As Niclos lowered his closed fist, giving the signal to begin the assault on the Wyvern, all hell broke loose and the silence was broken.

The front line, composed of everyone Niclos could spare, attacked, running with all their might towards the impressive reptilian creature that still seemed to be asleep.

The adrenaline coursing through their veins, along with the panic fear they were all experiencing, made them forget about caution and war cries coming from their throats.

Arriving at the level of the Wyvern, who had not yet flinched, they brought their weapons down on her scaly body, small gashes appearing where their blades had fallen. And it was exactly at that moment that the world turned into hell.

Curled in on itself, the Wyvern spread its gigantic tail like a whip, sweeping a dozen attackers several meters away, the less fortunate falling into the void with a cry of absolute terror. Two of them ended up crushed against the rocky walls, the rest stunned and struggling to get up as many of their bones were broken.

Aguénor and his brigade of healers had begun to cast healing spells on those who were worth it, and one could see the bones reintegrating their bodies, the wounds closing and a certain vitality returning to their gestures.

The reptilian monster rose to his feet, turning to face the woodlice who had dared to disturb his sleep and try to hurt him. It opened its mouth and a piercing howl came out of its throat, causing a sound wave that shook the ground and the assailants, the eardrums of those closest to it exploding under the effect of the incredible volume released by this cry.

Even Niclos, from the top of his promontory, knelt down under the power of the scream. Resisting as best he could, he signaled to Dejros to launch the magical assault on the beast.

Immediately, incantations began in the offensive mage brigade, and multiple attacks flickered before hurtling through the skies. There were balls of fire that exploded on contact with the Wyvern's bluish scales, purple lightning that tried to penetrate her skin, and balls of acid that sizzled on contact with her body.

The wounds caused by these attacks were minimal, but they were enough to enrage the Wyvern, who let out another piercing howl before lunging toward the group of mages.

One attacker in the first group died instantly, his brain completely liquefied by the proximity of the second sonic attack, the rest of his group unable to react while they were still stunned. They were trampled by the creature, which was surprisingly fast for its size, swinging its head left and right, grabbing bodies and swallowing them whole as it continued to run toward the mages.

Fortunately, the two traps set by the cannon fodder came into play, and two nets rose up in front of the creature and caught in its clawed legs, causing it to fall with a landslide-like crash.

Dejros finished casting his spell, and above the wyvern, a magic circle appeared, from which fell dozens of giant, icy stalagmites that would impale their prey cleanly without giving him time to react.

But it was without counting on the speed of reaction of their opponent, and his intelligence. Sensing the danger coming, the Wyverne tore the nets that were holding her and in the same movement rolled on her back to avoid the ice spikes rushing at her, crushing at the same time two men who were still trying to hurt her with their swords.

Only one of the ice projectiles managed to hit her, on her right wing, and it stuck like a pin in a butterfly, preventing the Wyvern from taking flight.

A cry of rage and pain escaped her mouth and she turned to the mages, a bluish glow beginning to radiate from her throat. Dejros, sensing the danger coming, began to shout frantically:

-TAKE COVER! TAKE COVER!

He himself had only time to dive behind a rocky mass of two or three meters wide to take shelter, four other mages having the intelligence to dive behind him.

Then the Wyvern reared its head and opened its mouth in the direction of those who had not reacted in time, a conical blast of blue flames rushing at them. The mages' screams of pain and agony lasted only a second or two, and Dejros felt his skin blister and dry up as the flames crashed into the rocks that protected them.

Fortunately, Aguénor and his healers were at, and quickly the pain disappeared, even though the monster continued to spit hellfire at them.

Niclos waved again, disappointed that half the mages were already burned and dead, but not overly concerned. He still had some tricks up his sleeve.

It was the turn of the Kallum brigade to go into action.

As the barbarian screamed and cast reinforcing spells on him while rushing toward his next victim, Dejros was already preparing another spell, this time sacrificing three-quarters of his mana gauge while his previous attack had cost only one-twentieth.

"KALLUM! TWENTY SECONDS, THEN GET AWAY!"

The barbarian heard his colleague's instruction, and nodded to himself, throwing his body high with his [Warrior's Leap] technique. He raised his axe high with both hands as gravity played its role in bringing him back to the body of the Wyvern, who was still trying to fry Dejros and the surviving mages as the rock that sheltered them began to glow red and yellow.

He then brought his weapon down with all his might on the joint of one of the monster's wings, accompanying his blow with a barbaric cry, [Cry of Strength], which doubled the power of his blow. The axe penetrated the scales, the flesh, and finally the bone that supported the creature's wing with a screeching sound and a spray of blood splashing on the barbarian.

Immediately, the Wyvern bellowed in pain and shook violently, throwing the barbarian several meters away, crashing against a rock wall with the sound of broken bones.

Kallum had a big smile on his face, for he had succeeded in his blow. He stood up as Aguénor's care focused on him, seeing the Wyvern's wing held together by a net of skin and muscle, the bone completely shattered by the power of the barbarian's strike. She had completely stopped her jet of fire, returning her attention to the colossus who had just wounded her so badly. The rest of the attackers in Kallum's group were swinging their axes and long swords at the monster's legs, causing shallower wounds than the one Kallum had just inflicted, but from which a nice amount of thick blood was still flowing.

