Fate is not without irony.
A small settlement located at the very foot of a hill was attacked by people without conscience or honor. Knights in shining armor roamed the village, carrying out cruel reprisals against the peaceful inhabitants of the kingdom. They won an unconditional victory, largely due to the zero defense capability of the village. None of the strong men could pierce the strong armor with a blunt pitchfork.
On this day, the most agile peasants were killed and burned, and the most passive ones were met with a painless death, with perhaps a few nuances related to the rotten character of the disguised soldiers of the Slane Theocracy. Among their ranks remained those who "accidentally" did not deliver the fatal blow, so that the victim would suffer in agony.
However, the most interesting thing happened after the appearance of the leader of the Sunlight Scripture on the battlefield. From the very morning, his entire body was itching unbearably, as if hundreds of spirits were trying to warn him of imminent danger. But he did not follow the advice, for which he could soon pay dearly.
"Captain, we have discovered several wandering monsters in the forest that should not be here," the magician, wrapped in an exquisite priest's outfit, approached the leader of the secret operation.
After briefly glancing at the large scar on the blond man's face, the subordinate stood at attention, awaiting orders. It was better not to look at others' mistakes, especially on the face - that was the right thing to do in his opinion. The captain had received a mark from the Blue Rose adventurer group during the destruction of the demi-human village, and as a symbol of his past mistake, Nigun had given up healing magic.
"God is sending us tests of strength," being a deeply religious person, the man in black and white robes was not afraid of the attack of a couple of monsters. The monsters had greatly slowed down the operation, but rumors continued to float around the country, so their target should soon swallow the bait. "Gazef Stronoff will fall for our provocation and fall into a trap, and then we will destroy him, and the monsters will be the only ones to blame if something goes wrong with the original plan," Nigun nodded with satisfaction while examining a dozen disemboweled corpses, and was about to head to the next border village of Carne, when a heartbreaking scream spread throughout the village.
The mission to lure out the kingdom's strongest warrior should not have resulted in casualties at all. But they did, and at least one of his men had already been hurt. At the other end of the village, one of the chimeras, unable to withstand the ever-increasing smell of burnt human flesh, was about to completely ignore the Overlord's order.
Others followed, exploring the surrounding areas. They were all extremely weak by Yggdrasil standards, hence their imperfection. The instincts of former wild animals, insects and other beasts exceeded the rational link, although their creator had put too much brains into them, expecting the opposite.
Half an hour later, the small spark from the death of the first member of the Sunlight Scripture grew into a raging fire. Quickly assessing the situation, Nigun began to strengthen the defense, pulling all the main forces to the center of the village. All the mages began to summon angels en masse, and their captain wondered whether to use the only trump card right now. In five minutes, he lost a seventh of his subordinates, and the creatures suddenly gained brains. As soon as they lost the first round, the chimeras retreated, but did not leave for good. The cunning monsters began to whine loudly, calling for help from their relatives, while slowly depleting the spellcasters' mana reserves.
"What the hell is this?!" one of the mages asked vulgarly in a trembling voice, trying to calculate in his head all the mana costs of maintaining the magical barrier. Only thanks to the protective magic they hadn't all become someone's lunch yet.
- Put aside fear! - the leader, squinting his eyes, ordered everyone to keep cool in a loud voice. No one has ever succeeded in turmoil; it only leads to a cesspool, where the loser to fear will be buried.
"But… but, I'm almost out of mana… I… can't anymore!" one of his subordinates complained, almost crying.
- I don't care, you'll die, but you'll maintain the barrier, - he snapped back angrily, all the complacency and confidence in God starting to melt in his heart like ice under the scorching sun. - Where did these damned spawn of corpse-makers even come from? - Nigun spat out angrily, clenching his jaw. He believed that dying not even from the purpose of his capture, but from some random factors, was clearly beneath his dignity. What would he say in the next world in his defense?
Fifteen minutes later, an important change took place on the battlefield, but it did not delight him.
"The sound of hooves! I hear the sound of hooves!" another man shouted loudly, the same one who, together with five other comrades, was holding the left side in the center of the village from the attacks of the chimeras.
"This is shit..." Swallowing, the leader of one of the six scriptures of the Theocracy realized the hopelessness of their situation. To be completely happy, his squad really lacked a target that they were originally supposed to destroy.
The captain of the guard came for the souls of those who burned the villages.
Dozens of horsemen rode into the burnt village, heading to deal with the enemy. But before they could reach their destination, chimeras jumped out from an ambush and cut the cavalry in half. In disbelief, the captain tried to draw his sword and help at least someone, but something bad happened.
