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「If I had to guess, his trump card is about to be drawn. Don’t let your guard down.」
「A trump card, understood.」
Mira repaired the sisters’ shields while carefully looking around. Alfina nodded and passed on the message to the other sisters, who formed a defensive circle.
Then they heard footsteps. Turning around, they saw Gregorius clinging onto a thin golem, which ran towards a side of the room. The floor in the direction he headed seemed to burst open, and something appeared there.
Even from such a distance, they could clearly tell what it was. A metallic container, twenty meters wide and tall. But not a box, its sides were lined with sturdy bars, it was a giant cage. It blew open sending a powerful gust of wind to all sides.
「So this is what they were so concerned about all this time, I see…」
Mira’s eyes were focused on that area, trying to see what it was all about, and she saw a terrifying figure that could only be described as a monstrosity.
「So, can you feel it now? The beast of this much concentrated power!」
Gregorius stood next to the thing, speaking loudly with a proud voice. But his confidence was justified, considering that monstrosity would aid him in battle.
「That name, Chimera Clauzen. It all makes sense now.」
That was the only way to call the thing inside the cage, a truly monstrous chimera. But it was fundamentally different from the chimera of legends, and the monster known as chimera in this world. Chimera’s were commonly known for having a lion’s head, goat body, and viper tail. The one in that room had very different components.
The head was shaped like a lion’s, but was made of stone, grass and plants grew on its body, its tail wriggled like a fire snake, and it had bony wings with a veil of wind. Lightning sprouted from its talons, and white freezing breath came out of its mouth.
「The beast… spirits?」
Alfina looked at the monstrosity while muttering that, and her sisters also mumbled to each other.
「They probably melded them together by force. I fear there’s an incredible number of spirits trapped inside that thing.」
Presumably thanks to the Spirit King’s blessing, Mira could feel something like a heartbeat in the monstrosity too. Its aberrant shape was something she never saw or imagined before, but there was a familiar presence inside.
Spirits, the source of all of Chimera Clauzen’s powers.
Chimera was a term used to describe something built out of many components, with either similar or different origins and shapes. A perfect word for a monstrosity created by cobbling together a multitude of spirits without regard for their type or elements.
「This is our biggest achievement. No matter how strong you all are, mere humans can’t win against the full force of nature contained in this spirit chimera!」
Gregorius’ voice became even louder, and confident. He was right, a combination of spirits that could control all aspects of elements and phenomena was truly the force of nature incarnate. And with the large number of spirits it contained, it likely was powerful enough to rival natural disasters.
「Even I feel hesitant to face such a thing…」
「I agree. We’re outmatched here.」
The spirit chimera glared menacingly at Mira’s group. She grimaced, noticing that, while Alfina stepped in front of her, sword in hand, ready to cover Mira.
After a lot of consideration, Mira concluded it was too reckless to fight a monstrosity like that head-on, even though she had acquired some power over spirits. As long as she was stuck in a small human body, she could never face such destruction directly.
So Mira thought of an alternative. An eye for an eye, a calamity for a disaster. There was a species once regarded as a type of natural disaster. She just had to get the help of something with far more power than a human body entailed.
「Go, trample over them!」 At Gregorius’ behest, the monstrosity with all types of destruction attached to it jumped into action with a bellowing roar.
「I need to focus on chanting for a bit, take care of it until then.」
The monstrosity moved quickly like the wind, agility hard to imagine for such a large body. Mira jumped back the moment she said that, and formed four summoning circles.
「Understood. We’ll defend this line with our lives.」
After Mira left, the Valkyrie Sisters gathered on that spot, weapons ready, and faced off against the mass of destruction.
A moment later, the ground shook, lightning and thunder roared, and explosions mixed with gales surged all around them. All types of spirit powers gathered in an unfair amount as it fell upon the sisters.
Alfina held the monstrosity’s fangs at bay with her sword of light. Meanwhile her sisters jumped in to restrain the lightning talons, wings of wind, and fiery tail. They contained it, but only for mere seconds. Multiple bolts of lightning surged from the floor, tearing through the air with ear shattering thunder.
The Valkyrie sisters had spent their lives training up in the heavens, in the realm of gods. They were far more powerful than a regular person, but not even they were able to resist what could be considered the rage of god, and the chimera shook them off one after another.
Only Alfina remained, firmly holding the spirit chimera back with her sword.
「You’ve really lost your edge, sisters. Don’t you remember we took down even more powerful foes at our master’s side in the past?!」
Alfina shouted as the spirit chimera continued lashing at her with fang and claw. Her sisters scattered around, she had become the only line of defense, but she possessed the vigor to hold out. And to prove her point, Alfina managed to break out one of the monstrosity’s fangs with her blade.
「I just slipped a little!」
「The sound startled me a bit!」
They were pretty much facing nature itself. An enemy that instilled a primordial fear on them. But Alfina’s shout seemed to have an effect, as her sisters stood back up, coming up with random excuses as they returned with renewed vigor. In a way, they wanted to prove Alfina right. The dullness from the years was vanishing, and it was time for them to return to form.
The monstrosity became a raging gale again. Another collision against Alfina, storming winds spreading around, thunderous lightning, and fire dancing wildly. The sisters resisted the full force of nature, not letting the spirit chimera advance.
(Good job resisting, that’s enough.)
Feeling the shockwaves from the conflict happening a distance away from her, Mira thanked Alfina and the sisters in her mind, as she uttered the final sentence.
‘Rise onto the skies once again, my beloved child.’
The magic circle shone brilliantly, and something came through. A creature that could dwarf the spirit chimera with wings spread. Regal silver scales with an air of divinity, golden dragon eyes that could overpower anything they looked at.
Emperor Dragons, a lineage of dragons once feared in the entire world. The race that governed over all other dragons. Isenfald, one of the few remaining alive, made its entrance now.
He had a terrifying presence that seemed to oppress reason. Even the spirit chimera lost its impetus and retreated at the sight of the dragon, carefully looking at him.
「No way… that can’t…be…」
The large dragon had come out of a giant magic circle. Anyone there knew a summoner had called it there. And because he knew that, Gregorius was so frightened, trembling with fear. He had never seen an emperor dragon before. But even so, he instantly knew Isenfald was a harbinger of destruction.
And it made him realize just how large the gap between him and Mira as spellcasters was. He knew of the gap’s existence, but he believed spirit arms and clever usage of his equipment could let him cross it. But now he was made painfully aware of reality. He was far too inferior.
「No, this isn’t over yet. They’re even… yes, we’re just evenly matched now!」
The spirit chimera was wary, but not afraid to fight. The dragon was clearly a beast, but he also had control over a monstrosity. Looking at the spirit chimera reinvigorated Gregorius, just when he was about to falter, he convinced himself to pull himself up. Having recovered, he ordered the spirit chimera to annihilate his enemy.
