Chapter 43
Chapter 43
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: The Hero, the Demon King, and the Player (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. A wind was blowing.
And not just a gentle breeze—fierce gusts like sudden squalls swept through.
It felt like what you'd sense if a massive creature were flapping its wings overhead.
In fact, that seemed spot on, since huge creatures were swarming around the airship.
Even inside the ship's cabin, their presence was palpable.
《 ~Neutral Stage~ Mires Airship Deck Area 》 -Thud. Thud.
I climbed the stairs up to the deck.
And there they were.
"Grrrrowl...!"
The massive shadows blanketing the Mires were accompanied by their signature, dissonant cries echoing moments later.
It was the roar of wyverns, the dragonkin you'd encounter most often in Novel Online.
⚔ Enemy Identified ⚔ [Green Wyvern with Thick Fangs (Adult) – Lv.190] HP: 6,500,000 / MP: 10,000
Wyverns that nest in flocks within forests, attacking any who invade their territory. Dozens of wyverns had appeared in the skies.
In Novel Online, they occasionally ambushed airships like this, and their stats were on another level compared to even the toughest bandit crews.
Truth be told, these wyverns were far more headache-inducing than any raiders.
I glanced down at the ground below, just in case. It was quite a drop, but I could make out the green forest canopy.
We must have encroached on their territory.
That explained why they were swarming in such a rage.
'Everyone's gathered on deck...'
The hero and the Demon King were up top together, with Lewis having sensed them and joined as well.
"Cyan!"
Lewis spotted me after scanning the area and rushed over.
Normally, with a dragon like Lewis aboard, wyverns wouldn't charge in so recklessly.
But right now, Lewis was lower-leveled than them, still a hatchling, and using Transform to hide his true form. They must not have clocked him as a dragon.
Or maybe they just didn't care.
Hmm. Looks like I should prioritize leveling up Lewis first.
"So those are the wyverns, huh."
Perfect timing—some decent experience points had shown up.
The level gap was plenty wide, so wiping them all out should net a nice bump, I figured.
But would killing monsters here actually raise levels like in the game? The adventurers I'd met before did level up from slaying the Minotaur, but in Novel Online, pets needed special items to gain levels, as I recalled.
'Something like feeding them candy.'
Anyway, I'd worry about that later...
"Raaargh!"
For now, time to deal with these winged lizards.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2. The wyverns bellowed at the airship.
-Crackle!
At the same time, they began gathering vast mana into their bodies.
Wyvern breath isn't like a dragon's, fueled by their own magic power. They mostly convert atmospheric mana into magical energy.
That's the biggest difference between dragons and wyverns.
There's a limit to how much mana they can pull from the air at once, whereas dragons can amplify their breath's power as much as they want if they have enough internal mana.
In short, wyverns are heavily influenced by their surroundings.
"Useless."
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ [Mana Cancel (Magic Cancel) – Area Magic] Attribute: Darkness / Range: 100m / Max Targets: ∞
>Cancels all magic below 6th circle within range.
-Crackle!
As Cyan extended her hand, red mana surged out, instantly scattering the mana the wyverns had been gathering.
"Grk?!"
The wyverns panicked.
Breath is more like racial magic innate to dragonkin than a personal technique.
Block their breath, and you cripple their combat ability dramatically.
True dragons can't be stopped by something like Mana Cancel, but wyverns? Easy.
"Lewis, you know what to do, right?"
"Y-yeah. I hate using it, though."
With their breath sealed, it was time to prep debuffs for their other attacks.
And there was one skill wyverns were especially vulnerable to.
Ironically, only dragonkin could use it.
"Huph...!"
Lewis inhaled deeply, then unleashed it.
A draconic roar echoed through the area. The wyverns staggered or cried out in pain upon hearing it.
'Dragon Fear works even in humanoid form.'
It was the dragonkin signature ability called Dragon Fear.
Lower-tier dragonkin like wyverns couldn't use it, but in the game, high-level dragonkin players made it a must-have.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ [Dragon Fear – Debuff Skill] Attribute: None / Range: 250m / Max Targets: ∞
>Inflicts 'Fear' on targets in range. Doubled effect on dragonkin; reduces movement speed for a duration.
"...Ugh, my throat hurts."
"Won't say good job. You've still got work to do."
Confirming the wyverns sufficiently debilitated, Cyan traced a circle in the air with her finger.
-Sizzle!
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ [Bind – Debuff Skill] Attribute: None / Range: 100 / Max Targets: 1~50
>Restrains targets in range. Halved effect on colossal targets.
"Grk?!"
Red rings materialized around the wyverns.
