chapter_0058

Chapter 57 : A gradual change

Swish!!!

A dry slicing sound echoed across the highlands.

Then, the chimera’s body, split in half, began to collapse slowly under the harsh wind pressure.

Faced with the overwhelming blow, both Zenre and Nella let out dumbfounded breaths.

“Weren’t undead chimeras supposed to be tougher the more the energy condensed?”

“Yeah, ridiculously tough. We’d probably have to slash it a dozen times with full power just to barely cut through.”

Not that it would’ve even given us time for that many slashes in the first place.

Nella added that thought, feeling another wave of disbelief wash over her as she looked at the chimera’s torso, cut cleanly before it could even react.

The chimera’s body—especially that of an undead one—grew exponentially harder the closer it was to the core inside its torso.

Sure, a single strike had cut off part of the wing that was far from the core, but near the core? That part should’ve been so hard, it wouldn’t even be scratched by a few sword strikes.

But what was this sight before their eyes now?

Inside the split body, following the line of the cut, there it was—the unmistakable chimera core, also sliced cleanly.

The chimera core, made from a fusion of mercury and concentrated energy.

That area should’ve been the hardest part of the entire body, and yet, it had been severed in a perfectly straight line, from start to finish, with no deviation.

It was a sight too hard to understand with Nella’s current knowledge.

No matter how talented she was, this was a strike she couldn’t imagine replicating.

“As expected of Master… I still have a lot to learn.”

Though, whether it’s something one can learn is another matter altogether.

As Nella muttered to herself, staring at the chimera, its collapsed body suddenly started to move again.

“Kyaaaah!!!”

Whether it was feeling pain from the core being attacked or not, the chimera let out a furious roar unlike before and began regenerating its torn body.

The severed core began to reattach, and the energy it emitted started reconstructing the chimera’s body.

This was yet another advantage of the undead chimera.

Its regenerative power wouldn’t stop until it completely ran out of energy.

No matter how many times the core was sliced, killing the chimera before its energy was depleted was nearly impossible.

The only possible method was for a mage or priest to banish the energy at the moment the core was exposed—or use holy water, if nothing else.

Otherwise, all one could do was keep wounding and wounding it until the energy was finally exhausted.

And yet, despite knowing that, Nella found herself feeling not even a sliver of concern.

Why? Because she had never seen Kael this angry before.

“Stop barking so damn loudly.”

When he first saw the corpses of Melion, Sasha, and Zeke, Nella thought Kael would collapse in despair.

That was back then—right after the end of the human-demon war.

It was natural to think so, since Nella had seen Kael during those times with her own eyes.

But contrary to her expectations, Kael didn’t sink into sorrow. He brushed it aside and approached the chimera, filled only with rage.

No—rather than brushing it aside, perhaps it’s better to say he pulled himself out of that pit of sorrow before it swallowed him whole.

It was Elia and Ruina—those two—who pulled Kael out of that pit.

And having overcome that sorrow, the fury that now burned inside Kael was so intense, it looked cold—freezing cold.

“KYAAAAH!!!”

Could the chimera’s pitiful rage, just because it got wounded, ever overcome Kael’s fury?

It wasn’t even a question worth asking.

So Nella—and Zenre—simply stepped back, making sure not to interfere, and watched the unfolding scene.

“Huuuuup…”

One deep breath.

And the moment the chimera’s front claws swung down, Kael’s attack began as well.

Ka-ga-ga-ga-gak—

—!!!!

“KYEEEEEEEK!!!”

He shattered the swinging claws.

Split its body apart.

Smashed its core again and again.

He just kept cutting, and cutting, and cutting again.

“KYAAAAAH!!!”

Even amidst the relentless onslaught, the chimera tried to retaliate, letting out a dying roar, but it couldn’t even hope for the moment to lift its arm.

Each attack flowed into the next without a single gap, all wielded with the sole purpose of killing the chimera—where could one possibly find an opening in such a barrage?

The chimera’s body was regenerating even as it was being torn apart, but to Nella and Zenre’s eyes, they could clearly see that its regenerative power was depleting in real-time.

