60 Chapter 60: Attack from the wyverns

The flaming contrails of fireballs slammed into the airship, rocking it. For one terrifying moment, I expected the airship to come apart in a fiery explosion, its passengers spilling out and falling to their deaths below.

"Do we have contingencies in place in case the airship goes down?" I asked Nagano nervously. "Like parachutes or lifeboats or something?"

"AARGH!"

Behind me, Alicia was screaming instead of helping out. Oi. You're a warrior and a mercenary. Act like one.

"It should be fine," Nagano assured me. "We have a wind barrier coating the ship."

How very convenient. But at least it explained why we weren't falling to our deaths and why the airship hadn't been smashed into burning pieces yet.

"However…"

I groaned at that. There always had to be a catch somewhere, didn't it?

Outside the window, the wyverns unleashed another stream of flames. Gritting her teeth, Nagano raised her hand and conjured a barrier. The flames washed over the barrier, but packed enough force to rock the ship.

"Oof!"

Nagano took a deep breath as she steadied herself, her hand still raised. Perspiration dripped down her face.

"Damn it…even with the wind barrier, it won't be able to withstand a sustained assault from the wyverns for long. They'll break through with their fireballs eventually."

"What?!" the air stewardess cried in horror.

"…"

I assessed the situation a little before I decided to go up to the deck. Nagano followed, probably to protect her precious airship. She gritted her teeth as she glanced upward at the flock of wyverns.

"If it's just a few, I can take of them. But with this many…"

"Don't worry, Nagano-san. I'll take care of the rest."

She raised an eyebrow at my words.

"Pretty confident, aren't you?"

"Not really. Do you want me to say we're doomed instead?"

Nagano chuckled at that, thinking that I was joking (I wasn't). She shrugged.

"We're heroes, aren't we?"

"No, you are the hero, not me. I'm just along for the ride." I cocked my head to the side as I observed the wyverns. "But it's reassuring to fight alongside a hero. And an honor too."

Nagano rolled her eyes. "Don't you start that nonsense as well. Anyway, you don't need to worry. I'll make sure the airship stays afloat no matter what."

Straightening up as she strode onto the deck, she raised her head to glare at the pack of wild wyverns. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself.

"Well then…"

"Please take care of the ship's aft," I told her. "Leave the bow to me. I'll make the wyverns bow to me."

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Nagano sent me a glance of disbelief. "Are you sure?"

No, I wasn't. Damn it! Stop asking stupid questions!

"I'm not sure what your special abilities are, but I've heard that you've only just recently arrived in Restia a few weeks ago? I've been here for more than six months and have more experience. Do you really want to take on the side with more wyverns?"

"Yes," I replied. "I know a few powerful offensive spells. I've been casting one since earlier, when we first encountered the wyverns. It should take effect soon."

I glanced up, and saw that the spell was almost complete. My slaying of the wyvern from earlier had sped up the ritual.

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you." Nagano nodded, feeling reassured and thinking she could rely on me. "We'll see what happens."

"H…hey!"

Alicia was rushing onboard the deck, flustered. Alan was trailing behind her, most likely to keep a watchful eye on her.

"What should I do?!"

However, Alicia could not be stopped. She was pleading with the both of us.

"I also want to fight!"

I turned to her, feeling a little exasperated. "You should just stay with Alan and…"

"Back this young man up."

Nagano interrupted me before I could finish my sentence. Gosh, the words of a hero far outweighed mine.

"O…okay…"

Alicia nodded meekly, probably overawed by the presence of one of the legendary heroes. I raised an eyebrow warily, but perhaps Nagano felt more reassured if I had someone watching my back or something.

As I proceeded to the front, with Alicia trailing after me, I issued a single warning.

"Alicia-san."

"W…what?"

"Stand back," I told her. "I don't want you to accidentally get caught up in my spell."

"What spell?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I showed her by pressing the V button.

"Standby for Titanfall."

Matsukaze's familiar voice echoed in my ears and something exploded in the sky before barreling downward. It smashed into the front deck of the airship before crouching inside a shimmering blue dome of energy.

"…!"

Alicia recoiled and stepped back unconsciously, shielding her face as the soft impact billowed from Matsukaze's landing. Unlike her, I had already anticipated his landing position and was already on the move.

