Made some small changes to the previous chapter, but they are minor enough where nothing of importance will be missed in this chapter, if you were to skip re-reading chapter three.
This is also going to mark the end of the first arc, lol. Forgive me for taking a while to delve into the details of relationship and world building. I'm glad that people are enjoying this fanfiction, I'm having a blast writing this story lol. Coming from someone who's been writing Tokyo Ghoul fanfic for a while, it's refreshing to see so much interest for this story.
Without further adieu, please enjoy this action-packed chapter! The author's notes will be at the bottom.
Breaking out of the emergent layer of the forest, and through all the treetop branches that had concealed its massive form, the Ancient Wyvern immediately took a deep breath in as it took flight into the starry sky. Charging up a powerful spell in the back of its fiery glowing throat, the Ancient Wyvern immediately decided to cause a wildfire by raising its maw up to the heavens themselves.
"REVAK LOK YOL!!!" The Ancient Wyvern shouted with its thunderous voice, as an echo that reverberated the fabric of reality itself shook the skies and parted the clouds above. Invoking the might of the cosmos themselves, the Ancient Wyvern had called upon a shower of meteorites to rain down on the woods.
And as the Earth shook violently as fiery craters created from the impacts of the meteorites ignited to the forest below, the Ancient Wyvern took advantage of the rising black smoke by using it conceal its colossal body, as it began flying around in a massive circle; keeping its keen eyes out for any sight of Goblin Slayer, while using its own fiery breath to create a ring of fire to entrap its armored opponent.
And as fire rained down from outer space and onto the burning forest, the magically enchanted water breathing ring that Goblin Slayer had on him was what was preventing him from suffocating from the smoke filled air around him. As for Kaguya, even though she had taken the physical form of a rabbit due to being unable to maintain her usual divine goddess form, she was still a celestial being who was above the need of what carbon-based life forms needed to survive, and thus she didn't need to breath the taint air around her.
Despite their abilities to survive the normally unbreathable air in their hostile environment, neither Goblin Slayer or Kaguya had any immunity to the falling branches covered in flames, the meteorites that were tearing the ground around them, nor did they have a solution yet as to how they were going to escape from the ring of fire that they were trapped inside of.
However, what the Ancient Wyvern didn't know was that Kaguya was able to use her byakugans to have a constant 360 degree x-ray vision on everything around her, and her Rinne-Sharigan was feeding her mine with foresight of what immediate dangers were heading toward their way. Relaying the information over to Goblin Slayer of where to stand in order to avoid getting harmed by falling debris and meteorites, Kaguya was able to keep both herself and her champion safe from the Ancient Wyvern's strategic attempt at ending the armored man's life.
"Twelve meters, four o' clock. Stand there for exactly fifteen seconds, and then retreat twenty meters to your left; nine o' clock. Be fast, two branches are going to come falling during that small window of time; do not get caught in it," Kaguya instructed Goblin Slayer with her mastery of strategic thinking, as she continued to hold on tightly to his chainmail with her small rabbit claws.
"I see," Goblin Slayer replied back to acknowledge the rabbit goddess' orders, before immediately sprinting diagonally to his right side; slide kicking at the last minute to narrowly avoid getting caught in the blast radius of the meteorite that Kaguya saw coming. Using his allotted fifteen seconds wisely, Goblin Slayer quickly rose up to his feet and reached behind in his leather back-pouch to pull out another stamina potion. Popping the cork off of its top, Goblin Slayer was counting the passing seconds as he downed the entire vial before tossing it into a nearby burning bush.
"Go," Kaguya instructed, as she herself had been keeping track of time alongside Goblin Slayer. With his limited vision, the armored man was able to again cut through the bleak smoke that would have been burning him from the inside out, had he not had his enchanted ring on. Feeling the ash that was falling from the burning treetops like snow landing on his matted hair and sweaty skin, from some of it getting through the gaps of his soot-covered visor, Goblin Slayer sped right by the falling foliage that Kaguya had predicted, and had to throw himself forward at the last second, just to get on the ground in time to avoid getting hit with the molten pieces of shrapnel from the exploding meteorite behind him.
With his chest against the blackened grass of what was left of the forest floor, Goblin Slayer was taking in deep breaths that were magically being filtered by the ring he wore. "… What now?" He asked in a calm voice, as Kaguya used her special vision to observe the Ancient Wyvern and the leftover magicka from its casted spell, as she planned their next move.
