The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

I’d never really thought about being scared of flying.

In my previous life, I’d been on airplanes before, and even in this world, I had ridden airships without much hesitation. If I had to stand on a precariously high spot, like a rooftop with no safety rails, my legs would undoubtedly tremble. But generally, “airplanes” or /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ “airships” were made to transport people safely.

In other words, there was no reason to worry about suddenly plummeting to the ground while inside one. Unless, of course, an accident caused the entire vessel to fall.

Airplanes, with their massive wings flying in one direction, were remarkably stable. Airships, on the other hand, floated like they were anchored in the sky, rarely swaying unless hit by severe weather.

But a gryphon... Riding on a gryphon’s back was an entirely different story.

That’s right. A gryphon’s wings are attached to its back. And I was sitting on that back.

Every time the gryphon flapped its wings to stay airborne, my body shook up and down in rhythm. It wasn’t like the gryphon kept the area between its shoulders and back—where I was perched—steady either. With each powerful flap of its wings, my vision bobbed wildly. Though I couldn’t measure it precisely, I was sure the vertical movement equaled my seated height.

“Fwooarrr!”

What might look majestic from below—a gryphon rearing up on its hind legs with its front paws raised mid-air—was nothing but terrifying to me, as if I’d be flung off at any moment.

I mean, seriously, was there any reason to strike such a pose while in midair?

Besides, earlier, when we were descending, it ignored every law of physics, gliding without even a twitch of its wings. So why all the flapping now?

Of course, the knights below couldn’t see my expression, so they were all staring up with their mouths agape.

Even if I might have looked like the “Master of the Gryphon,” none of them suddenly dropped to their knees in reverence. Well, that’s to be expected—such stories only exist in myths. There’s no legend about a “True Fangryphon who will one day appear to lead the gryphons.”

In this world, power followed the law of the land. And the knights, for now at least, were still under the Emperor’s command—though things were unfolding in strange ways.

Another ear-splitting eagle-like cry echoed, and the gryphon tilted its head downward, diving sharply.

I gritted my teeth. Honestly, I wanted to pat myself on the back for not screaming. Losing control here was not an option—especially now that my ability to rewind time was clearly no longer usable. Mistakes were not an option.

Thud. Thud. I heard something crashing into the ground. Someone let out a bold battle cry before it abruptly turned into a squeal.

The gryphon didn’t even bother slashing with its talons. Just flying low and sweeping the ground with its massive body was enough to send the knights sprawling.

Charlotte, who managed to endure even a glancing blow, was truly remarkable.

It was pure luck that I noticed something falling toward me amidst the chaos.

Maybe the gryphon’s ground-sweeping descent had shaken me enough to regain some focus. When I opened my eyes, I saw a rifle tumbling straight toward my face.

I quickly caught it. Reflexively, I checked—it was loaded.

Blinking in disbelief, I looked at the gryphon.

The gryphon turned its head slightly toward me, wearing what could only be described as a smug expression. I felt an irrational surge of annoyance.

...Fine. So you’re saying I shouldn’t just sit back and let you do all the work, huh?

The once-silent battlefield was gradually filling again with the clash of swords. Even with the gryphon’s arrival, the fight was far from over. The Emperor still stood firm, and Lucas had yet to fall. If anything, Lucas was likely to win in a one-on-one fight against the Sword Saint. That alone was a testament to the Sword Saint’s tenacity.

Gripping the rifle tightly in both hands, I braced my legs.

Without a saddle, the ride was excruciating. My thighs burned, and the gryphon’s feathers, which looked so soft from a distance, were stiff enough to sting against my skin.

It was clear—this battle needed to end as quickly as possible.

With a cry straight out of a western epic, the gryphon spread its wings and ascended again, majestic as ever. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

*

It was a sight straight out of a painting.

Sylvia, seated on the gryphon’s back, hardly resembled the mythical Fangryphon. Truthfully, there were no definitive records about Fangryphon’s gender, but in most depictions, Fangryphon was illustrated as male.

Moreover, Fangryphon wasn’t depicted as a grotesque or chaotic figure, contrary to the myth’s description of being “born of chaos with a malformed body.” Instead, the paintings portrayed Fangryphon as a proud, muscular figure of a white man.

So, Sylvia’s current appearance didn’t match the myths or the paintings. And yet...

The gryphon roared, its front claws raised in the air. Sunlight streamed down, tracing the lines of its powerful wings.

Sylvia, sitting on its back, silently reloading her rifle.

Watching her like this, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable for the word “Fangryphon” to come to mind.

Alice let out a soft laugh.

Even now, she was struggling to process what was happening.

It wasn’t because she hadn’t seen what Sylvia had experienced.

From the moment Sylvia and Claire activated the device together, Alice’s mind had been overwhelmed with an influx of information.

It was as if memories she’d never experienced—ones that felt both familiar and subtly different—had come flooding in all at once. Memories of similar situations, almost identical but distinctly altered, poured into her mind like a forgotten truth suddenly resurfacing.

Moments that should have been the same, in the same place, yet carried subtle discrepancies.

And those memories... they included Sylvia.

Alice quickly glanced around her. For a brief moment, it seemed as though those who knew Sylvia had paused as well. If the gryphon hadn’t drawn the enemy’s attention and momentarily halted their movements, something catastrophic might have occurred.

“...”

Claire met Alice’s gaze and gave a small nod.

In that instant, Alice understood.

Ah, so that’s it.

These memories—

...Fine.

Alice gripped her sword tightly in both hands. Regaining her composure, she swung her blade at a knight charging toward her.

Her opponent wasn’t entirely unskilled; they quickly raised their weapon to block her attack.

Watching the clash of swords, Alice pushed away her intrusive thoughts.

Good. Focus on what’s happening right in front of you.

There was so much she wanted to ask, but that could wait until all of this was over.

She was even curious about what kind of “happy ending” awaited them.

As she rushed forward, Alice couldn’t help but think.

Alright. I’m getting the hang of this.

Surprisingly, my lifetime of shooting experience seemed to be paying off. Even from the gryphon’s wildly shaking back, my shots were landing with decent accuracy. In fact, it felt like my aim was improving the more I fired.

Every time I emptied the rifle, the gryphon somehow managed to toss me another bag of bullets or a bandolier from who-knows-where.

...Honestly, I couldn’t help but think, Can’t you just handle this all on your own? But I kept my mouth shut. The gryphon seemed to be enjoying itself too much.

Could it be that it couldn’t distinguish between the people of the Holy Nation and the Empire? Was it simply rampaging with the distinction of “the one who saved me” and “everyone else”?

Then again, judging by the way it looked at me, that didn’t seem entirely accurate either.

“Fwooarrr!”

Maybe it was just happy to finally be free after being confined for so long. The fact that its joy was causing so many deaths was a little terrifying, though.

It slashed with its talons, whipped up gusts with its wings, and even conjured ice spears and fireballs near its feathers, launching them in every direction.

In the turn-based original game, the gryphon had resistances to nearly every status effect and elemental attribute. Without accessories to block all those attacks, it was an incredibly annoying boss to deal with. But now, in real-time combat with no turn limits, it was downright horrifying.

Still...

“Sylvia!”

Even a gryphon isn’t invincible.

After all, in the original story, it could be defeated.

From a distance, a sword aura sliced through the air—so fast that even the gryphon couldn’t react in time.

The gryphon hastily lifted one of its wings to shield me.

A sharp whistle cut through the air. Droplets of warm blood spattered across my face. The gryphon’s right wing, which had moved to protect me, was bleeding.

The wing lowered, and I finally saw the one responsible for the attack.

Lucas. He was smiling.