Chapter 110

Najin pulled on the chain stake and thought to himself. The strategy was indeed effective. As expected of a squad that specialized in hunting wyverns, their tactics were perfect for this purpose.

Wyverns, as creatures that shared some of the dragon’s blood, had both high resistance and innate senses. They could detect the flow of mana and evade spells while airborne, making it difficult to hit them with magic.

Large ballista arrows faced the same issue. They were tough to aim accurately and, even if they hit, couldn’t inflict significant damage. Only a marksman of Sword Seeker caliber could land such shots, but they weren’t common, so this wasn’t a standard solution.

“So, their strategy is…”

Close combat using chain stakes.

Whether running up the chains or jumping after them and throwing the stakes, they aimed to approach as close as possible to the wyverns before throwing. The target was the wyvern’s unscaled underbelly or the wing membranes. Once the stake was embedded, they could use the chain’s recoil to leap onto the wyvern’s back.

It was dangerous and required considerable skill.

But once on top, with the wyvern within reach of their blades, it was then up to the warriors.

Clench.

Najin wrapped the chain around himself and grabbed the stake buried in the wyvern’s underbelly. He didn’t need to watch the Wyvern Squad to know how to move next. His combat experience told him what to do.

Najin adjusted his posture, using the recoil of his body. Like a bat hanging from a cave ceiling, he gripped the stake with one hand while using both feet to step onto the wyvern’s underbelly.

The stance was precarious, but it didn’t matter since he was about to stabilize. Holding the stake with one hand, he now needed to decide what to do with the other. Najin was a swordsman, and there was only one thing swordsmen did.

Thrust.

He plunged his sword in reverse grip into the wyvern’s underbelly. Unscaled, the wyvern’s underbelly was pierced easily by the sword wrapped in sword aura.

『———————!』

Blood spurted as the wyvern screamed.

But the wound was shallow. The wyvern’s hide was thick, and the sword was too short to reach the organs inside. It would take a long time to kill it this way, and holding onto a rampaging wyvern bleeding profusely was no easy task.

It was also inefficient.

With dozens of wyverns flying around, this would be endless. Najin had no intention of getting bogged down in a battle of attrition. The sword was only used to keep his balance.

Blood sprayed, and the wyvern began to thrash.

Ignoring that, Najin ran along the wyvern’s underbelly. More accurately, he leaped repeatedly. Pulling the sword out, plunging it back in, and repeating, he climbed up the wyvern.

Thump.

He crossed the underbelly and stepped onto the scales. It was done. The scales were bumpy, and there was no longer a need to stab with the sword. Finding gaps in the scales, Najin quickly ascended to the wyvern’s back.

“…!”

Najin locked eyes with the orc rider gripping the reins. The wide-eyed orc grabbed an ax from his back, but it was already too late.

Slice.

Najin’s sword flashed, and the orc’s head rolled. Najin kicked the corpse off the wyvern and exhaled. The rider was down, but the wyvern continued to thrash. Its underbelly had been stabbed, leaving it in a frenzy.

“Next…”

Najin turned his gaze to the wyvern’s scales. He could feel the resistance in the shiny scales that disrupted sword aura. Although most magical creatures had natural resistance, the wyvern’s scales surpassed Najin’s expectations.

It wasn’t easy to inflict deep wounds with normal sword strikes. Najin, who had mainly fought humans, didn’t know how to handle such a large creature.

But he didn’t need to worry for long. There was a clue close by. He looked around and saw a soldier on another wyvern, wielding a blade. Najin watched how that soldier used his weapon.

They persistently dug into a corner, pried off the scales, and widened the wound before delivering a final blow to break the bones. Najin silently observed and then adjusted his grip on his sword.

Slash, slash, slash!

The sword aura wrapped around the constellation gleamed brightly. A red line appeared from the wyvern’s spine to its nape, and blood splashed out. The wyvern thrashed even more violently. It twisted its body to throw Najin off, but—

Clench!

