Chapter 66: No, anything but that!!!

Chapter 66: No, anything but that!!!

Oh, it's so breezy up herefeels good to have my hair flow with the wind.

["Oh? Princess Hestia Atsuko, are you enjoying yourself, or are my eyes deceiving me?"]

[Leave me alone, please. I dont want to talk with you.]

[Hmm, fair enough. I shall respect your terrible mood.]

Sigh, what a dick

Frankly, I shouldnt be acting like an asshole to Astalos but it honestly irks me when I think about playing nice. Technically, this was a kidnap and why should I be nice to somebody that kidnapped me, right? Of course, it would be more sensible to deceive him by being friendly and eventually finding an opening to escape butno, I dont want to.

After saying our goodbyes to lizardmen, our trio continued flying with the wyverns a bit to the south until it was completely dark, forcing the wyverns to land in the forest to rest for the night. During our night with them, we were served raw meat that one of the ice wyverns hunted down.

Saori and I wanted to cook it but for some ungodly reason, the wyverns were adamant about us eating it without spicing it up. Astalos said something like You would ruin the flavor and Eat it fast, otherwise, it will be snatched away.

Snatched away by whom? The wyverns? Nope, those guys simply hunted their own meals and the amount of meat was enough to satisfy them.

Then what about Tasianna? Im kidding, of course, but even if she were to feel too hungry, she was more a fruit person than a meat-lover. She simply picked one from the surrounding trees and considering her size, that was ample enough.

That leaves the animals from our surroundings, but which monster was idiotic enough to come close to us? If you excluded my party, three B rank wyverns surrounded us like bodyguards which should be enough to scare off even the dumbest monsters.

However, as much as Saori and I wanted to continue complaining, we had to eat. Astalos told me that as a whelp I needed to eat more to grow. Well, it made sense. I was a growing girl and Id fallen into some gluttonous phases before, so more food is good.

The problem was just the taste. We had to deactivate [Humanize] as our taste buds differed between forms or to be more exact, our true forms could endure the unpleasant stink of blood better.

In all my time as a dragon, I still havent gotten used to the crude, iron taste of blood. I would usually drain the body before eating, but the wyverns were insisting that we didnt. Well, while it didnt make me want to puke anymore, I still found it bland and disgusting.

I also realized something during that night which surprised me, greatly. Its the fact that watching those giant scaled lizards strutting around me was quite pleasant. If you took away the fact that they were killer machines and that we sorta fought to the death a few hours ago, then they were pretty cool.

Astalos already looked incredibly awesome with how rough and edgy his scales were, sending me into a bit of a trance when he shook his body to loosen it up. The crazy amount of fantastic monster and enemy designs in video games already made me say oooooh, but seeing the real deal is something else.

The two ice wyverns also didnt disappoint. On Astalos command, the cleaned me up for the night using their tongue. While getting licked wasnt pleasant, it did give me a good look at their shining beige and navy-blue scales. It was beautiful to the eye as if you were taking a glimpse into a wonderland of snow-white gemstones.

.

Sleighbells ring, are you listening?

Cold in the air, winter is coming

When will the snow fall

The fall of years end

Flying in a winter wonderland

.

["Oh, what is that sound you're making, Princess? What is that humming?"] Astalos asked.

[S-Shut up, Dummkopf!] I responded flustered.

[Hmm, your hostility has increased again. It makes it uncomfortable for me, not knowing if its you or a threat from above, that is directing their bloodlust at me,] Astalos said with a slight frown.

[Can you blame me? Im still angry that you had to ruin everything. I fulfilled one promise but now my other will have to be left unfinished, for an unknown amount of time. Ahh, this is frustrating,] saying that, I clenched my teeth and tightened my grip on Astalos scales while he flew with me on his back.

The second promise that I mentioned was the one I made to the lizardmen kids. I know I told them that I wont forget about it, but it still was terrible to see them cry, telling me that they will miss me. It was just a terribly quick farewell.

Id had hoped I could have stayed with them a bit longer, just long enough that I could translate my song and sing it to them in Common tongue. I wanted them to hear me and understand the lyrics, while I graced through the dance floor at the beat of the music. I had envisioned something spectacular, although humble, for my first idol performance.

But that enthusiasm is now replaced by a creeping pain in my chest, gnawing on my guilt. Everything was set, the stage was near, and the music was about to playbut three wyverns just had to ruin everything.

Im in this shitty situation cause of them and if it werent for me feeling a bit of kinship, due to them being the first dragonkin that I could speak to, then I would have honestly hated them as a way to vent this frustration inside me.

The howling thunder ravaged the trees and ground, evaporating anything organic while singing the very ground they stood at. With one single spell, Astalos was able to wipe out a whole area of its vegetation while also scorching the ground, leaving embers behind in its wake.

