Chapter 42. The Expedition Nears Its End (7)
Ardia James, Raviata’s adjutant, was a man who trusted his instincts.
Once the leader of the most infamous assassin organization on the continent, he was cautious by nature, but whenever a crisis arose, he never hesitated to act according to his instincts.
Those instincts had saved James from countless dangers in the past.
This time was no different.
After the Dark Elves’ attacks orchestrated by the Organization caused the expedition to split apart, James chose to move independently rather than immediately rejoin the others.
He was confident that he could survive on his own, and he also wanted to assess the situation from a perspective independent of the expedition.
Raviata likewise trusted James’s judgment and raised no particular objection.
After wandering alone for some time according to plan—
‘Danger.’
The moment a sense of imminent danger struck him, James concealed himself within the shadows.
Negative-Dimensional Mana.
As befitted the former leader of an assassin organization that had once shaken the entire continent, James merged into the shadows while retaining only the bare minimum of bodily functions.
“Tsk, tsk. As expected, something thrown together in a hurry simply cannot perform properly.”
The voice of an irritable old man reached him.
There was no possibility that an ordinary old man would be wandering through a Cradle as dangerous as this.
Out of habit, James immediately narrowed down the identities of those who might be present here.
He had already seen the Chimeras on his way here.
Before long, one particular person came to mind.
‘Gordon. So it is him.’
Gordon had once been the leader of a Black Mage organization.
The Black Mage organization that had waged an all-out war against the Allied Nations in the past had since been destroyed, and the Empire, which stood at the head of the Allied Nations, had officially announced Gordon’s death.
Recently, however, the intelligence organization led by James had confirmed that Gordon was active within Nameless, an Organization they had been monitoring.
‘This is not good.’
Whatever else could be said about Gordon, his abilities were genuine.
He was an opponent far beyond what a single expedition should have been expected to handle.
But James soon reconsidered.
If this truly was the Gordon he knew, there was no possibility that the man remained unaware of James’s presence here.
Gordon was exceptional in far too many fields for that, and there was no chance he was ignorant of beings who could enter the Negative Dimension either.
Furthermore, there were no Undead around him.
Judging from that, it appeared that the characteristics of the Mezaia Great Forest prevented him from properly utilizing Undead here.
‘Is he avoiding the Elves’ notice?’
Perhaps matters would proceed more easily than expected.
However, rather than returning to Raviata immediately, James first needed to locate another member of the Adventurer Party who had entered the Mezaia Great Forest before the expedition.
Only then would Raviata be able to fight at full strength without concern.
Having reached that conclusion, James was just about to withdraw when—
“Hehehe. Who goes there? Stop hiding like a rat and come out.”
‘……!’
Gordon’s gaze turned toward the rippling darkness.
—
Long before James reached Gordon’s residence—
[Is something like that truly possible……?]
Shane nodded at Obern’s question.
They had just been discussing Gordon, the expedition’s primary enemy.
It had been the same in Shane’s previous life.
When Gordon’s identity first became known to the world, people dismissed him as nothing more than a mad Alchemist.
Naturally, his horrifying genius was also emphasized, but in the end, they regarded him as merely a defeated man who had already lost once to the Allied Nations.
There was one thing they misunderstood.
The problem was that Gordon’s talent could not be adequately described with a word as simple as genius.
And once that talent encountered Nameless—
It gave birth to a true flower of evil.
For example, the Chimera army Gordon created could not be compared to Chimeras produced by ordinary Black Mages.
With the Demi-Humans currently sealed away, these creatures possessed something that was otherwise permitted only to humanity—
‘Species Growth.’
That was not something to be taken lightly.
As time passed, the number of Chimeras Gordon created would continue to increase.
Every individual Chimera was essentially a Biological Weapon assembled by selecting the advantages of various monsters.
And if creatures like that could continue growing as well—
How absurdly unfair would that become?
[The Numbered ones among them are particularly troublesome.]
The Numbered.
Chimera lifeforms Gordon cherished so greatly that he even called them his own children.
There were not many of them yet.
But in the future, each of those Chimeras would grow powerful enough to command a legion of its own, becoming objects of terror for humanity.
[The most troublesome of those specimens is Alpha.]
[Alpha?]
[Yes. From the Organization’s perspective, it is a failure. It cannot be used as part of a legion.]
[Then why is it the most troublesome?]
[Because conversely, that means it is powerful enough for the Organization to use as a single individual.]
Alpha, Gordon’s first Chimera, had been created during the period when Gordon’s hatred toward the Empire was at its peak.
At the time, the Black Mage organization he commanded had been completely annihilated by the Allied Nations’ subjugation force centered around the Empire.
Gordon had wanted to repay the Empire using the exact same method that had destroyed him.
However, that differed from the Organization’s desire for an army, so Gordon had been forced to content himself with a single creature.
Even so—
Alpha was an exceptionally troublesome opponent.
