NOVEL NEXT chapter 12
12 – Dragon Hunting Dragon (8)
Riana, who had chased after Erga until she was out of breath, let out a scream when she witnessed the horrifying sight.
The wyvern had swallowed Erga in one gulp as he fell from the sky.
“Erga!”
“Get out of the way, idiot!”
Suddenly, a woman emerged from the bushes and forcefully pushed Riana aside.
“Ouch…!”
Riana lost her balance and fell to the ground, causing the woman who had been running away to hesitate and stop.
“Are you… are you okay…?”
“Ah… it hurts…”
As Riana started to cry, the woman became even more flustered and stuttered.
“I mean… who goes around carrying such a huge thing?!”
Glancing back at the wyvern, the woman grabbed Riana’s wrist and helped her up.
“Hurry up, you chubby fool!”
“Lord Erga…!”
Liana tried to resist, but the woman’s strength was considerable.
“We have to live to see another day!”
Liana, who didn’t even know a word of English, was led by the woman’s hand and started running in the opposite direction of Wyvern.
Then, Wyvern behind them let out a bone-chilling scream.
The sound was so chilling that both the woman and Liana froze in place.
Trembling, Liana slowly turned her head, witnessing a horrific sight.
The upper part of Wyvern’s long neck became twisted and distorted, and Erga burst out in a bright red explosion.
* * * * *
“What the f*ck, it’s like a damn cock…!”
Without realizing it, curses escaped my mouth as I looked at the overturned hot blood and sticky fluid.
I rarely cursed in my life.
Partly because of the strict atmosphere of the habitat, and partly because it was just my nature not to curse.
But the sensation of Wyvern’s throat was really damn crazy, and I couldn’t help but curse.
“Damn it…”
Even wiping my face with my sleeve was useless since it was already soaked.
Wyvern, with its head and neck blown apart, lay on the ground with its wings and tail spread out, bleeding.
To make matters worse, its bladder burst, and blood gushed out like a flooded reservoir, soaking my feet.
The human body sure has a lot of troublesome things.
As the small stream of Wyvern’s blood flowed to the side, he let out a sigh.
My clothes and shoes are all filthy.
Anyway, it seems that humans have died again.
Wyvern is not just any ordinary creature; he is the one who takes on the role of a leader in places without dragons.
Stupid humans.
Even if a magician is expensive, it shouldn’t be more valuable than one’s life.
If I were them, I wouldn’t even bother to step foot here if I couldn’t afford a magician.
Perhaps those who came with the determination to really catch a dragon, those who try to take advantage of the chaos, and those who are truly foolish are all mixed in.
Nevertheless, these people seem to have made some preparations.
They have chosen a valley with an exact nest and even brought crossbows with iron bolts, indicating that they have some specialized knowledge.
Of course, they were no match for Wyvern, let alone a dragon.
They are such reckless and weak creatures…
But it is this spirit of challenge that allowed them to dominate the continent and achieve civilization.
“Erga-nim! Are you alright?!”
Pale-faced Liana rushed over, her chest heaving.
“This is a disaster, a real disaster. Do we have anything to clean ourselves with in our bags?”
“The shepherdess gave us spare clothes. It would be better to discard those clothes and change into the new ones.”
“I suppose so.”
He quickly took off his clothes right there, and Liana handed him the new ones from the bag.
“But where did that person go?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“There was a woman with red hair… but she’s not here. She must have gone down below.”
Are they talking about that strange woman who pushed me earlier?
She seemed like one of the mercenaries or hunters, but I have no idea where she went.
“This one is a male. Judging by how he wandered around here, I think his nest might be just a little further.”
“Then let’s go further. But, Eruga.”
Liana carefully examined the corpse of the wyvern, seemingly savoring it (?).
“Is there anything valuable we can get from the wyvern’s corpse? Like its claws or something…”
“Well, I’m not sure. You have to have sold something like that before.”
“For example, if it’s incredibly strong or very beautiful. Or maybe eating it cures illnesses…?”
“Hmm…”
I thought about it for a moment, but nothing came to mind.
Because of the repugnant taste unique to carnivorous monsters, meat might not sell well, and the bones weren’t particularly hard either…
“If we have to take something, maybe we can just take the claws.”