The trained and at the same time war horse decided to let him down, rearing up when the creature landed right in front of the horse's muzzle. A competition ensued: who would attack first - hooves or sharp fangs, and sadly, the reaction of low-ranking monsters was faster than that of ordinary horses.
But the captain did not lose his head, he jumped up sharply, using the saddle as a support. In flight, Gazef used a combat technique, trying to chop off the creature's head, but instead only caused serious injury. The creature whined pitifully, and then, without turning towards the threat, decided to use the regeneration skill. Any chimera had it, because otherwise it would die from the incompatible union of the bodies of different animals.
- Ahem... captain, retreat, we will hold them off, we, - the young knight of the kingdom looked, to put it mildly, battered after receiving damage from a tail strike. Otherwise, except for internal and external bleeding, as well as broken bones, everything was fine with his health. Until the moment when another chimera cut him into pieces with sharp claws, like scissors cut paper.
"Damn, we're heading downtown! We need to group up!" He quickly ordered, leading his men to a place where they could avoid most of the blind spots. The thick smoke and the fire that had started were a big hindrance, but the empty houses where some of the chimeras were hiding were even more dangerous.
"Where did they get so much brains?" the swordsman asked in a trembling voice, blocking a blow from a rat's tail from a monster that looked like a huge cross between a dog and a vole with his shield. After successfully blocking, the object of protection became nothing more than a crumpled sheet of metal, which could no longer be used as a shield. And it still had to be torn from the grip of the dead man, whose awareness of death passed him by.
But the knight was still able to lead the chimera away from the group, as he served as lunch.
Reaching the center, Gazef was surprised to find a squad of mages holding the barrier. Several angels were hovering in the air next to the people, preventing the chimeras from approaching the green glow, thus preventing the barrier from being torn apart. The green shroud could still withstand a simultaneous attack by a couple of creatures, but if they all attacked, it was death.
Under other circumstances, the captain of the guard would have thought three times whether he was facing enemies or allies. Unfortunately, the chaos was not conducive to developing correct assumptions and putting forward rescue hypotheses. There were people ahead, and around them were two dozen different crossbreeds of several animals that had undergone a noticeable increase in their size. Perhaps his people would fall into a trap of the other side, and so it was, but what was left? Were the mages and a couple of knights of the Empire to blame for the destruction of the village? Or was it the chimeras?
The reason to find out later, immediately after the hope of surviving this evening appears.
- I am the captain of the special detachment of His Majesty King Ramposa III! - There was no time to introduce myself, without the support of these people, Gazef understood, his detachment had no chance of survival. Only a quarter of the king's special group remained. And the chimeras were all alive and well, except for a couple wounded by angelic copies, but even they quickly regenerated.
"I know…" Gritting his teeth, the leader of the scripture sighed heavily, and still allowed his target to enter the barrier, giving the appropriate orders. Just think, both catchers fell into the trap of a bigger fish.
Fate is not without irony.
"What happened here?" With a blood-stained face and heavy breathing, Gazef extended his hand to Nigun, who reluctantly shook it.
"We were sent to track down and destroy all the monsters, but we did not assess the level of their threat," the leader of the scripture lied confidently, so confidently that all his subordinates were surprised. The most loyal follower of their god lied better than any devil.
- Well, - scratching his long dark curls, the captain, shrugging his shoulders, pointed his sword towards the chimeras that had moved away from the area of damage of the angelic spears. There were already more than twenty-seven of them, but still zero were killed. - I do not trust you and your words, - Gazef honestly admitted, as a knight it is difficult for him to lie and use intrigues in his life, filled with honor and nobility. - But we do not really have a choice.
"I won't stand back to back," the blond man replied, grinning. He hated noble knights more than Blue Rose, but it was better to swallow his anger to increase his chances of survival. Indeed, you can always manage to stab an ally in the back.
- What's the plan? - glancing sideways at the spellcaster, the knight captain decided to ask the one who had found himself in a critical situation before his squad about the next steps. In such situations, people's brains should quickly find and discard hundreds of ideas for salvation.
"I can summon the strongest creature, but the enemy's excellent cooperation spoils everything. Twice today, these bastards retreated as soon as things got hot, and immediately returned as soon as the opportunity arose. They have impeccable intelligence for crazy creatures. This is the first time I've seen such a thing. And..." Suddenly, a powerful wave of horror swept through everyone present.
"Captain… this aura…" the disguised knight croaked, feeling the terrible pressure of negative energy. Few could stand on their feet from the feeling of the presence of something sinister, comparable only to the devil.
The evil was felt best by the other chimeras, who trembled in terror and decided to part before the evil, like the sea before Moses. One chimera in the form of a torn possum was already preparing to feign its own death, despite the fact that it was itself undead.
