Chapter 46: Dark Sister

Ser Meryln bowed deeply, his heavy iron gauntlet slamming against his chest plate.

"By your will, Lord Viscount!" Turning on his heel, he barked orders at his formation.

"2nd Division, draw your weapons! Secure the left flank and drive the beasts inward! Move out!"

With a synchronized march of boots and the sharp clatter of spears, Ser Meryln’s fifty soldiers, three Sword Runners, and five Sword Apprentices plunged into the black underbrush, moving swiftly toward the southern hunting grounds.

Craig watched their departure with a faint, satisfied smile.

Standing just behind Dark Sister’s massive, resting form were the two armored war stallions of Ser Gunther and Ser Hughway.

The high-ranking officers sat erect in their saddles, their reins held taut, patiently awaiting their lord’s final deployment.

Craig turned his head, his dark golden eyes locking onto the two Rankers.

"I shall be hunting independently alongside Dark Sister," Craig declared smoothly. "You two are permitted to follow my vector from the ground. However, you will not simply act as spectators.

As you track my path, you are expected to actively clear any beasts that cross your route."

He paused, his expression turning sharp and demanding. "Since both of you are seasoned Rankers, my expectations are high. By the time our sweep concludes, I expect to see at least ten dead 1st-Tier Abominations credited to your blades... and three living specimens secured and captured for the castle’s beast pens."

Ser Hughway smiled proudly, while Ser Gunther bowed his head low over his stallion’s mane.

"Your expectations shall be met, Lord Viscount."

"Good," Craig murmured.

Turning his back to them, he unbuckled his side strap and smoothly scaled the dragon’s scaled foreleg, swinging himself into the heavy leather saddle perched between her massive shoulder blades.

Gripping the reins tight, Craig leaned over her neck and shouted in the commanding, guttural tongue of his ancient bloodline:

"Tegros, Dark Sister! Valah!"

(Fly, Dark Sister! Ascend!)

Dark Sister let out a low, vibrating growl of obedience. With a single, explosive push of her massive hind legs, she launched her colossal body into the air.

BOOM!

Her massive wings unfurled and beat violently against the atmospheric draft, generating a devastating shockwave that flattened the surrounding shrubbery, kicked up a blinding storm of dirt and black leaves, and forced the two Rankers below to lower their visors against the flying debris.

She soared rapidly above the obsidian canopy.

But instead of turning south toward the red-scaled sheep territory where both divisions were currently operating, Dark Sister cut a sharp, aggressive path directly toward the northern quadrant of the Jeju Forest.

From the dirt road below, Ser Hughway noticed the dragon’s rapid northward trajectory.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he dug his iron spurs into his stallion’s flanks.

"Hyah!"

The warhorse let out a fierce whinny and surged forward into a full gallop, tearing up the northern trail.

Ser Gunther drew his longsword, grinning as he whipped his own mount to match Hughway’s speed.

They were heading straight into the domain of the Three-Headed Rhinos—monstrous 1st-Tier Abominations whose physical defense, raw mass, and unstoppable charging force made them far more lethal and destructive than the red-scaled sheep in the south.

High above the dark, suffocating clouds, the whistling wind howled past Craig’s ears.

A pure, unadulterated thrill coursed through his veins.

He couldn’t help but let out a rich, ringing laugh as Dark Sister playfully rolled and banked through the obsidian mist, reveling in the sky like a creature untethered from the world.

Then, Craig’s golden eyes narrowed as he spotted a vast thicket of black iron-wood trees below, heavy with the oppressive mana signatures of dozens of massive beasts.

Craig leaned forward, his voice booming over the roaring wind like a thunderclap:

"Drakarion!"

(Dragonfire!)

Dark Sister threw her head back, her throat glowing with a terrifying, radiant crimson light.

Opening her wide, jagged maw, she unleashed a cascading torrent of thick, dark dragonfire down onto the northern forest canopy.

This was no ordinary flame.

Dragonfire born of an Abyssal Child was deeply contaminated with raw, unrefined abyssal mana.

It burned with a sickening, void-black core surrounded by blood-red fringes, consuming stone, wood, and metal alike.

It was ten times more volatile, adhesive, and terrifying than any spell a high-class Fire Mage could ever hope to invoke.

BOOM!

The hellish fire impacted the black trees, exploding outward in a roaring wave of pure incineration.

The black leaves vaporized instantly, and the intense heat ignited the very soil beneath the grove.

Piercing, shrieking roars reverberated across the northern lands as a massive herd of Three-Headed Rhinos was flushed out of their burning habitat.

Towering higher than two armored men and encased in thick, rocky hide, the beasts panicked as the unquenchable black flames licked at their flanks.

Driven wild by pain and terror, dozens of the three-headed monstrosities stampeded helter-skelter through the woods, splintering trees and crushing boulder formations in their desperate bid to escape.

Craig’s laughter echoed above the chaos.

He gripped the leather saddle with one hand and pointed his arming sword downward with the other, issuing the attack command in High Darkstarian:

"Mrakelyres, Dark Sister! Zaldrīzes gēlis!"

(Incinerate them, Dark Sister! Crush them!)

Dark Sister folded her wings tightly against her flanks and plummeted into a steep, terrifying nose-dive straight into the heart of the burning forest.

CRASH!

Her enormous frame sliced through ancient, centuries-old trees as if they were fragile twigs.

Branches snapped and shattered in every direction as she broke through the canopy, her massive shadow enveloping a frantic cluster of five Three-Headed Rhinos attempting to cross a clearing.

Before the beasts could even raise their three-horned heads, Dark Sister’s massive, razor-sharp talons slammed down with crushing, mountain-cleaving weight.

PUP!

Her curved claws cut through the rock-hard armor plating of two 1st-Tier Rhinos like soft butter, instantly crushing their ribcages and pinning their mangled bodies to the rupturing earth.

As the remaining three rhinos scattered in a frenzied panic, Dark Sister snapped her heavy, whip-like spiked tail in a vicious horizontal arc.

BANG!

The blunt impact caught a third rhino square in its side, shattering its ribs and sending the several-ton beast flying fifty yards through the air until it smashed violently against a stone cliff face, dying instantly.

Driven into a wild, predatory frenzy by the scent of fresh, hot abomination blood, Dark Sister lunged forward.

Her massive jaws opened wide, snapping down directly onto the middle neck of a fourth rhino.

CRUNCH!

With a terrifying display of raw physical force, her razor-sharp teeth sheared cleanly through bone, muscle, and thick hide, biting the massive 1st-Tier Abomination completely in half.

Black, corrupted blood sprayed across the burning clearing like a fountain.

Dark Sister threw her head back, swallowing the top half of the beast whole, letting out a deep, vibrating huff of pure pleasure as the sweet, mana-rich flesh hit her stomach.

She roared into the smoke-filled air, her violet eyes blazing with absolute madness as she prepared to slaughter the rest of the herd.