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Chapter 255 - Paying the price (1)

As the Chimera clawed at Allen and wounded him slightly, he swung the Vasilipo, his magic sword, in a burst of anger.

However, despite the fact that the Vasilipo was enveloped in Allen’s Aura, the blade didn’t cut all the way through the Chimera. The creature tensed up its entire body and used both hands to block Allen’s sword attack.

Despite its efforts, the Chimera had still sustained some damage, the blade of the Vasilipo having made a laceration that stretched from its collarbone all the way across its chest. The Chimera had managed to avoid a fatal injury, but not to completely block the attack.

The Chimera screamed, not because of the pain, but because it was elated at having partially blocked Allen’s attack.

“This fucking freak...!”

There was no way someone of Allen’s caliber couldn’t recognize what the Chimera’s scream meant, so he felt repulsed, but also puzzled.

Allen’s magic sword had a brutal property that caused anyone who got cut by it to feel intense chills and immense pain throughout their whole body, and yet this Chimera screamed out of excitement.

‘Just why?’

The Chimeras were like a bunch of kids having fun. Even though they realized that they would never be a match for Henry and his allies, the creatures felt a tremendous sense of joy every time they got a good hit or successfully defended against an attack. That joy seemed to fuel their fighting spirit.

Allen felt goosebumps.

There was something creepy about the collective aura of thousands of Chimeras, something that sickened even experienced knights. Moreover, as a giant herd of Chimeras, their collective power was also unbelievable.

“You\'re nothing but a Chimera...!”

Thus, the knights swung their swords relentlessly, and the wizards also cast spell after spell so that they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the repulsive energy of the Chimeras.

The battle dragged on for a long time.

Henry had already cast several advanced spells on the Chimeras, but unfortunately, these creatures were not ordinary soldiers; they weren’t afraid of dying, which was the main trait of this Chimera army.

The monstrosities were fierce and unrelenting, throwing themselves at everyone with no regard for themselves. Nobody knew why they were like this; Mordred and Waled had also been completely fearless.

With each swing of his sword, Henry became increasingly more furious at Arthus and Dracan, grinding his teeth as he thought about them.

‘Those motherfuckers!’

How many people had they experimented on to obtain such an army?

The priests of the Church of Peace also thought the same thing. Were Arthus and Dracan not afraid of any repercussions for the atrocities they had committed?

Nobody could understand them.

Swinging his sword, McDowell shouted, “Why are there still so many of them?!”

“They’re regenerating! They’re eating their dead peers and healing their wounds!”

“Ahhhhh! Damn them!”

Nothing made sense when fighting Chimeras. There was no humanity to them; no good or evil. That was why they attacked Henry’s men in such a bizarre and chaotic way. No human ever fought like this, which was why it was awkward to fight the Chimeras.

When they were wounded, they ate the bodies of their dead companions to heal their wounds, and when their limbs were severed, they took the limbs of other dead Chimeras and attached them to themselves.

Their biological characteristics were also strange; some Chimeras were still fighting even after being decapitated, while others were extremely resilient to fire. The reason they all had different attributes, even though they were all Chimeras, was that Dracan had performed different experiments on each of them.

This was an army made up of the worst things that humans could imagine. This was what Henry and his allies were up against.

“Hang in there a little longer! I think their numbers are finally dropping!”

There was finally a ray of hope to this horrific situation. Having slashed at the grotesque monsters for what felt like an eternity, the seemingly endless battle finally seemed like it was coming to a close.

In any case, no matter how many different qualities the Chimeras possessed, and no matter how many times they regenerated, once they were dead, it was the end for them.

Just when the fighting was about to become too much...

Zngggg!

Henry prepared an extremely powerful advanced spell that would wipe them all out, but just then, the unique sign of a caller scroll appeared before him.

The caller scroll was from Harris, and Henry couldn’t believe it; he thought that he was seeing things.

‘Harris? Why is he suddenly calling?’

Henry had given Harris the caller scroll as a reward for carrying out his tasks well. He had also given him the scroll just in case he ever needed help.

Harris had received the caller scroll similarly to how a child received a new toy as a gift. He had told Henry that he would treasure his gift like an heirloom and that he considered it a badge of honor.

However, Harris had used it out of the blue when they were in the middle of war.

‘Could it be...?’

Henry had a bad feeling about this.

He didn’t know exactly what it was, but whenever he had this uncomfortable feeling, things usually didn’t end well.

Henry suddenly felt anxious because Harris was currently in Enkelmann, Von’s cherished hometown.

‘Damn it, just why now?!’

As he gritted his teeth and cursed in his head, Henry released a powerful fiery explosion from his hands, scorching the Chimeras in front of him and setting off a massive fire in Charlotte Heights.

