A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

It took Bray a long time to be sure that this wasn't his imagination.

Bray truly sensed this aura emanating from the woman, probably because he was occasionally teased by "Divine Source" and thus possessed this ability.

"Goddess, it's time to tell me what's going on," Bray thought to himself, casting an Appraisal spell on the other side.

Normally, low-level appraisal skills can't yield much information, but now Bray can only rely on that gossipy goddess, the idiotic goddess who can even modify her own information.

---

Chimera

A synthetic beast created from humans, it was once implanted with "divine essence" and then removed, leaving behind the aura of "divine essence" on its body.

Addendum: You're slandering me again!!!

---

As if verifying the results of Bray's verification, the woman began to talk to herself.

"They found out! They found out! It was one of the most human-like chimeras I've ever made." The woman's movements stiffened, and then she stopped.

"This is really unpleasant." The female voice suddenly turned into a male voice, filled with displeasure.

The next moment, the woman rushed in front of Bray, revealing a ferocious expression.

"This is so annoying!!!" The woman's movements were very fast, and the speed of her attack was beyond what an ordinary person could react to.

Of course, this includes laying mines.

"Ha ha ha ha!!!!!"

"Hahahaha!!! What's wrong! What's wrong!! Fight back now!!"

"Ha ha ha ha!!!!"

A pleasant voice, yet uttering insane words.

The woman's joint movements were beyond what most people could understand, with all sorts of unreasonable twists and turns.

A frenzied offensive was launched straight at Brey's face—

But long before the woman launched her attack, Bray's longsword had already been sheathed, and his greatsword stood in front of him like a shield, blocking all of the woman's attacks.

It's too easy. The woman's attack trajectory doesn't even have a basic angle; she's just attacking based on her high speed.

The woman's hands kept striking the greatsword, but the greatsword remained unmoved. However, the woman's fair hands were still in a terrible state.

Even so, the woman's attack did not stop.

Each strike was incredibly powerful, but for Bray, unless it was a terrifyingly large monster slapping him down, Bray could deflect most of the force.

If the woman's attack had been even slightly predictable, Bray wouldn't have had such an easy time.

However, there are no "what ifs" in this world.

From beginning to end, Bray didn't feel any pressure at all.

Attacks cannot be continuous. No matter how strong a person is, there will be a momentary gap after launching a series of attacks.

Of course, the stronger a person is, the shorter the gaps in their skills will be. But similarly, the stronger a person is, the more terrifying their ability to seize those gaps will be.

“There are too many flaws.” Bray’s eyes were cold.

The greatsword wasn't particularly fast, yet the opponent felt there was no way to dodge it—

The jet-black greatsword traced a perfect arc before its tip struck the floor with a heavy metallic clang.

There was no blood, yet the woman had been cut in half at the waist by Bray.

Bray stared expressionlessly at the creature on the ground, a being made of human flesh, yet one that could never truly be human.

Even though she was split in two, the woman's body was still writhing. The existence of this chimera was a desecration of human life.

From the outside, it looks like a human being no matter what.

Sass turned his face away, unable to bear looking at it even though he knew it wasn't human.

Bray gripped his greatsword tightly, his expression calm but concealing a raging rage.

Just as Bray sighed, a dark figure suddenly appeared in the cabin without any warning.

The dark figure swam to the middle of the room, slowly stood up, and became a human shape.

"Eek!" Marlene exclaimed, drawing Bray's attention.

Bray didn't speak, but squinted and sized up the unfamiliar newcomer.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Sass paused for a moment before recognizing the person.

“It’s Levi, the Imperial scholar, the one known as the Madman Levi,” Sass said in a low voice.

"His contributions to the Empire were very significant, especially in the area of ​​magical summons."

"But there have been rumors that Revy is researching chimeras."

“It seems that wasn’t just a rumor.” Sass could already tell that this person was the creator of “Woman”.

Thinking of this, Sass couldn't help but feel angry.

"Oh, I didn't expect this. I really didn't expect anyone to recognize me." The shadowy figure stepped into the light, revealing a young face.

Reeve clapped his hands and exclaimed in admiration.

"When it comes to researching chimeras, I don't really know what there is to be ashamed of."

When he heard Sass talk about chimeras, Levi was filled with emotion.

“Researching into chimeras is preparation for some great experiment.” Levi shook his head, thinking to himself how foolish the world was.

