Ch.40Tamer and Lizardman (2)

The beast let out a deep exhale.

Behind us stood the Minotaur. In front were the monsters that had annihilated the Imperial Army. Behind us was the monster that had crushed the Battle Maniac.

Monsters everywhere we turned in this place. I wished those damn elves would do something about this bull bastard…

It didn’t seem likely that this creature, presumably a participant, would leave us alone to attack the elves instead. As the Tamer and Lizardman were thinking this, determined to land at least one good hit before they went down—

“Oh! Sir Minotaur! Were those two your prey? Haha! I nearly made a grave mistake. We’ll be on our way to finish off the remaining Imperial soldiers, so please enjoy yourself.”

With those words, the one who appeared to be the leader guided the elves away from our sight.

Some elves were even waving goodbye to the Minotaur, and the Minotaur waved back. Just as I was dumbfounded by this bizarre situation—

CRASH!!!

As soon as the elves disappeared, the Minotaur attacked us. It seemed he had been holding back thinking we were the elves’ prey, but the moment they vanished, he charged. Thanks to the White Tiger, we managed to dodge his attack.

“Ha-! Hey, participant! Why don’t you form an alliance with us instead?! We can make a mutual contract not to harm each other! We have someone among our companions who can make that possible!”

The Tamer suddenly proposed an alliance. Apparently with his life on the line, his earlier composure had vanished.

Why had they lured us here? Though the path was cleared of trees, they probably thought that if soldiers, knights, and Sword Masters arrived, they could capture this monster.

But with the main Imperial force annihilated, there was no chance of that happening.

“My, are you referring to this boy as the one who can make such a contract?”

A soft voice suddenly came from beside us. Everyone turned toward the source.

There stood a woman holding the severed head of someone who appeared to be a young girl.

It seemed there had been quite a battle, as her torn robe revealed damaged armor underneath.

But while her armor was slashed and dented, she herself appeared completely unharmed.

“Ghost…!! You traitorous bitch!!! How could you behead someone who was once your comrade! Are you even human?!”

The Tamer was enraged at seeing Ghost’s severed head, but the woman called a traitorous bitch merely tilted her head in confusion.

“My, I was the one who was betrayed and nearly killed, yet I’m the one being blamed? Besides, you shouldn’t be worrying about me but about that bull over there. The Lizardman is dying.”

When we turned to look, we saw the Lizardman indeed being pushed back by the Minotaur. In the brief moment I had looked away, the Minotaur had cornered the Lizardman.

“Ugh—! To think I’d have to reveal my trump card in a place like this…!! Come forth!!!”

With those words, the air split open and a massive monster appeared.

It had the head of a lion and the head of a goat, with a lion’s body but the hind legs of a goat.

MEEEEEEEH!!!!

GRRRRRR!!!!

HISSSSSSS!!

A Chimera.

A monster from Greek mythology, estimated to be a Disaster-class threat in this world. Beyond S-rank, a single one could threaten an entire kingdom.

This Chimera let out a roar, seemingly sensing a powerful opponent in the Minotaur before it.

The Minotaur, though in the middle of fighting the Lizardman, turned its glowing red eyes toward the Chimera.

MOOOOOOO!!!!!

MEEEEEEEH!!!!

The bull roared, and the goat roared back in challenge. Their roars shook the earth and made the air tremble. Anyone with weak nerves would have died instantly upon hearing them.

The Minotaur looked at the challenger that had entered its territory, and the Chimera returned the same gaze.

Two monsters from Greek mythology in their previous life on Earth were about to clash here in the otherworld of Grancia.

“Ugh—. That beast. It’s pretending· to be· mindless· but it’s· actually· fully· conscious. Be careful·.”

Had the Lizardman become this exhausted after just a few minutes of fighting? He was the best hunter in our party…

“The Chimera will distract it for now. It’s the highest-ranked beast I have, so you can expect a lot from it. First, let’s get away from here…”

WHOOSH!!!!

