kscans

Chapter 219 - The Unnatural Undead

Hearing the name Rodel, the General asked, "Who is that?"

Tina answered succinctly. "A former A-rank adventurer from the Kingdom. An arrogant and selfish man who was granted Light Magic and nothing more."

The General considered this for a moment. "I see. A so-called foolish adventurer. He must have had his reasons for becoming a monster, but for now..."

He turned his gaze back to the Chimera before them.

Although its leg had been slashed, the Chimera showed no signs of stopping and began to move again as if nothing had happened.

"What are your orders, General?" I asked. "Do we take it on individually?"

General Goltor was the commander here. It was only natural to ask him.

The General replied, "Our opponent is a single beast. It may be large, but we can't let it run rampant. We'll form a pincer. The beautiful Tina-jou and Shinsuke-kun will attack from the left and right. I will draw its attention from the front. That is all. Move out!"

As he shouted the command, we each took our positions.

I was on the right, Tina on the left. The plan was to attack while the General drew its attention. Or so it was supposed to go.

However, the Chimera turned its gaze toward me and attacked. Caught by surprise, I wreathed my sword in flame and swung it wide. I wasn't expecting to do much damage; it was merely a feint.

But the Chimera paid it no mind and brought its sword down. Fortunately, the flames served as a blind, and the attack missed.

"It seems I'm its target," I shouted. "I'll draw its attention! I'm counting on you for the rest!"

I cloaked my sword in fire once more and charged toward the Chimera.

Tina watched with a worried expression.

Deviating from the plan, the General remarked, "It's a monster moving on instinct. It's only natural it wouldn't understand our intentions. Tina-jou, let us do our part."

He raised his great hammer high and attacked from the left.

"Understood," Tina replied. "Good luck."

She steeled herself and attacked from the rear.

The Chimera unleashed a continuous flurry of slashes. I parried the relentless sword clash that came from every direction while attacking its forelegs with fire. I thought its fur would catch fire and spread, but it only left scorch marks and didn't burn.

"Was that too simplistic?" I muttered. "No choice. I'll have to chip away at it. Physically."

I condensed the flames on my sword until it glowed like magma.

Meanwhile, Tina was hacking away at its rear with her ice sword.

As long as the Chimera wasn't looking at her, she could attack freely. But as she continued to slash, something emerged from the Chimera's body. Snakes. Three of them.

Slightly startled, Tina retreated.

"To think it's keeping snakes inside its body," she said, a look of disgust on her face. "A horror truly befitting the Undead."

After all, the thought of a creature housing living things within itself was nothing short of terrifying. It reminded her of the Republic a year ago.

In another part of the battle, the General cursed, "Damn it. I've never dealt with something so obtuse."

He was clearly furious. Focusing on an enemy approaching from the front was a common tactic for both humans and monsters. But this thing completely ignored him, its eyes fixed on Shinsuke-kun.

Is it a grudge? Can an Undead with no will of its own even hold one?

But that wasn't something to ponder now. There was no doubt this thing was the root of all evil. The monsters had become active and were brimming with confidence.

"Prosperity to the Emperor!" the General shouted, steeling himself.

He slammed his lightning-wreathed great hammer into its right lower body. An electric shock pulsed from the point of impact, powerful enough to electrocute a normal creature to death. However, the Chimera didn't even turn to look at him.

But it wasn't ignoring him completely. Something sprouted from its lower body. Hands. And attached to them were sharp blades. From their shape, they appeared to be from a Mantis.

They shot straight toward the General and swung down.

"'Iron Wall' Skill!" he roared.

His body turned to steel.

It was the same skill that had once been broken, unable to defend him. Since then, he had trained relentlessly, strengthening the skill's effect even if only by a little. His efforts paid off. The claw attack struck his armor, but he didn't budge an inch.

As if in response, more claws appeared from different places and attacked all at once. But they couldn't even scratch him.

The General ignored them and poured more magic into his attack, increasing the power of the lightning. In an instant, several of the arms crumbled to dust.

"Alright, they're not regenerating," he said, a newfound confidence in his voice. "It seems we can defeat it after all."

