By Zephyria 
The Wyvern’s agile tail swayed like a whip, targeting me. Its movements, keeping its body fixed in the air and striking only with its tail, were more delicate than I expected. I dodged its tail with leaps and bounds, maintaining a certain distance, and it didn’t lower its tail within reach of my Swordplay Technique. After dodging and dodging, I stopped, thinking it would never end.
Then, its tail immediately plunged down towards my crown. I waited, facing it directly, and pulled back hastily with half of a half breath to spare.
Crack!
It was a tail like a harpoon. It grazed my shoulder by a hair’s breadth and slammed into the ground. It had been imbued with so much force that the last two segments of its tail were buried in the earth.
Before it could pull its tail out, I quickly aimed for the third segment. I condensed as much Sword energy as I could and slashed at the gap between its scales.
Swoosh.
With a satisfying sound, the tip of its tail fell off. I felt a surge of exhilaration. It was a feat accomplished in less than a tenth of a second.
Then, the cunning creature lowered its body and began to slam into the shield containing my companions, thump, thump. A roar echoed from within the shield. I couldn’t tell if it was cheering or screaming. But how loud could a sound be from within a Mana barrier? I couldn’t hear it clearly over the sound of the Wyvern flapping its wings loudly near my head.
This damned creature.
As I rushed towards them, the Wyvern immediately took to the air and looked down at me. From its tail, soaring high above, fluid dripped, wetting the ground.
This one bleeds red too.
Watching the pools of fishy-smelling blood spread around, my nerves grew even sharper. I swung my sword towards the sky, wanting to bring the beast down. The Sword energy, flying in a semicircle, struck the Wyvern’s wing membrane.
Tang! It bounced back towards me with a sound like a drumstick hitting leather. Rumble! The ground was deeply gouged. Fortunately, the Sword energy had been aimed at the inside of its wing. Because it hadn’t missed and had returned directly, the deeply dug earth was right before my nose. If it had been aimed at the outside or missed and flown towards the shield, it would have been a disaster.
Mage Boulder’s voice rang out like a scream to my stunned self.
[Rebound! Mana Reflection!]
“…Ah.”
When had he learned Sound Transmission? It was possible for the owner of the shield to transmit sound from inside to outside, but it was difficult for me to send Sound Transmission into it. I wanted to ask where and how I should attack, but I quickly dismissed the thought.
I have to do it myself. I don’t know how long we’ll be traveling together.
A Breath poured down from above. I immediately erected a sword barrier to block it. It wasn’t much different from when the Sandworm spewed Poison Sand. Standing there, blocking the fire-filled energy right in front of me, sweat poured down my face. I endured it for a long time until it finished spewing everything it had.
If it came close, I could condense my Sword energy and cut it, but from that far away, I couldn’t attack. My wide-ranging Sword energy would be lucky if it didn’t reflect, let alone pierce the Wyvern’s body. I immediately gave up on cutting it from a distance with Sword energy.
Instead, I used the marvel of Telekinesis. Holding my sword in my right hand, I extended my energy with my left. The Sword energy, sent out like a rope, wrapped around the root connecting its wings to its body and its two feet with fierce claws, pulling it. I spun my left arm outwards once to drag the struggling creature closer. I felt like I was flying a kite, a bird kite. Except that even when wrapped in failure, a kite already on the wind doesn’t easily come down.
Once. And then again. The muscles of my left arm, filled with power, bulged tautly. The ground beneath my feet cracked and sank. The energy contained in the U-su sword was too viscous to be called Sword energy. The blue color of the energy, which seemed to burn, remained, but its blazing form was more domineering than Namgung’s. My sword seemed to catch fire.
The Wyvern, gaining no advantage in the struggle, let out a long cry and immediately twisted its body. This time, it charged towards me, its head lowered. Waiting for the right moment, as its gaping maw snapped shut, I leaped and landed on its crown. I hadn’t released the energy binding it. The Sword energy I had wrapped around it became reins.
The Wyvern, unaware I was on its back, spewed Breath here and there in confusion. Compared to its size, my body was like a squirrel in front of an elephant. It wasn’t strange that it didn’t notice me immediately. Everywhere its breath touched, it sizzled and boiled. As it flew higher and higher, the world below seemed to shrink. I took a breath and waited for my moment. When its gaze turned back towards the companions inside the shield, I gripped its reins and twisted its head in the opposite direction.
Only then, as it noticed me and turned its head halfway to look at its back.
Shuaaak!
