735 – Behema Chimaera (side: Treant)

“Five upper A ranks…”

Aro-dono bites her lip as he looks up at the chimaeras.

They’re certainly a threat, but what makes them most dangerous is that if we take too long to fight them, more chimaeras will catch up. Once that happens, we’ll lose for sure.

“Treant-san, I’m taking some mana!”

A faint light glows from Aro-dono’s arms as she holds me. I feel my mana flowing into her.

She seems a little panicked… As expected, losing both of her clones and getting burnt badly by the [Flare Ray] took an effect on her. [Darkness Kaleidoscope] is a powerful skill, but the mana cost is suitably high. As she wasn’t able to collect the clones, the mana invested into their bodies was lost too.

“AaaAAh!”

The lead chimaera is diving down towards us.

“[Woven Armour]!”

I stretch out, producing a dome of interlocking branches.

The chimaera’s claw strikes the [Woven Armour]. The branches creak and begin to snap. It doesn’t seem like it’ll last long.

『Now for [Poison Cloud]!』

A magic circle expands out from me, producing a purple mist.

“Ua…”

Disliking the poisonous fumes, the chimaera distances itself from my branches.

“[Darkness Kaleidoscope]!”

While I buy time, Aro-dono uses [Darkness Kaleidoscope] again. Her outline collapses, quickly forming into three bodies.

Aiming for different chimaeras through gaps in my branches, the three Aro-donos hold out their arms.

“[Dark Sphere]!”

Three purple lights shoot out. Trying to dodge the [Dark Spheres], the chimaeras fly up.

『I won’t let you! [Gravity]!』

I immediately act to pull them back down with magic. A black light spreads out from me, preventing the chimaeras from ascending.

“A, Aa…!”

The [Dark Spheres] collide with the chimaeras, exploding in purple blasts.

“AaAAAh!”

The chimaeras scream in pain. Their flesh has been gouged out by the blasts, and their wings and arms have been broken.

『G-great, now we can…!』

I think for a moment that we can escape, but then the two other chimaeras fly down, swooping through the dissipating blasts.

There’s too many of them… If we try to fight them head on, we’ll get overwhelmed by their numbers no matter what we do.

Aro-dono’s two clones leap up. They transform an arm each, using them to block the chimaeras’ claws with claws of their own. Aro-dono picks me up and begins to fly away.

『We managed to get away… Are you okay? Doesn’t using [Darkness Kaleidoscope] so much you a lot of mana…?』

As a walpurgis, her mana is her life force. Using up so much mana is quite literally shaving away at her life.

Her face is very pale. It’s clear she’s exhausted.

『I don’t mind, of course…』

I don’t have much leeway either, but Aro-dono can do much more with the MP than I can. I don’t mind if she takes almost all of mine, but at this pace we’ll soon both run dry.

I glance backwards at the clones. They’re fighting hard, locked in close combat against the chimaeras.

“[Dark Sphere]!”

The [Dark Sphere] that one of the clones fires is easily dodged by its target, which then into the clone’s outstretched arm, tearing it from her shoulder.

『Aro-dono…』

It’s hard to watch, even knowing that it’s a clone. Aro-dono is also already running low on mana. We can’t afford to lose the mana invested in [Darkness Kaleidoscope].

“[Gale]!”

The other clone unleashes a [Gale] on the two chimaeras. They retreat to the ground and hunker down defensively.

The two clones dive to chase them. Their outlines blur for a moment, then form into giant spectral mouths.

It’s her [Ravenous Poison Fang] skill, which transforms her body into a giant maw to chomp through her enemy.

The two maws snap shut, biting through the abdomens of each chimaera. The chimaeras fall limp, having used all their strength.

『You did it… Your clones won!』

The clones return into their normal shapes. Suddenly, more chimaeras appear above them.

There are over ten of them.

“A….”
“AAAAAh!”

The clones are swarmed over by the chimaeras and ripped apart. It’s over in an instant. Their scattered limbs dissolve, turning into light and fading away.

After grinding their empty mouths unsatisfactorily, the chimaeras turn around and leap off the ground to fly towards us.

『It was over so quick…』

Our mana was already running low as it was.

I glance behind the chimaeras to the Magic Beast King. It’s still tenaciously chasing us.

There’s still no sign of the [Death God Seeds] activating. I’m not confident we’ll be able to survive the next [Inhaala] and [Flare Ray]. No, even without such a large attack, the chimaeras will soon catch up to us.