Chapter 346 - Episode 338: Wyvern Subjugation ①
"...The timing was good, so it's not cold, but man, this is boring."
By the shore of a lake that seemed to be a wyvern's nest. Within the forest surrounding a flat area created by knocking down trees, Noein muttered in a low voice. Beside him, Matilda clung close, utilizing her rabbit-folk hearing to listen for changes in the surroundings.
"Back in my mercenary days, I took monster hunting requests all the time, but subjugations by ambush are always like this. Other than when it's time to actually fight, you just stifle your yawns and wait and wait."
The one who answered beside Noein, also in a low voice, was Pence.
Since arriving at the shore of this lake yesterday, Noein and his group had been lurking in the forest overlooking the flat ground, waiting intently for the wyvern to return.
They maintained a certain distance from the clearing, and hidden among the forest trees, Noein and the others were not visible from the sky. Slight conversations and the sounds of movement vanished into the noise of branches and leaves swaying in the wind. To a giant wyvern, they were likely like insects, unlikely to be discovered so easily.
Since there was little information regarding the wyvern's vision and hearing, they had no choice but to speculate, but that was how Noein and the others thought.
'Your Excellency, this is the scheduled check-in. No abnormalities here. How about your side?'
"Good work, Yuri. No abnormalities here either. Tell everyone over there thanks for their hard work on standby."
'Understood. Then, until tonight.'
At that moment, a communication arrived via 'Far-Talk' from Yuri, who was leading a separate unit and lurking in the forest on the opposite side of the clearing, and Noein responded.
The subjugation force was divided into two. On Noein's side were Matilda, Pence, Radley, Gustav, as well as the Guard, half of the puppet mages, and half of the infantry. The remaining personnel were under Yuri, while Rick and several snipers were lurking in different positions.
"Noein-sama, it is almost time for your meal."
"You're right, thank you, Matilda."
Since the scheduled check-in had come, it was currently around past noon. Noein received the lunch offered by Matilda beside him.
Naturally, lunch had to be eaten while ambushing the wyvern in the forest. Far from a warm meal, they couldn't even put anything in their mouths that had a proper smell. Despite his status as a Grand Duke, Noein was the same as the others while on military duty.
He mumbled as he ate hard-baked, tasteless bread, soaking it with water to soften it. This was the fourth time since yesterday's lunch that he had a meal with absolutely no pleasure in it.
"...If the wyvern doesn't come back today at this rate, it's really going to start getting tough."
Noein spoke while looking around at the members of the subjugation force eating their meals in the same manner.
Conversations were kept to a minimum, and to blend into the forest, they wore black cloths adorned with branches and leaves, making it impossible to move easily from their spots; it was already the second day. Everyone was accumulating mental fatigue.
It was said that wyverns return to their nests to rest every few days, but whether that was today, tomorrow, or even later was unknown. If the wyvern didn't appear by tomorrow, it would be physically and mentally grueling.
Thinking this, he took another bite of the water-soaked, hard-baked bread.
At that moment.
"! Noein-sama."
Matilda's ears twitched, and she whispered into Noein's ear. Additionally, several of the beastman soldiers under Radley seemed to notice some presence.
"It's coming."
With those words alone from Matilda, Noein understood the meaning and nodded silently, throwing away the bread he was eating. He concentrated his mind so that he could move the golems at any moment.
"Everyone, be on alert."
Pence's order flew out, and the puppet mages began concentrating their minds just like Noein, while the soldiers strained their eyes in their respective directions of vigilance.
A few seconds later, Noein and the others also realized the wyvern's approach.
While watching the sky through the trees, a shadow that initially looked like a large bird or something similar appeared; it gradually approached, and soon it became clear that it was of an abnormal size even in the sky, where distance is hard to gauge. A sound like a cry, "Ooooon...", could be faintly heard.
"..."
Noein killed the sound of his breathing as much as possible, staring at the shadow in the sky together with Matilda. Everyone else also tightened their expressions and continued their silent vigilance.
