Chapter 114: Guild War — Glory (3)
— KRAAAAAA—!
The Eclipse Wyvern roared even louder than when it had been provoked by Yallen.
A scream that felt as though it would tear apart one’s eardrums.
It carried such intense killing intent that my hands instinctively trembled.
“It’s extremely angry.”
Targon spoke indifferently and tossed Kairas toward me.
The half-elf ninja, already completely incapacitated, lay limp and unable to move.
Only his eyes still shone fiercely.
As though he was greatly anticipating what would happen next.
“…Targon is finished now. Defeating that thing in just three minutes? Absurd.”
《Honestly, he’s right. But you probably already know some ridiculous solution anyway. Try your best. :)》
He trusted me so completely that it irritated me a little.
Maybe I should occasionally pretend to be a clueless fool.
— KRAAA!
The wyvern that had entered the cavern snorted angrily as it surveyed the interior.
Then its eyes locked directly onto the gray orc supreme warrior.
Even though its body structure was completely different from that of ordinary intelligent beings, it was easy to see the overwhelming hatred and disgust filling its expression.
《The substance scattered by the Schemer contained a huge number of ingredients. They must all be components that wyverns absolutely detest!》
Even a level-7 Eclipse Wyvern was enraged like this.
It was a brewing ability far beyond ordinary skill.
— KRAAAAAAA!
Opening its mouth wide, the wyvern charged at Targon.
The relatively small-looking gray orc was swallowed whole.
“…Got him.”
Kairas smiled triumphantly.
Still too early to celebrate.
Crunch!
The wyvern’s sharp teeth shattered, and Targon burst out from inside.
His expression remained completely calm.
In fact, the Schemer watching looked even more bewildered.
“That wyvern should be level 7 now. Even for Targon, how could he possibly….”
“Please keep quiet.”
I shoved a fragment of the broken tree root into Kairas’s mouth to silence him.
Then I spoke to Targon.
“Guild Master. How long can you hold out against that wyvern?”
“Hmm.”
After striking the charging wyvern’s head and creating distance again, Targon thought for a moment before answering.
“About two minutes would be my limit.”
“Perfect.”
I immediately sent the Blind Crow outside.
Then I grabbed the Schemer, dragged him to a corner, and sat him down against the wall.
So he could watch the battle between the two monstrous beings up close.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to break a sweat.”
Gripping his halberd with both hands, Targon struck away the incoming claws.
BOOM!
The glowing claws that had been descending toward the orc slid aside, smashing only the ground.
A nearly perfect parry.
It was practically like a collision between a kitchen knife and a toothpick—how could he deflect it so cleanly?
— KROOOO!
The wyvern flapped its wings violently.
Because of its size the movements were somewhat slow, but even a glancing hit would be fatal.
Clang! Clang!
Yet Targon effortlessly redirected every fierce attack.
The weapon technique looked crude at first glance.
But every movement contained exquisite skill that a lowly cultist like me could barely perceive.
“…Why is that only level five.”
The Schemer spat out the wooden fragment I had stuffed into his mouth and muttered weakly.
“It almost feels like the labyrinth’s rules don’t apply to Guild Master Targon.”
“I prepared the [Ritual Usurper] because I knew this might happen….”
Perhaps enraged that the small orc kept blocking his attacks, the wyvern began rampaging with its legs, wings, and tail all at once.
The cavern could no longer endure the destruction.
Clang!
The halberd traced a heavy arc and struck the wyvern squarely between the eyes.
The wyvern twisted violently and swept its tail, but the orc jumped lightly to evade and fell downward with a powerful halberd strike.
CRUNCH!
[Ferocious Guillotine].
The powerful seventh-tier berserker mystery struck the scaled back of the neck.
It dealt no damage, but the enormous monster staggered momentarily.
— KRAAAAAA!
Struck unexpectedly, the Eclipse Wyvern rampaged even more violently.
Now it used its entire body to crush him, lifting slightly into the air before slamming down.
“Truly dangerous.”
Even though he was on the verge of becoming flattened orc paste, Targon remained calm.
Except when legally tormenting someone, he was always this indifferent.
