Date: March 12, 2023 - 10:54 pm

Location: West Byzantine

Rome was under siege. From the giant green portal that suddenly appeared in the center of the city, giant scaled and winged beasts flew across the city. They had lizard-like heads and their wings had claws. This was somewhat similar to the harpies, but their wingspan was even longer, and they lacked any feathers. Their bellies were smooth, but the rest of their body was covered in green scales. When several of these monsters landed on various rooftops, their clawed feet easily dug through them, and for one of the older buildings, their claws dug right through, opening up a hole, and they had to take flight once more.

For a time, as dozens and dozens of these wyvern-like monsters flew out of the portal, they only circled around the area, and made no preemptive attacks against the people on the streets. However, when a much larger wyvern, which had golden scales, flew out of the portal, this changed. It released a loud cry that resonated throughout the entire city square, and the wyverns started to attack the remaining humans that had not yet fled the area.

The Holy Vanguard of the Roman Church arrived as soon as they could, but were far too late to save anyone that was still around the city square. A few of the Holy Vanguard members were able to attack from range, either using bows or magic, but most of them could not. Instead, they were tasked to act as bodyguards or to go to the other parts of the city to rescue civilians.

Although they were heavily outnumbered, and had to fight against flying enemies, the Holy Vanguard were able to defend relatively well against the wyverns. However, that was only because the giant wyvern had yet to make another move. It was more than twice the size of a fighter jet, and with its golden scales, it seemed to shine under the moonlight. It seemed to observe apathetically as it saw its kin being slain.

“That makes five now,” one of the Holy Vanguard archers said after shooting down another wyvern. The one next to him fired a flaming lance at a different one, which immediately set the monster ablaze. Seconds later, it started falling to the ground, and disappeared into black mist as soon as it crashed onto the ground, throwing up pieces of broken stone.

“It’s not a competition, Angelo.”

“Maybe not between us, but I said to the other teams that our team will easily take first place.”

“What? What did you bet? You better not have put anything that’s mine on the line!” the third one exclaimed.

“Why are you so worried, Romeo? We’re going to win.” Angelo shot down another wyvern right before he said this. “That makes six for me now.”

“They’re all flying around in the air! How am I supposed to take any of them down!” Romeo argued.

“I don’t expect you to. You’re the healer in the group so you’re just here for support and to save anyone around who’s still alive.”

“Let’s move onto the next area,” the spellcaster commanded.

“Sure thing, leader.” The three of them changed locations to an area with more wyverns in sight.

“Seriously, though. What did you bet?” Romeo asked Angelo.

“Don’t worry about it. Let it be a surprise when we win.”

“No, tell me now! You’ve bet so much and lost before, and then you made me and Leonardo help you pay it off! You still haven’t paid me back for the last time, too!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it. After this one, I can pay you back with what I win. Besides, we only lost because Francesco was doing the same raid. Now that he’s left the Holy Vanguard, we’re the number one team again.”

“Don’t mention that man’s name again,” Leonardo began. “Such a blasphemous one, he was. To only join under God’s banner to pay off his debts, but leave as soon as it was convenient.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. So, anyways, just relax Romeo, we have this in the bag. I mean, unless some other team actually kills the Boss.” Romeo looked at him with eyes wide with horror.

“Are you crazy! Did you actually bet with the other teams about killing the Boss. There’s no way we can do that!”

“Hey, seriously, relax! I just threw that in there for fun. Obviously no team can actually take on the A-rank Dungeon Boss, no matter what it is. The only A-rank was Fran-” Leonardo glared at Angelo. “-there aren’t any A-rank Dungeoneers among the Holy Vanguard, so don’t worry about that.” Romeo still looked very upset, so Leonardo said one more thing to reassure him. “Also, the mid-boss is worth a hundred kills, so we’ll definitely win.” Romeo’s expression clearly conveyed that this did not work.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough. I am going to demand that I be transferred to another team!” Romeo had said the same thing before, and that obviously didn’t lead to anything. Angelo also knew that there was nothing forcing Romeo to pay up for any lost bets, but it was also this kind of mindset, which made him follow the rules laid out by others, that made it so easy for Angelo to tease. Angelo could pay off his own losses if he wanted to, but he just liked messing with Romeo, and Leonardo was mostly indifferent to the matter.

