The Black Wyvern
During the last great war, the Demon King's army had built a fortress in these Mereka Mountains and trained wyverns to deploy on the battlefield. The wyvern units were called the "disease from the sky" by the soldiers at the time, embodying pure terror.
Of course, most of the wyverns deployed on the battlefield ultimately lost their lives in the last great war, and their numbers had greatly diminished. But ironically, within just a few years, the wyvern population in the Mereka Mountains had grown far beyond what it was before the war.
This was because the Demon King's army hadn't stopped at simply training wyverns; they had interfered with the wyverns' ecology to ensure a steady and continuous supply.
In the wild, female wyverns are far fewer in number than males. This is because, from the moment they hatch, the smaller female wyverns are outcompeted by the males for food during their growth, leading to natural selection.
However, the Demon King's army captured these young females and raised them in protected enclosures, causing an explosive increase in the female wyvern population.
Wyverns have tremendous reproductive capacity. A single female lays fewer than ten eggs at a time, but within a month, the hatchlings grow to adulthood and the breeding cycle begins anew.
It was fortunate that we destroyed that fortress quickly; otherwise, the entire mountain range might have been overrun by wyverns. And with that, the number of wyverns deployed on the battlefield would have increased accordingly.
According to Medrup, due to their fierce nature—where they readily kill their own kind over food competition or minor squabbles—their numbers wouldn't increase beyond this in the wild, and would likely return to normal within a few decades. Still, at present, the wyvern population in the Mereka Mountains was at an all-time high.
A few wyverns approached cautiously at Erill's appearance, but none dared to attack. Though wyverns are savage and dangerous creatures, they are fundamentally beasts. Instinctively, they recognized the phoenix as a superior predator.
"Hmm. I wonder where he is."
Bagloros had sworn, at Rowell's behest, to never assassinate again, and right after the great war, he had informed only us before secretly entering the Mereka Mountains.
The Ancient Forest surrounding the mountains and the wyvern packs ensured that people never came here, and even a considerable army couldn't enter without risking annihilation. It was the perfect place to hide.
The problem was that he had only said he would go to the Mereka Mountains; he hadn't told us the exact location. Finding him in such a vast area wouldn't be easy.
Of course, if he noticed my presence, he would come on his own. But even if I shot flames into the sky or made smoke, it would only work if he was within visible range and direction.
"Let's head to the fortress first."
We decided to fly toward the middle of the mountains where the Demon King's army had built their fortress. Even if it was half-destroyed, some residential facilities would remain, so logically, it seemed the best place to settle.
Of course, Bagloros wasn't one to make ordinary judgments.
Along the way to the fortress, remnants of what had once been anti-air defense towers and barrier-generating towers lay scattered about. The towers built from black stones from the demon realm had collapsed into pitiful ruins, now covered in nameless weeds.
My feelings were complicated. Though they now only displayed transience, those towers had once boasted immense grandeur. With the powerful attack spells and barriers they emitted, approaching by flight like this would have been unthinkable.
Moreover, there were the wyvern units and soldiers swarming from all directions within minutes. No one but us, who had been there, knew how difficult it had been to capture the fortress because of them.
We had lost countless summoned beasts here. Though we didn't have many proper summons in the early days of our adventures, most of the monsters we had diligently contracted with and the beasts we had grown fond of were used merely as shields.
The same went for that clever horse that turned to ash in the flames. Losing a summon with whom you shared not just control but a bond was heartbreaking. Especially when souls and consciousness were connected and synchronized, the pain, fear, and the ensuing emptiness that followed in that moment would overwhelm my mind.
Such emotions and shocks were not something one could simply forget.
During the last great war, we were surrounded by death. The deaths of enemies. The deaths of allies. The deaths of victims. We were at the center of it all. And it wasn't just us—everyone who endured that war felt the same.
But no matter how true that was, those deaths ultimately belonged to others; they were external. Never our own.
Death is not pain. Death is not despair. Pain, regret, and anger are merely things that pass before death. What the souls feel just before crossing to the other world, what the body and mind experience, is absolute emptiness.
An absolute void that makes consciousness and emotions drift away, making one forget their own existence.
It was something no one but the person involved could imagine or understand. Only those whose souls, consciousness, and senses were synchronized could experience a fragment of it for a brief moment.
"...I'm fine, Erill."
She had sensed my heavy emotions and conveyed her concern.
"I was just thinking about the past for a moment."
She tried her best to comfort me, but the language barrier made it difficult. Still, it didn't matter. Through our connected consciousness, her sincerity warmed a corner of my heart more than any words could.
"......"
Though it felt sudden and hypocritical, I bowed my head in respect for the deaths of the summoned beasts, allies, victims, and even the enemies. It was partly for them, but also somewhat for myself.
After that, along the paths to the fortress in the middle of the mountains, aside from the black rubble and ruins, no traces remained to remind one of the old battles.
There were certainly many wyverns. The traces left by the grass and wild wyverns had completely erased the past. Wyvern footprints and claw marks were everywhere, filled with droppings, and here and there were wyvern corpses with broken necks, half-skeletal, likely from losing food or mating competitions.
Passing through all these traces, we arrived at the site of the Demon King's army's fortress in the middle of the mountains.
"...I should have thought of this sooner."
A sigh escaped my lips. The scene before my eyes was completely different from what I had imagined.