The direction from which the wyvern came was the opposite side across the clearing, beyond the forest where Yuri's separate unit was lurking. The wyvern, which had been a large shadow at first, now had its dark green wings, tail, and head clearly visible.
The approaching wyvern did not land by the shore of the lake—instead, it lowered its altitude, aiming for the forest further ahead.
"!"
"This is bad!"
Noein gasped, and Pence shouted with a grim expression.
The wyvern should not have been able to see the separate unit, and the separate unit should have been careful not to make any noise, just as they were. However, did it have an ability to find prey without relying on vision or hearing? Looking at its movements and its gaze, the wyvern was clearly aiming for Yuri and the others in the forest.
'It's coming this way! Everyone advance to the clearing! Run!'
Yuri's voice, calling out to the separate unit while likely connecting the 'Far-Talk' to report their situation, echoed directly in Noein's head.
"Let's go!"
"Everyone stand up! Advance to the clearing!"
Following Noein's decision, Pence gave the order, and the puppet mages, including Noein, activated their golems. The giant golem over three meters tall, which had been lying behind Noein, stood up, shaking the ground.
Because he began flowing a large amount of magical power into the golem all at once, Noein's vision wavered for a moment as if he were motion-sick. During the two weeks of subjugation preparation, he had strived daily to master the operation of the giant golem, but he inevitably felt some shock during activation.
Matilda loaded a thick arrow containing the undiluted 'Angel's Honey' into the ballista, and further poured the undiluted liquid over the arrow. Noein operated the giant golem, making it lift the modified ballista with the arrow loaded.
Having finished preparing the ballista arrow, Matilda solidified the perimeter around Noein together with Pence and the Guard, while the soldiers led by Radley stood guard for the other puppet mages.
Then, they began to advance with the golem in front. Originally, the plan was for the wyvern to land in the clearing without noticing the subjugation force and enter a state of rest, at which point they would launch a sudden attack from multiple directions, but since things had turned out this way, it couldn't be helped.
Less than ten seconds had passed from Noein's decision to the start of the advance. Noein and the others dashed toward the clearing without thinking about hiding anymore, but they were no match for the speed of the wyvern soaring through the sky. Before Noein and the others could reveal themselves and draw its attention, the wyvern attempted to dive into the forest.
At that instant, a mass of flame flew at high speed from within the forest and exploded in mid-air after passing through the trees.
It was likely a flame bullet launched by Lane, and it was large enough to illuminate the bright midday even further.
A giant flame and hot wind probably wouldn't leave much of a wound on the wyvern, but even so, it seemed somewhat surprised by this surprise attack. With its snout momentarily enveloped in an explosive flame, the wyvern hovered in the air as if flinching.
In this brief opening, the separate unit should have also begun their escape toward the clearing.
"Don't bunch up! Everyone spread out!"
As Noein and the others left the forest and reached the open clearing, Pence's instructions flew. Noein and the six puppet mages lined up their golems in a semi-circle, with guards holding shields standing in front of each.
Since human weapons are almost useless in a fight with a wyvern, the guard soldiers held nothing but daggers other than their shields. Only the high-ranking officials in command held their respective weapons.
The wyvern glanced for a moment at Noein's main force deployed this way, but it seemed to prioritize the prey in the forest for now. Returning its gaze to the ground, it dove straight into the forest.
Seeing this, a chill ran down Noein's spine. Please, let everyone have escaped in that opening. He prayed.
As if his prayer were answered, the members of the separate unit burst out from the forest on that side. First were Lane and her guards, then the puppet mages and their guard soldiers, and after that, the golems and Yuri appeared.
The separate unit, having succeeded in escaping the forest, joined the semi-circular encirclement in preparation for the wyvern emerging from the forest.
However, Noein noticed that one set of puppet mages and golems from the separate unit was missing.
"...Where is Alain!?"
