novelTime to Exterminate a Wyvern
| ← Ch.031 | Ch.033 → |
Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations
"Miss Bella, I need help! It's my master! Master is... BWAaaaAAAaaah!"
Using [Body Reinforcement] to raise my strength, I half-carried half-dragged my master back to the inn, then asked miss Bella for assistance while crying.
For some reason there was a crowd of people gathering in front of the inn, but I scattered them without worrying about it.
"GUEEH!"
"Oh my, mister Haster too? Anyway, lay him down in this bed over here. And then calm down a bit. You're stepping on sir Alec."
~*~
The inn turned into quite the disaster scene.
Aside from my master, Marle, mister Bhav, and miss Leche are all showing signs that they caught Randa fever.
Apparently when Marle suddenly collapsed, Alec also came back in a panic.
We set aside a quarantine room for my master and the others, and let them rest there.
"Miss Bella, can't you use healing magic to like, make a flash of light and cure them?"
"Curing illnesses is much more difficult than wounds... I'm sorry."
Miss Bella shakes her head in response to Alec's question.
The foundational ideas of healing magic; returning things to their 'original state', or 'promoting natural recovery', will heal traumatic injuries.
In the case of illness, there's a problem. If the body is returned to its original form, then the germs will also be restored. If natural recovery is increased, then likewise the germs will also have their recovery increased.
A high ranking magic user would be able to exclude the germs from the effects of the spell and cure them, but miss Bella doesn't seem to have that ability yet.
"It looks like the people who aren't particularly fit are all lined up here. Though it's surprising that mister Haster contracted it."
"Master has been prone to illness lately..."
"And you still let him be a baggage carrier? Incidentally, I am surprised that you're still healthy, young lady."
"It's the effect of a gift."
"So, you're a gift holder...?"
Ah, I thoughtlessly spilled the beans on that one, but maybe that's alright?
Well, on top of not saying anything about what the gift is, the only one I revealed was the gift that keeps me from getting sick, so I'm sure it's fine.
Moreover, it's the battle maniac Kale that I'm talking to anyway.
"Having even the wife fall ill puts us in a pickle. But it's not like we can eat up a whole month stuck here..."
"You say that, but even so we're down one man in our party. And above that, with even mister Haster out of the picture, we couldn't even finish the journey!"
"I'll say this now: I have no intention of leaving my master here, got it?"
In response to mister Oreas' remarks, I make an immediate correction.
Along with the high fever, Randa fever also causes paralysis of the limbs. If we bring them along on the journey, then it would sharply increase our burden.
"So basically, we would have to defend two carriages with a fighting force of five people. Yep, that's a bad idea."
"Let's put in a request at the guild over here. With all that happened with the Vultures, we should be able to shuffle some new people in... though it'll probably be impossible to get people as strong as they were."
"Who cares either way. If we can't cure these guys, then we can't go anywhere, right?"
Even someone like Jack grasps the heart of the issue.
Of course I don't intend on leaving my master's illness alone either. I originally planned on inspecting it, but with this happening, I am now fully prepared.
"... Alec. I am going to go defeat the wyvern tomorrow."
"Huh?!"
"With that thing gone, master and the city's people can be cured. It's the one powering this vicious cycle, and what established it in the first place. If I cut it off somewhere, then it'll stop."
"Say what you like, but without master there... wait, if you use your 'Charrjed Partical Kanon' thing then maybe it'll work?"
My master assured me that if my immense firepower hits, then even a dragon wouldn't come away unscathed.
Indeed, if I hit it first with a big skill, then I'll have a good chance of winning.
"Hold on a second, no matter what the circumstances, doing it alone is just absurd. I'm going too!"
"Unfortunately mister Kale, you would do poorly against it."
"What do you mean?!"
"You wouldn't be able to dodge the wyvern's attacks with that heavy armor. And according to what they say, it breathes fire too, you know?"
"Certainly, if he can't get away when it breathes fire down on him, then he'll end up as barbecue."
Mister Kale has an overwhelming deficiency in mobility after all.
Moreover...
"That's not all. Our objective for this has to be the zipacna leaves that we will use as medicine. If it sends fire towards the ground, then we'll be in trouble."
"Ah, if the trees burn..."
"As such, I can't bring the ground fighting power of Alec along either. It'll just be me, who can use flight magic."
"Taking a wyvern on by yourself is just stupidity!"
"I'll be fine. You know about my physical constitution, don't you? If I lose, then it'll turn into a chance to surprise it."
Give me an hour, and I'll come back to life.
Whether I'm in its stomach, or near its den, once I revive I can send a spell right into it for a preemptive victory.
Even if I do fail, I'm prepared to try again.
"Using these tactics, you'd be the only one in actual danger, Alec."
"Well that's certainly... true, but still!"
"This is when you should believe in your big sister, and leave everything to me!"
Saying that, I puffed out my chest.
~*~
The next day, I was on the dragon's mountain.
"Tattakataa, takatakatataantatataantaan, tatataatatataataataan?"
Since it's a mountain, I spat out the BGM of a certain famous hunting game while climbing the mountain path.
If I didn't do this, I'd really get scared.
The zipacna trees are supposed to be near the middle, and in their surroundings is where I'll enter the wyvern's territory.
My equipment is the usual magic tank mantle, the [strength reinforcement enchanted] bracelet, and Third Eye with some iron arrows.
I also prepared 3 specially processed iron arrows.
