Chapter 63: Thundering Roars!

Chapter 63: Thundering Roars!

Drifting Snow Wyvern

A wyvern that has specialized itself to its life in the Aviator Peaks by developing strong wings to support aerial battles. Possesses specialized organs that can cool down the air through mana injections, even able to flash freeze water particles to coat itself in a protective icicle mantle. Using speed, sharp talons, and icy winds, this predator scours the air and ground to swiftly end its preys life. Rank B

[Humanized (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

Kriiiiii-!

Wind Blast!

Before the wyvern could scream aloud, I prevented with power blast of wind, slamming its jaw shut.

I cant let it shout!

At all costs, I couldnt afford it to shout, otherwise, chances are high that it would be checkmate for us. The monster being a rank B was already disastrous but what would be worse than one B rank monster? Three.

My draconic instincts already knew that they were strong, and I definitely know that we cant fight all three at onceI dont even know if I can fight this one alone

[Saori!] using the small opening that I created, I called out to my first companion.

[On it, Hestia!] dropping any formality to keep her answer concise, Saori replied, before leading the lizardmen away from the battlefield. [Apsala, Caszcur, Aksmias, lead everybody away from here! We'll find you guys, so take these and run!"]

Taking some of my bombs from her own storage, Saori shoved them into the lizardmens arm after ordering to go.

[Tasianna!] in the meantime, my fairy companion made it over to me, already knowing that we had to get serious. [Wings!]

Having readied her [Icicle Spike], both of us shot out spells with the sole goal to strip the monster from its wings. Our first victory condition was to ground this flying monster at all cost, it was so essential that if we couldnt fulfill it then it was game over already.

Having recovered from my initial surprise attack, the wyvern quickly understood our hostility as it swiftly stretched its wings and body. While the wyvern was larger than me, its movements were graceful, leaving little wasted movements as it curved and swerved and slipped through our spells like a slipstream.

Not even giving us a second look, once it found a window of escape in my spell-slinging machinegun, the wyvern turned its body upwards and began digging itself through the tree foliage, fully intending to get back to its comfort area: the sky.

[Wind Blast!] activating the wind spell behind me, I blasted my body in the direction of the wyvern. [Spark Claws!] using my wings to readjust my body mid-flight, I only barely was able to catch the wyvern by its tail.

Due to the momentum of grabbing it, I was swung forward. Using my tail to pierce a nearby tree, I anchored myself to it to prevent being dragged away by the wyvern. Holding with all my strength, the wyvern desperately struggled to free itself from my grip, losing its balance as it broke branches with its flapping wings.

Krriiiiiiiaa!

Verdammt nochmal, its scales are hard!

While it wasnt as hard as the eye of that [Vellestra Leviathan], it was still quite hard to sink my claws into them. Im pretty sure if I hadnt used [Spark Claws], I would have only slightly scratched its carapace.

However, what made everything worse was not only the high-pace battle but also the cold aura that was chilling my bones down, just by being close to it. Thankfully, my unnaturally high body temperature and [Body Temperature Control] conflicted with this cold air, making it bearable for me without freezing off my fingers.

Cant use fire magic, verdammt! I complained, knowing that anything flashy as a fire spell would risk gaining the attention of the other wyverns.

While causing a forest fire was a problem, using any giant spell that made too much noise was bad, too. I cant use [Bedrock Blades] to slice it cause they are too noisy and [Banishment Beam] is the definition of a flashy spell.

Sanctuary, yes! Get it on the ground and I can construct it large enough to stop its movement without it being too large!

With a plan settled, I started straining my arms and tail, even more, to pull the wyvern closer to ground. Once my feet were close enough, I used the claws on my feet to dig into the tree.

This short moment finally allowed my parallel minds a break from casting other spells to finally begin activating my buffing spells. While it took a while, every single one was helping me balance out the stat difference between this B rank monster and me, a C rank one.

