On the other side of the forest, Lilly felt a horrible az approaching fast.
She turned toward it and saw the forest moving, like the surface of water being pierced by a fin.
Trees were falling one after another. The ground shook, echoing with heavy footsteps. Birds could no longer stay quietly in their nests. No, they had to flee. But for our small group—Jean, Roald, Roïd, and Lilly—that wasn't possible.
– Impossible...
A chimera? A monster? A beast? Lilly would later describe it as an abomination. A creature four meters tall, with eight… no, nine… maybe ten arms, emerged before them. And perhaps the worst part—it wasn't just a spider standing upright.
It had two human faces. The spider's skin had fused badly, leaving patches of flesh arranged at random. Some arms were human, others were black, hairy spider legs hanging uselessly in the air.
Fangs jutted out from random places, even from both of its foreheads. Drool and venom leaked from various open holes that hadn't closed over its body.
It was a completely failed chimera, a horrible work that left nothing but a shapeless monster. One face was crying while the other screamed in agony.
– I… I can't… fight that thing.
– Lilly… focus.
Roald was doing his best not to vomit, but deep inside, his soul screamed to run.
– Where are Rack and the old soldier?
– Kayle said we should blow everything up in fifteen minutes. How much time do we have left?
Jean spoke with a weak, helpless voice.
– Roald, I don't even know how we're supposed to get out of here…
Lilly stared in horror as the thing approached. Then the trees directly in front of them fell. The creature looked at them… then screamed. A horrible cry, muffled by what was probably venom in its own throat.
Roald raised his head as high as he could to see the chimera's face, thirty meters above him.
– We're in trouble. Big trouble.
Jean thought the same. Even with his imposing build, he looked like a single blade of grass beside the monster.
– I'd rather fight the apostle.
The monster watched them a little longer, then, in a sudden motion, struck with four of its right arms toward the group.
Roald was the first to react, shouting to the others.
– Jean!!
– Got it!
Jean stepped in between the beast's enormous fists and the group behind him. But it wasn't enough. He tried to maximize his strength with all the az he had. A faint golden light surrounded him, glowing like a dim source in the forest.
He gained a phenomenal boost—about four times his original strength. But the chimera was far stronger…
Jean sank slowly into the ground, his golden light starting to fade.
– Damn it.
It might have looked like an incredible feat, but in truth, he had only blocked two arms. The group had to dodge the other two to avoid being crushed.
– I'll cover you.
Roïd shot two arrows at the chimera's remaining arms. They too were infused with az. They struck deep into the flesh. He waited for the beast to recoil… but it didn't move an inch, keeping its crushing pressure on Jean.
– What?
Lilly stared desperately at the scene, eyes wide with fear.
– It didn't even feel it?
– Maybe it doesn't feel pain?
Roald took the lead, shouting to his archer.
– Roïd, aim for the eyes.
– Got it.
Roïd didn't waste a second. In less than a heartbeat, the beast's four eyes were pierced. Purple blood ran from them like small waterfalls.
But something was wrong… It still didn't flinch, as if it ignored the fact it was now blind.
– I think it really doesn't feel pain.
It calmly turned toward Roïd's position, and the archer felt a crushing wave of pressure. Even without eyes, it was as if it knew exactly where he was. Suddenly, Lilly screamed.
– Roïd, it has eyes on its legs too! Eyes are growing everywhere. They formed as soon as you pierced the first ones!
Roïd looked in horror at one of the creature's legs. Some of the still-human legs indeed had eyes in them; the rest were simple spider limbs.
– What the hell is this thing?
Lilly spoke directly to him. Her eyes were clear again, though still tinged with panic.
– Listen, we just need to keep it at a distance until I recover my az. Once I do, I'll blow everything to hell.
– Lilly, how long do you need?
Roald looked at Lilly with determination, though he was clutching his wounds with a weak hand and barely standing.
Soon, her answer came.
– Five minutes..
A heavy silence settled in the forest. Even the chimera didn't move. Roïd's eyes went blank, filled with disappointment and despair. Jean was already crying. And suddenly, Roald lost all hope. All strength left him as he looked up at the sky with a nostalgic gaze, a single tear rolling down his left cheek.
