21st Century Archmage

Chapter 38 - Unidentified Assailants

Chapter 38: Unidentified Assailants

Translator: Lei

Proofreader: Imagine

“Bebeto, easy does it!”

I was a shoddy Skyknight who didn’t have much to call luggage. After putting the two-seater saddle on Bebeto, Derval and I left Kirphone Covert.

‘Russell, why’d you have to cry.’

She must have heard the news, because Russell had been crying her eyes out until they were all swollen up in the dorm room. When I opened the door and went in, she tackled me and wailed, blubbering sorry and thank you. She said her goodbyes to me with a big hug.

‘I’ll be back soon! Don’t fool around and live well!’

After leaving the room after saying farewell to Russell like that, Hyneth was suddenly there. Then she said the following: “Orabunni, I will come find you soon. Please be careful around water, dogs, orcs with bad eyesight, and especially pretty girls!!”

She wasn’t even my mother, but Hyneth listed off all the things I should watch out for. I could almost see lasers shooting out of her eyes when she said the last one in particular.

‘Countess Irene, thank you!’

Fluttering behind me in the wind wasn’t the black cloak for Skyknight cadet knights, but the crimson one for formal Skyknights. After I finished my farewells at the dorms, I went to Bebeto’s hangar. There, Irene and Rothello were waiting for me. Without a word, Irene took the crimson cloak from her own back as well as her black scarf and put them on me.

‘Sir Rothello, I’ll properly buy you a beer sometime.’

Rothello had also given me something: a Black Wyvern banner that symbolized the empire. It was decent enough to hang the banner onto Bebeto’s ass as his panties. I wasn’t wearing airplate mail and Bebeto wasn’t wearing wyvern defense mail, but we still looked pretty legit.

‘Admiral Yi Sun-sin also won in a battle against hundreds of Japanese ships with just 13 of his own. Ah, Kang Hyuk, you may be flying miserably in the sky today, but soon, your great fame will fly far and wide over this continent!’

Grasping the four reins with one hand and bravely facing the wind, I made a vow to the red setting sun.

“Kyre-nim! I’m cold and hungry!”

I passionately made a man’s oath, but behind me came poor Derval’s wailing.

‘Dammit…’

Reality was cruel. We flew off after acting cool and bidding adieu to Countess Irene and the covert, but the cold reality was that Derval and I had been turned into poor homeless people without home or hearth.

‘The other nobles will be alarmed when they see Bebeto, right?’

Bebeto would surely invite not just shock, but contempt. I heard that if you formally received an appointment like this and went on a flight, every territory lord would offer their hospitality.

However, Bebeto and I would not be welcomed. Since that was the case, I didn’t want to mooch like a beggar.

“Derval! For us, there’s no such thing as a comfortable rest! Even at this very moment it is like a real battle situation– it is wilderness survival training!”

“…..”

Rather than an energetic ‘yes sir,’ I only got silence from Derval in return. I would do the same in his place. After all, we were heading to Weyn Covert, also known as the Grave of Skyknights and Wyverns.

What could I say? It was Derval’s fault for meeting the wrong master.

‘We’re almost there.’

After flying for about an hour, a place called Mt. Rocco came into view, it was located several hours on horseback from the capital. In the middle of the all-important great plains that provided food for the capital was the slightly protruding Mt. Rocco.

That was the place I had arranged with those guys.

I directed Bebeto, who had already learned how to use the shifting air currents, to the ground. Bebeto stopped flapping, holding his huge black and golden striped 15+ meter wings outstretched.

‘Very cool!’

The Kallian Continent was unpolluted. Under the pink and mandarin orange glow of the setting sun, the golden stripes on Bebeto’s black wings fluttered in the sky like the emperor’s golden cloak.

As we neared the ground, Bebeto began to flap and decrease his speed.

‘There they are!’

A few carriages were sitting at the capital-facing entrance of Mt. Rocco. We approached the carriage with the red cover, which I had specified so I could find them later.

‘10 people. They’re all strong.’

There were 10 people from the black merchant group waiting for me at the carriage. Since I didn’t know when I would get kicked out, I had instructed them to wait here the day right after making the deal.

