Evil Dragon, Without a Princess, I Had to Transform Myself!-Chapter 41 : I'll Cover for You

Elaphia held the reins sitting in the driver's position, gently humming a song. Ahead was an ancient bridge.
Elaphia had no objections to Loranhir making her a temporary coachman. On the contrary, her mood was quite good—being able to freely enjoy the scenery along the way was also a kind of pleasure.
Elaphia was all too familiar with the road conditions to Taurant. Aside from the journey being somewhat long, there were no major problems.
Moreover, with the strongest Hero Loranhir here, it was even more impossible to encounter any trouble.
Although Elaphia could never figure out exactly how powerful the Hero was, this didn't prevent her from making rough estimates through simple observation.
Simply put, invincibility had grown a face!
Elaphia was pondering what the Hero might be discussing with the Princess after being in the carriage for so long.
She suddenly noticed the pack horses becoming restless at this moment, neighing as they tried to break free from the reins.
Elaphia whipped the reins several times before barely controlling the horses. Just as she wondered why the normally docile pack horses had become so agitated, she saw a black shadow streak across the sky—very fast, carrying wild winds and an indescribable sense of oppression.
The shadow circled for a moment, then a massive creature landed, its black scales spread wide. It shook itself violently and let out a long roar toward the sky.
As if planned in advance, it directly blocked the carriage's path. The bridge, wide enough for three or four carriages to pass simultaneously, was suddenly obstructed.
Elaphia recognized it immediately.
This was a bipedal wyvern.
Its front limbs rested on the bridge's stone surface using its wings for support, its heavy bulk pressing down and directly crushing cracks into the stone. Its long tail, lined with spikes, swished about, completely blocking the carriage's path. The ferocious dragon head stared directly at Elaphia's group, greed and ambition burning in the wyvern's eyes, as if some treasure the wyvern desperately desired was hidden here.
Elaphia had no idea why this bipedal dragon would appear here.
Over the past nearly two centuries, she had traveled this bridge leading to Taurant dozens of times, but had never heard of any wyverns nesting nearby.
Such important trade routes were regularly patrolled by kingdom guards. The threat of bipedal wyverns wasn't nearly as terrifying to the continent's nations as the Dragon Lords.
Compared to the rare ancient dragons, wyverns were regular visitors to various countries. There were often s of important trade routes being harassed by wyverns, but most kingdoms could still successfully slay dragons most of the time.
But as for sending expeditionary forces to deal with 'Sankus'-class Dragon Lords...
Don't even think about it—better to just go to sleep.
Elaphia pondered deeply.
Could this wyvern have recently moved here?
But it couldn't be targeting them directly, could it?
Was that reasonable?
Elaphia couldn't think of anything precious they were carrying that would make dragons covet it.
But somehow, Elaphia felt the wyvern before them was specifically targeting their group.
She didn't know much about dragon habits, only that at some point, evil dragons seemed to have stopped liking treasures, and what the dragon race was most enthusiastic about now was only...
Could it be... could it be because...
Elaphia looked back at the carriage and suddenly understood.
Wait!
But how did this dragon know?
"What's wrong? Why such a big commo... tion."
At this point Loranhir jumped down from the carriage. She looked up and glanced at the distant wyvern, her expression changing slightly as she quietly retreated behind Elaphia.
Thump thump!
Thump thump thump!
Thump thump thump thump!
Although it seemed like cowardly behavior, the Hero's Heart of the Red Queen completely dispelled all doubts, beating like war drums. Elaphia had never heard such deafening sounds as today.
She gazed at Loranhir for a long time, as if she could glimpse infinite fighting spirit hidden beneath that indifferent expression.
Truly worthy of being a Hero.
Thunder in the heart, unmovable as a mountain.
Admirable!
The moment Loranhir saw the wyvern, she already wanted to run.
But the Princess was still here!
No matter how cowardly she was, Loranhir couldn't abandon the Princess here for the wyvern.
Even if she tried to escape with the Princess.
Loranhir specifically looked at the wyvern's mighty wings, thinking how could people with two legs possibly outrun something flying in the sky?
She wanted to try hard to do something, but for the moment had no idea what would be best.
What to do?
Although Loranhir showed no outward movement, she was panicking inside.
Right, the holy sword!
Holy sword, save me!
Loranhir thought of the holy sword that had finally been drawn when facing the black-robed man's threat. She had no doubt that with such power, the holy sword could instantly defeat the wyvern before them with a casual strike.
Aren't you always with me?!
You should save me now!
Loranhir's eyes showed resolute determination as she pulled hard.
The holy sword didn't budge.
It completely ignored her.
"..."
Loranhir was mentally exhausted. Her heart felt like it had a mouse trapped inside—a mouse on fire.
Elaphia on the other side was even more anxious.
Unlike the Hero, she clearly knew this wyvern was targeting the Princess, specifically planning to kidnap Latifa back to its lair as a trophy.
Heaven knew why this wyvern would know the Princess was here!
Having finally found a Princess who could accept her, being completely embraced for the first time in nearly two centuries—such a pure and kind Princess—Elaphia absolutely wouldn't allow her to be captured by a wyvern and live a dark cage life from then on.
Absolutely not!
But Elaphia had no confidence she could handle a bipedal dragon.
She was just a vampire thrall who had lived over two hundred years, while this was obviously an adult-sized wyvern. Even the kingdom's professional dragon slaying teams would need at least a Dawn Knight leading them to set out with confidence.
But fortunately, she was here.
Elaphia looked back at Loranhir, only able to hope the invincible Hero could take action now.
This seemed to be the only and definitely feasible solution at hand.
Seeming to see through Elaphia's thoughts, Loranhir walked up and patted her shoulder with reliable, solid strength.
"Just go ahead and do what you need to do. I'll cover for you."
The Hero said indifferently.
Elaphia: "..."