I sprinted toward Matsukaze MKII, ignoring the wyverns' attempts to roast me with their flames. For now, the airship's wind barrier held, but as Nagano said, it wouldn't hold for long. Remembering that Nagano's special abilities included Barrier, I was confident that she would be able to protect the airship from the flying monsters.

As for me, I just needed to eliminate the monsters.

Matsukaze immediately reared up and caught me just when I got within range, hauling me upward and placing me inside his cockpit. The systems went live and the screens brightened up into a holographic display, featuring reticules, bars, numbers and other digital information. As the blue forcefield disappeared, I drew the Predator Gatling Cannon that was mounted on his back. Knowing that this battle would be mostly held from long range, I had swapped the triple-barrel shotgun for a Predator Gatling Cannon.

Pivoting my Titan/Golem, I twisted around and unleashed a stream of high-caliber rounds into the air. The first wyvern went down, shredded into pieces, and I shifted my aim before letting loose a second volley. A second wyvern plunged, its wings torn apart by the armor-piercing rounds, screeching before a hail of bullets cut its throat. Then a third, and a fourth.

Realizing that they were being cut down by a hail of fire, the wyverns began changing their tactics. Even as several maneuvered and jinked desperately to evade my shots, others counterattacked with fire of their own.

Yanking on the gearstick, I thumbed a button on it and activated my gun shield. A blue dome of energy spread out from my Predator cannon, a defensive umbrella that soaked the return fire and reducing their damage.

"You're fired," I told the flare wyverns before cutting down another one with a stream of shots. The wyverns scattered, panicking.

"W…what?!"

Alicia was just standing around, doing absolutely nothing. There was nothing she could do, she didn't have the power to shoot down the wyverns.

All she could do was watch my display of ferocity in awe. To be honest, she probably never saw a golem before, never mind one summoned from the sky. And my golem wasn't like any golem but a hi-tech titan from the future. In other words, I was piloting a futuristic robot mecha in a fantasy world. Even though I was a necromancer/vampire (whatever).

All hail Kijima's Summoning special ability!

"Smart Core online," Matsukaze informed me. Glancing at the bottom corner of my screen, I saw that the meter for his core ability had been filled up.

"All right," I remarked and flipped a switch.

"Smart Core activated."

At Matsukaze's words, my holographic display lit up. Multiple reticules appeared all over my screen, scattering around and locking onto the dispersed flock of wyverns. The moment the reticules locked onto a wyvern, they turned red. I waited for every single reticule to turn red before I squeezed the trigger.

Matsukaze's core ability turned his Predator Gatling Cannon into a smart weapon that fired auto-tracking rounds. As long as the reticules were locked onto my targets, the Predator Gatling Cannon would automatically aim and fire at its targets, regardless of how many there are. The rounds shifted and changed trajectory in midair, swerving and twisting to home in on their targets and perforate their bodies with high-caliber, armor-piercing rounds.

In just ten seconds, I mowed down all the remaining wyverns. There were about seven of them still flying in front of the airship, but I had utterly annihilated the pack. At the same time, Matsukaze's Smart Core deactivated after the time limit, and the meter returned to zero. it would slowly fill up again with time, and the rate accelerated if I attacked more enemies (as part of the spell's conditions), but for now I could just leave it.

Phew…the wyverns are weaker than I thought. I was worried that my Predator Gatling Cannon wouldn't be enough to take them down, but it seems that advanced technology is superior to magical beasts in a fantasy world after all.

I knew I was in a fantasy world, but I came from a fairly advanced world that had progressed far ahead in technology. Might as well make use of my sci-fi knowledge, otherwise the whole summoned from another world became just another pointless plot point.

I scanned the skies ahead with Matsukaze's visual sensors, but it appeared I had eliminated every single one of them. The rocking of the airship still hadn't stopped, however, which meant that Nagano was still engaged in battle with the survivors of the wyvern swarm. I should return to the back of the airship to back her up.

The flare wyverns might try to escape, or I might have missed one or two…best to post Matsukaze on guard here to take them out.

