The Forgotten Grand Temple of the Pantheon (3)
Lilia cried out in a bewildered voice.
"A Snow Wyvern coming back to life? That can't be right. Even the ancient texts say that the treasure vault's qualification just summons a guardian golem near the altar..."
But the monster before their eyes was unmistakably a wyvern—a sub-dragon resembling a dragon but far smaller, with no front legs.
"But it's no ordinary monster. The snowstorm it just summoned... it carries a chilling dread like demon aura, beyond mere cold. And that semi-transparent, ethereal form isn't normal either."
"You're right, Young Master Yulian. It feels more like a beast than a monster. One taking the form of a spirit... That means it has to be some lingering resentment from the reverse space that dwelled in the wyvern's heart and brought it back!"
There was no time to relax. The revived Snow Wyvern immediately whipped its wings.
"Dodge!"
Dozens of ice spears slammed into the spot where they stood. The two evaded with ease, but the chilling debuff from the Snow Wyvern's cold air persisted.
Even their exhaled breath froze solid. A chill colder than Essemont's harsh winters swept through the underground cavern.
'I thought I'd gotten used to the cold from the margrave's domain. This is like a freezer.'
Even his body, tempered by relentless training, began to stiffen quickly. Lilia hurriedly chanted a divine spell.
"Holy Flame!"
A verdant green divine power ignited into flames. The heat it radiated temporarily pushed back the surrounding frigid air.
An overwhelming divine power befitting a candidate saintess. But exhaustion soon crept across Lilia's face.
"The Snow Wyvern was already a spirit beyond mere monsters. Now it's beastified—and even ethereal—making its icy aura far too potent. To keep you two from frostbite, I have no choice but to keep burning massive amounts of divine power like this. But to resist the demon aura and illusions, we can't release the Binding spell either..."
In short, Lilia's divine power would hit its limit soon. Her expression grew grave.
Yulian was in the same boat. With the aid of Holy Flame and the mana he drew from within, he thawed his stiffened body. Yet the cold debuff lingered, numbing the hand gripping his imperial sword.
For a moment, he considered using the Rosario and the trace power of Jedin within him, but held back. Jedin's power had to be saved for assaulting the nest later.
He decided to take action first.
"Don't worry! I'll handle the wyvern!"
"It's dangerous! This isn't like that bear illusion you cut through earlier. This is a more materialized spirit—far stronger. And ethereal beast forms don't take well to a swordsman's physical attacks. Somehow, with my divine power..."
But Lilia looked overwhelmed just maintaining her current spells. The Snow Wyvern's cold was that intense.
"It's fine! I can manage. I'll take it down before your divine power runs out, Lady Lilia!"
"But..."
Lilia seemed deeply tense. But to Yulian, the Snow Wyvern somehow didn't feel like that formidable a foe.
He murmured softly.
"It's already died once anyway. As a spirit without a physical form, it can't be stronger than before. I'll be right back."
On the verge of battle, Reinhardt blood always stirred battle lust over fear—especially with an intriguing enemy right in front of him. He wanted a proper clash with the Snow Wyvern.
And if he stayed glued to Lilia's side like this, no one could land a hit on it.
Even as his blood boiled, the damnable cold kept his mind sharp. Calmly, he summoned a spirit.
"Salamander."
The low-grade fire spirit Salamander. Its warmth barely thawed his frozen hands. The feel of the sword hilt in his palms returned to normal.
He charged out. The Snow Wyvern reacted instantly, hurling ice spears at him.
Papapapap—
He dodged with quick footwork. Ice spears mercilessly stabbed where he'd been.
He circled widely along the cavern's outskirts, drawing the beast's attention as much as possible.
Kyaaaaak!—
Frustrated at his evasion, the Snow Wyvern let out a roar. It opened its maw wide, intense blue light gathering within.
"Watch out! It's a breath attack!"
Though a monster, this sub-dragon wyvern unleashed a breath like a true dragon. Its momentum and speed dwarfed the earlier ice spears.
An ultimate cold breath that froze even the surrounding air solid.
Even spotting it coming, its ferocious speed made evasion impossible as the blast engulfed him.
***
"Young Master Yulian!!"
Crackcrackcrack—
The sound of ice shattering filled the cavern. The breath hurtled toward him with enough force to vaporize him.
But Yulian was unscathed. Rather than dodge, he'd blocked it head-on. A massive ice wall stood before him.
"I'm fine. No need to worry!"
Wyverns might be sub-dragons, but their wits were birdbrained. It spewed cold and snowstorms recklessly to its heart's content.
It was brutally cold, but that very fact was turning the battlefield in his favor.
'Used the piled snow to make an ice wall.'
An ice wall as thick as a bunker door. The alchemical barrier withstood the wyvern's breath.
