On the morning of the eighth day after leaving Acray, the delegation reached the border. After their documents were reviewed at Knightley’s border patrol office, they completed the necessary procedures on Twilightland’s side, a hundred meters away. The guards had been informed that the delegation would be arriving today, and they allowed them to pass after a simple document check.
And so, eighteen days after leaving the royal capital, the delegation finally entered Twilightland.
“We’re finally here in Twilightland! But the sun is shining like it normally does.”
Ryo had assumed the country’s name meant it was always twilight here. However, in Phi, twilight didn’t really mean twilight. Once again, Ryo became curious about the source of the country’s name.
“Of course the sun’s out. Not like this is the legendary land of perpetual night,” Abel replied.
“A land of perpetual night? Does that actually exist?!”
How perfect for a fantasy setting! There was still so much Ryo didn’t know.
Unnerved by Ryo’s intensity, Abel nevertheless answered him. “Uh, yeah... It’s a legend from the Western Provinces. Arthur Berasus told me about it. He used to work as an adventurer there.”
Arthur Berasus was an advisor to the Bureau of Royal Magicians who’d fought alongside Abel against hordes of devils in Lune’s dungeon. Ryo had also asked him for his help on a personal level, so he was no stranger.
“Did he now... Then I’ll have to ask him about it next time I see him!” Ryo nodded repeatedly, making a mental note.
That afternoon, Ryo’s Passive Sonar detected an anomaly.
“Abel, something big is coming, unlike any monster we’ve seen so far.”
“Called it! Figured it was about time. Okay, let’s talk to Shoken and the others.”
“No, wait,” Ryo said, stopping him.
“What?”
“I know this signature. It’s probably a wyvern!”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me...” Abel was speechless.
Wyverns were so dangerous that it took more than twenty C-rank adventurers to kill one, and even then, there’d be casualties. That meant serious trouble was in store for the delegation...
“All right, I’ll bring it down to the ground, and you finish it off.”
“Huh... Oh. Ohhh, right, right.”
While wyverns were indeed aggravating to defeat, Ryo and Abel had taken down dozens on their way back from the Forest of Rondo. For some reason, Ryo’s ice spear could puncture the Wind Defense Membrane—said to be immune to magic—around the monsters and shoot them down.
“Shoken! There’s a wyvern coming from our left!” Abel yelled to the man outside the carriage.
“I’m sorry, what? Did you just say ‘wyvern’?”
Though he’d heard the word, his brain hadn’t quite registered it. Then he looked to the left, and reality hit him like a ton of bricks.
There it was—coming right at them.
“Wh-Why... H-How... Here of all places?” he gasped. Just like the other monsters they’d encountered so far, it must have been intentionally lured here.
Ryo spotted it from inside the carriage. “Here I go! Icicle Lance 4.”
Four thick, transparent ice spears materialized above the creature and dropped, piercing its wings and ripping it out of the air. After it fell to the ground, the spears pinned it to the earth.
“Shoken, stab it with your spears!”
“Yes. Yes, of course. Do it!”
At Abel’s command, Shoken and a few spear-wielding adventurers approached the wyvern. They tried stabbing its head, but they struggled to land a blow. Then, finally, one of the spears penetrated the wyvern’s eye, reaching its brain and delivering the killing blow. The monster went motionless.
Despite their initial troubles, this takedown was a great success, considering the lack of casualties compared to a usual wyvern hunt.
The Royal Knights watched from their defensive positions surrounding the carriages, dumbfounded.
✦ ✦ ✦
Nearby, a group of thirty black-clad fighters waited.
“There’s no reaction... Did they just kill that thing?”
“Hmph. They certainly have more grit than I expected. No matter, though. They couldn’t have been at the business end of a wyvern attack and come out unscathed. We will seize this opportunity to attack.”
A woman’s commanding voice echoed across her fighters. It belonged to Natalia, a senior member of the Sect of Assassins. Under optimal conditions, her unit could defeat a hundred knights, and these conditions meant her strategy was foolproof. She had no intention of failing, of course.
“I dedicate this victory to Lord Black,” Natalia murmured.
She would fight for the man she adored!