BOOM!
The entire cavern shook.
While avoiding the crushing attack, Targon collided with a wing and was sent flying through the wall.
The wyvern followed upward, smashing through the ceiling.
The final blow that destroyed the cavern which had barely been holding together.
‘It’s getting dangerous.’
The Eclipse Wyvern had only landed the attack by chance, but even that was fatal for a level-five explorer.
Even the seemingly invincible Targon was no exception.
“…Golden Crow, we’ll be crushed.”
Despite being in such a state, Kairas still tapped my ankle weakly.
Perhaps he had not yet given up on the dream of winning the guild war.
“Just wait.”
Before the collapsing rocks buried us, I dragged the Schemer outside.
Struggling to climb out, the Blind Crow arrived just in time.
Along with the Western Continent dwarf I had told it to find.
“Kar.”
Flapping his arms, Yallen descended beside me with a dramatic hero landing.
There was no time to waste, so I explained immediately.
“Guild Master Targon is currently holding off a wyvern strengthened to level seven by himself.”
“If it’s the Guild Master, he can definitely do it! What do you need me to do?”
“Please install this at the location I designate.”
I handed him a set of ritual candles and ignition tools.
Yallen frowned slightly, as if he had immediately guessed what I was planning.
“Well… I guess I’ll trust you.”
“After finishing, assist Guild Master Targon and lure the wyvern to fly above the rubble pile. Can you do it?”
“Of course.”
The vice-guild master of the Western Continent dwarves did not ask further questions and immediately launched himself into action.
Toward the collapsed stone mound that had once been the cavern.
— KROOOO!
The wyvern soared high and dove downward.
CLANG!
The sound of claws colliding with weapons.
Targon had somehow blocked that enormous weighted strike.
I swallowed the last [Lumerlan’s Sigh] and created an illusion.
《You have absolutely no mental power remaining!》
I know.
“…Did you call me?”
[Eye That Whispers Falsehoods] appeared.
Though it should only create illusions of people I had already met, this time it appeared as someone I had never seen before.
Neatly arranged hair.
Calm clothing.
A somewhat tired-looking face.
‘You really don’t know who that is?’
‘You should know.’
‘That’s strange.’
“Master!”
The voice ringing in my ear pulled my fading consciousness back.
The illusion now had the same appearance as me.
Or perhaps it had been that way from the beginning.
I wasn’t even sure what I was thinking anymore.
My head hurt too much.
“…Falsehood, help the two of them lure the wyvern.”
“Got it!”
While the illusion that looked like me ran off, I crawled up the slope of broken stone.
‘Move faster.’
Yallen shouted something from the rubble mound, and the enraged wyvern opened its jaws and charged.
‘There’s no time left.’
Falsehood stuck out its long tongue, irritating the wyvern until it angrily took flight.
‘We can’t hold it long.’
I know, so stop rushing me.
— KRAAAAA!
As the wyvern rampaged in the air—
“This fireworks display is offered to you, Solmiran.”
I calmly approached from below and fired [Death · Flame · Flower].
Directly at the tiny point on its abdomen where light and darkness met.
A minute weakness that existed only when it was strengthened as an Eclipse Wyvern.
I aimed precisely at that point with maximum firepower.
Fwoooosh!
Because my presence was hidden by [Lumerlan’s Sigh], it could not evade the attack and was engulfed in flames.
When the flow of yin and yang was severed, balance inevitably collapsed.
If the ‘yang’ element—flame—was excessively injected into the Eclipse Wyvern’s weak point, the circulation temporarily broke and its body destabilized.
In game terms, it inflicted the status effect “Imbalance,” lowering the soul rank to level five for thirty seconds.
It was only a difference of two levels.
But in terms of level, it was an enormous gap.
— …KROOOO!
The wyvern’s cry twisted differently than before.
It was reacting violently.
Naturally.
Because Reria, who sought to cover the world in gloomy twilight, was a dangerous divine authority that Lumerlan—the god of light, sun, and moon—had tried desperately to erase.
“It weakened a little!”
Targon leapt forward and brought the halberd down onto its neck.
