The hero fell towards the ground.

As the hero rapidly approached the ground, he composed himself and then thrust his greatsword into the ground to dissipate the impact. He then glared up at the wyvern hovering in the sky.

The wyvern was glaring down at the hero, who could leap into the air a few times, but not as freely as the wyvern. Of course, he could attack with projectile slashes, but their power would diminish with distance, and they were too linear, making them easy to evade.

If it were any other opponent, it wouldn't have taken long, but... Hmm, how will the hero proceed?

Remembering how much the wyvern had suffered when the hero had stabbed its tail, it was certain that the wyvern possessed a fragment of darkness.

The hero surveyed his surroundings while keeping the wyvern in check, then swung his greatsword a few times, felling several trees.

He then picked up the felled trees and threw them at the wyvern, not directly, but rather in a straight line. Thanks to the physical enhancement from magic, the thrown trees flew straight towards the wyvern.

Of course, such trees would not be able to harm the wyvern, reinforced as it was with a fragment of darkness. The wyvern casually swatted the trees away with its tail, shattering them instantly.

However, the impact seemed to have irritated the wyvern's wound, and it began to cry out in pain.

"Gyaaaaaaa!"

What is that foolish lizard doing?

But the hero did not stop, and continued to throw several more trees in succession.

Some missed their mark, while others hit the wyvern's body, but they did not seem to inflict any significant damage.

The wyvern seemed to have realized that the wooden logs could not harm it, and began to ignore them.

"Hup!"

The wyvern finally noticed the hero riding the last log as it flew towards it.

The wyvern hastily breathed fire at the approaching hero.

"Haa!"

The hero swung his greatsword, cleaving the fireball in two. The explosion from the divided fireball propelled the hero even faster towards the wyvern.

The hero's greatsword swung towards the wyvern's head.

"Gyaaa!"

The wyvern hastily retreated, evading the sword. But the hero had anticipated this, and unleashed a powerful slash in mid-air.

The slash successfully tore a long gash in the wyvern's wing membrane.

"Good! Fall!"

"Gyaaaaaa!"

With one of its wings damaged, the wyvern could no longer fly, reduced to a bipedal lizard.

Its inevitable fate was to crash to the ground.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After that, the battle between the wyvern and the hero became a fierce struggle that devastated the surrounding area.

The hero's sword easily sliced through the wyvern's hide, and the wyvern, aware of this, relentlessly breathed fire at the hero.

The hero fearlessly charged through the flames, slashing them apart.

The severed flames set the surrounding trees ablaze, but the hero did not hesitate.

He rushed up to the wyvern's jaw and swung his sword. The strike only grazed the wyvern, as it had tilted its head back, but it was enough to elicit a horrific scream from the wyvern.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Shut up!"

The hero seized the opportunity and unleashed a flurry of strikes on the wyvern's body, slicing its hide, cutting off its tail, and breaking its horns.

The wyvern fought back with its claws, its half-severed tail, and its jaws, but the hero's onslaught was overwhelming.

Once the wyvern had lost its aerial advantage, its chance of victory had vanished.

And then...

Crunch!

In the end, only a beheading awaited it.

Well, that's only natural.

Unlike other wyverns, this one has wings.

It has a sturdy but heavy scale, powerful muscles and skeleton, but it sacrificed these to minimize air resistance and have streamlined, agile body for flight.

With its wings lost, that relatively weak-bodied wyvern that sacrificed many things for flight could not defeat the hero.

Well, its fireballs are still threatening, but the hero can handle that.

"Phew..."

The hero looked at the wyvern's decapitated body, then took a deep breath and sat down on the dirt floor.

The victory was certain once the hero had severed the wyvern's wings, the creature's greatest weapon, but the process was not smooth.

Covered in the ash of the burnt trees, the scattered dirt, and the wyvern's blood, the messy hero took a moment to rest and look at the wyvern's corpse.

What is the hero thinking right now? If he hadn't run away, I'd be curious to ask.

After resting for a while, the hero slowly got up, brushed off the dirt and ash on his body, and slung the greatsword on his back.

Now that the dangerous problem has been dealt with, it seems he plans to return to the village.

Hmm... When will he return from his runaway? If he can defeat a wyvern tainted by darkness like this, there's probably no monster that can stop the hero.

I hope he finishes his runaway and comes back soon to start his proper heroic adventure.

The hero then returned to the village.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What caught the hero's eye was the sight of a massive snake ravaging the small village.

"What...?"

Ah, that snake... was it still alive?

I thought it had been blown away by the wyvern's fireball.

"Tch!"

The hero hurriedly started running. It was obvious that leaving that snake unchecked would lead to trouble.

The distant snake was chasing something, running quickly, and a faint silhouette of a small person could be seen in front of it.

Naturally, it was a young girl.

In a disheveled state, with a wound that seemed to have pierced her shoulder, and her right arm broken and dangling, the girl was running away from the snake.

But her steps didn't go far.

"Kyaaa!"

The girl tripped over what seemed to be a rock and tumbled to the ground.

"I-I have to run away..."

But the girl didn't give up on escaping. She tried to get up using her still intact left arm.

However, the girl's left ankle was twisted in an odd direction.

"Ugh, uuuugh..."

The girl bit her lip tightly to hold back her cries. If she didn't run away now, that snake would devour her.

Realizing that she could no longer run, the massive snake leisurely approached.

But the girl's strength was gradually fading.

Her life, too, was slowly slipping away.

The snake, now close, opened its massive jaws to swallow the girl whole.

Just as the girl was at death's door,

"Haa!"

A greatsword came plunging down from the sky, piercing the snake's head.

Crack!

Penetrating the tough scales and skull, the greatsword emerged through the snake's palate.

Naturally, the snake died in a single strike.

"Ugh!"

The hero quickly pulled out the sword and jumped away from the falling snake, then approached the girl.

The girl was covered in wounds, with no part of her unharmed, and her breathing was growing weaker.

The hero hastily activated his life force using magic and poured it into the girl. Following the teachings of the Goddess of Life, he used his own life force to heal her.

The hero poured his powerful healing magic into the girl, but her breathing continued to grow weaker.

Even as the other wounds were all recovering, the wound on her shoulder was not healing.

No, it was rather turning pitch black.

It was poison.

The giant snake's venomous fangs had pierced and burrowed into the girl's shoulder.

"Ugh... Damn it..."

"It's... cold..."

The girl spoke in a small voice.

Not the usual torrential flood of words, but a faint flutter of a butterfly's wings.

The words of someone at the edge of life, facing death.

"Damn it! Don't die! Don't you dare die!!"

"Ah, haha... I'm, sleepy, yes..."

"Don't sleep! If you sleep, you'll die! Wake up!"

"The, hero, they say... is you, isn't it... I'm, so, surprised..."

"That's right! I'm the hero! So don't die!!"

The hero continued pouring healing magic, but could not stop the girl's life from fading.

The hero cried out.

"I'm... sorry..."

And just like that, another life was extinguished.