So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

Pandan bravely jumped into the burrow where the termites had been hiding.

He immediately covered the top with a termite's head like a lid.

He was borrowing the termites' camouflage method.

This seemed to be the procedure for dealing with wyvern appearances.

Clever.

"Huff, huff."

Pandan breathed roughly.

He too was tense, like the other adventurers.

Fortunately, all the adventurers were able to hide.

However, there was a small gap in the termite carapace covering the hole.

Light was coming in through that gap.

Pandan's expression seemed to be hoping, 'Please don't let us be discovered.'

Seeing them go to such lengths made me even more curious about what kind of creatures these wyverns were.

I looked outside through the gap.

I couldn't hear the sound of a wyvern approaching.

Maybe it didn't see us from the beginning?

I had such doubts, and it seemed Pandan felt the same way.

However, none of the adventurers crawled out of the burrow.

As the silence continued and I was starting to feel a bit sleepy...

Boom!

It was a truly sudden appearance.

A sturdy foot, closer to that of a reptile than a bird, came into view.

The jet-black, shining claws were as sharp as an eagle's talons.

'Wow, it flies completely silently.'

"Many wyverns have the ability to fly silently. There must be fierce competition for prey."

'Gosh!'

I was a bit startled when Pelerian suddenly spoke beside me.

The wyvern didn't seem to have noticed us.

Well, let's first see how strong this guy is.

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[Grey Horn Wyvern lv97]

[Traits]

[Cunning], [Silent], [Mated]

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Fortunately, the status window wasn't completely invisible or anything like that.

There must be more than just one or two wyverns in the mountain range, and if one of this level showed up already, it would have been a bit intimidating.

The name somehow feels similar to when I was 'White Horn Snake'.

But its strength seems to be on a different level.

The skill window is also impressive.

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[Skills]

[Silent Flight lv10], [Rip and Tear lv17], [Wing Beat lv9], [Sweep lv4], [Roar lv10], [Devastation lv5], [Plummet lv10], [Acceleration lv5], [Slash Resistance lv10], [Heat Resistance lv5], [Poison Resistance lv10]...

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It's not just skills useful for attacks.

This guy is also quite well-equipped with resistance-type skills.

The adventurers weren't afraid for nothing.

Above all, there's the issue of weight class, which isn't written in the status window.

Boom, thud.

The guy who made no noise when flying seems quite heavy.

The ground thuds with each of its steps.

Fortunately, it doesn't seem to have very good eyesight.

It's not giving up and leaving.

Clickety-click, click, click.

It's making strange noises as it moves around.

It sounds somewhat like a frog croaking, and also a bit like an insect's sound.

Clickety-click, click.

Each time that sound is made, Pandan flinches.

It was then.

The creature dropped something with a thud.

It was the upper half of a human body.

It's the adventurer who had left earlier with an injured leg.

Even in death, his face was distorted with terror.

"Hnggh."

Pandan took a small breath.

He seems quite scared.

'Calm down, don't worry too much, Pandan.'

As I patted Pandan's head, Isil also extended its leaves and tapped Pandan's head.

The wyvern that had dropped the human's upper body began to eat.

It was an unusually cruel sight.

The other adventurers must be very scared too.

Meanwhile, what was I doing?

'Its poison resistance seems a bit high, but it's weak to electric attacks...'

I was assessing it.

'If I slash the wing membrane sharply... No, is it strong on the ground too?'

I was comparing the wyvern's strength to my own.

This guy looks strong, but it doesn't seem like an opponent I can't defeat in a fight.

Even with the type disadvantage between birds and snakes, it's not insurmountable.

I, Ouroboros.

Didn't I recently hunt that fire salamander that crawled up from hell?

I was about to quietly ambush it, but a moment later I changed my mind.

Hmm, not now.

Rather than now... perhaps...

At that moment, the wyvern that had finished its meal took flight.

Listening closely, you can hear a faint sound of wingbeats.

That too gradually faded away and disappeared.

We waited for a long time.

But Pandan still didn't seem to want to come out.

The other adventurers were the same.

'Let's go out now.'

I said that to Pandan, but he didn't nod easily.

So I just slipped out through the gap.

"Eek, ep!"

Pandan tried to grab my tail but failed.

Outside, the sunset was already fading.

It seemed like night would fall soon.

The wyvern was nowhere to be seen.

There were only traces of its meal, bloodstains, and a generous heap of dung the wyvern had left behind.

"Saaaaaah!"

I let out a loud roar.

Only then did the cowardly adventurers crawl out of the burrow, trembling.

Seeing that the wyvern had completely left, they let out sighs of relief.

"Damn, I really almost shit myself from fear."

"I peed myself..."

I can't believe there are such cowards.

It was too absurd, but they seemed to have their own excuses.

"So this is the wyvern fear."

Is there such a thing as wyvern fear, not dragon fear?

The strange sounds the wyvern made must have sounded quite terrifying to humans.

"Night will fall soon. Let's go over there and set up camp for the night."

Jerico, his face also pale, said so.

Fortunately, not far away, there was a terrain where the ground was black and stone pillars blocked the sky.

The adventurers staggered towards that direction.

==

"Senior Jerico."

One adventurer whispered in Jerico's ear.

"Let's go back. This is madness."

"..."

Jerico didn't answer.

"This isn't the time for wyverns to appear. I've never heard of Grey Horn Wyverns appearing at the entrance of the Blade Pillar Zone."

They had already discussed that retreat wasn't an option earlier.

But this time, even Jerico listened silently.

"It seems something has already happened in the mountain range. The information we originally had is practically useless now..."

"Hmm."

"If you're worried about returning empty-handed, how about we catch that snake and take it back?"

Jerico's eyebrow twitched.

"If we take that back, wouldn't the client be satisfied? It looks quite unusual, and at a glance, it seems to be a unique species of monster..."

Indeed, wasn't the adventurer party they were supposed to support also moving to find 'something precious'?

"It's a fairly strong monster. Although it's small and acts childishly like a kitten."

Instead of answering, the adventurer tapped the electric net gun he was carrying on his back.

With this, they could easily capture a snake like that.

Jerico's heart wavered.

Just as he was about to make a decision...

"Uh, what, what are you doing!"

One adventurer was shouting in panic.

Making such a loud noise and thrashing about, Jerico frowned deeply and turned around.

"Hurk!"

"Put it down, put it down! It's dangerous!"

The snake was holding the net gun.

Of course, it wasn't holding it with hands.

It seemed to be using magic to hold it, just like when it uses a sword.

"Calm down! What's going on!"

To panic like that, what an idiot. Jerico gritted his teeth.

There was no way a snake could handle a gun anyway.

It even had a safety catch, didn't it?

It seemed to have just touched it out of curiosity, but to panic like this...

That's when it happened.

The snake naturally loaded the ammunition.

Click!

And even released the safety catch, aiming at Jerico.

Jerico's vision went dark.

==

Magazine inserted!

Bolt forward!

Selector to single shot!

There's no selector, but.

This should work, more or less.

I've shot a gun before, after all.

And there was no time for mumbling explanations.

The prepared marksman opens fire.

Bang!

Maybe because it wasn't gunpowder-based, the sound wasn't as loud as expected.

The projectile cut through the air.

It passed over Jerico's crown.

And hit the wyvern that was clinging to and hiding on the stone pillar.

Whoosh!

The net that unfolded in the air enveloped the wyvern.

Crackle crackle crackle!

Electric sparks flew violently.

The wyvern let out a roar of pain.