CHAPTER 81: WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU A WYVERN, MAKE IT INTO A BIG FAT LIVE-SKEWERED PIECE OF MEAT!

As the Templar crashed outside and Kassie followed, I turned to Nisha, shaking her hard to wake her up.

"Hey! Nisha! Nisha! Wake up, damnit!" I slapped her out of pure frustration.

Her eyes slowly opened. She was sluggish and clumsy, looking around like she didn’t recognize the place anymore.

’Just what did I do?’

I was already blaming myself. Maybe I should’ve chilled a little before giving in to my nature.

"Nisha! We’re being attacked, goddamnit!"

Her eyes shot fully open, and she immediately grabbed me — almost sinking a blow into my face — but the entire cave shook as something massive crashed against it.

She stopped and looked around with a frown. Then looked down at herself.

"What did you do to me?!"

I gave her a ’really?’ face. "Honestly, I just asked myself the same question."

The cave shook again, prompting both of us to turn toward the entrance.

"What’s going on?"

"Like I said, Nisha — while you were out, some guy calling himself an Inquisitor attacked me."

Her eyes widened in shock.

"An Inquisitor? How?"

I looked at her with a small frown and shrugged.

"How should I know? Dude just popped out of the sky."

Nisha looked disturbed, still stunned. "An Inquisitor shouldn’t have gotten to us this early. There’s no way... something is wrong."

"Whatever it is, we have to survive first." I turned back toward the cave entrance.

With another vibration, stalactites hanging above came loose and shattered on the ground. A section of the cave entrance trembled, and realization hit me.

"Hey, Nisha, I think that bastard is trying to collapse the cave on us. We have to move."

I was already moving as I said it. She stood up and grabbed my coat, quickly tearing a chunk off and wrapping it over her chest like an improvised tank top — not minding the disaster unfolding around us — before sprinting after me.

As I ran out of the cave, the full scope of what was happening hit me, and my mouth fell open.

First was the creature that had apparently been striking the cave with one of its massive feet. The thing was easily thirty meters from snout to tail-tip. Its body was serpentine and lean, built like a living javelin designed for aerial murder. Four wings arranged in offset pairs — the primary set spanning nearly fifty meters, while the secondary pair stretched close to thirty.

The coloration shifted depending on the angle, pale white with ice-blue veining threading through its wing membranes like frozen rivers. Black accents marked its wingtips and claws, the color of deep frostbite.

The creature had anchored its wings against the ground and was stomping the edge of the cave like a gangster curb-stomping some helpless guy who’d curled into a ball.

’God forsaken—’

On another side, already fighting their way toward the river, Kassie and the Templar — Light — were exchanging strikes.

Actually exchanging strikes.

Even though she was using her bare fists, dodging and guiding the devastating arcs of his greatsword away as if riding some invisible current, it was still genuinely impressive that this guy Light was holding his own. He was even blocking her hand strikes with the flat of his blade, though each impact generated shockwaves that knocked him stumbling backward.

’I’ll be damned. He’s actually keeping up with her.’

But I had my own problem to deal with.

As I fully emerged, I got a clear look at the creature. I knew this one. Had seen it too many times in fantasy books and movies not to recognize it.

’Hello, motherfucking wyvern.’

This wasn’t Game of Thrones, though. Neither was it House of the Dragon — really, House of the Dragon should be renamed House of the Wyvern, but then again, not like my opinion mattered anymore considering I was now in another world entirely.

The wyvern turned its head slowly. At that moment, Nisha stepped out behind me and froze, staring at it with a wild, wide-eyed expression.

The look on her face was almost worth the terror.

"What in the world is that? A Spirit Beast or a Spirit Summon?!"

"What do we do...?" I asked quietly as the creature slowly turned toward us, lifting its foot and lowering it to the ground with deliberate menace.

Its long neck swiveled in our direction, snout slowly parting to reveal rows of jagged, ugly teeth that glistened with something I really hoped wasn’t venom.

Then came a single ear-shattering, terrifying screech that bellowed out of its throat, vibrating the very air around us. I squeezed my eyes shut against the wind impact and the ringing that exploded through my skull.

The next moment, I didn’t wait for its approval... or Nisha’s.

I broke into a dead sprint, my legs carrying me forward faster than I could process.

This was fight or flight kicking in.

I had chosen flight.

Nisha was right beside me, yelling.

"We’re gonna run?!"

"Do you have a better idea?!" I yelled back.

Actually, I did have a plan. And it involved us running — for now.

The creature gave chase but moved slower than expected. Since it only had two massive hindlimbs and had to use the claws at the edges of its wings for frontal support, ground movement wasn’t its forte.

Until the bastard decided to spread its wings and flap heavily, carrying itself higher. It rose up and up, then with a powerful beat caught the wind and glided toward us, easily matching our speed.

’Of course. Why would anything be easy?’

As it came closer — legs curved, claws opened like an eagle about to snatch a live baby — I grabbed Nisha’s hand and halted sharply, using the momentum to pivot and bolt backward.

The wyvern had committed a tremendous amount of force, clearly intending to crush us into the ground with its weight and power.

However, destiny had other plans for us.

Destiny, in this case, was me.

The bastard crashed into the ground, stones flying everywhere as it tumbled over itself, rolling forward. Its wings crumpled under the weight of its own body with a sound like snapping canvas.

Nisha glanced back, surprised and impressed.

"Wow, that was actually smart of you."

’Don’t thank me yet.’

As we ran safely away from it, white flames ignited upon the stupid creature, ready to turn it into a big, fat, live-skewered piece of meat.