Chapter 42
Chapter 42
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Emperor of the Skies (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The beginning went well.
The army, arrayed in formation under Princess Morgana's direct command, was close to perfection.
The reason they had held out for a full month despite the initial wyvern ambush was entirely thanks to her.
If she hadn't prepared for a wyvern attack just in case, they wouldn't have lasted even half a month before defeat.
And now, with deliberate preparations specifically to counter the wyverns,
a fairly solid anti-wyvern formation had been completed in just four short days.
"We owe you our lives, Your Highness."
"Hmph...! I hate to admit it, but that woman's help was quite significant."
"You mean Princess Anna?"
Princess Morgana sourly pointed at Anna, who was bustling about in the distance.
Unlike Morgana, who excelled in military affairs, Anna was skilled in administration and internal governance.
Thanks to her, she had supplied more than enough of the materials Princess Morgana needed—in just four days.
"Sir Grandel can take direct command of the knights."
"Are you sure that's alright?"
"Yes. He's far more adept at leading knights than I am."
An ancient philosopher once left behind words akin to a sharp village proverb: Know thyself.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't imagine myself safely commanding the troops, knights included. Quite the opposite, in fact.
So instead, I handed command over to those far more skilled at it than me.
And exactly on the fourth day, as expected, the wyverns began their invasion of the territory.
"Wyverns! Battle stations!!"
"Mages, make sure you remember your roles as spears and shields and respond accordingly!"
"Knights, forward! Ready javelins!!"
The swarm of wyverns blotting out the sky was the very incarnation of terror.
But unlike before, the soldiers—who had prior knowledge of the wyvern assault—didn't flee and held their formation.
With the mages and knights counterattacking immediately, we secured the early momentum.
But that was as far as it went. A wyvern's most powerful weapon wasn't its scales tougher than steel or its razor-sharp teeth.
"Whoa, the wyverns are flying even higher!"
"Javelins won't reach, and even spells can't touch them...!!"
"Damn it."
Those wings allowing flight through the lofty skies—that was a wyvern's true ultimate weapon.
The overwhelming altitude became an impregnable fortress for the wyverns, a platform from which they could rain down attacks unhindered.
The perfect union of offense and defense... No wonder they were called Emperors of the Skies.
'In the end, it means we have to settle it in the early phase when our attacks can still reach... But our firepower is still too lacking.'
If we had firepower capable of wiping out the wyverns in one blow, victory would be easy.
But if we'd had that kind of power from the start, we wouldn't be struggling like this.
And then the nightmare repeated. From a safe distance, the wyverns ravaged the territory without mercy.
Kaboom!
Boom!!!
Only the fortress and walls could withstand the falling boulders from the sky.
But there was no way 50,000 troops and hundreds of thousands of civilians could all evacuate, so most were crushed under the rocks.
As for those who made it to the fortress and walls? Regrettably, no.
Afterward, the wyverns descended personally to begin the hunt.
Death.
The wyverns' wings sliced people neatly in half for easy consumption, devouring every chunk of flesh.
And I was no exception. Unable to use aura, I couldn't hold out long and was simply eaten alive.
I die. Death repeats endlessly. Torn apart, devoured alive.
But what was even more unbearable was my pathetic self, only able to watch helplessly as those around me died.
How many times did I die? How many deaths did I have to witness, shedding tears of blood?
"......"
I stared at the javelin in my hand. Ominous black haze rose from it.
Instinctively realizing this was killing intent, I hurled it at the wyvern with all my strength.
Kwaaaang!!!
The black javelin soared to the distant sky, piercing a wyvern's neck like lightning.
But it wasn't enough. This much... couldn't kill the wyverns' king.
◇ Wyverns were also the race closest to the descendants of dragons. They couldn't use dragon tongue like true dragons, of course.
Still, they possessed intelligence, along with dragon-like tough scales and sharp fangs.
Thanks to that, wyverns had rightfully earned the title of Emperors of the Skies and ruled unchallenged until now.
The reason for this wyvern assault on Lenhaym Territory was precisely that. Lenhaym was wyvern territory.
Before allying with the necromancer, they hunted prey through direct raids; afterward, they received tribute.
But these insolent new settlers dared withhold tribute.
"As king, I cannot stand by. I shall personally descend and make them pay for defying me."
The Wyvern King's roar thundered through the demon-haunted forest, answered by the wyverns' roars.
It might seem arrogant, but wyverns possessed power matching that arrogance.
Beings of the land could do nothing against the emperors ruling the skies. At least until now.
"......?!"
The Wyvern King tilted his head. For some reason, visions of past events flashed before his eyes.
He was experiencing what was commonly called a life-flashing-before-your-eyes phenomenon for the first time right now.
And with it rang alarm bells. His instinct for survival, akin to a sixth sense, warned that he would die if he didn't move immediately.
"Kuh?!"
The black spear was what first induced the life-flashing vision in the wyvern sovereign who ruled the skies.
The spear, filled with ominous blackness, let out eerie sounds as it shredded the Wyvern King's right wing to pieces.
If he'd been even a moment slower... that spear would have pierced his neck instead of his wing.
"Your Majesty! Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine. With magic healing..."
"I-is that so? Then we're relieved."
The Wyvern King's blood kin and sole heir confirmed his condition. It wasn't a light wound, but not fatal either.
Wyverns already possessed immense regenerative power, and the King could even use magic. Meaning,
most wounds could be fully healed with recovery magic.
However, the familiar recovery spell yielded wildly different results.
"......The magic isn't working. Even my regeneration is greatly weakened."
"Th-then this is serious!"
"Fly higher immediately. We can't afford to take another hit from that black spear!"
Even in this unprecedented crisis after centuries of life, the Wyvern King issued commands worthy of his title.
Indeed, his orders were spot on. No matter how many javelins thrown, they couldn't reach higher altitudes.
Attack unilaterally from a distance beyond enemy reach and crush them. That was his favored strategy.
"Found you."
A foreign voice from above sent chills freezing the Wyvern King's spine.
The skies had never once allowed invasion—an absolute invincible fortress.
At least not in the 100 years since he'd ascended as king. But right now,
that invincible fortress, unbroken for a century, fell to a single intruder. His reaction was too slow as a result.
Kwajik!
"Kraaaaargh!!!"
A jet-black greatsword wreathed in black flames like the dark spear cleaved his remaining intact wing precisely in half.
Having lost both wings in an instant, the Wyvern King could only plummet to the ground.
Yet the intruder didn't stop. He drove the greatsword into the falling king's chest.
Kwaaaang!
A deafening roar shook heaven and earth. The moment the sky's ruler crashed ignominiously to the ground.
But the Wyvern King had no time for pride. An opponent impossible to take lightly stood right before him.
'Madman...!! Even using me as a shield, he shouldn't survive unscathed...!!'
And true to his words. Despite using the king's body as a shield, the man's limbs were grotesquely twisted.
Yet even through mind-numbing pain just from breathing,
he forcibly moved his mangled limbs, rising once more to raise his sword.
At that moment, overwhelmed even by this madness-transcending tenacity,
the man drew a grotesquely twisted smile on his lips.
And from those warped lips came a voice like scraping metal.
"Welcome to hell."
You're going to die here today.