[Tasianna, shoot its wings down! Forget about its [Ice Resistance] and just get it down!] I shouted.

I cant overpower it. It was impossible using my current form. I had no chance with only 2/3rd of my stats even with all my buffs. The surprise of my sudden actions probably caused it to panic but as it slowly recovered from it, it was quickly making my previous attempt to hold it down, irrelevant.

Arrrrgh, holy hell its too strong! I screamed internally as my body was being painfully stretched apart.

Fuck, Ive no choice! Humanization deactivate!

Activating [Humanization], a mana mist dispersed from my body, covering me and Tasianna in its blue cloud.

Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaa! the wyvern cried out in agony.

As I was slowly returning back to my true form, my claws continued growing larger, piercing even further into its flesh. Once I felt my neck was long enough, I moved it outside of the fog and bit the wyvern in its tail.

Krieeeeeeekraaaaaaa! Kra! it roared.

Krueeeeegh! I screamed

[Lady Hestia! Winds of the mystical fairy goddess, oh, I plead for your ethereal veil, Air Shield! Falling water from the air, freeze and shield us from the danger of the world, Frozen Shield!]

Cold, so so cold! is what I thought as I released my grip from the wyvern and started falling. At the very moment when I bit into the wyverns tail, my [Prediction] warned me that the wyverns patience for me has ended, as it was about to launch an attack at me.

However, certain circumstances like having my tail stuck in the tree and having just bitten its tail made it impossible for me to avoid it, forcing my [Draconic Barrier] to take the full brunt of the attack.

Regardless, the wyverns larger mass slamming one of its wings at my smaller body was a sure-fire way to knock me completely down.

See me getting hit, Tasianna quickly conjured up [Frozen Shield] to protect me from the fall and [Air Shield] to keep the cold touch of the shield away from me. Very thoughtful, as I was suffering from the intense cold from the wyverns attack.

[Grrrrrgh, this actually hurts. OMG, why the hell is it [Absolute Pain Tolerance] and not nullification or something, argh, fuck!] I cried out, holding my left arm that was slightly frozen by that wyverns attack. I dont think it reached my bones nor did it freeze any of my muscles, but seeing my crimson scales turning blue immediately made me slice any frozen scales off my body to stop the terrible pain that was coursing through my arm.

Looking up at the wyvern, I saw that its left wing was fully covered in frozen, jagged ice as it began to flap its wing to fly up anew.

No! Quick, stop healing me and shoot something, girls! I cried out to my parallel minds, stopping them from using healing and buffing spells due to the current problem.

As it was about to catch wind, a giant monster leaped onto its back and starting biting into the wyvern's wings, holding itself onto the flailing monster with shadowy long talons.

[Saori!] I cried out.

[Miss Saori!] Tasianna cried out, too.

[Yes, hi. Enough, do something about this thing already! I cant hold onto it without your buffs, Hestia!] Saori's voice was hurried, struggling to stay on the wyverns back.

Oh, right! Sanctuary! Air Shield!

Realizing that the wyvern was grounded as I wanted it to, I materialized a barrier of light just large enough to give us room for our battle but not large enough for the wyvern to fly freely or above the trees.

The [Air Shield] was there to stop any sounds from escaping the fight, giving me back my access to [Draconic Roar], [Terra Wall], and [Bedrock Blades].

No longer having to worry about it calling for its friends made this a bit easier on us but, hopefully, the other wyverns wont find us anytime soon.

[Saori, jump off. I cant hit you with [Synergists Oath] when youre swinging around like that,] I called out.

Understanding that I might transfer all my buffs on the wyvern, Saori let go of it and jumped on the ground. Finishing the first batch of buffing spells, I transferred them to Saori before redoing it to buff myself.

This is gonna be a rough battle, even after taking its ability to fly, so any advantage then we can gain over it is absolutely necessary. Be it extra stats, ganging up on itor even some dirty tricks.

