Chimera
"Ugh..." My head throbbed painfully. Where am I? A biting cold rose from the stone floor pressed against my cheek. When I regained my senses and tried to push myself up, my arm refused to obey. Turning my head, I saw both arms bound tightly behind my back with rope.
I lifted my face from the floor where I'd been lying prone and scanned my surroundings. Zeto was telling the truth. Young women like me were huddled together in one corner, all tied up and shivering violently.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps descending the stairs echoed, and soon two men entered the room.
"Looks like the horn's gotten even bigger, huh?"
"For real?"
They chuckled at their own crude conversation as they approached. One had an unnatural green-skinned right arm, while the other... had horns sprouting from the top of his head.
Chimeras...? I knew creating chimeras from humans was illegal. That green skin and those bulging muscles must be from an orc... but what about those horns...? In any case, these bastards had openly grafted monster parts onto their own bodies.
"When I went to kidnap that girl earlier, it shot straight up! Never seen the horn react this strongly before!" The man with the horn stroked it with both hands, clearly excited.
Then he noticed I'd regained consciousness and let out a vile laugh.
"It's this bitch. Already awake, huh? Keke..."
"Wait, with a body like that she's still a virgin...? Hey, you didn't bring some noblewoman, did you?" The man with the orc arm fixed his gaze on my chest, suddenly looking nervous.
"Idiot, I know the faces of all the nobles around here. Even if she's a traveling noble, what kind of lady wanders the night streets alone without a single knight?" The horned man slapped his companion's shoulder.
The orc-armed man nodded in agreement.
"Whoa... look at this. It's reacting again. Hehehe..."
"Ooh...!"
The horned man knelt in front of my collapsed form, bending his knees and pointing at his horn with both fingers while the orc-armed man stared at it in awe.
"Fuck, I wish I'd gotten something cool like a unicorn instead... what the hell is an orc?" The man with the orc arm grumbled, spinning his right arm in circles.
So that horn belonged to a unicorn... Among them was a chimera with a unicorn's horn. From the context, it seemed intended to offer the virgin blood that vampires prized most.
"Hey, but the boss said absolutely no touching the women."
"Yeah. It'd make all my careful selection of virgins pointless. If Lord Barsium drinks the blood and realizes it's not from a virgin, we're all finished."
"That's why I'm saying..." The orc-armed man smirked wickedly and approached me with a meaningful tone. "...Isn't it fine to at least touch her tits? Just look at the size of those... hehehe..."
The orc-armed man drooled as he reached toward my chest. He's completely lost it. I had no intention of letting those filthy, disgusting hands touch me. I'd been able to free myself from the ropes at any time. My plan was to break free the instant before his hand made contact and strike him down.
That was when it happened.
Suddenly the man with the unicorn horn grabbed his companion's arm, stopping him.
"You crazy bastard! Can't you see the horn's reaction? This bitch is the very definition of an untouched virgin! If you grope her chest and sully her even slightly, the blood will be ruined. How many times have I had to deal with idiots like you weakening my horn by messing with the women...?"
The orc-armed man whipped his head around, glaring at the horned man whose hand still gripped his arm.
"Fuck... I said just a little touch, you piece of..."
In that instant, the orc-armed man swung his fist into the horned man's face.
—THUD!!
The orc arm on the man's right was still an orc's arm after all. The horned man's body flew through the air and slammed into the wall.
"Ugh..."
The orc-armed man turned to look at me. "Heeheeheek...!" His gaze remained locked on my chest as he drooled and laughed like a madman.
I need to free myself now. I could handle them easily with just my bare fists. Grandfather had taught me enough hand-to-hand combat, always saying a swordsman must consider every possible situation.
As the green arm reached for me and I prepared to break the ropes—
—SLICE!
"Huh...?" A sound like something being severed rang out, and a vivid red line appeared on the neck of the orc-armed man, who had let out a dazed noise.
"Glurk... glk..." Blood beads formed along the line before his head tumbled clean off.
As his head fell, I sensed the women trembling behind me in terror. Yet none of them screamed.
This is... Zeto's...
Hurried footsteps approached from the stairs. The man with white bandages wrapped around his eyes rushed to my side and swiftly cut the rope binding my wrists. Blood stained Zeto's blade. If it operated on principles similar to sword energy, there shouldn't have been any blood on it. The more I learned, the less I understood the nature of his swordsmanship.
"I was late because I had to enter quietly. ......I'm sorry."
Zeto handed me my sword from his waist, his voice filled with genuine remorse.
"...It's fine. Nothing happened."
Perhaps from the moment his seemingly absurd words had proven true, I'd vaguely sensed it. That everything might have been nothing more than my own misunderstanding and delusion.