"… The meteors stopped, and the beast landed down in an opening north, approximately fifty meters from where we are. Its… Using its tongue to taste the air… The iron. The iron in your armor, its using that and your sweat to track you down," Kaguya relayed over to Goblin Slayer, as she was able to vividly see the Ancient Wyvern lift its bearded head up while its serpent-like forked tongue flicked up-and-down past its razor-sharp teeth.
"Its… Its coming closer," Kaguya warned, as the sound of crisped trees splintering and falling onto the ground could be heard coming towards their direction, along with the heavy steps of the Ancient Wyvern's claws colliding with the newly terraformed forest floor.
Although the Ancient Wyvern didn't have the same insightful capabilities that Kaguya's eyes had, its powerful sense of smell and taste was a close contender. Fueled by its anger of having been stripped of the land that once rightfully belong to it, the hatred it harbored for the humans who had populated it, and by its damaged pride, the Ancient Wyvern was savoring over the of the ways it could deliver its wrath upon Goblin Slayer, who it saw as someone who had personally challenged it the moment they made eye contact.
Growling hot breath out of its flared nostrils that made the black smoke around the burning forest seem like chilly air in comparison to its own internal temperature, the Ancient Wyvern drew closer and closer, until finally stopping once it reached a lone patch of green flora that had survived its fiery wrath.
Letting out an enraged and mighty roar at where it thought its opponent was attempting to hide from it, the Ancient Wyvern extended its right winged-arm out into the green bush, and immediately felt around with its long and sharp claws until it finally felt Goblin Slayer's warm and sweat-covered iron armor. Fueled by the thought that it had been underestimated, the Ancient Wyvern crushed the metal armor in its grasp, while using its opposable thumb to press down on Goblin Slayer's helmet; effortlessly smashing it into a chunk of wet scrap.
Feeling warm blood and other bodily fluids dripping down its claws and palm, the Ancient Wyvern growled with sadistic excitement as it eagerly pulled out what it thought to be the body of its opponent out from the bush. However, upon pulling out the mutilated corpse out the blood-soaked leaves of the dense flora, the Ancient Wyvern's eyes widened from confusion as it raised its claw up closer to its bewildered gaze.
Inspecting the armored body in its palm after having carefully picking it apart with its claws, the Ancient Wyvern lowered its head down to try and get a better look at what it had messily ruined in its grasp; slowly realizing that what it had actually crushed was merely deer who had suffocated from the forest fire it had caused, and who had been strapped with his opponent's heavy armor.
When it finally dawned on the legendary monster that it had been tricked, it was already too late for it. Dropping down the one-hundred foot tree that had survived the fire, Goblin Slayer kept his gloved hands wrapped tightly around the black-leather handle of the bronze sword that Sword Maiden had purchased for him as a gift earlier; one that proved durable and sharp enough to go pierce straight through the fifty-foot tall monster's left eye.
Wearing only his medium-length and blue-sleeved white-shirt, his gray trousers, knee-length boots, and his gloves, Goblin Slayer was completely stripped of his armor and had only his the leather pouches connected to his belt and his sword's sheath on him, as his blade went straight through the popped eye of the Ancient Wyvern, and penetrated through the back of its bony eye socket.
Without being able to dig her claws underneath chainmail shirt that he had on previously, Kaguya had to hold on even tighter to Goblin Slayer as he straddled the top of the panicked monster's head. "It seems as though everyone has made you out to be some kind a god… Surely you're under that same impression as well," Goblin Slayer said in a intimidating voice, as he pushed down on the handle of his sword; causing the Ancient Wyvern to let out a pain-filled roar as its entire body spasmed involuntary the moment his bronze blade cut into its frontal lobe.
"H-HI R-RUTH NIKRIIN!!!" The Ancient Wyvern roared hatefully through anguished cries, as it thrashed around on one leg while trying its hardest to pull Goblin Slayer off of its head. No matter how much its half-paralyzed body flapped its wings, or tried to throw the unarmored man off by shaking its elongated neck back and forth, the Ancient Wyvern was unable to knock Goblin Slayer off of him.
