At that time in Selayde, the skies above entered the control range of the central core, and the Chimeras attack began. The demons deployed multiple layers of barriers with various attributes to block the magic spewed forth by the Chimera. Sheitoom remained motionless, watching over the battle at the Demon Lord’s castle as a commander. While it might have seemed like she was just relying on others, with the Demon Lord standing close behind them, the demons could concentrate on defending Selayde with peace of mind. Above all else, the church’s “scheme” wasn’t going to end with just this. A male demon rushed into the conference room where Sheitoom and Dhiza had been.
“Lord Sheitoom! A large-sized Chimera accompanied by several smaller ones has come down.”
“Selayde itself shouldn’t be within range of the central core yet, though…”
“It seems that they are using a portable control core that can be transported.” The control core was carried by a large Chimera, which was deployed together with small-sized Chimera as a unit. This was the method of using Chimera as weapons which the Church Knights had demonstrated in the underground research facility in the royal capital. Sheitoom and Dhiza raced out of the room together with the man.
“How many large-sized ones?”
“As far as we’ve been able to confirm, just the one.”
“It doesn’t seem like they have that many control cores, then.” Sheitoom felt a little relieved. It sounded like the worst-case possibility had been avoided. If the control cores could be mass-produced, then they could let the Chimera roam around freely just by firing cores into enemy territory using cannons. Control cores were likely larger than normal Origin cores due to their greater degree of functionality. This meant, in other words, that mining black quartz of sufficient size was necessary to create them, so they likely couldn’t be produced that easily. Also, considering that the attack by the flying object had stopped immediately, perhaps that meant that the church didn’t have a surplus of materials, either. That being said, Sheitoom didn’t think that one control core would be the end of it.
“If Cyrill wakes up, we could gain the upper hand in an instant.” The hero was still unconscious because she had been forced to use Return. However, it was impossible to tell whether or not she would awaken. Sheitoom couldn’t rely on her. Right now, she had to focus on intercepting the large-sized Chimera.
She recomposed herself. Just as she was about to pass through the front entrance, she heard a loud bell ring throughout the castle. Briiiing!
“That sound… An intruder in the castle?!”
“Great Demon Lord, I will handle—”
“No. It is my duty to protect the seal on Origin. Dhiza, go outside. I will deal with the intruder.”
After parting ways with Dhiza, she hurried toward the sound. The Demon Lord’s castle was protected by a magical power, but in situations where the castle was assaulted, a bell would ring at the nearest location to alert the residents of the intruder’s whereabouts.
Why didn’t anyone notice anything until the intruder got inside? The demons outside were supposed to have been keeping watch. This place was the stronghold of the demon race. Even under ordinary conditions, someone would notice if a suspicious person approached. Which meant this intruder was no ordinary person.
“Judging from where the signal’s coming from…their goal isn’t Origin, but the jail?”
Sheitoom had a bad feeling. She hurried to the underground dungeon where the informants were being held. What she saw when she got there was a large hole in the wall and countless corpses. The intruder had not come here to free their comrades, but to eliminate the pawns they no longer needed. There was no sign of the intruder now, but she could still faintly detect a presence.
“There!” There was the sound of something wet falling to the floor. Splat. A corpse appeared where there had been nothing before.
“A Chimera…made by stitching together human bodies…” Sheitoom grimaced at the repulsive sight. It had likely been made using people from the church as components. With its head and limbs sundered, and moving in disorderly fashion, the monster that now lay before Sheitoom’s eyes could barely walk on two legs. A control core had been painfully and forcibly attached to its body with wires.
Sheitoom guessed that the intruder had gone unnoticed by using magic that manipulated the refraction of light. In modern times, where research into healing magic had advanced, magicians who handled light-attribute magic were favored and treated with courtesy. You wouldn’t treat them like disposable pawns, much less commit such a foolish and blasphemous act as stitching them together to create a monster. It was likely that connecting parts from this many individuals had been necessary in order to enable the Chimera to utilize light-attribute magic…but there had to have been a better method.
To put it bluntly, getting something as huge as Tokyo airborne while also using this creature to attack her was the height of wastefulness for the church, which didn’t exactly have a surplus of resources to begin with.
“The church’s actions reek of the insanity of blind devotion. What a distasteful joke.”
It was almost as though they were competing with one another to see who could express their faith in the most exaggerated way, while also dragging in as many other people as possible. But that was the extent of how much Sheitoom let herself dwell on her discomfort. There were other truths she had to face.
“It would be one thing if this were just part of their game, but it looks like it’s not.” They had come to kill the prisoners, even going so far as to use a precious control core. It had to have been to silence them. “Why would they go to such lengths to eliminate the informants…? I don’t understand it.”
Sheitoom was heartbroken as she looked at the fallen demons and the humans who had been turned into the Chimera’s component parts. She closed her eyes and mourned the dead.