Chapter 292: Wyvern
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 292: Wyvern
A dragon and a carriage.
I felt like if I tried to understand this correlation, I’d fall into a swamp I could never escape.
Still, since the Red Dragon—a fellow dragon—was the one who said it, it had to be effective.
“We need to make a carriage that it can’t just ignore. So, the butt needs to be a little bigger…”
Why has she been so obsessed with the carriage’s butt this whole time?
“Gek…”
Just in case, I covered my own butt with my tail.
“Why are you covering that?”
“Geeeek!”
Of course, I only ended up needlessly provoking her curiosity and paid the price for it.
Still, I had to admit the Red Dragon’s carriage theory might just work.
Aren’t Western dragons usually depicted attacking people from the sky?
This carriage could serve as a kind of bait to stimulate that desire.
…Whether it was that kind of desire was questionable, but it seemed plausible enough.
So, the most important thing right now was the carriage itself.
The easiest way to get one would be to return to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
They mostly used carriages pulled by spirit beasts or dinosaurs rather than horses, but they would surely have one.
Tsk, but I doubt they’d have the kind of carriage the Red Dragon was talking about.
There was no way they’d have a carriage with a well-shaped butt, right?
“We’ll have to make it ourselves, won’t we?”
“Gek?”
We will?
“Divine Beast, your power is to create trees out of thin air, right? Can’t we do something with that?”
To be precise, I wielded the power of Wood, but saying I created trees wasn’t entirely wrong.
However, even for me, creating a carriage from scratch would be difficult.
The power of Wood is about growth and expansion, like a tree.
So while I could make plants grow, creating something out of lumber didn’t suit my abilities.
Didn’t Chodo say that hard lumber was closer to Metal than Wood?
In other words, I could sprout a tree, but I couldn’t just whip up a carriage with it.
“Tsk, that’s true. Then I guess we have no choice but to build it ourselves with lumber.”
We weren’t just making any carriage, but one that would attract a dragon’s attention, so that wouldn’t be easy either.
And it’s not like I was particularly good with my hands.
“Gek.”
Can’t someone just whip one up for us?
“Heehee?”
“Polygamy?”
Agh, you scared me.
“Heehee… Scales, scales…”
Suddenly, a horde of bicorns swarmed in.
“Gekgek!”
Why are you all here?
And how in the world did you get here?
“…As expected of the man the bicorns serve as their master.”
The Red Dragon’s face brightened.
She looked as if all our problems had just been solved.
Hey, shouldn’t you be more surprised that they just appeared out of nowhere, as if by teleportation?
Am I the strange one? Why is no one else amazed by the bicorns’ bizarre method of travel?
“Heehee.”
One of the bicorns turned its head to look at the Red Dragon.
“Size, size.”
“It should be large overall, with an emphasis on the butt.”
“Roger, roger.”
They even know what they have to do?
One of the bicorns, which had been listening intently to the Red Dragon’s explanation, turned its head to look at me.
“Gek?”
“Heehee, pillar, pillar.”
Pillar?
Ah, are they telling me to make a tree?
“Gekgek.”
That’s easy enough.
It felt strange to question the identity of the bicorns at this point, so I decided to just go with the flow.
As I created the trees, the bicorns began to build the carriage with a thump-thump-thump.
“Heehee… Wings… cloth…”
“Tail?”
“Hmm… Left, left.”
“Heeheehee… Tools…”
Seriously, these creatures.
They’re incredibly suspicious, but also incredibly competent.
In fact, aren’t these suspicious bicorns the most capable members of the Gaegaek Cult?
“Slendu. Slendu.”
“Heretic! Gullaema! Gullaemaaa!”
“Hmph! Slenduuuu!”
While building the carriage, they split into two groups and started a horn-butting fight. It seemed they were divided into the Gullaema faction and the Slendu faction.
I had no idea what that meant, nor did I want to.
“Gerong.”
Still, based on sound alone, Gullaema seemed better.
“Heehee… Gullaema…”
In the end, it looked like the Gullaema faction was victorious.
The Slendu faction accepted their defeat and worked diligently, and finally, it was complete.
The masterpiece of the bicorns, filled with their heart and soul.
“Heeheehee… One husband, immeasurable wives…”
Having completed the carriage, the suspicious ladies began to vanish like shadows.
“That’s the bicorns for you. Just look at that thing. What dragon could resist?”
Hey, it’s just a carriage.
Though, it was a bit flashy for a carriage.
As per the Red Dragon’s request, the rear wheels were massive, and there were cloths arranged to look like a tail.
Notably, where the windows should have been, they had placed wide pieces of cloth that, from a distance, looked just like a dragon’s wings.
Hmm…
They certainly did a good job.
It was huge, too.
“…It’s a little embarrassing looking at it up close, but the mission is more important right now.”
Hey, why is it embarrassing?
Just preparing the carriage wouldn’t be enough to hook the Ice Dragon right away.
So, following the advice of the Red Dragon, a fellow dragon, we placed various items inside.
First, we put in meat with a strong scent of blood, and then we deliberately scattered gold and jewels—things dragons supposedly love—on the ground around it.
According to the Red Dragon, it was only a matter of time before it took the bait.
Our plan was to hide in the bushes and pounce all at once when the creature was at its most vulnerable.
And so, we held our breath in the bushes.
“…Phew, this feels strange. To be pressing my skin against you like this, Divine Beast, with a carriage right in front of us.”
Her eyes seemed to have glazed over a little.
“Ge-ek?”