Sinking the blade even deeper into the massive head of the legendary monster, half of Goblin Slayer's arm had gone inside the Ancient Wyvern's bloodied eye socket as he continued to push down the handle, until the hilt of his weapon hit the bony back of its eye socket. "… Even if you are as powerful as they said you were, to me, you're just as gullible as a goblin," he said bitterly, before suddenly leaping inside the large gorey cavity within where the Ancient Wyvern's left eye once was.
Keeping Kaguya tucked into his chest with one hand, Goblin Slayer was using his legs and his grasp on the handle of the bronze sword he had buried inside the legendary monster's brain to keep himself from falling out of its skull. Using her knowledge of anatomy to coincide with her x-ray vision, Kaguya proceeded to instruct Goblin Slayer on how much pressure to apply on the handle, and to what angle to turn it, as to force the Ancient Wyvern to move against its will.
"Left, down… Apply pressure at a sixty-degree angle… Good, now turn it and pull up… Just like that, good," Kaguya said while concentrating on the exact way she needed Goblin Slayer to manipulate the bronze sword to control the Ancient Wyvern. And as the duo were controlling its movements against its own control, the Ancient Wyvern was purposely roaring in agony and rage as Goblin Slayer forced it to take flight out of the burning woods, and over the ring of fire that had already grown double in size and intensity.
Without the brain function to cast any protective spells, the Ancient Wyvern jerked its muscles as it tried to regain control of its own body through sheer willpower alone; making it that much more harder for Goblin Slayer and Kaguya to steer it toward the nearby lake that they were planning on using to drown it. Realizing with its limited perception and thought process of what his invasive opponent was trying to do, the Ancient Wyvern continued to purposefully resist against the control Goblin Slayer had over its body; giving them the false sense that it was completely powerless against him as they flew through the cold night sky.
Once they were flying above the massive body of freshwater that they had led him over, Kaguya was providing Goblin Slayer with the exact way she wanted him to move the handle; guiding him on how to safely dive through the surface of the lake, as to avoid causing them to suffer from any physical trauma along the way.
However, just as they were beginning to descend down toward where the moonlight was dancing on the surface of the dark waters below, the Ancient Wyvern suddenly stopped resisting against Kaguya's carefully instructed movements, causing the legendary monster to suddenly take a nosedive down toward the lake below.
"Pull up, pull up, pull up!" Kaguya ordered frantically with her tiny rabbit heart beating in her chest, as she found herself trying to think of a way of how they could regain control of the plummeting fifty-foot tall monster. Digging her claws into Goblin Slayer's chest, Kaguya was barely hanging on as they clung on for dear life as the Ancient Wyvern's body tumbled down from over two thousand feet in the air.
Even though Goblin Slayer was doing exactly what the white horned rabbit had been practically screaming at him to do, the Ancient Wyvern had already set its course, and no matter how much he tried to force the monster to use its massive wingspan to slow down the fall, the time that they needed to catch enough air resistance to soften their crash had already passed, and there had gotten to the point of no return with how close they were to the ice-cold water below.
"Stay close to me," Goblin Slayer commanded in a protective tone, despite sounding calm and collected like he always did. Feeling his insides getting shaken up by the g-force he and Kaguya were being subjected to, Goblin Slayer was clenching his jaw tight and tucking his legs close to his chest; planning on using his thighs to protect Kaguya's fragile body, as the Ancient Wyvern's massive body finally crashed through the surface of the ice-cold water; creating a tidal wave and sixty-meter tall in its wake.
Although the legendary monster's body had absorbed most of the force from the initial impact, the rushing water that flushed into the Ancient Wyvern's eye socket was powerful enough to rip the sword right out of the back of its head. With nothing to grab onto, Goblin Slayer's broken body was pulled out of his advantageous position, all while using his one still functional arm to protectively hold onto Kaguya's tiny frame.
The pressure of the water with how deep they were was enough to crush his insides almost instantly, causing blood from his popped veins to exit from his nose and mouth. Losing consciousness from the sheer amount of trauma that his brain had suffered from the sudden shift in pressure, the last thing Goblin Slayer saw as he began to black out was the dark silhouette of the Ancient Wyvern swimming up toward the surface of the water; leaving him and Kaguya to perish as it took flight into the smoke-filled sky.
