While Damian and Ezio were nearing their prey, the battle on the land and in the sky became more intense.
Several of the creatures in the forest like Forest Wolves, Winged Panthers, and other ferocious beasts were being drawn in by the smell of blood in the air.
The Wild Bison also came to assist the centaurs which helped them to a certain extent.
Psoglav had managed to catch a few more Hipogriffs which brought the number of captured beasts to eight.
William watched the scene in the air as he hurriedly transferred the Hipogriffs inside the Goblin Crypt. He was only able to apply emergency treatment to the injured creatures. However, that was enough to prevent them from dying.
Since that was the case, the boy decided to transport them to the dungeon, so that the wild beasts that were eyeing them wouldn’t get the chance to sink their fangs into the new members of his herd.
“Gideon!” William shouted. “Take Psoglav with you!”
The man riding the Wyvern in the air nodded his head in understanding. Psoglav too, had a grin on its demonic face as it used a dark whip to latch on the Wyvern’s body as it swooped down on the ground.
Even though he didn’t say anything, there was a tacit understanding between the three of them. They were to bring down as many Wyverns from the sky as possible, so that William and the Centaurs could fight them on the ground.
Meanwhile, while all of this was happening, Ezio deftly jumped off the Wyvern’s back and appeared on the Blood Wyvern’s side.
The Blood Wyvern turned its head and chomped on the foolish man who was still in mid-air. It had seen what had happened to its comrades earlier and had been guarding itself from any sneak attacks from the humans.
Before the Wyvern’s jaws could even close on the hooded man, the figure in the air turned into a cloud of black smoke that split itself into two.
The black smoke then flew towards the Blood Wyvern’s back and merged together, becoming whole again.
Ezio held two rope darts in both hands and used them to bind the Wyvern’s body and neck.
The Blood Wyvern was enraged because the man on his back dared to treat it as a mount. It spun in the air in an attempt to dismount the hooded man, but it was to no avail. Ezio stood straight like a sword on the creature’s back as if he was merely standing on even ground.
The Centaur War Chieftain narrowed his gaze and lowered his bow. Seeing that the human was able to distract the greatest threat on the battlefield, it now focused its attention on its lackeys.
The War Chieftain nocked an arrow on its bow and aimed at one of the Wyvern’s, terrorizing his people. A few seconds later, an arrow infused with elemental energy streaked across the dark sky and hit the side of the Wyvern’s body.
The Wyvern screeched in pain as it flapped its mighty wings to fly back into the sky. Unfortunately, another Wyvern, carrying a human and a demonic beast, pressed down on its back and pinned it to the ground.
Psoglav, its Doppelganger, and two pairs of spectral hands, immediately went to work and bound the Wyvern’s wings with its dark Whip.
William charged towards the fallen beast as he nocked an adamantium arrow on his bow that was coated with the venom of the Amphisbaena.
The red-headed boy aimed at the creature’s neck and fired.
Unlike the steel arrows of the centaur race, the adamantium arrow easily pierced the Wyvern’s scales and embedded itself deep inside its body. The Apex Predator of the Whimsical Forest roared in pain as it flailed its body in order to break free from its bindings.
William recalled the arrow from the Wyvern’s body and used it once again.
After successfully penetrating the Wyvern’s body five times, the venom of the Amphisbaena started to take effect.
Since it was not a creature that could be added to the herd, there was no possible way for William to tame it. His next move, however, surprised Kenneth, Gideon, Psoglav, and even some of the centaurs who came to assist him in subduing the fallen beast.
“Mama, use Mega Kick,” William ordered.
Ella walked towards the side of the Wyvern’s head and gave it a strong kick on its head. The blow was strong enough to crack the Wyvern’s skull, and caused it to lose consciousness.
“This Wyvern is mine,” William announced as he faced the centaurs that were commanded by Bastian. “Do I make myself clear?”
The Centaur Captain gave the unconscious Wyvern a glance before nodding his head.
“Since you were the one who took it down, its life and death belongs to your hands,” Bastian replied. “I apologize for what we did earlier. Although this is a bit shameless on my part, can you help us deal with the remaining Wyverns?”
William nodded his head. “Very well. However, all the Werehyenas you are able to kill will be surrendered to me.”
“Deal.”
“Good.”
After having that exchange, Bastian led the centaurs to focus on the sly Werehyenas that were taking advantage of their plight.
William watched the centaurs go as he eyed the remaining Wyverns in the sky.
Ironically, another Wyvern crashed not far away from William’s location. Its body was pierced by several arrows that belonged to the Centaur War Chieftain. It was still alive, but it had lost its ability to fight due to its injuries.
William ignored it because he wasn’t the one who brought it down. Gideon and Psoglav had already returned to the sky to hunt another Wyvern.
“At first, I wanted to kill you, but I’ve changed my mind,” Ezio said as he embedded his short sword in the Blood Wyvern’s neck. “You will be more useful as my mount since I always travel around the continent.”
This was the ninth time that Ezio had stabbed the Wyvern since he’d mounted its back. He didn’t stab it in a single location. Instead, he stabbed several pressure points that were located on its neck.
