Talia stared with panic-stricken eyes at the dark shape revealed beneath the fading sunlight.
The massive body wrapped in scales contracted tightly, like a volcano on the verge of eruption, before surging high into the air. At its peak sat a gigantic reptilian head. Its crimson eyes flashed as it looked down upon them.
The strength left Talia’s legs, and she collapsed onto the ground.
When the monster exhaled a blast of hot breath and spread its wings, cloaked in a black membrane, it felt as though the entire world had been swallowed by darkness.
Varkas drew his sword and shouted sharply.
“Prepare the extermination equipment immediately!”
No sooner had the order left his lips than knights burst through the crowd that had been scattering in confusion.
They surrounded the monster and drove stake-like iron pylons into the ground before fastening thick chains to them. Moments later, dozens of steel harpoons shot toward the creature’s enormous body like arrows.
Talia clapped her hands over her ears.
A thunderous roar exploded from the monster’s raised head.
Each time the massive body twisted against the dozens °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of chains binding it, the earth trembled. Several stakes were ripped from the ground and launched into the air, unable to withstand the force.
“Everyone, get back!”
At the same moment someone's shout rang out across the camp, the monster tore free of its restraints and violently swept one wing through the air.
Talia screamed.
Two or three tents were swept away by the force of the wingbeat, and five or six servants who had been unable to react in time were hurled away like scraps of paper.
One of them rolled to a stop near her, his body twisted at an unnatural angle.
It felt like a nightmare.
“Bring more equipment!”
Varkas’s rough voice barely managed to anchor her fading consciousness.
Forcing strength into her trembling legs, Talia somehow staggered to her feet.
Then she watched, her face drained of all color, as Varkas shot toward the rampaging monster like a flash of light.
He was charging directly at the maw of a creature whose body alone looked well over thirty crebets long—more than nine meters.
“Varkas!”
His name burst from her lips like a scream.
At that exact moment, one of the monster’s wings lashed toward him like a whip.
Talia watched in horror.
The enormous black wing, vast enough to blot out the sky, engulfed Varkas’s figure in an instant.
Her world turned black as well.
Then, in the next moment, the pale blade in Varkas’s hand sliced through the thick membrane as easily as paper.
In the blink of an eye, he severed the wing cleanly across its span and cut through the thick bundles of muscle connecting it to the creature’s body.
The monster lost one wing and immediately lurched violently, its balance destroyed.
Varkas seized the opportunity.
Pulling a chain-sickle from his waist, he hurled the hooked blade into the hideous maw lined with rows of needle-like teeth.
Then he slipped sideways in a smooth motion, attached the chain to a stake fixed in the ground, and yanked it with brutal force.
The monster, its lower jaw pierced by the chain-sickle, collapsed helplessly like a fish caught on a hook.
Talia stared with her mouth hanging open.
It was impossible to believe such monstrous strength had come from a body so slender and graceful it resembled a dancer’s.
Gripping the chain with both hands, Varkas shouted toward his subordinates.
“Finish it!”
Dozens of harpoons immediately slammed into the creature’s body.
The beast, covered in black scales, writhed desperately and struggled with all its might, but it was powerless against the relentless barrage.
Within moments it resembled a giant hedgehog.
The monster's tongue lolled from its mouth before its enormous body finally collapsed onto the ground.
Only then was Talia able to release the breath she had been holding.
“Are you alright, Your Highness?”
An Imperial Guard knight came rushing over from somewhere nearby and looked down at her with concern.
Judging by his appearance, he had been searching for her before hurrying to the battlefield. A sword was still clutched in one hand.
The man quickly shoved it back into its sheath and offered her his hand.
Talia slapped it away.
She walked straight toward Varkas, who was recovering equipment from the monster’s corpse.