Chapter 91: A Leap Of Faith

"Dead gods." [ Professor ] Lavelda cursed at the display before them, the Colossal Wyvern floating right above the city. "It's already here." She shared a look with her fellow [ Mages ] and tried not to clutch her staff too tightly. "It's a good thing that we activated the barrier didn't we, gentlemen?"

[ Professor ] Carnus glanced at the orb in the [ Wizard ]'s staff and tried to act composed, "It's rather amazing isn't it—no wonder the [ High Command ] had alerted and stressed us to activate at once. Why didn't you tell us that it had teleportation magic, boy?" He looked at the man with slight irate.

Although he had been neutral on the stance in the office of the [ Headmaster ] it was still humiliating to even judge the order from the army of the [ King ]. It took for the King himself to talk to them before they even started moving.

The young [ Mage ] that had reported on the [ Message ] just twenty minutes ago only managed to give a weak smile, "I-I wasn't aware of it, [ Battle Mage ]." This information was important no doubt so why hadn't it been included?

The walls of the city included magical materials within them that activated the barrier and alongside them were other artifacts that they used to scry on enemies. And so the [ Mages ] immediately scouted once they turned on the barriers. It was amazing indeed. A few shaky laughs were exchanged by the [ Mages ] who worked together and started it. Everyone of them had been arguing to keep the city open and gather villagers and people from other towns—if they had delayed even a second longer they would have been caught completely unprotected.

"W-Wait, isn't that [ Professor ] Liddell outside?!" Another [ Mage ] who had been staring at the small orb pointed at a figure standing outside the city's walls. "Why is he there?! He shouldn't have left at all!"

[ Professor ] Lavelda's eyes widened as she operated the scrying to zoom in on the figure and by the mother of all things—they were spot on. The younger man was there and from the looks of his appearances, his entire clothes had been singed and charred on the edges.

"Get him in!" Another shouted.

The [ Wizard ] shared a look with the [ Battle Mage ] and shut off the orb display and tried for a smile, "He'll be fine… that's Owen we're talking about, instead we should worry about maintaining the barrier."

The older man rubbed his moustache and nodded, "Yes, no more idling around, back to your stations!" The [ Battle Mage ] ordered his fellow [ Mages ]. Although his gaze looked towards the older [ Mage ] that had been standing quietly at the corner, [ High Mage ] Pierce had been too quiet and they could only hope that she would stay fine.

It was their grandson that was out there.

.

The body of the [ Shadow Elf ] was thrown into the air as the Colossal Wyvern opened its jaws and flew up further and snapped up one of its snacks.

It swallowed the body whole.

Quickly resuming to gaze towards its other targets, it began to choose its next treat. The night brought the entire land before him to be rendered dark but the golden light that connected his gaze to his snacks allowed him no worries in addition to his dark vision. And there had been the glowing snack, focusing his gaze in the distance, it looked like they were standing all alo—the Wyvern started to choke.

If began to hack from its throat. it tried to keep itself afloat as it felt a sharp pointed thing within its mouth. The snack had been still alive. But it wasn't like he hadn't experienced this before as it gathered energy from within its core and electricity surged upwards but the taste was so awful: the Colossal Wyvern coughed out blood from its mouth.

And it was his.

.

"Whatever you want, shut up." The [ Tiefling ] had quickly agreed to keep the [ Cleric ] quiet already, her gaze saw the body of the [ Shadow Elf ] in the distance. Why had they been—the Colossal Wyvern plucked her friend and into the skies. She tried not to curse. Compared to the shout that she heard from nearly four hundred feet away, she was more or less aware of the tricks the [ Shadow Elf ] had in his sleeves.

But it was a stupendously risky one.

By some sheer luck, the Wyvern didn't stab him with a claw or made sure he really was dead—but either way, they would have managed to get close to it and so begun their own method of bringing that old bag of scales down.

"Wait, is that your companion?" The [ Cleric ] had begun to ask, annoyingly so. Her voice was worried and tinged with concern for someone who had been attacked by them. She began to move, although weakly so, the aura of the beast was enough to make them waver. "W-Why don't we do something?"

The [ Tiefling ]'s patience wore thin as she eyed another human in the distance and pointed at them. "Why don't you run back to your little friend and hide in your barrier." Less words and more action. But she was stuck here on the ground and the creature was all the way up until her friend did something.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Besides, a creature of that size is a dangerous threat not only to this city but all around it—so we have to exterminate it." The [ Cleric ] was still holding her shield and sword, their guard was still up but they glanced towards the distance, "My friend might have something to use."

All she could hear was yapping.

"And what does he even have?"

"Potions." The [ Cleric ] chewed on her lip, "You haven't done anything to the boy have you?"

The [ Tiefling ] tried not to smirk, "And so what if I did? Are you going to kill me right now and leave yourself wide open?"

She was rendered speechless for a moment.

And just in time as the sound of hacking and coughing erupted. The [ Tiefling ] watched the creature's hovering begin to falter as their movements turned erratic. She couldn't let that [ Shadow Elf ] do all of it by himself and so she glanced at the human in the distance, "So he's got some potion that would allow us to fly up?"

"U-uh no, but something that can allow us to jum—"

Hearing what she already wanted, the [ Tiefling ] shot out towards the man in the distance. Energy gathered around her feet as she bursted forward and launched a punch towards their direction. The man side stepped at the last minute and glared at her. "What are you—"

"Robbery." She gathered her energy and threw out a short blast, the man ducked. His movements were somehow faster than a human ought to have. "Jumping potions." She reached for the pouch that he held but before she could grab for it, a bottle was thrown in her direction. Gathering energy quickly, she pulled up an aura of energy.

Her vision was filled with smoke.

The sound of shrieks above them filled her ears.

She held her breath and jumped back, throwing a look at the man that was already bolting towards the [ Cleric ] until she called out. "I've got the hostage. Now give that."

The expression on the man's face was stupid. Their gaze fleeted towards the [ Cleric ] before they pulled out a shiny bottle and shook it in front of her. "This is the potion of jumping."

"How can I be so sure that it isn't poison?" She asked, knowing fully well that they could throw her a toxin and end up dead in seconds. She watched the man open the cork and take a sip before tossing the potion towards her.

She watched him for a few seconds.

He didn't drop dead immediately, shaking her head, she gulped down the entire bottle. She felt something course through her veins, and hoped that it would do the trick. She glanced up above and watched the Colossal Wyvern flailing about in the air and she felt dread run through her spine. Her fists clenched together. She wasn't insanely strong and she half wondered if her blows would actually even make a dent on its scales.

But there was no time to be wasted.

Watching the Wyvern's movement in the air and the [ Shadow Elf ] that was hanging on his dear life on its scales, she readied herself and shot out forwards before lunging towards them. She leapt through the air and saw the massive hind legs and the tip of the wing, almost there—

.

It was akin to watching a movie except he was also right there in the same place as them. Han became a spectator. He had been dead certain that the [ Shadow Elf ] had been electrified and completely stunned, but right before the Colossal Wyvern dove towards them, it choked. And it was there that some salvation inched its way through his heart.

He couldn't have planned that any better as the Wyvern hacked up some blood and the [ Shadow Elf ] but right before they dropped from thousand of feet in the air, the guy clung to the Wyvern's snouts and launched itself across his eye.

The Wyvern began to flail around, shaking as it tried to flick the rider from it and just in time as another figure came hurtling through the air. The [ Tiefling ] had leapt, reaching incredible heights.

But she began to fall.