With his sword plunged into its back, Najin ran down the wyvern. Scales fell off, and blood sprayed everywhere. As he twisted his sword, the wound widened, revealing the bones. Ah, so this is how it’s done.

Najin swung his sword at the bones leading from the spine to the neck.

With a slice, the bone was cut, and blood vessels were severed. The wyvern’s movement abruptly halted.

The wyvern dropped. Leaping off its back, Najin twirled his chain stake. With the next target nearby, he didn’t need to throw it far.

With a solid grasp on things, Najin began to rampage.

Gillet Reginfert, commander of the Wyvern Hunting Squad, looked up at the sky in a daze. There stood a lone swordsman making his presence known.

『———————!』

The wyvern’s scream echoed across the battlefield.

Its anguished cries and the blood sprayed everywhere.

A single soldier who brought down even one wyvern was praised, but that swordsman had already downed three and was still moving toward a new target.

‘Who the hell is this kid?’

Najin, the youngest Sword Seeker.

Despite slaying three wyverns, the boy wasn’t worn out but was moving even faster. He hurled the chain stake and climbed onto the wyvern’s back, quickly butchering it.

As if he had gotten the hang of it.

He slashed through a wing and ran along the spine to sever the wyvern’s neck. The first time, he cut the spine, but from the third wyvern on, he started cutting through the neck in one blow.

‘That’s not something you can cut easily.’

Even as a Sword Seeker, it was tough to slice through the wyvern’s scales and sever its neck in one blow. Though Gillet was also a Sword Seeker, he couldn’t always cut through the wyvern’s neck unless he got very lucky.

A sword would have to land precisely between the scales.

The state of the sword aura also had to be perfect.

Watching this boy make such a difficult task seem so effortless, Gillet chuckled dryly. He felt something from Najin—a feeling only a soldier like Gillet who had spent years on the battlefield could recognize.

‘From living on the battlefield…’

After staying on the battlefield long enough, you occasionally see someone like him. Those who possess something beyond “talent,” with an innate sense for combat itself.

They instinctively make the best move in every situation. Without ever being taught, they intuitively choose the right answer. They leap over the skills and judgment that ordinary people hone for years with a single gut feeling.

Most survivors on the battlefield were like that, and Gillet knew a few of them. With a bitter smile, he muttered,

“It makes the rest of us look like fools…”

Difficult to learn. “I’ll kick you out if you’re a nuisance.”

Those warnings turned out to be completely useless. Then again, he was a peerless genius who had broken the record of the monstrous Sword Saint.

An extraordinary figure had appeared.

Thinking this, Gillet looked up at the sky. By now, the Wyvern Unit was retreating.

“You did well.”

After returning to the barracks following the battle, Najin found himself facing Gillet. Looking somewhat sheepish, Gillet rubbed the back of his neck before extending his hand.

“Thanks to you, we suffered fewer casualties, and the Wyvern Unit retreated faster than usual, which greatly helped us maintain the front line. We owe it to you.”

Najin took Gillet’s outstretched hand.

After a firm handshake, Gillet smiled bitterly.

“You fought brilliantly, despite not being taught any of this. You’re the only one who’s ever brought down five wyverns in a single battle. The soldiers were dumbfounded.”

Najin had chased after the retreating Wyvern Unit, bringing down one more wyvern. The soldiers had burst out laughing at the sight of the wyverns fleeing.

“How long did you say you’ll stay?”

“About ten days.”

“Ten days, right. To be honest, I wish I could recruit you into our army somehow… but if the Sword Masters couldn’t take you, there’s no way we’d be able to.”

Gillet shrugged.

“I’m Gillet Reginfert. I’ll be counting on you for the next ten days.”

“Najin. I’ll be in your care.”

Gillet’s gaze toward Najin had become friendly. Najin had proven his worth in battle, and from a commander’s perspective, a competent soldier was always welcome. Even if Najin were just a mercenary temporarily staying on the battlefield, that fact didn’t change.