Are you sure you’re okay?
“…He really is just a baby, right? His body has gotten much bigger… Hmm, but seeing him stay still while looking at the carriage, he must be a baby…”
The Red Dragon seemed to be in deep contemplation about something.
“Haaah… this sense of depravity is no joke… I don’t think I can last long…”
As she said that, the Red Dragon slyly began to gently stroke my scales.
“Gek.”
Why are you suddenly doing this?
“Stay still, Divine Beast.”
“Geeeek!”
You’re the one who needs to stay still!
“Agh, I can’t take it. They say it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission…”
“Gekgek! Gekgegek!”
I was in the middle of a struggle with the Red Dragon, who was trying to peel off my scales.
“Krawrawrawra!”
A familiar voice echoed.
That roar could only belong to a dragon.
“Gek!”
“…Tch.”
The Red Dragon clicked her tongue in disappointment.
Her expression immediately turned cold. As expected of a magnificent spirit beast who could separate her personal and professional life.
Whoosh!
Something large was flapping its wings in the air.
It was partially obscured, so I couldn’t see it clearly, but I could tell it was a dragon.
“Shh… We have to strike when it’s least expecting it.”
The Red Dragon whispered.
When would it be least expecting it?
“…If you just watch, you’ll know naturally.”
Whoooosh!
“Krawraak!”
The dragon slowly descended toward the carriage.
“Hoh! To think there would be such a lovely carriage in a place like this!”
It showed a genuine, strong interest in the carriage.
“Maiden, are you alright? What’s that you say? Such a thing happened… Goodness, I understand. I shall help you up!”
…Huh?
Is it talking to the carriage?
As if in its own world, the dragon approached the carriage with a seductive gait.
“Hehe… I don’t see any trace of those human bastards. Come here, maiden.”
It flapped its wings from a seated position.
Then it stared intently at the back of the carriage.
“Hehehe… what luscious rear wheels.”
It began to caress the carriage’s wheels with its wings.
What is that thing?
That’s a dragon?
“What? You say you trusted this dragon lord? How can you say such a thing with such long cloths hanging from your windows!”
It continued to talk to itself, addressing the unresponsive carriage.
It was a conversation that couldn’t be dismissed as a mere monologue; it was as if the carriage truly possessed a personality.
“Grrr… I can’t take it anymore! Come heeeere! Hnngh, hnngh!”
Just before I witnessed the rock bottom of this winged lizard.
“Now!”
The Red Dragon gave the signal.
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
To avenge the Red Dragon’s grudge.
To protect my own illusions about dragons.
I charged toward the creature at full speed.
“Uh, ugh!”
With a pathetic scream unbecoming of a dragon, my claws flew toward its neck.
The moment I was about to punch a hole through its throat.
“…Divine Beast! Wait!”
Hearing the Red Dragon’s words, I struck its neck hard with my palm instead of my claws.
KWAAAAACK!
“Kiaaaang!”
The dragon rolled across the ground several times.
Wait, is it even a dragon?
It seemed a bit small for one.
And the sound it made when I hit it was far too pathetic.
“It’s not the Ice Dragon.”
I examined the creature’s form.
As she said, it wasn’t the Ice Dragon.
For one, its color was closer to brass, and its body wasn’t very large.
Most importantly, its skeletal structure was different from the Red Dragon’s.
A dragon is supposed to have four legs and two wings.
But the creature before me had no front legs.
What that meant was…
【Brass Wyvern LV75】
The creature wasn’t a dragon, but a wyvern.
“It wasn’t an Ice Dragon, but a wyvern.”
It was a bit of a letdown.
We’d set a trap for an Ice Dragon, only to catch some random wyvern.
“Kieek! How dare you! This body, which has the trust of the great Ice Dragon…!”
At those words, the Red Dragon’s eyes flashed.
Now, this changed things.
If it had just kept its mouth shut, we might have let it go, but it just had to announce it was the Ice Dragon’s subordinate, didn’t it?
“Wh-wh-what! A mere human and a lizard dare to touch this body… Huh? A lizard? Why is that lizard so big…?”
Finally seeming to grasp the situation, it flinched and tried to back away.
“Grrrr…”
But it was too late.
The moment its feet touched the ground, there was no way for it to escape from me.
“I-i-it’s a lizard, right? I-I’m a dragon! If a lizard does this to a dragon… do you think your clan will be safe?”
The wyvern flapped its wings.
It seemed to be planning to fly into the sky to escape.
If I wanted to, I could have cut off its wings before it took off, but I didn’t.
“Haha! That’s right! No matter how strong you are, in the sky…!”
“In the sky, what?”
Because in the sky, the Red Dragon was waiting for it, her wings unfurled and her arms crossed.
“H-how can a human…!”
The wyvern looked back and forth between the Red Dragon and me, then shrieked.
“How dare you! Do you think you can get away with touching a dragon! You bastards! Do you not fear the annihilation of your entire clan?!”
The Red Dragon stared at the wyvern with an expression of utter disbelief.
“Do they call wyverns dragons these days?”
At her words, the wyvern’s wings twitched.
No matter how low its intelligence, at this point, it had to realize the Red Dragon’s identity.
“Y-you are… No. You all are…?”
Nice to meet you, wyvern. I’m the mid-tier Crushing Dragon.
“Gekgek.”
And that over there is the mid-tier Red Dragon.
“G-guh, guh-uuh…”
Was it moved to tears by meeting two dragons?
The wyvern foamed at the mouth and collapsed.