The hatch opened and I jumped out of the cockpit while commanding the AI to switch to guard mode. At my order, Matsukaze stood up rigidly and took up a sentry position at the front of the deck, the advanced AI pointing his Predator Cannon toward the skies. Since I had mostly intended to pilot him, I didn't equip him with the enhanced AI chip, which would improve his aim, but whatever. I preferred the turbo boost upgrade anyway. It was sad that I couldn't engage any of the wyverns in melee, where I could introduce them to Matsukaze's katana, but whatever.

"A…amazing…"

Alicia was staring at me in awe, unable to believe her eyes. I waved her admiration away and gestured for her to follow me.

"Let's head to the aft. Leave the bow to Matsukaze for now. I'll have to back Nagano-san…I mean Hero-sama up."

"Understood."

Alicia didn't argue. I was surprised, but I guessed she didn't dare cross me after seeing what I was capable of. First, the high orc, and now the flare wyverns. I wasn't deluded enough to think she would fall for me, and she had Alan anyway, but anyone would be impressed after witnessing the feats I had pulled off.

Already, my mercenary online system was feeding information back to the guild about my elimination of the wyverns. Ignoring it, I jogged toward the back of the airship, getting ready to help Nagano out.

Halfway there, I suddenly froze when I heard a sound. Alicia skidded to a stop as well, confused by my abrupt halt.

"What happened? Why…?"

Before she could finish her sentence, I was jumping in front of her to shield her with my own body. Above us, a wyvern reared up, having perched itself on the mast and out of sight of Matsukaze's sensor array.

How the fuck did I miss that one? There was still one more, and despite its immense size, it had crept up on me without me noticing it!

Matsukaze lurched forward, lifting his Predator cannon, but he wouldn't be able to hit it on time. The flare wyvern's jaws were already open, flames flaring out of its open jaws.

"AAAAAH!"

Alicia was screaming behind me. Shut up, girl! You're making me deaf!

"Shut up!" I snapped at her, and then raised my hand just as the flare wyvern unleashed its flames. The fire bathed me, but because I was standing between the wyvern and Alicia, the flames thankfully didn't reach her. The deck of the airship disappeared, my view obscured by a red haze of fire and smoke. Despite the protective layers of my Redwood jacket, I could feel the sheer heat scorching through the barriers.

Fortunately, it was precisely because of my Redwood jacket that I wasn't incinerated immediately. Thankfully, the barriers of my Redwood Robe held strong, the layers refusing to crack or burn under the relentless assault. The flare wyvern might be powerful, but it was no hero or demon. Such elementary spells wouldn't break through my Redwood Robe's protection.

It seemed like an eternity, but the wyvern continued to burn. Bloody hell, how long did it take to breathe fire? That must be one extremely long breath. I exhaled and shut my eyes, waiting impatiently for it to stop. My Redwood Robe could withstand the superheated flames, but that didn't mean this situation was comfortable. It was getting uncomfortably warm and I began perspiring.

While I stood there, I suddenly recalled that Alicia was still behind me. I frowned and risked a glance back. It didn't matter because the twelve defensive layers covered my whole body, so moving my face wouldn't make much of a difference.

As I expected, she was still there, sitting on the deck, immobilized.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I roared. "Get the hell out of here!"

"I…I can't!"

Alicia was sobbing, tears leaking from her eyes. God damn it, how much more useless could she get?!

"What do you mean you can't?! Stand up and run! With you staying there, I can't move out of this inferno!"

"A…ah…I'm so sorry." She sniffled. "My legs…they won't move. They're like jelly. I can't even stand!"

How the hell did this bitch become a mercenary!? Freezing up in the middle of a battle…even though she couldn't help me, that was fine. But right now she couldn't even escape on her own two legs so that I could move out of the way and fight back?!

Speaking of which, what was I waiting for? Why was I standing around just to shield the helpless Alicia like an idiot? Oh, right. It was because I was taking this whole Tanaka the Wizard thing too seriously.

At least I didn't have to spout cheesy lines such as "I'll protect you." It would make me throw up.

"Matsukaze! Guard mode! Take the wyvern out!"

Just when I yelled the command, the flames finally stopped and the temperature got a lot cooler. I breathed a sigh of relief and glared at the flare wyvern, which was panting because it was completely out of breath.

"Finally," I snapped. "Are you finished?"

The flare wyvern stared at me, and I shrugged.

"Well, I'm finished with you as well."

