Ch.97Chimera (4)

Currently, the ‘threatening enemies’ in my field of vision number three in total.

Naturally, their identity is none other than the ‘Chimera Beasts’ whose existence I had already been aware of… and there are three of them, no less.

‘No, what is this….’

This unprecedented emergency situation of three mid-tier creatures appearing completely contradicted my strange conviction that they would have at most one Chimera due to control issues.

Faced with this, I couldn’t hide the bewilderment seeping from the depths of my heart.

Three ‘Chimera Beasts’ deliberately created by ancient imperial technology for combat specialization, each at least in the upper mid-tier range?

Since I had formulated all my strategies assuming I’d face a single entity, I observed them without being able to hide even a bit of my confusion.

And the result was…. predictably, beyond disastrous to the point of being horrific.

Two of the three Chimera specimens don’t appear much different from the ordinary Chimeras I knew about, but the last one—not those two—was actually the biggest problem.

Not only is it roughly one size class larger, but it’s also covered in custom-made armor…. If I had to name it, it would most likely be the leader specimen, stronger than the standard ones.

Moreover, beyond those Chimeras, there are soldiers over there… hunters who can adequately support them.

Even though they’re outdated models released for hunting, the power of the old-fashioned muskets, which are undeniably gunpowder weapons, can inflict meaningful damage to mid-tier creatures.

The bombardment from modern direct-fire cannons, specifically designed to kill large mid-tier magical beasts, is dangerous beyond words.

Therefore… I made a decision.

‘I need to do something now…!!’

I needed to take advantage of this standoff situation created by their wariness of me and my wariness of them. With that in mind, I channeled mana into my activated ‘Petrification Evil Eye’ and unleashed its power without restraint.

The original Basilisk could probably petrify enemies below its tier without additional mana consumption, but my body, which wasn’t designed to accommodate an Evil Eye, couldn’t perform at that level.

As a result, to activate the power of ‘Petrification,’ I had to expend additional mana even in its activated state, which was cumbersome, but….

-Crackle…!!

The performance of the ‘Petrification Evil Eye’ was so remarkable that it was well worth this inconvenience.

The bodies of mid-tier and lower lifeforms that entered my field of vision, which I had designated as ‘enemies,’ gradually lost their color starting from their extremities, turning into a mineral-like gray.

This wasn’t merely a hunting technique that petrified only the surface to capture prey alive, but a trump card meant to instantly kill troublesome enemies.

With this, I instantly petrified those mercenary-like groups targeting me at the scene, but it had no effect whatsoever on my real target.

[[[[Grrrr….]]]]

‘….Haa, damn it.’

I’m referring to that strange figure who appears to be controlling the three Chimeras, holding up a staff with an eyeball on it, glaring at me with some kind of bizarre gaze.

His attire was characterized by vibrant, eye-catching colors closer to that of a jester than a warrior, and his expression was grotesquely distorted, clearly not in a normal state even at first glance.

-─Whoosh!

[───!!!]

When I experimentally threw a stone at that strange magician(?) with the boost from my ‘Bar Brawler’ factor, it was intercepted by a sonic projectile launched from a goat head, so it seemed that direct combat would be necessary to take him down….

‘Come, Basilisk.’

[….■■■.]

Therefore, I summoned the shadow of the Basilisk using the power of the pendant touched by Gretel’s delicate hands, and openly displayed my killing intent toward those Chimeras before me.

It was time to begin the hunt—the hunt for magical beasts.

※ ※ ※

Meanwhile, at the same time, in Camille’s pioneer village.

The lord had temporarily left to scout personally, leaving his deputies in charge of the village, and now—

What more needs to be said? An intense battle was raging between the villagers and the invaders who had attacked the village.

How long had it been since the lord left? Somehow, an armed group had concealed themselves, approached the village, and attacked, and now the residents were fighting against these unidentified bandits to protect their property.

And the tide of battle gradually shifting toward the invaders, who were combat specialists, was inevitable.

The approximately 120 bandits who invaded the village were all equipped with armor—not of good quality, but armor nonetheless—and most were armed with shields and one-handed weapons, resembling typical medium infantry specialized in close combat (by human standards).

In other words, even when arrows and crossbow bolts were fired from the watchtowers, they were blocked by shields, making their effectiveness quite minimal.

“””””””””─Waaaaaaah!!!”””””””””

“Hii, hiiiek…!!”

“….”

“Wh-what should we do…?”

“…Can we win this?”

“…!”

Moreover, the current villagers had at most faced wolves or goblins, but had never encountered heavily armed infantry like these who seemed to have received proper military training.

As a result, morale was plummeting like dominoes falling simultaneously, and in this atmosphere, with the fear spreading among the ‘conscripted’ villagers as someone might start to flee….

“Fight! Fight! If you run, your families will die!”

“Don’t lose heart! They’re nothing special! Even armored men are nothing to fear!”

The atmosphere began to gradually reverse, starting with the appearance of retired adventurers who were even more heavily armed than those soldiers, wearing equipment they had used in their active days.

Of course, this isn’t to say that morale suddenly exploded just because retired adventurers appeared.

To be precise, in a situation where people couldn’t dare to flee for fear that the adventurers next to them might bash their heads in, the core forces of the village defense militia began to join in earnest, turning the tide of battle.

Seeing the hunters on the watchtowers begin to take down enemy soldiers one by one with their trained archery skills, the villagers realized that these invaders were not invincible soldiers and managed to gather something resembling courage.

Additionally, it greatly helped that the villagers’ crossbow bolts flew through the gaps created by fallen enemies, taking down more of the invaders.

With at least 20 of the approximately 120 enemy soldiers killed in this attack alone, the change was visible enough that morale began to rise again.

And to punctuate this atmosphere, the armored half-blood (lower-tier) werewolves charging toward the enemy lines, led by Hanna at the front, also had a significant impact.

“Ahahahaha─!!!”

Charging alone into enemy lines with pure excitement for battle, she slaughtered them one-sidedly, tearing off their limbs or pulling off their heads in her pure therianthrope state without any additional transformation.

Of course, Hanna covered in blood, holding up a severed head with the spine dangling… was terrifying, but having such a fearsome being as an ally was the perfect element for boosting morale.

Thanks to this, as the activities of these mid-tier beings further stimulated the atmosphere, the half-blood werewolves who had followed and joined Hanna began to penetrate the disintegrating formation and start their hunt.

Without needing any special armament, these half-blood werewolves, who could properly handle even regular army soldiers, began to engage those mercenaries(?) while properly equipped with leather armor or metal armor.

They would kick away shields and then slash throats with their claws. They would easily dodge axe swings and then break necks with roundhouse kicks.

These born warriors and hunters, who could display formidable power in individual skirmishes if not in group formations, literally led the slaughter against this suspiciously heavily armed band of thieves.

At this point, a mid-tier being wearing half-plate armor suddenly appeared among the mercenaries, holding an axe and shield in each hand, and blocked Hanna’s path as she was one-sidedly massacring the mercenaries.

“You shall not pass!”

“….Haha?”

Perhaps Hanna, who appeared unarmed on the outside, looked easy to handle? That mid-tier being—presumably the leader—approached with a confident smile and challenged Hanna to a fight, brandishing his weapon.

Of course, Hanna, who was simply happy to have many strong opponents to fight, didn’t care about such dark inner thoughts and smiled brightly—

-─KWAAANG!!!

She transformed into her werewolf form through her specialty of high-speed transformation and simultaneously body-slammed that mid-tier warrior.