With each passing second, the chimera’s morale dropped dramatically.

Only a moment ago, the chimera’s overwhelming spirit had seemed immense, but now it was so faint it was smaller than that of a single person.

“K- Kieeek…!!”

And perhaps the chimera itself also knew that its death was right before its eyes—where its earlier cries had been filled with fury, now fear began to seep in.

Not only that, but it no longer sought to counterattack—its movements now only aimed to flee.

But of course, Kael had no intention of allowing such a thing.

“Haaah… This is the end.”

Kael, having used a vast amount of mana to destroy the concentrated core of the chimera’s will, was breathing heavily.

Had he faced two of these chimeras in this way, it might’ve been Kael who lost.

Normally, Kael would have asked Nella for cooperation and fought more safely.

But this time, his fury was so strong that he engaged in a reckless battle he wouldn’t normally consider.

Of course, Nella thought it was insane that anyone could even fight in such a reckless way in the first place.

Step

Preparing for the final blow, Kael raised his sword, cloaked in sword energy, high into the sky.

The chimera, having just barely finished regenerating its wounds, tried to drag its broken body away from Kael—but the sword fell faster than the chimera could spread its wings.

CRACK—!!!

The sound of the chimera’s core, made of mercury and will, shattering completely rang through the air.

And then came the delayed shockwave of the sword strike, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Unlike before, the shattered core did not attempt to reform.

Its will completely lost, the core simply melted into mercury, and the mass of corpses that made up the chimera’s body collapsed atop the plateau.

Thud—!!!

With a heavy sound, the chimera’s body crashed down.

The lump of corpses, once held together by will, now unraveled and began to fall apart.

The corpses the chimera had manipulated like puppets dropped to the ground as if their strings had been cut.

Kael gently laid down the bodies of Melion, Sasha, and Zeke among them and spoke.

“…Nella, if it’s not too much, could you check if the bodies of any other kids are here?”

“Of course. Leave it to me.”

Had anyone else asked, she would’ve flatly refused.

After all, who would say yes to such a request—to sort through a pile of corpses with magic?

But because it was Kael asking, and because she herself was still shocked after seeing the bodies of her old classmates, she accepted his request without a moment’s hesitation.

Whirr

As Nella waved her staff, which had absorbed her sword, the corpses strewn on the ground began to float gently and line up one by one.

Watching the scene, Kael simply ran his trembling hand over the bodies of the three laid before him.

He savored this reunion—one he’d waited so long for—even though it was in the worst possible form.

And thus, the day slowly came to an end on the plateau.

Northern continent.

The great city of Hagenster, located at the edge of the kingdom’s territory.

Hagenster, known for its low average temperatures and long winters compared to other cities, had recently been experiencing strange occurrences.

For instance, the sudden increase in bugs.

For instance, the growing number of wild beasts.

For instance, the people who had started going missing after stepping outside.

Hagenster, which typically had fewer pests than other cities, was now seeing a surge in insects like cockroaches, centipedes, and silverfish.

So many, in fact, that if you caught one in your house one day, you’d see two the next, and ten the day after.

Along with the increase in bugs came a rise in the number of wild animals spotted by hunters.

These animals normally wouldn’t venture near the city, but now a significant number of them were appearing near Hagenster, allowing its citizens to eat well.

Lastly, the number of missing persons in Hagenster was gradually increasing.

Originally, there were three or four disappearances per month. But now, three or four people were going missing every week.

Because it was such a large city, the change wasn’t very noticeable yet—but the shift was clearly underway.

“Don’t you think there’s been more bugs lately?”

“There’s been a lot more animals, too. There’s so much meat now that prices dropped.”

“I heard Billy disappeared recently… Something weird’s going on, I’m sure of it.”

Of course, the citizens of Hagenster occasionally voiced their concerns about the changes.

But since their daily lives hadn’t been affected much, no one paid serious attention.

And in their indifference, the changes continued to grow steadily.

Until they would finally lead to something much greater.