A large arrow shot out, and when the last rider realized which direction the attack was coming from, he quickly maneuvered his dragon mount downward.
The attack missed, only hitting the wall of the hill, and stuck there.
"There you are!" the rider said angrily. He directed his dragon to fly to the spot where Vir was.
"Goddamn, it!" Vir grunted loudly and quickly nocked one last large arrow.
Flap! Flap!
Whoosh!
The Bald Wyvern squawked and darted toward Vir.
"You're not getting away, you son of a bitch!" the rider shouted.
Slap!
Vir shot his last arrow. But unfortunately, the wyvern easily dodged the shot.
"Oh, shit!"
Vir saw the reddish hue on the wyvern's neck before the creature opened its mouth, spitting fire at him.
Swoosh!
He managed to dodge the blast of scorching fire but not his giant crossbow and his cart, all of which fell apart, burned by the dragon's flames.
Vir rolled over, then got up half-kneeling, and quickly grabbed the crossbow around his waist. When the Bald Wyvern darted back towards him again, he fired the weapon repeatedly.
Swoosh!
Again the blast of superheated flame struck Vir. He rolled again to an unburned spot and fired his crossbow continuously.
For a while, Vir couldn't do anything. The shots he fired only hit the dragon's body, and that didn't cause much damage to the dragon itself.
Looks like that rider is pretty good at controlling his dragon, Vir thought. And not a single arrow hit the rider.
"Motherfucker!"
"You need to die, asshole!" the rider shouted at a high point, then turned his dragon back toward Vir.
"Come here, you bastard!" said Vir, dropping his out-of-arrow crossbow and drawing his black dagger.
The Bald Wyvern saw the dagger in Vir's hand, it made it become quite agitated and stopped at half their distance.
"What are you doing, you stupid creature!" The rider who didn't understand his dragon's agitation cursed at the dragon. "Attack him, now!"
Vir was already getting ready down there with his dagger. However, he didn't want to fail or more riders would come after him.
The rider grabbed a small dagger from his waist, then stabbed at a point on his mount's neck.
Stab!
The Bald Wyvern grunted in pain.
"I said," he shouted. "Attack him!"
The wyvern roared loudly and then darted out again to attack Vir.
Whoosh!
Groar!
A wyvern larger than the Bald Wyvern suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It darted out very quickly. And then...
Thump!
The Bald Wyvern growled in pain as the newly appeared wyvern suddenly grabbed its body, and bit down hard on its neck.
Meanwhile, the rider could only gasp and do nothing when a middle-aged man opened fire on him.
Stab!
The rider let out a short whimper with the arrow piercing his chest, then he fell off his dragon mount's back.
Stamp!
The Bald Wyvern crashed to the ground hard, under the grip and bite of the larger wyvern.
Meanwhile, Vir widened his eyes when he realized that the newly appeared wyvern was the extremely rare Diabolis Securis species. Of course, its rider is none other than Raemon.
Crash!
The Bald Wyvern's life ended with a deadly bite that tore through its neck.
Diabolis Securis let out a mighty roar. When it realized that Vir was holding a special dagger, it became quite agitated.
"Hey, calm down, calm down!" Raemon rubbed his dragon's neck. "He's not an enemy and won't hurt you. Easy girl!
The middle-aged man dismounted from his dragon's back, his gaze fixed on the unusual black dagger in Vir's hand.
Maybe it's that dagger that's making my dragon uneasy, he thought.
"What are you doing here?" asked Vir, still alert with his black dagger.
"Even if you cover your face," Raemon said as he slung the bow back over his shoulder. "You won't be able to fool me, young man!"
Vir haughtily approached the dead Bald Wyvern. And nonchalantly, he tore open the wyvern's chest with his black dagger to get the wyvern's heart.
"I don't need your help," he said then.
"Oh, really?" Raemon frowned watching what Vir was doing. "Don't you realize that just a moment ago you would have turned into a human roast for that Bald Wyvern?"
"Stay out of my business!" Vir pulled out the Bald Wyvern's heart. "Can't anyone in the East let others have a little fun? This is so weird!"
His eyes flashed at the blood-soaked wyvern heart in his hand.
"My guess is correct," Raemon said. "It was you who hunted down the riders and killed their dragon mounts."
Vir snorted, looking at Raemon as if to challenge him.
"Weren't you the one who ordered your unique wyvern to kill this Bald Wyvern just now? Don't accuse me as if I were a great sinner!"
After the man re-sheathed his black dagger, only then did Raemon's dragon seem calmer. Although, the dragon was still watching Vir with a sharp look in its eyes.
Raemon grinned with his hands on his waist. "You're pretty good at twisting words. Good, that's something good and useful for you!"
"I don't need your praise." Vir sighed looking at his ruined and charred cart and crossbow. "Damn it, my equipment is all broken!"
"What an arrogant young man!" Raemon chuckled. Then he mounted his dragon again. "My wish remains the same," he said. "To invite you to join us."
"I've already refused that, haven't I?" Vir resigned himself to losing his cart and giant crossbow.
"Yeah, you have," Raemon replied. "But that doesn't mean I lost the chance to get you to join us, does it?"
Vir laughed softly. "Stubborn old man!" he said as he tucked the Bald Wyvern's heart into a leather pouch at his waist. "I don't like being attached, old man. And no one can do that to me."
"Perhaps not now," Raemon replied. "Think it over carefully first. Anytime, we'll always open the door for you."
"Oh, whatever!" Vir removed the black cloth covering his face. "I'm not interested because I prefer to work alone."
"Oh, my God... You're really arrogant, young man. Don't you realize you barely survived a moment ago?"
"Yeah, thanks for that. But I'm not stupid tho!"
Raemon chuckled with a small nod. His dragon mount spread its wings wide.
Vir knew Raemon was about to leave.
"My advice," Raemon said before taking to the air. "You'd better get away soon. I hear that the people of the Central Empire will arrive in this country tomorrow!"
And with that, Raemon flew off with his unique wyvern. And in an instant, they were very far away from Vir.
Vir let out a deep breath with his hands on his waist as he looked at Raemon who was flying away with his dragon.
"The Demon Axe, huh?" he muttered. "What a unique dragon. I wonder what its heart tastes like..."
He grinned before finally walking away from the area.
***