Chapter 10:
Distortion
ETERNA WAS FIGHTING in midair, jumping from pipe to pipe with her water tentacles. A darkness spread out below her, and if she lost her footing, there was no telling how far she would fall. The giant positioned itself dexterously on top of the pipe, its body swaying from side to side. Due to its enlarged right arm, it was difficult for the giant to maintain its balance, and it seemed to be constantly swaying. Even so, the fact that it didn’t slip and fall showed that it must be well trained.
“Guh, uhh… Wh…y…?!”
“It’s trying to say something. Was it originally human…?” Eterna hadn’t seen any of the members of the Church Knights whom she believed to have also boarded this fortress as well since she had arrived here. She thought it was likely that there were “materials” used to make Chimera, but was this person one of them? She tried scanning the giant to find some kind of clue.
OrYouKanrukou KansaUninyu
Affinity: Trash=
MuscStreNgth: Sis
Foolishness: T0E9R
Lump of Meat: Carve
Because I don’t worship: Atone
I PrayKill: RIP.
However, she was unable to obtain the kind of information that she had hoped to get. The stats of completed Chimera don’t look like this when they’re scanned. Does that mean this isn’t a controlled monster? It’s being intentionally allowed to run amok…
“Donhhgummm, doooooonhh!” A thundering roar that seemed to have some meaning, yet that also seemed to have none at all, boomed through the air. At the same time, the giant crushed the pipe underfoot and closed in on Eterna.
“Ice Bullet!” Eterna fired a series of small bullets of ice from her raised right hand. However, even direct hits didn’t slow the giant down, and it moved to strike her right arm. Eterna extended her tentacles to another pipe to dodge the attack. When she looked at the pipe that had been hanging there just moments ago, she saw it get shattered into pieces after being frozen solid.
“If I got hit by something like that, I’d be done for.” As she expected based on how the giant looked, its flesh armor was thick, so it seemed that shallow attacks wouldn’t do anything. The only option was to wait for an opening and strike with a powerful spell, but… If I do something too extreme, Milkit may end up getting caught up in the crossfire, so I’ll just have to wait and see for a while.
As Eterna focused her undivided attention on dodging, something changed in the giant. It was still swaying atop the pipe, but its right arm began to expand. Something was coming. When Eterna braced herself, she found that the enemy didn’t charge this time but, rather, swung its arm from where it stood. Then its right arm was ripped off with a snap, spinning and flying toward her while spraying blood. Eterna dodged again by extending her tentacles, but the blood spurting from the giant’s severed arm wrapped around the pipes like tentacles, just like Eterna’s magic, causing the arm to change trajectory sharply. Furthermore, its severed right arm was already regenerating, and the giant itself moved to attack Eterna.
“Guuuu, dongumhhhhh!”
“Fairy on Ice!” Eterna created ice blades on the soles of her feet while in midair and glided along ice rails floating in the air as if she were dancing, dodging attacks coming at her from both sides simultaneously before coming up to the giant from behind. She extended the blades from the soles of her feet and, spinning around once, she slammed her foot down with an axe kick.
“Got him!” The giant tried to defend itself with an ice shield, but Eterna’s attack pierced through the shield and slashed the giant’s back. The giant fell, splattering red blood everywhere. It then quickly grabbed hold of a pipe with its left arm and hung on, dangling. Its weight caused the pipe to bend, and a creaking sound, like skreee, echoed throughout the underground space.
“Despite being a monster, its actions suggest intelligence, and what’s more, it can use magic and appeared to be skilled in combat. Come to think of it, I believe that Ottilie’s colleague should have been captured as well, in addition to Henriette.”
A large man who used a hammer as a weapon and who specialized in ice magic. The monster before her eyes matched the description of Herrmann that she had heard from Ottilie.
“Herrmann Sabneu… If my opponent is a lieutenant general, then I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by this being a bit of a struggle.” Eterna had speculated that he had probably been captured and had an Origin core implanted in him, resulting in his current appearance.
