206. Wyvern? Isn't That Just a Flying Lizard?
206. Wyvern? Isn't That Just a Flying Lizard?
"The wyvern talked??"
Magical beasts that could speak were extremely rare.
A magical beast that could fly was even rarer.
The academy students had thought of the wyvern as little more than a mount, so they were stunned when it suddenly spoke—an unprecedented sight.
[Cease your futile resistance. The Great One has taken a liking to this airship. If you quietly surrender, it will not lead to bloodshed.]
Despite its slight build, the wyvern produced an extremely solemn voice.
Well, not exactly a voice, but it was emitting telepathic waves.
But still, it was just a magical beast.
Saying it would not lead to bloodshed was a bizarre thing to say.
After all, my body, and the inside of that airship, were already splattered with the blood of all sorts of sky thieves.
It had sent in a band of sword-wielding thieves first, and now that the situation had been settled, it was saying ridiculous things about avoiding bloodshed.
"More than 30 wyverns... We might have to call the Sky Knights Order..."
Edgar couldn't let go of his Flamberge and broke out in a cold sweat.
Wyverns were not weak monsters.
The wyvern was the reason a mere band of thieves could claim the fancy title of 'sky thieves,' and it possessed enough strength to be called a lesser dragon.
From its flame sac, it exhaled a breath equal to the power of a 3rd-circle fire spell, and its hide, dotted with dense, tiny scales, was light but tough.
The most terrible thing was that this large airship had no way to withstand a carpet bombing from the wyverns.
Even if they reactivated the defense system, if all thirty-plus wyverns charged in, the barrier wouldn't last long and would be dispelled.
The fireballs the wyverns spewed would quickly turn the airship, made of high-grade lumber, into a lump of charcoal.
If this were on the ground, they could struggle somehow, but it was in the air.
The people capable of flying through the sky were few enough to count on one hand.
If the wyverns burned this airship, all the passengers would inevitably fall from a height where people on the ground looked like ants—and become pancakes.
Seeing no sharp solution in sight, Perda racked his brain even in this desperate crisis.
"Ah... I got it! I'll hand over the airship, so stop attacking..!!"
"Perda, you..! What are you talking about?!"
After agonizing, Perda concluded he had to give up the ship.
"I'll hand over the airship... so at least give us time to dock and disembark!"
If they fought, their chances of winning were high.
On this side, there were at least four high-tier Expert-level powerhouses alone.
There were enough mages capable of assisting, and there was even an elf who had received hunter training.
But even if they won the fight, the airship would be heavily damaged and crash.
If the wyverns focused their attacks on sinking the airship instead of fighting the people standing on deck, it was impossible for the airship to hold out anyway.
If they gave up, they would lose the airship, but at least all the passengers would be safe.
The passengers on board were more valuable than the airship itself.
It was quite a bold decision, even though the money put into the airship was no small sum.
[That is impossible. There is no cliff around here suitable for an airship to dock. If we dock on the ground, dirty soil will get on the hull, so if you want to disembark, feel free to jump out yourselves.]
When the wyvern, confident in its superior position, said that, Atlas, who had been standing by and watching, finally spoke up.
"A fox cub has grown overly confident, carrying a tiger on its back."
-What...?
The previously confident wyvern's speech halted.
"Is it a dragon, not a tiger, in this case? If it's the 'Great One' the wyverns serve, there's no way it's anything but a dragon."
The Squete he was holding was still stained with blood.
Squete, boasting its black blade, glistened, having drunk the blood of most of the thieves who had invaded the airship.
"Atlas... I know you're confident in a fight, but this airship can't hold out against wyverns of that size... Couldn't we find a way to get through this safely without fighting?"
When Atlas lunged at the wyvern, seemingly ready to fight, Perda stopped him.
Even if only about twelve wyverns remained, the airship could suffer severe damage.
It seemed Perda thought he couldn't clean them all up at once.
"Wyverns are cunning. We killed all the playing pieces they had been using so well, so they'll have no intention of letting us live."
[Does that mean you are determined to see blood?]
The wyvern murmured lowly, watching Atlas twirling his sword.
It was wondering where he got off acting so tough.
Considering they were nothing but dragon knock-offs, after all.
"But... as you said, that means there's a dragon behind those wyverns. Wouldn't making a dragon our enemy be dangerous?"
"What could something like a dragon possibly do?"
"What..?"
Edgar had asked if it wouldn't be dangerous to mess with them if a dragon was backing them, but that was half right and half wrong.
"Dragons are strong, but they can't take on the Empire alone. Do you remember how many times you've heard stories of dragons running wild while you've been alive?"
"...Now that I think about it."
Dragons were powerful and possessed high intelligence.
They transformed into various races through Polymorph to enjoy pastimes, and developed magic humans couldn't even imagine.
If there was a single drawback to the species, it was that while their lifespans were long, reproduction was extremely difficult.
In severe cases, it was common for a single female dragon to bear only one offspring in her entire lifetime.
However, dragons weren't strong enough to be called invincible either.
Ordinary dragons could be handled by someone around high-tier Expert level.
A realm that a human had to dedicate their entire life to reach was the average strength of the dragon race, but humans overwhelmingly outnumbered dragons in population.
Dragons that inflicted harm on humans mostly didn't see a good end.
