novelDivide and Conquer (9)
| ← Ch.258 | Ch.260 → |
The Palace of Divide was located in the center of the capital, and it had both a northern and southern entrance.
After defeating the Flying Dragon Division, Desir and his crew quickly came into view of the southern palace gate.
It had been smooth so far, but Desir felt like something wasn't quite right. The growing sense of incongruity continued to bother him ever since they defeated the Flying Dragon Division. No one else one had tried to stop them.
Considering how Divide had been employing a strategy of constant ambushes and traps, the situation seemed very suspicious.
"Surely they haven't given up......?"
There was no way that Skull Mask had not realized what Desir was aiming for.
It was clear that Skull Mask would use every means at hand to resist Desir from interfering with his plan.
"And if he decided that we couldn't be stopped......"
Desir's crew easily broke through the Flying Dragon Division, Divide's most elite squad. Then there was only one thing left for them to use.
"They would mobilize the chimeras."
Due to the lack of any rationality, chimeras attacked everyone in sight regardless of their status. Obviously it was impossible for them to be deployed along with regular soldiers, since the odds of them causing significant trouble was high.
If they wanted to release chimeras, it made sense that Divide's soldiers were nowhere to be seen.
"Romantica, I know it might be difficult but could you please increase the detection range as much as you can?" [-Got it. ]
Having traveled at a quick pace until now, Desir's group slowed down their march to make sure they wouldn't be caught off guard.
'Chimeras couldn't possibly be more powerful than the Flying Dragon Division...'
Desir immediately chastised himself. Looking down on Skull Mask was an easy way for them all to die. If he believed chimeras stood a chance where their wyvern army did not, then there must have been a reason.
These members that Desir had gathered were precious talents who would play an active part in the Shadow Labyrinth in the near future. He could not afford to let his guard down and make any mistakes that would lose anyone from his crew.
"Everyone halt!"
As they were slowly moving forward, Desir suddenly stopped his crew. He had detected an irregularity in the flow of mana.
*Crash*
A noise similar to a piece of glass breaking echoed.
And at that moment, they could feel an incredible amount of mana flowing out of the Palace of Divide.
It was the same reaction that would be felt when a Shadow World was cleared."Seems like they finally succeeded."
Desir recognized that the phenomenon was likely the result of the Shadow World containing the power source being dismantled. This meant that all four towers responsible for the barrier had finally been broken.
Everything was proceeding according to plan at this point.
The problem arose from here on out.
Up until now, they could proceed perfectly using the information they gathered. But from now on out, there could be unexpected situations.
Of course, that hadn't stopped Desir from preparing for a multitude of possible situations. He opened his mouth and spoke to Adjest, who stood right beside him.
"Adjest, prepare the spear so we can use it when we need."
"Got it."
The Spear of Longinus.
The artifact that may end up being the core of this entire operation. He nodded as he again confirmed its existence.
As they progressed forward once again, they soon arrived at the entrance to the palace. The gate was firm, but not enough to withstand Desir's magic.
*Boom*
They stepped through the rubble, striding as if they owned the place.
Suddenly, Romantica called via a communication spell.
[-Desir, something's approaching. ]
Desir could feel its movements just as she finished the sentence. *Thomp*
*Thomp*
*Thomp*
Something with a large figure was approaching them at a rapid pace. Each step it took shook the very ground they stood on. And it wasn't just one. They numbered in the dozens.
[Light]
*Pzzt*
A few dozen light spheres appeared, revealing the balls of flesh running towards them. The sight of them conjured a deep feeling of disgust. These misshapen creatures looked like the parts of various monsters mashed together.
Desir's prediction of the appearance of chimeras was correct.
But they were not regular chimeras.
"U-Unbelievable!"
"That's aura!"
Aura flowed out of chimeras' arms and legs.
Desir squinted his eyes.
"Kruaaak!"
Among the clumps of flesh mixed with all kinds of monsters, there were human bodies screaming like beasts.
Desir realized exactly what the chimeras in front of him were.
The Starling Party had fought against one of these chimeras in the Nordin Territory."Aaron......"
Divide had formed one of these chimeras using the Janissary's former captain, Aaron, as a key material. Though it was unskilled, the raw quantity of aura it could wield was astronomical. Even with Desir's meticulous planning and excellent command, the Starling Party had struggled against it.
The power of chimeras lay in their overwhelming basic physical ability, which far exceeded that of a typical knight. When their potential was heightened by giving them the ability to wield aura, a truly terrifying monster was birthed.
"They were really able to mass produce something like that?" Desir bit his lip.
Aaron was probably only the beginning for an experiment like this."Damn it."
Not a single thing was likable about this situation.
Desir was furious at Skull Mask for sacrificing humans like they were nothing."I will soon relieve you of your pain."
