Chapter 35

Dealing with each of the beastly creatures was not particularly difficult. Even without fully opening my eyes, there’s a certain degree of perception that allows me to ‘see.’

Creatures with such simplistic minds are especially easy to predict. The instinctive clarity of how and where to move in order to kill them becomes vividly apparent.

I enhance the resolution of my vision. What was once perceived through intangible intuition now materializes as visual information.

A translucent blue trajectory of light—this was the path the next beast would take as it charged forward.

I thrust my blade in perfect timing toward that blue line. Unable to overcome its own momentum, the creature’s neck was pierced.

It felt less like a fight or a hunt, more like repetitive labor.

By the time I had driven back around thirty beasts attacking Neuro, the monsters had begun to direct their hostility toward me instead.

“But what can mere animals without tamers possibly accomplish?”

I calmly repeat the process. Surely, not all the humans here were unable to resist these creatures. Let’s assume they managed to fell about twenty while resisting.

I’ve taken down thirty. Since Demedes took away 120 beasts, that leaves roughly seventy remaining.

I assess my physical condition. Though the backlash from the previous awakening still lingers, fighting against these mindless creatures only results in negligible injuries.

“Done!”

A familiar voice rang out.

*Swish!* The sound of something cutting through the air came first.

Then followed the explosive noise of tearing flesh.

From afar, one of the beasts’ heads exploded. Neuro’s arrows, enchanted with explosive magic at the tip, were both expensive and deadly.

“Let’s worry about the exact type of magic circle after we’ve dealt with these brutes!”

I tossed out a joke to ease the tension.

“Ho, aren’t you going to collect the pelts?”

***

The question about whether to collect pelts made Neuro smirk behind his gas mask.

Hunting animals without inflicting too much damage and gathering their byproducts is the behavior of a hunter. Ortes questioned himself: Was he supposed to act as a hunter right now?

To say no would be a lie. But the correct answer wasn’t that.

The correct answer was:

“Hah. Let’s finish them off first before worrying about such things!”

A declaration of focusing on business as an executive of Hydra Corp. To Neuro, it seemed like the smile on Ortes’ lips had deepened slightly.

“Understood. Let’s deal with these first.”

*Keeeee!*

Four drones controlled by Neuro aimed their guns downward from the sky.

And fired.

Amidst the barrage of bullets, Ortes dashed forward. Neuro found it fascinating. It was clearly a battlefield with machine guns firing wildly from above.

Yet, there was no doubt in his mind that Ortes wouldn’t be hit by the blind shots.

***

It didn’t take long to defeat all the beasts. Although it was somewhat annoying to dodge or deflect the bullets since that guy didn’t seem to care about the aftermath.

“Hmph. This is the first time I’ve killed so many beasts in half a day rather than a full one.”

“Is that so? You’ll break this record later.”

Neuro’s body twitched slightly. Pursuing the honor of hunting must have been enjoyable for him, but obtaining even greater honor would bring even more joy.

“Now, let’s take a look at the—”

Suddenly, the crystal in my pocket resonated.

Bipedal creatures whose forms were far from any primate. In the center stood an old man cloaked in robes.

The blood of these strange creatures and the magic circle drawn in this place converged into a single point in the air and compressed.

The swirling liquid refined into a thick clot of blood. As the old man inhaled this blood, his body split into five parts, and the plain itself was torn into five pieces.

Thus, beyond the fractured space, extraterrestrial light arrived. Its indescribable hues seeped into the plain, bringing the hallucination to an end.

This was a warning from Phobos’ holy relic.

I quickly glanced around.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“It seems it isn’t over yet.”

Upon hearing my words, Neuro began reconnaissance with the drones without hesitation. His subordinates must have appreciated his attentiveness.

“…Hmm.”

Neuro’s voice carried a note of perplexity. He manipulated the proxy gauntlet, projecting a holographic image.

The scenery within the screen was unlike anything in reality—a blue background dotted with yellow and red objects.

“Is this thermal imaging?”

“Yeah. Look over there.”