Then Reeves didn't continue speaking, but instead snapped his fingers.

Marlene, who was next to Bray, suddenly lost focus and walked towards Revy before Bray could react.

"Marlene! Come back!" Bray frowned and called out softly.

But Marlene seemed not to hear anything and walked straight toward Reeves.

The room wasn't big, and it wasn't long before Marlene was already beside Reeves, without even giving Bray a chance to hold Marlene's little hand.

"Ah~ Marlene is so cute." Levi pinched Marlene's little cheek without restraint.

"Marlene, are the gems in my lab still there?" Levi suddenly remembered something and asked.

Then, Marlene blankly took out the gem she always carried with her.

"Very well, give it to me."

After Levi finished speaking, Marlene handed over the gem.

"I was worried that the gem on you might be lost, but it seems you're lucky. I don't have to make another one."

“To be honest, I am very grateful to both of you gentlemen.” Levi bowed and gave a gentlemanly greeting.

"After all, you traveled thousands of miles to bring my beloved Marlene from the Empire, and even preserved the gemstone intact."

“No amount of compensation would be too much for you,” Levi sighed.

"However, the matter is of great importance, so I have no choice but to silence them."

"But I never expected this one-eyed adventurer to be so powerful," Levi exclaimed in amazement.

"You should know that what you just killed was my strongest chimera, and of course, my most beautiful chimera."

"The others aren't very good-looking."

Reeve shrugged, his expression blank.

"So, before you were silenced, couldn't you tell us what happened?" Bray said calmly.

If the plot is going as it should, it seems like the villains should reveal some important information.

"certainly--"

“No.” Levi said expressionlessly.

However, it was clear that Revey had no intention of playing along with Bray's fantasy.

“Well, nice to meet you both, and goodbye,” Levi said. After adjusting his glasses, Levi softly chanted a spell.

"Dimensional Wormhole"

As Levi silently chanted, a purple ring appeared beneath his feet, tearing through space.

Holding Marlene, Levi slowly sank down.

As he sank, Marin's eyes suddenly regained their color.

Completely unaware of what was happening, Marlene could only watch her body sink, utterly panicked.

"Bray!" Marlene exclaimed, then Reeves covered her mouth.

"Ugh!!!!!" No matter how much Marlene struggled, she was unable to make any more noise.

“Although they’re failures, the rest can still be considered my art,” Levi said coldly, pushing up his glasses.

“Goodbye again, gentlemen.” Reeves pushed again, his smile twisted into a menacing grin.

The purple halo slowly faded away, as if nothing had ever happened.

Only Bray and Sass remained in the cabin.

But Bray clearly didn't think things would be that simple.

It's important to know that Levi's last words were quite dangerous.

In an instant, the floorboards of the house came off, and hands reached out, then those hands pried open the broken wooden planks.

“GUUUUUUU——”

“GUUUUUUU——”

A series of overlapping roars rang out.

A head with several human faces popped out, and then another head like that emerged from the floor.

Countless humanoid monsters crawled up from underground.

These monsters do show some human characteristics, but compared to the woman from before, they are more aptly called monsters.

Bray's heart sank. He knew very well that every chimera was made by countless people.

Looking at the bottomless pit of underground, from which the chimeras had already emerged, Bray couldn't estimate how many humans Reeves had used as raw materials.

“These monsters…” Sass’s face turned pale.

"It's human."

On the monster's hideous face, Sass recognized some familiar faces from the past.

Sass, who used to frequent various taverns, was among many drinkers.

And the skilled faces of several of them were pressed onto the skins of these monsters.

“…” After hearing this, Bray fell silent.

“Mr. Bray, is this a human being?!” Sass shouted.

“No, but it used to be.” Bray’s voice was filled with helplessness.

“These things are now blasphemous.”

"..." Sass felt as if all his strength had been drained from his body.

"Stand up. Now think about how to survive."

Faced with what seemed like an endless number of chimeras, Bray felt immense pressure.

This is probably the most troublesome situation: too many enemies. No matter how good your skills are, without enough strength, speed, and, importantly, stamina—

Whether they can survive is a real question.

One by one, the chimeras stood up, then looked bewildered.

But soon the ground turned in unison towards Bray and Sass.

"GUAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

In an instant, a tidal wave of chimeras surged forward.