“Guuuudondgumglosah!” Another roar, followed by a charge. He moved toward her in a straight line, bound to miss her, and Eterna easily dodged.
“Did he say, ‘Don’t come closer’…?” She felt like Herrmann had been trying to say something for a while now. Then suddenly, there was a loud noise from above, like rocks being smashed apart. When she looked up, she saw the upper half of a medium-sized Chimera.
Medium-sized Chimera were based on lions like Anzu, but various monster parts were sewn into their bodies, so the number and placement of facial features, such as eyes and noses, were irregular, making them quite unsettling.
“Gugaaaaaaa!” That Chimera was squeezing into the hole where Eterna had fallen, trying to force its way into the underground area.
“When you say, ‘Don’t come closer,’ you mean them?” Eterna couldn’t see them from here, but she could hear the cries of other Chimera as well. Thousands of Chimera had been deployed here, and if you made a sound, they’d gather immediately. As Eterna switched her thinking from “how to fight” to “how to survive,” a voice came through the communication device.
“Eterna, can you hear me?!” Eterna took the device out from her sleeve and responded.
“Milkit, are you okay?”
“Yes, and it seems I was able to find Master.” Milkit had only just fallen… Eterna was taken aback by the speed of this development, but she was honestly happy.
“That is wonderful. It seems like I may not be able to join you myself, though, so stay with Flum.” After saying that, she looked back and forth between Herrmann and the Chimera in turn, who seemed to be ready to attack at any moment. Then after letting out a sigh, she floated a blue magic circle on her open palm.
✦ ✦ ✦
In the underground passageway, Flum, who had defeated Rischel, finally reached Milkit.
“Master!”
“Milkit!” They raced toward each other with arms wide open and then tightly embraced on another.
“I am so glad you’re safe…Master…” Milkit pressed her body close as if to confirm whether Flum was really there, nuzzling her cheek against her.
“It seems I made you worry.” Flum bushed shyly at the passionately warm welcome, but she stroked Milkit’s head nonetheless.
“When we finally met like this, everything else just flew out of my mind.”
Milkit looked up, gazing straight at Flum, as she said those words. Flum fell silent and stared intently at Milkit’s face.
“Master?” Milkit tilted her head to the side in confusion over the strangeness of Flum’s behavior. But Flum said nothing and simply pinched the edge of her bandages with her fingers. “Are you…going to take them off here?”
Milkit sounded shy. Flum, embarrassed for some reason, lowered her hand.
“I just wanted to see your face…”
“I’m happy, but this place is dangerous. Eterna is fighting now, too.”
“Who’s Eterna?”
Hearing these words that Flum would have never said, Milkit couldn’t help but unintentionally blurt out a “Huh?” in response.
Flum reached out her hand toward Milkit’s face and tried to remove her bandages once again.
“Please let me see your face. If you don’t, I won’t be able to help thinking that you’re Milkit and—”
“Please stop!” Milkit unintentionally raised her voice and took a step back. It was definitely Flum standing in front of her, but there was something intensely unsettling about all of this. It was more than just the simple fact that another person appeared before her; it was an unpleasant feeling of something being off.
“Master, there’s something strange going on with you.”
“You’re the one who’s being strange here, Milkit! What’s all this Master stuff? Don’t call me by that ridiculous name—just call me ‘Flum-san’ like you always do!” Faced with Flum’s strong insistence, Milkit finally realized something.
“Who…are you?” She realized that this girl was not the Master that she knew. It was undoubtedly Flum’s physical body, but what was inside was different. And the same was true for Flum as well, regarding Milkit.
“I don’t know. And who are you? Where is my Milkit…?”
Flum had thought fate had brought her here. But now that she’d killed Rischel, if the Milkit standing before her right now didn’t have memories of the past like she did, then…
She felt like she had suddenly been cast into a cold, dark sea.