Ezio was planning to make the creature faint due to blood loss. He didn’t need Damian’s help to tame the beast, because he had a secret weapon that he could use that was more effective than a slave collar.
The reason why Ezio changed his mind was because he was always hunting people. With the help of the Blood Wyvern, he would be able to locate them easily, even if they escaped. It was a well-known fact that no one could hide from the pursuit of a Blood Wyvern that had locked them in its sights.
Soon, the Blood Wyvern was forced to land. It didn’t want to die and was forced to admit that its opponent was stronger than him. Just like humans, beasts also followed the strong. Even though the magical creature was a Centennial Beast, it still chose to submit rather than to die a dog’s death.
“I’ll give you two options. The first one is to eat this apple in my hand,” Ezio ordered. “The second option is for you to get stabbed three more times, before you eat this apple in my hand. So, what is your choice?”
The Blood Wyvern cried bitter tears because the master it recognized was not only more blood thirsty than it was, but more sly than it was as well. With a screech of submission it opened its jaws and allowed Ezio to toss the golden apple inside its mouth.
As soon as the apple entered the Blood Wyvern’s mouth, it turned into a liquid paste that was immediately absorbed by its body. Under Ezio’s penetrating gaze, the injuries of the Blood Wyvern healed at a rapid pace.
A minute later, it once again flapped its wings to soar into the skies.
“Praise be to the Goddess Lulu,” Ezio muttered.
If William had heard his Fourth Master’s words, he would look at him in a weird manner. Never in his wildest dreams did he consider that the man that had ended countless lives, was a devout follower of the Apple Goddess that once tried to force William to sign her contract.
After seeing their leader surrender to the enemy, the remaining Wyverns tried to run away, but William begged Ezio to not let a single one of them escape.
William’s “Fourth Master” was about to ignore the boy’s shameless request, however, William’s single sentence made the hooded man reconsider.
“Grandfather might need these Wyverns in preparation for the upcoming war.”
With that single sentence, Ezio used the Blood Wyvern’s suppression to make the members of its Weyr submit.
(A/N: A Weyr is a term used to refer to a group of Wyverns.)
William almost laughed out loud when he saw all the Wyverns stop resisting. They all landed on the ground and kneeled in front of the Blood Wyvern who was now a ‘pet’ of William’s Fourth master.
The Wyverns glanced at the pitiful unconscious Wyvern that had been kicked in the head and shuddered in fear. They didn’t want to suffer the same fate and decided to just obey the human with red hair to avoid getting hurt.
Psoglav whistled at the great catch. He looked at William with a sinister gaze as if he was looking at a beautiful, naked, woman that was ripe for eating.
“Can I eat this Wyvern that got kicked in the head?” Psoglav decided to become shameless. “How about we change some of the conditions of the contract? Having a business partner like you is a good thing.”
William rolled his eyes at the shameless demonic dog. How could he possibly give him a Wyvern to eat? He would only do that if a donkey were to kick his head.
“I need the Wyvern as a mount for one of my captains,” William replied. “The rest of these Wyverns will go to my hometown to serve as defenders.”
As William said those words, he poured a High-Grade Healing Potion on the swelling bump of the pitiful Wyvern’s head then let it drink the rest.
Five minutes later, the Wyvern regained its consciousness and roared fiercely. It then faced William with hate-filled eyes with the intention of shredding him to pieces.
However, before he could even enact his vengeance, a reprimanding shriek reached its ears.
The newly recovered Wyvern turned his head and saw the Blood Wyvern looking at it with the “Calm your tits bro” expression.
The bewildered creature scanned its surroundings and noticed its brethren all kneeling on the ground. After seeing this scene, its gaze once more landed on William.
The Half-Elf looked back at the Wyvern with a refreshing smile that was screaming “I know I’m handsome, so don’t stare too much, or I might feel embarrassed”.
Wyverns were very smart creatures. Since its leader had already submitted, it also chose to submit, albeit reluctantly.
“How many Hipogriffs did we capture all in all?” William turned his head to ask the delicate looking Kenneth who was standing beside him.
“Including the ones on our encampment, we have twenty-four in total,” Kenneth replied.
William’s roommate still had a dumbfounded expression on his face. Although he had witnessed everything that happened from the start, he still couldn’t believe it. Once again, his evaluation of the red-headed boy increased by another level.
‘Unbelievable,’ Kenneth thought. ‘If only the elders of my clan could see this scene, they would definitely change their opinion of William.’
William didn’t know what Kenneth was thinking because he had other things in his mind. He only managed to capture twenty-four hipogriffs which meant that he was still twelve shy of his goal.
He eyed the Hipogriffs that stood beside their Alpha that had arrived as reinforcements for the centaurs. They were all looking at the Wyvern’s cautiously. It was then when an idea appeared inside the boy’s head.
William smiled evilly as he looked at the Alpha Hippogriff who was standing in front of its herd.
When the Alpha saw Wiliam’s smile, its body shivered subconsciously. It had a feeling that the red-headed boy was up to no good!
