21st Century Archmage

‘Huhu, in just a few days, we should be able to occupy everything on the way to the royal castle.’

After taking Fort Zarelon, Prince Remitar of Roen and his troops advanced deep into Havis Kingdom territory. They had recently passed a fairly large castle, but there wasn’t a single soldier there, only civilians who hadn’t been able to evacuate. There was no one there to resist them. Thanks to marching the infantry at a quick pace, Roen was able to occupy a considerable amount of territory in just half a day.

‘But how come the wyverns that went on patrol aren’t coming back? They should be back by now.’

The Prince sent out two flights, each with 20 wyverns, out on patrol in order to watch out for potential raids and enemy movements. But the arranged time to return had long passed, and neither patrol had come back.

“Stop the marching. We’ll make camp here.”

“As you command!”

On the way towards the capital of Havis, they ran into a small village on the side of the path. Prince Remitar ordered a break there.

“Be aware that we will begin marching early in the morning.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

Prince Remitar, who wasn’t able to ride a wyvern because he had a fear of flying, gave orders to the nobles following him as he looked at the magic tent that was quickly being set up for him.

Guoooooooooooooo!

Just then, a wyvern’s cry could be heard from the darkening sky above.

“It appears that one of the wyvern flights that went on patrol is returning,” said one of the nobles serving the Prince while looking into the sky.

Flash!

Suddenly, a few points of light flashed in the sky.

“Ah!”

The moment they noticed the light, it suddenly whistled forward like a lightning bolt, leaving an afterimage of light.

Bam! Baaam!

And then, their ears registered the dull sound of something hitting flesh.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaak!

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaak!

Several of the wyverns protecting the soldiers from above screamed piteously as they crashed to the ground.

“Ah!”

“E-Enemies! Enemy attack!”

“All forces, prepare for battle!!!!!!”

As a gasp emerged from Prince Remitar’s mouth, someone screamed to alert everyone of enemy appearance, and the soldiers setting up tents scrambled to grab their weapons.

Guoooooooooooo!

The ear-splitting cry of the same wyvern as before rang out once again.

BOOOOM!

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion rocked the sky.

“Argh!”

“Ack!”

The people peering into the dark sky fell over, clutching their ears. It felt like their eardrums had burst.

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaak!

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaak!

Agonized cries of wyverns continued to fill the sky.

“W-What’s going on!”

Remitar could use mana, so he was less impacted by the earlier sound explosion. Utter mayhem had ensued due to the sudden enemy appearance.

Schwiiiiiiip.

Baaam!

In the sky, where the moon hung shrouded with clouds, bursts of light he could only assume were magic continued to flash.

“Your Highness, watch out!”

“Uaaagghhhhh!”

Above the head of the dazedly watching Prince, a wyvern crashed down after losing balance.

THUUUUUUD!

Crunch.

The crunch of something breaking rang out at the same time as the thud of the wyvern falling to the ground.

And that was the last time Prince Remitar of the Roen Principality was seen.

“Haha, hahahahahaha!”

As the Royal Knights and nobles looked blankly at the wyvern that had crushed their liege, a laugh of exhilaration echoed in the sky above.

For everyone in the Roen army, it sounded like the laughter of the Devil.

* * *

‘The heck? These guys can barely put up a fight.’

The beastmen and I unleashed a variety of the aerial combat night raid attacks and spells honed in Nerman. On top of that, the Roen Skyknights appeared in front of me in handy groups of 20, a number the new-model Blessed Spears, and magic attacks in unison with the beastmen, could easily handle.

Moreover, their “headquarters” wasn’t anything to write home about, either. Perhaps the heavens were helping us, because as night fell, dark clouds suddenly filled the sky, allowing us to hide and ambush them from above. Faithful to a T to the textbook on wyvern tactics, around 30 wyverns split into several flights while forming a defensive formation above the main army. We first gave that wyvern formation a jab with Blessed Spears, then a straight with Sonic Boom magic to disrupt their balance, and finally, an uppercut with a friendly Air Press to finish the job.

‘They’re running away?’

Everything happened in a matter of moments, but when the surviving wyverns and Skyknights belatedly realized what was happening, they lifted into the sky from the rear of the army. Their aim was not to counterattack, but to flee with their tails tucked.

‘Sigh, what a shame.’

All the fleeing wyverns looked like sacks of money to me. However, I had to be satisfied with this. This wasn’t my land, and overdoing it could backfire.

“Lay down all your equipment and weapons and surrender! Anyone who resists will not be forgiven!”

I flew Bebeto low over the heads of the Roen soldiers, shouting with mana so that everyone could hear.