Though an outsider, Najin was recognized as part of the Wyvern Hunting Squad for those ten days. The soldiers treated him warmly, and whenever they had spare time, they taught him various tricks with the chain stakes.

“Grab the chain in the middle like this. You don’t have to plant the stake. Just wrap it like this…”

“Like this?”

“Uh… huh?”

Seeing Najin quickly pick up techniques after just a few demonstrations, some widened their eyes, while others chuckled in disbelief. Najin repaid them by applying the skills he learned directly on the battlefield.

Time passed that way.

Gradually accustomed to the battlefield after spending several days there, Najin spoke to Merlin.

“Surprisingly, there’s not much of a difference here.”

When he first set foot in the Outland, it had felt like a chaotic land where all manner of monsters roamed. However, after spending some time here, it didn’t seem much different from the outside.

Of course, that didn’t count the constant gaze of the constellations and the fact that battlefields surrounded him everywhere.

-We’re on the outskirts.

Merlin briefly answered his murmuring.

-If you go a little deeper, you’ll see a world of difference. But it’s better not to head in there yet. You’re not ready for that place without a star.

Let’s get a feel for it here and then head back.

Merlin’s muttering didn’t fully register with Najin. After all, hunting the supposedly notorious Wyvern Unit wasn’t too difficult, and he hadn’t encountered any particularly formidable foes despite the Outer Land’s fearsome reputation.

-Well, that’s just because you’re lucky.

Merlin sighed at Najin’s thoughts.

-Variables always strike out of nowhere.

And.

Her grim prophecy came true.

On the seventh day on the battlefield, Najin immediately sensed something was off. The enemy troops and the number of wyverns felt different.

Their numbers were fewer.

Only the bare minimum appeared on the battlefield.

It didn’t take long for the soldiers to understand why. The enemy’s forces were barely a tenth of their usual strength, yet they seemed brimming with confidence rather than fear.

The reason was clear.

Among them was someone who made up for their lack of numbers—a single entity who surpassed the entire army. A woman appeared in the midst of the scattered Wyvern Unit.

Long, flowing red hair.

Burning crimson eyes.

Not on a wyvern but floating in the air atop a staff. Behind her floated seven crimson circles. When the soldiers realized these were the “rings” or circles the mages spoke of, chaos ensued.

『Retreat! Retreat!』

『Fall back! Mage units, to your positions!』

『Aaaargh!』

『Summon Sir Kirchhoff! Signal him immediately! Get him here!』

『A witch! The witch has appeared!』

The battlefield was thrown into chaos. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Commanders ordered a retreat, and soldiers and knights began to fall back, forgetting to maintain their ranks. They had to. This woman was a nightmare etched into the soldiers’ memories.

One who had allied with demons and joined the Demon King’s army, just to burn humans.

The demons called her Flicker.

Humankind called her the Witch.

-The Flickering Witch.

Merlin’s voice echoed in Najin’s ear.

-The Flickering Witch, Ermina.

The battlefield was overturned the moment the witch appeared. She alone ruled the battlefield, bending the flow to her will. As the troops retreated, Najin saw it.

Fwoosh.

Behind the witch, the seven circles ignited. The flaming circles spun like rings of fire, illuminating the sky in crimson. As the rings, wrapped in flame, turned the sky red, the witch gestured.

Flames flickered from her fingertips.

A 7th-circle spell, Fire Demon.

A massive blaze swallowed the battlefield. The fire didn’t spare friend or foe, reducing everything to ashes. Dozens of humans and monsters alike turned to cinders in an instant.

Ash fluttered.

The heat made the scenery shimmer.

Among the chaos, the witch and Najin locked eyes. The witch’s crimson whirlpool of eyes met Najin’s dusk-colored gaze.

“Well, shit.”

Standing beside Najin, Gillet gritted his teeth.

“Looks like I’ll be retiring after twenty years.”