“Who are they?” asked Derval, sticking out his head.

“They’re friends. For now.”

In life, what was an enemy or a friend? If they were helpful to me, then they were friends, and if they weren’t helpful, they were enemies— it was that simple.

As Bebeto’s hefty body hit the ground with a thump, the black merchants flinched in surprise. No matter how strong they were, a fully-grown wyvern was an existence to fear.

‘Ara? That woman is here too.’

It was the black cat who would be able to star in a porn film had she been given a whip. She was watching us while making a sensuous pose on top of the carriage.

I unclasped the safety loop and lightly landed on the ground.

“The goods?”

“Hoho. You’re quite impatient.”

‘She’s charming, but fierce.’

The black cat possessed quite the provocative appearance, but her fierceness was really not my type. This kind of fierceness was definitely different from firm courageousness, like what Countess Irene possessed.

“I’m busy.”

“Are you really? There shouldn’t be any reason for a person heading to the plains of death to be busy though…Hohoho.”

This cat clothed in black leather armor was an expert at baring her claws when needed and retracting them fully at will. She let out a crisp laugh as she approached me.

“Derval, your dinner is over there.”

It seemed as though they had dined while waiting for us, because there was stew inside an iron pot. There were also a few pieces of bread lying around.

“Hooh, so this is the cursed wyvern said to be bred at Kirphone Covert.” The black cat showed an interest in Bebeto.

‘Ara? This guy!’

She approached Bebeto without a hint of fear and stroked his sturdy leg. But Bebeto stayed still without getting tense or enraged and just squinted his eyes as if enjoying the woman’s touch.

‘Jeez, he knows something beautiful when he sees it.’

“What a shame. He has no defensive armor to protect his big wyvern body.” The cat stabbed me where it hurt with her words.

“Where are the spears?” I ignored the cat and approached the carriage.

As soon as I did so, mana bloomed from the guys standing around the carriage.  “Heh…” These guys didn’t know how close they were to stepping to the gates of hell and back.

“Move aside. This is someone who will become a special customer.” The men moved aside at a single word from the cat. She then smiled at me. “As a special service, I even brought over the installation tool. You’re thankful, yes?”

The cat’s eyes creased into crescents as if awaiting praise.

I simply ignored her and removed the red packaging.

“B-Blessed Spears?” cried Derval in surprise.

“I only brought ones made from Bajran’s Imperial Magic Tower. They should be quite comfortable to use,” the cat explained.‘You’re all dead meat now!’ I thought towards those cruel bastards who had sent me off into the world without a single weapon. I knew this would happen, so I had invested an insane amount of money.

I smoothly lifted the leather weapon container that would be installed next to the saddle. It was filled with Blessed Spears with the thickness of a closed fist. 20 was a pretty large amount.

“Jeez, why such a hurry? Hoho. The night is long… and I have information to share, too… Hoho…”

The cat snorted as she shot an alluring look my way.

‘Older sis, I’m a minor, okay?’

I couldn’t reveal that to this catlike woman. This older sis didn’t seem to know that if she messed with me the wrong way, she would be sent straight to prison due to minor protection laws.

* * *

“That bastard left?”

“Yes, Your Highness. We received a report that he just departed from the covert.”

“Huhuhu…”

The huge room was decorated by a harmonious arrangement of top-grade dwarven made furniture, painting, sculptures, and other such objects made by the continent’s best artists. Bajran Empire’s  Crown Prince Poltviran laughed nastily, his teeth showing in his mirth.

“He will disappear without a sound before he arrives at Weyn Covert,” said a man with a cunning voice that matched the Crown Prince’s humor. A nephew of the current Queen, he was the Crown Prince’s maternal relative, Viscount Silveron. He was Poltviran’s right hand, a man who knew and aided the Crown Prince’s ambitions.

“Kill him! Strip his skin and dunk his body into a vat of salt and kill him ever so slowly and painfully! Kukuku.”

As he spoke those vicious words, madness danced in Poltviran’s eyes. As soon as he had returned to the Imperial Palace, he was summoned and rebuked by his father the Emperor, which soured Poltviran’s mood. The reason for the scolding was that he had laid a hand on Princess Igis in front of many nobles and knights.

