Tsukaishi ⑧ – EVENT.
It had been a truly long time since I’d last seen a Chimera.
Moreover, this was the first time I’d seen one that wasn’t a Variant.
A snake’s Tail. A lion’s body. Was the eagle head male and the ram head female?
Its size was about that of a large truck. I’d heard they could grow as large as elephants.
A large truck… that’s plenty threatening.
If it charged, I might get reincarnated into another world, but unfortunately, I’d probably just die.
“Still, are Chimeras usually found in such large groups?”
There were over ten of them. Isn’t that a bit much?
“Actually, I haven’t heard much about this either, no,” Pachira-san said.
“That is precisely why we are investigating,” Lupinus-san added.
“Nn… More… Dungeon irregularities… I’ve had enough…” Liv-san murmured.
Yeah, I get that. Totally.
A wide-open space had appeared in the 13th floor’s labyrinth, and a horde of Chimeras had shown up.
Among them was a Chimera Variant.
Shiro-san asked.
“Let me ask one thing.”
“What is it?” Pachira-san replied.
“Is it always the same pattern? While you’re fighting the Chimera horde, the Chimera Variant escapes… Is that what keeps repeating?”
“That’s right, yes.”
“Indeed it is.”
“Nn… Looping…?”
Shiro-san nodded.
“This is an ‘Event’.”
“What in the world is that?”
“I have never heard of such a thing.”
“Liv… hasn’t heard of it either.”
Of course, it was the first time for me too. An Event?
“—You know how artificial structures in the Dungeon sometimes inexplicably recreate buildings or ruins that once existed on the surface, right? Similarly, accidents, incidents, or phenomena can rarely be recreated in the same way. That’s an ‘Event’.”
“Something like that can happen?”
“So, does that mean the behavior of that Chimera horde and the Variant is a recreation of an ‘Event’ that happened somewhere in the past?” Lupinus-san asked.
“Nn… With Dungeon monsters… as the cast?”
“That’s right. The cast consists of Dungeon monsters. That stray we saw earlier might have been part of some ‘Event’ too.”
Ah, so that’s how it is.
An ‘Event’ is a recreation of accidents, incidents, or phenomena that occurred on the surface in the past.
And the cast is made up of Dungeon monsters… I see.
“So, the Variant escaping while using the horde as a decoy is a recreation because something like that happened in the past?”
“That would be the case.”
Using the group as a decoy to escape. No, to let it escape.
That sounds like a situation that could happen quite often.
“No wonder it felt strange. Look. Even though they are in a position to clearly see us, they do nothing,” Pachira-san noted.
I had noticed that earlier.
Even though we could clearly see each other and sense each other’s presence, the Chimeras weren’t attacking.
Does that mean we haven’t entered the ‘Event’s’ range yet?
Hmm? If that’s the case…
“Nn… So… what do we… do…” Liv-san asked.
“An ‘Event’ just follows a predetermined course of action. So, their movements are very easy to predict,” Shiro-san explained.
“Meaning we can get ahead of them, yes?” Pachira-san inferred.
“The question is how best to intercept them,” Lupinus-san mused.
“…Um, there’s something I was wondering about.”
I subtly pointed towards the Cave behind the Chimera Variant, which looked unnatural in the labyrinth.
“What about that Cave?” Pachira-san asked.
“Could it be that the Chimera Variant always escapes into there?”
“Nn… That’s right…”
“When we pursue, it leads to a path with complex branching routes,” Lupinus-san explained.
“And that’s how it always gets away, yes.”
“You lose sight of such a huge creature?”
No matter how complex the branching paths were, it seemed difficult to lose sight of that massive form.
“Now that you mention it…” Pachira-san trailed off.
“If the labyrinth passages were wide, that might be understandable, but…”
“The width is normal,” Lupinus-san stated.
“Nn… Same as… the ones we came through.”
In that case, wouldn’t it be unable to pass through?
The Chimera was about the size of a large truck.
“I see. It’s just a guess, but perhaps as things stand now, it’s impossible to defeat the Chimera Variant.”
“What?!”
“Oh my, why is that?”
