Chapter 66
Chapter 66
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Chimera Onslaught
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A room bathed in a soft, flickering glow.
At first glance, with no notable furniture or decorations, it appeared to be an utterly empty space.
But upon closer inspection, the room was filled with something else entirely.
Even an ordinary person with no knowledge of magic would sense something off immediately—the air was thick with mana of such dense concentration.
In the center of the room sat a middle-aged man in the lotus position.
His neatly worn gray robe and short-cropped white hair stood out, but he remained utterly still, unmoving for a long while.
The only sound in the room was his steady breathing—a profound silence enveloped the space.
Then, ripples seemed to stir in the air above his head, and a voice emanated from them, shattering the quiet.
"Hey, looks like someone's broken in."
"……."
"You've been sitting there cross-legged for months—did you turn to stone and die or something? I'm telling you, someone got in. The chimera guarding the door just dropped dead."
"……I told you not to disturb me."
A somewhat high-pitched, snarky voice echoed from the void, prompting the man—who had ignored it at first—to growl back in warning.
But the voice from the air didn't lose any of its edge.
"Disturb you? Looks like someone sniffed us out. What're you gonna do about it?"
"Handle it yourself."
"What? Hey, Kairon. I'm not your errand boy. If anything, you're the one relying on our cult's help, got it?"
Silvermont's grand mage, Kairon's jaw twitched at the snide tone.
Suppressing his rising anger, he continued without breaking his lotus position.
"……As I recall, the deal was you'd assist me until I ascend to the next circle."
"Right. That's what we said. But helping doesn't mean you get to bark orders at us."
"……Fine. Then could I trouble you to deal with the intruders?"
"Hah, sure thing. I'll handle it personally. Of course, I'll bill you separately for the chimeras that die protecting us."
"……Understood."
With Kairon's reply, the ripples in the air faded, and the voice vanished.
Witnessing this, Kairon clenched his teeth once more.
"A wretch who couldn't even become an apostle……!"
Back when he was with Silvermont's mages, he would've slain a scum like that in an instant if they'd crossed paths as enemies.
To think allying with them meant enduring such humiliation.
But Kairon suppressed the fury boiling within him.
'Everything will be resolved once I reach the 8th Circle.'
The plan he'd prepared for years was proceeding smoothly.
In just 3 or 4 more months, he would ascend to the dreamlike realm of the 8th Circle.
Then, he'd snuff out that fool with a mere gesture.
'Yeah, after coming this far.'
He'd sacrificed comrades who'd been with him since birth—more than comrades, like family.
For that reason alone, he had to reach the 8th Circle.
'Then everything will be settled.'
That was Kairon's sole remaining hope.
"A 3rd Circle mage? I can't believe it."
"That was some spell."
After the dungeon door opened and they took down the first chimera they encountered.
Khalid and Rector stared at Jeon in astonishment.
They'd shared a rough assessment of each other's strengths on the way here, to gauge their overall power.
But Jeon's display far surpassed what a 3rd Circle mage should be capable of.
In truth, Tasha was just as shocked.
"Whoa, that was amazing! It looked even stronger than my magic!"
"Aw, it wasn't that impressive."
"No, I agree. In terms of raw spell power alone, even I might struggle to keep up."
Jeon waved it off modestly at the frank praise from Tasha and Rector, both 4th Circle mages.
"It's all thanks to the artifacts Ralph and I made together."
He quickly shifted the topic to the Lunareik artifact he'd crafted with Ralph.
In fact, excluding rune magic, the recent boost in his spell potency was largely due to it.
"Speaking of which, Ralph—you seemed to be using some intriguing artifact yourself?"
"Yes. It's called the Wheel of Distortion, freshly completed."
"Heavens, two such powerful artifacts from your hands?"
"All thanks to Jeon. They never would've been finished without him."
But just as he'd deflected the attention, Ralph's words dragged it right back to Jeon.
'Ugh, this is getting awkward.'
Having grown up in a culture where humility was a virtue, Jeon always felt a mix of pleasure and discomfort from such praise.
He brushed it off hastily and steered the conversation to what lay ahead.
"Anyway, it's clear something's hidden here."
"……Yeah."
"...Right."
Beyond dodging the praise, it was also to remind them of their dire situation.
The group bit their lips or wore grim expressions at Jeon's words.
"……Indeed. Chimeras appearing like this means something's here—and it's seriously wrong."
Khalid, leading the group, nodded gravely in agreement.
Having worked with Baekun for years, he knew Kairon well.
The senior who'd advanced far ahead, a steadfast pillar for Baekun and Silvermont's mages alike.
"No turning back now."
Whether Kairon made these chimeras himself or an ally did, it was unforgivable either way.
Rector nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. If not for Ralph and Jeon just now, we'd have been in real trouble."
They'd known something would emerge from the door.
Yet veteran Baekun members Khalid, Rector, and even Tasha had frozen in shock at the sight of the chimera.
"No telling what shocks await ahead, but we steel ourselves and push on."
