. So please put more value on what he has to say."

"I understand, master. We shall do as the human says then." The flame gorilla lowers his head in submission.

"No." I wave my arms hard to deny his statement. "You should listen to what he has to say, think about it and then take your decision. It is no good if you don't think for yourself. How are you supposed to separate a good idea from a bad idea without your own judgment?"

"Are you leaving to rout the demons now?" Asks Cloude.

"Yes, in an hour or so. I need to adjust the saddle on the wyvern we captured and then we will be off. I am really grateful for your assistance, Cloude. Even if no enemy attacked, knowing I have strong allies taking care of the things back here is reassuring."

"Wow, thanks!" He taps the hilt of the Shining Blade, "Hey, Beowulf, can I see the wyvern?"

"Yeah, sure. I think I can take her around here before going. We can even spar on the pit if you want. It beats taking everyone to the holding chamber she is in right now."

"Nice!" He pumps his fist. "It is one of the legendary beasts we hear about. But meeting one usually means dying, so it is a rare sight. I'll take on your sparring offer, but I think I should raise the poison resistance than..."

"Don't worry. I'll be driving her and I won't sting you. I don't have to sting you, do I?"

"Dude," Cloude grimaces, "don't even joke."

"Fine. Let's train a little then. I'm going to feed the prisoners now, do you want to join me? There should be a lot of demon droppings to clean."

"No, I think I'll review the sentries placement here with my buddy Kochurearc if you don't mind. I'd avoid going back in that place if I can."

"It is fine to me if it is fine to you. Again, good work!"

I leave the two arguing over the wooden figurines and descend the hill on the side of the willow meadow to the prison entrance. Repeating the same rite of burning the trash and ventilating it with wind magic, I finally can breathe inside and treat the prisoners. The treatment is simple.

Bewitch, remove the gag, order them to drink some water, then move onto the next prisoner and when I reach the last one and they had enough time to absorb the water I start feeding them with some meat and vegetable pureé. I made it like this because it cuts on the chewing time. It is almost drinkable. And one more cup of water to clean the throat. Next, I wash them with a spray of warm water, dry with warm wind and put the gags back in place. And to finalize, cast healing pulse and minor restoration to heal the sagging of the limbs embedded in stone on them and wipe their short-term memories after the spells have run their course.

And with that done I put the magic lock back and teleport to the holding chamber where Benorass is sleeping. Looking at her this close, it is indeed a majestic creature. The scorpion stinger is ominous, but one can feel the power behind those scales. She is the second highest leveled wyvern of the batch, and she has more agility and magic than the others. I should look into taming such kind of beast later. Too bad Benorass was already tamed once. Her core was already dyed in the colors of that demon tamer and won't contract with anyone else.

Sentimentalities aside, Time to do the fitting of the 3-man saddle. I needed to do some adjustments, but it was done in less than half an hour. Possession and teleport.

At the hill's permanent anchor, my party was already ready to depart. Cloude was there too.

"Whoa! So this is a wyvern! Hey, girl, can I touch you?" The magic swordsman approaches my host all awestruck. I think a low pitch growl is in order here. Just a bit menacing.

"Cloude, I should remind you that Beowulf is controlling that body right now. I doubt he would like to be called 'girl', you know? And you, stop threatening to bite his head off." I was just a little above Cloude with the mouth open.

Something drips on Cloude and Helen is disgusted, "Eww, wyvern drool. Is it poisonous too?"

Cloude is washed courtesy of Zahariel. "Can we move on? The demons won't kill themselves. They suck at doing that, we need to give them a little push."

"We have a lot of daylight, Grendel promised to let me spar with the wyvern. Can you wait for a little?"

"Yeah, of course. Let's move to the pit. Also, join up at the party. It is safer if we monitor your HP."

We go to the pit. Benorass-me and Cloude sit on opposite sides, facing off. I move the saddle to the item box and roar. Intimidating shout out of the bat.

Cloude ignites his sword in flames and with a war cry dashes forward. His eyes are trained on my mouth and claws. Combat sense tells me he is coming for an upward swing to take advantage of my soft belly. Too bad, dude. I got a surprise for you. I raise my wings and crouch down. His swing stance changes and he might go for a stab. Now that the claws are away he focuses on my fangs exclusively. Naïve.

Just when he is about to connect his attack I jump up and beat the wings to get some lift. And from behind me comes a tail slap. I throw my neck backward and push forward with the wings, doing a backflip. Cloude misses and the tail's backside comes crashing on his flank, sending him into the pit wall.

"Ouch!" This time I pulled no punches. He cracked the rock slightly. "You said no tail!"

I can't talk but I can use magic. I make the illusion of a signpost. "I said I wouldn't STING you." It reads. A series of short groans is the closest thing I can do to a laugh.

Healing Pulse.

"C'mon, are you done?" Another sign.

"Heeeeyaaaaaa!" He comes again. What fun stuff I can do with him now? I'll just go for the same trick. This time Cloude faints the stab and slashes at the tail. "Windcutter Blade!" He severs the tail.

Zahariel and Helen clap excitedly. Marcy is doing a neutral face. I store the tail in the item box. A new one will grow in forty minutes. I can make a fortune if I keep this wyvern and harvest materials.

