I was surprised, but I instinctively tightened my grip on the Gluttony Spear and aimed it towards it. To be honest, in the heavy thunderstorm, I thought even the boss of Wyvernâs Nest couldnât be a match for me.
âGood. Thanks for coming, but sorry. I want to end it quickly.â
However, what it said next shocked me greatly.
[I know you have the ability of a Tamer, Hero. I want to become Heroâs subordinate.]
âYou, what?â
I doubted my ears for an instant. What did this wyvern with the avian flu just say?
[After the drake appeared, I thought only death awaited me.]
âArenât you two on the same side?â
[Are you stupid, Hero? Between monsters, you either eat, share, or get eaten.]
Well, thatâs nice to know. Share probably refers to monsters from the same family or from the same kind. Although wyverns and the Flame Drake were seemed to both be species of dragons, it seemed they werenât allies.
[Iâve come to admire you after seeing you destroy dozens of wyverns with a single attack. Be happy. You forced the Queen of the Wyverns, Dark Wing Zirte, to surrender!]
I obtained two more useful information. The first was that this wyvern felt admiration at me killing dozens of her kind, and the second was that this wyvern was female. I was wondering why her voice was slightly high! Dark Wing Zirte then continued.
[Of course, what I want the most is to kill Hero and to obtain Heroâs Light, but I know that is impossible. As such, I chose the second best option.]
âSince you canât kill me, you will serve under me?â
[And I will kill the drake.]
For a monster, she sure acted like a bully⌠Well, it didnât matter, since it was good for me.
The wyvern looked into my eyes. Meanwhile, Hwaya shouted.
âI donât know whatâs going on, but hurry up! That guyâs charging toward us!â
âOkay! Alright, good. Youâll probably be faster than Talaria.â
[From now on, I am Heroâs. Now, grant me a new name.]
âI canât just call you Zirte?â
[I need a new name to tie myself to Hero.]
âThen letâs go with Lotte.â
[Good. My name is now Lotte! As the Heroâs partner, I will take after his brilliance!]
Immediately afterwards, several messages rang in my ear, as if they had been prepared beforehand.
[You made an achievement of taming the S+ rank boss monster, âDark Wing Wyvern.â You obtained 1 skill point. Current skill points: 4]
[Taming became level 3. You can tame your target more easily, and even the targets you placated temporarily will remain so for a longer time.]
[Spirit of the Tamer became level 3. You will win good first impressions, and the hostility and wariness against you decreases. Current tamable targets: 2/2]
Although Wyvernâs Nest was a S rank dungeon, Lotte was S+ ranked. I wondered why, and suspected it was because she originally possessed a name.
Plene, for example, didnât have a name until I gave her one. On the other hand, Lotte had the name, Zirte. Just by looking at her wings and black skin, I could tell she was different than the other wyverns. She was called the Queen of the Wyverns and Dark Wing, both emphasizing that she was special.
That said, their goal should have been to kill me and take the worldâs power. It felt a bit weird that they gave up and joined my side because they werenât strong enough. I thought the command they received was absolute, something they had to prioritize over their own lives, but it seemed that wasnât the case. After all, Plene came over to my side rather easily, and it was the same for Lotte. Was it because I was a Tamer? Or was it just because I showed how domineering I was like Lotte said? Were their own lives more important than the command? Or was there something special about Plene and Lotte? For now, I had no way of knowing.
[Get on, Hero.]
âRight. Excuse me.â
[Mmm.]
âCan I let my comrades ride too?â
[Thatâs unpleasant. The only one I acknowledge is Hero, my master.]
She called herself my partner and Taming definitely worked, but it looked like it didnât mean she would be completely obedient. With a bitter smile, I nodded.
âAlright, it canât be helped then. Letâs go!â
[Donât fall. Gryaaaaaa!]
Lotte opened her jaws and let out a scream. Then, she charged straight towards the drake. I raised my spear, and the constant lightning strikes from the sky strengthened Spirit Aura.
[Where did you get that!?]
[If you want, you can try to entice one of the nearby wyverns!]
After replying to fatherâs message, I looked ahead. Although the connection between Lotte and me wasnât as deep as my connection with Ruyue, as expected of Queen of the Wyverns, Lotte aptly dodged the drakeâs flames and flew past its front paw.
In that instant, I used Elemental Blade and slashed its front paw. A strong explosion of lightning occurred upon impact, bursting the drakeâs scales and scorching its flesh.
[Kuaaaaaa! You bitch, you dare betray us!?]
[Itâs better than becoming your dinner!]
The drake became enraged and stomped, causing the entire canyon to crack. Because of the falling boulders, people on the bottom of the canyon were busy running for their lives. Hoping that my companions were safe, I aimed my spear at it again.
[I will have you!]
The drake flashed its eyes and glared at me. At that moment, however, a flurry of bullets pierced through the top of its jaws. I was surprised from how accurate the shots were. From his helicopter, Pepper had accurately attacked the spot I struck earlier with my spear. I couldnât help but be amazed by his skill.
âT.K., you got yourself a cool mount! That spear too, how cool!â
Pepper flew next to Lotte, shouting with a loud voice that did not lose to the roaring monsters. With a grin, I retorted.
âGood shots, Pepper!â
âIt wasnât much!â
We wished each other luck and immediately separated. The drakeâs flame laser shot through the air between us. Meanwhile, all the rankers resting at their lodging and the rankers that were scattered throughout the Field Dungeon were gathering. There were about 70 of them. However, even if more than one third of the worldâs S rankers were here, I couldnât confidently say they could defeat the drake.