Could he have been taken down? The moment he thought that, Alain also burst out of the forest, trailing behind the others. He had likely been acting as the rear guard to keep it at bay.
"GOAARRGH!"
Noein's relief was short-lived; the wyvern burst out right behind Alain with a roar. It was a flamboyant entrance, knocking down obstructive trees in its path.
Now that they were on the same ground, the wyvern's size became clear. Just as the testimonies of those who had encountered it and survived stated, it clearly exceeded ten meters from head to tail. Perhaps twelve or thirteen meters.
"Crap crap crap! Dammit!"
There was no way a human could escape the full-speed sprint of such a giant creature. Before Alain could reach the encirclement, the wyvern would catch up—Alain himself must have thought so, as he stopped running, cursed, looked back, and directed the golem toward the wyvern.
Whether the wyvern viewed the golem, which was flowing with plenty of magical power, as prey, it opened its large mouth and attacked. And then, it actually clamped its jaws around the golem's entire upper body.
"DAMN IT ALLLL!!"
However, Alain showed the grit of the strongest powerhouse in Claymore. He braced himself, trying to pry open the wyvern's mouth with the golem's arms, braced and braced, and actually managed to pry it open.
Because its mouth was forced open, a dull gogi sound echoed from the wyvern's jaw. It must have actually been painful, as the wyvern screamed "GYAOOO!" and released the golem.
The golem was freed, but Alain, who was right beside the wyvern, was not yet safe. Rather, he risked being caught in the wyvern's rampage caused by the pain.
Instinctively, Alain had the golem grab him and then had it throw him sideways. It was a forced emergency escape.
"Owaaaaah!"
While Alain, who had been thrown despite doing it himself, rolled away while shouting, the golem became a sacrifice in place of its escaped master. It was struck by the wyvern's tail, which was as thick as a log, as it began to rage.
From that impact, the torso snapped; the lower body rolled on the ground, and the upper body was blown into the air. The golem's upper body luckily fell to the ground without hitting anyone, and the wyvern, having finished eliminating the enemy in front of it—looked around at the other enemies surrounding it, at Noein and the others.
The mouth opened by Alain didn't seem to have its jaw dislocated, but it was opening and closing its mouth as if complaining of a strange sensation, though it was functioning normally for the most part.
"...!"
Toward the wyvern that was intimidating the subjugation force irritably, Noein resolved himself and made the golem advance. First, they had to make it take 'Angel's Honey' via the modified ballista's shot, or nothing would start.
Spare arrows and undiluted liquid were held by Matilda and the members of the Guard, but he didn't think they would have time to reload easily. They had to hit it with the first shot if possible, and for that, they needed to get as close to the wyvern as possible.
The wyvern, pressed by the giant golem, showed a clear reaction of vigilance in the face of an opponent a size larger than the other enemies surrounding it.
The giant golem carrying the modified ballista and the wyvern, which—excluding dragons—was nearly the strongest individual, glared at each other. The members of the subjugation force watched this surreal sight with bated breath.
The wyvern moved first. It took a few steps of a run-up and leaped, entering a posture to grab with both legs as if to crush the golem with its entire body.
Noein silently accepted this. Even if the giant golem were to be destroyed, he judged that it would be better if the wyvern approached to zero distance.
The moment the wyvern attempted to pounce on the giant golem—the moment it would certainly be unable to escape the line of fire of the modified ballista because it was in the air—Noein operated the golem's right arm and made it squeeze the ballista's trigger.
The released thick arrow pierced firmly into the wyvern's belly, which was not protected by scales. Even the skin and flesh were tough, so the arrow did not penetrate through, but that was more convenient.
"GUGYAOOON!"
While screaming from the pain of the wound, the wyvern grabbed the giant golem anyway, and the golem fell to the ground as its decorative armor was torn away.
The first volume of the book version is scheduled for release around the spring of 2022.
Further details will be announced via future status notes or the author's Twitter, so please wait a little longer...!