It's not a major change. I just dug the spiral grooves deeper and [Enchanted] them with [Toughness]. If it was originally like a drill, then I guess these ones would be more like a mixer blade?
If it's a long range shooting match, then I don't think the bow will be necessary, but I think if I use magic then my attacks will be just a step too late.
My current opponent aside, since it can be immediately released as soon as it's raised, the bow 'if the attack goes through' could be called the optimal weapon.
Perhaps these are the traces of the city dwellers' tracks. Heading in the direction of the zipacna trees is an animal trail-like path.
However, there hasn't been much traffic through it recently, so it has started to disappear.
Thanks to that, I managed to get to the middle without getting lost.
"... It's not coming, huh."
Well this is certainly unexpected... the wyvern isn't coming to attack.
Don't tell me I'm too small for it to notice or something? HAHA, yeah right. It's not like I'm a certain pint-sized alchemist.
Anyway, being near the zipacna trees is dangerous in more than one way, so let's change locations. It'll be a problem if the trees burn.
I could carry some leaves back at this point, but I don't know how much I'll be able to carry back, so it really is best that I take care of the root cause.
I'll search to the top of the mountain from here.
~*~
I tried climbing to the top of the mountain, but it's still not showing up.
And there's a dubious looking cave in front of me... but the area around the entrance is melted into a glassy substance.
It's quite large too, so I'm fairly certain that this is its den.
Taking up my bow, I send a [Ball of light] to the back of the cave to see ahead... hmm, there's something large in the back?
"What is...?"
Just when I was about to enter the cave—
A huge shadow suddenly blocked out the sunlight.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
"Wha, now you show up?! Damn it all!"
There the body of a huge serpent, exceeding 10 meters, flapped its large wings. Its dangerous eyes glared at the intruder. Its intent to attack is evident.
Apparently it's going to attack without asking any questions. It rears its head back in a large motion... The kind of pose that promises an incoming breath attack.
In response I activate [Body Reinforcement? Agility].
FWOOM! I felt the vibrations go down to my bones. The flames went beyond red; the blue and white flames blocked my visibility.
Going into the cave—would remove any path of escape. I avoided the flames by jumping to the side.
The fires chased after my initial jump. Going dozens of meters further, I finally managed to get away.
"Ya jerk... That's really hot you know?!"
The ground I dodged away from is red hot and melting together. Even the surrounding ground and trees that didn't get directly hit are charred.
—What kind of ridiculous fire power is this?!
I originally intended on finding it first, using [Flight], and dragging it into a mid-air shootout, too!
Perhaps as a silver lining in this, since there are no zipacna trees in this area, I probably don't need to fly. Unstable footing would reduce the accuracy of my arrows after all.
Activating my bracelet, I dual cast [Body Reinforcement? Strength] at full power. This may make things difficult, but I discard my [Agility Reinforcement], and carry [Body Reinforcement? Vitality] out to its limit.
This way I can use my strength at its maximum to draw the bow... In the current situation I can handle it; the strongest [Body Reinforcement].
The distance between us is less than 20 meters. I nock one of the specially processed arrows, and determine where to aim on the far too large target—
—Hmph, if either one of us hits, then it'll be a one hit kill. Very well then... I accept your challenge!
Shaking with its roar, I forcibly calm my trembling arms, and draw my bow with everything I have. The black crystal, given elasticity by magic, groans and squeals.
The effect of these arrows won't show through with any half-baked strength, so it has to be fully drawn.
As if in response, the wyvern rears its neck back and prepares its breath. It seems to have absolute confidence in the defensive power of its own scales.
And I say that's just self-conceit!
—My aim: the head!
"GURUAAAAAAAAA!"
Flames burst forth together with its roar.
The iron arrow flies straight into it.
With the repulsive force from Third Eye, the arrow launched at a speed far surpassing sound, and with the grooves carved into it, spiraled through the air—
—And scattered the flames!
Incidentally, the resulting shock wave kicked back, and I was also blown away.
~*~
"GASP! HAA—, haa—... cough, cough"
Just as planned, it looks like I successfully scattered his breath... but because of the sudden burst of wind it made, there was a lot of air pressure, and I couldn't breathe.
And it looks like I passed out for a little while?
Also, I'm gonna keep it a secret that I peed myself a little... if this keeps up, they'll start calling me leaky. In a urinary meaning.
"Cough, cough... that was... dangerous... almost... suffocated."
The purpose of these arrows is to scatter its breath by creating a vortex in the atmosphere.
And then, by causing the wind to blow out and come right back in succession, it was going to stop the wyvern in its tracks.
And while it was stuck there, I planned on blasting it with magic, but—with how I flung myself back, I couldn't really use magic at that point.
I guess I can call this one a failure?
"What happened to... the wyvern?"
Shaking my dizzied head, I looked up, and saw the fallen corpse of the wyvern there with its head blown away. Its long neck was torn to bits part way through.
The wind from the spiral exceeding the speed of sound caused a shock wave, the point of impact carved out a huge area, and it must have been entirely scooped away.
"Whoa... this is unexpected."
By the looks of it, an area of about 5 meters is hollowed out. Could it be that I've created a weapon of mass destruction?
A-anyway... as expected, not having a head should mean instant death.
All that's left is to investigate that large something inside what appears to be its den.
~*~
"I'm baaaack—"
"Yuuri! I'm so glad you're all... right... what's that?"
"... an egg?"
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A/N: Yuuri's SO STROOONK mode is activating
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