“Damn it!”
“What’s—! Guuaaa!!”
Endou immediately jumped back and was barely able to evade the Chimera’s attack. However, the Knights who didn’t know the situation and should have been able to evade, defenselessly received the Chimera’s claw attack, and died with deeply torn armor.
One of their comrades who suddenly sprayed blood, made the other Knights panic. Endou frantically shouted towards the Knights with a voice filled with impatience.
“It’s an enemy! Be careful of the blurring space! More will come if we don’t destroy the magic circle!”
Endou’s scream-like voice made the Knights regain their senses. However, at the same time, one more person was slashed and blown away. There were seven people guarding the teleportation circle on the 30th floor. And now two had been killed.
Endou grit his teeth towards the fact and used an “Assassin” skill called “Wallrun,” to run on the ceiling and aimed to destroy the magic circle from above. However, the Chimera noticed him and tried to intercept him by jumping.
Although they still didn’t understand what had happened, the Knights guessed it was necessary and jumped towards the Chimera that was trying to attack Endou. However, the Knights could only see the Chimera as a blurred space, so naturally they didn’t understand what kind of attack it had; they understood nothing about it. That’s why, the Knight who jumped behind the Chimera had his neck bitten by the tail-snake, while the Knights right beside its flank was beaten by its wings and thrown to the ground.
Nevertheless, it was not meaningless. The Chimera somewhat lost its balance and Endou was able to evade its dangerous claws and fangs. It was not a complete evasion since his shoulder and flank were gouged, but the snake tail was slashed, and the Chimera fell into the ground when they passed each other.
The Chimera flapped its wings to regain its balance to land on the ground slightly away from them, while Endou immediately stood up after he fell on his shoulder and simultaneously swung his short sword in his hand towards the previously damaged teleportation circle.
At the same time it landed, the Chimera turned around and once again rushed to kill Endou. However, at that time, Endou’s shortsword was already pierced the magic circle with all of his might. BAM!, a clear sound effect rang out. It was the evidence the magic circle had been destroyed. The trace of magic when the teleportation magic circle was used had disappeared.
“With this—… kh… gaa, AaAAAAAH!!!”
Succeeded in destroying the teleportation circle, Endou inadvertently leaked a relieved sigh because no more pursuers would come. However, the Chimera’s fangs bored into his right arm in the next moment, and he screamed due to the sharp pain. The strong jaws tried to bite off Endou’s right arm.
The Knights charged towards it and used all of their might to attack the Chimera in order to disturb it. The Chimera whose side were pierced by strengthened short spears, inadvertently loosened the force on its jaws. Endou pulled out his right arm, slipped out the concealed knife from his left sleeve, and slashed the Chimera’s eye.
The rampaging Chimera slashed two more Knights to death when they approached it to give it the finishing blows. Endou threw the knife in his hand, but the Chimera, with a slashed eye, evaded by instinct.
Immediately, one of the Knights suddenly raised a scream. He inadvertently looked towards the source and saw the Knight who previously had his neck bitten by the snake, was beaten to the ground. The Knight’s lips turned purple, writhed in pain, and died in no time.
“Damn it!”
Seeing that, the last Knight ran out to kill the snake, but it was a fatal mistake. The Chimera whose back was turned to the Knight noticed the incoming enemy and immediately attacked. Covered in wounds, Endou squeezed out all of his remaining strength, and activated his certain kill attack towards the neck of Chimera that attacked the Knight.
“DieeEEEEE!!”
Being separated from his companions, forced to desert Meld and the Knights, for the Knights he knew to be killed, and various grudges mixed into his shout, he struck a fatal blow demonstrating all of his power. He tore the Chimera’s neck from the nape, and it died in a moment.
Due to the inertia, Endou who sprang from the Chimera’s flank, crossed it, and rolled tremendously once he reached the ground. Enduring the pain in his shoulder, right arm, and flank, Endou lifted his upper body with his left arm to confirm, and burn the Chimera’s death into his eyes.
The Chimera laid quietly looking to be completely dead due to the partly torn up neck. However, Endou’s expression was weak as though he was going to cry rather than feeling joy, and he couldn’t help but whisper, “Damn it!”
Before his gaze was the figure of the last Knight who rushed out. He was falling prone. With sword gripped in his right hand, his face had turned purple. Beside him, was the torn up snake. Perhaps, right before the Chimera attacked, he slashed the snake that sprung to him and his face might be bathed by the toxin inside its body. Resultantly, all of the Knights who were guarding 30th floor had been annihilated.
Because he could not save even one person, Endou cried as he shouted, “Damn it!,” many times. He shouted the same words for a while, and Endou, who thought he had died due to blood loss, took out the highest grade ointments and recovery potions from the tool bags he got from Meld and the Knights. After his wounds were treated by the emergency set, he silently lined the Knights’ corpses in a corner of the room where the teleportation circle was.
For a little while, Endou watched the Knights’ figures, and slowly turned around to advanced a step toward the surface. His face was as pale as a ghost, and his eyes were hollow without any ambition. Thinking “Once again only I survived,” Endou’s heart was tightened by a heavy, cold chain. The current him moved his body just like a machine that only had to fulfill the role he was entrusted with, and he single-mindedly aimed towards the surface.