Even if a dragon attacking humans, called an evil dragon among men, killed a thousand people, ultimately when that dragon died, it was a loss for the dragon race.
Eventually, more individuals died than were born.
Therefore, while it was possible for dragons to receive tributes from humans such as 'protection fees' or 'territory fees,' plundering was forbidden.
That was the agreement between the human nations and the dragon alliance.
In other words, despite such an agreement, a dragon had tried to rob humans... and even the property of a grand noble?
"If it's picking out and robbing only nobles without fear, it's either low on intelligence, a brat, or an outsider who can't even fit into any dragon pack. It means they're absolutely not big shots worth us worrying about the aftermath for."
It meant they were someone ignorant of the world, lacking the intelligence to understand the agreement, or a fool who couldn't even fit into any other dragon pack.
[You bastard!! How dare you insult that person!!]
When I dismissed whoever it was, the wyvern yelled.
"Why, nothing I said was wrong."
[I will fix your manners!!]
As the leader shouted, the wyverns changed their flight pattern.
They all ascended higher and began circling over the deck.
[Regret will already be too late! Commence firing!!!]
As the command fell, the wyverns' chests glowed, and fireballs began raining down from the sky like hail.
"Uwaaht??"
"Kuh..euuk!!"
Watching the fireballs falling toward his own head, Perda was the first to grow three trees, protecting the people on the deck.
Lemnos's Flamberge spewed fire.
Though he couldn't fly, he burned his aura intensely to try and knock the fireballs away with his sword and protect the airship.
The clones created by 'Haze' each handled two fireballs, but even so, more than twenty fireballs poured toward the deck.
Even just one or two hits would explode like bombs and set the airship on fire.
As he cut down as many of the fireballs pouring down before his eyes as he could, Edgar saw even more whizzing past beside him, and his face turned pale blue.
Atlas, who had been watching the pouring fireballs, raised his sword.
"I've heard most of what I needed, so now you're no longer necessary."
The deck where Atlas had been standing burst apart.
It wasn't an explosion from a direct hit by a fireball.
He had pushed off the deck with enough force to leave such an aftermath and leaped up.
Fireballs were chain-detonated in the sky at high speed.
The fireballs bursting one by one from bottom to top looked as if a tree made of fire was erected in the night sky.
Small arcs of sword aura that Atlas shot out in all directions as he flew up from the deck intercepted the fireballs.
[You use petty tricks!! Everyone, do not stop and continue attacking!!]
"I'm the one saying that."
Atlas, appearing before the wyvern's eyes, wasn't even using an Aura Blade.
The aftermath of cutting through the wyvern's fireballs filled his whole body with heat, making it seem as if a haze was rising.
Seeing me stopped in midair, the wyvern spat fire again.
But my Squete was much faster.
-Seogeok!
[Kuaaaak??!!!]
One of the wyvern's wings was cut off.
.
.
.
.
.
The sky thieves' attack had a big impact but couldn't cause serious damage.
The sky thieves were all dead or had become cripples who'd be better off dead.
"The cleaning inside is finished, so you can go in now."
"All the blood was cleaned up already? The performance's good."
"I have to use at least this much for its maintenance."
It was amazing that the inside of the ship, which had been such a mess, was already cleaned.
The people who thought it was all over went back into the cabins, but there were also some who couldn't go in.
Namely, the people interrogating one creature and one man bound in the middle of the deck.
"Who did you say you've robbed so far?"
"It was... Marquess Lemnos and Count Calapa."
"Those guys were going around borrowing money left and right lately; I wonder if it was to fill the gap from getting their airships robbed?"
"We released the direct bloodline relatives for ransom... and sold all the rest to slave traders..."
As if knowing who the people he mentioned were, Perda coldly looked down at the one-eyed man.
They were quite vicious bastards.
We killed them all, so wouldn't it be better to hand these guys over to the capital?
[You barbaric humans!! Do you think you will be safe after doing this..!! You will regret it...]
"Then tell me who this 'Great One' is."
[Keuaaaak?!!]
The body structure was different from a human's, but I roughly pressed an acupoint by guessing, and it liked it a lot.
I didn't know if it hurt because I accurately pressed an acupoint or if it was because my finger roughly dug deep into its body, but anyway, it made it scream, so wasn't that a good result?
"I don't care if you don't talk. If it's a wyvern as intelligent as you, bringing it back to the capital as a gift would be nice."
[Do you think I will be tamed by a mere human..!!]
"Then kill yourself. Wyvern hide is light and tough, so it's popular as armor lining, the bones and teeth are used as spell materials, and the internal organs and flame sac are liked by mages."
When I specifically told it how it would be sold after being dismantled, its face turned pale blue.
It seemed the wyverns, the main culprits of the attack, were controlled by a single leader.
Once we suppressed the only individual capable of communication and intimidated it a bit, the many wyverns fled without looking back.
The wyvern that lost one wing was left alone and just got beaten by me.
[Do not think you will be safe after doing this...!! You will definitely pay the price for this!!]
"Anyone listening would think I attacked first! Hey, you guys started it; do you have no conscience!"
At that moment....
-Kurrung..
Thunder began to resound from the clear sky.
[You scum... you dare lay hands on my subordinates?]
It seemed the exalted being these bastards had been talking about had appeared.
They kept appearing like sausages strung in a row; it was dumbfounding.