I need to buy as much time as possible!

Grrrrrrr, Saori snarled.

Kriiiie ah kraih, the wyvern let out.

Kriiiiiee, I growled.

There was a standstill between the three of us giant animals as we kept an eye on each other, cautious of our opponent's next move. While it did make me nervous that the wyvern wasnt showing as much hostility as I thought, it did work into my favor that it wasnt attacking me, allowing me enough time to fully buff myself.

What is it doing? Is it not seeing us as a threat? Calmly standing around, waiting for its companions?

I cant let that happen!

Once I readied my determination, I invoked magical circles behind me, causing the wyvern to cry out Kriah! Kriah! before having to brace for it.

Unfortunately, I do not understand wyvern cries, so this was useless. Relying on my earth spells like [Earth Spears], due to my fear of burning this forest down, I shot at the hesitating wyvern.

Understanding that I was intending to kill it, the wyvern cried out once more before shooting out a breath attack, a very cold breath attack!

Scheie!

[Stay behind, Lady Hestia! Falling water from the air, freeze and shield us from the danger of the world, Frozen Shield!] Tasianna announced confidently.

Seeing the ice shield materializing made me put my hope into Tasianna as Saori delved into the shadows to protect herself.

[Urgh!] Tasianna groaned, doing her best to hold the shield upright as she pushed back the stream of cold air.

As I tried to keep my body from freezing, I suddenly heard a loud howl coming from the other side of the shield, and then another pained shriek. Noticing that the icy stream stopped, I immediately took this as my cue to move into action.

The sight of two giant shadow wolves combating the wyvern, fully shrouded in a black veil of [Shadow Armament], while they held it in place using [Shadow Tendrils] kinda made me reminisce a certain ninja video game that I once saw the Lets Play of.

Regardless of that though, it seems Saori used [Shadow Clone] to duplicate herself, creating a fourth combatant for our side. Using the surprise attack to its fullest, she evaded attacks and countered the wyvern, inflicting chip damage with her clone and limited spell arsenal to their fullest potential.

As I ran towards them, I filled my mouth not with saliva but a thick, viscous fluid, which tasted absolutely horrendous, using my mana. Spitting the concentrated ball of venom out of my mouth, seemed to have alarmed the wyvern quite a lot as it knocked its head in my direction the moment I did that.

Its own [Prediction] probably warned it as it quickly reacted by freezing its wings and using them to shield itself. Having no way to enter her body or even touching its skin, my attack was ineffective, but this little distraction gave Saori the opportunity to deal a proper attack.

Enlarging a [Dark Bolt] into a long spear, she and her clone pierced the wyverns legs with them, essentially pinning it to the ground. Shrieking once again, the wyvern seemed to have finally had enough of us, immediately flash freezing the air around it, coating itself a thick veil of ice.

Using its newly hardened body, the wyvern used its long forearm wings like sickles, defending itself from my spells, and my melee attempts to land a [Spark Claws] or [Spark Fang] on it. Saori and her clone were also struggling as the wyvern masterfully used its now trident-shaped frozen tail to sweep, stab, and slice any of Saoris further attempts.

I can use a fire attack now!

Realizing that it had no way to dodge my larger attacks now, I smacked my teeth together to create a spark then added mana to have it grow and surge inside my mouth.

Spark Fire Breath!

An eye for an eye, if you used a breath attack then I should be allowed to use one, too, right? Knowing what was about to happen, the wyvern tried to slam my mouth shut, but it was unable to due to Saori holding its tail back with her mouth.

[Prediction] is warning me?! No, I am fast enough!

Ignoring my trusty skill to focus on dealing damage, I was fully confident that I could make it before its attacked hit me. Opening my mouth, the last thing I saw was the wyverns face twisting around and then slamming into mine with a force of a truck.

The next thing I saw were the leaves of the forest burning from a flame pillar, as I then began tumbling on the ground, rolling around before stopping.