"What kind of creature is this?" the magician asked his comrades with trembling lips, having a feeble hope of getting at least some kind of intelligible answer from the shocked people.
First the shadows were stirred, and then the hearts of living beings.
A dark figure covered in neat, short fur appeared on the battlefield of the destroyed village. Everyone present recognized it, and the fear and horror that was felt all around only intensified. A huge chimera, similar to a wolf, but only from the legends of Fenrir, an ancient monster from Scandinavian mythology, was slowly approaching the group of survivors from the dark smoke. The monster, also known as the Slayer of Gods.
The creature's scarlet eye sockets glowed with hellish fire, and its fangs dripped with liquid saliva, signaling an approaching feast. The knights hiding inside the barrier were unable to hold their swords and shields in their trembling hands, the mages forgot all their spells, and the two captains firmly believed that everything that was happening was a dream.
The other chimeras did not dare whine or provoke the pack leader in any way, for fear of incurring the wrath of a being superior to their level. Not only did the humans seem tiny in comparison to the wolf, but the other monsters looked like feral rats that could be dispersed by a flash of flame.
"God is merciful," Nigun swallowed in shock, taking a couple of steps back.
He sighed heavily and instinctively activated his strongest weapon. The sealing crystal was activated, and a rank 7 angel nicknamed Dominion of Authority appeared on the battlefield. In Yggdrasil, he was considered a mid-level angel, but in this world, the existence could be compared to a deity.
A large area was illuminated by a divine light that made one feel lighthearted. A being with shining wings and numerous arms, hovering in the sky and holding a powerful weapon, slowly aimed at the wolf. The angel was able to cast a seventh-tier spell, "Holy Strike," at any time, but his opponent was not a coward.
"Bite me, against a deity, you... impossible!" Denying reality, Nigun turned his gaze to Gazef, hoping that he did not see the same thing he saw. The Chimera released such a terrifying aura that all the radiance of the deity was extinguished, like a lit candle in the middle of a hurricane.
— Rarqu!
The giant wolf completely ignored the laws of physics, literally dissolving into thin air and instantly appearing near what it thought was its flying prey. Its huge mouth opened in mid-flight, squeezing the center of the angel's body. The bite was so deadly that it didn't even give the angel a chance to attack. It was simply torn to pieces, which the monster quickly began to devour after landing.
"S-secret weapon?" Trying to suppress a wry smile and twitching eyebrows, Gazef had already resigned himself to the inevitability of his approaching death. Once the wolf finished his dinner, they would be next.
"We are doomed... This monster is the harbinger of the End of the World... Even the Black Scripture..." Nigun was prevented from completely losing consciousness by the appearance of a glow, a kind of scarlet gate, from which came the smell of burning and burnt corpses, like a pile of dead fish.
Considering that there was already a similar smell here, it was extremely difficult to kill it with a similar, more concentrated one. However, this was achieved by a strange flash of light, from which two humanoid creatures appeared, who had tails and strange clothes, like nobility.
What caught everyone's attention the most was the strange helmet on the head of one of the unexpected guests. The purple glow from the helmet captivated everyone's attention, drawing them to the man in the dark suit with a cloak thrown over it. But compared to the terrifying wolf, the man in the exquisite suit looked absolutely normal.
"Bark-bark," as soon as the scarlet eyes of the fearsome creature met the man, the monster lost all fear. Barking like a puppy, he joyfully took the largest piece of the angel in his mouth, and, jumping up, presented it to his owner, like a pet brings a ball or a plate.
"Amazing," the man said enthusiastically. "Still just a puppy, how cute," his palm joyfully lay on the monster's lowered head, which, from the stroking, began to happily rub its crown against the dark glove of the owner. "Amazing, I'm sure when you grow up, you'll become big and powerful," the Lord of Dawn immediately recognized one of the chimeras he personally created, a couple of days ago he assigned it to a special squad responsible for assessing the strength of potential enemies of Nazarick.
"Sir, I am sure that all your creations will become majestic beings," the demon standing next to him nodded contentedly, watching the majestic actions of the Lord.
"I would play with you some more, but I have some business to attend to. Some other time," Bondrewd finished playing with the puppy with slight disappointment and turned towards the gathering of knights and mages, shocked by this turn of events.
"And this monster is a simple puppy?"
Probably, a similar question was spinning in the minds of everyone present.
- I have completely forgotten about manners, I greet you on this wonderful evening. Judging by your disparate attire, the conclusion is obvious, - making a short pause after the friendly speech, he continued. - Nothing brings people together like a common misfortune. It is extremely annoying that I am late, but it is better to meet late than never, - in a good-natured manner, like an old man greeting young warriors from a victorious war, the Lord of Chimeras raised his hand in a welcoming gesture.
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