‘They always need to be ‘disciplined’ first, jeez.’

But in the confusion, the soldiers didn’t move as commanded. A force consisting of several tens of thousands of soldiers stood frozen in the darkness, looking like a swarm of ants.

“Explosion!”

Words were no longer necessary. I unleashed the 6th Circle offensive magic with the greatest destructive force, Explosion, on an empty clearing without any soldiers.

I felt my mana core revving up, and a moment later, my mana fused with the mana in the atmosphere to form a red light that descended to the ground.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

‘Geh! Is that really Explosion?’

Even I, as the caster, was surprised by the sight. The magic appeared to have twice the explosive power and range as the Explosion I was capable of in the past. The ground left in the aftermath bubbled like lava from the incredible heat, and a ring of red flames spread out instantly.

The swirl mana had resulted in a swift improvement to my offensive power. Even a 7th Circle mage would have to surrender to me.

“Burn Flare!”

“Inferno!”

“Blaze!”

“Fire Field!”

“Flame!”

The smart beastmen followed my example and fired spells of their own.

BOOOOM!

Fwoooooooooosh.

Flame spells, the magic with the greatest destructive force among 5th Circle offensive spells, burst out between the shocked Roen soldiers.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

“R-Retreaaat!”

“SURRENDER!!!!!!”

As magic lit up the deep darkness, the Roen Principality army finally realized the preciousness of life. Like fleas jumping ship, they screamed as they began to flee in all directions.

‘Ground forces without Skyknight support… they’re like paper tigers.’

Without wyverns, the massive army on the ground were like helpless paper tigers.

It was a shame.

From this, I could tell why every nation on the continent focused so much national strength on the acquisition of wyverns and the training of Skyknights.

* * *

“Master, this one’s dead.”

“That so? That’s a shame.”

“How should we deal with this guy?”

“Is he alive?”

“His wyvern is dead, but the human is alive.”

“Then don’t kill him and just take off his airplate.”

“Got it.”

The battle was over.

It was a huge battle where the Roen Principality had mobilized tens of thousands of troops and the greatest fighting force at their disposal.

But that battle was concluded in such a ridiculous manner.

Afterwards, Kyre and his Skyknights began to do something written in no history books. Descending next to the crashed wyverns, they began to pour top-grade holy water on the surviving wyverns’ wounds and into their mouths. On top of that, they also tended to the Skyknights riding the wyverns, being so kind as to remove their airplates for them.

Of course, they didn’t forget to kindly pour holy water on the injured Skyknights’ wounds.

“Nghhh.”

“Coming back to your senses? If you don’t want to die, go look through those supplies over there and cover yourself as you see fit.”

Kyre even instructed them on how to preserve their lives.

“Y-You bastards! What do you think you’re doing!”

Pow!

Of course, Kyre may have saved their lives, but his kindness had its limits. If the Skyknights were rude or cursed at all, he didn’t hesitate to use violence.

“I saved your pitiful life, but you curse at me? This is why being kind gets a person nowhere.”

“…”

Rosiathe was watching over everything. She watched in dumb silence, unable to wrap her mind around Kyre’s actions. The image she had of a friendly, well-mannered god-given knight who came to save her whenever she was in a crisis… that image was crumbling before her eyes.

Kyre suddenly addressed her, holding up a spear container hanging on the dead wyvern’s neck and saying words masqueraded as generosity. “If you need any, should I give you some spears?”

“Huh? N-No…” Rosiathe stuttered back.

“Let me know if you change your mind. I can give you a few, at least.”

Kyre had become very perfunctory, as if he were allocating his spoils. Rosiathe blinked her large eyes as she simply watched him go about his ‘business.’

“Master, we’re all done.”

“Really? How many are alive?”

“We got 49 wyverns today.”

“Hooh, that’s more than I expected.”

“What should we do next?”

“Tie them up.”

“Got it.”

Simple conversations came and went between Kyre and his men. As if this wasn’t the first or second time they had done this, the Skyknights under his command took care of things skillfully and really did tie up the wyverns.

Kuaaaaaah!

Of course, the surviving wyverns resisted. The instinctive trait of a wyvern was to not submit to anyone other than the Skyknight who was their friend and master.

Pow!

Kuaaaak!

Po-po-pow.

Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

“Ah…”

When the wyverns that came back to their senses after drinking holy water resisted, violence was administered without mercy. Kyre’s Skyknights used their fists to ruthlessly punch the wyverns in the snout. Shards from their large teeth went flying everywhere. And those squalling wyverns were then scratched from head to toe from above by Gold Wyverns.

