Chapter 115. Encounter (3)
The magic that shapes and recreates life.
If one only heard such a description, it might sound noble, even divine. But the reality was utterly different.
Grrrrrrk.
A monstrous creature emitted a deep, guttural sound from within its black-armored hide.
Its size, from the ground to its back, was nearly four or five times the height of an adult man. At a glance, it resembled a rhinoceros, but it was a beast infused with traits from various creatures, including bat-like wings.
A chimera.
There was no other way to describe the summoned beast as it raised its massive body and roared.
“Let’s see what you’ve got.”
As Ixion extended one arm, the creature charged straight at me.
I twisted my body 90 degrees to dodge, and almost simultaneously, the wind pressure from its passing grazed my cheek.
A split-second difference.
Its movements were far faster than I’d expected, sending a chill down my spine a beat late. Sirocco dashed past me in the next instant.
Thooom!
With a sound like a cannon firing, the creature’s body was knocked sideways. Sirocco had kicked its flank.
But the chimera, staggered from its charge, quickly regained balance with its massive frame.
It lowered its horn and began a wide turn to charge again.
“This thing’s tough.”
Sirocco’s ears and tail stood rigid, her stance low, radiating unprecedented tension. She bared her small fangs, glaring at the unicorn beast.
“Be careful.”
I nodded silently.
A summoned creature crafted by a Rank 9’s unique magic, combining the strengths of beasts and magical creatures into a flawless combat entity.
Powered by the dark red mana of a Rank 9 mage, it surpassed the combat capabilities of ordinary creatures. Metaphorically, a monster loaded with every buff and enhancement imaginable.
Rrrrrumble!!!
I dodged backward again. The creature’s massive horn obliterated a huge pillar behind me, gouging the wall.
It trampled the falling stone debris underfoot, pivoting once.
It aimed its horn at me again.
The giant unicorn charged once more.
I ran toward it, angling my sword and sliding.
[Reverse Flow]
A shock ran through my arm as I deflected the horn’s overwhelming force with my blade. Its flank was exposed.
An opening. I spun and swung my sword.
Two slashes tore through the air.
Kagagagak!
A flash of blue-black swordlight shot forward at near-sonic speed, striking the chimera’s flank.
But I sensed it instantly.
The hide’s armor—it didn’t penetrate—
Thoooom!
Before I could process what happened, a shockwave surged through my body. The air was forced from my lungs in searing pain. When I came to, I was airborne.
The chimera’s massive wing had struck me from an unexpected angle, flinging me away, I realized a moment later.
As I hurtled through the air, a chill gripped my spine.
If I hit the wall like this, every bone in my body would shatter. Crushed to death? No way.
Bracing for fractures, I twisted to land on the wall. But then, something caught me midair, gently slowing my speed.
Ping.
A faint sound of wires deploying rang in my ear. Glancing aside, I saw a finely woven wire net dispersing the force, cushioning my back.
I fell in a gentle arc, twisting to land on the ground, sliding backward.
The force was so strong that I skidded far, my shoes leaving tracks. I jammed my sword into the ground to stop myself. Looking to the side, I saw Lien silently deploying her wires as she passed.
“…”
Her azure eyes, cold as absolute zero, glanced at me after I’d nearly died. Meeting her gaze, I held my breath.
At that moment, the chimera flinched, staring at Lien.
But as if angered by its hesitation, it stomped and charged again.
Lien deployed wires toward the chimera rushing at her.
She sidestepped, dodging its charge, and crossed her arms, deploying more wires.
The wires wrapped around its horn, intertwining with others in complex patterns, anchoring to nearby pillars like a spiderweb, binding the creature in an instant.
Grrrrrrk!!
Its charge halted, the chimera thrashed, lifting its massive forelegs and stomping alternately at Lien.
She dodged the frenzied stomps, flipping backward like an acrobat.
Leaping back, she widened the distance.
Her maid dress fluttered with her movements as she spun sideways to land, skidding with long shoe marks.
Simultaneously, still sliding, Lien yanked the wires in both hands.
Ping!
With a sharp sound of tension, silver threads sliced through the air, stretching taut.
The silver wires, wrapping the chimera dozens of times, connected to pillars and the ceiling, emitting a shrill metallic keeeeng as they bound the enemy from multiple directions.
But the chimera didn’t yield, crouching and stomping forward, dragging itself with sheer leg strength.
Crack, rrrrrumble!!
It shattered a dozen massive pillars wrapped in wires.
