Vale's eyes widened as the desert guardian's full body emerged from the sand.
The wyvern was enormous.
Its sheer height alone dwarfed the centipedes in length, nearly twelve meters tall, it stood like a living monument of stone and fire. Even surrounded by dozens of writhing predators, the creature did not retreat or posture defensively. It simply looked down at them, ancient and unmoved.
The centipedes hissed and clicked, but none dared to advance.
Vale narrowed his eyes as Drago spoke again.
"I wonder," Drago said, pausing just long enough to draw Vale's attention, "will you use it once more?"
Vale tilted his head, confusion flickering across his face. "What do you mean? Do you know this guardian well?"
Drago chuckled softly, a sound far too relaxed for the chaos unfolding below. "I suppose I do." He glanced down briefly, then lifted his gaze again. "You could say he's a special case."
As the words left his mouth, the wyvern opened its maw.
A thunderous roar shook the desert.
The sound rolled outward like a shockwave, vibrating through stone and sand alike. Vale's breath caught as the wyvern's body began to change.
Its rough, rock-like scales started to vibrate.
At first, the movement was subtle, then fragments began to fall away, clattering into the sand. What remained beneath was no longer crude or jagged stone, but elegant, razor-sharp scales, each one gleaming like freshly honed steel.
The wings unfurled wider, their edges reshaping into long, blade-like ridges capable of cutting through steel with ease. The heavy, stone-plated tail dissolved into a sleek, muscular form, new scales forming outward into lethal spikes that bristled with purpose.
Golden light reflected off its body as the transformation completed, the sun igniting its refined scales. Its skull reshaped slightly, revealing a single horn protruding from its snout, like that of a rhinoceros, but far sharper, far more dangerous.
For a single breath, the wyvern stood still.
Then the centipedes roared.
Dozens surged forward at once, abandoning all hesitation, driven by nothing but killing intent. The sand churned beneath them as they charged.
The wyvern exhaled slowly.
Smoke curled from its maw.
The heat radiating from its body intensified, the sand beneath its feet beginning to melt into glass and magma. Without haste, without wasted motion, it moved.
In a single sweeping motion, the wyvern slashed its bladed wing across the battlefield.
The attack was devastating.
Nearly a dozen centipedes were cleaved apart instantly, their armored bodies sliced cleanly in half as molten sand erupted in the wake of the strike. Before the remains even hit the ground, the wyvern pivoted, dragging its spiked tail through the swarm.
The spikes impaled centipedes mercilessly, piercing carapace, crushing internal structures, killing them instantly. Their lifeless bodies remained skewered along the tail, twitching briefly before going still.
Still, some broke through.
A handful surged toward the wyvern's legs, mandibles snapping wildly as they struck at its limbs. But the moment their jaws made contact,
They melted.
The sheer heat radiating from the wyvern's body liquefied their mandibles on contact. The creature lifted one massive leg and brought it down with crushing force, pulverizing the attackers beneath its weight.
Even those that survived the impact didn't last long. The heat alone was enough to finish them moments later.
Vale stared, wide-eyed.
"Impressive, isn't he?" Drago asked calmly.
Vale nodded slowly, unable to tear his gaze away as the wyvern lunged down and crushed three centipedes in its jaws with a single snap.
But the fight wasn't over.
Several centipedes slipped past the guardian, skirting the edges of the battlefield and charging straight toward Vale and Eskar.
Vale let out a slow breath. "I suppose we can handle a few."
He grabbed his spear and his blade, then tossed the onyx blade to Eskar. "Take two."
Eskar caught it seamlessly, adjusting his grip without breaking stride. He glanced at Drago as the centipedes closed in. "Any place we should aim?"
Drago waited a moment, watching the wyvern tear through the swarm with unnatural agility, its massive body twisting effortlessly as its wing-blades carved molten trenches through the sand.
"Their underbellies," Drago said at last, voice indifferent. "At this age, that should be their weak point."
Eskar nodded and turned just as the centipedes leapt.
He closed his eyes for a heartbeat, then opened them again, twisting aside as snapping mandibles passed inches from his face.
Vale, however, didn't dodge.
Instead, he planted his feet deep into the sand, muscles coiling. He shifted his spear to his left hand just as a centipede lunged.
