Chapter 165

Wyvern Extermination Battle (2)
I was sleeping soundly when a sudden explosion and screams jolted me awake.

"Oh, you woke up normally."

"How unusual. Princess, we have an enemy attack. It seems the wyverns have acquired a taste for human flesh somewhere."

Anon and Alicia were surprised when I got up. But of course, I wake up quickly when there's danger.

Apparently, the wyverns in question had learned the taste of humans and attacked the village. And they deliberately timed the attack just before dawn, meaning their leader was intelligent.

There are two types of monsters: those that attack humans and those that don’t. Wyverns typically fall into the latter category. Since they don’t need humans for reproduction and can survive by eating other monsters, they usually don’t attack unless provoked.

Up until now, they had only been preying on livestock, so they were likely wyverns that had never attacked humans before. Either someone had provoked it, or it accidentally ate a human.

By the way, Mr. Coote has recently been obsessed with Innocent Buffalo meat. These creatures are herbivores, so they pose no threat unless attacked. It seems Arland has been trying to domesticate them recently. As long as their death cries aren’t heard or seen by others of their kind, there’s no issue, and they also yield fairly high-quality magic gems. Plus, since they’re monsters, they’re not difficult to raise. They’re quite suitable for meat and gem production.

Back to the situation at hand. The number of attacking wyverns was unclear in the darkness, but sunrise was approaching, so we'd find out soon. If we didn’t start fighting immediately, casualties would increase. Anon, Alicia, and I quickly got ready.

I retrieved a pouch from the Treasury and handed it to the two of them.

"This is…?"

"A full set of antidotes for wyvern venom and healing potions."

"Since we’re dealing with a group of wyverns, there’s a chance I won’t be able to heal everyone in time, so I prepared these. They’re probably more effective than the ones Alicia carries."

I don’t spend all my time making magic tools. Iris’s knowledge includes a fair amount of medical expertise. Crafting an effective antidote for wyvern venom is easy for me.

"Honestly, I don’t have any potions that can counteract wyvern venom, so this is a huge help."

Anon accepted it without hesitation, while Alicia examined the pouch briefly before attaching it to her belt.

"Alright, Anon, can you focus on protecting the villagers? The gathering hall we saw yesterday should be the evacuation site, so make sure everyone there is safe."

"Alicia, please help with rescuing villagers and guiding them to the hall."

"Then, Princess, you intend to face the wyverns yourself?!"

"I have a new magic prepared, so I won’t be caught off guard."

My new spell compensates for my weaknesses. It also lets me properly wield Gladius… No, it’s actually a spell centered around Gladius.

Gladius is a sword that has been around for at least several hundred years—perhaps even thousands. It never reveals its history… it just laughs. But countless warriors have wielded it before me, and their sword techniques are etched into the blade.

I have no talent for swordsmanship. I don’t have the physical strength to wield a sword properly, either. Even if I enhance my body with magic, without skill, I’d just be swinging it wildly. Even with physical reinforcement, I wouldn’t stand a chance against Arland’s soldiers.

So I created a spell that allows me to master Gladius.

"I’ll use the Lesser Emperor."

Lesser Emperor—that’s the name of my new spell. The duplication magic I learned from Eibon temporarily materializes mana. It’s a spell that lets me create a copy of myself from my own magic.

By breaking it down and modifying it, I developed a magic that works like a powered suit.

Gladius cannot take control of me because I am the Spirit Queen. My mind is considered a sanctuary that no one can trespass upon. The spirits say so, so it’s probably true.

However, the Lesser Emperor can be controlled by Gladius. It allows Gladius to wield the sword techniques engraved in it by its many past users.

Of course, there are drawbacks. First, the spell consumes a lot of mana. Fortunately, I have an enormous reserve, so I can manage. But the outer shell of the Lesser Emperor is equipped with explosive reactive armor, which means allies nearby could get caught in the blast.

It’s a fusion of barrier magic and materialized mana—that’s what Lesser Emperor is.

"You’ve developed another strange spell."

"Ugh… At least I was better at swordsmanship than you, Alice… Why do you keep widening the gap?"

Anon, I hate losing.

Besides, the mages in Arland are honestly unimpressive, so I don’t have a great opinion of them. Aside from my Mother, who is terrifying, and that weird magic of hers called “Happiness” which casually causes natural disasters. How am I supposed to understand something like defeating an invading imperial army just by “watching” them, only for a sudden plague to spread out of nowhere *only* within their ranks that wipes them out?

Well, I could nullify it with an illusion barrier, so I’m fine. It does damage my mind if my weakness is exploited though, so I rarely use it.

As the name suggests, the Lesser Emperor is lite. There’s also a Great Emperor spell, but I don’t have the confidence to control it. Even with Gladius’s power, it’s uncontrollable… or at best, only partially controllable.