Grunting in annoyance, the beast raised a paw and let it fall to the ground, fatally crushing two of the insects that were attacking it. Then it spun around, using its tail once again as a whip to sweep away the remaining attackers. Two more died on the spot, the others miraculously managing to dive to the ground to avoid the pillar of death that the monster's tail represented.

"Dejros, it's whenever you want!"

Kallum waited for the mage to launch his attack, fifteen seconds had passed. Only eight melee attackers were left alive, and they retreated as the Wyvern swept the ground in a destructive rage with its paws and tail.

The group of archers sprang into action, distracting the dragon long enough for Kallum's squad to prepare for the next assault. Shena, the Ranger, used her [Piercing Shot] technique, draining a quarter of her mana bar, and a silver arrow shot into the air before piercing the creature's left eye.

Exploding on impact, the eyeball disappeared and was replaced by a spray of blood and yellowish liquid that caused the Wyvern to cry out in pain.

Barely twenty seconds had passed, seeming to last an eternity, and Dejros straightened up, pointed his open hands at the monster, a magic circle appearing beneath him and pulsing with an icy blue light. The mage's eyes had themselves become a blue maelstrom in which ice tornadoes danced. Then he closed his hands and finished his incantation, before falling to his knees, exhausted by the superhuman effort he had just made to complete his spell.

The wyvern, sensing the change in the mana surrounding her, had the reflex to move away from the magic circle, but she was not quick enough.

Spears of ice, as wide as two men, sprang up from the ground like gigantic fangs and impaled the creature, who still managed to avoid a large part of them. But two of the spears stuck deep into his body, one in his hind legs and the second in his left front leg.

They had succeeded in severely limiting their prey's movements, but at the cost of many deaths. Dejros, on the other hand, moved away from the battlefield as quickly as he could, his mana gauge completely drained and his consciousness dangerously close to dying out from overflowing fatigue.

The four remaining mages continued to summon their most powerful attacks, but it was not nearly enough to aggravate the monster's wounds.

Kallum's squad once again charged at the beast, which seemed to be stunned by the last attack.

Niclos didn't understand this reaction, but when the scaly body began to glow entirely with blue light, he had a very bad feeling.

"BACK OFF! SHE STRIKES BACK!"

His cry went out to his troops, but it was too late.

In a fiery explosion, a circle of bluish fire shot outward from the wyvern's body. The flames were two meters high and several meters thick, an impenetrable barrier to those who had challenged the creature.

Aguénor retreated, throwing the healers next to him away so that they would not burn and die under the monster's flames. Dejros, on the other hand, was far enough away not to worry about it. Kallum, on the other hand, saw the wall of fire coming towards him and used [Warrior's Leap] again to throw himself high into the air, to safety.

He heard the screams of the warriors who had accompanied him but did not care. After all, they were destined to die sooner or later, so it didn't make much difference to their future. The surviving mages were spared, protected by the rocks that had begun to melt under the solar heat of the flames.

Kallum charged again [Force Scream], arrows still sticking in the wyvern's scales, distracting her enough that she didn't pay attention to the barbarian coming at her.

This time he aimed at the monster's spine, and a sadistic and deeply satisfied smile appeared on his lips as he once again felt the bone shatter under his powerful blow. He had struck a little above the tail, but his attack slicing through the marrow of the creature caused its tail to become inert immediately, ceasing to sweep the ground continuously as it had done since the beginning of the fight.

Her movements became slower, heavier. A pool of blood had flowed from the wounds, and although most of it had dried under the influence of the wave of concentric flames she had summoned, it continued to flow from the deep wounds that now ran throughout her body.

A cry of despair rose from her bruised maw, raging and desperate, and she swung one of her front paws in a swing in hopes of killing a few more attackers.

Kallum had thrown himself on the ground and was now concentrating on the Wyvern's insensible tail. If she bled out, she would be just as dead as with a fatal blow.

In a desperate effort, she mustered her last bit of strength and began to run as best she could towards the two groups still standing, Aguenor's and the ranged attackers who kept firing again and again, without respite. A trail of thick, sticky blood appeared in her wake.

The camouflaged magicians had come out of their hiding place and had started to cast their spell again, a stupid move if ever there was one, for the Wyvern seeing them merely trampled the rocky mass behind which they were standing with all her weight, breaking the stone and crushing the bodies of the four magicians who were there without them having been able to do any significant damage.

Dejros watched them get crushed without feeling any heat or cold. His only regret was that his empty mana gauge prevented him from continuing to fight against what was his greatest challenge since his arrival in the Neo-Life dimension.

Niclos prepared himself for battle, the dragon coming almost to the height of the promontory on which he was standing.

Kallum, outdistanced by the injured dragon's speed, was coming up to speed, his axe raised and ready to deliver another deep blow to the creature.

