Chapter 51 : Chimera (Part 4)

"Ojou-sama!!!"

Harson shouted as he ran towards her master who's about to be attacked by the monster before them.

As if time slowed down, Iris could see the fist of the monster inched closer to her face in slow motion.

'Huh? Am I...gonna...

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...die?'

*SWOOSH*

However, something moved and took Iris away from where she stood...

*SWOOSH*

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*BOOM*

The monster swung his fist towards and created large explosion.

Harson fell to his knees, his hands couldn't reach her from that distance.

He failed her.

"O-ojou-sama..."

Tears started to drip down his cheeks and his face twisted into that of helplessness as he looked at the monster in despair.

But...

As the dust from his punch cleared...

*SWOOSH*

Iris was nowhere to be found.

Harson and the monster widened their eyes in surprise after seeing it.

The monster looked around and eventually stopped to look at something that was right behind him.

Harson followed the monster's gaze and saw a a tall green haired man who's wearing black clothing all over his body, and a mask with a smiley face on it.

"Y-you are..." Harson looked at him in confusion, trying to gouge his identity.

When the man turned around, relief washed all over him when he saw Iris in his arms.

"Ojou-sama!"

The little girl was dumbfounded when she realized that she was being carried by someone, like a princess.

"Are you okay, Iris Ojou-san?~"

Iris recognized that voice and used her [Status Appraisal], "W-william?!"

"Huh?! William!!? That bastard from The Dark Guild?!" Harson shouted in disbelief.

"Oi! I just saved your master and this is the thanks I get?! Unbelievable!" William shouted back, taking full offense at that.

"W-why are you here?" He asked and Iris looked at him the same way. She want an answer.

Few seconds passed by in silence. Just when Iris thought he won't answer them, William turned his face away.

"I–.....I'm just curious of what you're doing and I'm worried that my precious customer won't be coming again!" William stuttered.

That only made Harson and Iris even more surprised seeing his weird behaviour.

'Ehhhh...is this the same [William Hainsbourg]? That mysterious hidden male target who's tricky to deal with?!' Iris couldn't help but wondered just where the hell did that man's cocky attitude went to.

But then she blinked for a moment and stared at him. "I see...then did you stalk me for a whole day?"

William flinched, secretly thankful that the mask hid his face so they couldn't see how flustered he looked like right now.

"What? of course not! Hahaha!"

Iris and Harson looked at him in disbelief

'Seriously?'

"Well that's not important...first things first, put me down." Iris brushed him off, hitting his head with the hilt of her rapier.

William held his head after putting her down since that hit was much stronger than he imagined.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"That's for putting your nose in our business and..."

*THUD*

*SWOOSH*

Suddenly, Iris pushed William away as something passed through them with such a high speed and crashed towards the wall.

*BOOM*

"H-huh?!–"

"...and that's for saving my life, now we don't owe each other." Iris smiled.

William paled as he looked at the huge slash in the wall, creating a huge gap on it. If Iris didn't push him earlier, who knows what might happened.

"Also it's time to focus on that thing." Iris snapped him back to attention while getting herself ready.

William somehow could tell that monster seemed to be three times much stronger than him, "Is that thing related to the thing above us?" William asked curiously.

"Oh? You have a sharp sense William...but I don't think you can comprehend the thing that stand before us right now."

"What do you mean by that..." William couldn't help but feel nervous as he watched the monster slowly came out when the dust cleared.

"Because I think we are up fight against one of the legendary monster in a story we were once told."

He could see the monster's appearance more clearly now. Before them was a monster shaped like a human. He has six pair arms, red skin and a pair of horns on his forehead.

William widened his eyes in recognition, "You don't mean..?!"

"Yes...that thing..."

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*GRRRRRR*

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"...is a [Chimera] made out of [The Ashura, Styx] genetics." Iris spoke grimly.

William shuddered at that but he managed a lopsided smirk behind his mask.

"Then I hope we can survive this."

"Yeah...but we need to evacuate those people first." She said as she glanced over at those who regained their consciences from [Fear].

"Harson! I want you to protect those people and then get outta here!" Iris shouted at him when Harson finally back to his feet.

"Huh?! But Ojou-sama! It's too dangerous!!"

"I know...but his target is me! If I go with you, they will die because of me!" She spoke without looking at him, "Besides...you're the only one who can manage this, I promise you that I will be back."

Harson felt pain surging through his chest and gritted his teeth in frustration. "I...understood Ojou-sama...promise me you will be back."

