“What the hell is this guy!?”
Yuma was dumbfounded. The head and body he had crushed, and even the dozens of legs he had severed, were all restored.
Moreover, even the wounds on its torso that he had slashed with his longsword had healed before he knew it.
“I didn’t hear anything about it having this much regenerative power!!”
Yuma glared at the towering head of the Chimera, taking a step back, then another.
The reddish-white mist that filled the cave began to envelop the Chimera’s form once more. Soon, the monster’s body was completely hidden, and silence filled the area.
A nasty sensation, like cold sweat erupting from his metal body that shouldn’t sweat.
Amidst the tension that made his skin crawl, the mist stirred slightly.
In that instant—suddenly, a massive pincer emerged from the mist and swung down from above.
“What!?”
Yuma hurriedly leaped back to evade it, but another massive pincer shot out from the mist.
Yuma was in mid-air and couldn’t dodge, so he was swept away and felt the full impact.
“Gah!”
Yuma, sent flying like a ping pong ball, crashed straight into a stone pillar.
The rock shattered into pieces, and dust filled the air.
“Damn… it.”
Yuma forcefully pulled his body, embedded in the stone pillar, free and fell to the ground more than ten meters below.
“What is this… what the hell is it?”
Yuma righted himself and looked up to see the Chimera emerging from the mist. It wasn’t the cobra-like form he had seen before.
It had eight legs and two enormous pincers. Its entire body was covered in thick armor, and it had a distinctive shell on its back. It looked exactly like a “crab.”
“It changed its form… this is its, the Chimera’s, ability!”
Yuma gripped his Pickel again and charged towards the crab. He activated the power of the Bloodstained Ore (Bloody Ore) once more.
Blood vessels ran through his body, and he began to glow red.
“I’ll smash you to pieces again!!”
He leaped powerfully, soaring directly above the crab. He raised his Pickel high and slammed it down with all his might onto the crab’s shell.
A tremendous Crushing Impact resounded, but it was the Pickel that bounced off.
“What!?”
Yuma landed on the ground, spinning backward. He checked his hand, and it was trembling slightly.
The Chimera’s body, which he had been able to destroy until now, had become even harder.
“No way… did its defense increase!?”
Yuma glared fiercely at the enemy and dashed towards the Chimera to attack again. He dodged the descending pincers and struck them with his Pickel.
A high-pitched sound rang out, but he couldn’t inflict any damage.
“Damn!”
Yuma continued to run, leaping up to the Chimera’s head and slamming down the raised Pickel.
The impact was so great that the surrounding mist was blown away. It was Yuma’s full power, but—
It only left a slight, hair-thin scratch. Yuma’s attack had no effect at all.
The Chimera swung its pincers, catching Yuma’s body. Sparks flew from the terrifying impact, and Yuma was blown away towards the rock wall.
He crashed into the wall and fell to the ground with the crumbling rocks.
He wasn’t hurt. But the feeling of helplessness, knowing that his attacks were useless, kept Yuma from getting up as he lay face down.
The Chimera approached slowly, as if in triumph.
Yuma somehow managed to raise himself and stood up unsteadily.
“Too strong… this is a Danger Level Triple A monster…”
With a look of despair, Yuma glared at the enemy.
◇◇◇
“What the hell… is that crab-like form!?”
Kanzaki was shocked by the Chimera’s sudden transformation. Even though he had heard that it could change its form, seeing it in person made him realize just how incredible its ability was.
“Isn’t that cheating!?”
“That’s why I told you we can’t win,” Aisha said coldly, fueling Kanzaki’s irritation.
“Don’t you want Yuma to win!?”
“I’m not talking about what I hope for. I’m talking about reality.”
“Reality?”
“With that armor, Yuma-kun’s attacks won’t work. Even if they did, it has Super Regeneration. Its power is overwhelmingly superior, and it has no time limit. With Yuma-kun’s time limit, there’s not even one in ten thousand chances of winning.”
“No way… if Yuma loses, that means we’re going to die too! Isn’t there some kind of secret plan!? Aisha!!”
Aisha, gazing at the Chimera and Yuma in the distance, sighed lightly.
“It’s useless. Even if we try some clever tricks, the Chimera has the Shapeshifting ability to counter them. The fundamental strength is different.”
Those words filled Kanzaki with despair. In this deepest part of the Black Dungeon, no one would come to help.
If Yuma lost, it meant there was no chance of survival.
Kanzaki clenched his fists, lowered his head, and closed his eyes.
—If only I had more power, I could help Yuma… In the end, I’m just a second-rate Seeker, I’m no help at all.
Just as Kanzaki was biting his lip, thinking this, he heard a small laugh.
He looked over to see Aisha shaking her shoulders and laughing.
“W-what!? Have you lost it?”
“Ah, maybe. It’s strange even to me, but to die in the deepest part of the Black Dungeon… I think it suits me.”
“Don’t screw with me! Who wants to die with you in a place like this!! Yuma and I will get out of here no matter what.”
Aisha shook her head, her eyes still closed.
“The International Dungeon Research Organization (IDR)’s Danger Level AAA isn’t just a rank of danger. Triple A is a symbol that means impossible. In other words, the IDR has concluded that the Chimera is a monster that cannot be defeated.”
“I don’t care about the theories that those scholars came up with at their desks!!”
“It’s impossible. I agree with this conclusion as well. Even if you gathered a hundred of the world’s top Seekers, they couldn’t defeat it. That’s how strong the Chimera is.”
Hearing Aisha’s words, Kanzaki gritted his teeth in frustration.
When he raised his gaze, he saw Yuma fighting the Chimera all alone.