Romeo continued to whine and complain as the three continued to move around and take down more wyverns. Despite the noisiness, several minutes passed by peacefully. But then, for no discernible reason, the giant golden wyvern which was resting in the city square suddenly took flight.

“Oh, is it going to attack now?” Angelo asked. His tone was nonchalant, but even though all three of them were B-rank Dungeoneers, he still knew it would likely be difficult to fight against it. The wyvern circled around the city square once and then looked over in their direction. Although its wings were massive, it was clear that it was using magic to stay afloat as it was now above the city despite not flapping its wings. The wyvern then opened its mouth, and they could see something glowing red appear in its open mouth.

“Take cover, now!” Leonardo ordered. The three of them quickly ran behind a large church and Romeo started casting protection magic on the three of them. Leonardo supported this by casting magic that also raised their Defenses and their fire magic resistance, and Angelo cast reinforcement magic on the church they were hiding behind. None of them felt the need to debate whether or not it was blasphemous to take cover behind a church like this.

The giant wyvern finished preparing its attack a few seconds later, and then released a massive blast of fire straight at the church they were hiding behind. The instant the magical flames hit the church, it started to rapidly disintegrate. In less than two seconds, almost the entirety of the church was utterly destroyed, with the reinforced section of the church lasting a fraction of a second longer. However, the flames did not abate, and they scorched the area around the church as well, including the three Dungeoneers. The three of them could see the stone around them crack, and then melt away from the fire and pools of liquefied stone started to surround the three of them and the protective bubble of magic.

The protective bubble didn’t last much longer than everything else though. The layers of magic rapidly dissipated and then completely disappeared. Now, their bodies were directly taking on the sea of fire. Well, mostly Leonardo’s and Angelo’s bodies. The three of them had huddled together, and Romeo was the most protected amongst the three of them. However, all three of them could feel the intense heat, which had it not been offset by the fire magic resistance, would have cooked them alive immediately. Of course, the resistance did not completely protect them. The equipment that they wore suffered heavy damage, and started to melt or burn away. This also burned their flesh as well. It was painful to endure, but the three of them held on even as they were being stripped and roasted.

Finally, the wyvern finished breathing its stream of fire, and the three Dungeoneers thought they had all survived. Leonardo and Angelo were both mostly naked now, with little of their equipment remaining now, and Romeo was a bit better off. All of his non-magical equipment was burnt away, but his robes, although heavily burnt, were still somewhat intact. This was a particularly strange sensation, as Romeo could feel piles of ash underneath his robes, the remnants of the rest of what he was wearing.

Burnt, and injured, but still alive and able to move, the three of them got back up, but saw that they were still surrounded by fire. Fire and melted stone, as nothing that even remotely resembled the church was left standing. It was gone, completely. The wyvern noticed that the three had survived, and then opened its mouth again.

“No, there’s no way…” Angelo said, finally losing the cheer in his voice.

“Don’t just stand there!” Leonardo shouted at Angelo, as he started casting magic on the three of them again. Even with fear clear on his face, Romeo also quickly started to cast protection magic once more. Angelo knew that this was it, and that their acts were pointless. Although it barely lasted, the church was definitely a factor in them surviving the last attack. However, seeing how seriously they were still doing whatever they could, Angelo, still decided to struggle in vain alongside them.

Perhaps because it had attacked very recently, the giant wyvern’s next attack was taking longer. Although, a longer time for preparation was less than five extra seconds. If they had known about this earlier, maybe they could have spent their time trying to run somewhere else. However, that assumed that the wyvern couldn’t simply turn its head before firing its attack, which was an incredibly risky assumption. No, Angelo knew that this spot was going to be their final stand.