‘My Imperial Father! I will return the favor to you soon. Everything in this empire you love, I will thoroughly crush them as I please!’Despite being the Crown Prince, Poltivran had been raised listening to rebukes that were harsher than those given to anyone else. Inside him raged a twisted hatred towards his father.

“And for tonight… I have prepared the daughter of the Pasian Baron household that you saw at the banquet yesterday.”

“No issues, I trust?”

“Please do not worry. Talks with the Baron have already gone smoothly.”

“Silveron, as expected, you’re the only one who truly understands me.”

“It is an honor, Your Highness.”

Silveron, whose words completely uplifted Poltviran’s mood, bowed low at the Crown Prince’s praise. He knew very well that only flattery could earn the bad-tempered Crown Prince’s favor.  In return for such flattery, the day the Crown Prince became Emperor, Silveron would reap a prize that no one could have imagined.

The Emperor of the Great Bajran Empire. Silveron knew very well that by simply being next to such a person, one could grasp military power no less than the Emperor’s own.

‘Che, dirty and cheap bastards!’ I cursed the nobles and people who reacted to Bebeto. I had expected it, but not to this degree.

With the letter of appointment from the covert in hand and the map I had been given, we made our way to Weyn Covert. After passing over mountains and rivers, we began to see castles and villages.

I don’t know how they knew we were coming, but every time we passed into a territory, we were welcomed by Skyknights. But the problem was, when we drew closer and they saw Bebeto’s golden stripes, their attitudes changed. Their faces blanched as if seeing some kind of devil and they fled. If that was how Skyknights reacted, you could imagine how regular residents treated us. As soon as Bebeto appeared, they were frightened out of their wits and they hurried to ram their heads down while trembling uncontrollably.

“Kyre-nim, the fire is ready,” informed Derval, who was completely infected with the fun of camping out.

‘Shall we try eating some fish today?’

We had set up camp at a large mountainside lake. Whenever the sun set, we would make camp and rest.

Guooo. Bebeto must be hungry too, because he let out a low cry.

‘Eat a little less. My back is gonna break trying to feed you.’ This guy would only work if he got a pig-sized portion for each meal.

“Derval, go over there and collect some more wood.”

“Huh? I understand.”

I pointed at the forest and shooed Derval off.

‘Huhu, fish are my specialty.’

A week had already passed since leaving Kirphone Covert. Now we just had to cross the Nerman Plains and the Rual Mountains that walled up the empire to reach our destination.I rose from my seat and approached the lakeside, looking at the clear and clean water. From a distance, I had clearly seen fish that looked similar to carp flopping out of the water.

‘3rd Circle Lightning should be enough.’

A spell was drawn inside my head. I rapidly drew mana and approached the water.

“Lightning!”

I cast lightning around 10 feet away from me to where the fish were flopping. A powerful blue flash of magic burst out, outshining the light of the sun.

Boom~! Bzzzzzzzttt. 

The spell, bristling with electricity, plunged into the water and spurred a powerful energy wave that spread in all directions.

“Bebeto, let’s go hunting!”

After a short while, fish floated to the surface. Without even thinking about it, I jumped onto Bebeto’s back.

Flap, flap, flaaap. With powerful strokes of his wings, Bebeto jumped off the ground.

“Hup!”

The feeling of my body floating up was strangely electrifying.

Flap flap flap flap. Bebeto beat his wings hard. Thanks to his immense strength, we lifted off the ground within moments.

Woooooosh.

‘Ah…’

The fresh air in the sky was completely different. I sucked in a big lungful of air through the helmet. This was the happiest moment during a flight. This was why Skyknights addicted to the sky said they couldn’t live without it.

‘That one looks good!’

As soon as Bebeto appeared, a herd of deer scattered like frightened rabbits.

“Get ‘em, Bebeto!”

Guoooooooo! Over the past few days of travel, Bebeto and I had grown pretty close. The wyvern dove towards the ground at my command like a nimble eagle.

Swoooooosh! Bebeto’s enormous frame plunged like a dive bomber.

‘UWAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!’