In the immediate aftermath of Goblin Slayer's battle of wits against the Ancient Wyvern within the once beautiful and tranquil forest, the entire town of the frontier had arrived to combat the massive wildfire that had been left in the wake of their battle. Those who were magically gifted were put to use by using their powers to extinguish the roaring flames that had ravaged the already broken lands of the once peaceful woods. Everyone else with an able bodied were given shovels and pickaxes, and instructed by Guild Girl to dig out trenches, in order protect the nearby orchards and farms from falling victim to the blazing fire.
And while everyone else from town who had survived the initial onslaught of the Ancient Wyvern was doing their part in fighting the forest fire, all of Goblin Slayer's companions who had been there at the tavern with him were relentlessly searching for their friend through the parts of the flora that had been cleared of any fires. Throughout the hour-long search that they were planning on conducting until they found a clue of what became of Goblin Slayer, it was finally Sword Maiden who came across his destroyed armor that lay scattered and melted in a pile of ash.
Devastated at what she had found, Sword Maiden fell silently to her knees; tears bleeding through her black blindfold as her trembling hands reached down to grab a hold of what was left of her beloved's helmet. Cradling the ruined scrap metal close to her breasts, Sword Maiden eventually was discovered by the rest of Goblin Slayer's companions; all of which joined her in mourning for what they thought to be the death of their dear friend.
And while all of that was happening, just further up North, Cow Girl and her uncle were taking part in their own emergency action plan, along with the rest of their neighboring farmers. Dressed in her black denim overalls and white loosely fitting t-shirt, Cow Girl was covered in a thick layer of sweat by the time she had finished doing her part after helping with the last ditch that needed to be dug out.
By the end of it, everyone who had participated in the operation was exhausted and tired. Eventually, Cow Girl's uncle was the one who stepped up and suggested for all of the neighboring farmers to go home and start packing their belongings, in case they needed to evacuate further up north. Knowing just how worried his niece was of what might have become of her beloved childhood friend, Cow Girl's uncle didn't want her to be alone at the house, and nor did he want her to sit around with nothing but her anxious thoughts to distract her. So, in order to keep her busy, Cow Girl's uncle made up a chore for her to do on the top of his head, and that was to ask her to make her way to the nearby lake to check on what had made that giant splash.
Cow Girl knew what her uncle was trying to do for her, she left her pickaxe with him and brought an iron dagger and oil lantern with her for her own protection, as she took a midnight stroll over toward where the lake was. Before beginning on our journey that was meant to help clear her mind, Cow Girl was instructed by her uncle to avoid trouble, and to return home immediately if she felt as though she was in danger.
Walking through the dirt path and underneath the thick black cloud of the starless sky, Cow Girl was left alone with her anxious thoughts as she continued making her way toward the recreational area near the lakeside. Feeling sick to her stomach from the grim and depressing sight of her surroundings only made Cow Girl's mind begin to fixate on wondering where Goblin Slayer was, and if he was even still alive.
'He's strong… He's brave, unrelenting, and undefeatable. If anyone could survive that dragon-thing, it would be him,' Cow Girl tried thinking optimistically to herself, in spite of the bright orange light of the forest fire that was just over the horizon that she was trying her hardest to not worry about. Try as she might, Cow Girl's overly active imagination began to cause her fingers to tighten around the handle of the oil lantern, as horrible thoughts of what could have gone wrong began to plague her fragile mind.
'… But then again, he hasn't really gone up against anything that wasn't a goblin or hobgoblin before; not purposefully, at least. Every time that I've heard of him fighting something else that wasn't a goblin, it always seemed like he had pulled through just by the skin of his teeth,' Cow Girl realized with dread washing over her, after that sudden thought crossed her worried mind. 'That thing was massive… What if… What if this time was different? What if… What if this… T-This…'
Unable to finish her thought, Cow Girl's chest began to tighten and her breathing started to quicken. Cow Girl's widened eyes were soon shaking along with the rest of her trembling body, as her brisk walking pace soon slowed down to a sudden halt. On the edge of having a mental breakdown while out alone in the dead of night, before her light headed mind could stray too far from her surroundings, Cow Girl was suddenly distracted from her spiraling thoughts the moment her blue eyes caught sight of a white horned rabbit that was hopping toward her from just up the path she was on.
Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Cow Girl narrowed her eyes and knelt down to get a better look at how unique the white rabbit looked before her; its matted-wet fur had a gentle white-illumiseen to it, which immediately reminded the red-headed woman of the full moon. "W-What on Earth are you supposed to be…? Why do you look so strange, little bunny…?" She asked in a cooing voice, while feeling slightly cheered up at the endorphins she was getting from seeing the cute rabbit waving its paws frantically at her.
