Konrad had not thought this through.
Yes, he had flown into battle before when he fought Maou Midori.
But that was on Maple's back, in her true ancient dragon form.
She was an intelligent shapeshifter, and enormous, too, with a broad back, and not—
Whatever these things had.
The Wyverns were more than eager to carry them, sure, but they were small. Their frames were slender and long like winged snakes, and, um, they had spikes. Lots of 'em, in fact.
And let's not even mention their venomous claws and teeth.
All in all, it wasn't the same exciting joyride he remembered from flying with the girl.
But—it got the job done.
And they were already halfway through the mountains, anyway.
"Let's split up into the usual groups," the former Demon Lord suggested. "Soap and Roach will handle the southernmost portal. Zoltan and I will take on the middle one."
"Hah. In case you forgot, we're riding the same beast, old man," the youngest acolyte noted.
But the schoolboy-sized Midori-kun shook his head.
"We'll pass the middle one soon, anyway. I'll jump off; you can take this Wyvern with you."
Ugh. That sounded a bit extra, but—
This left Konrad and Welf to tackle the northernmost portal.
The one with all the rumbling and the fireballs. They couldn't even see the others, but as they got closer, the jamming effects had somewhat worn off. Now, they could feel the real trouble.
And that Lily was there, too. But he still couldn't contact her.
"Dmitry and Bor will swing the army around from the south," Konrad shouted into the wind. "If it's too much, retreat and try again once they have arrived. Don't get yourselves killed."
"What about the tribes?" Nimrod yelled back. "And the Church, hounding them up?!"
Right.
He kept forgetting about his twin, but he was the reason they set out here in the first place.
And seeing things a little clearer now—
"I'm willing to bet the knights were here to protect them," Konrad grunted. "Try to make contact, or fly over their villages—the Wyvern should listen to all your commands."
Paula made sure of that.
'No, actually, that red dragon had already tamed them,' she noted. 'All I had to do was call.'
Whatever. As long as he didn't have to babysit his twin—
He was more of a liability than an asset, anyway.
"Then I'll do that," Nimrod grumbled, leaving their formation.
And Konrad could finally focus on the forest fire ahead.
A battle was definitely raging down there.
His wives against something, but who? He had no idea.
The new bishop must have been around, too, since the reports mentioned his knights, but—
Was he the enemy? Or did he actually come here to help instead?
Were they winning or losing? He couldn't even guess.
But the smoke was so thick it hid most of the stars, leaving the mountains in complete darkness.
"Welf," he shouted, waving left. "No idea what to expect, but we're about to fly into that smoke."
"Aye," the blacksmith grunted, readying his massive sword. "It won't be that hard to find Liliske down there. We'd only have to look for the center of that mess."
He was grinning, but it felt forced.
His blade trembled, and Konrad had a hunch the rough ride wasn't to blame here.
The others had already turned right, leaving them behind.
Thinking about it now—the two of them had never been in a battle like this. Splitting the six of them up into the usual groups might have been a bad idea, after all.
But alas.
Konrad wasn't about to turn back now, and the bitter smoke had already clouded his view.
Even with his fake spyglass illusion spell, he couldn't see a thing beyond.
Thank the spirits, the Wyverns had a natural sense for the ground below, so they didn't crash.
Not into the mountains, at least, but—
A fierce battle was in fact raging around them now.
And Welf was right, too.
The first thing he noticed was a tiny ginger throwing a tantrum and a fireball in the middle of it all. Gabrielle's blue dress was dirty and torn, but he also found her nearby.
Oh, and another familiar face.
The old bishop, hurling lightning bolts around with his scepter.
So yeah. By the looks of it, they weren't actually fighting each other, but—
Damn. There were still a lot of enemies to go by.
And—taking a better look now, they were both alien and huge.
It was a miracle he even found his wives in this mess, but now it was time to act.
Welf asked no questions, either. Jumping off the Wyvern's back, he charged into the line while the beast was supporting him from above. Konrad was casting a spell, too, and—
What better way to start than with his Isekai Microwave?
He summoned enough infrared light to cook the entire valley in case he had to, but—
For a more immediate result, he created invisible laser beams to clear the area around the girls.
'Get your sword out,' Paula urged. 'I'll play with your lasers and will raise a shield, too.'
Finally, a good use case for his parallel brain.
Yes, indeed. He also had to hold his ground against those horrifying creatures in melee.
And while he couldn't see the enemy sorcerer right away, it was obvious. His wife would not waste her energy on the grunts if she weren't fighting something more serious.
It even took her a minute to realise they were there, and—
That huge redheaded not-a-brother and the two Wyverns weren't exactly subtle.
"Konrad?!" the girl cried out when Paula almost singed her with an invisible laser. "The hell?!"
"You seemed to like me trying to save you earlier," he grunted, slicing a charging beast in half. "I figured I'd try it again and score a few more good points with you."
And like her brother before, he also tried to grin, but—
Damn. What even were these things made of?
Like the Wyvern compared to a dragon.
The aliens were long and thin, all limbs and almost no torso, but—ugh.
They were stronger than they looked.
One of them grabbed his adamantite blade and almost ripped it out—together with his arm.
He had to cut one clean in half to take them down, too.
Thank the spirits, at least they didn't seem immune to the artificial heat or his lasers, but—
'Incoming,' Paula warned, and a brutal lightning bolt hit him, right in his sword-bearing arm.
"Fuck," Konrad grunted, his entire side prickling from the shock.
If he thought the bishop hit him hard earlier, he had to think again.
But the barrier the parallel brain had erected could hold for the most part.
"Take the fucker out before he hits me again," he demanded, though.
"Behind the portal," Lily yelled, sending a rolling wall of fire to purge the invaders. "But I couldn't touch them so far. Stay clear. Ugh—you shouldn't even have come here from the start."
Not the reception he had expected.
And she couldn't touch the caster?! Liliana the Sorceress of Flame?!
'Whoever they are, they have a perfect magic barrier,' Paula confirmed after half a dozen failed shots. 'And with all these things between that and us—'
Okay. So he finally had a target.
"Welf," he cried out. "Let's cut a path towards that bastard."