[Chapter 18]: The Demon Emerges—Chimera

"Heretic!"

The Crusader, whose neck was gripped tightly by Alaric, roared hoarsely, realizing that Alaric intended to use force to threaten him. If his limbs hadn't been pinned down, he would have likely fought back.

"So, you really are Crusaders!"

Alaric, hearing the familiar term, was now certain this group wasn't up to any good. Unlike the Crusaders he remembered, these people seemed to have shifted from a desire to burn the world to a desperate fight for survival. Staying alive had become their primary goal.

However, Alaric knew that the Crusaders' urge to destroy wasn't merely personal ambition; it was fueled by a twisted mental state—a madness driven by a warped psyche. This shouldn't be possible. Other than the main force obliterated by the Lion King, how could any remaining Crusaders have been so radically altered by high-level magus?

Alaric released the Crusader's limbs, rendering him immobile, and carefully examined the others. The rest looked quiet, indistinguishable from refugees, as if their bodies were on the verge of collapse. Only the one in front of Alaric remained unusually active.

"Miss Nitocris! Can you use some kind of suggestion magecraft to make this guy talk?"

Alaric called out, frustrated by the prospect of interrogation.

"These people probably don't have much resistance to magecraft. Miss Nitocris, could you please make them tell us where they came from?"

Just as Alaric turned his head, a surge of dark magic burst through the protective field Nitocris had set up! Sensing something was wrong, Alaric instinctively pulled back, creating several meters of distance. He watched as murky magic began to circulate through the Crusaders' bodies, rapidly cycling among them. Their flesh started to merge and swell, as though they were becoming one entity.

"What's happening to these people?"

Alaric could distinctly feel the magic power intensifying, surpassing that of ordinary humans and approaching the level of a Servant within moments. The grotesque, liquefying bodies were far from anything human.

"Are they merging?"

"Miss Nitocris! Can you tell what's going on?"

Unable to decipher the deeper mechanics of what was happening, Alaric called out to Nitocris, hoping for guidance. The only reply he received was the howling wind.

Nitocris had vanished without a trace, and Alaric hadn't noticed any sign of her departure.

"Did someone intervene?! Was Nitocris taken, or was I separated?!"

Alaric's expression hardened. He had no idea when the change occurred, and his instincts hadn't alerted him to any danger. For someone to separate him and Nitocris so silently, they must be stronger than him in some respect.

Facing an opponent of this caliber, Alaric couldn't afford to be careless. He moved forward without hesitation, unwilling to let these people complete their fusion before making his move.

As he took a step, a barrage of cold, glowing projectiles, hidden within the sandstorm, bombarded him from all directions, leaving him with no room to dodge!

"No threat?"

Once again, Alaric's instincts didn't activate, and he quickly realized that these projectiles likely had no offensive power. Their purpose was something else—

Boom!

A blinding burst of light exploded, sending shockwaves throughout the area and kicking up a storm of yellow sand. Alaric withstood the explosion head-on. Before the dust had even settled, he charged forward, completely unscathed. But the scene before him had already changed. In just a few moments he had been delayed, a terrifying monster had appeared where the Crusaders had been.

The creature had powerful limbs planted firmly on the ground, its swollen torso seemingly incubating something. It resembled a skinned lion, devoid of humanity. Blood flowed from the Chimera's body, soaking the sand below.

Alarics attention, however, wasn't on the Chimera-like creature. His senses expanded rapidly, covering everything within dozens of meters.

"A magus! Where are you?"

Alaric was now certain that at least one magus was nearby, watching him like a predator.

"Heh heh..."

A deep, guttural breath echoed from a distance. The Chimera's eyes rolled in their sockets and locked onto Alaric as he approached. Its front limbs slammed into the ground with a thunderous force!

Boom!

The impact sent clouds of sand into the air, and molten, lava-like flames erupted from the ground. The searing heat, reaching thousands of degrees, was enough to consume most forms of life!

"Is that you?"

Alaric's eerie whisper reached the Chimera's ears. Before the creature could even react, a sudden blow from the side threatened to shatter its skull!

Boom!

The force of the punch sent the massive Chimera flying hundreds of meters like a cannonball. Seeing it sent flying so easily, Alaric frowned. "Wasn't it the Chimera?"

Alaric had initially thought the magus had left some sort of remote-control spell on the Chimera. The magical fluctuations he'd detected had all been coming from the Chimera. Those hundreds of light projectiles couldn't have been cast instantly; they must have been prepared in advance, hidden within the magical fluctuations during the Chimera's fusion.

The magus, orchestrating the Chimera's fusion, had also prepared a dazzling pyrotechnic show for Alaric, using the magical fluctuations as cover.

"Quite the trick, magus!"

After evaluating the Chimera's strength, Alarice realized it posed no real threat. The true danger lay in the magus lurking in the shadows.

Never one to hesitate, Alaric charged toward the Chimera with long, purposeful strides. Within ten meters, less than half a second away, the Chimera, now resembling a charging cheetah, sprang forward, propelling its massive body toward Alaric at terrifying speed!

"A poor decision!"

Alaric braced himself and took a single step forward. His fist crackled with red lightning as he swung with immense force! First, the flesh, then the bones, then the organs—one devastating blow to the abdomen obliterated the Chimera's body.

As Alaric's punch connected and the Chimera's body erupted in magical energy, a formless tendril silently extended from behind, aiming for the flapping edge of Alaric's robe. And the golden Holy Grail.

Snap!

Without even turning his head, Alaric caught the tendril with ease.

"So, you were after my Holy Grail!"