Theo chuckled dryly as he reviewed the received documents, understanding the situation. Orca, too, seemed at a loss, fidgeting with the corner of a document.
"That was foolishly handled, even for the First Prince.”
It was Ricardo's first time dealing with monster subjugation, knight command, and incident investigation, so he must have done his best.
Considering that, one could say he didn't do too badly, but it was unfortunate that the matter was so serious that even a small mistake could be fatal.
Still, even so, his response was foolish. First of all, his decision to hide something from the Emperor was a misstep.
"We don't know the priests' motives, but the black magicians are likely just trying to create test subjects."
Calling the black magicians eccentric was due to their sole interest being research and experimentation. If the priests of the Erebus Order and the black magicians were in league, the priests' goal was likely human experimentation, or they were using the black magicians for some other purpose.
"The First Prince must have searched for demonic energy first, but the fact that he hasn't found any traces means there were no experiments, and they set a trap with the corpses as bait. Now that they've obtained the materials and are starting their experiments in earnest, all we have to do is search for magical energy and find the lab."
Thanks to Ricardo's failure, things had become easier for them.
"But won't that make it harder to find the priests' motives?"
Orca calmly replied to Liam's worried question.
"Unlike the eccentrics, those guys are insidious and persistent, so they probably didn't leave any evidence. But even if they did, it doesn't matter. Thanks to the First Prince's failure, we'll score points just by dealing with the lab and the black magicians. The rest is the Emperor's job anyway. As His Highness said, this is a test. Finding out the purpose would be a perfect score, but there's no need to take unnecessary risks when finding and dealing with the lab is enough to pass."
Liam nodded in understanding. Theo, who had been looking at a map showing the labs Ricardo had discovered, said,
"The place where human experimentation is taking place is likely near these labs. Whether they were doing minor experiments or created them to set a trap, they couldn't have strayed too far from the original area."
If there was one weakness of the Erebus Order's priests and black magicians, it was their mobility. Because they manipulated magical energy, they could control those ferocious monsters and use far more destructive magic than other mages.
However, they couldn't use magic that increased movement speed or allowed them to travel long distances instantly. Animals sensitive to magical energy would reject them, so they couldn't even ride horses, meaning they likely hadn't strayed far from the discovered labs.
After that, as Theo had said in the meeting, they decided to search for magical energy near the discovered labs first. Magical energy was detected here and there, seemingly to deceive them, but Theo didn't bother investigating since it wasn't comparable to the amount that would come from experiments.
"Don't you need to check?"
Despite hearing Theo's explanation, Liam was still worried, but Theo seemed relaxed.
"It's fine. Even if it really is a byproduct of the experiments, the black magicians will be eager to show off their Chimera anyway. They always want to check the results when they create a Chimera, so they immediately put it in a rift. This successful one will be even more so. Those guys think of Chimeras as trophies, so they'll eventually show it to us. We just have to wait."
In other words, as long as they had the power to deal with the black magicians and the Chimera, it was a fight the Second Prince and the Divine Beast were bound to win. Seeing Theo's relaxed demeanor, Liam quickly shook off his worries. Every time he saw Theo so confident, he felt like everything would be alright.
A few days later, they finally found a place where magical energy was exploding. It seemed like no matter how much they cast barriers and purified it, they couldn't handle the amount. Theo immediately gathered the knights and headed to the site.
The place they arrived at was a building that looked like an ordinary two-story house, and the lab was located underground. They had put up multiple thick barriers to block the magical energy from being exposed to the outside, but the magical energy had exploded in an instant, completely destroying them. It wasn't hard to guess that a powerful Chimera had been born.
Since the barrier had been destroyed, the building wasn't intact either. Some of the black magicians had already been caught in the explosion and died, while others were crushed under the rubble or on the verge of death after being caught in the Chimera's rampage. There was no need for the knights to step in and subdue them.
The few who seemed relatively unharmed stayed in place, seemingly trying to check on the Chimera until the very end, even though they might be taken away by the knights soon. Liam muttered, seeing their unwavering attitude.