Since there was no wall or structure to reinforce, Angelo took out his bow, and started to enchant and enhance his arrow. Leonardo saw what Angelo was doing, but said nothing. Romeo wasn’t even looking, and was pouring every last bit of mana he could in protection magic. However, he noticed when Angelo stepped out of the protected area.

“Huh?” Romeo glanced back and saw Angelo walking away. “Angelo, get back here!”

“Your protection will be stronger in a smaller space,” Angelo responded.

“What-”

“Don’t argue with me!” Angelo poured as much mana as he could into his next attack. He was a B-rank Dungeoneer, but only just barely so. Even against fully debuffed B-rank Bosses, he wasn’t strong enough to deal lethal attacks. Even if he was a bit stronger than the last time he entered a B-rank Dungeon, he knew there was no way that even a lucky shot from him would have any chance of killing the giant wyvern. No, he just needed to deal enough damage to interrupt it. If he was very lucky, it could cancel the attack, even, but he wasn’t banking on that.

It seemed that Romeo wanted to argue a bit more, but Leonardo kept him down. Then, a second later, the wyvern finally about to unleash its second attack. Angelo’s timing was good. He shot his arrow just as the wyvern was about to fire its second fire blast. The arrow he shot had Defense Pierce, Wind Resistance, Magic Resistance, Reinforcement, Poison, Lightning, and Acid all applied onto it. This was in addition to the mana he poured into it to increase the arrow’s Strength. He just hoped that with all of this put together, it would reach the wyvern and damage it.

The arrow did reach, and it did manage to pierce the inside of the wyvern’s mouth. That arrow, however, did nothing to stop the second attack, other than adding in splashes of black blood to the stream of fire. Angelo had a complicated smile on his face when he saw the arrow connect. When he saw the fire appear, he wondered why his life wasn’t flashing before his eyes. Maybe his brain is just too tired after using all those different types of enchantments and enhancements? As the fire came closer, his vision dulled, as he was ready to accept death.

Right as the flames were about to reach Angelo and the others behind him, something streaked across the sky and drove itself into the wyvern’s neck. The stream of flames wildly spread around the Dungeoneers, and only engulfed each of them for less than a second. A second after that, the stream came to an abrupt end as an explosion of fire erupted from the wyvern’s mouth. This was a result of a backlash of magic from the interrupted attack.

The injured wyvern lost control of its flight magic for an instant and started falling to the ground. It tried to recast its flight magic before hitting the ground, but whatever had plunged itself into its neck was now slicing through even more of its neck. The wyvern smashed through a museum, destroying everything in its path until it finally hit the bottom floor. The wounded wyvern could feel its neck being even more torn apart after they landed, whatever having fallen with it unperturbed by the fall.

In desperation, the wyvern thrashed its wings about and then tried to roll around. At first, it thought this worked as intended, as the wyvern could finally feel the cutting into its neck cease. However, when the wyvern was on its clawed wings and feet, ready to take flight once more, it found something flying towards its face at an incredible speed.

The spear ran right through the wyvern’s skull, and a bit later as if it was still yet to realize it was dead, the wyvern’s body collapsed back onto the ground and started to disappear into black mist. Francesco Ricci walked away and eventually exited the museum. When he was outside, he saw the three Dungeoneers amidst the flames.

Thanks to the fire magic resistance that was applied to Angelo, he survived the flames, but he was in critical condition. Right beside him, Romeo was chugging a mana potion while healing him in order to stabilize him. Leonardo was moving around them, putting out the fires, but he stopped for a second when he noticed him.

However, Francesco paid him no heed and just continued moving to where the green portal was. Without saying a thing and even indicating he had noticed them, Francesco entered the portal.