A considerable number of something was wriggling and advancing toward us. It was hard to distinguish their shapes through the thermal imaging camera, but it was clear they weren’t ordinary creatures.

“That’s…twenty…no, closer to thirty?”

Thirty?

Demedes and the beast trainers he took along totaled thirty-one.

I turned my gaze toward the direction illuminated by the thermal imaging. Beyond the magical veil they wore, glimpses of bizarre creatures appeared—monstrosities stitched together from various species.

“They’re using concealment magic.”

“Are our opponents mages then? Did the ones who drew this magic circle come here themselves?”

“No. Someone we know.”

“Strictly speaking, not human.”

As the high-frequency blade embedded in the ground was swung horizontally, mud and bodily fluids splattered toward the approaching enemies.

The faces veiled by concealment magic revealed their outlines, soaked in crimson and murky colors. While an ordinary person might find it hard to recognize someone covered in mud and blood, this was a hunter.

Neuro, a hunter who had honed his keen eyesight over a long period, recognized their true identity.

“Demedes…!”

***

Even Neuro could barely identify the figure by the jawline alone. The countless eyes densely covering his face wriggled, creating an eerie atmosphere as they disturbed the mud.

Seven pupils fixated on Ortes and Neuro. There was no trace of intellect in those gazes.

These were the remnants of the terror that had once loomed over Etna City.

“This appearance…is it a composite beast, a Chimera? A mage capable of manipulating life so freely as to transform humans into Chimeras in just a few days…could it really be from Green Wood…!”

Facing a magician from the Ten Towers? Neuro’s nerves tingled. Perhaps the most dangerous hunt yet.

Excitement, fear, and anticipation swirled together. Just as he was about to draw the bowstring, fueled by these emotions, Ortes’ words cooled his heart.

“No. Former Director Demedes was originally a Chimera.”

Not just cooling—it froze him solid.

“Originally?”

“Yes. They didn’t need to feed humans to the beasts, did they? Ordinary meat or feed would have sufficed. It was merely a disguise to hide their true nature.”

Chimera is a general term for synthetic beasts created by combining multiple monsters.

Among these, Chimeras created using intelligent beings are special. These beings, known as Nus Chimeras, possess the strength of beasts and the cunning of intelligent creatures.

However, Nus Chimeras have a fatal flaw: if the creation process lacks sufficient refinement, the beast’s ferocity will overwhelm their intellect, leading to gradual intellectual degeneration.

To restore their deteriorating intelligence, they must consume the brains of other intelligent beings.

Neuro finally understood why Demedes and his group were so adept at hunting humans—they were beasts that ate people.

Even this fact was unknown to himself, who had been Demedes’ rival. It was a secret the beast trainers had desperately concealed.

Yet, Ortes recounted this secret as casually as if it were nothing.

‘Just who is this man?’

How much does he know? How far ahead can he see?

Neuro was struck with awe and reflected on his own actions.

***

‘There’s no room to freeze up mistaking them for members of the Ten Towers.’

I wondered if it was appropriate to reveal the director’s secret, but Demedes’ removal as director was already a certainty.

Given his current state, Demedes’ life wouldn’t last much longer. One couldn’t seat a dead person in the director’s chair.

In fact, as an intelligent being, he was already dead.

Chimeras, as the classification “synthetic beasts” suggests, are inherently artificial life forms.

Dangerous artificial life forms usually have devices implanted to control their minds.

Whether he managed to kill the mage who created him and gain freedom in Etna City by sheer luck or not, he now appears to have lost control of his mind, his self shattered.

The independent self that was “Director Demedes” has collapsed, leaving behind merely a chimera named Demedes.

I focus on the faint lines visible in my sight. The lines entwined in the chimeras’ bodies extend somewhere in this rocky plain.

The mana lines connecting to whoever controls these chimeras likely link to the old man in robes shown by the crystal.

“Director Neuro.”

There’s no response. Is he tense facing the horde of chimeras?

“I’ll leave one alive. Please prepare for capture.”

Surely, as a hunter, he must have equipment for capturing beasts, right?