“My, you can’t leave yet. You haven’t even properly fought that bull, so where do you think you’re going?”

“You traitorous bitch!!!!! Are you really going to stand against us?!”

The Tamer responded with indignation, as if he couldn’t believe her betrayal, but from her perspective, it was simply ridiculous.

“The ones who tried to kill me are talking nonsense. Shut up and fight the Minotaur. Otherwise, I’ll hold you here so you can’t escape, draw the Minotaur’s attention, and let it kill you.”

“Ugh—!!! What wrong have we ever done to you…”

CRASH!!!

Before the Tamer could finish speaking, the Minotaur and Chimera began their full-scale battle.

When the two Disaster-class monsters collided, everything around them was sent flying, including the Tamer and Lizardman who weren’t properly braced.

“AAAAARGH!!”

“Grrrk…”

The traitorous woman caught them both and refused to let go.

“Ugh-! If we really kill that monster, will you let us go without doing anything?”

She nodded at his words and released them.

“Go on, fight. If you try to run away, you’ll have to face me. But you know you can’t defeat me without the Battle Maniac and Ghost, right? Of course, if you defeat the Minotaur, I swear to God I’ll let you go. That makes it trustworthy, doesn’t it?”

The traitorous woman’s oath to God wasn’t particularly convincing, but Ghost had once mentioned that she was a Saintess who served a heretical god.

Thinking that someone who believed in a god wouldn’t make false oaths to their deity, and that she was more trustworthy than the monster, they looked around.

If their advance message had been delivered, there should be nets, ballistas, and weakening scrolls prepared to capture the Minotaur.

After searching the surroundings and finally finding something, they headed toward the battlefield where the Minotaur and Chimera were fighting.

* * * * *

CRASH!!!!

The Minotaur punched the Chimera, sending it into the air, then stabbed it with its horns.

SQUELCH!!

MEEEEEH!!!!

GRRRRRR!!!

The lion and goat heads wailed in agony. Despite their pain, they swung their arms to push the Minotaur away.

Blood flowed from the chest wound onto the ground, sizzling as it dissolved the earth.

The Minotaur’s horns also sizzled, but they remained intact, seemingly impervious to the acidic blood.

The Minotaur charged again, overwhelming the Chimera. Using its advantage of having arms like a human, it pressed its attack.

Wrapping lightning around both arms and pummeling the Chimera, it looked like the lightning god had descended to earth.

With each blow, the Chimera’s heads couldn’t regain their senses, and the additional lightning strikes disoriented it further.

Their battle, with 9-meter monsters colliding, made the ground shake with even light contact, and trees screamed in agony whenever they crashed into them.

While the Minotaur was beating the Chimera’s heads with its fists, the snake face on the Chimera’s tail lunged toward the Minotaur.

HISSSSS!!!!

When the snake opened its mouth, deadly venom swirled inside. The green liquid filled its mouth, and it sprayed it toward the Minotaur’s eyes to blind it.

But the Minotaur, having experienced all sorts of attacks in its battle with Lassis, emitted lightning from its entire body and burned away the poison.

CRACKLE!!

Despite the failure of its secret weapon, the tail continued its attack. Determined to bite directly if poison wouldn’t work, the tail approached while the revived lion and goat heads joined in, using their front paws to pin the Minotaur to the ground.

The snake head moved steadily toward the neck, approaching relentlessly as if certain of success…

HISSSSS!!

A tail that shouldn’t exist on a Minotaur constricted the snake’s head and discharged lightning.

CRACKLE!!!

Hisss…

Unable to withstand the lightning and constriction, the Chimera’s tail went limp and moved no more, seemingly dead.

GRRRRRR!!!!

MEEEEEE!!!!!

The Chimera raged at the death of the snake, which had been like a friend despite their antagonistic relationship.

The lion head filled its mouth with fire targeting the Minotaur’s nape, while the goat aimed its horns at the Minotaur’s chest.

But as the Minotaur escaped from the Chimera’s front paws and tried to grab its heads—

SQUELCH!!!