As Cyan clenched her fist, the rings contracted, binding the airborne wyverns.
They thrashed desperately to break free, but the tightly cinched rings showed no sign of giving.
'You lot won't escape.'
Cyan swept her gaze over them, then patted Lewis's head.
"Lewis, hit the wyverns with your breath."
"W-wait, aren't you handling them?"
"Catching small fry like that gains me nothing. Just tires me out. You do it."
"But... Dragon Fear already hurt my throat, so breath is kinda..."
"No excuses. Do it."
Lewis's eyes welled up a bit, but he inhaled again.
Breath and Dragon Fear were dragonkin abilities, so no risk of blowing his cover. Thinking about it, though, among the five adventurers on the Mires, Lewis was the most normal one.
One was the Demon King, one the Hero, and Cyan was a high demon. Being a mere dragon suddenly felt underwhelming.
-KABOOM!
The unleashed breath engulfed the wyverns.
"Ow, my throat stings..."
Aside from the huge opening after use, breath dealt damage scaling with level.
The wyverns' forms vaporized in an instant.
✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ Lv.150 → Lv.152 Red Dragon 'Lewis''s level has increased.
'Leveling efficiency's not bad compared to the game.'
Confirming Lewis's level up, Cyan turned her attention elsewhere.
Not all wyverns were mobbing the Mires.
The escort ships circling it had drawn 4-5 on the light end, up to 10 on the heavy.
The Hero and Demon King had split off from their earlier clingy pairing, each handling their posts.
'They do take requests seriously, at least.'
Cyan observed quietly.
👑 DEMON KING - SILMARION 👑 In Novel Online, Demon King Silmarion was a summoner mage—somewhat off-meta.
But as a monster, not a player, she ignored the restriction: "Summons must be lower level than the summoner."
"Wyverns? Cute little lizards."
⚡ SUMMON MAGIC ACTIVATED ⚡ ['Heavenly Archers'] Special: Lv.500 / Attribute: Holy / Range: None / Max Targets: 10
>Summons 10 Heavenly Archers. Persist until dismissed or their mana-forged bodies are destroyed by heavy damage.
Each summon rivaled a high-level boss monster—an absurd spectacle.
Her final phase even called demon knights matching the Hero's power to assault players.
They had less HP than the Hero and no revives, but a graze could shave off a third of your health. One slip, and you were done.
'To beat that Demon King, seal her summons first. Anything 6th circle or above is unavoidable.'
And that power was intact.
Cyan grimaced slightly at the sight of one summon that had tormented her before.
A radiant white angel.
With wings as pristine as their glow, they nocked silver bows aimed at the wyverns.
Heavenly Archers were elite high-level monsters from the heavenly realm.
'A Demon King using holy summons? Even if it's to counter demon players, it's dirty.'
They bore holy attributes, contrasting the Demon King's image, but that was tame—Silmarion could summon Archangels too.
Archangels were the heavenly realm's top field bosses.
Even the rank 1 demon player got one-shot by one back then.
Tailoring summons to player races made sense, but demons summoning angels? Shameless, logic be damned.
...Though villains playing dirty was par for the course.
That didn't make her evil, exactly.
"Now, shall we turn you into porcupines?"
-Flash!
The angels fired on command.
Light arrows traced white paths, pursuing and piercing wyverns fleeing the assault.
"Grr...?!"
Not porcupines—more like turning them into beehives.
Or shredding them to bits.
'That side's handling it fine. Now the opposite...'
Confirming the Demon King's side sorted, Cyan looked to the Hero's escort ship.
He'd already one-shot a wyvern over Asral City; she'd heard from the guards later.
No big issue expected, but since they took the escort gig, better check.
-Slash!
'No problems there.'
Cyan watched Kang Si-woo effortlessly bisect a charging wyvern.
Cringey personality aside, the guy had skills.
'...Hold on.'
Something felt off about him.
From the Hero—no, from Kang Si-woo's sword aura specifically, the usual holy power was absent.
Instead, there was a black energy familiar to Cyan.
Not holy power—demonic energy.
'That sword isn't a holy sword. It's a demon sword.'
The reason? The sword he wielded now wasn't his usual holy blade but a demon sword pulsing with demonic energy.
⚔ Item – Equipment ⚔ 『Demon King's Demon Sword』 Anti-holy decisive weapon. Incinerates all holiness it touches, be it a heavenly god—it simply cleaves through. Only those bearing demonic energy can wield it; others are devoured by its malice. '...Why's the Hero using a demon sword?'
Cyan puzzled over the ironic contradiction of the Hero wielding not a holy sword, but a demon one.
What on earth had happened between the Hero and the Demon King?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