Vale caught it by one of its mandibles.
The impact sent a shock through his arm, but he held fast, smirking as he locked the creature in place. One second was all he needed.
He drove the spear upward.
The blade pierced the centipede's underbelly, ripping it open. Black blood and liquefied organs spilled out as the creature shrieked and went limp.
At the same moment, Eskar ducked low, shifted into a backhanded grip, and thrust his blade upward into the soft underside of his own target, killing it instantly.
Vale exhaled sharply, relief cutting through the adrenaline. "Hah… that was easier than I thought."
He wiped sweat from his brow, not smiling, but undeniably relieved.
The weakness made all the difference.
As long as they avoided the upper carapace, these creatures could be killed. Difficult, dangerous, but manageable.
That was excellent news.
Because even now, more centipedes slipped past the wyvern's wrath, charging straight toward Vale and Eskar.
Vale took a single glance across the battlefield.
Six centipedes remained in their immediate vicinity.
He turned to Eskar, a faintly satisfied expression crossing his face as he rolled his mechanical arm once, testing the joints. "How many do you want?" Vale asked.
Eskar met his gaze and considered the question for a brief moment. Then he stepped forward, drawing both blades with a smooth, practiced motion.
"Now that I know their weakness," he said calmly.
A centipede launched itself at him.
Eskar twisted aside, his movement precise and economical, and in the same motion sliced open its underbelly. The creature didn't even have time to shriek before collapsing into the sand.
"I can take them all," Eskar finished.
Three more rushed him from the side.
He ducked low, rolled across the sand, and came up inside their reach. One centipede's belly was opened in a single sweeping cut, the second was impaled cleanly through its soft underside before it could recover.
Vale let out an impressed whistle. "Damn… three in five seconds?"
He wasn't worried anymore, not truly.
They were still dangerous. One mistake could end everything. But they had lived like that for two weeks now, learning, adapting, staying focused. Carelessness didn't survive long out here.
And the way Eskar fought made that clear.
Another centipede lunged from behind Eskar. He barely glanced at it, angling his blade backward. The creature slammed headfirst into the steel, impaling itself as its own momentum finished the job.
Before Eskar could reset his stance, another centipede leapt at him, only to be struck midair by the mangled corpse of a half-cleaved centipede, hurled aside by the wyvern. The impact sent it spinning off course.
Eskar's eyes widened briefly.
Then he adjusted his grip, rose smoothly, and stabbed the creature twice as it tried to recover, ending it instantly.
Vale glanced toward the wyvern again.
Dozens of corpses littered the sand beneath its feet. Black blood stained the ground, still steaming in places. The guardian hadn't suffered so much as a scratch. Its dominance over the battlefield was absolute.
Vale's attention snapped back as a centipede charged him.
He raised his spear.
The creature crashed into it and died instantly, its own momentum driving the blade through its vulnerable underside.
Vale frowned. "This doesn't make sense," he muttered.
More centipedes slipped past the wyvern and rushed him directly.
Vale shifted his stance and surged forward instead of retreating. His spear spun in his hands like a twinblade, its arcs clean and controlled. He ducked beneath three simultaneous lunges, the weapon carving upward in a single flowing sequence.
Three bodies hit the sand.
Vale looked down at them. "They're practically killing themselves."
And it was true.
The centipedes showed no concern for their own survival. Every attack was aimed at the head, every lunge reckless and overcommitted. The moment their underbellies were exposed, death followed almost immediately.
It made Vale wonder how creatures with such terrible survival instincts had managed to thrive here at all.
He exhaled slowly.
By now, the wyvern had reduced the swarm to little more than twenty. Even so, more broke away, charging toward Vale and Eskar once again.
Eight this time.
Four for each of them.
Vale moved forward through the sand and stopped beside Eskar for a moment. Together, they looked at the desert beneath the guardian's feet, blackened, scorched, and filled with fresh corpses.
A slaughter.
Now it was time to finish it.
Vale turned to Eskar, a brief smile touching his lips. "You ready?"
Eskar shrugged, already walking toward his share of the approaching centipedes. "Don't get killed," he said, waving Vale off.
Vale chuckled softly and lifted his spear. "Do you really think," he said, narrowing his eyes, "that these weaklings could kill me?"