[Its very existence generates an Anti-Mana Wave. How could an opponent that rejects Mana, the source of life itself, possibly be easy to deal with?]
[Anti-Mana…… Then why are you leaving such a creature to the expedition alone?]
The direction Shane was currently traveling was not toward the place where the expedition was struggling in battle.
That was why Obern had asked.
Shane summarized the answer in a single sentence.
[Because there is no need for me to go.]
For humanity, which had developed primarily through Mana, a lifeform capable of disrupting Mana was indeed threatening.
However, Alpha was still incomplete.
More importantly—
The expedition contained Alpha’s greatest possible natural enemy.
—
“Heeheehee! Let’s play together!!”
At Alpha’s shriek, the shields of the Lampert Adventurer Party shook violently once again.
Their Aura wavered dangerously, as though it might collapse at any moment.
Realizing that they could no longer remain entirely on the defensive, Klein rushed forward.
‘I can barely follow that speed with my eyes.’
The Chimera, Alpha.
Its instantaneous acceleration was so tremendous that even Klein’s dynamic vision struggled to track it.
But that did not mean he had no way to respond.
“Huh? You’re going to play with me?! Good!”
When Klein, whose surprise attack Alpha had failed to overcome earlier, stepped forward, Alpha’s attention shifted toward him with ridiculous ease.
Alpha stopped in place again and lowered its body into a leaping posture.
Klein immediately decided the path his sword would take.
But—
Alpha grinned.
The instant Klein saw that smile, he hurriedly pulled his sword back and shifted into a defensive posture.
BOOM-!
Originally, Klein had intended to swing his sword through Alpha’s projected path the instant it leaped.
He had already determined that once Alpha launched itself, it should not be able to alter its trajectory midway.
But that final smile instinctively told Klein that something had changed.
Fortunately, his instincts were correct.
The attack that should have come from directly ahead instead came from his side.
Because Klein had sensed the Killing Intent and prepared himself, he barely managed to block it.
Even so, the sheer weight of the blow caused an ominous sound to come from his sword.
“Hup!”
At that instant, Klein twisted his sword, redirected Alpha’s fist, and drove a Mana-reinforced kick into its abdomen.
“Kyehek!”
“……!”
The instant Klein felt the attack connect properly, Alpha threw itself backward.
“Ow, ow! Heehee…… But this is fun. How did you know?”
Ignoring Alpha’s question, Klein stared at something twitching behind the creature.
It was a tail nearly as thick as an adult human torso.
A tail that had definitely not been there before had appeared the moment Alpha made eye contact with Klein and launched itself.
Just what kind of body did this creature possess?
Putting aside the crisis he had narrowly overcome, Klein shouted,
“Attacks reinforced by Mana work against it!”
Even after informing the expedition of what he had just discovered, Klein remained at the front, gradually reducing the burden placed upon Ilexa’s Adventurer Party.
“Heehee. It’s a little frustrating, but this, this way is fun too. Yes. Heeheehee.”
But the expedition did not suddenly gain the advantage.
The members of Ilexa’s Adventurer Party, who had been enduring most of Alpha’s attacks under the influence of the Anti-Mana Wave, were rapidly becoming exhausted.
Unlike at the beginning, the Aura maintained over their shields now shook violently.
Like flames before a strong wind, liable to extinguish at any moment.
Alpha had already noticed that weakness.
Rather than targeting Klein or the Imperial Knights, it persistently attacked those standing at the front with their shields raised.
The most dangerous person to Alpha among them was Aneis.
Her Aura was not greatly affected by the Anti-Mana Wave.
However, Aneis was already occupied fighting the Chimeras continuously produced by the Parent Bodies behind them.
Then—
“Ugh……!”
One of the Adventurer Party members who had been enduring Alpha’s relentless attacks since earlier let his trembling arm fall.
Regardless of his willpower, the muscles in his arm had already begun to undergo necrosis.
They no longer obeyed the commands of his brain.
“Heehee. Friend, friend looks like he’s hurting. But now you can’t play anymore. Heehee.”
Alpha wore the expression of a child maliciously crushing ants for no reason at all.
Its fist, armed with nothing but pure malice, created another victim.
“Damn it, Tylek!”
“Fuck!”
A party member hurriedly stepped in to fill the gap left by his companion’s fallen shield.
That brief opening was all Alpha’s beast-like instincts needed.
It forced its tail between the shields and smashed it into the man’s head.
That alone crushed the Adventurer’s face.
He collapsed to the ground and did not move again.
“Shit!”
Even Ilexa finally cursed.
Her furious gaze turned especially toward Dominic and the Imperial Knights.
They had been moving passively for some time now, merely waiting for an opportunity.
‘And these bastards call themselves Imperial Knights?!’
They looked inferior even to the knights who defended the walls of her homeland in the north.
Just as Ilexa’s fury began to boil over—
Alpha charged again, without even giving them time to mourn their dead companion.