Another [Ferocious Guillotine].
This time, unlike before, the wyvern’s scales tore away and a massive wound opened.
“Perfect condition.”
Yallen slashed repeatedly with twin daggers, widening the wound further.
Targon then drove the halberd deeper inside.
BOOM!
An explosion triggered by Targon’s mystery erupted inside the wound.
Because of the status effect “Imbalance,” the Eclipse Wyvern screamed in agony and rolled across the ground.
“Cut off its wings so it can’t maintain its wyvern form!”
Falsehood shouted while distracting it with its tongue.
“Understood!”
“Guild Master, just a little more!”
Targon and Yallen poured various offensive mysteries onto the wings.
The standard tactic for hunting an Eclipse Wyvern.
Burst damage during weakness.
CRUNCH!
The weakened wyvern’s left wing was easily severed by the halberd.
Then Yallen’s space-leaping dagger technique cut off the right wing as well.
‘Now don’t miss the chance.’
‘Hurry.’
‘Offer the prayer.’
Everything was ready.
The altar was the enormous rubble mound that had once been the cavern.
The candles had been prepared by Yallen.
The living sacrifice was the Eclipse Wyvern, which had nearly lost its original Light Wyvern form.
The offering ritual was complete.
“Okaill.”
Guide of the Cataclysmic Genesis.
I whispered a prayer to the supreme evil god.
Simple.
But containing the essential point.
“The meal is ready.”
The recipe name: Altered Wyvern.
A special living offering presented to the chaotic god who preferred sacrifices whose appearance and nature had changed from their original state.
Clatter—!
A powerful colorless aura flowed from my right thigh, and long chains formed in the air, wrapping around the Eclipse Wyvern.
— KROOOO!
The wyvern finally broke free of the “Imbalance” state and slammed its tail down toward me.
“Hup!”
Yallen threw himself forward and barely twisted the tail’s path.
“…Kar, finish it.”
Yallen collapsed beside me and disappeared.
“Thank you.”
As I bowed my head briefly, Okaill’s chains completely enveloped the wyvern.
Then—
CRUNCH, CRACK, SNAP, SPLINTER!
Inside the writhing chains, grotesque sounds of tearing echoed continuously.
Bright and dark blood began flowing out.
— KROOOO…!
It still resisted.
Struggling to break the chains.
Snap!
Even Okaill was an evil god now weakened from his prime, and part of the chains broke as the wyvern forced part of its body out.
If this continued, the offering ritual would be interrupted and I would be eaten by the enraged monster.
That was why I had brought a supreme powerhouse.
“Persistent.”
Targon struck the wound on the wyvern’s neck with a halberd blazing crimson.
His ultimate attack, combining seven mysteries.
BOOOOOOM!!
Shockwaves exploded outward.
Nearby boulders shattered.
I rolled across the ground inelegantly.
— Krr….
The wyvern’s body went limp for a moment and was swallowed by the chains again.
CRACK!
That was the end.
【Excellent.】
When the offering had shrunk to a manageable size, the voice of the evil god—supported by thousands of believers—echoed in my mind.
【Special meal acknowledged.】
Okaill especially liked offerings whose appearance and soul rank had changed from their original state, like the Eclipse Wyvern.
【State your reward.】
“[Illusion].”
【Granted.】
A sharp sensation pricked my thigh, and Okaill’s presence vanished.
The voices in my mind also fell silent.
“….”
I slowly stood up.
Where the chains disappeared, a cubic cube remained.
A tool that allowed access to the [Orb of Lumerlan] floating in the sky.
“Everyone.”
Using Jinshili to locate a nearby broadcasting crystal sphere, I looked straight at it and spoke.
“If you believe in an evil god, even a monster that powerful can be eliminated by turning it into an offering. Are you interested? Do you feel the urge to devote faith to an evil god? Then come visit this cultist, Kar, for a brief consultation and choose the divine authority you will follow for the rest of your life.”
The honor of advertising at the moment of highest viewership.
Honestly, that was half the reason I joined the guild war.
“Moon Expedition Team. The expedition team I lead. One day we’ll cause another big incident like today—so keep watching.”