Ch.36Chimera Hunt (4)

The current Dimedes, who traded his intellect for an overwhelmingly enhanced body.

The past Dimedes, who retained his intellect but had inferior physical abilities compared to now.

If someone asked me to choose which one to face, my first answer would be “Can’t I make someone else do it?”

And if I absolutely had to take on one of them myself, I would choose the current Dimedes who has lost his intellect without hesitation.

Because the moment a creature possesses self-awareness and reason, the difficulty of reading their attacks increases dramatically.

Fortunately, the chimeras charging at me now lacked reason.

This meant the practical difficulty of the fight was no different from facing magical beasts.

However, their ability to use magic posed a slight problem. Starting with the concealment magic they were currently using.

While I could see where the chimeras were despite their magical disguise, what about the drones?

Unlike the previous situation where targets were identified with normal vision, the drones would now need to use thermal imaging cameras for targeting.

If the chimeras and I had similar body temperatures, the drones might not distinguish friend from foe and could send bullets into the back of my head.

I know from experience that getting shot is not a pleasant experience.

First, I needed to deal with that magic.

I reached into the pocket inside my jacket.

***

Ortes pulled out a magic engraving drive. To Noiro, this seemed like an incomprehensible choice.

The simplified magic cast through magic engraving drives lacked the power to penetrate chimera skin and cause damage.

Unless it was a high-grade product, but what Ortes was taking out were all basic-grade drives that anyone could easily purchase.

The drives installed in his gauntlet activated in sequence. First came a lubricating magic that sprayed oil. The path where the chimeras were approaching was covered in oil.

The chimeras charging in straight lines didn’t avoid the oil. They had no sense of hygiene to be bothered by oil on their bodies, and it posed no immediate threat to their survival.

Next came ignition magic. A small flame, no bigger than that of a lighter, fell onto the oil and grew in size.

The blazing wall of fire wasn’t enough to block the chimeras. It wasn’t like trapping them in a burning room; flames burning in an open field couldn’t kill chimeras.

However, it was sufficient to distort the concealment magic.

The flames flickering in different directions every moment were too complex for the mindless chimeras to mimic with their concealment magic.

The concealment magic trying to simulate the flames began to break down one by one as it exceeded its limits. Now the chimeras were exposed in broad daylight.

Ortes looked back.

“Now they should be visible with regular cameras, not just thermal imaging. Will you have any issues with targeting?”

Noiro nodded. So that was his intention.

“Please provide covering fire like before. We need to capture the one at the very back alive, so please be mindful of that.”

Ortes, gripping his high-frequency blade, dashed forward without waiting for Noiro’s response.

After giving the firing command to the drones, Noiro himself took up his bow. As he drew the magically enhanced bowstring, it made a sound like scraping metal.

His first target was naturally Dimedes at the front.

Twang—as he released the bowstring, an arrow flew with a sound that split the air. Sparks ignited at the end of the fletching.

It was a rocket-propelled arrow equipped with a shotgun warhead. Explosive acceleration that momentarily exceeded the speed of sound.

Dimedes’ elongated arms and hands stretched like rubber. His ten fingers extended, ignoring the limitations of joints and human anatomy.

Their length exceeded 10 meters. Carapaces covered his entire body, including his arms and finger joints. But they weren’t armor for defense—they were bio-blades sharpened like saw teeth.

The fully extended arms with their attached blades were weapons that dominated vast spaces. The chimera’s two arms and fingers were wielded like ten separate whips.

The ten finger-whips bent irregularly, sweeping the area in front of him in a hemispherical pattern. The venomous fangs at each fingertip sprayed a highly acidic liquid that melted the ground.

It resembled the aimless frenzy of a beast. An attack without any skill or technique.

Yet its size and ferocity made it an all-encompassing offensive and defensive move.

The arrow that left the bowstring was knocked off course before impact by the air pressure created by the whip-arms. One chimera behind Dimedes was hit instead, its left side shattered.

The storm of acid and saw blades made no distinction between friend and foe. Chimeras standing near the whip-arms were instantly sliced apart.

Ortes stood precisely one hair’s breadth in front of Dimedes’ whip-arms. Just out of reach. Dimedes, growing increasingly frenzied, continued his attacks following Ortes’ movements.

Watching this, Noiro was reminded of bullfighting, an ancient ritual. The wild attacks of an excited bull might appear to be a crisis for the matador.

But for a skilled matador, such crises were all staged. Both the bull’s attacks and his own counterattacks unfolded according to his design.

That’s how Ortes looked now as he guided Dimedes’ attacks. With precise movements maintaining the slightest distance, he skillfully twisted his body to direct the whip-arms toward other chimeras.

When Dimedes slaughtered a chimera that had once been his subordinate, its blood splattered into one of Dimedes’ eyes. Such a small amount of blood couldn’t blind Dimedes, who had already sprouted multiple eyes.