Using water and wind mana, he'd rapidly transmuted the snow around him. A mere conversion of two attributes.
And with nearly 400 MP in reward mana from completed quests, it was simple alchemy.
Kyaaaaak—
Enraged at his survival, the Snow Wyvern roared. It ascended higher in the cavern, glaring down at the two with sinister blue eyes.
"At that height, sword strikes won't reach!"
"It's fine! Lady Lilia, strengthen the Binding spell!"
At his words, Lilia's Binding intensified. Their hearts linked deeper, and even from afar, Holy Flame's warmth reached him.
Simultaneously, the cavern's blizzard raged fiercer. The Snow Wyvern's fury followed—and of course, it only aided him more.
The entire area was a mass of alchemical reagents.
'If it won't come down, I'll go up.'
With surging mana, he performed alchemy once more. This underground cavern made path-making far easier than on the surface.
Massive ice paths spiderwebbed across the cavern. He dashed up them toward the beast.
'I don't like some lizard looking down on me.'
At the end of an ice path higher than the wyvern's flight, he leaped down, swinging his sword.
Lion Heart Sword, First Chapter, Fifth Form.
A solemn strike infused with mana aura severed the wyvern's long neck in one blow. It never saw his attack coming, stunned he'd reached it.
Grraaak—
With a death cry, blue light flashed fiercely one last time before the Snow Wyvern's spirit vanished. The cavern's blizzard and chill dissipated. He'd slain it.
'Easier than I thought.'
Its ferocious blizzard and flight made approach tricky. But up close, it was helpless.
He descended to the ground before the ice paths fully crumbled. Lilia shouted.
"Young Master Yulian! Are you alright!!"
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
Lilia pulled him into a tight embrace. The lingering Holy Flame warmed his body delightfully.
And as always, her benevolent, ample bosom pressed against him. That soft, voluminous sensation was incomparable.
Calmer now, Lilia stroked his head as if immensely proud.
"That Snow Wyvern was a spirit! How did you cut it with a sword strike?"
"The Binding spell infused my blade with some of your divine power. And..."
Unlike alchemy or spirit arts reliant on traits, he'd trained swordsmanship himself for ages.
'Steady practice of Lion Heart Sword with Uriel.'
So he'd accumulated some faith toward the war god Roia. That let him convert part of his innate mana to Roia's divine power.
His divine-infused strike cleaved the spirit with ease. He explained briefly to Lilia.
"So you severed its neck in one go! Incredible. Unlike the other illusions, the Snow Wyvern was a powerful beast with its breath and blizzard!"
"It was nothing."
"It absolutely was! You were just like a hero among heroes, Margrave Wilhelm himself. And using alchemy too... I can't believe it!"
Lilia's praise continued lavishly. And with the Binding still linking them,
he felt her affection swelling endlessly. Unbeknownst to her, the door to her emotions loosened further.
Thus, he glimpsed an unexpected notion at its core.
'Reinhardt imperial family? What does that mean?'
Not House Asterik, the true imperials—but his own Reinhardt house. Lilia saw the margrave's family as royalty.
Reinhardt, the house she'd marry into. Thinking of it as imperial meant...
'Does she see me as emperor?'
If true, this benevolent princess harbored ambitions beyond imagining. But he gave no sign of reading her heart, sharing his body heat with her.
As their bodies pressed close, Lilia craved more. Her gaze turned sticky, longing for a kiss. But he deftly changed the subject.
"Lady Lilia. We should grab that item quickly."
Snapping to, Lilia finally dispelled all her divine spells.
"Oh my. Look at me. You're right! For you, Young Master Yulian, securing the Snow Wyvern's heart is top priority."
They approached the altar where the spirit had manifested.
"Taking this heart as an elixir will surely unblock your mana roads... Wait? The Snow Wyvern's heart looks strange!"
But its state was off. Just as Lilia said. After the spirit vanished, the wyvern's heart remained as a palm-sized ice crystal.
It was slowly melting.
***
The sight made even Yulian dizzy. An elixir precious enough for the imperial treasury. Missing this chance would derail his future plans.
"We need to consume it right—"
Lilia stopped his reaching hand.
"No! Young Master Yulian! Elixirs from spirits are too dangerous to take raw without purification! The evil qi would overwhelm your body!"
But the heart was already melting. Taking it out and purifying leisurely would leave useless water, not an elixir.
He conveyed his urgency to Lilia.
"This is troubling."
But Lilia's face grew more grave. She glanced at him, steeled her resolve with a nod, and approached the heart.
"No. Don't despair, Young Master Yulian. It's complicated, but there's a way. The method in the Medica Order's secret texts!"
Lilia took the heart in hand. Without hesitation, she swallowed the ice crystal.