I inwardly screamed my heart out at the electrifying thrill that was worlds beyond anything a rollercoaster could offer.

GUAAAAAAAAAAAAA! A deafening roar burst out of Bebeto at the same time. Hearing Bebeto’s bloodthirsty roar, the fleeing deer sank to the ground where they stood.

Bam! Bebeto simply skewered two of them with his sharp, steel claws. Then, as the wind rushed around us, he twisted and rose into the air again.

‘One well-grown wyvern’s better than ten hunting dogs,’ I mused.

I was satisfied with Bebeto’s hunting skill, which had easily taken care of dinnertime. I decided to bring Bebeto with me if I ever returned to Earth.

‘Hm? Who are those guys?’

While I was gazing at Bebeto with satisfaction, I spotted three dots far away flying towards us from the empire’s direction.

‘Skyknights?’

They were clearly regular, grey wyverns. This was still empire territory, but this place was deep in the Rual Mountains, an uninhabited place often visited by monsters. Those three wyverns were flying here, no, towards me.

“Ah!”

Just then, lights suddenly flashed in the hands of the Skyknights riding the three wyverns.

Flash! A brief burst of light came from the Skyknights.

‘Blessed Spears!’

“Bebeto, dodge!”

Flap flap flap flaap! Alarmed by the sudden attack, Bebeto quickly raised his head and ascended higher.

‘They’re following!’

Blessed Spears had an effective range of at least 2 km. One moment, they were sparkling in the distance, and in the next, the spears were following us with a gentle arc.

“Bebeto, to the side!”

Due to the attack, Bebeto was instinctively beating his wings as hard as he could. I felt enormous movement with every flap of his wings.

Swoooosh. As he rose, Bebeto twisted to the right.

Flash! Three lines of light grazed past our sides like lightning.

‘You three musketeers!’

Anger filled me from head to toe at the sudden assault. I looked more closely at the three wyverns.

‘Ara, they’re wearing no markings.’

They did have airplates and enspelled wyvern armor, but no markings showing their affiliation.‘Bandits?’ I heard that large-scale bandits or pirates sometimes had wyverns, too. ‘No, this is still empire territory. That’s impossible.’ Swoosh. Even while I was thinking, I saw them raising a second round of spears.

Distance, 1 km. At this distance, we could be hit with Blessed Spears in the time it took to blink.

‘Shit! You’re all dead today!’

I took out one of the spears from the container at my right and poured mana into it.

Flaaash! Just then, the three fired spears again.

Flash! I threw the spear in my hand at the one flying front and center.

‘Hooh! So this is how it feels!’

This was my first time ever firing a spear. After I poured mana into it, the length of the spear glowed with magical light, and when I threw it like that, it pierced through space many times faster than any arrow.

Reaching out, I grabbed spears in both hands.

Flash! And without a moment of waiting, I fired at the other two.

Swoooooooosh.

‘We can’t dodge!’

Before I knew it, we were around 800 meters away. The spears flashed in their unstoppable approach. If they landed, these scary magic spears would bury themselves deep into Bebeto’s body. Moreover, Bebeto wasn’t protected by enspelled armor made of mithril alloy, so he would die immediately due to severe internal wounds.

I raised my hand. Right now, speed was of the essence!

“Spiral Tornado!”

The top 5th Circle wind spell was deployed even without a mana staff. It was a spell I had memorized in preparation for a day like this.

Woooooooshhhh. A violent spiral of stormy wind burst out in a wild charge towards the spears that were already within a hundred meters of us.

“Bebeto, charge!”

The three wyverns were lightly ascending to dodge the spears I had thrown. Believing in my magic, I led Bebeto straight ahead.

GUOOOOOOO! Even knowing his life was in danger, big brave Bebeto didn’t show any fear.

Roaring loudly enough to shake the heavens, he put more strength into his wings.Thankfully, the spears were all flying in from the front and not from all directions. Clashing with the roaring Spiral Tornado, their trajectories changed and they bounced off into the distance.

“Summon Shuriel!”

With a flash, a door opened between the Spirit Realm and the Middle World as a silver wind spirit appeared before me.

“Rip that shit apart!”

