Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 385: Venomthorn Wyvern

The wyvern was enormous and it only looked larger when it stood, dragging its massive tail and hind legs from the swamp it had been resting in. Its entire body, from snout to tail tip, had to be around twenty meters long. It had clawed hindlegs, while its wings also served as its forelimbs. The scales that covered its body were a poisonous, swamp-like green that shimmered faintly in the dim light, perfectly matching this wretched place. Along its shoulders, back, tail, and legs sprouted multiple sharp thorns that looked like something no sane person would ever want to touch.Its glowing green eyes locked on Thalion, and he didn’t hesitate for even a second—he switched to his human form, activating Crimson Gaze and immediately following up with Identify.

Venomthorn Wyvern – Level 121

Thalion’s stomach tightened. This was a high-rarity beast, forty levels above him. His health was sitting at sixty percent after flying through the mist, and his mana hovered at fifty percent from repeatedly using his bloodline skill to heal himself. He had also lost his armor, his Blade of the Blooded Templar, and the ground beneath him was a soggy mess of mud and tangled grass. Not the best footing for a fight of this scale.

Dragons and wyverns were notorious for their resistance to skills—magical or otherwise. Physical attacks were the fastest and often the only reliable way to bring them down. Thalion guessed it would work here too, though it meant he’d have to rely heavily on raw strength. Speaking of fast—there wasn’t much time left. Killing his first wyvern in under five minutes would be a challenge even for him.

With the wyvern’s absurd resistances, he didn’t expect his bloodline skill to kill it in one strike. So what would be the best form for this fight?

The eagle was out of the question—he’d poison himself just flying through the mist. The Crippled Eclipsari had strength and darkness to counter the poison, but without stable ground to stand on, dodging would be difficult. He’d have to use his tendrils, and if the wyvern took to the air, things would get complicated fast.

The Tidecaller Serpent wasn’t a bad idea for a swamp, and its scales would likely resist both the acid and the poison in the water. The problem was offense. The serpent had none. It was a caster, not a brawler. And Thalion had no clue how deep the pond was—or what else might be lurking in it.

That left only one form. His human one.

He no longer had his sword, which would have been a blessing against a foe like this, but he still had his curse and the Sanguis Impera. He wasn’t sure how well the wyvern’s scales would resist his empowered blood skills, but he was about to find out. What he already knew was that its mental defense was decent—the creature’s head had flinched slightly from Crimson Gaze, but that had been all.

The wyvern’s head snapped back toward him, its maw opening wide before it exhaled a green torrent of death in his direction. Thalion hovered twenty meters above it, unimpressed by the attack. He released an empowered Mana Wave that tore through the wyvern’s breath, dispersing it and clearing the mist around them entirely.

Flames burst to life around Thalion as he stopped suppressing his bloodline, letting its full power surge through him. He downed another mana potion just to be sure—he needed his reserves at full strength to go all out and still have enough for his finisher.

The wyvern ceased its breath attack and erupted from the swamp with a violent splash. With two powerful beats of its massive wings, it was suddenly in front of Thalion, snapping its jaws down.

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He had been preparing an empowered Phalanx of the Blooded Templar, but the bite came too fast—he was forced to abandon the spell and dodge. A direct hit would’ve killed him instantly. He needed a clean, empowered Phalanx to injure it, maybe rip holes in the wings first to limit its mobility.

Instead, Thalion summoned Claws of the Blooded Templar around his hands while the Sanguis Impera unleashed a barrage of blood thorns at the wyvern’s wings and body. The thorns shredded through the wing membranes but failed to pierce the dense green scales covering the rest of it.

Thalion didn’t hold back. He dashed under the wyvern using Telekinetic Dash and slashed upward as if he wanted to part the heavens. Ten red arcs tore into the creature’s underbelly—but they didn’t pierce the scales. A few scales ripped loose, but no blood flowed.

The wings were different—the curse took hold there perfectly, but the wyvern’s natural regeneration immediately began to fight back. Thalion tried to guide the flames around him toward the wings to stabilize the curse, but the wyvern’s tail came out of nowhere, slamming into his midsection.

Pain exploded through his body as he was hurled backward, crashing hard into the ground. Several ribs cracked, and his health dropped by thirty percent in one blow. Normally, he wasn’t caught off guard so easily, but the wyvern had hidden its intent perfectly—and he’d been too focused on offense to dodge in time.

He tried to rise, but the pain forced him to one knee. The spikes on the wyvern’s tail had punctured deep into his flesh, delivering a fresh dose of poison. Until now, Thalion had never encountered a toxin that could survive his self-healing and the Sanguis Impera, which usually countered poisons outright. But this venom was different. His vision wavered, the world tilting like a ship in rough seas.

The burning pain inside him was unbearable—it felt like his organs were melting—but he gritted his teeth and forced it aside. When the wyvern’s claw came crashing down to crush him, Thalion dissolved into mist, dodging the attack at the last moment. The impact shook the swamp, sending waves of mud outward.

The damage wasn’t too bad, so he resisted the urge to use his bloodline skill just yet. He wanted to save it as his ace—his finisher. It might not be the most efficient, but it was by far his strongest. If the wyvern was wounded and tired, it could end the fight.

The ground shook violently as the wyvern landed, claws sinking into the wet grass where Thalion had just stood.

Reappearing thirty meters above, Thalion raised both hands and unleashed a torrent of fire down upon the beast. The jetstream of crimson flames aimed straight for the wings—if he could burn them away, the wyvern wouldn’t be able to take off or dodge. The creature was far too heavy to move quickly through the swamp anyway.

But another worry gnawed at him: where was the antidote? What if he destroyed it by accident? Or worse—what if the wyvern didn’t have one at all?

The wyvern didn’t give him time to think. It opened its maw once again, releasing another breath of poison—this one far more concentrated. The attack met Thalion’s flames in midair, pushing back with overwhelming force. The collision roared like a storm, and the wyvern’s breath began to overpower his fire entirely.

Thalion poured more power into his flames, but the wyvern did the same. The poisonous breath surged forward until Sanguis Impera intervened, launching another barrage of thorns that pierced through the wyvern’s already damaged wings. The creature flinched, its breath faltering for an instant.

Thalion seized the opening. He stopped his torrent of fire and dashed to the right using Telekinetic Dash, his movement enhanced by blood control. The Claws of the Blooded Templar flared, and when he swung again, ten crimson arcs ripped through the air, completely shredding what was left of the wyvern’s wing membranes.

The wyvern screamed in pain and fury. Its head jerked back toward him, but Thalion was faster—he hit it with another Crimson Gaze. The beast’s head snapped aside, dazed.

That was the opening he needed.

Instinct took over. He triggered his bloodline skill.

His body ignited, turning into a silhouette of dark red fire as he appeared directly before the wyvern. Both hands gripped a massive broadsword that pulsed with growing power.

There were only two minutes and fifty-three seconds left on the clock.

Either he killed the wyvern now, or it was over.