“L- Leonardo, I don’t have any more mana potions!” Romeo said, out of breath and clearly exhausted. Romeo looked over to Leonardo, and from the corner of his eye, also saw Francesco enter the portal. “L- Leonardo?”

“Sorry. Here.” Leonardo took out a mana potion from his Inventory and gave it to Romeo, who started drinking it immediately. In the middle of drinking it, Romeo left out a sudden giggle. He didn’t find anything about the situation particularly funny, but it was just a common symptom of suddenly gaining mana, or a mana high, as some Dungeoneers called it.

“W- who was that?” Romeo asked, before giggling to himself before continuing to heal Angelo. Leonardo said nothing and continued putting out more fires.

On the other side of the portal, Francesco saw several dozen wyverns right in front of him, likely the next wave to exit. They attacked him on sight but he easily dispatched them. After killing them, he started advancing through the Dungeon. The Dungeon was a mostly mountainous area, which contained many cliffs and ravines. Flying in the distance, he could see even more wyverns.

However, there was more than just that. After he killed the giant wyvern, the notification confirmed that it was only the mid-Boss. If a wyvern lord was the mid-Boss, then there could only be one other thing in this Dungeon that could be the Boss. The further he went into the Dungeon, the more sure he was. He had been through this kind of environment several times in the past, and his instincts were screaming at him about what he was going to face next.

There were wyverns all throughout this Dungeon, but he ignored them. They didn't matter. As long as they didn’t come up right next to him, he didn’t need to bother with them. The Dungeoneers outside could deal with them. No, he was here to deal with the truly dangerous threats.

The first place he headed to was a particular part of one of the mountains. To most, it wouldn’t really stand out, but he knew that this was the sort of area where only the higher ranked draconic beasts preferred to nest. He flew over there by holding onto his spear and launching it with his Telekinesis Skill. When he arrived, he saw it was empty save for an Empowering Stone. Francesco figured that this must be where the wyvern lord nested. He destroyed the Empowering Stone, and then moved on.

As he advanced, he saw a wyvern lord. However, it was already flying past him, and his intuition was telling him that he had to hurry. A part of him still wanted to kill it, but since it would be a mid-air fight, and it was likely he wouldn’t get the element of surprise this time, the fight might end up dragging on. It still hurt his pride a bit, but he chose to continue onwards.

He flew to his next destination, but had to take evasive actions before he got there. It was another wyvern lord nest, but this one wasn’t empty. The wyvern lord charged up a fire blast before he got there, and he had to use his Skill to quickly change direction. The wyvern lord moved his head to track Francesco’s movements, but he was just a bit too fast. Francesco eventually came to rest on the mountain, several hundred feet away from the nest. The mountain was melted and burnt away where the stream of fire made contact.

The wyvern lord observed Francesco, but he wasted no time doing the same. He immediately started advancing towards the wyvern lord. However, he did so at a slower pace. The wyvern lord was fooled. He was moving only slightly slower than when he evaded the first attack, so it thought it would have enough time to use another fire blast. However, that was only because Francesco had to suddenly change direction, and he was also conserving mana. When he saw the wyvern lord open its mouth to prepare another fire blast, he instantly accelerated.

Right before the attack was ready, Francesco flew in and plunged his spear into the wyvern’s neck, causing a magical backlash. There was an explosion inside the wyvern’s mouth, and while it was injured and disoriented, Francesco easily slew the wyvern lord in a ground battle.

However, right as he killed the wyvern lord, he had to suddenly jump off the nest when a giant ball of fire collided with it, setting it ablaze. Just now, flying from around a nearby mountain, the creature he was expecting had finally arrived. Unlike a wyvern, it had two, full-fledged wings. Its neck and head, more dinosaur-like than lizard-like, were far more muscular and intimidating. The same could be said for its legs, which seemed to belong to a tyrannosaurus rex. Overall, it lived up exactly to what humans would expect. Covered in red scales, and with smoke still coming out in wisps from his mouth, it was a dragon.