“If the ‘Event’ concludes when the Chimera Variant escapes, it’s likely that it disappears the moment it enters that Cave.”
“So that’s why we can’t pursue it?”
Pachira-san looked incredulous.
Her two white tails swayed skeptically, fwoomph fwoomph.
“Thinking about it, the passage over there is the same width, so rather than being unable to pursue…”
“…It can’t pass through… right?” Shiro-san finished.
Right, this labyrinth. Considering the passage width, the Chimera couldn’t possibly fit.
Realizing this belatedly, the members of ‘Torquetum’ looked shocked.
“Isn’t it good that you figured it out?” Shiro-san said.
“That may be so, but…” Pachira-san mumbled.
“The problem is that realizing this hasn’t solved anything,” Lupinus-san pointed out.
“Nn… No matter what… we do… it escapes…”
“Pachira-san, what about that Restriction Relic?” I asked.
“It cannot be used without open sky.”
“Besides, the moment we attack, that Variant immediately flees,” Lupinus-san added.
“This is… difficult…”
Actually, it feels like we don’t have a decisive way to handle this ourselves.
More importantly, listening to them, Mineha-san seems indispensable.
Her OOPArts, the ‘Phantom Star Spear’, is capable of long-range attacks. In fact, that’s its true strength.
But while that might be fine for simply defeating it… this situation is different.
“Hey, I have to wonder, is there a reason you’re so fixated on this? There are other routes to the 14th floor,” Shiro-san asked.
This labyrinth connects to various places. We even saw a Teleportation Array on the way.
The three members of ‘Torquetum’ looked at each other and nodded firmly.
“It may seem trivial, but we have our reasons,” Pachira-san declared.
“It is revenge,” Lupinus-san stated.
“Hoh,” Shiro-san responded.
“Nn… Before… we lost badly… Won’t lose next time…” Liv-san vowed.
“Fine. I need to gather materials anyway, so I’ll lend a hand.”
With that, Shiro-san took something out of her white pouch.
It was a staff. A pure white metal staff.
Its construction was simple, but that simplicity made it look refined.
She spun the staff lightly, raised it, and chanted.
“Let it be white and holy. ‘White Templum’.”
Four white pillars materialized, and walls of light formed between them, surrounding the Chimera horde.
She spoke nonchalantly to us, who were stunned.
“They can’t escape now, so feel free to exact your revenge to your heart’s content.”
Ignoring our dumbfounded expressions, Shiro-san took out the table from her back and set it down.
She produced a tea set from her pouch, pouring a white liquid into a white cup.
Then she looked at me.
“Want some?”
“Ah, no, I’ll go join the fight against the Chimeras.”
“Be careful.”
She began to elegantly partake in her tea.
We headed towards the Chimera horde.
As we approached, the Chimeras attacked us bravely.
But the white Chimera Variant tried to flee, only to be blocked by the wall of light.
It felt incredibly strange for a Dungeon Monster to try and escape immediately without even attempting to attack.
So this is an ‘Event’.
‘Torquetum’ took down the Chimeras one by one with outstanding combination attacks.
But they could only handle one at a time; keeping the others in check was the most they could manage.
Mineha-san must have been the one responsible for keeping the other Chimeras away.
In that case, I’ll take her place.
With this many around, it should be fine, I thought, raising my hand and chanting.
“【Vanish】”
Several Chimeras were caught in the effect and erased.
“Whoa…” Pachira-san said from behind me.
“I see, so that’s its true nature, yes?”
“Yes.”
“It is indeed extremely dangerous,” Lupinus-san commented.
Lupinus-san pushed back a Chimera with her greatshield.
“Nn… Sky Form… Subaru… Maia Blade…” Liv-san chanted.
A red slash severed the Chimera’s snake Tail, and Pachira-san’s wind blade cut its foreleg.
As it lost balance and fell, Liv-san crushed its eagle head with her black Blade.
Just as we had finally defeated half the horde, something strange happened.
The remaining Chimeras vanished completely.
“Eh?”
“What in the!?”
“What is the meaning of this!?”
“…But convenient.”
