Chapter 41. The Expedition Nears Its End (6)
The official purpose of this expedition was to confirm the possibility that the Dragon Heart truly existed, as well as determine whether Shane’s theory could be used to secure a safe route through the Mezaia Great Forest and reach its central region.
But their real objective was to obtain the Dragon Heart.
In that regard, their goal was no different from that of the Imperial Family or the Organization.
Then what, exactly, was a Dragon Heart?
In truth, very few people knew its true value.
To most people, a Dragon Heart was a treasure that had never once appeared throughout humanity’s recorded history in the current era.
They knew it only as a legendary treasure capable of granting absolute power merely by being obtained.
That was why there were only a handful of people in the world who understood the true significance of the Dragon Heart located within the Mezaia Great Forest.
Raviata was one of them.
And as she watched the army of Chimeras charging toward her in numbers so great that the word ‘pouring’ seemed appropriate, she clicked her tongue.
“Damn, recovering one heart is a real pain. Fall back!”
Every member of the Knight Order of Hiel, who had been fighting from behind the hastily constructed earthen barricade Delilah created, retreated at Raviata’s command.
At the same moment, numerous red spheres slowly floated forward from Raviata’s fingertips.
Flame Orb Haze(Flame orb haze).
Dozens of fireballs advanced toward the enemy.
Each sphere contained densely compressed fire, and when they exploded simultaneously, the bodies of the Chimeras burst apart like liquid.
The firepower was so overwhelming that even the Chimeras’ bodily fluids evaporated immediately.
A crimson haze filled the cavern to an almost excessive degree.
Through minute manipulation of her Mana, Raviata spread the haze until it completely filled the passage on the opposite side.
Then she cast another spell.
Haze Bomb(Haze bomb).
The crimson haze exploded once again.
In an instant, even the passage through which the Chimeras had been entering transformed into a pit of hellfire.
“Good heavens…….”
Adam stared speechlessly at the battlefield that had been cleared in an instant.
Was this what the firepower of a true Mage looked like?
An ordinary Mage would have required several minutes of casting for magic of this scale.
Yet Raviata had unleashed it instantly, and its destructive power far exceeded imagination.
‘So this is the reputation of Raviata.’
Until now, Raviata had often moved ahead and fought separately so that her magic would not harm the rest of the group.
Watching her fight directly like this, Adam found himself unable to think of anything to say.
This was less like magic—
And more like a natural disaster.
“Phew. Burning Chimera doesn’t exactly smell pleasant. I’ll cast Fire Resistance Magic on everyone, so let’s start moving again.”
“……Understood.”
“Yes…….”
Delilah, herself a Mage who wielded an attribute, seemed somewhat overwhelmed by what she had witnessed as they continued forward.
After traveling for a while, every member of the expedition began frowning.
“Something is strange.”
None of them wanted to look at the corpses of Chimeras created from their dead companions.
But separate from that—
There was something strange about the condition of the Chimeras lying before them.
“They look like something wrung them dry. What happened here?”
After they advanced a certain distance, they began encountering Chimera corpses.
The expedition members tilted their heads at the sight.
The dead Chimeras were tangled within trees.
And just as Adam had said, their bodies had shriveled into dried husks.
“Well, I think I have a rough idea of what happened.”
Adam turned toward Raviata.
“You have an idea?”
“Yeah. There aren’t many beings around here capable of doing something like this. Hmm…… This battle might end more easily than I expected.”
“……?”
“You’ll understand once we keep moving. But everyone should control their expressions. You’re going to be surprised when you see it.”
“Could you explain yourself in a way the rest of us can actually understand?”
Adam sighed as he spoke, but Raviata merely smiled.
As they continued along the passage—
They finally understood what Raviata had meant.
“A-An Elf……?”
Delilah and the knights from the Kingdom of Hiel could only stare with their mouths open.
A small forest had formed within the underground cavern, surrounded by dazzling lights of countless colors.
Fresh grasses swayed and danced as though rejoicing at the current situation.
The leaves of an enormous willow tree fluttered around the woman seated beneath it as though trying to conceal her from view.
For some reason, the sight of her shimmering platinum-blond hair flowing through the air made it seem as though sunlight itself had filled the cavern.
Eyes that appeared to contain an emerald lake regarded the expedition.
It was a dreamlike scene that seemed to belong in a fairy tale.
Yet the expedition could not simply lose themselves in the woman’s beauty.
Countless Chimeras lay shriveled around her, entangled within the surrounding plants.
The gruesome contrast between those corpses and the beautiful scene was more than enough to remind everyone of the danger before them.
And at the center of it all—
The breathtakingly beautiful woman played a harp and spoke as though welcoming the expedition.
“Ah. Um. Is ‘hello’ right? Hello?”
It had been hundreds of years since she last attempted to communicate using the physical organ called a mouth.
The Elf Queen, Priscilla, smiled as she finally came face-to-face with the expedition.
—
“……Horrific.”
Dominic clenched his jaw so tightly at the sight before him that his teeth seemed ready to crack.
As a knight, he took pride in having experienced countless hardships.
How many horrific sights had he witnessed during the wars against the Black Mages?
And yet—
Even after all these years, he could never become accustomed to scenes like this.
“…….”
“…….”
No one else could deny Dominic’s words either.
With Klein at the center of their fighting force, the group continued advancing while battling the seemingly endless Chimera army.
Eventually, they reached a place that made everyone instinctively grimace.
“Kirrk.”
“Krrr.”
Many of the Chimeras they had fought until now had possessed identical faces.
Because of that, Dominic had concluded that some sort of Parent Body must exist.
Unfortunately—
His deduction had been correct.
The corpses of expedition members who had died.
But naturally, they had not been left as mere corpses.