Ahhhhh, my head-ahh, cold!

Clutching my head with my forelegs made me notice that a portion of my head felt cold to the touch. The freezing sensation, similar to a brain freeze, that came from that area made me soon realized that I failed my attacks.

[Lady Hestia, please stand up! You must stand up!] a voice resounding inside my head, but the sheer headache that I was having made it hard to follow its instruction. It was so bad that I wasnt the one to hear it but my parallel minds.

Urghhh, dizzycome on legs!

The next moment, my whole body was sent flying as my sides felt an intense sting that reached down to my stomach.

[Hestia, heal yourself!] another voice came into my head which I obediently listened to.

Relying on my parallel minds to identify how to heal myself, I heated up my head and then cast [Major Heal] on my head and sides, releasing me from the aching. This act helped me regain most of my senses back, quickly eyeing that Saori and Tasianna were holding an onslaught of attacks back that was intended for me.

Bedrock Blade!

Invoking a massive sharp blade of earth from the ground, my assailant had to quickly dodge it mid-flight, uncomfortably flapping its wings inside my [Sanctuary] which restricted most of its aerial ability.

Looking at our opponent, the wyvern, I could see that the spears that Saori had drilled into its legs were still there, but those wounds were bleeding profusely. It also had more blood coming from its tail, probably the area where Saori bit into to hold it back. The last wound was a charred area on its face, most probably the reason for its now enraged state.

[Thank you, you two. You really saved me there,] I told my two friends.

[At yur service, Lady Hestia!] Tasianna said proudly, still hovering her [Frozen Shield] before me.

[Good to see you up, Hestia. Now come on, I can see that your dirty trick is finally showing its effect,] Saori pointed out, making me look at the wyverns status board to see that it had [Poisoned (Minor)] and [Paralyzed (Minor)].

Ehehe, it worked ~

When I transformed back into a dragon, I quickly injected some venom into its body using my bite. Due to how sudden the battle started; I barely had any time to buff myself nor was I able to realize that I should have used [Toxic Secretion] when I dug my claws into its tail.

Wyvern's Status Board Health: 20456/20456 Mana: 8578/8867 Strength: 7451 Intelligence: 7067 Vitality: 6597 Wisdom: 6490 Agility: 9874 Stamina: 13450/14310 Effects: None Unique Skill: Skill: Magic skills and related Physical skills and related Movements and senses

[Night Vision Lv. 10]

[Presence Killer Lv. 3]

[Evasion Lv. 10]

[Acrobatic Lv. 10]

[Air Walk Lv. 4]

[High-Speed Aerial Tempo Lv. 4]

[High-Wind Maneuvering Specialist Lv. 5]

[Superior Aerial Fighter Lv. 2]

Resistances

[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 4]

[Absolute Pain Tolerance]

[Bleeding Resistance Lv. 10]

[Poison Resistance Lv. 6]

[Paralyzation Resistance Lv. 9]

[Torpor Resistance Lv. 7]

[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 7]

[Fear Resistance Lv. 5]

[Lightning Resistance Lv. 9]

[Fire Resistance Lv. 6]

[Earth Resistance Lv. 3]

[Storm Resistance Lv. 4]

[Water Resistance Lv. 7]

[Dark Resistance Lv. 3]

Stat growths and related

[Health Recovery Lv. 6]

[Mana Recovery Lv. 7]

[Stamina Recovery Lv. 9]

[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 8]

[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 6]

[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 9]

[Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 7]

[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 8]

[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 6]

[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 7]

[Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 6]

[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 6]

[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 3]

[Speed of Sound Lv. 3]

[Steadfast Endurance Lv. 1]

Others

[Profile Protection Lv. 2]

[Eye of the System Lv. 2]

[Noble Aura Lv. 1]

[Terror Aura Lv. 8]

[Warriors Mind Lv. 2]

[Leadership Lv. 2]

[Starvation Lv. 10]

[Thought Acceleration Lv. 2]

[Body Temperature Control Lv. 7]

[Humanize Lv. 10]

[Telepathy]

Information Blocked

Boltreaver Wyvern

A green-black wyvern with an ability to attract lightning towards it, empowering its large crest by using the surging energy as a blade of light to strike down enemies. Once enraged, this mighty thunder wyvern can super-charge itself to turn its green-tinted scales into blue, drastically increasing the power of its lightning. A true nightmare for other fliers. Rank B

Thats a Rank B, too?!

