Then it stiffened lifelessly like a dead cicada.
“Gugugu…”
Finally Chugota stopped convulsing and thudded her heads to the ground.
When Celeta approached, Chugota’s condition was far beyond serious.
Deep wounds exposing bone, not two but three or more.
Her breath wheezed in and out, and bloody foam dripped from her mouth with each breath.
Terrible obsession.
And that obsession stemmed from the heart wanting to protect offspring.
Even though that offspring wasn’t hers but Celeta’s.
Though she had only felt hostility toward Chugota.
In this moment, Celeta felt an old emotion again.
It was respect.
Respect for the old queen.
Respect for a mother who had already raised and lost offspring.
Respect…!
==
Looking back.
“Saak!”
There was nothing!
Could there be something that can turn invisible like a ghost?
I looked around suspiciously but couldn’t find anything no matter how I searched.
Bang!
Instead, a thunderous sound like a meteorite impact rang from far away.
The whole tower seemed to shake.
“Looks like the golem is trying to return to the dungeon. Trying to force open the door I guess.”
‘That’s not good.’
“No it’s not. Force stop it!”
It would be terrible if things inside escaped when the door opened.
I forced the golem to stop as Pelerian instructed.
“Damn it, if we were just a bit faster.”
Maybe we could have controlled the golem like a subordinate if things had aligned perfectly.
But since the golem was trying to tear open the dungeon door, we had no choice but to force stop it.
In the end I’ll have to catch the chimeras myself.
And all the magical energy will be mine too.
“Look, there’s clearly a life signal nearby.”
On the map floating on the crystal plate, a white dot was blinking near us.
But it was maddening – looking around I couldn’t see any chimera.
I looked around one more time just in case.
No matter how I looked, there was nothing.
Except for the corpse of that crazy old man who suddenly shot a crossbow at me.
The poor old man died with his stomach pierced by a chimera.
Perhaps he shot his crossbow right when he saw the chimera while yelling “Chimera bastard!”
Unlike me who was merciful, the chimera would have immediately punished him harshly.
The corpse was pale.
His chest was rising and falling very slowly.
…Huh?
Why was a dead person breathing?
Suddenly my scales stood on end as I sensed danger.
I sharply pulled back my head that had been brought close.
The dead old man’s chest swelled up.
Pop!
A strange creature the size of a human forearm jumped out.
‘Aagh! It’s a chestburster!’
Was the arm of the chimera that pierced the old man’s stomach actually a reproductive organ?
I should avoid biting it next time we meet.
Separate from my shock, I responded reflexively.
That is, I grabbed Dawn with my invisible hand and swung.
I cleanly cut the leech-like monster.
Blood splattered.
Fortunately it wasn’t acidic blood, but it smelled awful.
The monster still wriggled after being cut.
──────────────
[Test Flesh No.5 Big Belly’s Parasite lv1][Traits]
[Parasitic], [Reinfection], [Division]
──────────────
Ugh.
What would have happened if I had been bitten by that thing?
Though I had poison resistance, for some reason that alone didn’t feel reassuring against this opponent.
Moreover, this one probably wouldn’t give much magical energy either.
Clearing out the chimeras might not be as easy as I thought.
I should make good use of fire magic when I meet Big Belly.
“Why the hell did I make such a disgusting chimera!”
Pelerian burst out in anger.
But since the target was himself, it was nothing but an empty echo.
‘Let’s burn it.’
I was about to breathe fire.
But then suddenly Isil dropped in front of me.
Since Isil rarely does this, I stopped the magic I was about to use.
Then Isil started extending vines slowly.
‘No no, stop!’
I tried to stop him in surprise, but Isil extended vines even when I tried to block.
Right.
If a dangerous situation arises, I can just breathe fire to wash it away. Isil is immune to flames after all.
Still curious about his intentions, I placed my tail on Isil’s body.
Fortunately Isil understood my intention perfectly.
「Demon Hunter’s Vine Grass Isil lv2 is using Empathy lv2.」
When he brought the vine tips to the still wriggling leech.
「Absorbing essence due to trait ‘Chimera’.」
「Gaining magical energy.」
「Essence is accumulating.」
Isil, you had it all planned out.
He was absorbing something.
Indeed, the leech soon shriveled up and dried.
I relayed to Pelerian that Isil was absorbing essence.
Pelerian gave a derisive laugh.
“Well well.”
‘What’s essence?’
“You know chimeras are made by synthesizing traits from various monsters right? Essence is what enables the manifestation of monster traits.”
Are chimeras like primitive Zerg?
“But for a completed monster to absorb essence from other chimeras.”
Isil, very talented. Born with World Tree silver spoon. Absorbs essence from other chimeras. Evolves on his own.
Anyway, this was undoubtedly a good thing.
According to Pelerian, Isil might be able to utilize the pre-absorbed essences when he evolves next time.
So chimeras don’t just give lots of experience, they give essence too.
With renewed motivation I returned to the crystal plate.
We just confirmed this crystal plate’s map was accurate.
‘The nearest chimera is…’
Looking around the map, the chimeras were each moving differently.
Some were moving around the dungeon at tremendous speed, while others were relatively slow.
Fortunately they didn’t appear to be forming groups.
“There it is.”
There was one nearby.
I could guess why it hadn’t gone far.
‘Hey, it can’t climb the stairs?’
“That’s the one from tank number four.”
‘Aha!’
Right, then I could understand why it was stuck unable to climb the stairs.
‘Should be easy to catch.’
“Don’t underestimate it.”
‘Yes yes.’
Pelerian warned.
If it was his usual self, he would have bragged saying “How dare you be careless with a chimera I made.”
But honestly it was hard to feel tense even if I tried.
Actually, from its name to its appearance, No.4 looked pathetic.
“Saak!”
Let’s go check it out!
We headed toward the location marked on the map.