Shuriel wasn’t even a neighborhood mutt, but I commanded the spirit to tear the enemy to pieces.

Schwwwwing. As soon as I spoke, Shuriel flew at a terrifying speed towards the wyvern at the front that was leisurely avoiding.

Riiiiippppp!

KWAAAAAAAAAKK!

Instead of attacking the body protected by mithril, Shuriel seriously bit and tore the wyvern’s sturdy right wing. In response, the wyvern let out an incredibly loud shriek of pain. The Skyknights were flustered by the sudden appearance of the spirit.

‘Aigoo, wtf!’

Seeing my faithful spirit taking my command seriously gave me a headache. Everything had happened in an instant.

‘You some kind of bulldog? Why are you biting it like that?!’

I was completely dumbfounded by Shuriel’s honest sincerity in faithfully carrying out its master’s command.

“Wind Arrow!”

One of the men fired a spell at Shuriel, who was busy ripping into his allied wyvern’s wing.

‘It’s a waste to use spears on you bastards!’

The Skyknights showed up out of nowhere and tried to kill Bebeto and me. We were already just 100 meters apart.

Swish! My right hand went up again.

“….!!”

Only then did the Skyknights see me. They must have thought I would have died from their spears, so when we suddenly appeared right in front of them, their bodies stiffened with shock.

“Huhuhu! Ice Spear! Ice Spear, Ice Spear!”

I couldn’t waste valuable spears. I consecutively summoned Ice Spears, a spell among the 4th Circle spells guaranteed to hurt quite a lot.

“Die! You pieces of dogshit!”

There weren’t even 100 meters between us now. Plus, a wyvern’s wings were all too big a target for an Ice Spear.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!

The Ice Spears flew towards the wyverns’ wings, hissing in tandem, and the Skyknights scrambled to raise Blessed Spears again.

Bababaaam! It was only 4th Circle magic, but the Ice Spears were made with overflowing 5th Circle mana. They plunged right through the thick wyvern wings, leaving behind holes the size of a head.

KWAAAAAAAK! GUOOOOOOOO! GUAAAAAAAA!

The three wyverns shrieked in unison.

“It’s not over yet! You shitty birdbrains!”

These guys dared to try to kill me, the oh so kind Kang Hyuk, who was just minding his own business.

“Fire Lance! Fire Lance! Fire Lance!”

Thanks to the magic knowledge my capable master had implanted in me, I could double cast like it was nothing. While the wyverns were writhing in pain, I glared at the Skyknights that were busy keeping balance.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!

‘There’s a saying like this in the Bible: If anyone slaps you on the left cheek, offer the right also! Kukuku.’

This time, hot lances of flame flew towards the uninjured other wings of the wyverns.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

GUOOOOOO! KWAAAAAKK! KUOOOOO!

Another wonderful chorus of cries rang out.

“Wind Spear! Wind Spear! Wind Spear!”

I cast magic like I was trying to empty my mana core.

These poor bastards. They were unlucky and met their maker today!

* * *

‘A mage!’

Baron Halvain, a Skyknight under the employ of Count Atman, sortied on a secret missive from his lord to eliminate the hybrid wyvern.

From the information he received, the target was a cadet that hadn’t even completed his formal education. However, the person in front of him right now wasn’t a cadet, but a combat mage accustomed to battle.

Bam!

KUAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

He viciously threw spell after spell at the wyverns’ wings. There were already around six big holes in the wings of Halvain’s beloved wyvern.

‘H-He’s a 6th Circle mage!’The enemy mage was firing 4th Circle magic, which could deal damage to wyverns. But Baron Halvain, a 4th Circle mage, was sure that his opponent was a 6th Circle mage. Otherwise, his opponent wouldn’t be able to cast 4th Circle magic like that.

‘There’s even a summoner somewhere!’

On top of that, the wind spirit Shuriel had suddenly appeared and was ripping into a wyvern’s wing like a dog and not letting go. There was definitely a summoner on the ground helping the bastard.

Swooooooooosh. No matter how sturdy a wyvern’s wings were, it couldn’t fly properly with holes all over them. Even a Blessed Spear wouldn’t impart such damage.

‘We have to make an emergency landing!’

