Chapter 905: So... how did this happen?
The cold wind continued to blow across the mountain range as the mountain slowly returned to silence after the battle.
Or at least... to the kind of silence possible after a colossal creature had just been beaten to death against a cliff.
The Wyvern’s body remained partially sunk in the crater opened by Samira’s last blow. Dark blood seeped slowly between the shattered rocks while smoke still rose from parts of the creature’s broken scales.
The Asgardian soldiers avoided getting too close.
Smart of them.
Samira walked around the corpse, wiping the blood from her hands with a torn piece of her own clothing while breathing slowly, still trying to dissipate the absurd adrenaline of the combat.
She seemed dangerously satisfied.
Xyn remained seated on the destroyed trunk, dangling one leg in the air as she watched the men finish carefully securing the eggs to the reinforced transport structures.
Agnes continued to examine the Wyvern’s body. More specifically, his condition.
The injuries.
The musculature.
The marks on the scales.
She crouched near the creature’s mangled head while adjusting her glasses.
"Curious..."
Samira raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Agnes slowly ran her fingers over one of the bony plates near the creature’s neck.
"He was thin."
Xyn turned his face toward her.
"Thin?"
"For a specimen of that size, yes." Agnes carefully observed the monster’s body structure. "The musculature is worn down. The mana consumption also seems irregular."
Samira crossed her arms.
"So he was desperate?"
"Possibly."
One of the nearby soldiers hesitated before commenting:
"Reports said he was attacking practically anything that appeared on the routes."
Agnes nodded.
"And that’s not normal behavior."
Xyn finally jumped lightly off the log.
"I thought it was obvious."
Everyone looked at her.
She took another lazy bite of the apple before continuing:
"Food."
Samira frowned.
"Do you think he was hunting because he was hungry?"
"Probably." Xyn casually pointed to the forest below the mountain. "Shura practically exterminated half the fauna near the industrial areas."
Silence fell immediately.
Because that... made too much sense.
Agnes narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Go on."
Xyn seemed perfectly relaxed as she slowly walked to the edge of the slope.
"Think about it." She pointed to the distant horizon where Asgard’s enormous chimneys spewed constant smoke into the gray sky. "The city grew too fast."
Samira observed the landscape in silence.
And it was true.
Asgard had changed drastically in the last few months.
The ancient wilderness near the walls was already partially devastated by urban expansion, mining, railway construction, and massive resource gathering.
Entire forests had disappeared.
Mountains had been carved out.
Rivers diverted.
And above all...
Shura.
Samira let out a small sigh.
"That damned thing really hunts everything that moves."
"Because he feeds half the city single-handedly," Xyn replied calmly.
One of the soldiers looked uncomfortable.
"It’s not exactly his fault..."
"I didn’t say it was."
Agnes stood up slowly, observing the dead Wyvern again.
"The smaller creatures started migrating weeks ago." Her expression became more serious. "We received reports about it."
Samira tilted her head slightly.
"We received them?"
"I received them." Agnes corrected calmly. "Abandoned nests. Altered migratory routes. Larger predators descending further south."
Xyn shrugged.
"Because the entire ecosystem is being crushed."
The wind blew through the mountain again.
This time stronger.
The soldiers exchanged uncomfortable glances.
Because no one there really wanted to think too deeply about it.
Asgard was powerful.
Asgard was growing.
Asgard had survived the Beast Monarch and emerged even more monstrous.
But growth of that scale always took its toll.
Even in nature.
Samira looked again at the gigantic corpse.
"Then it started attacking caravans because there weren’t enough prey anymore."
"Not only that," Agnes replied.
She pointed to the destroyed nest.
"It had eggs."
Silence returned immediately.
Xyn chewed slowly as she watched the enormous eggs being carried.
"Ah."
Agnes nodded.
"A creature of that size needs absurd amounts of food to sustain a brood."
"Especially during incubation," added one of the older soldiers.
Agnes seemed slightly surprised.
"You know wyverns?"
The man hesitated.
"My father worked with beasts of burden in the north." He looked at the corpse. "Not at that level, of course. But draconic creatures consume much more mana and biomass during reproductive periods."
Samira ran a hand through her hair as she let out a long sigh.
"So basically we pushed a ravenous giant predator to its knees."
"More or less," Xyn replied.
"Great."
She kicked a small rock down the mountain.
"That makes me feel marginally worse for having crushed its face."
Agnes adjusted her glasses again.
"It still slaughtered dozens of people."
