Chapter 5: Wyvern Slaughterer

The day when I accepted the Hero Game System, changed my life forever.

It felt surreal as I equipped the Silver Knight armor. A blinding light surrounded my body. Hatsu, who immediately jumped off my shoulder, landed beside me and squinted its eyes with curiosity. As the light faded, I was now enveloped in shiny silver armor.

I glanced into a broken window and saw my reflection. Wearing the heavy armor filled me with warm energy and unfamiliar power. Surprisingly, each plate felt like a natural extension of my body. The armor had a noble feel to it, and the clinking of the silver plates could be heard with every movement. A velvet scarf with golden embroidery and traces of mana wrapped around my neck. The helmet had a crimson mane on top, fluttering in the wind. In my left hand, I held a giant broadsword with golden engravings from the Dark Era.

"Thanks, Iris." I smiled underneath the helmet with appreciation.

"There is no need to thank me," she said indifferently, "it is my job to assist the Owner of the Hero Game System."

I feel more self-assured as I approach the center of the wyvern horde. Using my vast amount of mana, I boost myself off the ground and soar into the boundless, blood-red sky, creating a massive crater on the ground. It felt exhilarating to be so high up.

Is this what it felt like to fly?

As I continue, the wyverns turn their attention towards me, attracted to the high levels of mana in my armor. By consuming things with high mana capacity, monsters grow stronger. It's possible that my armor's high mana capacity is why the wyverns are now focused on me.

Gripping the broadsword tightly, I swing at a wyvern and easily slice it in two, feeling empowered by my newfound skill. The wyvern's black blood splatters onto my armor, and the armor absorbs both the blood and the monster's body, which disappears without a trace.

Suddenly system notifications rang in my ear.

[You have killed a wyvern]

[You have gained wyvern skill: Flame Magic]

[You have Level Upped]

[All stats increase by 1]

[Due to 10x multiplier on armor, all stats increase by 10 temporarily]

[You have Level Upped]

...

The notifications continued, but I did not care. I kept slicing at each wyvern, each swing getting lighter, stronger, and faster with only one thought in mind.

Save Savior.

With every swing, I took down a wyvern, and with flight, I surpassed the speed of sound.

Then an idea popped into my head.

Let's try something else.

According to the system, I could change my weapon's form with my will. I closed my eyes briefly, thinking about the weapon I wanted to weld.

Something that can pierce multiple wyverns at once.

Suddenly, my broadsword glowed as it became skinnier yet longer and more round. In my hand was a long silver lance. Instinctively, I 'lightly' threw the spear at the wyverns, but I guess my 'lightly' was actually really strong. Before I knew it, the spear had pierced twenty wyverns, and its momentum stopped when it finally skewered three into a building. The wyverns that were hit by the spear froze in midair before, as if time stopped, then vaporized into nothing. As they vaporized, the spear pulled itself out of the building and flew back to my hand in an instant.

Moments of slashing later, I noticed I had slaughtered over a hundred low-ranking wyverns, and I had gained some of their skills.

Glancing at the Game Screen, I check out which skills I have obtained. Scrolling through the long list of skills, I realized I had some duplicate skills.

"Hey, Iris," I began, "is it possible to combine skills to increase skill level besides just using the skill over and over again?

"Yes." She replies indifferently again.

"How?"

"Just press on the skill you want to level up, and if there are any duplicates, the skill level will increase by one."

Once again, following her directions, I press on the Skill I want to improve. I chose Basic Wind Blade since it has the most duplicates. Pressing on the skill, the system notifies me that I have duplicates.

"Do you wish to integrate duplicate Skills?" It asked.

"Yes."

[Integration successful]

[The Skill [Basic Wind Blade] has been upgraded to [Intermediate Wind Blade[Lv. 5]]

[All stats increase by 15]

[Due to 10x multiplier on armor, all stats temporarily increase by 150]

[Do you wish to execute the Skill]

"Yes!" I responded in an enthusiastic tone.

[Please switch to broadsword, rapier, or staff to use the following skill]

Pulling my spear out of the building, I change its form to a broadsword and activate the skill. Infusing pure white-colored mana into the sword, without holding back, I take a full crescent swing. A white blade of wind the size of a tree severs rushes towards the several rows of flying wyverns, all of which vaporized in seconds. At this point, I was not surprised by the power of the armor. Feeling more confident, I glance up at the demon general riding on the Red Wyvern. His eyes met mine with a strange intensity. Holding up his hand, the remaining Wyverns halt their attacks and then spread out, allowing the Red Wyvern to fly towards me. I braced for impact, but I did not need to. The purple-horned demon abruptly stopped in front of me. His purple eyes were filled with a sort of intimidation, and my heart nearly stopped, yet he gave off the aura of a prideful general who had commanded his forces with such organization that took him to the top.

Standing on the back of the Red Wyvern that is now face to face with me, he cocked a grin full of malice and ill intent. Even without moving, I instinctively knew that the battle had just begun.

"Greetings, Knight," he spoke with a heavy voice making cold sweat drip down my neck. Out of fear, I said nothing.

"Oh," he formed a little 'O' with his mouth, "not the talkative kind. I see..."

Clapping his hands, he maniacally laughed. Folding one arm under the other, he sighed.

"I applaud you for being able to beat most of the Wyverns, my Wyvern army. They are a bit unintelligent, yet they follow my every command. When they do, they are quite ferocious killers."

I still said nothing. On the outside, I seem fine. However, internally, I felt like shit. Every bone in my body trembled with fear before the powerful demon.

"Well, that doesn't matter as I've got your Savior. She put up a good fight, I must admit. Unfortunately, she was just too weak. Is that the best you inferior races can do?"

Suddenly, I felt the surge of emotions opening up inside of me were about to explode at any moment. My hand formed into a fist with my nails digging into my sweating skin.

Don't you dare say that about Savior!

"I mean, how could such a weak girl be this world's Savior if she couldn't even take on a 'small' horde of barbaric wyverns." He cackled.

I look down at Savior's limp body, which is being held in the claws of the wyvern. Her armor was broken, her golden rapier in two pieces, her head bent back almost to the point of her neck breaking. The azure eyes of life, which gave 'hope' to people, have faded to a murky blue of despair, and her long black hair had been ripped off.

How shameless. I thought, biting my lip.

"Are you sure you are not the Savior? To me, you are beyond stronger than this little girl." He mocked.

"No," I spoke in the husky voice created by the helmet to disguise my identity, "I am merely a servant. A Holy Knight."

"Oh, so you can talk!" The demon laughed.

"I only serve her as I have sworn my loyalty." I continued to keep up my persona with a stern expression behind the helmet.

"A Knight and a Princess! How cliché! You, Knight, are saving your damsel in distress?! How wonderful! I would like to see how you do that because I, the great Berith of the 72 Demons, would like to duel over this mistress of yours."

He pulls out a longsword from his sheath. I could see a faint black aura emitting from its sharp blade. It was dangerous. Holding my broadsword, I got into a ready stance. Gulping down my saliva, I mustered up a little bit of courage and declared:

"I accept your challenge."