The injuries to the wyvern’s wings had exceeded the limit. Just like Baron Halvain, his allies were sweating hard trying to control their wyverns that were crashing unsteadily to the ground.

“Uhahahahahahaha!”

The devil’s laughter rang noisily through his helmet.

‘Dammit!’

Baron Halvain regretted the wrong information and the lazy attack. But no matter how quick one was to regret, it was already too late.

Wyverns were like a Skyknight’s life. There had never been a second chance given to a Skyknight who had lost their wyvern.

Bam! KWAAAAAAAKK!

Magic landed on his wyvern even though they were only 10 meters from the ground. Baron Halvain felt like his chest was about to burst from hearing the painful cry of his beloved wyvern.

‘This dogshit!’

He glared. He glared at the evil, vicious bastard who was leisurely firing magic and enjoying the hunt.

* * *

Booom! Boom!

Their wings sporting at least ten holes, the wyverns tumbled as they thudded to the ground in emergency landings. Because they landed with wings that couldn’t support their enormous weight, they were lucky that they hadn’t broken every bone in their legs.

“Bebeto, land.”

The Skyknights were sure to have gotten a big shock atop their wyverns, who had landed helter skelter. I saw them writhing with pain.

Swooooooosh. GUOOOOO~

Thanks to his luck in meeting a capable master, Bebeto didn’t have a single scratch on him. He savored the leisure of the victor as he made a smooth landing on ground that was just starting to sprout with grass.

‘They don’t have Skyknight cloaks on, and their wyverns don’t have any family emblems… Who sent them?’

In the short time I was there, I had made a lot of enemies at the Skyknight Academy. I couldn’t tell who had ordered something like this.

‘Which one should I ask?’

Not knowing who wanted to kill me was an insult to my pride as a man. I leapt off Bebeto’s back and approached the wyverns that were sprawled out near each other.

Grrrr. Despite their pain, the wyverns that were watching Bebeto and me let out warning growls.

Clang! A Skyknight that found his bearings hurried to draw his sword atop his wyvern.

“W-what are you all doing! He’s coming!” cried the Skyknight, his voice filled with rage.

“Argh…”

Only then did the Skyknights collect their wits from the shock of the crash landing and jump down from their wyverns, still moaning.

‘Ah! Why is that guy still there!’

One of the Skyknights that had jumped down was holding a mana staff instead of a sword. Behind those Skyknights, I could see a silver bird that was still holding on for dear life to one of the wyverns. It was looking at me with shining eyes like a puppy asking for praise.

‘Alright, good boy. Good boy. Go back now… sigh.’When you summoned a spirit, you were mentally connected to it. Because of that, I relayed my praise in my mind and ordered it to go back.

Swish swish. The spirit wagged its tail like a dog at my praise before finally disappearing like a phantom with a flash.

“W-who the fuck are you!”

‘Ara? Isn’t that the wrong way around?’

That was something I should be asking, but the unidentified Skyknight stole my line.

“Then who the fuck are you guys?” I asked with an innocent voice after taking off my helmet.

“…..”

The three Skyknights answered me with silence.

“Spill the beans while I’m asking nicely. I’m not in a good mood, y’know?”

I put a hand on my waist as I skewered them with a crooked gaze.

“Y-you impertinent cadet!”

‘Cadet? Hooh, so they do know me.’

“Looks like words won’t cut it,” I said, then drew the Fiore Viscounty knight’s sword, which I was still using.

“Urghh! I will cut you down!”

These three were asking for more hot punishment. It seemed they wanted revenge for their prized wyverns.

“Do as you please, sir bandit knight,” I said to these laughable bastards’ futile struggling.

“Hah!”

The two knights who had drawn their swords closed the distance.

“Binding!” As if he’d been waiting, the mage cast Binding.

“Cancel! Binding!”

No-one could match my skill in spell manifestation. Even as the knights charged at me, I forcefully canceled the mage’s spell and cast Binding right back.

Schwwwwing!

They were both knights, but they didn’t hesitate to gang up on me. Their blue, mana-charged Aura Blades aimed for my heart and lower body.

‘Hmph!’

However, against me, someone who had competed with a master, their skills were far too lacking.