Harson turned his back and make a run for it towards the group of people as per her orders.

"Move, now!" Harson shouted, not sparing them anymore glance when he saw them scrambling up after him then following him out of the room in haste.

On their way out, he felt weird that something seemed off since he couldn't see any guards around.

'Huh? Strange.'

He saw some guards laid down on the floor as if something struck them down before they arrived and he also noticed a stab wound on their throat. It looked very precise and was definitely done with a professional.

That made him thought of someone who could have done this.

'Tsk...I guess he isn't just your typical informant after all.' He couldn't help but praise him for taking out these guards away.

But...

When they're out of that area, he saw some guards showing up and noticed their presence.

They took out their swords and quickly moved to stop him.

"Who are you?! Don't you dare!!–"

*SWOOSH*

*SLASH*

"Ack–!!"

However, Harson dashed and stood right in front of them, unsheathing his blade and cut those guards in half without hesitation.

The people who followed him were awestruck at his display of swordsmanship.

"Don't stop, keep moving!!" Harson ordered and they started running again.

******

Meanwhile, after Harson left the room, Iris and William stood on guard as they observed the monster's movement.

The monster seemed to be observing them too but also being completely on guard towards Iris who locked eyes with him.

"Is it okay for you to let him and those people go first?" William asked curiously to break the suffocating silence.

"Yeah, moreover...there are still guards around up there, so they will be fine with him leading the way."

"I see." William smiled

"Can I ask something?" Iris asked without looking.

"Yeah."

"How many guards have you taken down when you followed us?"

William smiled wider, "Hmm....I guess a lot?"

"From the way you answer it...it seems you only took out the guards around this area, am I right?" Iris spoke as if she seen him throughly.

He didn't expect that coming, and he glanced at her in confusion, "Y-yeah...you were right."

"I see...but because of that, Harson can lead them to safety without trouble so I'm thankful for your help." Iris smiled.

William felt his cheeks reddened but quickly shook his head to brush it off.

"M-more importantly! Why is that thing not moving at all?" William pointed out when the monster didn't even move when they're busy talking to each other like this.

"It seems like he is cautious of me...since I keep my eyes on him all the time."

"He's being...cautious of you?"

"Yeah, I think he is trying to see what kind of move I'm gonna do next so he could anticipate it. I mean, from the way he's observing me...I can guess that the only one who could manage to injure him is myself so he considered me a threat." Iris explained.

"I see...does that rapier has some sort of special ability?" William asked.

Iris didn't answered it but his guess was half right of course.

'This rapier only contained the power to purify...and from what I saw...when I combined it with light magic, I saw some burnt injury on its skin...it seems the light affected him for sure.

'But the question is...how can we beat this monster when he can move much faster than me and I can't respond to it.'

Iris is deep in her thought until finally...she has an idea.

"William."

"Hm?"

"I think...I have a plan."

William widened his eyes a bit when Iris told him all about it.

"How do you...no...haaa...this is pretty crazy, but I hope this is working."

"You're not going to ask me?"

"Well I have a lot questions...but right now this isn't the time, so...make sure to pay it since this thing is quite pricey."

"Don't worry~ I will pay you if we survive this~" Iris teased and prepared her rapier.

As for William, he took out a dagger and something on his back.

The monster of course responded to their movements.

*GRRRRRR*

Iris took a deep breath and slowly letting it out.

'[Sword Dance].'

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[Sword Dance]

Active Skill

MP Cost: 100

Duration : 120 sec.

Cooldown : 80 Sec

A dance of sword that allows the user to temporarily increase their STRENGTH and AGILITY by 30.

=======================================

Bluish aura slowly engulfed her whole body and the rapier she held in her hand.

William noticed the change in Iris and chuckled, "Haha~ you never cease to suprise me...Ojou-san."

"Thank you for the compliments."

*CLINK*

Iris ready her stance by pointing her blade towards the monster who responded to her in kind, getting himself ready for her attack.

"Since that thing is focusing on you...I shall support you from behind...so you don't have to be worried!"

Suddenly, William took out something from his small pocket then threw it on the monster.

*GRAAA!*

The monster swung his fist to deflect it but when his fist connected, it created a smokescreen which covered his vision.

*GRRRR*???

The monster looked around in confusion as he couldn't see anything due to the smoke and suddenly....

*SWOOSH*

A beautiful blue blade came out from the smoke and thrust it towards him.

Iris emerged from the shadow and struck the monster on his waist.

'[Shadow Movement] and [Shadow Blade].'