At the same time, Matsukaze came barreling with his katana and cleaved the wyvern in half. He couldn't fire his Predator cannon for fear of friendly fire – both Alicia and I were too close for his comfort. My Redwood jacket could have protected me from the high-caliber rounds, but the AI's safety imperative overrode any instructions I gave him to fire. This was why I preferred to be piloting Matsukaze on my own rather than leave everything to the rigid AI.

"Thanks, Matsukaze." This cemented my decision to leave him here, to guard the front deck from any further surprises. More wyverns might still be lurking around. "I'll leave this place to you."

"Understood, pilot." Matsukaze saluted and then turned around, swapping his katana for the Predator cannon and scanning the skies again.

"Phew…that was a close one. Matsukaze can take care of the rest. I'm going to check on the other side and see if they still need help."

"Ah…"

Alicia was still stunned over what had transpired. I couldn't blame her, but I didn't have time to wait for her to recover from the shock. She was staring at me even as I turned around and made my way to the back.

"You're…totally unhurt!"

"What, you want me to be injured or something?"

"That's not what I meant!" Alicia stopped herself before she could snap. "The flare wyverns are pretty powerful…their breaths can incinerate an entire house! Yet you somehow emerge unscathed. And you can kill so many of them and summon a legendary golem from the heavens! Just who are you? It's almost like you're…a hero as well…"

Then she started.

"Ah, Nagano-sama did say that you're a hero…"

"She's mistaken," I cut her off. "Let's just say I'm a similar existence, but things happened and I couldn't become one. I was still given some blessings though, so I have no complaints. Anyway, don't worry about it. We have more important things to attend to right now."

"R…right!"

I ran to the aft deck, with Alicia following closely on my heels. As I neared, I caught sight of Alan stabbing a wyvern with his sword, panting heavily as he pierced its armored, scaly head and killing it in a single stroke.

Blood was splattered all over his armor and he looked more than a little wounded. Nothing I couldn't fix with my Regeneration spell.

"Nagano-sama, I'm finished here," he called out to the hero, who was blasting another wyvern with a sword spell, raining down high-ranked noble phantasms…I mean swords on the creature and shredding it to bits.

"I'm also done," she replied as she landed gracefully on the deck. But there was no joy in her voice at all. "But…this is bad…"

"Nagano-san!"

I reached the back deck just she uttered those ominous words. As she turned around, I waved at her.

"I've finished taking care of the other side."

"Oh! You're safe!"

Were you expecting me to be in danger or something? From small fries such as flare wyverns? Don't even joke like that.

And then I noticed the shoulder wound on Nagano. Her flesh had been scorched and blistered, probably a result of being hit by the wyverns' fire.

"Oh boy…you're injured! Alan-san too! Are you guys all right?"

"Don't worry, this is but a scratch. It's just a flesh wound."

Even though he was thoroughly exhausted, Alan put up a brave smile while leaning on his sword. I could see why he was the squad captain.

"You took care of all the wyverns in the front?" Nagano was staring at me, impressed. "You're really something."

"Whatever. Let me heal you guys."

Raising my hands, I restored them both to full health.

"Thanks, Tanaka-san!" Alan bowed gratefully after seeing his wounds disappear. He looked all over his body again, amazed at my spell. "Your healing spells are incredible, as always!"

"Yeah, much appreciated, Tanaka-kun." Nagano nodded in agreement, but she didn't look very pleased. Instead, she glanced at the listing airship. "However, the situation is getting worse."

"What?"

The air stewardess was still hiding inside the cabin inside the airship, poking her head out nervously. Sophia had remained with the crew to protect them, but she was slowly exiting the cabin to check on us.

"A wyvern damaged one of the airship's engines, and I can't repair it while we're in the air."

I glanced at the side and saw smoke billowing from one of the gigantic turbofans that kept the airship aloft. Oh, that didn't look good.

"Is that true?!" the air stewardess wailed. "So that means…we're going to fall and die!?"

Don't be so dramatic…

"Of course not…"

Nagano sounded just as annoyed as I felt.

"The destination is quite near."

She glanced over the deck and at the forest below, narrowing her eyes in determination. The Pendragon Mountains were within view, and growing exponentially larger with each passing second as the airship hurtled rapidly toward it.

"So…we will go straight toward the dragon nest!"