When we stepped outside, the villagers were in a complete panic. They were fleeing in chaos, making it easy for the wyverns to attack them.

"Come on, Mr. Coote, it’s hunting time. You can eat as many land-crawling lizards as you want."

"Helios, take care of the flying drake above me. It’s annoying."

One had been casually circling over my head just now. How arrogant for a mere flying drake.

"For once, I almost feel bad for the wyverns."

"Understood. I shall eliminate them at once. To fly over *me*—such audacity!"

In dragon society, if a lesser dragon flies over a higher-ranked one, it’s considered a declaration of war. A vein bulged on Helios’s forehead. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the village outskirts, wisely choosing not to revert to his true form within the village.

Mr. Coote didn’t even transform before leaping at the nearest wyvern. He bit down on its throat, crushing it along with its scales. The wyvern, its own blood pouring out, looked at Mr. Coote in shock—only to have its head obliterated by a powerful downward punch. This wasn’t even a fight. It was a massacre.

First and foremost, Mr. Coote has an immense sense of pride as a Silver Wolf…? He *hates* flying monsters. They’re an eyesore to him.

Alicia and Anon were briefly stunned by Mr. Coote’s display, but they quickly remembered their roles and dashed off. I began chanting. It was a long incantation—about a minute.

When the spell was complete, I was clad in a three-meter-tall suit of golden armor. I only had my head exposed, sitting inside the chest area.

"This is way too flashy. Gladius!"

"Gahaha, hahahahaha!"

As the golden armor gripped Gladius, black magic surged from the right arm and spread across the entire suit. Within seconds, the golden armor transformed into jet-black armor. A black helmet also materialized to protect my head, but I could still see outside normally. However… I looked exactly like a Demon King.

Gladius, I agree this looks cool, but don’t just change the armor’s form on your own! Though, either way, it stands out.

The Lesser Emperor had come under Gladius's control. Since I had already transferred control over to Gladius, I was relaxing inside. My mana was depleting at a considerable rate, but since my total reserves were immense, it wasn't a problem. At this level, I wouldn’t collapse.

Gladius set its sights on a wyvern flying about 20 meters in the air. With a forceful jump, it moved to kill the wyvern.

The wyvern turned its gaze toward us. Drool dripped from its sharp fangs as it sneered, as if mocking the audacity of a mere human challenging it in its own domain—the sky.

"Shield."

I cast the lowest-tier defensive spell at my feet. The Lesser Emperor used it as a foothold to ascend even higher. The wyvern couldn’t keep up with the Lesser Emperor’s speed and lost sight of me.

The Lesser Emperor swung Gladius downward in a sharp slash. The wyvern didn’t even have time to comprehend what had happened before its head was severed.

"As I thought, Gladius is more useful when it moves freely rather than when I wield it myself."

"……"

Gladius's eyes glared at me intensely. It was as if it were saying, "You're just too weak." Hey, I’m a magician, you know? I don’t get why Gladius chose me as its wielder. If I were a swordsman, I’d understand being criticized, but this is just unreasonable.

Gladius dismissed the wyvern as insignificant, cutting it down with a single strike. I only used "Shield" when it needed a foothold.

However, basking in the thrill of real combat after so long, Gladius grew complacent. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by three wyverns. We need to strategize better.

"I'll take care of one of them for you."

I smirked at Gladius, and the sword trembled slightly. Gladius lunged forward, focusing on the wyvern directly in front of it. A wyvern from behind moved sharply, aiming to slam its poison-laced tail spikes into the Lesser Emperor. Though such an attack wouldn't be effective, and the poison wouldn’t penetrate inside the Lesser Emperor, the impact itself was annoying.

"Ice Javelin ×30."

Thirty magic circles appeared behind the Lesser Emperor, launching ice spears that pierced the wyvern. One was no problem at all.

Gladius, without regard for its rear, thrust its blade into the wyvern before it could bite. The moment the wyvern’s fangs touched the Lesser Emperor, the first layer of armor exploded, shredding the inside of the wyvern’s mouth.

The wyvern on the left tried to bite off the Lesser Emperor’s left arm, but that arm also detonated, tearing apart the inside of its mouth. It seemed that shards of the barrier had reached its brain, as it immediately collapsed, motionless. The wyvern in front of us was already impaled through the brain by Gladius’s blade and didn’t move.

I was safe. The Lesser Emperor was always clad in layered barriers, making it even harder than orichalcum armor. Even on the front lines, this should put Alicia at ease.

Since the Lesser Emperor was under Gladius’s control, even letting go briefly wouldn’t break that control. As new barriers crackled into place around my arms, I grasped Gladius once more and dashed toward the remaining wyverns in the village. This time, we took them down one by one to avoid being surrounded, while my role was merely to serve as the power source.

What do you think about this chapter?