"Well, it was a naive thought."
Contrary to my expectation that some of the old structure would remain, the former fortress was completely covered by a flock of wyverns. I should have anticipated this. The fact that the Demon King's army built a fortress here meant the geography was excellent. And naturally, the wyverns would prefer such a place as well.
Moreover, some wyverns had likely hatched and been raised here. Thinking that this place would still be empty had been foolish and naive.
"Calm down, Erill. They won't attack. We don't need to fight either."
About twenty wyverns had built nests throughout the fortress and were highly tense at the phoenix's appearance. Judging by their size, they were all females. They let out sharp cries as if to threaten us while protecting their eggs and young, but as long as we didn't approach further, they wouldn't attack first.
Of course, under normal circumstances, twenty wyverns wouldn't pose a threat to a phoenix. The problem was that I was riding her.
When a phoenix exerts its full power, its entire body is enveloped in intense flames. Of course, the flames themselves could be blocked by an equipped barrier. But once the barrier activated, I wouldn't be able to hold onto her body, so even a momentary loss of balance would send me falling.
Therefore, if a battle broke out, I would have to handle the attacks myself, which meant summoning other beasts.
We weren't here to hunt wyverns, and I didn't want to go through that trouble.
"Well, it doesn't look like Bagloros is here, so let's try somewhere else..."
A urgent warning from Erill reached me, and a shadow fell over my head. I quickly ducked and gripped tightly with my hands, and she swiftly performed an evasive maneuver.
Immediately after, a black object swiftly passed through where we had been. An attack without hesitation from above. It was an action a normal wyvern would never take against a superior being like a phoenix, but for the one before us, it was entirely possible.
"This can't be. I never thought it would still be here."
It was a black wyvern, easily twice the size of a female wyvern, and even larger than a typical male wyvern.
A Black Wyvern.
A breed created by the Demon King's army by casting spells and infusing mana into unhatched eggs. Though their numbers were few due to low success rates, their size, indiscriminate aggression, flight speed, and combat power were incomparable to ordinary wyverns, so they were given only to wyvern unit commanders and above.
I thought they had all disappeared with the fall of the fortress, but seeing that it lacked the silver armor that symbolized them on its head or neck, it seemed to have hatched from an egg after the fortress was destroyed by us.
"No wonder the nests were so close together. They were all this guy's females."
Normally, it's impossible for one wyvern to have multiple females. If competition arose over females, one male would usually lose its life. Therefore, even during breeding season, they wouldn't foolishly continue such fierce competition repeatedly.
But for this one, other wyverns wouldn't even dare to challenge it. Even if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance.
It seemed my senses had indeed dulled lately. In the past, I would have noticed things like this.
"But this is actually good."
A smile unconsciously formed on my lips. To be honest, during the last great war, I had secretly envied the unit commanders who rode these Black Wyverns. Though they were just swept away like ordinary wyverns in front of our comrades, the imposing presence of the Black Wyverns with their silver armor, dominating their surroundings, was undeniably captivating.
Black Wyverns were created only through special spells and continuous mana supply. Even if Black Wyverns mated and laid eggs in the wild, only ordinary wyverns would be born from them.
In other words, with the Demon King's army gone, seeing a Black Wyvern was truly impossible. Perhaps the one before us was the last Black Wyvern left in this world.
As a summoner, it would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted.
But Erill, who read my thoughts, openly conveyed her displeasure.
"Don't be jealous, Erill. This is just a collector's desire. No matter what, I can't compare you, a phoenix and my friend, to it."
But even with my words, Erill didn't ease her discomfort at all. She showed hostility as if she wanted to bite and kill the Black Wyvern right away, and the Black Wyvern was also preparing its next attack toward us.
"Erill. Don't fight it; lure it to the ground."
If we fought here, it might get seriously injured, and other female wyverns might interfere.
But she pretended not to hear me. She only replied to hold on tight, then gathered her mana and suddenly spewed flames toward the Black Wyvern.
Startled by the sudden flames, the Black Wyvern dodged, and Erill gathered mana again as if to spew more flames. She truly intended to burn it to death.
"Erill. I'm begging you. Okay? I'll get you those Maracas fruits you like and even make liquor from them!"
At my desperate persuasion, she finally lowered her mana, but still looking displeased, she glared at the Black Wyvern for a moment before turning away.
Fleeing first was essentially a declaration of surrender, but after seeing the flames earlier, a normal wyvern would never have chased us. Yet the Black Wyvern charged at us the moment we showed our backs.
We lured it to an open area that had once been used as a landing zone, a bit away from the nests. Unlike the fortress, there were no nests, but the grass was mostly flattened, as if it was still frequently visited.
As we flew low, it followed at a low altitude, and the moment the distance between it and the ground became close enough, Erill rapidly soared upward.
No matter how fast it was compared to ordinary wyverns, it couldn't match the speed of a mana-using phoenix. In an instant, we occupied the space above its head and dove down, knocking it to the ground.
Its massive body rolled on the ground, and taking advantage of the gap, we landed as well.
The Black Wyvern soon stood up and bared its teeth at us, expressing its anger. From the way it was rapidly swinging its tail side to side, it didn't seem to intend to fly again.
Following my mana, white giant runes floated in the air. I could have left it to Erill, but I needed to repay that petty creature in my own way.
"Now, let's see how it reacts."