"I know."
"Hungry or not, it had already passed any point of no return."
Samira remained silent for a few seconds.
Then nodded slowly.
Because Agnes was right too.
The bodies scattered around the nest made it impossible to ignore.
Merchants.
Adventurers.
Guards.
Some probably didn’t even have a chance to escape.
The Wyvern must have been attacking any movement near the trade routes.
Not out of cruelty.
For survival.
Which, somehow, made everything worse.
Xyn finished the apple and threw the rest of the fruit off the cliff.
"The city will continue to cause this."
No one answered immediately.
Because that was also true.
Agnes crossed her arms.
"Asgard can’t stop growing."
"I know."
"The railway lines need to expand."
"I know."
"Industrial production needs to increase."
Xyn looked directly at her.
"And nature will continue to react."
The silence became heavy again.
The soldiers continued working, but now the atmosphere seemed different.
Less victory.
More uncomfortable reflection.
Samira observed the enormous mountains around her.
The ancient burned forests.
The craters.
The altered rivers.
The scars of war.
Then she murmured:
"Strax is going to hate this."
Agnes let out a small sigh.
"He’s probably already figured it out."
"Minding it and accepting it are different things."
"Yes."
Xyn smiled slightly.
"Especially since he likes to pretend he can control everything."
Samira let out a small, tired laugh.
"That’s true."
Agnes began to walk slowly towards the cart where the eggs were being held.
"We’ll need to adapt structures to create them."
"You’re really committed to this idea."
"Completely."
"Even after all this?"
Agnes looked again at the dead Wyvern’s body.
"Especially after this."
The soldiers looked confused.
She continued calmly:
"Creatures like this don’t just appear as threats." Her hand lightly touched one of the bluish shells. "They are part of the natural balance of these mountains."
Xyn raised an eyebrow.
"You just called a giant killer lizard a natural balance."
Agnes didn’t seem the least bit offended by the remark.
"Because it is."
She continued watching the eggs as the soldiers finished reinforcing the containment chains around the wagon.
"The problem with people," she said calmly, "is believing that predators are monstrous just because they kill."
Samira crossed her arms.
"It usually helps their reputation quite a bit."
"Humans kill constantly too."
"Yes, but we write books justifying it."
Xyn let out a short laugh.
"She has a point."
Agnes ignored them both.
"That Wyvern wasn’t destroying villages for pleasure. It was reacting to the collapse of its own territory." Her eyes slowly scanned the devastated mountain. "The difference is important."
The cold wind blew across the mountain range again, carrying with it the metallic smell of blood and smoke.
Down below, far beyond the mountains, the Asgardian railway lines cut across the landscape like black scars.
Samira watched the horizon in silence for a few seconds before asking,
"How many other creatures have been pushed out of the industrial areas?"
Agnes answered immediately.
"We don’t know."
"That’s not reassuring."
"Because it’s not a reassuring situation."
Xyn rested her arms behind her head as she slowly walked around the colossal corpse.
"Shura really overdid it this time."
One of the soldiers looked uncomfortable hearing that.
"Lord Shura is just ensuring enough supplies for the city."
"I know," Xyn replied. "And he does it absurdly well."
She then casually kicked a small loose scale off the Wyvern. "That’s precisely the problem."
Samira let out a small, tired sigh.
Shura was too efficient.
Too brutal.
When Asgard needed to feed millions of people after its industrial expansion, it simply solved the problem in the most direct way possible: hunting anything that could serve as food.
Magical creatures.
Giant beasts.
Territorial predators.
Entire herds.
Anything.
And considering how monstrously powerful Shura was... few creatures could survive for long in the regions near the city.
Agnes examined the wounds on the Wyvern’s body again.
"It probably tried to migrate first."
Xyn nodded.
"But found occupied territory."
"Or hunted."
"Or both."
Samira ran a hand slowly across her neck.
"So it got trapped between the expanse of Asgard and the northern mountains."
"With pups to feed," Agnes added.
Silence returned once more.
This time heavier.
Because now there was context.
The Wyvern had still massacred dozens of innocents.
That didn’t change.
But it no longer seemed like just an irrational monster destroying caravans.
Now it seemed like a desperate animal being slowly cornered until it exploded in violence.
One of the younger soldiers looked nervously at the eggs.
"Will they act the same way when they grow up?"
Agnes turned her face slowly towards him.
"If they’re treated like weapons?"
The man hesitated.
"...yes?"
"Then probably."
