“Turn the ship around. We are bringing the sacrifices to home base.”

“Back to home base?” For the first time since Sett had met her, Stella looked genuinely concerned. “Isn’t that akin to disobeying the council’s protocols? Who told you that?”

Despite her carefree and happy-go-lucky attitude, Stella knew the rules to a tee and was well aware of what could go wrong if they disobeyed them.

“It was Captain Thomas…”

Adina looked very uncomfortable, which was the polar opposite of her usual demeanour.

“You are telling me that the captain ordered us to go against the central governing organisation of Gliese Prime?”

“No… he would never…” Adina was distressed, her usually staunch expression almost crumbling into a teary mess. “Thomas said it was a command from the top. From the grandmaster himself.”

“The grandmaster?” Stella paused, her nose scrunching up lightly. She was clearly debating whether or not she should follow the order but ended up sighing in the end. “I guess we have no choice, then.”

The two of them stood uneasily in the middle of the corridor, seemingly hoping that the other party would suddenly come up with an alternative plan, but it never happened.

“I’ll go and redirect the shuttle.”

Stella sighed and shook her head slightly, clearly unhappy with the command of the grandmaster. With heavy footsteps, that almost seemed that have been weighed down by the gravity of the situation, Stella departed the seating area, leaving Sett and Adina behind.

Adina anxiously paced the small room, clearly not caring to keep up her disciplined persona in front of Sett anymore.

Sett, for his part, was confused. With them mentioning home base, they could only mean their actual headquarter. This naturally meant that they were not going to the trauma facility anymore, a direct contradiction from what Adina had told him only half an hour earlier and not to mention that it was apparently illegal for them to not do so.

Next was the grandmaster, which Sett could only assume was their highest-ranking member. The big wig of the crusader order. Someone that should have commanded respect. But then why did both the sisters look as if they had eaten something really sour the moment the word grandmaster left Adina’s mouth? Why would the person at the top of the totem pole make them take such risks for them to return directly to the base?

At this moment, Sett felt his confusion turn into fright. Could it be that the grandmaster knew something? The crusader’s captain had departed soon after he was finished with the raid and had more than likely spoken with the grandmaster at length about what had happened in the black great hall. If the captain had mentioned Sett, would that not land him in great danger.

Sett gulped knowing that he was in a lot of trouble.

Lightly glancing at Adina, Sett considered whether or not she was in the know. If they knew about his divine seed, would they not ensure that he could not escape. Luckily, it seemed as if Adina was more caught up in the potential treason that she was about to commit, rather than looking after him.

Well, it was not as if he could escape even if he dared to try. They were, after all, countless thousands of meters in the air without access to a parachute or anything similar, leaving escape a moot point.

While he was looking around, Sett saw a strange black dot through the transparent hull. At first, he had simply assumed it was a satellite or something similar in consideration that they were pretty close to orbit, but as the seconds passed it quickly became clear that he was wrong. The black dot was approaching them. It was not just flying in the same direction; it had a clear target, and that target was the warship.

With its approach, Sett discovered that it was far from what he had initially thought it to be. Hell, let alone a satellite, it did not even look to be made out of metal in the first place.

Sett gulped again, this time for a vastly different reason. This time he truly feared for his life.

What was approaching them was no satellite nor was it a warship. It was an animal. No, a monster. The first thing you would notice was its enormous flapping wings. Its wingspan was huge. Even if Sett had to low-ball it, it looked like it was no less than twenty meters. At the tips of the wings, two paws filled with razor-sharp claws were faintly visible.

The body of the beast was no less terrifying. It looked like a huge slab of meat, covered with a dense mass of muscles. The sheer physical power that emanated from the muscles alone would make a bodybuilder wail.

Hanging from the rear end of the body was two truly powerful legs. The claws that extended from its feet looked even more terrifying than the claws from its wings.

Finally, was its head. The most threatening thing that could be found on the monster. Its blazing eyes promised death to all who dared to look down on it and its uncountable teeth backed up that claim. In the depths of its throat, a small pit of fire could be faintly seen if you dared to look beyond the teeth that could chew your bones as easily as you could eat wet cereal.

This monster was beyond terrifying. Even if he had to compare this monster to the tentacle monsters that the vampires used, there would be no way they were on the same level.

“A… Adina”

Sett stammered hoping to get the vice-captain’s attention.

“Hmm? What is it?”

Adina, who had been engrossed in other stuff, had clearly not seen the gigantic monster that was surely about to bathe the entire warship in hell’s flames. With a shivering hand, Sett directed her gaze at the deadly beast.

Adina, too, stopped dead in her tracks.

“Damnit.” What colour Adina had regained instantly drained from her face when she saw the large reptilian creature. “Why is this happening?”

Still, she did not scream and shout as Sett had expected nor did she run to prepare the crusaders for a final battle. She simply stood there, silently chewing her fingernails while staring at the enormous creature’s approach.