With a loud sound, I plunged my sword, piercing its right eye. The blue energy, extending to its left eye, speared through its head like a dried fish head. The time spent floating in the air was very brief. Just before its massive body hit the ground, I kicked off and jumped down. It fell like a shot bird, tumbling to the ground. I stood fifteen paces away from the Wyvern.
I cautiously observed the Wyvern, writhing like a worm. It struggled several times to get back up. Its head was almost crushed, yet it was still breathing; it was truly tenacious. If it hadn’t preyed on humans, it would have been called a divine beast ruling a mountain in the Central Plains.
Approaching its snout, I gripped my sword with both hands again and drove it deep into its crown. It mustered its last strength and let out a Breath. Toxic Mana flowed out from its eye sockets and mouth. I blocked it all with my Aura Barrier. Then, with a sound like pounding rice cakes, I pulverized its head.
Only after it was reduced to a pulp did I regain my senses. It had become a habit to confirm kills when fighting zombies. As I slashed through its head and neck, the scent of dense Mana permeated the surroundings. My immense pride in capturing such a large prey lasted only a moment. Suddenly, a sense of doubt arose.
“…Hmm.”
Wasn’t it… too easy? A few years ago, I struggled against a mere 9-meter Ogre. I had been taught that a large monster of this size and build could not be defeated by a single Sword Master. Of course, two years ago, I was comparable to Duke Widrow. Until last year, I couldn’t defeat Elvin Brooks. But now… The ecstasy and joy lasted only a moment. The power I had gained so quickly and easily, more so than my efforts, felt questionable. I hoped I wasn’t being swayed by something sinister. The words about my Mana being similar to the Wyvern’s suddenly made me curious.
Lost in thought, I stood up. My limbs felt numb, as if I had been sitting on a bucking bull for too long. I looked around and let out a hollow laugh. How far had I drifted? I walked towards my companions, who were about five hundred meters away.
My entire body was drenched in blood.
I felt my mood darken, having been doused head to toe in crimson blood. The blood of some monsters, which contained Mana, was blue or green. When fighting such creatures, it felt like I was killing something alive no matter how many times I cut them. But these creatures, which poured all their Mana into their bones and skin, had red blood. The fishy smell, the slippery viscosity, even the damp feeling clinging to my clothes were not much different from human blood.
I hesitated when I was about a hundred meters from my companions. I worried that, though unlikely, the children might be frightened by my appearance. The child didn’t approach, only blinked with surprised eyes when he saw me. I felt a pang of unease.
With a troubled heart, I knocked on the shield as if knocking on a door. Boulder opened the way for me, and I stepped back inside the shield. Brushing back my blood-soaked hair, I tried to act nonchalant and met Boulder’s gaze.
“Clean Magic.”
“No, let’s interrogate first. The blood of large monsters is very effective against these small ones. Right, kid?”
“Why didn’t you kill it immediately?”
“Goblins can think, to some extent. I know a little Goblin language, so I should be able to find out what’s in that pack that caused such a fuss, shouldn’t I?”
The pale Goblin swallowed a sob. Like humans scared by the Wyvern, I calmly watched the Goblin, who was scared of me. Hoping there wouldn’t be anyone else in our party who would fear me, I let them do as they pleased. I took out a handkerchief to wipe my sword, but the amount of blood was so substantial that it was barely noticeable, so I gave up quickly. A few of the workers couldn’t meet my eyes and kept their heads bowed. I was so scared that I couldn’t even glance towards Ruben. I simply endured the many gazes.
Mage Boulder clung to the Goblin, chattering away. I had heard there were humans who could speak Goblin. Mage Boulder specialized in monsters, didn’t he? I thought he was only concerned with implanting Mana into people, but he had all sorts of talents. However, the Goblin kept its mouth shut, shaking its head.
Did they need my help? Thinking they wanted a threatening presence, I slammed my sword onto the ground, letting blood drip, and took a couple of steps towards them. The Goblin, trembling like a leaf in the wind, quickly shouted, “Please save me!”
“…You… can speak human?”
“Please save me! Thank you! Please save me!”
It seemed it only knew two human phrases. Mage Boulder pointed at the Goblin’s pack and asked something. The creature nodded quickly and squawked. When asked if it could be released, I agreed. I was confident I could catch it again anytime, so it didn’t matter. Boulder first put a leash on its neck before untying its limbs and body, which were bound to a tree. He walked it like a pet, holding the end of the leash, as if taking a domestic animal to market. The Goblin hesitated, walking towards its pack, then collapsed next to me and trembled. Boulder then smiled and cast Clean Magic on my body. Ruben, whom I glimpsed, had eyes that seemed even darker, as if lost in thought. My appearance was clean, but my insides still burned black.