Bursting through the dust, the chimera lowered its horn and resumed its tank-like advance.
Lien retreated without a hint of panic.
As if trading places, I charged from the side, aiming for its exposed flank.
The chimera, distracted by Lien, was caught off-guard by two meteor-like slashes. But they only sparked against its hide.
I narrowed my eyes coldly.
As expected, it didn’t work.
It reminded me of Faust’s proxy from last time, who summoned the stone serpent with similar unique magic.
Not just a similarity in magic. Elemental stone magic and life-manipulating summoning magic were vastly different.
But both shared a common trait: extreme durability. Even my blue-black mana-infused slashes didn’t penetrate, just like before.
The chimera’s dark red eyes glared at me. I dashed diagonally, drawing its attention while my mind raced.
‘Should I project the Emperor’s Supreme Sword’s mana?’
No, bad idea.
That was a last resort. It drained stamina heavily. After using it against Tantalus, I was exhausted in minutes.
Even projecting the Sword Saint’s mana wouldn’t guarantee burning through the creature if my blade couldn’t cut it. It’d just waste energy.
Fainting mid-battle was as good as death. Even if it could land a hit, it was a final measure.
But I had a better card to play.
I glanced to the side and shouted.
“Sirocco!”
At my command, a wolf-eared girl stormed in like a tempest, delivering a powerful upward kick to the creature’s head.
Thoooom!!
Despite its armored hide, the massive impact shook its head, forcing it back.
I narrowed my eyes.
‘Impact works.’
Slashing attacks—sword strikes—were resisted, but blunt impact was effective.
This was the stage for Sirocco’s unique magic to shine. But we couldn’t drag this out.
Prolonged fighting without significant hits would tilt the battle against us, and arriving guards might spot my sword.
Plus, there was one more thing to consider.
I glanced at the creature’s feet.
The guards lay there, bleeding heavily, but their chests rose and fell faintly.
‘They’re alive.’
The mission was to find and rescue the missing. They’d lost a lot of blood, but they were still alive.
The reason was obvious.
Ixion’s unique magic fused even humans indiscriminately into monstrosities.
He hadn’t attacked the guards and brought them here for nothing.
> “To fuse lifeforms with Ixion’s unique magic, the condition is ‘living, low-intelligence’ creatures.”
Unlike animals or plants, humans typically had far above-average intelligence.
So, he targeted the brain.
A vile black mage who casually destroyed minds by crushing skulls or damaging brains to forcibly reduce intelligence.
But conversely?
It meant the people at his feet were still alive. A line from Ixion in the original story flashed through my mind.
> “—‘Damage the brain too quickly, and they’re all dead when you need them. Better to use them one by one as needed.’”
I glared at the man standing on them.
Ixion was watching me.
The dark red glow in his beak mask’s eyes seemed to burn in the darkness, an illusion.
In the original story, his actions and public image were those of a demon violating the sanctity of life.
Fusing low-intelligence creatures—animals, plants, beasts—into new monstrosities, he seemed to mock the world’s order and ethics.
Even though he hadn’t fully unleashed his unique magic, he was a formidable opponent. Then, Ixion’s voice echoed.
“Aha, I’m starting to get it.”
I glanced at him briefly.
“What?”
Ixion slowly raised a fist.
Whether it was a signal to pause the fight, the chimera halted its massive frame instantly.
Sirocco, charging in, slid to a stop, assessing the situation. Lien stood still, glancing at me.
“What’s your game?”
At my cold question, Ixion tapped his mask’s beak mockingly.
“No game. I don’t know Tantalus’s goals, but I’ve noticed that eccentric has been quite interested in you since last time. Seeing you in person, I’m starting to understand why.”
I didn’t respond.
His words caught on something. Flare mentioned Tantalus before, and this was the second time.
“Seems Vendetta loves talking about dead people.”
“No way.”
I half-probed, half-taunted, but Ixion let out a low, amused chuckle.
“You can listen or not, but personally, I’d chew over what Tantalus told you. It might be worth it.”
“What?”
“A guy who never shared info or research results took a big interest in you. He might’ve let slip something about his plans. That’s intriguing to me too.”
Though hidden behind the mask, he tilted his head, clearly smirking.
“Plus, there’s no real reason to kill someone of your value here, is there?”
He clapped twice and added.
“So, I have a proposal.”
“Proposal?”
Ixion extended a hand toward me. Then, he said something no one could’ve expected.
“Why not join Vendetta, Enoch Elsyde?”