"They're really persistent in a different way..."
"This is the first time I've seen so many black magicians in one place."
The Chimera, which soon emerged after the rubble was pushed away, looked utterly gruesome. It looked exactly like a spider, as if it had merged with a spider-type monster. However, it had countless human legs, and its arms, which it used like hands, had sharp blades attached to them.
What was even more horrifying was its face. It was a form like a lump of clay with eyeballs stuck all over it, making it more bizarre and grotesque than anything Liam had ever seen. Eventually, Liam, who had been gagging, hid behind Orca.
Whether it was because it had been caught in the explosion or because the experiment had just ended, the Chimera couldn't stand properly and staggered while screaming. Theodore first ordered some of the knights to tie up the surviving black magicians. Normally, they would have been summarily executed, but they had to be captured for now in order to find out about their dealings with the priests.
Those who were injured were beyond saving and soon died, so they were immediately killed. As they were tying up only those who were relatively unharmed, the black magicians struggled, grabbing onto heavy rocks or pillars to avoid being dragged away. Some even begged to be allowed to wait a little longer so they could see the Chimera. Their goal was ultimately the experiment.
In any case, they couldn't leave until the Chimera was killed, so the knights restrained the black magicians with artifacts to prevent them from using magical energy, then rejoined the ranks.
Since it wasn't yet clear whether the Chimera was a success or a failure, everyone waited at a distance without rashly approaching. If it was a failure, there was a high chance that its body would suddenly explode like that while staggering. They didn't want to be covered in magical energy for no reason.
After waiting for a while in preparation for the worst, the Chimera stood up straight as if it had never staggered. Unfortunately, it was a success.
—Screeeeeech—!
Unlike before, the scream that clearly pierced their eardrums sounded ominous to anyone who heard it. Liam was trembling and buried his face in Orca's back. But Orca was just as horrified.
"What did they mix it with to create something so horrible?!"
"...This is going to be a headache."
Theodore first deployed the slave soldiers to check its approximate combat power and attack methods. As a result, its movement speed surpassed that of most monsters, the tips of all its legs were sharp, and the blades attached to its arms could even cut through swords.
Even if the slave soldiers' swords were cheap, it didn't seem like the knights' swords would be much different. In particular, it shot out spiderwebs from its mouth that looked like they had been randomly clumped together, and they melted anything they touched, whether it was armor or rock, as if they were mixed with acid. It was clear that they shouldn't touch those spiderwebs at least.
Shuian transformed into an eagle and immediately flew into the sky, circling in the air before releasing divine power in an instant. While the Chimera faltered and writhed in pain, the knights rushed in all at once.
One of them cut off one of its legs. It wasn't a clean cut, but the fact that it had been cut off even without imbuing it with Aura meant that it was softer than the arms that had cut the swords in half. However, at the same time, the bodily fluids that had scattered in the air soaked the armor, and it melted the armor in an instant with a sizzling sound, as if it were also an acidic liquid. The knight, startled, hurriedly threw off the armor, which rolled on the ground and soon melted without a trace. If he had kept wearing it, his flesh would have melted.
"Don't get close! Knights, just block the attacks!"
At Orca's shout, the knights retreated slightly and pressed the buttons on the handles of their swords. Soon, the swords transformed into shields, and the knights began to focus on defense, blocking the Chimera's attacks with their shields.
Since the Chimera's bodily fluids were made of acidic liquid, it couldn't be killed by cutting off its body. In the end, they had to borrow the power of magic.
"Orca, attack it. I need to see its durability."
"Yes."
Orca shouted to the knights.
"Raise your shields!"
The knights, who had been scattered near the Chimera, formed pairs and gathered their shields in front of them to create a large shape, then hid behind it. Soon, a fireball fell near the Chimera.
Even though it was a fairly large fire, it only slightly scorched its skin, and the situation wasn't much different even when a larger fireball fell afterward. A part of its body melted severely, but it wasn't a fatal wound, and what was worse, the fluids that dripped whenever the Chimera struggled in pain splattered everywhere, making the knights seem even more dangerous.
Comments Box