While onlookers harbored their own thoughts, the battle within the training grounds raged on without pause.
After putting some distance between itself and Celia, the wyvern seemed to realize that the team before it wouldn’t be easily dealt with. It plunged its claws into the ground, unleashing a draconic spell.
Draconic magic was unique to true dragons, far more potent than conventional spells. Though this wyvern also wielded draconic magic, its power was significantly diminished due to its diluted bloodline.
Nevertheless, it was more than enough to contend with third-tier Heroes.
The ground trembled violently. Green vines erupted from the earth, rapidly snaking towards Celia.
In response, Celia imbued her longsword with golden flames, intending to incinerate the encroaching vines. However, to her surprise, the flames proved incapable of harming them, suppressed by the sheer difference in magical power.
This miscalculation instantly resulted in her entire body becoming ensnared by the vines, rendering her immobile. As the tendrils tightened their grip, her longsword clattered to the ground.
Initially, the wyvern had exercised caution, not immediately approaching Celia. Yet, upon seeing her gradually break free with Aurora’s magical assistance from behind, it cast aside all restraint. Spreading its wings, it lunged directly towards Celia.
During this time, Isha’s throwing rings assailed the wyvern from all directions, hindering its advance. Though its black scales deflected every attack, the persistent, insect-like harassment infuriated it.
Fortunately, it still managed to reach Celia’s side before she could fully escape.
Celia seemed to grasp her impending fate, a look of profound terror blossoming on her pretty face. This sight filled the wyvern with perverse delight.
Within its bloodshot vertical pupils, only the pitiable human girl, bound by vines, remained. It opened its cavernous maw, intending to sever her head with a single bite.
To its utter astonishment, however, the fragile, helpless girl suddenly began to laugh.
The next second, with a resounding *clang*, the girl’s body shattered like a mirror. The vines, once tightly coiled, now embraced empty air.
Through the gaps in the vines, it caught sight of a golden arrow, hurtling towards it with deadly speed.
A trap!
It instinctively tried to dodge the arrow, but it was too late.
Swoosh—!
The arrow pierced its left eye. In an instant, blood spurted everywhere, and the wyvern roared in agony, collapsing to the ground. The fury of being toyed with by mere insects had stripped it of its reason.
Using its remaining right eye, it clearly saw the blue-haired girl who had hidden behind the vines and fired the arrow. Without hesitation, it soared into the air, opening its maw to unleash a terrifying torrent of dragon’s breath upon her.
“Be careful!”
The anxious cries of the girls rose from beneath it. As it watched the dark green dragon’s breath engulf the blue-haired maiden, a perverse sense of vengeance swelled within it.
However…
Whoosh—!
A golden arrow tore through the air from the side, piercing its other eye as well.
Blinded, the wyvern plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily to the ground and raising a cloud of dust. Blood streamed from its empty eye sockets, staining its black scales and soaking into the earth.
It flapped its wings twice, then lay still, unable to rise again.
“Why would Sir Wyvern fall for the same trap twice?”
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Aurora elegantly stepped out from the magic circle. The girl who had seemingly been engulfed by the dragon’s breath was merely an illusion crafted by her mirror magic.
True dragons and wyverns alike were exceedingly proud creatures. When subjected to arrogant provocation from mere “insects,” they would easily fly into a rage, losing their composure and judgment.
From the very beginning of the battle, they had skillfully manipulated the wyvern’s emotions.
Though it couldn’t comprehend her words, the wyvern still sensed the mockery in them. It let out an angry growl, but alas, no one feared it anymore.
A wyvern stripped of its eyes was nothing more than fish on a chopping block. What was there to fear?
From this point on, as long as they avoided any mistakes, defeating or even slaying the wyvern would be no difficult feat.
Witnessing them so effortlessly blind the wyvern, the observing Heroes fell into an eerie silence.
To be able to defeat a wyvern… they were likely the strongest Hero team in the Adventurers’ Guild, weren’t they? Even Roland’s team couldn’t compare to them.
This… was this the result of half a year of training?
Their gazes drifted back and forth between Celia’s trio and their mysterious instructor. Finally, they shook their heads, letting out helpless sighs.
The disparity was simply too vast. It had extinguished any thoughts of jealousy or competition within them.
Had it been them facing the wyvern, they would undoubtedly be its meal by now.
“Lord Orl…”
Confronted with this situation, even the most steadfast butler-servant, despite his unwavering trust in Orl, began to waver internally.
In his estimation, it seemed this foolish wyvern no longer stood a chance against Celia’s team.
Orl’s expression visibly stiffened. Celia’s team’s familiarity with the wyvern had far exceeded his expectations, rendering his meticulous preparations a mere joke.
He subtly glanced at the Silverbloom Sword Princess. He knew that Celia and her companions had acquired their knowledge from this former strongest Hero.
He hadn’t anticipated the Silverbloom Sword Princess to be so intimately familiar with wyverns. He had truly underestimated her.
Fortunately, he had a contingency.
With a faint chuckle, he subtly crooked a finger in a corner unseen by others. A strange surge of demonic energy drifted from his fingertip, entering the wyvern’s nasal cavity.
The wyvern, previously battered and on the verge of collapse, suddenly struck Celia with its tail, sending her flying. It then remained rooted to the spot, letting out pained, guttural roars, its entire body contorting into an unnatural shape.
Gradually, its scaled hide stretched taut, distended by burgeoning muscles. The entire wyvern grew exceptionally massive, and black blood began to ooze from its empty eye sockets.
Concurrently, its aura surged dramatically, rapidly growing far more potent than before!
“What’s happening to it? Why did it suddenly get stronger?”
“Is that a unique wyvern ability?”
“Can Celia and her team still handle this?”
This was the first time the Heroes had witnessed such an ability from a wyvern. Their hearts, which had just settled, now clenched with renewed anxiety, their worry for Celia and her companions intensifying.
The wyvern before them, even if not a fifth-tier magical beast, was surely close! Could they truly overcome it through teamwork alone?
Sharlene looked towards Dorothy. Upon seeing Dorothy’s hand, resting on her thigh, subtly clench, Sharlene couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity.
Even the Silverbloom Sword Princess seemed concerned. Clearly, this situation had likely surpassed Celia’s team’s capabilities.
What a waste of such excellent Heroic talent.
As Sharlene thought this, she remained unaware that she had misinterpreted Dorothy’s true meaning.
While Dorothy did harbor concerns for Celia and her companions, this wasn’t the primary reason for her unconscious clenching of her fist.
The true cause of her reaction was the strange demonic energy Orl had just emitted.
He was a demon.
Orl’s actions had been extremely subtle. Had Dorothy not possessed the power of Demon Lord Sophia within her, she would never have sensed such an anomalous magical aura.
It was this very demonic energy that had corrupted the wyvern’s bloodline.
If Orl was indeed a demon, then it made perfect sense why Celia, a demon princess, had grown up within the Fiona family.
This family, it seemed, was likely a faction planted by Demon Lord Sophia within human society!