Tasha's inexperience was one thing, but Khalid and Rector—battle-hardened veterans—freezing too?
It happened because, betrayal or not, they'd never imagined Kairon had fallen this far.
"The Kairon we knew is gone."
"……You're right."
"Y-Yeah... I realize that now too."
Jeon nodded as he watched them.
'No wonder it's a shock.'
Jeon and Ralph didn't know Kairon personally, so they could react to the situation at face value.
For the others, it was like discovering a lifelong mentor, role model, or family figure involved in drugs, murder, and illegal human experiments.
"Then let's move out."
Shaking off their emotions swiftly, they pressed deeper into the dungeon.
"Rector and I will take point. Ralph, watch the rear and flanks—step in if danger spikes. Tasha, Jeon, provide fire support from the middle."
Mages or not, formation mattered.
Considering the narrow path, Khalid arranged the optimal single-file line.
'How do those two fight, anyway?'
Watching Khalid and Rector up front, Jeon grew curious about their styles.
The initial shock had briefly stalled them, but as experienced high-circle mages, their true prowess intrigued him.
His question was soon answered by two new chimeras.
One with a horse's lower body and orc upper torso, wielding a massive greatsword. The other: two legs, six arms, two heads—like a troll.
Just two, yet their bulk and menace filled the passage.
But Khalid and Rector, minds steeled, didn't flinch.
"He's made quite a few chimeras, it seems."
"Indeed. We can't afford another sloppy showing! Time to reveal our true strength!"
"Sounds good."
Rector charged forward as he spoke, while Khalid began casting in place.
'A mage in melee?'
Rector caught Jeon's eye first.
Sturdily built for a mage, not a knight—yet charging a physically superior chimera?
His movements surpassed typical mages, rivaling knights.
Still, mages lacked efficient close-combat tools—especially without a staff like Rector.
"Hup!"
But doubts vanished as Rector unleashed a 4th Circle spell from his hand.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Earth surged around his hands, forming massive fists like a giant's.
4th Circle earth magic: Giant's Hand.
Rarely learned due to its melee focus.
Now armed, Rector surged toward the trolls with accelerated grace, like a knight finally drawing his blade.
"Graaaargh!"
The greatsword chimera swung to meet him.
But Rector's Giant's Hand opened, casually catching the blade.
"Grargh!?"
Stunned its attack was stopped cold, the chimera yelped dumbly.
"Pathetic if that's all you've got!"
Crunch! The other Giant's Hand smashed toward its face.
The blow was so fierce the chimera dropped its sword, staggering back.
"Gwaaak!"
Seeing Rector's unexpected melee prowess, the troll-form chimera lunged next.
With six arms and greater bulk, it looked tough—even for Rector.
"You should've watched this side."
Hummm!
Khalid, casting complete, denied it.
From his metal staff's tip bloomed a massive circle—larger than Khalid himself—filled with six interlocking shapes.
"Abominations like you belong erased from the world."
Flash!
Silver-white beams lanced from the circle.
"Gwaak!?"
The troll chimera thrashed futilely against the beams.
They erased everything they touched.
Even a regeneration-specialized troll-based chimera couldn't resist erasure of its very existence.
"As expected of Khalid!"
Rector shouted in admiration, having pulped the orc-torso chimera into mincemeat.
'Incredible!'
Jeon could only marvel inwardly.
'That 6th Circle spell was new to me, but... Rector really is a battle mage.'
Especially Rector's image burned into Jeon's mind: a mage dominating melee like a knight.
Jeon trained daily to break mage limits, but couldn't match that knightly melee fused with specialized spells.
'Mages can fight like that.'
Seeing the legendary style firsthand felt like discovering a new path.
Plus, 6th Circle magic was uncharted territory for him.
Khalid and Rector inspired fresh stimulus.
But no time to gawk.
Grind... grrrind...
"Hear any weird noises?"
Tasha, beside Jeon, voiced the question just as—
"Above!"
"Below too!"
BOOM! BOOM!
The ceiling and floor exploded, massive worm-like chimeras bursting forth.
"Damn!"
The ambush precisely targeted Jeon, Tasha, and Ralph—bypassing Khalid and Rector ahead.
"Silver! Protect Tasha!"
Kyaang!
Sensing the urgency, Jeon channeled mana to Silver, enlarging it to adult fox size and sending it to Tasha.
He thrust Lunareik downward, deploying a distortion barrier.
"Kyaaaooo!"
Scraaaape!
Dozens, hundreds of chimera teeth raked the barrier viciously.
More assaults poured from above.
"More numbers than expected!"
Hummmm! Ralph rushed to Jeon, erecting his own distortion field to block attacks from both directions.
"Keep the distortion fields up!"
The worm chimeras numbered far from few.
Even Khalid and Rector faced delayed assaults from new worms as they tried to aid.
'Getting serious now, huh?'
At this point, missing Silvermont mages—and cult members—at the dungeon's end was a certainty.
"Then we'll have to get serious too."
Already spurred by Khalid and Rector's display, Jeon unleashed both conventional and rune magic without restraint.