Palnia remained unmoved, her duty being to protect her employer and at no time to fight against the Wyvern. Moreover, this fight did not fit in what she considered as an optimal confrontation considering her skills.

That left Aguenor, who was behind the group of archers continuing to fire without respite as the reptilian colossus came at them. He raised his blade in both hands, ready for what was about to happen.

Shena, seeing the worst approaching, shouted a series of orders and moved to the side, while the rest of the archers scattered as best they could, half of them being trampled, the other half being disemboweled by the creature's raging fangs.

The wyvern didn't stop, charging at Aguenor. Aguenor took advantage of this and cast all the personal buffs he knew. [Knight's Aura], [Force Blessing], and [Overpower]. All of them increased his strength, speed, and reaction time, although Overpower had a very debilitating backlash after five minutes. But he was sure the fight would be over by then, so he played one of his trump cards.

When the wyvern came at him, he jumped to get it out of the way, and in the same motion, he brought his two-handed longsword down on the creature's neck with all his might. His attack was successful, although it did not finish the monster.

Sinking several centimeters into the Wyvern's flesh, an umpteenth cascade of blood spurted from its body, splashing the Knight who had a big vicious smile hanging on his lips, savoring the creature's suffering as if it were his own.

Kallum had finally caught up with the reptile and brought his axe down once again into its bloody tail.

That was the moment Niclos chose to jump off the promontory, with the wyvern right below him. As he fell about four or five meters, both of his arms turned into hairy paws, razor-sharp claws at the end of both transformed limbs, and as he landed on his prey's head, he rammed them violently into the top of its skull, using his momentum and one of his spells, [Transformation Reinforcement], to penetrate the reptile's skull and slash its brain.

This spell could only be used once a day, and it greatly increased the power of any transformation, from simple to fivefold, which was by no means negligible.

As soon as its claws made contact with the Wyvern's brain, piercing the skull with the sound of breaking bone, it spasmed and fell to the ground, rolling on the floor in a final attempt to take its attackers with it to their deaths.

Niclos had of course thrown himself to the side, as had Aguénor, who had moved away as soon as he saw that his leader's attack had had the desired effect. Kallum, on the other hand, laughed out loud, having backed away from the creature, his axe full of blood on his shoulder.

Aguénor didn't waste a second and healed them all, Kallum having some broken bones due to the Wyverne's ripostes. Niclos was unharmed, only covered from head to toe with the blood that had spurted from the monster's wound, just like the Knight and the Barbarian.

When the beast's spasms stopped, a silence so intense it was palpable returned to the stage, the smell of blood leaping to their nostrils as well as the stench of burning flesh from the Wyvern's victims. All were out of breath, exhausted from what seemed like hours of fighting, their veins still pumping massive doses of adrenaline into their systems. They looked at each other for a few seconds, amazed that they were still alive after all that, and were convinced that she had breathed her last and looked at each other with a big smile on their faces, before bursting into laughter at their gigantic trophy.

They all let out a cry of relief, a victory cry, to celebrate their unlikely survival, feeling more alive than ever.

Only about fifteen people outside of his bodyguard had survived. Almost all the fighters were dead, except for the healers who had survived. Kallum, Aguénor, Palnia, Dejros, Shena were in good shape, the rest of the guard having perished without leaving any indelible traces in Niclos' mind.

The rest were mostly the non-combatant classes he had recruited, the blacksmiths, tailors and cooks who had stayed behind in the battle.

They all worked around the corpse for many hours, Niclos just staying at the level of its skull and putting his hand on its scales, using his technique [Morphic Comprehension] on the Wyvern.

This allowed him to assimilate the physical side of any creature much more effectively, even if the assimilation was not complete. His understanding increased greatly as the rest of the troop was busy butchering the beast and retrieving any valuable resources.

He was really looking forward to trying out his new transformation, and seeing how far he could use it, but now was not the time. He walked over to his security detail and gave them all a big, happy smile.

"You all fought like demons, and we won. Don't worry, I will keep my promises, as long as you keep yours."

He addressed his bodyguard in particular and ordered them to restrain their impulses until they arrived near Delia, as agreed.

All nodded and Kallum moved towards the beast, slicing its head with a violent axe, turning his gaze towards Niclos.

"Say, Niclos, do you think I can keep the head as a trophy? They'll be able to stuff it for me like pros at the hunters' guild!"

Niclos laughed at the incongruity of the request and nodded in response to the barbarian.

"No worries, Kallum, take it for yourself."

He turned his gaze to Palnia and gave her a lecherous smile full of promise.

"As for you, I'm thinking of finally giving in to your advances once I get back to the capital. Don't come complaining afterwards, though."

The assassin's eyes widened like saucers, and a wave of excitement swept over his crotch, already thinking of the abuse Niclos would inflict on him with anticipation and desire.

"Come on, let's all go back to the capital! Another type of hunting awaits me after all this!"

So the party set off down the mountain path, turning back with the corpse of a Wyvern cut out of their wagon, and the gray clouds giving way to a few rays of sunshine, promising a beautiful journey.