Chapter 18 – Dragon Slayer
"It's a wyvern!"
"They're coming for us!"
Renn shouted the warning.
Rhodes had never seen a wyvern before, but one look at the massive creature blotting out the moonlight told him it was no trivial threat.
"Women and children, to the cellar immediately!"
"Everyone else, prepare for battle!"
"Hurry!"
The women abandoned the cooking pots, grabbed their children, and rushed toward the cellar. Soldiers rose to their feet, gripping weapons slick with nervous sweat. Even trained men instinctively stepped backward.
Fear of the unknown is one of humanity's oldest instincts.
Rhodes felt it too. But a lord cannot afford panic.
"Renn, do you know this creature?"
"I do," Renn replied quickly. "My grandfather encountered one in his youth. It's related to dragons. Smaller. No magic. But nearly identical in form."
He swallowed.
"It claimed the mountain mine two weeks ago. I saw it when I went to gather ore."
"Then you command this fight," Rhodes said immediately. "All of you follow Renn's orders."
Professionals handle professional problems. Rhodes understood that much.
Durant handed Renn a bow and quiver.
"I need you and Gunther to draw its attention," Renn said.
"Done," Durant replied.
Gunther grinned tightly. "No problem."
"The wings and scales are extremely tough," Renn continued. "Normal weapons won't penetrate them. Its only weak point is the pale skin under its lower abdomen. Otherwise, you'd have to strike inside its mouth."
"Do not get scratched. The claws and teeth are poisonous."
"And watch the spiked tail."
He turned to the other hunters.
"Dolan. Ma'ao. Grappling hooks ready. The rest with me."
Then he looked at Rhodes.
"My lord, you should not act as bait. Please take shelter."
Rhodes nodded.
He had only recently begun learning the family's Natural Wind Breathing Technique. At best, he was a squire. Charging headlong into a dragon-kin would be arrogance, not courage.
He entered the wooden house.
Outside, the wyvern descended.
Its wingspan stretched nearly ten meters, shadow swallowing the village. Dark blue scales gleamed like forged steel. A massive reptilian head scanned the ground. No forelimbs—only two powerful hind legs.
Durant and Gunther stood alone in the open.
"It really does look like the dragons from the old picture books," Gunther muttered, knuckles white around his axe.
He lifted a spear and hurled it skyward.
Clang!
The spear bounced harmlessly off the wyvern's scales.
But it got its attention.
The creature dove.
Gunther cursed and rolled aside as talons ripped through earth and wood alike. Bottles shattered. Walls splintered.
Durant seized the opening and slashed at its wing.
Clang!
The blade left only a shallow mark.
Even the wings are this durable?
The wyvern's tail swept across in retaliation.
Crash!
A shack collapsed in a storm of debris. Durant barely escaped being buried alive.
Daggers and spears flew from all directions. They did no damage, but they annoyed the beast.
And dragon-kind does not tolerate insult.
The wyvern beat its wings to lift off—
Two grappling hooks snapped tight around its hind legs.
"Now!" Renn shouted.
Gunther charged through the dust, axe raised.
But the wyvern rose anyway.
The hunters were lifted off the ground with it.
"Hold the lines!" Durant roared.
Soldiers grabbed the ropes and pulled with everything they had. The beast was dragged back down.
Arrows streaked toward its pale underbelly—
But its wings folded inward like shields.
The arrows shattered.
The wyvern crashed to the earth.
Dust erupted.
The left grappling line snapped under a wing strike.
Freed, the wyvern pivoted toward the soldiers who had fallen in the struggle.
"Scatter!" Durant shouted.
Too late.
The soldiers stared up at the descending maw of scaled death. Legs trembling. Minds blank.
Some screamed.
Some prayed.
Some called for their mothers.
Renn's arrows struck scale and fell uselessly aside.
"It's over…"
"I'll never eat my mother's wheat pancakes again…"
Then—
A figure burst from the wooden house.
A massive heavy sword flashed in the moonlight.
The blade came down like judgment itself.
Steel met scale.
And cut through.
The wyvern's head separated cleanly from its body.
For a heartbeat, silence.
Then the severed head traced a crimson arc through the night before slamming into the dirt.
The body collapsed moments later.
When the dust cleared, Rhodes stood there, sword buried in the earth for balance.
"The Baron?!" Gunther's voice cracked through the stunned silence.
Every soldier stared.
Rhodes exhaled slowly.
"That was… startling."
Then something only he could see appeared before his eyes:
[First slaying of a territorial monster – Dragon subtype confirmed.]
[Title Unlocked: Sub-Dragon Slayer]
(End of Chapter)