MOOO!?

The Lizardman thrust his spear, piercing the Minotaur’s arm as it tried to grab the lion’s head, distracting it before retreating.

Though the goat’s head was caught in the Minotaur’s left hand, the lion’s head, thanks to the Lizardman’s help, bit into the Minotaur’s nape.

MOOOO!!

As the Minotaur struggled in pain, the lion’s head, still biting the nape, breathed fire.

WHOOSH!!!!

MOOOOO!!!

Even with its thick hide, the Minotaur thrashed about trying to remove the lion’s head as high-temperature flames poured directly into its body.

But the Chimera seemed willing to sacrifice its goat head, using its entire body to pin down the Minotaur.

CRACKLE!!

The Minotaur discharged lightning from its body, creating an explosive circular electrical field that blocked the Lizardman’s thrown spears and the Wyvern’s flames from a distance.

In the confusion caused by the sudden electrical discharge, it broke the goat’s neck and tried to grab the lion’s head, but—

SWISH!!!!

A monster-sized net flew in. Suddenly, monkey-like beasts had surrounded the Minotaur.

Some fired ballistas at the Minotaur, while others used various scrolls to weaken it.

Gorilla-like beasts pulled on the net, preventing the Minotaur from moving properly.

Confused by this sudden turn of events, the Minotaur hesitated, and the Chimera, now with only its lion head surviving, seized the opportunity to bite its nape again.

MOOOOO!!!

The lion’s fangs dug deeper. With fire in its mouth, it began cauterizing the wound, while the monkey beasts fired ballistas to keep the Minotaur at bay.

The Tamer, riding a Wyvern, breathed fire from above to harass the Minotaur, and the Lizardman continued launching spears using ballista arrows.

As the Minotaur became increasingly wounded, its eyes grew redder, and cracking sounds came from its body.

With those sounds, its body shrank, causing the Chimera’s mouth to bite empty air and confusing the gorillas holding the net.

CRASH!!!

A monster that sent the gorillas flying revealed itself. Standing at 4 meters tall, the same height as a normal Minotaur.

Its face was covered by what looked like a bone mask.

Its two arms had become longer and thicker like a gorilla’s, almost touching the ground.

While everyone was shocked by this sudden transformation—

MOOOOO!!!

With a fierce roar, the Minotaur charged at the Lizardman. It seemed to consider him the most troublesome opponent for interfering with its chance to finish off the Chimera.

Its speed had increased as its size decreased. Even without wrapping thunder around its legs, it instantly approached the Lizardman and swung its fist.

CRASH!!!

And this destructive power! With longer, thicker arms, its power seemed no less than when it was larger.

Despite the sudden attack, the Lizardman’s wild instincts allowed him to avoid the fist… but not the tail.

The whip-like elongated tail instantly wrapped around the Lizardman’s waist and pulled him toward the Minotaur.

HISSSSS!!!

Making a snake-like metallic sound, he struck the tail with an aura-wrapped dagger, but though the tail was half-severed and dangling, he was still dragged before the Minotaur.

A 4-meter Minotaur versus a 2-meter Lizardman. Beyond the size difference, there was an overwhelming gap in strength.

The Chimera, Wyvern, and various beasts rushed to save the Lizardman, but… it was too late.

CRACK!

Dangling lower body and tail. Limp arms and a protruding tongue. Split in half at the waist, the Lizardman had become the Minotaur’s meal.

“LIZARDMAN!!!!”

The Tamer screamed at the shocking sight. They had been comrades for over two years, reliable allies.

The Battle Maniac may have loved fighting, but he was always the first to rush to a comrade’s aid. Ghost might have been grumpy, but always volunteered for crucial tasks and saved them from danger.

Lizardman… had always been cool-headed, silently supporting them.

Two had become the Minotaur’s meal, and one had his head severed by the traitorous woman, still rolling on the ground.

Believing he couldn’t escape anyway and not wanting to, the Tamer used his final skill.

“Monster Cannibal!”