Samira chuckled softly through her nose.
"Honestly threatening answer."
"Because it’s an important issue."
Agnes walked slowly to the edge of the mountain, observing the forests below.
"Asgard is beginning to alter the entire northern ecosystem." Her voice remained calm. "It doesn’t simply disappear because we win wars."
Xyn tilted her head slightly.
"You’re worried."
"I’m rational."
"Which, coming from you, usually means ’worried in a scientifically organized way’."
Agnes didn’t deny it.
Because it was true.
Asgard had grown too fast.
Much too fast.
The old natural boundaries were already disappearing under mines, factories, railway tracks, and secondary towns springing up around the industrial core.
And now the consequences were beginning to appear.
Displaced predators.
Unstable migrations.
Altered environmental mana.
Aggressive creatures.
Samira observed the Wyvern’s corpse once more.
"Strax will end up having to deal with this politically."
"Yes."
"He will hate it deeply."
"Also."
Xyn smiled discreetly.
"Especially since half the industrial nobles will pretend the problem doesn’t exist."
"Until some gigantic creature destroys a railway line," Agnes replied.
"Or eats an entire district."
"Or both."
The soldiers became visibly less comfortable with the direction of the conversation.
One of them finally asked:
"Do you really think this could happen?"
Samira answered before the others.
"It’s already happening."
The man fell silent immediately.
Because she was right.
The dead Wyvern ahead of them was proof enough of that.
Agnes returned to the cart and carefully ran her hand over one of the bluish eggshells.
The mana inside them pulsed softly.
Alive.
Stable.
Potent.
"They can still be adapted."
Samira raised an eyebrow.
"Adapted?"
"Socialized from birth." Agnes adjusted her glasses. "Draconic creatures possess intelligence far superior to common predators."
Xyn seemed interested.
"You want to domesticate giant flying monsters."
"Technically, yes."
"That still sounds like a horrible idea."
"Almost all major military advancements started out looking like horrible ideas."
Samira chuckled softly.
"Now you’re talking like Strax."
Agnes finally showed a small smile. "Living with him long enough causes permanent cognitive damage."
Xyn immediately pointed at Samira.
"That explains a lot about her."
"I could literally throw you off the mountain."
"But you won’t."
Samira looked at the cliff.
Then at Xyn.
"Maybe I’ll go a little."
The soldiers avoided engaging in that clearly suicidal discussion.
The wind continued to rage at the top of the mountain range while heavy clouds slowly moved across the sky.
A storm was beginning to form to the north.
Agnes noticed it first.
"We need to get out before the snow gets worse."
The men nodded immediately and began to speed up preparations.
The chains were reinforced.
The wagons adjusted.
The bodies collected.
Samira observed this silently for a few moments.
Then her gaze slowly returned to the corpses scattered around the nest. Merchants.
Adventurers.
Guards.
Remains frozen by the cold.
The amused smile she had maintained since the fight had completely vanished.
"We’ll take the bodies too."
One of the soldiers hesitated.
"All of them?"
Samira looked directly at him.
"They died on our routes."
The man immediately lowered his head.
"Yes, ma’am."
Agnes observed this in silence.
Then she nodded discreetly.
Because it mattered.
Asgard was growing too fast.
Too violent.
Too cold.
And perhaps that was precisely why small gestures like that were still necessary.
Xyn walked slowly until she was beside Samira near the edge of the mountain.
"You’re overthinking it."
"Maybe."
"That usually happens near Strax."
Samira let out a small, tired laugh.
"It has that effect."
Xyn observed the distant smoke from the industrial areas.
"Asgard will continue to grow."
"I know."
"And more things like this will happen."
Samira took a moment to answer.
Because deep down she knew it too.
The problem was no longer survival.
Now it was consequence.
Finally she sighed.
"Then we’ll need to get stronger."
Xyn smiled slightly.
"That was definitely the most Asgardian answer possible."
Agnes approached again.
"We’re ready."
The soldiers slowly began to move the enormous wagons along the narrow mountain trail as the sky grew ever darker above them.
Samira cast one last glance at the colossal corpse of the Wyvern.
The creature seemed smaller now.
No less monstrous.
Just... sad.
An ancient beast cornered until driven mad.
Then she finally turned her back.
And as the group slowly began to descend the mountain range toward the vast industrial cities of Asgard...
Far away, in the depths of the wilderness not yet reached by railroads and factory smoke...
Other creatures silently watched the advance of civilization.
