Ch.157Tower of Magic+

# 157. Magic Tower Battle+

Chimera.

A staple element in any fantasy world with even the slightest dark corner.

A monstrosity born from the most heinous concept of human experimentation.

Sometimes grafting human to human, sometimes human to monster, sometimes monster to monster.

While chimera-type monsters appeared frequently enough in the original game, seeing them in person… they were more disgusting and revolting than I had imagined, and it made me angry.

The chimeras filling the first floor clearly looked like byproducts of research and experiments for demon summoning…

Because I could plainly see the features of Magikant’s residents in their forms.

I didn’t know how to return those who had already become chimeras back to their original forms. In the game, I had killed them without much thought.

While we might have the right to do so, I believed that here, at least, we should hasten their peace as much as possible.

So I no longer left it just to Subin, but also asked Senior Yehyun, who had been on standby, to sweep the area ahead with overwhelming firepower…

Chimeras with monster arms grafted on.

Chimeras with monster legs grafted on.

Chimeras with monster wings or tails grafted on.

Chimeras with monster eyes grafted on.

The wave of flames advanced toward those who had already lost their reason—still alive as chimeras but completely dead as humans—beginning their live burial, no, live cremation.

“KEEEEEEEEEK——!!!”

“GWAAAARGH—–!!!”

The chimeras, who had probably been ordered to ambush us after we depleted some of our health or mana breaking through the entrance barrier and traps, couldn’t even think of approaching us as we shot flames from a distance, and they were simply burning away.

‘Have they been stripped of even their survival instincts, or is whatever controlling them that powerful…?’

The inhuman screams and foul odor were particularly terrible. Perhaps receiving new orders belatedly, the burning chimeras scrambled to escape through the entrance.

But for the chimeras, this was a fatal mistake.

Their bodies were generally larger than humans, and asymmetrically so, making their balance grotesque—and they all rushed at once toward an entrance that wasn’t particularly large.

“Serva nos.”

Above the curtain of flames, a radiance of salvation that had a reversal effect specifically on evil and darkness attributes was added.

Like a scene of an angel descending with a sword of fire, the chimeras that had barely escaped through the entrance, enduring having more than half their bodies burned, began to completely melt away in the warm yet lethal light.

It was the same slaughter as when we killed the elves or those mad wizards, and visually it was much more graphic, but I didn’t feel at ease.

“Grrrk…”

With a faint death rattle, the last chimera disappeared, half-turned to ash. Depending on how long and to what extent they had been fused, the degree varied, leaving the entrance area covered in black ash, blackened flesh, and bones.

“Urgh…”

I heard someone barely holding back the urge to vomit. Honestly, I was barely holding it back myself.

Perhaps this was an event meant to give us justification for properly dealing with the magic tower forces. The more evil the opponent, the easier it is to immerse yourself and increase your fighting spirit.

Or it could have been their throwaway move to buy time.

Chimeras weren’t something you could easily see, and while they were clearly monsters, seeing human skeletons with human faces embedded in them, exuding eerie hostility—they might have thought that even a demon slayer would be quite shocked.

“Let’s go in.”

“Yeah.”

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the luxury to properly handle those remains. We carefully entered the magic tower, avoiding stepping on the remains, and immediately felt something pressing down on our entire bodies.

“Subin.”

“It seems like just simple magical pressure. Covering the entire area with this would be a waste of magic, so try releasing a bit of your own magic. That should solve it.”

We followed Subin’s advice. The subtly unpleasant pressure disappeared. Our magic was continuously decreasing, but not at a concerning rate. We could stop if necessary.

“Traps?”

“Just a moment.”

Subin half-closed her eyes and concentrated again. Soon she frowned and sighed weakly.

“There’s too much magic spread everywhere to distinguish clearly. I could only detect ones nearby.”

“Really? Arang.”

“Yes. I agree with Subin. Though I’m more specialized in physical traps anyway.”

Had they learned from how their subordinates detected and avoided our landmines’ magic sources before they exploded, and deliberately smeared various types of magic to prevent trap detection?

‘They’re using their heads.’

Seems they weren’t just research-focused after all.

Not good, but nothing we could do about it.

“Then Subin, Yehyun. Change positions.”

“Understood. It makes sense to be a bit more forward.”

“Seyeon. If—”

“Yes. I’ll protect no matter what happens. Don’t worry.”

“…Right. Let’s move.”