Kwaaaaawk.

The resisting wyverns flattened their wings on the ground and bowed their heads, showing their submission. Then, the Skyknights tied up their ankles.

It wasn’t just one or two wyverns. Kyre and his Skyknights moved busily amongst an enormous pile of war goods.

“If everything’s done, let’s go. The ones we caught earlier could wake up.”

“Got it, Master.”

The five knights were clearly dressed like Skyknights, but somehow, the word ‘knight’ didn’t really suit them.

“Rosiathe-nim, if you have the time, please order the nearby lords to watch over these.”

“Pardon?”

Rosiathe followed Kyre’s gaze.

“Ah…”

She had forgotten. The fact that in the Roen Principality’s haste to withdraw after their crushing defeat, they had left behind an actual metric ton of war supplies.

‘I’m dreaming right now, right?’

She couldn’t believe her eyes. How could 100 wyverns and thousands of troops be repelled with just six wyverns?

But she had to believe it. Because the result in front of her eyes wasn’t a dream, but reality.

* * *

“T-They failed? And a crushing defeat at that?!”

“Yes. According to the report that came in just now, the 100 wyverns and 30,000 troops of the Roen Principality that invaded the Havis Kingdom were ambushed and forced to retreat.”

“Do you hear yourself right now? The Havis Kingdom can barely muster up what amounts to the forces of a count in the empire. But such a crippled kingdom was able to carry out an ambush and repel the elite army of the Roen Principality?”

“…”

Count Davesyen couldn’t answer Duke Yanovis’ dumbstricken query. He hadn’t been there personally, so how would he know what had happened? However, the report was clear—after suffering a crushing defeat, the Roen army hastily fled back to the principality.

“Dammit.”

A word of frustration escaped Duke Yanovis’ mouth. He was the duke of an empire in name, but he discarded his dignity and spoke like a mercenary.

“A precise report should be delivered soon.”

“There’s no need! What report?! I don’t want to hear the excuses of incompetents who couldn’t even subdue a kingdom with no guard dogs!”

Duke Yanovis was fuming. His plan to quietly occupy Havis using the name of Roen rather than Laviter while the Bajran Empire was unstable, had gone askew.

Their territory acquisition plan had gone wrong at the very first button.

Duke Yanovis’ white lion whiskers were trembling in rage.

* * *

‘Today, I caught three birds with one stone. Puhaha, I feel frickin’ great.’

Just thinking about the bonanza, no inferior to winning the lottery, made me flush with joy. I was able to help the Havis Kingdom and acquire 40 wyverns as a reward.

From the 49 wyverns we captured, the 9 wyverns that couldn’t fly because they had difficult-to-heal injuries were given to Rosiathe as a present. Most people would find it difficult to do something so generous. I couldn’t forget the sight of Princess Rosiathe crying tears of emotion as she sent me off.

And thanks to this big harvest, I would also become a greater lord in possession of over 100 wyverns. On the continent, besides anyone over marquis level in an empire, only greater lords had 100 wyverns in their territories.

However, even if those guys ran their soles raw, they wouldn’t be able to catch up to my pace. In less than one year, I gathered 100 wyverns, including Bebeto. That was a speed of growth no one could match.

‘It should be quiet for a while.’

I didn’t know what exactly the Laviter Empire had planned when they instigated the Roen Principality, but Laviter wouldn’t be able to invade the havis Kingdom without good reason.

‘If next year is going to be like this one, please grant me gifts like this.’

Looking into the sky, I sent the gods a fervent prayer.

It was only a small wish, nothing greedy, so there was no way the magnanimous gods would refuse to hear me.

Guooooooooooo!

I could already see Weyn Covert in the far distance. Spotting home, Bebeto gave an energetic bellow.

‘You little brat, you did well.’

My lucky charm, Bebeto. There were rumors that he was visiting the hangars of female wyverns every night lately, but I decided to not take issue with it. Bebeto’s only reward for working like a dog in my service was just a few orcs for food and a warm place to sleep. If I prevented him from fulfilling his instinctive drive as an animal, how else would he have fun? In fact, I had actually been actively encouraging the continuation of Bebeto’s good genes, so I secretly gave a certain instruction to the Skyknights owning female wyverns.

If Bebeto comes to your wyvern’s hangar, open the door for him no matter what.

‘Tonight will be another grilled pork belly party. Huhu.’

For me, a warrior returning after a long day of hard work, the only thing left to do was to eat ‘till I burst and rest up.

That was the sweet reward of winter granted to the diligent ants who had worked without rest, after all.