Taking the sword from Zeto, I drew it and approached the horned man who lay slumped against the wall. From the look in his eyes, he had already accepted his death.
I had followed Kaen and located their stronghold. After infiltrating the base, I had come to the prison to return her sword. Strangely the cell door was already open, so I hurried down the stairs. When I saw some bastard drooling as he approached Kaen, I immediately sensed the danger and used Reverse Heaven.
I remembered originally staying at the prison entrance rather than entering. Reverse Heaven still consumed far too much mana. Relying on it too heavily wasn't wise either. I shouldn't use Reverse Heaven again today.
Real combat experience like this was valuable to me.
"To think I can die by the hand of a perfect virgin... hehe..."
Kaen's blade pierced the heart of the chimera bearing the unicorn horn.
"Ugh..." Blood gushed violently from the left side of his chest.
Did becoming a chimera twist his mind to match the monster as well? As I entertained such pointless thoughts while watching, Kaen shook the blood from her sword and approached me, her face flushed.
"I-It's nonsense, so don't pay any attention to it!"
I nodded at Kaen, then calmly addressed the people imprisoned in the cells.
"It won't take long... I will definitely return for you all."
There were too many people for just the two of us to escort them to safety at once. It seemed wiser to completely clear out this place first before moving them.
I spoke with Kaen as we left the prison. The area around the cells had already been cleaned up. Throughout the corridors lay the corpses of men cut down before they could even scream.
"Are all the men here 'chimeras'...?" Kaen asked quietly as she glanced at the bodies while we walked the passage.
"...At the very least, they don't appear to be ordinary humans."
"Also... I learned the name of the vampire connected to them."
Kaen suddenly grabbed my arm, her eyes serious. Perhaps realizing my earlier words had been true, she was now cooperating with genuine enthusiasm.
"What is the vampire's name?"
"...Barsium. As expected, it was a name I'd never heard before."
"Barsium..." I repeated the vampire's name, almost absently. Barsium. The name of the vampire who led this criminal organization filled with chimeras that fused humans and monsters. Since he was the one who had created the chimeras here, he likely possessed related abilities.
However, because he had never appeared in the game, I had no plans to face him directly. Barsium was a high-ranking vampire. He wasn't an opponent to take lightly, and in the game he never noticed this place had been raided and attacked the player. The solution was simple and clear. I simply needed to kill every last enemy here without leaving any behind.
As for the women imprisoned here, even Barsium would have no way of knowing exactly who had been taken. Therefore, no witnesses would remain.
Kaen and I walked down the corridor and stopped before the stairs leading upward.
"Once we go up, the rest of them should be gathered there. If combat seems too much for you, feel free to withdraw midway. You've already fulfilled your role sufficiently."
"Hmph. At this point? Just tell me if there's anyone we're supposed to leave alive."
Kaen snorted at my words, her voice resolute.
"We don't need any more information. We just need to clean up this place."
The moment I finished speaking, Kaen ascended the stairs first. Following her, we emerged into a massive hall filled with men sporting various monster body parts grafted onto them.
"...What the hell are those things?"
"Why are they coming out of the prison?"
"Hey, call everyone!"
The men spotted us holding our swords and immediately sensed the dire situation. Kaen and I answered their confusion with the edges of our blades. Blood began spraying everywhere as screams filled the entire hall.
I diagonally sliced through a man with a gremlin's nose grafted onto his face and asked Kaen, "Do the other Class C students fight as well as you, Kaen?"
Kaen was on the far side, ruthlessly slaughtering enemies with swift movements. Fortunately she wasn't using the Sword Saint's techniques. As I'd seen in the game, she only brought out the Sword Saint's swordsmanship when facing an opponent she couldn't otherwise defeat.
Kaen dodged attacks and slid across the floor like a shadow, slicing horizontally through the enemies' ankles.
"...Then do the other Class A students use ridiculous, absurd swordsmanship like you?"
Kaen rose from her position and shot back at my words. Neither of us was normal, so we might as well let it pass without further comment.
"Kyaaaaah—!!"
"Save me, please save me!!"
The agonized cries of those whose ankles she'd severed soon followed.
"What the hell is happening?!"
Suddenly a massive figure burst out from the second floor of the hall, bellowing loudly. The giant standing at the railing had what appeared to be solid gargoyle skin covering his entire body. He carried a large, long double-bladed axe resting on his shoulder.
"...What the hell is that?" Kaen muttered after effortlessly cutting down another enemy's throat and spotting the giant.
"Boss! These bastards aren't normal...!"
The man shouting toward the giant had his throat sliced by my blade before he could finish his warning.
I couldn't recall his name, but it was clear he was the leader of this organization.
"I'll handle him," I said, flicking the blood from my sword onto the floor as I addressed Kaen. I couldn't afford to yield the boss's experience points to her of all people.