Beneath the bodies were Egg Sacs that repeatedly expanded and contracted.
They looked as though they had been created by forcibly swelling and reshaping human skin tissue.
And within those sacs—
The very Chimeras the expedition had been fighting until now were being gestated.
There were ten in total.
Combined with the revolting stench, the horrific scene was more than enough to leave the expedition members stunned.
Klein did not know what kind of being could commit something like this.
But for the first time in his life—
He felt genuine, overwhelming rage.
“Ah……”
Dominic could say nothing as he stared at his own knights among the Chimera Parent Bodies.
He had already considered the possibility.
But this confirmed it.
The Organization connected to the Imperial Family was not a group they should ever have associated with.
For now, the scene consisted only of dead bodies.
But there was no guarantee that one day the same sight would not spread throughout the Empire.
Ilexa, who had fortunately avoided losing any of her own members until now, forced herself to remain composed.
“Sir Dominic. I cannot claim to fully understand how you feel, but we cannot remain like this.”
“……I understand. It seems age has only made this old man’s heart softer. Forgive me, all of you. This happened because I was inadequate. You may rest now.”
Fortunately, Dominic’s years of experience prevented him from falling into panic.
Klein was likewise not someone who allowed himself to be swept away by emotion alone.
Aneis, too, was accustomed to controlling her feelings.
But Dominic’s remaining knights had yet to recover from the shock.
Seeing them, Dominic forced down his own anguish and shouted,
“Get a hold of yourselves, you pathetic fools! Should we not allow our comrades to rest in peace……?! Even those young children have regained their composure, yet look at the disgrace you are showing!”
His words finally pulled the knights from their shock.
Killing Intent began pouring from them.
“My apologies. Then let us put an end to this immediately.”
The entire group prepared to charge toward the Parent Bodies, which were still continuously giving birth to Chimeras.
But at that moment—
“Hehe. Sorry, sorry. They might look like that now, but they’re still my siblings. I can’t just let you kill them whenever you please.”
A light, thin voice drifted down from above.
Every gaze immediately turned upward.
At that exact moment, Klein reacted to an intense wave of Killing Intent rushing toward him and swung his sword.
CLANG-!
“Heeheehee. Failed, failed! I really did fail. So you’re the strongest one after all?”
“What are you?!”
The being that had rushed Klein in an instant flipped through the air after its surprise attack failed and landed steadily on the ground.
“That……”
The moment the group saw their new enemy, their bodies froze as though their minds had failed to process what they were seeing.
Its legs were covered in rough carapace and resembled those of a frog.
Its upper body was heavily muscled, bringing a gorilla to mind.
Its face resembled a spider, complete with eight eyes.
Every part of the creature seemed to have been constructed in direct defiance of the laws of nature.
“A Chimera.”
“Heehee…… Correct, correct!”
Spider-like appendages attached to the creature’s head, which was covered in thick black hair, creaked as they moved unpleasantly.
“What a hideous creature…….”
“Heek! Why does everyone make that face when they see me? Daddy, Daddy always tells me I’m pretty! Heeheehee!”
As the creature spoke, it brought forward the hand it had been holding behind its back.
“So everyone who made faces like that…… I made them look like this.”
“……?!”
Held in its thick, gorilla-like hand—
Was a human face crushed beneath the force of its grip.
Ilexa recognized the face a moment later and screamed,
“Karlot!”
Several people immediately turned around.
A corpse lay collapsed behind them in a pool of blood.
Its neck had been forcibly torn from its body through sheer strength.
‘When did it……?’
Had that thing killed an expedition member and launched a surprise attack against Klein within such a brief span of time?
Until moments ago, everyone had regarded it as merely another Chimera.
Now, the perceived danger of the enemy before them rose dramatically.
At the very least—
There was no one here capable of casually matching that creature.
“Everyone, Square Formation!”
Ilexa had just watched one of her companions die before her eyes.
Even so, she thoroughly suppressed her emotions and issued a calm command.
Fortunately, her party members also forced down their shaken emotions, raised their shields, and reorganized their formation.
There was only one enemy.
But they could not treat it like an ordinary monster.
“Hee, this looks fun. Play, play with me! Let’s plaaaay!!”
The Chimera attacked.
They barely registered it lowering its posture before its legs suddenly extended.
It launched itself directly toward Ilexa’s Adventurer Party, whose shields were raised.
BOOOOM-!
The leap happened in an instant.
The creature’s fist smashed into their shields.
The Lampert Adventurer Party had always held their defensive line steadfastly, no matter what kind of attack struck them.
Yet the overwhelming impact, which felt less like a blow and more like an explosion, forced them backward.
The defenders who had protected the rear without yielding to any attack until now—
Had been pushed back.
“What kind of strength is this……?!”
“Heeheehee! My friends are a little, a little tougher than the others!!”
Using the shields as a foothold, the Chimera launched a kick and opened the distance again.
Aneis frowned.
“Something’s strange.”
“What do you mean?”
Klein immediately responded to her muttering.
“I can understand it killing the person behind us without us seeing it. But why didn’t any of us even notice that person falling?”
“Hmm?”
Klein also realized the discrepancy.
The enemy was certainly stealthy and powerful.
But separate from that—
It was strange that not a single person had sensed even the sound or presence of the corpse collapsing.
“And look at those shields.”
“Ah!”
The Mana shields carried by the members of Ilexa’s party were noticeably dimmer than usual.
“It isn’t just strong. There’s something else happening.”
“You’re right…….”
After hearing Aneis’s observation, Klein released some Mana into the surroundings to test it.
Normally, it should have flowed as naturally as water.
Instead—
The Mana became disturbed, as though something were interfering with its movement.
“There might be Anti-Mana Equipment nearby.”
At Aneis’s conclusion, Klein’s expression hardened as well.