If it had regenerated, the situation would have been hopeless. But knowing it couldn't gave them hope.

Behind the Chimera, Tina, having dodged the snakes, watched the General's attack.

"I see. In that case, I'll..."

She wreathed the tip of her ice sword in wind.

"Wind Disc!"

She swung her sword with all her might.

A disc of wind shot forward, slicing through the line of snakes in a single stroke. The severed heads writhed before turning to dust and vanishing. Their bodies still thrashed but would soon disappear as well.

"With this..." Tina said.

She slashed at its left hind leg with her ice sword.

It wasn't enough to sever it completely, but she managed to cut into it a little. And, as expected, something grew from the wound.

This time, three wolf heads emerged and lunged at her. Tina dodged and slashed at them with her sword, but one of the wolves caught the blade in its mouth. She tried to pull it free, but the wolf's jaw strength was immense, and it wouldn't budge.

Just then, another wolf head attacked from her left. Realizing she couldn't defend, she let go of the sword and retreated.

Tina immediately drew her other sword, the one made of Orichalcum.

"You've gotten a little tougher," she said calmly, as if this was all within her expectations. "But it's not a problem."

One of the three wolves dropped her sword to the ground. To retrieve it, she'd have to go right under the wolves. Impossible.

But Tina had another sword that could be called a trump card. There was no problem.

One of the wolves opened its mouth and lunged at her. The sight of just its neck stretching out was a unique kind of horror. However, Tina dodged to the right and sliced off the defenseless neck.

With a sword that wasn't even infused with magic. The severed head writhed for a moment before disappearing.

The remaining wolves became slightly more cautious. The wolves born from the Chimera had the same durability as the Chimera itself; a normal sword wouldn't even scratch them. The wolves had misjudged. This sword was far more dangerous than the other one. The two wolves attacked simultaneously from the left and right.

Tina waited until the last possible second before jumping to evade their attacks. The wolves, unable to stop their momentum, collided with each other. Their mouths locked together, their fangs getting in the way and preventing them from separating.

While still in the air, Tina raised her sword high and sliced one of the wolves in two. The other wolf, still biting the first, continued to thrash. Tina then sliced off its neck as well.

Both wolves writhed on the ground before disappearing. She picked up her fallen sword and sheathed it.

"Now then, there's still more," Tina said as more snakes emerged from the Chimera's lower body, and she countered them.

Meanwhile, I was in the thick of it.

I swung my flame sword in a wide horizontal arc. But the Chimera met my attack with its own sword.

The blades clashed, locked in a stalemate. I found this strange.

My condensed flame had the power to melt things. I was confident it could even melt Adamantite. And yet, it wasn't melting. Was this Dark Blood ore really that durable?

But this deadlock wouldn't last long.

The Chimera's left fist came hurtling toward me. The force of its blade was so strong I couldn't move. A direct hit would undoubtedly result in serious injury.

"`Thunderclap Incarnation`!"

I wreathed my body in electricity, enhancing it.

My strength surged, and I knocked the Chimera's sword aside. But its left fist was right in front of my face. There was no time to dodge. I caught it with my left hand. To be honest, I didn't think I could do it. It was an act born purely from the hope of mitigating the damage even a little.

The Chimera, seeming to feel nothing, attacked again with its sword.

I immediately dodged and instantly created a ball of lightning, which I threw. It flew at the speed of a fastball. It should have been impossible to dodge.

But the Chimera dodged it with ease. It then immediately swung its left fist down. This time, instead of trying to block, I dodged at the last second.

Its series of movements was far too fast. It was as if it knew I wouldn't do anything after attacking.

Shinsuke didn't know it, but the Chimera's third eye was that of a monster capable of foreseeing the future.

"To dodge an attack that fast... Does it have good eyes? If so, I need an attack that's faster, more numerous, and guaranteed to finish it."

I sheathed my sword and drew my katana.

I canceled `Thunderclap Incarnation` and instead…

"'Turmoil' Skill!"

I activated it.

My eyes glowed red, and my physical abilities skyrocketed. I poured magic into my katana. The blade began to glow with a faint purple light, flickering like a ghostly flame.