Not only was its stats much higher than the two Drifting Snow Wyverns, but it had a more quality status board than both of them combined. He was 40 levels higher than them and also the age disparity was apparentso much that those two wyverns seemed more like his grandchildren in his presence.

[I do not know what might have happened, but I request that you not harm my subordinates any longer, Princess Hestia Atsuko,] the wyvern spoke.

Wha-?! I-It spoke-It spoke to me through [Telepathy]?!

Gulp.

[] I stayed silent, not moving a muscle but also not dropping my guard.

[You have my gratitude,] the wyvern said with a short head bow before directing his attention to the other two wyverns, speaking with the only one that was conscious.

[Hestia,] Saori called me out as she returned to my side, all bloodied and weary from her solo fight. [This is not goodnot good at all]

I couldnt help but nod. The situation was fucked up. The second wyvern already had a higher Agility stat but this thingwas another level. H-How are we supposed to get out of this situation?!

[I seePrincess, it might not be my place as a wyvern to lecture a true dragoness, bearer of our gods blood and one of his descendants, but I must insist that it might have been inappropriate of you to attack someone without speaking,] the wyvern said with a grim expression. [However, I believe that should have been known to me as I heard you killed three other wyverns.]

Hearing this, I instantly readied myself, spells ready to be activated at any second. Saori looked confused as she saw me getting into a stance but hastily adapted her own, despite having trouble standing up due to her wounds. It seems like the wyvern was only sharing a telepathic connection with me.

[Oh, now I must apologize. I have no right to say that after bringing that topic up without considering your situation,] the wyvern said with a bow. [Honestly, despite being saddened of seeing my subordinates hurt, I will still praise you for a grand performance. A magnificent display of your abilities as a dragon, Princess Hestia Atsuko, despite your extremely young age.]

Silence. Neither Saori nor Tasianna said anything as they werent able to hear anything, while I didnt answer cause I wasnt sure what I should even say in this situation. It was beyond surreal.

[Mhmm, Princess? Is your silence due to not being able to speak our language, yet?"] the wyvern asked. [Ahh, I forgot, I did see you have [Telepathy] with my [Eye of the System], so even if you do not know how to speak, you should still be able to convey your mind to me. Well, you are a newly born whelp, so it makes sense. Hmm, I also made my status board available for you to see to show you that I have no hostile intentions, so what further must I do]

[Arent you mad?] I finally build up the courage to ask.

[Oh, Princess! Your voice is truly divine, absolutely wonderful. You honor this old wyvern with your words,] he said with another bow but this time the only conscious [Drifting Snow Wyvern] also joined in. [However, what do you mean about being mad?]

[The three wyverns! Werent they your friends or something? Wh-Why are you so calm about this?!] I nervously asked, not knowing if this was just an act of his to have me drop my guard before stabbing me in the back.

[Do I mourn for the deaths of those wyverns? He he, nonsense,] he said with a chuckle. [Yes, they were also arbiters of our god but I could care less. They were lesser wyverns that havent gained power over an element yet. The law of the strong. You have done well to show them their place, Princess Hestia Atsuko. I am in awe of your power.]

[Tch,] I couldnt do anything but click my tongue, knowing fully well that I was the last person to reprimand him for his words due to being the one to have killed them. [Then who the hell are you, huh?! Stop slithering around my tail and stop hiding behind that persona of yours, verdammt nochmal! Youre here to kill me, right? Well, fuck you and that blasted Kargryxmor as if I'll let that happen!]