“Hya!” I grunted as I kicked off the ground and jumped up.

Schwing! A knight’s sword whistled past my legs in the next moment. The knight’s head came into position.

BANG!

Still aloft, I landed a powerful kick on the knight’s helmet with my right foot.

Thud!

“Gasp!”

The knight I kicked collapsed without even being able to utter a cry. Seeing that, the other knight drew in a gasp of surprise. There was no need for sympathy. I turned and ran at him as he leaned forward.

Schwing! Still a knight in name, the guy instinctively swung his sword.

Claang! I strongly parried away his sword. At the powerful impact, the knight lost his grip on the sword. The moment I saw an opening, I let loose the familiar Taekwondo roundhouse kick.Woosh! BAM! My foot met his face squarely. The helmet was torn from his head and went tumbling into the distance.

Guooooooooooooooooooooo!

Kwa, kwaaaaaaaaaaaak!

The wyverns went mad at the sight of their masters landing flat on their faces.

“Bebeto, step on ‘em!”

GUOOOOOOOO! Flap, flap, flaaaap!

As if he’d been waiting, Bebeto flapped his wings eagerly and flew over. The next moment, taunting the wyverns who couldn’t fly, he was piercing their bodies and wings with his steel claws without hesitation.

‘Wow! Was he a fighting cock in his previous life?’

Like his master, Bebeto appeared to have no sympathy. He excitedly crushed the wyverns to pieces.

“Urgh…”

The Skyknight who couldn’t move a finger due to a Binding cast by a higher level mage opened his eyes wide and groaned as he watched his wyvern become covered with blood.

‘He should listen with this much, right?’

“Bebeto, stop~”

Guoo, guoooo. Having excitedly vented his stress, Bebeto let out happy cries as he returned to the ground.

‘What a heartless fellow.’

Bebeto’s triumphant stomping had brought the wyverns halfway to the gates of hell, just like their owners. Their faces and wings dripped with red blood. One of them must have broken its wing, because its head was collapsed on the ground as it drew painful, stuttering breaths.

‘So it’s true that even though they’re monsters, if they are raised with holy water, their blood becomes red.’

Cursed by the gods, most monsters had blue blood. But if a wyvern was bathed in holy water while it was still in the egg, their blood would change to red, like humans.

“Cancel!”

“Y-you vicious bastard!”

Bam!

“G-gugh!’

He still hadn’t come to his senses. I kicked the mage right in the stomach. He was wearing an airplate, but it would be difficult to block a kick with all my strength in it. Moreover, he was a mage. He was even weaker to pain.

“You guys trying to kill me is right and proper, and me defending myself is vicious? You writing a novel here? If I do it, it’s adultery, and if you do it, it’s romance?”

“Ge..gehh. I-I cannot speak.”

He must be in a helluva lot of pain, because the mage Skyknight was kneeling as he laboriously spat out a few words.

“Is that so? Alright then.”

Baam!

“Gah!”

I simply kicked the guy’s chin, hard.

‘Jerks, you’re playing.’

This was my first battle of the skies ever. Things had ended up like this because they had underestimated me, but it could have easily become a crisis.

‘I have to ascend to the 6th Circle! ASAP!’

Even the Crown Prince had his sights set on me. I could only grow stronger in order to live.

‘But I should collect the price for those two deer and my valuable spears, right?’

The wyverns and knights were sprawled out here and there as if a typhoon had ripped through the area.

“Huhuhu….”

Over ten Blessed Spears were sitting pretty atop each wyvern’s back, and the wyverns themselves were wearing extremely expensive mithril armor. And there were three formal airplates that looked like they might be my size.

‘It’s money! Sweet, delicious money!’

“Uhahahahahahahahaha!”

A refreshing laugh bubbled up from the deepest part of my chest and burst out of me.

GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Even the clueless Bebeto raised his horns into the sky as he let loose a vigorous cry of joy.

‘Won’t I become filthy rich at this rate?’

An evil thought suddenly jumped into my head… I wondered if I should go around each territory and strip the Skyknights who came looking for trouble.

The seeds of the enemies I had sown in this empire were already sprouting, anyway…