I'm A Dullahan, Looking For My Head Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Repelling the Wyvern

“Grooooaarrrrr!”

The wyvern roars from behind.

It's approaching dangerously close, I feel like it could swallow us whole at any moment.

I get on Purple Flame’s back and sprint through the forest with a fear that the wyvern would use its  fire abilities on us.

I held onto Purple Flame’s back, trying not to shift my weight too much, relaxing my tense body and allowing Purple Flame to run however they want.

With each stride, a jolting shock is transmitted causing me to almost lose my balance, but I manage to endure it.

Even then, I don't tense up my body.

I heard somewhere on TV that if the rider tenses up, it could hinder the horse’s movements. So I try to sit as naturally and as balanced as possible.

Purple Flame is a smart horse who understands my words, so I’ll leave all the details up to it.

Of course, the forest isn’t all smooth paths.

Crawling trees, muddy ground, long plants that could trip us, slopes; Purple Flame charges through all of them, scattering dirt as it runs.

“...Even so, he’s persistent.”

Because of the wyvern’s body, it seems it can’t charge in as it wants to with the trees in the way.

“Gaaarrrrrr!”

It’s frightening the way it wriggles like a snake, skillfully folding its wings and approaching. It's disgustingly clever how it attacks when we reach the slope.

The monsters in this world are quite intelligent. Or is it just that I keep coincidentally encountering such creatures?

However, our Purple Flame is different from a normal horse.

This one is also a monster. Even on a slope while carrying me, Purple Flame continues to run with all its might, keeping away from the wyvern.

It’s an undead that doesn’t know fatigue. Purple Flame can continue running at full speed without stopping. If it comes down to a battle of endurance, the wyvern will be defeated.

“Hehehe, as long as you don’t breathe fire, you can’t even touch us.”

“Hihin!”

As if agreeing with my murmuring, Purple Flame lets out a short whinny.

There’s an air of mockery in the way it’s treating the wyvern.

Checking the rear cautiously,  I see that the wyvern has flown low while avoiding the trees opening its mouth wide.

Its throat glows red and it exhales a breath of flames.

“What?! You really spit out flames!?”

I pat Purple flames back urgently.

“Hihin!?”

Purple Flame also lets out a cry like “Seriously!?”

Flames, hundreds or even thousands of degrees, spread behind us.

Trees are consumed by the intense heat and monsters that happen to be passing by are instantly engulfed in flames.

Aren’t undead weak against fire!? Damn!

Just as panic sets in, a blast of intense heat brushes against my back.

“Oh, it’s hot!?”

Reflexively, I flap my arms against the sensation of heat on my back.

When I realize it, my red cloak is on fire, so I slap the cloak to extinguish the flames.

As far as I can tell by touching it, my back doesn’t seem to be melting.

My armor remains intact without changing its form. The red cloak was a little blackened, but...

The breath earlier was hot, but It’s bearable. Still, it’s hot enough to reflexively think it’s hot. I’m not a masochist, I’d rather not experience that again if possible.

Even among the undead, a dullahan's defensive power are particularly high.  Is it because it’s equipped with armor?

“Hihi! Hihiiii!”

While I’m thinking about this, I hear a frantic cry from Purple Flame.

“What’s wrong!?”

When I ask, Purple Flame unnaturally lifts its hind leg.

Looking back, I see that the tip of Purple Flame’s red tail is on fire.

Shifting my sitting position slightly back and being careful not to be thrown off, I use my hands to extinguish the fire on its tail.

“It’s out!”

“Hihin!”

Purple flame realizes the fire was put out, giving a short whinny that sounds like a ‘thank you.’

But that damn Wyvern.

Until now, It hadn’t shown any signs of having an ability to breathe fire, and since it’s a weaker species than a dragon, I thought it couldn’t use it.

How clever of you to keep your trump card, fire breathing, hidden until now.

But you fell for our provocation and showed us your trump card.

Just a degraded version of a dragon after all. Hahaha.

“Aaaah! It’s a little hot!”

Damn it, it spat out another breath. Quite cocky for a wyvern.

However, even wyverns are living creatures. They can’t endlessly breathe fire.

From what I can see, that should be consuming a lot of energy. It’s not even an undead, and it’s decided to fight that way.

I don’t know how many more breaths it can produce, but if I get hit by one unexpectedly due to a steep slope or an accident while it’s closing in, even I won’t be able to handle it.

I think I can eventually win in an endurance battle, but there’s a risk there too.

It would be nice if there was a way to attack from a distance here, but there’s only Purple Flame and I. There is no such technique between us.

Trying to find something, I observe my surroundings, but since we’re running at full speed, the scenery is rushing past at an incredible speed.

It’s difficult to spot anything, and even if there was something, I can’t stop because the wyvern is closing in from behind.

While pondering if there’s anything useful, I hear Purple Flame’s voice from below.

“Hihin!”

This is the sound it makes when it wants to warn.

Looking ahead, I see a thick branch sticking out to the side.

If I continue like this, it will hit me directly and I’ll likely fall off the horse.

I lower my posture... but I changed my mind.

“Hihin?”

“Slow down a little and keep going.”

Purple raises a puzzled cry, but follows the instructions to slow down and keep running.

As we approach the thick branch coming toward my abdomen, I raise my right arm high.

“Hup!”

I bring my hand down in a chopping motion.

The power that can easily break large rocks is transferred to the lateral branch, making a dry sound as it splits.

I catch it immediately.

It’s a thick branch with a nice sharp point.

“Goooaarrrrr!”

From behind, the wyvern is closing in on us at a tremendous speed.

They must have judged that we were slowing down because we were tired or weak.

Small trees hit its body and wings, but it continues without concern, snapping them as it advances.

It’s as if it’s saying it will finish us off here. Its physical stamina must be reaching its limit.

“Keep running at reduced speed!”

To Purple Flame, who is trying to increase their speed, I give instructions to maintain the current pace.

The distance between us and the wyvern, which was opened earlier, is rapidly closing.

If the wyvern were to breathe fire from that position, it would engulf us.

However, it doesn’t seem to be in a state to do so, given its exhaustion.

Perhaps it still has the ability, but maybe it’s range has been shortened.

Either way, it’s not a problem since my intention is to get close to that distance.

“Goooaarrrrr!”

Twisting its body and vigorously flapping its wings, the wyvern opens its mouth wide and approaches.

Its ferocious fangs, as if ready to crush everything, ominously gleam.

The wyvern’s vividly exposed mouth is unsettling to look at.

Its reptilian face is grotesque even for a reptile, and its large, yellow eyes, are like those from a bird of prey.

I observe the inside of its mouth without rushing, but there’s no red glow.

It looks like they’ve decided to finish us off with its fangs.

I hold the thick branch like a spear and throw it with all my might into the approaching wyvern’s mouth.

The wooden spear propelled by the Dullahan’s power cuts through the air at high speed and pierces the wyvern’s throat.

“Gagyaaarrrrr!?”

The wyvern let out a painful scream. It collapses to the side of the path, writhing its body as if in agony while snapping trees in the process.

“Alright right! Now, Purple Flame! Full speed ahead!”

“Hihiin!”

Purple Flame and I quickly accelerate and race through the forest.

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