The forest was engulfed in flames, so Henry quickly cast a rain spell with one hand and prepared a second attack with the other.

His mind was racing. The coordinates of Harris’ location appeared in front of Henry, but he couldn’t just leave. He didn’t know what would happen to his allies if he left them to fight off the Chimeras by themselves.

With even more urgency, he slaughtered more Chimeras. He wanted to exterminate them as quickly as possible and teleport to Harris.

‘I’m sorry, but just wait a little longer!’

Henry cast his second spell.

*

“...It’s done!”

The numerous Chimeras that had filled their field of view had ultimately dwindled to just a few.

Everyone was exhausted; their armors were covered in scratches and dents, and some of the Archmages were passed out with foam at their mouths from having used up all of their mana.

However, even though everyone was drained, it seemed unlikely that they would lose against the few remaining Chimeras.

After casting the last spell, Henry called out to everyone, “Cover my back for just a minute, I’ll be right back!”

“Okay!”

“Sure!”

No one asked where he was going; they were too busy swinging their swords at the last Chimeras, their eyes radiating a tremendous killing intent, Von included.

As soon as the others gave him confirmation, Henry immediately used Teleport. As he was being teleported, Henry glanced over at Von, who had his back turned, with an apologetic look.

‘I’m sorry, Von!’

Henry apologized to Von in his mind, and he hoped that he had misjudged the situation and that the apology wouldn’t be necessary.

The bright flash of light soon engulfed Henry, and he disappeared.

***

Flash!

Henry emerged from the bright flash of light. He had managed to teleport to where the caller scroll had been activated from, using the coordinates the scroll had shown him earlier.

However, there was nothing there except for a piece of paper which was most likely the scroll torn by Harris. Henry had to assume it was the scroll because after being activated, scrolls always turned into regular paper.

After he picked it up, Henry scanned his surroundings.

Silence... It was an eerie silence.

Henry knew exactly where he was. He was in the cottage where Harz would sometimes come to enjoy a vacation alone, away from everyone’s eyes.

In a rush, Henry pushed the door open and stepped outside the cottage. As expected, there was nothing outside the cottage, but the eerie silence continued to make Henry very uncomfortable.

‘Please... Please, I hope nothing happened!’

As his anxiety reached its peak, Henry cast Teleportation again.

***

This time, Henry arrived at the office in the city hall where Harz had used to do his work. Harris had essentially taken over this place now, managing all the administrative work in Enkelmann, but much to his dismay, Henry saw no signs of Harris or Harz in the office.

Henry walked over the window in the office.

This was the highest point in the city, which was very similar to the Vivaldi Tower, and like all the free cities, this place was meant for conducting public affairs and watching over all the citizens.

Henry looked out through the window, but he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“What is this?” Henry said out loud without realizing. That was how shocked he was.

Outside the window, Henry could see Enkelmann’s plaza covered in trails of blood and corpses lying on the side of the road like stones, suggesting that something disastrous had occurred.

Massacre. It was the only word Henry could think of as he stared at the plaza.

‘But who would do such a thing?’

Of course, it wasn’t just corpses that lay outside. There were still a few living people, roaming the area.

Alarmed, Henry immediately cast Blink to Enkelmann\'s plaza.

He was then going to grab the closest person around him to ask about the tragedy that had occurred.

The first person that caught Henry’s eyes was a man with a shabby appearance.

Only being able to see the back of this person’s head, Henry was going to put his hand on his shoulder, but just as he was about to, he instinctively felt anxious, just like he had back in the cottage.

Just before Henry placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, the man suddenly turned his head to look at Henry, revealing a maimed face, gruesomely wounded as if he had been struck with a metal club.

-Grhhhh!

“Damn it!”

The poor man’s complexion was that of a dead man. His lips were tattered as if he had chewed on a blade, and his eyes were lifeless. The corners of his mouth were smeared with dried blood, just like the one on the pavement.

As soon as the man made eye contact with Henry, he lunged at him, revealing his teeth like a rabid animal.

Slice!

Henry swung his sword instinctively, and the man’s head went flying. He had done that merely out of reflex.

Blood sprayed from the man’s neck like a fountain.

However, that was only the beginning.

- Khaaa!

- Graaaa!

Screams, which sounded more like the savage roar of a beast, echoed throughout the plaza. It sounded just like the man Henry had decapitated.

Suddenly, a large number of people that Henry hadn’t seen from the office window appeared. As they noticed him, the strange people charged at Henry in a frenzy.

“What the hell?!”

Everyone looked like the man from earlier. They were covered in blood and had wounds that normal people would’ve died from. Nonetheless, they didn’t care about their wounds at all; they seemed to only care about Henry.

‘What the... They’re like zombies!’

Those maimed people reminded Henry of zombies, a lower class of the undead.

It was a horrible sight.