But this time—
The attack failed.
Klein had already stepped beyond the shields.
Wrapped in rippling Aura, he blocked Alpha’s fist.
The impact placed too much strain on his sword, causing it to snap.
At that moment, Alpha flicked its tail toward Klein’s heart in an attempt to maintain its balance.
“Kyeek?!”
A searing pain unlike anything Alpha had ever experienced suddenly erupted from its tail.
It retreated a great distance.
Its tail had been severed.
Dense muscle protected it beneath a hardened outer layer, but Alpha’s incomplete body could not withstand a sword wrapped in Aura.
Klein did not pursue the retreating Alpha.
“I borrowed this for a moment. Thank you.”
“……It’s all right. Karlot would have been glad that he could still help us.”
The sword in Klein’s hand belonged to the Adventurer who had died to Alpha’s initial surprise attack.
Klein looked at Alpha’s severed tail, which continued thrashing even after being cut away, then spoke to Ilexa.
“From now on, I will take the front. Forgive my impertinence, Party Leader, but please arrange the Square Formation to restrict its movements.”
“……Will you be all right? ……No, that was the wrong question. Understood. I’ll trust you.”
Ilexa nodded as a spiraling torrent of Aura began rising around Klein.
‘Was this the opportunity Brother was talking about?’
Klein did not understand precisely how Anti-Mana worked.
But after observing how the Mana spread throughout the area became distorted like water caught in a net, Klein unleashed his own explosive reserves of Mana.
He still struggled to control such a violent quantity all at once.
But there was no other choice.
If he hesitated simply because he could not control it perfectly, someone else might die just as they had moments ago.
“It hurts! It huuurts!!”
Alpha screamed as tears flowed from all eight of its eyes.
There was no telling what kind of anomaly the creature might undergo next.
Indeed, the Anti-Mana Wave grew even stronger than before.
But—
A mere net could never restrain an enormous incoming wave.
Like a Dragon sleeping beneath a tranquil lake finally ascending into the heavens, the overwhelming quantity of Mana erupting from Klein was enough to sweep away even the net of Anti-Mana surrounding them.
Before long, the expedition felt the Anti-Mana Wave receding.
The Aura that had flickered unsteadily like candlelight regained the solid form of a shield.
At last—
The time for their counterattack had come.
—
Once Klein began displaying his true strength, the flow of battle became overwhelmingly one-sided.
With their Aura restored, Ilexa’s Adventurer Party changed their Square Formation.
Instead of merely defending, they surrounded Alpha and restricted the space available to it, making it difficult for the creature to leap freely.
Whenever Alpha attempted to move, Klein rushed forward before it could jump.
And whenever the increasingly frustrated Alpha forced an attack anyway, Klein’s counterattack followed almost without exception.
Klein had already grown accustomed to its speed.
“Why, why?! Why won’t you dieee?!!”
Wounds accumulated all across Alpha’s body.
The agonizing pain it had never experienced before gnawed away at its already unstable mind.
But worse than the pain—
Were the enemies refusing to die obediently before it.
The malice rooted deep inside Alpha began violently destabilizing its mind.
“Phew…….”
Even so, Klein could not lower his guard.
Alpha undoubtedly possessed a natural talent for killing.
Even while trapped in an unfavorable situation, every attack it launched toward openings in the expedition’s formation remained deadly.
A single minor mistake could easily result in death.
Yet perhaps because they continued creating opportunities despite that danger—
“DIIIIE!!”
Alpha was knocked away by one of the Adventurer Party’s shields.
It screamed and leaped high toward another Lampert member.
The Adventurer immediately retreated while releasing his Aura, forcing Alpha even farther into the air.
Klein and Aneis did not miss the opening.
They attacked simultaneously.
Klein carved deeply into Alpha’s shoulder while Aneis slashed across its side.
“KYAAAAAAK!”
At last, Alpha crashed to the ground.
Only then did the expedition release tense breaths.
A single creature had fought this many people and still forced them into such a difficult battle.
Just as everyone began to believe it was finally over—
And just before Klein approached to finish Alpha off—
A brief flash erupted from behind them.
“Ah?”
“……?!”
The spiraling torrent of Aura that had surrounded Klein vanished.
At the same time, the Aura covering the shields of the Lampert Adventurer Party disappeared instantly.
Their bodily balance suddenly disrupted, the expedition members turned around.
Dominic stood there unharmed, wearing a bitter smile.
“My apologies.”
Resting above Dominic’s hand was a Hexahedral Orb that emitted flashes at regular intervals.
The flashes released by the Orb froze the Mana throughout the area with an intensity far beyond even the Anti-Mana Wave Alpha had generated moments earlier.
“You will have to disappear here. For the future of the Imperial Family. For the future…… of humanity.”
Dominic had already drawn his sword.
Together with the remaining members of his Knight Order, he began approaching the others.
Only Klein noticed the darkness rippling beneath Dominic’s shadow.