“That’s right. Please take them.”
I chuckled at Liana’s request, as if it was only natural.
She looked so cute that I didn’t really mind her shamelessly asking.
I guess turning into a polymorph with a human body has also affected her personality like a human.
Well, it shouldn’t be a problem.
I plucked the hooked claws from the ends of the wyvern’s wings.
The claws, about two spans long, were worn and scarred from heavy use, but with proper craftsmanship, they didn’t seem too bad.
* * * * *
After a while, we were able to find the wyvern’s nest.
Hiding in the bushes, I pointed upwards with my finger towards the cliffs.
“Do you see it?”
“Where?”
“There, in the middle of the cliff, there’s a crack. The nest is inside.”
When I pointed to the diamond-shaped crack on the cliff, Rihanna tilted her head in confusion.
“Hmm… can wyverns really fit in there? It looks too narrow.”
“Look down below.”
Rihanna lowered her gaze to the bottom of the cliff and finally understood what I meant.
“There are so many bones. It seems like they eat inside the nest and leave them outside.”
“You’ve found it properly. So, you wait here. I have to kill the female wyvern.”
“Do I not need to help?”
“Just stay here. That’s how you’ll help.”
I took out everything from my bag and carried the empty bag as I walked out of the bushes.
Since I killed two earlier, the wyvern shouldn’t appear again.
As we descended towards the bottom of the cliff, a strong stench emanated from the decaying bodies, both of animals and a few humans mixed in.
Judging by the fact that there weren’t many remains, it seemed that these guys had recently settled here.
They must have come here for various reasons, like having their original nest taken by a stronger creature.
Passing through a pile of bones, I began to climb up the cliff.
Considering it was a raid on a wyvern nest, the weather was surprisingly good.
The sunlight was bright, and the wind blowing through the valley cooled the sweat pleasantly.
How far did I climb up the cliff while enjoying the pleasant sunshine and breeze?
“Eruga-nim! Behind you!”
Startled by Liana’s scream, I quickly turned around.
A female wyvern was flying straight towards me from the sky above the valley.
Oh no… Where did it come from…?! Then what about the one that died earlier?!
Without even having time to consider whether to jump down or not, the creature came rushing towards me.
“aaahhh!”
At that moment, along with Liana’s shout, a large golden barrier formed in a semicircle around me.
The wyvern, colliding with the barrier, staggered and fell down with a tremendous vibration.
As the barrier disappeared, I also jumped down after the creature.
Standing on the ground with four feet, the wyvern shook its head several times in a daze, then spread its wings and soared upwards.
The wyvern, which briefly turned around the valley, descended towards me again, like a waterfowl in a vertical drop.
Once again, a barrier appeared, blocking me from the sharp claws of the wyvern.
“Kerrr!”
Frustrated by the interference of the barrier, the wyvern angrily flew higher, making a sharp turn.
Last night, the male wyvern was walking on the ground with four feet, so it was not too difficult to subdue it.
But there’s no way to attack while flying like that.
First, I have to somehow grab hold of it and beat it…
No, even if I grab hold of it, if it pulls me up, it’s truly hopeless.
With things like this, we’ll just have a staring contest until evening.
Should I try to subdue it with the “Roar of the Dragon”?
Just as the wyvern charges at the shield to carry out its second attack.
I sternly shouted at it, looking straight into its eyes.
“Stay still!”
It’s a bit embarrassing, but this is indeed the “Roar of the Dragon”.
When in its true form, it can make all nearby monsters submit with a thunderous roar, but as a human, this is the only way I can do it.
But even though I am the essence of a dragon, I’m sure I’ll be eaten.
Sure enough, the wyvern suddenly lost its strength and fell to the ground.
Then, spreading its wings and tail, it behaved as if it was bowing its head to me.
“Stay still.”
“Kerrr…”
I thought it was being subdued, but suddenly it twisted its tail and looked up at the nest on the cliff.
And then, as if shaking off an invisible hand, it trembled and flapped its wings again…?
Could it be that its instinct to protect the egg goes beyond the Roar of the Dragon?
As I watched the wyvern flail about and fly upwards, I quickly turned my head, wondering how to bring it back down…
And then, I came up with a good idea.