CHAPTER 1010: CHAPTER 154 - SHREDICA’S WINTER AND THE FINAL PIECE (6)

No matter how many times I swung, it didn’t matter. My sword couldn’t pierce its scales. My attacks were nothing but scratches.

And yet, even knowing that, I refused to stop.

"Haahhh—!" I yelled, charging one more time. My blade clashed with its claws, sparks bursting where steel met scale. The wyvern struck downward, its massive wing slapping the air with a sound like thunder. I dodged under its arm, sliding along the floor, then slashed at its leg, only for my sword to glance off again.

CLANG! CLANG!

Then... the tail again.

I saw it too late.

BOOOOOOOM!

The impact caught me full in the chest this time. My body flew backward, slamming into a broken pillar. I felt the air leave my lungs in a single, agonizing breath. My vision blurred, colors blending together.

I dropped to one knee, coughing violently. Blood dripped from my mouth.

The wyvern approached again, its golden eyes burning like molten suns. It growled low, grrrrrrrrrrhhhhhh, and lowered its head, the heat building in its throat once again.

Firelight flickered across its scales. The entire chamber glowed red.

I raised my sword, but my arms were trembling. My body wouldn’t move the way I wanted it to. My legs felt like lead.

I realized, in that moment that there was no winning this fight.

The power difference was too massive. My attacks didn’t even make it flinch. Every swing, every dodge, every desperate breath, it was all meaningless.

The wyvern inhaled deeply. The air shimmered.

And then—

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Flames erupted once more, swallowing everything.

I dove behind a crumbled wall, the heat scorching the ground where I stood seconds ago. The air turned into an inferno. It was dry, suffocating, and deadly. The light was so bright it burned my vision even behind closed eyes.

When it finally ended, I could barely move. My sword slipped from my hand, clattering against the stone.

I panted, gasping for breath, every muscle screaming in pain.

The wyvern stood there, still, smoke rising from its nostrils. It didn’t even look tired.

While I... could barely stand.

My knees gave out, and I dropped to the floor. My hands trembled as I tried to reach for my weapon again, but I couldn’t even lift it.

"...Dammit..." I muttered weakly, looking up at the towering beast. Its golden eyes glowed down at me.

The fight was over.

I had lost.

However, I saw something beside me. It was on top of what looked like a small column, half-covered by broken stones and ashes that glowed faintly from the wyvern’s fiery breath.

I squinted through the smoke and dust. My eyes widened.

It was a book.

A single, worn-out book resting perfectly on the small pillar, as if untouched by the chaos around it. The faint golden glint on its cover shimmered through the smoke. That aura... I could feel it.

The energy that resonated with everything I had been searching for.

"This... this might be the final piece..." I muttered under my breath, almost not believing my own words. "I finally found it."

After all this time, after all the wandering, the fighting, the near-deaths, there it was, right in front of me. I could almost reach it if I took a few steps forward. But the massive wyvern was still there, blocking my way, its eyes blazing like molten magma. Each exhale that came from its nostrils sent waves of hot wind slamming against me, carrying the scent of sulfur and burnt stone.

It growled. It was a deep, rumbling sound that shook the air.

"Grrraaaaaaaaahhhh!"

The ground trembled under its roar, cracks splitting the earth around its feet. Sparks burst from its scales like embers, and its massive tail slammed against the ground, BOOOOM, sending debris flying everywhere.

I raised my arm to shield my face, sliding back a few steps as the shockwave hit me. My heart was pounding against my ribs, the edges of my vision blurring from exhaustion.

Still, I couldn’t stop now. The book was right there. I just needed an opening.

The wyvern lifted its head, spreading its wings wide. The air howled as the massive wings cut through it, WHOOOOOSH, before it lunged toward me with its jaws wide open. I jumped to the side as its fangs smashed into the stone floor where I’d been standing a moment ago. Shards of rock exploded upward, slicing my cheek. Warm blood trailed down, mixing with the dirt and sweat.

I clenched my teeth.

No matter how much I hit it... it doesn’t die. What should I do...?

The wyvern turned its head toward me again, eyes narrowing, flames seeping through its nostrils like it was mocking me and daring me to try again.

Then, I noticed it.

When it moved, one of its wing joints faltered for just a split second. It wasn’t much, but it was there. It was a small twitch, like the muscle wasn’t functioning right. The skin around it looked slightly different from the rest of its body. It was slightly cracked, uneven, and pulsing faintly with mana.

"That’s it..." I whispered, my eyes locking onto the weak point.

But getting close was another story. The wyvern’s wings alone were wide enough to sweep an entire building. I needed to bait it... force it to expose that spot long enough for me to strike.

The wyvern hissed, crouching low, tail swinging menacingly behind it. SWISH... THUD... SWISH! The sound of its tail slicing the air was deafening. I narrowly avoided one hit with the ground behind me erupted in a wave of shattered stone and dust. I leapt forward, drawing my mana blade as I rolled to the side. The edge flickered weakly, the energy almost drained, but I poured the last bit of my focus into it.

It roared again, rearing back before letting out a torrent of fire.

FWWOOOOOOOOOOSH!

The flames were blinding, swallowing everything in front of it in a sea of orange and red. The heat was suffocating. I dropped to one knee, sliding under a broken column for cover as the wave of fire washed past, scorching everything in its path.

I couldn’t keep this up. My body screamed in pain.

But that weak point... I couldn’t ignore it.

When the fire subsided, I burst from the smoke, sprinting toward it. My boots scraped against the scorched ground as I dashed through the ashes. I yelled out, summoning the last remnants of my mana into my blade. The air around it crackled, blue sparks dancing along its edge.

The wyvern turned, too late to react fully and I jumped, pushing off a fragment of stone mid-air and swinging my blade with everything I had left.