We proceeded with more cautious steps. Our immediate goal was to completely clear the first floor and enter the second floor.

“Wait.”

“Stop.”

“Something’s suspicious ahead. Just a moment.”

Like a mine removal team defusing mines, we advanced slowly, taking even more time than we had spent breaking the barrier and dealing with the chimeras, yet we’d only checked about half of the first floor.

Complete clearing was basic for eliminating variables, but…

‘I think it might be better to just break through and go up.’

Since there seemed to be no other forces besides traps, it seemed better to speed up a bit. Reducing variables was good, but it felt like we were playing into the enemy’s hands.

“We’re heading up to the second floor.”

“Without clearing everything?”

“Without clearing. I think getting through quickly is more important than the risk of a possible ambush.”

“Alright.”

With complete clearing of the first floor removed from our primary objective, our pace noticeably quickened.

Soon we reached the passage to the second floor and discovered a massive being blocking the only path like a guardian.

It was a chimera.

Clearly different from those we had cremated en masse earlier—larger and more ferocious… a proper chimera.

Surprisingly, the chimera spoke to us first.

“Turn… back…”

“…Huh.”

A chimera, speaking?

“You… can’t… pass… here…”

The voice was very grating and excruciatingly slow, but…

“If… you… try… to… pass…”

There was no problem understanding its meaning.

“Anni… hila…”

*Click-*

*Click-click-*

*Click, click-click-click-click-*

Annihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilateannihilate

“Combat ready! Subin, original position!”

We were going to pass through anyway, so why did this chimera bother speaking?

The chimera revealed its hostility, repeating the word “annihilate” like a broken machine in a chilling voice.

Just because it could speak didn’t mean I thought dialogue was possible from the start.

After all, this chimera was also being controlled.

As always, the first attack was Subin’s magic. The flame magic that had broken through barriers and burned chimeras hit the chimera directly.

“It… hurts…”

But proving it wasn’t an ordinary chimera, it seemed to take damage but toughly withstood the attack.

While fire magic had good killing power, it lacked physical stopping power, so it couldn’t prevent the chimera’s charge, and soon Seyeon, protected by defensive magic, collided head-on with the chimera.

‘Good.’

Seyeon had taken a direct hit from a demon’s strike and survived, albeit with serious injuries. Even a proper chimera was nothing compared to a demon.

Indeed, Seyeon showed no signs of struggling apart from being slightly overpowered in pure strength.

Seeing this and quickly gauging the combat metrics for this unknown enemy, I made a bold decision.

‘Strong physical power. High magic resistance. Simple pattern. Unlikely to have high physical resistance too.’

“Yuri! Arang!”

“Okay!”

“Yes!”

Yuri responded energetically and rushed past Seyeon’s side, while Arang silently concealed herself and headed toward the chimera’s rear.

“Seyeon, keep the aggro! Subin, Yehyun. Secure attack angles for the melee fighters.”

“Understood.”

“Got it!”

Senior Soyoo was autonomous, and Danya was still in cat form, waiting for the right moment.

Having gained considerable experience, the raid members were handling the chimera skillfully without my detailed orders.

“Move!”

Even a chimera with fading reason seemed to judge that it shouldn’t directly take Yuri’s axe strike, trying to deflect the right axe, but that was Yuri’s feint. Her left axe struck the undefended area perfectly, and as soon as the attack succeeded, she retrieved her axe without hesitation and jumped back.

The chimera’s aggro seemed to shift to Yuri as it tried to charge at her, but…

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Light attribute—which would cause seizures in any chimera with darkness or evil attributes inherent in them. Seyeon’s class was Holy Knight, and her taunt skill worked excellently.

And when Yuri charged again, the chimera seemed to defend well this time, but…

“■■■■!”

Arang appeared silently, stabbed a vulnerable spot with her dagger, and disappeared again, causing the chimera to scream and lose what little reason it had left, beginning to rampage wildly.

Attack, taunt, ambush, ranged harassment, attack, taunt, ambush, harassment. Occasional healing when someone took a glancing hit.

With combinations flowing like a single body, the chimera that had stood guard on the first floor soon fell.

I felt nothing special.

“Anni… hilate… failed…”

“Let’s go. Subin.”

“Yeah. I’ll check.”

However, as we took a short break and started climbing to the second floor…

“Thank… you…”

At the faint last words from the chimera we thought was dead…

‘Tch…’

I just clenched my fist and moved forward.