Their bodies were already impossible to revert. The only thing he could do for them was to minimize any further sacrilege.
Desir shouted while staring down the charging chimeras."Raise your shields! Do not ruin the formation!"
As the knights quickly shrouded their shields in aura and raised them, the clumps of flesh and sheets of metal collided.
*Thwump*
As the two sources of aura battled, a loud noise emmenated."We've somehow endured it."
Chimeras repeatedly charged at them, but Desir's team did not give up any ground. By slowing down the march, Desir was able to arrange his troops in battle position before they actually encountered the chimeras.
While the knights with shields and aura at the front blocked the chimeras, mages at the back invoked spells and did their best to clear them out, one wave at a time. It was the most effective strategy, lifted straight out of a textbook."They're charging in from the west!"
"Frontline, don't push too far and maintain the formation!" The problem was the number of them.
The location of the battle was in a wide open garden. The only silver lining was that they did not need to worry about their rear. Behind them lay the ruins of the palace gate. However, the chimeras simply swarmed in from the palace itself. Their numbers seemed endless.
Under Desir's leadership, the crew was able to make it this far without any losses. But this situation was different.
*Thump*
*Thuuummpp*
The chimeras were not only threatening in number, but every one of them was also powerful. They constantly transformed their bodies in response to the situation, and they could use aura, making them incredibly difficult to handle.
Just as they were slowly getting exhausted, someone broke formation and stepped out from the frontline.
"Please step back for now."
"What?"
Countless silver sword strikes rained down on the chimeras. *Slash*
"Kyaaaakk!"
With Pram taking the lead, Adjest and Romantica were able to step up and assist in turning things around. Their abilities, refined through individual training over the last six months, were overwhelming compared to the other Hebrion Academy students.
Chimeras that could utilize aura were surely strong, but the knights that were used to make them were terribly weak compared to Aaron.
King-Class knights like Aaron did not grow on trees. It was impossible for Divide to get its hands on many of them. To mass produce these chimeras, it was inevitable that the skills of the knights used had to be of lower quality.
'They really got stronger. '
For others, these chimeras posed great danger, but for main party members in the Starling Party, who narrowly escaped death many times during their growth, were not a completely unmanageable threat.
They now had the capability to compensate for each other's weaknesses without much trouble. Just as Desir was thinking that and looked at the situation.
*Crack*
A noise similar to a piece of glass breaking echoed. [-World inversion detected. ]
The communication pad that was handed out by the Hebrion Academy made such alarms when a certain situation occurred close to its owner.
And that certain situation could only be that... 'They plan to create a Shadow World here...!'
Skull Mask used the four towers to create a Shadow World in order to hide the source inside the Divide Palace.
This meant that it was also possible to create Shadow Worlds with both its location and range accurately specified.
'This is the worst possible outcome. '
The worst possible situation Desir had thought of was Skull Mask creating a Shadow World that covered the entirety of Pittsburgh.
Even if the Shadow World was created, clearing it should not be particularly difficult.
But to clear the Shadow World would consume a large amount of time, meaning the plan would fail.
Desir glared at the chimeras charging in nonstop and thought.
'These chimeras are merely to keep us in place for the Shadow World. '
No matter how strong these chimeras were, there was no way that they would be able to completely stop the continent's elites, including Desir. The chimeras were simply mobilized to delay them from advancing until the Shadow World appeared.
Desir hurriedly called back Adjest who was fighting fiercely at the front line. [-Adjest, you and I will break through their assault. ]
Adjest swiftly approached him upon his call.
Following up on his order, a spell formed in front of Desir. [Fire Storm]
A huge storm of flame roared in the middle of the garden. *Boom*
The surroundings were dyed crimson red.
There was no need for holding his firepower back here, unlike back in the city. An impressively large area of the garden was turned into ashes in the blink of an eye.
"Rawrr!"
The scream of chimeras echoed painfully.
Chimeras directly in the range of the spell completely vanished without a trace, while the ones swept up by the residual heat had parts of their bodies melted, rendering them motionless. Because the chimeras used aura to protect themselves, they were not completely wiped out. However, the number of them had gone down significantly.
That was enough.
Desir and Adjest walked toward the road that was now completely empty."Pram, I'll leave the command of the army to you."
"I won't let you down."
Pram quickly caught on to Desir's intentions and nodded his head."Sorry but I don't think I can let you pass that easily."
*Clang*
Two swords collided and created a sharp echo.
Adjest glared at the attacker who aimed for Desir, while holding her sword firmly. It was a man wearing a pierrot mask.
Desir shouted, realizing the man's identity from the side."Pierrot Mask......!"
Pierrot Mask backed off, the edge of his visible face scrunched up from what was likely an impossibly large, sinister grin.
"You gotta hang out with me for a while."
| ← Ch. 258 | Ch. 260 → |