Daniel Song stood his ground as he saw the pillar of brown dust billow into the air. It was like a terrible sandstorm was coming their way. One that shook the earth with increasing violence.
Around him, the caravan of nobles and their bodyguards were falling over as their horses whinnied in a panic. Children cried as they lay on the ground as their parents rushed to restore order. Daniel drew his blade, bellowing in a clear voice.
“Everyone find cover!”
He narrowed his eyes as he peered into the heart of the approaching storm.
“Just what is that?”
undefinedAmanda appeared next to him, shaking her head.
“That’s a stampede. And it’s heading our way.”
“A stampede? That’s ridiculous. There’s no way a horde of monsters can cause this kind of a disaster just from their numbers alone.”
“But it’s not their numbers. Its their size and their magic.”
She pointed towards the dark dotted figures at the pace of the dust column. He frowned as she spoke simply.
“Those are [Oliphants]. They’re a branching evolution of [Gatho Mammoths]. And they seem to be their Level 100 [Goliath Oliphant] evolution.”
“That’s…”
His eyes widened. Daniel moved immediately. He couldn’t let them get close. Even if he could deal with a handful of giant elephant-like monsters, that didn’t mean he’d be able to do so while protecting the caravan.
He marched forward as Amanda followed behind him. She sighed.
“Are we seriously doing this? Don’t we usually, I don’t know, need a plan of action before jumping into battle?”
“Here’s the plan: we stop them.”
Daniel spoke simply. His body glowed as he activated [A Hero’s Rage]. He was wreathed in glowing armor. His Primordial Longsword grew in length, becoming a massive broadsword. Amanda stared at him.
“That’s… not a plan, you fucking idiot.”
“[Lesser Wyverns]. Danger.”
Willy spoke as I flew towards the Motharis Mountain Range. Below me, I saw Daniel and Amanda moving as well, while the rest of the caravan retreated away from the giant stampede.
“Come on, they can’t be that bad, right?”
Even from afar, I could tell that they were pretty big. Each one was about 50 feet long— some of them getting up to nearly 100 feet— but I’d fought many larger monsters before. Like the [Ancient Centinel]. And it wasn’t like size was everything.
Each one of the [Goliath Oliphants] towered on average about 200 feet. They were taller than some castles I’d seen. Bigger than most buildings and city walls. Yet, they were being chased and hunted down by the [Lesser Wyverns].
I watched as three [Lesser Wyverns] swooped down at one of the [Goliath Oliphants], felling it with their claws. Another [Goliath Oliphant] turned to help it, but the rest of the pack left them behind. The two were slaughtered by the flock of [Lesser Wyverns], forgotten by the rest.
The [Lesser Wyverns] continued giving chase. The pack of [Goliath Oliphants] made a trumpeting noise, and from their trunks, shot out more sand and dust into the air, kicking up the sandstorm around them. It was like they were trying to obfuscate the vision of the [Lesser Wyverns].
“Huh.”
I looked at the trajectory of the [Goliath Oliphants]. Even if I interrupted their advance, they would’ve still wreaked havoc to the caravan. I didn’t want that. Willy stared at me.
“Something?”
“Yep. I need your help.”
I created a Nebular Bow as the monsters approached. I turned to the [Will O’ Wisp].
“Can you use your flames to redirect the [Goliath Oliphants]?”
“Wyverns?”
“I can deal with them for now. Go get Daniel’s help too. We need to make sure they don’t stampede through the caravan.”
Willy stared at me.
“That… smart. Thoughtful.”
“I don’t want Saffron to be hurt from this. And I especially don’t want her to be upset at me if her friends die.”
I snorted as I loosed a single Nebular Arrow at the flock of [Lesser Wyverns]. I expected to see one of giant winged monster’s fall from the sky. But instead, there was a flicker. Like a sphere of ice temporarily formed and protected the horde.
I blinked. The ice barrier vanished.
“Huh. That’s…”
This was going to be harder than I thought it’d be. I turned to Willy for help, but he was already flying down to meet Daniel and Amanda.
“Good luck!”
The [Will O’ Wisp] called out. I furrowed my brows.
“Wait, I didn’t know they could do that!”
I fired another arrow. And another. I created a volley of projectiles with [The Primordial Spark]. I launched the salvo of attacks at the flock. But it was all repelled by their ice barrier. I narrowed my eyes.
“Just what is that?”
But my question wasn’t answered. Instead, the [Lesser Wyverns] turned their ire towards me. I created a pair of clones as I readied myself for the battle with the giant winged beasts. There was, altogether, over a hundred of them. And they posed quite a threat, even individually.
[Lesser Wyvern - Lvl 123]
…
[Lesser Wyvern - Lvl 135]
“Well, I’m not scared of you! Come over here!”
I drew their attention, unleashing another barrage of projectiles as they charged me.
“What is she doing?”
Saffron Merryster stared into the sky as she watched Salvos unload a volley of flaming projectiles into the sandstorm. She expected the flying Demon to attack the stampede of [Goliath Oliphants], but instead, she unleashed a flurry of flaming projectiles towards the dust cloud.
But Zin Norwood saw something Saffron couldn’t.
“There are [Lesser Wyverns] hidden there. Specifically, [Lesser Frost Wyverns]. A whole flock.”
“Wyverns?! Are you serious?”
Saffron’s eyes grew wide. She produced a spyglass and peered at the direction Zin pointed out. Indeed, there was a giant shadow moving within the dust cloud. One that glimmered with the faintest bit of magic. Salvos navigated around that dark smear, attacking it with a rapid firing of arrows as it drew closer to her.
“But that doesn’t make sense! Why are there… why are there Wyverns here?”
[Goliath Oliphants] were native to the Motharis Mountain Range. They were amongst the biggest threats there, alongside [Obsidian Scaled Drakes]. They weren’t numerous— if Saffron had to guess, that stampede amounted to all the [Goliath Oliphants] that were in Motharis.
But Wyverns weren’t even native to the Human lands. There were the occasional flocks that were caught migrating over the Human lands between the Beastmen Plains and the Kobold lands. However, it wasn’t the right season for it.
It made no sense to Saffron.
She just stared up at Salvos as, finally, the Wyverns emerged from the dust cloud. And it was more than the young noble even imagined.
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