Dark shadow energy coated her blade which enabled her to penetrate even the toughest of defense.

As the monster was caught off guard, she thought she could injure him but....

*TING* *TSSSSKKKK*

Her blade couldn't penetrate through his red skin and instead, it created a small spark as if she just hit a chunk of hard iron.

'What–?!' Iris widened her eyes.

The monster noticed her presence next to him then swung his fist towards her.

*GRAAAA!!*

*SWOOSH*

"Guh..."

Iris quickly dived down into the darkness once more and disappeared from his sight.

Because of the smoke around, it made her easier to hide her presence with her skill.

'I see...as expected, [Shadow Blade] couldn't penetrate it because it was made by magic. His body quickly neutralized its effect the moment the tip of my blade touched his skin.' Iris observed.

'I wanted to use [Holy Light] again but...that will be break the pattern since [Dark Magic] and [Light Magic] contradict each other...so [Shadow Movement] will be deactivated by force and I have to wait for the cooldown.'

The monster looked around and began increasingly wary of his surroundings.

Then...

Iris came out again from behind him and swing her rapier to make a slash on his back.

*TING*

'If magic couldn't work...I just need to keep hitting him purely with physical attack and render his defense for sure!'

The monster reacted after being hit and turned his body around while swinging his fist again.

*SWOOSH*

And his fist passed through the smoke...

The monster tilted it's head in confusion, gripping his own hand as he thought that was just an illusion.

*GRAAAAA!!*

And become enraged.

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.

Afterwards the same attacks came out from several directions.

*TING*

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His chest...

*TANG*

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His legs...

*TING*

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His arms...

*TANG*

His back again...

*TING*

Again and again...her speed got increasingly faster and her attack become more relentless as Iris kept trying to injure him with all her might.

Her terrifying focus and her mind slowly become in sync...

She kept swinging her blade and ran back to the darkness again and again...

But no one noticed...

*TING*

*TING*

That every single strike she made was precise and accurate and was done solely for one purpose.

*TING*

*TING*

By striking on the same spot...

*SLASHED* *SPURT*

The monster's eyes grew wide when he noticed that her blade finally broke through his skin, enough to injured him.

*TSSSSTTT*

And when the blade touched his blood, it vaporized the blood into nothing.

The monster of course quickly swung his fist again towards her but just as before, Iris slipped off from his grasp.

The monster become more cautious this time after knowing his skin that he knew couldn't be injured with any kind of physical attack was broken by a weak little girl.

But the time was up...

Her [Sword Dance] skill timed out and the smoke around him began to fade.

The monster turned around when he felt a presence came out right behind him.

And he was right...

Iris was standing right before him and fearlessly faced him all by herself.

The monster's expression changed.

A moment ago he was just like an angry beast who went out control after being freed from that room, then became more cautious after her light magic was able to injure him and also the relentless attack from her blade.

But now...after those attacks failed and the monster managed to find her...

He showed a new expression than before.

*HE...HE...HE...*

Iris shuddered when she heard his eerie cracking laugh and something else.

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Yes...it was an expression of...

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[Joy].

The monster curved his lips and showed a row of sharp teeth, grinning widely as if he had won the fight already.

'This thing...did he just smiled? Does he start to learn how to change his expression?' Iris wondered.

'Unbelievable....a [Unique Monster] is already considered to be intellectual and strong but despite that...they are still a monster, they don't know how to change their emotion and crave destruction over anything else...

And from what I know, a [Chimera]...that has been combined with many species, doesn't have any sort of feelings because it was created for one purpose...which is to follow its master's wishes and so emotion is not necessary.'

'But...this one...he just now showed an emotion...'

Iris gulped and smirked, 'That means this monster is a failure and that's the reason why he was locked there.'

'But that doesn't mean he is not dangerous...since...

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an emotion is something everyone needs...

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To become stronger than ever.'

As the monster approached her, Iris looked at him calmly.

"It seems it's gonna be my loss, don't you think?" Iris tried to have a conversation with that monster,

"But...seems like you have forgotten about it yet."

The monster stopped walking as if he understood what it means.

Iris curved her lips into a beautiful smile,

"Remember~

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I'm not alone."

Suddenly...the monster noticed a new presence came out from his back then quickly turned around.

"Thank you, Iris Ojou-san."

William appeared from the shadows and took out something from his pocket then lifted it up high.

"Show me the light!! [Radiance Light]!!"

*SHINGGGG*

A small orb glowed bright from his hand, covering the whole room with blinding white.

To be continue...