“Sis!” Just this moment, the rapidly approaching footsteps and voice of Stella appeared from further within the ship. “I’ve got incoming communication for the highest officer…! It’s the Wy… Oh, you seem to be aware.”

Stella’s words caused Sett’s confusion to resurface once again. Why was she talking about ‘incoming communication’ when a monster was just about to attack them? Why was she not getting ready to pilot the ship?

Sett felt like cradling his head, feeling entirely out of the loop.

“What do I do, sister?”

“Hell, if I know. Just say that we are returning to base or something.”

Stella urged Adina to lie. It was to the point that Sett had to wonder whether he was on the warship of a crusader order or if he was among a den of criminals.

“I…”

*Beep*

The enormous monster had arrived at their position and hovered ominously in the air, letting out a frightening pressure that even Adina seemed to almost buckle under.

Up close, Sett noticed that the monster did not appear to be feral as first thought. Rather, it was equipped with many layers of steel-looking armour, adding to its impenetrable fortress feel. Sitting on the back of this massive beast, Sett could see two humans observing the warship with keen eyes.

“Corvette, this is the council of Gliese Prime’s aerial guard. Identify yourself and present the highest present officer.”

A male voice appeared on the loudspeaker despite none of the sisters pressing a single button.

“Greetings aerial guard. This is pilot Stella, operating under the Gliese Prime Crusader Order. Corvette designation Seventh Bulwark. Please allow me a little while to gather my commanding officer.”

“Understood, pilot Stella. You have one minute to gather your commanding officer before we board forcefully.”

Stella breathed a sigh of relief as the communication cut off. The relief lasted for only a second, however, as she quickly turned towards Adina and instructed her warily.

“I have done what I can, Adina. From now on, it’s up to you.”

Adina slowly nodded and went towards a more private room with unsteady steps.

The difference in the way the two sisters really made you wonder whether Stella should have been the commanding officer instead.

“What in the world are those things?”

Despite the serious situation, Sett could no longer hold it in and asked Stella with incredulity.

“Oh? You don’t recognize the wyverns?” Stella looked at Sett like he was a fool but then shook her head. “I forget that wyverns are a bit of old lore that is hardly spoken of nowadays. The magnificent beast you see before you are known as the Syl’therian Wyvern, a distant relative of the more known well-known full-blooded dragon. Specifically, it is an adolescent wyvern.”

Sett regarded the monster, no, the wyvern before his eyes. When you disregarded the fact that it could easily tear you apart, it was beyond magnificent.

“Wait… It can get bigger?”

Stella smiled at Sett.

“Sure can. I once saw a wyvern that was easily twice the size of this one and it was not even a full-grown adult. According to legend, the wyverns can grow infinitely as long as they are given the opportunity to do so. That being said, it takes countless years for them to reach their adulthood and they often meet their end before reaching their peak.”

Stella spoke with amazement as she looked at the beast before them.

Sett could hardly imagine a wyvern that was double the size of this one. If it really were that big, would it not be the same size as the corvette they were on currently? The sheer scale of it made his head hurt ever so slightly.

“These wyverns might currently be part of the aerial guard, but they are only on loan from the Arbail Dragon Order of Gliese Prime. From what I have heard, the vast majority of the wyverns hatched on Gliese Prime were brought by the Arbail family from their main branch on earth.”

An entire order devoted to dragons and their kin! Dragons and even their wyvern counterpart were part of many kids’ childhood dreams. To see the wyverns up close, Sett would be willing to sacrifice many a thing.

“You don’t happen to have any wyverns back at ‘home base.’”

Sett asked with a voice filled with hope.

“Heh.” Stella lightly laughed. “I wish, Sett. But no, wyverns are incredibly costly and very hard to come by. Even if you had the capital, you might even be denied the sale, due to their sheer popularity. Even an infantile wyvern costs more than a frigate. Even if we saved for many years, I doubt we would be able to buy one.”

Sett shook his head having expected just that answer. He had indeed been expecting a bit too much. Dragons were known as some of the most powerful creatures in fantasy, wyverns were probably not that much worse off.

Another thing Sett realised from Stella’s words was how much difference there were between the factions. Take the Arbail Dragon Order of Gliese Prime and the crusader order as an example. The dragon order had who know how many wyverns at their disposal, while the crusader order would have to scrape money together for years before they could afford only one.

“Aren’t they a bit too expensive?”

Sett still could not leave the price alone. The beast was magnificent, but the price still seemed way too steep.

“You are thinking like a mortal, Sett.” Stella lightly poked Sett’s head. “The wyverns do not only have physical strength, but also incredible potential as ascendants. If it came to a fight, let alone our little corvette here, even a fully equipped frigate would not stand a chance against an adolescent wyvern.”

Their talk was interrupted when they heard Adina’s unsteady gait approaching their seating area.

“How did it go?”

Stella immediately went to support her sister and brought her to a seat.

“Truthfully… I don’t know.” Adina shook her head wearily. “They will let us pass, but they were greatly suspicious of my reasonings.”