I could feel that my [Fear Resistance] was doing its best to stop me shaking but my inner self told me that it was helpless. I couldnt beat himnot without any sorta preparations at all.

Even then, was my conviction to win enough when both strategy and power are completely useless against something this overwhelming?

I dont want to die! I dont want to die! I dont want to die!

It almost made me cry that Ive gotten this far but circumstances said no to my life. Why hasnt Aurena done anything yet about this? Why was she letting me get killed by Kargryxmor, huh? Why is that?!

What have I done wrong? Are those two gods fighting against each other and she cant do anything right now? But shes an origin goddess, one of the mightiest beings in this world! How can she be stopped by a subordinate god like Kargryxmor?

W-Was all of that a lie?! Was I lied to?! Why-Why would she send that message just to abandon me!

WHY?!

[WHAT?! What nonsense, Princess!] the wyvern shouted. [By my name Astalos that was granted to me by the grand wyvern priestess, I have come for nothing of that sort! Our Lord has given us unworthy relatives of the true dragons a divine quest to escort you to safety! Back to our home at Wyvern Peak, so you may speak with your ancestor, our lord Kargryxmor!]

eh?

[Lady Hestia? Lady Hestia?! Are you alright, Lady Hestia?! Why arent you responding?! What have those monsters done to you?!] Tasianna cried out in full panic.

[Hestia! Damn it! No, this cant happen! You monsters, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY PRECIOUS FRIEND!] Saori howled, having fully cloaked herself in [Shadow Armament] again, despite being heavily wounded from her battle with the wyvern.

[Waitcalm down you two] I said to stop my companions from doing anything stupid, finally healing Saori with my healing spells. [I-Its all a bigverdammt nochmal, its all a goddamn misunderstanding!]

Fuck! Fuck!

[Im sorryI truly apologize,] I told the wyverns, bowing my head in shame and guilt for causing this amount of problem just causejust because I wasnt willing to talk it out! [I-I murdered them in cold bloodI also nearly did that to your companionI am so so so so sorry.]

[Princess!] the wyvern, Astalos, shouted out. [Preposterous, how could you bow your head to us, your lesser relatives. Stand strong, you have nothing to be ashamed about, actually, you should be proud of defeating them! My subordinate has much to learn if she wishes to further survive in this world, and her brother should have been there earlier! They should blame themselves for being weak and nearly falling to your prowess!"]

After explaining the situation to Saori and Tasianna, while also requesting Astalos to also share a connection with them, I finally calmed down.

[However, I cannotI cannot come with you,] I said hesitantly, still not sure what this wyverns real personality was.

[Hmm? Ahh, I think I might have an idea why,] he said before releasing a bellowing roar.

Once that happened, the ground began to shake and from it, a giant white snake head appeared. I dont think it was the same but using [Identify] definitely proved that this thing was another snake head of the [Vellestra Leviathan].

Why cant I see its profile?! How high is its [Identity Blocker]?

As my party was shivering at the mere sight of the only A rank monster that we knew about, the ground once again quaked as another head came out, this time opening its mouth to spit out several dozens of lizard-like monsno, those were the lizardmen!

As I was further dumbfounded by the situation, the surprises seem to not want to stop as in the next moment a giant crocodile-like head appeared and blocked the sky for us. Considering the direction, it was most likely the area where we found that deep swamp.

Releasing a roar that was loud enough to shake the whole world around me, I couldnt help but feel like this was a stupid gag. That was how ridiculous the station was!

[I heard that you were a belligerent one, so I made sure to ask for aid from one of the true dragons, or, leviathan, in this case,] the wyvern said proudly, strutting his large crest around. [It was just insurance, but that unfortunately delayed our meeting. I apologize, Princess Hestia Atsuko.]

What the fuck?!