– We're dead…
**
– After we entered his domain together, we were separated. I immediately noticed something was wrong, but I couldn't dispel the darkness. Rack was far away, and I had to act. So I decided to observe my surroundings and find a good hiding spot. However, Defrus found me first. I fought him for several hours and I quickly realized it was useless—he regenerated endlessly. I was far stronger than him, but I couldn't kill him. I tried every technique I knew—disintegrated him, burned him, crushed him—but it wasn't enough. As long as there were trees, his core remained intact, moving freely anywhere in the domain.
Kayle raised an eyebrow at the old soldier's explanation.
– A core?
– I'll explain later. In the end, I ran out of az and strength. He eventually gained the upper hand and rooted me like a simple apple tree. When I woke up, I was locked in his lab, and Rack joined me shortly afterward.
Still running and staring straight ahead as seriously as possible, Rack confirmed:
– I couldn't do anything either.
– But it was a mistake to lock up an old soldier like me. We were trained to escape from any kind of restraint. So we wandered through his lab, observing the place. Unfortunately, we found neither his core nor any kind of energy source—just a horrible monster chained in a corner.
– What we saw there was worthy of an Apostle of Knul, so I suggested to our favorite soldier that we wait for Lilly.
Kayle interrupted their story again.
– You weren't afraid we'd be killed?
– No, I trusted you. I know how powerful Lilly is, even if she never shows her strength. She's a quiet girl, but she has reserves. In particular, an az she hides up her sleeve…
– Ennes Gloria.
Rack finally turned his head toward Kayle. Confusion and sadness mixed on his face.
– She told you? Could it be you've become more important to her than me?
– Stop whining and focus. I said it was a bad idea myself, but he was right. We didn't have time to defeat the beast, and we were doing our best not to die in his experiments. Luckily, it didn't last long.
Kayle suspected Defrus had tried some macabre experiments on the two idiots. Still, they were both here safe and sound, while Defrus was busy turning monsters into spiders.
– You two haven't turned into spiders yet, right?
– Don't underestimate your master, Kayle.
I refuse to call him that.
– So what do we do now?
This time, François spoke up.
– The plan is simple. We help them defeat that thing. We hold the Apostle back and get out.
– And you know how to leave?
– In his kind of hidden, invisible manor, there's a floating crystal covered in runes. Neither Rack nor I knew how it worked, but we simply assumed it had to be destroyed.
Huh?
– Wait, you didn't think maybe it was the thing keeping this whole space stable?
– No, why would it?
– And I'm the one called the idiot who charges in headfirst.
Kayle's warning turned out to be true. Within seconds, during their sprint, the space around them began to shift suddenly. The trees stayed in place but moved in random directions, as if the space itself was returning to its original state.
– What the…?
– I see. This isn't a separate dimension—once someone enters this dome-like area, the space changes to confuse the intruder. That way, it's impossible to navigate or move effectively.
Rack added in a noble tone:
– Yes, but let me point out, my dear François, that the manor was indeed invisible.
– I don't doubt it for a second. But if this space is changing, that means…
– We're no longer heading in the right direction at all.
Under stress, Kayle began overthinking again. This wasn't part of his predictions, and he could end up losing Lilly forever. Their chances of finding her had become slim, and that chimera certainly wouldn't spare them.
– Kayle, calm down. There's also a chance they've been separated from the chimera too.
Kayle looked at François, lost in thought, then realized something.
– You're right. Proof is… we've lost the old soldier.
François looked around, and Rack noticed it too at the same moment. The old soldier was indeed no longer with them.
– Damn !
**
On the other side of the forest, the space shift had been much more dramatic for the small group. Lilly was now alone.
The moment she realized she'd been separated from the others, a man stepped into her view. Defrus smiled with satisfaction.
– There you are. Worthless azgon. Do you know how long it took me to isolate you? Those idiots destroyed the crystal that maintained this space, but I can still move through it freely. I bet you miss your friends, you—
Defrus didn't get the chance to finish. Lilly hurled a burst of flame Az at him. He barely dodged and jumped back to his feet.
– Are you kidding me?? What about my evil plan speech?
– I don't want to hear it.
– You youngsters these days, no respect for the tra—
Defrus had to dodge a second fireball, this time aimed at his abdomen.
– Stop. Stop. I get it. Anyway, it's not like I—
Lilly carpet-bombed the area where Defrus stood, not letting him finish. A few seconds later, she noticed he was gone and halted her barrage.