[Come down, Iâll give you a Blessing!]
Ludia sent me a message. It seemed he had returned after landing the helicopter in the landing zone. I hesitated, but seeing Pepperâs helicopter move like a living creature and drawing the drakeâs attention, I nodded. Ludiaâs Blessing could not be ignored. It would be best to quickly go get it while Pepper was holding back the drake.
Lotte landed in the quagmire created by the heavy rain. Looking at Lotteâs large body, both Ludia and Ye-Eun were startled.
âI-Itâs twice as big as a wyvern!â
âIâve never seen a wyvern so big⌠How did youâŚ?â
âIâll explain later! Ludia, give me the Blessing!â
âUn! O Power vested in the earth, O Blessing! We shall fight to protect thee, lend us thy power! O Mitarus, bless and sublimate this power!â
[You received Mitarusâ Warrior Blessing, strengthened by the power of the earth. For the duration, your health and mana recovery increases greatly, and your attack and defense increases by 20%. On defense, you have a chance to âabsolutely defendâ your enemyâs attack.]
I knew coming down was a good idea! After confirming that I received Ludiaâs Blessing, I told Lotte to fly up again. However, before Lotte could flap her wings, Ludia took off her hoody and exposed her face to the rain. Although she was wearing a mask, it couldnât protect her face from the rain.
âShin, donât die, okay!?â
âYeah. You be careful too.â
I lightly retorted with a grin. I wasnât sure if she could see my face clearly in the rain, but she looked like she was smiling too. Good, she was getting better.
Ye-Eun was charging at the drake with a dagger in each hand, and I also made Lotte fly toward the drake. It was then. The drake lightly stomped the ground, and a large fissure began to spread out. It was an earthquake attack.
[Son, let me get on too!]
[She says she doesnât want other people riding her!]
I descended down to the ground like an arrow as I messaged father. No matter how wide the canyon had expanded, it was still a canyon. If the ground began to fissure in the middle, it would be hard for anyone to escape. With Lotteâs claws, I grabbed the people about to fall down into the abyss.
âUaaaaaak!â
âCalm down, Iâll drop you off in a safe area soon!â
I put them on top of the canyon. It was probably safer, and it would be easier for me to deal with the drake. Without listening to their thanks, I went off with Lotte again. However, after I spent some time saving people, the ordinary wyverns made me unable to focus on fighting the drake. They were attacking the rankers ferociously, as if to eat a last meal before the drake killed them.
âCanât you command the other wyverns?â
[Between monsters, you eitherâŚ]
âOkay, okay!â
Lotte flapped her wings and raised her altitude. The weather was getting worse, as the sky rumbled and lightning sparked continuously. I raised my Gluttony Spear. Hearing Peikaâs excited shout, I couldnât help but smile.
âLotte, weâre going to use the skill that wiped out the wyverns earlier. The final target is obviously the drake.â
[Understood.]
âAlright, then⌠Uaaaaak! Everyone, come fight me!â
[You used Provoke! All enemies in this area bears deep hostility towards you!]
[Kiaaaaaak!]
[Kuaaaaaak!]
The wyverns changed their target from the ability users to me. They flapped their wings violently, as they cried. The drake also faced me and shot a laser straight toward me. The wyverns in the path was completely burned to death. As for me, Lotte dodged its attack with her quick movement.
âGood, Lotte. Well done.â
[Hmph. This much is nothing.]
âThen, letâs go! Gale Track!â
Because of the drakeâs laser, it was hard to place twenty wyverns in the path of Gale Track. However, thinking back to the Gale Track Peruta used, I violently circulated Peruta Circuit and led Lotte.
âHuaaaaaap!â
First, second, third⌠Changing the trajectory naturally, I killed the fourth, then fifthâŚ! The drake flashed its eyes and shouted.
[Volcano!]
âWhat volcano? Thereâs no volcano here⌠Wait, there is!â
A scarlet flame erupted from the crack made from the earlier earthquake. Watching the S rankers trying their best to dodge or block it, I hurriedly called Ruyue.
âCan you freeze it?â
[No problem!]
When the lava shot toward Lotte and me, Ruyue instantly froze it. She could even freeze lava! We immediately broke through it. Eleventh, twelfthâŚ! Shoot, the lava killed most of the wyverns!
[Iâll fly straight to that bastard now!]
âGo! Ruyue, block that guyâs attack!â
[Got it!]
Immediately after Ruyue nodded, the streaks of rain in front of us transformed into ice crystals and began to spin around Lotteâs body. More and more ice crystals gathered around Lotte, and in the end, we looked like a whirlwind of ice crystals.
[With your strength, you wonât be able to even scratch me!]
When the drake shouted, the earth tremored, and the raindrops that had fallen on his body burst out into all directions. How could a Flame Drake wield water!? I knew he had just used his boundless mana to send the water flying, but it was still enough to damage the S rankers. Furthermore, the attack continued, almost like Pepperâs machine gun. Although I was fine thanks to Ruyueâs ice crystal whirlwind, I urged Lotte on, thinking of the S rankers.
Then, the drake suddenly stopped moving. A black stream of blood burst out of its neck. At the same time, a voice filled with ominous mana rang out throughout the entire canyon.
âAhaha, ahahahaha! This is fun, very fun! Uuuung, Earth is the greatest!â