But the smell and color of blood were enough to make Dimedes more violent. The nature of a magical beast without controlling intellect ran wild.

Dimedes thrashed about with increasing violence and fervor, trying to tear Ortes, or perhaps his subordinates, to pieces. Watching this, Noiro marveled.

‘So removing the concealment magic wasn’t simply to attack, but to create this situation!’

Indeed. Considering the mastermind controlling these chimeras, they needed to conserve magic and ammunition.

The best results with minimal resource consumption. This strategy was too rational to be mere improvisation.

Ortes had guided Dimedes to eliminate most of the chimeras. Only a few remained in the rear.

This would make capture much easier. Noiro nocked an arrow while looking toward Ortes.

The relaxed smile on his face was as serene as always. Rather than joining him and potentially disrupting Dimedes’ guidance, it would be better to focus on his assigned task.

Noiro called in the drones to target the remaining chimeras in the rear. Given their strong vitality, losing limbs wouldn’t kill them.

***

What is that guy doing instead of helping me?

Can’t he see that the thing that used to be Dimedes is trying to kill me with its blade dance?

No, he definitely saw me. He’s even giving me a thumbs up.

Is he trying to capture the chimeras by taking advantage of the moment when Dimedes’ rage is focused on me?

That guy has been misinterpreting my intentions since earlier.

He seems to think I deliberately provoked Dimedes to create this situation, but that’s not it.

I didn’t set this up to make it easier for you to catch chimeras, so please help me out here.

I thought it would be about as difficult as fighting magical beasts.

I could pretty much predict all the arm-swinging attacks.

The problem was the venom.

Would Dimedes intentionally aim where to spray his venom? No, the venom just flew randomly according to the momentum of his swinging arms.

I had no choice but to avoid the venom that would melt skin on contact.

If the drone’s gunfire could divert his attention, I could exploit an opening.

The drone that had been aimed at Dimedes slowly moved. Was it finally going to fire?

It moved.

To the rear.

I lamented Noiro’s cruel heart.

A blue line indicating an incoming attack appeared before my eyes. I stepped back once more.

Dimedes’ fingertip fangs grazed the space where my shoulder had been a moment ago.

Venom sprayed everywhere. A water bullet from my pre-loaded magic engraving drive wrapped around the poison and deflected it.

Even diluted with water, I could see the ground rapidly corroding where it landed. What kind of magical beast genes were mixed in to produce such powerful venom?

Gradually, the intensity of the attacks diminished.

This was to be expected. Synthesizing and expelling venom naturally consumes a lot of energy. Magic could substitute for energy consumption.

But Dimedes had overused his venom. Not just the venom, but the bizarrely extended arms were also magical effects. The amount of magic being consumed was too great.

Once again, a sharp whip-arm flew at me. But its speed was not the same as before.

I could close the distance now.

I took one step forward. Due to the reduced speed, I could avoid attacks even at closer range.

Another step forward.

***

Noiro witnessed the moment Ortes switched from defense to offense.

Ortes, who had only been avoiding Dimedes’ attacks until now, advanced for the first time. With the first step, he narrowed the gap, and with the second, his blade swung.

Ortes was no longer satisfied with just evasion. One of Dimedes’ fingers, transformed into a snake head, was severed. It had been aiming at Ortes from an angle.

And then another step forward. With each advancing step, another snake head was decapitated.

Dimedes’ attack pattern also gradually changed. No longer the ferocity of a predator, but the desperate struggle of prey.

Each step Ortes took toward him resembled the countdown to an execution.

Finally, having lost all the fingers on both arms, Dimedes charged forward, wildly swinging his two arms with their carapace blades.

Ortes instantly severed the joints between the carapaces. Thud—the sound of two arms falling to the ground.

Dimedes continued his charge, as if trying to crush Ortes with his remaining body. Ortes naturally raised his blade.

The raised blade pierced Dimedes’ jaw and penetrated his brain.

What Noiro saw in that scene wasn’t the finale of a bullfight, but something else.

The image of a snake constricting its prey. Though it was Dimedes who had taken on the appearance of a snake, he looked like he was being slowly hunted by a coiled serpent.

“Former Director Dimedes. Farewell.”

It was too indifferent a parting to be a eulogy. Ortes, pulling out his high-frequency blade, looked at Noiro.

At that subtle show of force, Noiro hastily spoke up.

“I’ve successfully captured the chimera. It’s right over there.”

***

I glared at Noiro, who hadn’t helped me even after capturing the chimera.

‘Just doing the job assigned to you, huh?’

I felt jealousy and anger toward Noiro, who was perfectly practicing the work philosophy I had always dreamed of.

If only I had subordinates I could delegate work to…!