[Lesser beings should stay down and respect the rulers of the skies. Their arrogance have-huh, what is this?!]

While gloating in his victory, shadowy tendrils started coming from out of my shadow and entangled Astalos wings in a solid grip, preventing him from moving in the skies. Before he could free himself, another blue ball shot through the skies, crashing against him and sending him tumbling through the air while I was launched off his back.

HEILIGE SCHEIE-oh wait, why am I worried about falling? remembering that I had measures to protect myself from fall damage I chastised myself for panicking. While spreading my wings to slow down my descent, a sudden chill ran down my spine as I heard Astalos bone-chilling roar.

That ballthere is no doubt about it! I know that, no, I was once hit by the very same thing! Thats a [Warhammer Mana Cannon]!

Directing my eyesight towards the direction of that mana ball, I was able to spy the exact location of the cannon and the ones who were wielding it. In my memory, the cannon was manned by giant demi-human monsters called trolls, however, this time it was a wide range of beings.

Goblin

A green demi-human who are renowned for being devious and cruel. These little monsters might be weak individually but can work with themselves to defeat larger enemies. Envious creatures that take sadistic joy when they can overwhelm and defeat anything larger than them, pleasuring themselves by torturing their fallen enemy. Rank G

Kobold

A brown-furred demi-human whose intelligence is restricted compared to their other demi-human relatives. Social creatures that form strong bonds with one another, working in solidarity to achieve their goals. Shows high potential for evolution options. Rank G

Orc

A green muscular humanoid monster with two small tusks. Although not the smartest, these monsters still possess an adequate amount of intelligence. Stunning strength and sturdy defense must be planned for when one fights such a creature. It has a strong sense of smell, despite its small nose. Rank D

Ogre

A giant cantankerous humanoid monster with muscles large enough to break another beings bones with a single swipe of the hand. Extremely intelligent with an ability to be reasoned with, these demi-humans are dangerous foes for any unprepared challengers. Possess high alcohol resistance. Rank C

These are my first-time witnessing goblins and ogres, which is surprising considering how large the Belzac forest was. Ive witness tribes of kobolds and also a few orc groups, but never have I seen all four of these demi-humans in the same place.

From how they were fidgeting with the cannon, I can assume that they must be the ones who shot it. Quite interestingbut very helpful.

[Hestia! Use [Featherfall]!] finally having caught up, Saori called out mid-air while clutching Tasianna in her hand.

After quickly casting [Featherfall] on myself and then transferring another to Saori, she then grabbed me around my waist and sped up our fall. Protected by my spell, Saori landed with a loud thud at the bottom of the canyon, leaving an indent of her feet behind.

With me under her arm and Tasianna sitting in her hand, Saori looked around for a second before speeding up to the nearestcave?!

[Saori, hey! What are you doing?!] struggling in a panic, I questioned Saoris action.

[I am sorry, but we have to. Please, bear with my plan for the moment, alright? While the wyverns have to deal with those attackers, we have to get out of their sight,] Saori stated, pointing at the loud cannon fires that were happening above us. [The cave is our only hope! If we can escape there, we can either find an exit or come out of the entrance when everything settles. In any case, we need to disappear!]

Urgh, what a turn of fate I mumbled to myself, realizing how ironic it was that were back here after spending nearly three weeks walking north. How crazy is it that were back in the canyon where we met Tasianna?

Entering the cave, Saori sprinted through it without a bit of worry, with the sole goal to get us away from the wyverns before checking out the situation. Igniting a [Light], I held onto our only light source with a fierce persistence as [The Light]s side-effect made me feel unwell inside the darkness.

Suddenly, the [Prediction] of all three of us sounded its alarm directing our attention upwards. With the sound of streaming electricity, a bright light appeared as it cleanly sliced the caves ceiling and floor.

The effects of that attack caused the cave to quake, crumbling as rock and sand fell onto us. Casting both [Haste] and [Swift Winds] on Saori, she quickly caught my intention and turned back into her monster form, throwing us on her back.

With improved speed, my cadejo friend sped through as the ceiling began collapsing, eventually blocking our way back out. Once the shaking stopped, we heaved a small sigh at nearly being buried under the mountain.

[What the hellI dont think [Sanctuary] would be able to stop a whole mountain from falling on us] I said while looking at the fallen rocks.

[Huff, puffthat wyvern is a menace. He nearly killed us,] Saori breathed heavily as she complained about the one who caused all of this.

[That was definitely lightning, and my wings could still remember the same static that happened on the day we met him,] Tasianna pointed out. [That had to be his [Boltreaving Blade] what frightening power.]

Nodding at her statement, our group then turned our heads towards the remaining path of the cave.

[Well, I guess we can only go forward, right?] I said.

With another nod, our trio continued onwards after barely escaping the wyverns, certain that what lied ahead of us was another adventurehopefully without any wyverns.