"Hmm…? Oh… A… Are you trying to tell me something, little bunny?" Cow Girl asked with an intrigued and perplexed look on her face, to which the horned white rabbit replied by nodding its head rapidly back at her; shocking her to the point that she found herself letting out an involuntary gasp. "You…! You can understand what I'm s-saying…!? Oh…! O-Oh wow, that's- Hey, where are you going…?!" Cow Girl asked in a confused voice, as she watched the rabbit suddenly turn its tail toward her, before quickly hopping forward down the trail they were on; stopping only once to turn around, so it could signal with a nod for Cow Girl to follow it.
Although the thought of the rabbit trying to lead her into a trap did cross her mind, Cow Girl couldn't help but to feel compelled to trust the mysterious white creature out of a sense from her own intuition. Keeping a tight hold on her oil lantern, Cow Girl was running as fast as her muscular legs could carry her as the white horned rabbit led her further and further down the path, until finally her heart nearly stopped the moment it led her to where Goblin Slayer was standing, dripping wet, in the middle of the path ahead.
"E… E-Eren?! EREN!!!" Cow Girl screamed with a heart wrenching cry of despair, as she dropped the oil lantern on the ground to rush over to where her childhood friend came tumbling down forward. Throwing herself forward to catch him in her protective arms, Cow Girl held Goblin Slayer's bloodied and broken body close to her chest as she skidded across the field of grass that surrounded the dirt path they had been on.
Soaked from head to toe, and violently shivering from how cold he was, Goblin Slayer's body had given out to the point where he couldn't see, hear, or even feel Cow Girl, as she tried using her own body heat to warm him up. Having been led solely on where to go from Kaguya's instructions alone, Goblin Slayer had been on Death door's the entire time since he used his fractured bones to pull himself out of the ice-cold lake.
"You're in the arms of your childhood friend now… She's attempting to warm you up with her arms and breath. From this point forth, your fate is in her hands," Kaguya said in a somber voice to Goblin Slayer, as she stood on all fours beside where Cow Girl was beginning to lift him up in her arms, bridal style. "I shall come with you, and do what I can to aid you… Rest now, Goblin Slayer; you have earned it."
Limibly being carried in Cow Girl's warm and loving embrace, as she ran as fast as she could back to her uncle's farmhouse, Goblin Slayer had a glossy look in her scarlet eyes as he stared blankly in front of his face at where the black smoke had blocked out the sky above. "It… It got away," was all Goblin Slayer had left inside of him to say, before immediately succumbing to his injuries and blood loss within an instant.
And just like that, the first battle between Goblin Slayer and the Ancient Wyvern resulted in a stalemate, as both of them got their asses kicked by the end of it.
And just like chapter three before I revised it, Goblin Slayer and Cow Girl know each others' real names, and address each other by them. Named after the main protagonist of Attack on Titan, I've chosen to give Goblin Slayer the name "Eren".
The next chapter is going to lead into Goblin Slayer immediately wanting to peruse the Ancient Wyvern, as he knows the danger of allowing for it to regain strength, especially now that the Ancient Wyvern has gotten experience from what to expect when engaging with him. Any element of suprise that Goblin Slayer had going for him is now extremely limited, so in his mind, their best chance at neutralizing the Ancient Wyvern is to finish off while its still recovering from its wounds.
With that being said, Goblin Slayer also now has to give up the element of suprise altogether, because the Ancient Wyvern is going to be expecting him to try and go through the old stronghold it used to call home: The Sun Fort. Depending on what I decide, I meant have Goblin Slayer travel to the Sun Fort with a limited party, as I can imagine that most of his companions would want to travel back home to check on their families, or be busy with their own life after such a catastrophe had occured.
The only exception I can think of to that assumption, if I were to go down that route, would be Sword Maiden and Cow Girl, both of which would want to accompany Goblin Slayer; especially after Sword Maiden found his armor and was the first to think that he died, and with Cow Girl seeing the state Goblin Slayer was when she rescued him. Just a thought though, since writing too big of a party at once can lessen the interactions Goblin Slayer has with others.
But that's only after Goblin Slayer gets re-armed and gets a new set of armor, because as of now he is completely DRIPLESS.
Until then though, have a great day and take care.