I press forward with a flurry of claws and bites. Cloude goes on the defensive and I figure out that the glow from the shining blade is distracting and really annoying. His parries chip and nick the hide, doing little damage that quickly regenerates. I can see his face and there is a wide grin on it. After a few more exchanges he is at the edge of the pit, a few feet between the wall and him. I try to bite him, he ducks left and foward, making a wide upwards arch with his sword. He gets my neck and a spray of blood paints his back a dark red.

"Timeout!" Shouts Marcy from above. "Backoff, Grendel. Helen, Zahariel, heal him quickly." It seems that Marcy was not making a poker face to not give away any favorites on what was basically a fight between boys that like her. She was carefully watching the situation to intervene in case something dangerous happened.

"Thanks for being the referee." I put a sign in front of her. She nods at me but I can see she is focused on System windows. We are inside her guild field, she can get detailed info from cardholders.

I take a couple steps back and Cloude is on the ground. The wound is regenerating but still bleeding. Oh, fuck. Wyvern blood is poisonous and he got almost a quarter gallon sprayed on him.

But he has a seraph and a druid to look after him. Zahariel uses water magic like a firehose to wash away the blood and Helen gets a herbal poultice to apply at his nape. Both cast their spells on Cloude and I lie down to focus on regrowing the tail. Throw a healing pulse spell on the boy for good measure.

After a few minutes, Cloude was awake but still weakened. "Shit, I lost."

"You did an awesome fight!" Helen next to Cloude tries to cheer him up. "C'mon, don't frown! That was an A-rank monster piloted by an intelligent host. Even with the 'no sting' handicap, it was stronger than an average wyvern."

"I doubt any of us could fight up close with a wyvern. You surely have grown, guard captain." Zahariel grabs his hand and pulls him back on his feet.

"I got three levels of poison resistance one after the other. This is crazy." I check the party screen, he is still with a poison debuff.

"Cloude, your armor padding and clothes are still drenched with wyvern blood. Tell the girls to look away and strip. Zahariel, wash him with warm water."

By the time the stinger finished regrowing, Cloude was fully restored. I dismiss the possession once I confirm she is not feeling any pain. I tap the wyvern and it growls lightly. Heck, the majesty of this monster is awesome this up close.

"It seems my loss." Cloude comes to shake my hand. I close my fist and he imitates. The fist bump was born on another world this day. "But it was a good training. I learned lava blade and a lot of skills got improvements."

"Yeah. If you keep this rate of growth, in another three fights you will be able to kill the wyvern. And this is another point the guild lied to you. Don't burn your SP as you get them. Train your skills and even more important, know what you can do with the toolbox you are given. I'm finding new combinations of skills to use every day."

"Thanks for everything, Grendel."

"I'm not done with you. Close your eyes." I touch Cloude's forehead. "Cursebreaker."

Cloude flinches but recovers his bearings a while later.

"What did you do to me?"

"I released you from one of the yokes of this world. Check your job list. Did 'apprentice acolyte' show up?"

"Yes. Was this a rite to unlock the job?"

"Once we come back, get Zahariel to explain it to you. The truth of the world. You are one of us now, Cloude. Get a shovel because we are going to clean a lot of shit in this world."

"We should be going. The demons won't wait. I'll make sure to explain everything to you, captain."

"Right. Everyone get ready. Once I recover my MP we are departing."

I lower Benorass-me down and they climb aboard. At the plateau, we find no demons around.

I take off and the difference between flying in Benorass' body or the other wyverns is noticeable. She is much more maneuverable. It is really a shame I can't keep her. After a few hours of flying, we found the demons. It seems they are marching during the day too, with no intention of stopping. They are going to attack Willow hill the day after tomorrow at this pace. Night, I mean.

"There are the demons. Grendel, let's repeat the same tactic as before. Drop the lava bomb after my meteor." I can only roar and nod. Zahariel unties his straps and glides off of me. "But first, let's put some fear in the hearts of these impure beings!"

Zahariel takes some distance and height while he gets brighter than he ever was. One can't even see his features, just a glowing halo around his entire being. What is this brat doing? Chanting a spell? His voice echoes in the skies over the entire dragon valley.

"Holy essence, unleash and envelop this supplicant. Know that I've trodden the path and I'm worthy. By heaven's might...

Promotion!"

The words rebound on the mountains and the echo returns a few seconds later. I think everyone in the dragon valley heard it.

Some strange energy gathered around him and I just felt like I should take a safe distance. A pillar of light comes down from the skies over the seraph and its glare is enough to obfuscate even the morning sun. Heck, if someone told me it was an orbital laser I'd believe it on the spot. The amount of power being released is astonishing. Something resonates within me...

And it seems I'm not the only one. Helen's breath becomes ragged and she seems dizzy. The power of the earth rises to match the pillar, the earthpulse veins twist and point this way. It is even strong than when the geyser gushed at the slime pit.

It takes more than a minute for the light to disappear. What is left is a teenage angel. He grew only about eight or ten inches, but his features are much manlier. A well-defined chest, broad shoulders, bulging and defined muscles in the arms and legs. I'm glad I made his armor with size-adjustments.

I am even happier that he no longer looks like a freaking trap. He even has an Adam's apple now. My boy has grown this much in less than half a year.

He flutters back to his seat. "How do I look?"

Marcy looks at him and gives a thumbs up, "Dashing!"