Only Liv-san remained calm.
Not all the Chimeras had disappeared.
Only one remained.
Two long snake Tails. A white tiger’s body. A large, imposing, and malevolent ram’s head.
And black eyes that reflected nothing—the Chimera Variant.
As the Chimera Variant’s eyes glowed, it simultaneously spat something out.
【Evil Eye】! Crap… My body won’t move!
The globule of liquid it spat flew towards me. Just before impact, someone stepped in front.
It was Lupinus-san. She raised her greatshield, blocking the liquid projectile.
Where it dripped onto the ground, it dissolved the earth while letting off steam.
“Troublesome, isn’t it? A dissolving liquid,” Pachira-san remarked.
“Nn… If that hits… won’t just leave you naked… Kya!”
“Not even bones will remain,” Pachira-san finished.
Lupinus-san asked me.
“Wof-san. Are you alright?”
“Ah, thank you very much. Lupinus-san… are y-you okay?”
Even with a greatshield, splashes from deflecting the liquid couldn’t be completely avoided.
Indeed, faint smoke was rising from Lupinus-san’s arms and legs.
“Something like this is nothing,” she said with a bright smile. But I could tell she was putting up a brave front.
Stopping the opponent with 【Evil Eye】 and then melting them instantly with dissolving liquid… what a nasty combo.
Liquids are especially troublesome.
Things like dissolving fluids can inflict fatal damage even from a splash.
“Eeeei! Persistent creature!”
“…Darting around… annoying…”
Pachira-san and Liv-san were being pursued by the Variant’s two Tails.
The Tails were apparently poisonous snakes; blackish-red and light green liquid could be seen on the fangs within the white-furred snake mouths.
【Evil Eye】, dissolving liquid projectiles, and poisonous snakes? This is different from the previous Chimera Variant.
Are there different types of Variants too? Still, we need to keep our distance.
Lupinus-san readied her shield and said.
“It’s strong. Or rather, it’s troublesome, isn’t it?”
“Mm. In terms of pure strength, the previous Chimera Variant was superior, yes,” Pachira-san agreed.
“Nn… Agreed… Just… way too annoying…”
It seemed the three members of ‘Torquetum’ felt the same way.
Perhaps it was because this was a Chimera Variant from the shallower floors of the Dungeon.
“The thing we need to be careful about is the [Evil Eye], eh?”
“Speaking of which, what about the sunglasses to prevent the Evil Eye?”
When I asked, the three of them looked away.
“To put it bluntly, they were useless.”
“It’s better not to wear sunglasses inside a Cave.”
“…Couldn’t see… anything…”
“I-I see…”
“But the countermeasure for the [Evil Eye] lies with Lupinus’s shield.”
“Yes, I shall act as the decoy. In the meantime, Pachira, Liv, please handle the poisonous snake Tails.”
“Nn… Quickly… chop them off…”
“I’m itching to use some fire soon, eh.”
“Wof-san, we’ll have you step back.”
“Sorry about this.”
“…A wall… for Liv and the others… to overcome…”
That’s right. This is their revenge.
I look at Ms. Pachira, Ms. Liv, and Ms. Lupinus—’Torquetum’.
“Understood. Be careful.”
There’s no need to worry. Not with them.
Ms. Lupinus readied her greatshield, luring the Chimera subspecies head-on.
The Chimera subspecies used its [Evil Eye] to spit bullets of dissolving liquid.
Ms. Lupinus blocked them all with her greatshield.
Seizing the opening, Ms. Pachira conjured a gale, confounding the two poisonous snake Tails.
Ms. Liv severed them both at once with her Razor Blade.
Letting out a piercing shriek, the Chimera subspecies lost its balance and collapsed.
It was already helpless, like a fish on a cutting board.
The fallen sheep’s head was pinned and contained by Ms. Lupinus’s greatshield.
Likewise, countless blades of wind rained down upon its fallen torso.
The finishing blow came as Ms. Liv’s Razor Blade lopped off its head.
Immediately after defeating it, the three members of ‘Torquetum’ exchanged high-fives with smiles.
Their revenge was complete.