Finally, Shane’s work was completed and Dilaila could finish her preparations as well.
In particular, Dilaila realized many things through Raviata’s teachings, and this opportunity became a turning point for her to understand what she could accomplish on her own.
“Whew, this is nerve-wracking.”
Dilaila who was seated inside the magical patterns drawn by Shane started to connect with the land with a determined expression on her face.
Around them, the expedition members were bustling in preparation for the upcoming battle.
Some were watching Shane and Dilaila and one of them was Dominic.
This isn’t good.
From the perspective of the imperial family who needed to secure the Dragon Heart if an opportunity arose, the current situation was far from ideal.
This expedition was only possible due to Shane and Raviata, and if they missed this chance, it was uncertain when the imperial family would get another opportunity to obtain the Dragon Heart.
Moreover, Dominic considered Shane an unstable factor.
Although he was somewhat relieved that Shane had not yet shown any signs of changing his attitude towards the imperial family, Harpe whom he had ordered to assassinate Shane had yet to return.
If Shane’s current demeanor was just an act and once they exited after the expedition he publicly revealed what actually happened…
From Dominic’s perspective, Shane was nothing short of a ticking time bomb.
Moreover, wasn’t Shane reportedly engaged to Anais who was a member of the Knights of Judgment?
A slight misstep here could lead to unpredictable consequences from the imperial family regarding Shane’s disposition.
Though it was unlikely, if Shane went public about the assassination attempt by Harpe after they returned, the imperial family might resort to cutting ties to save themselves.
Considering the potential future crisis and his standing within the imperial family, Dominic had to deal with Shane here.
It’s tricky…
However, finding an opportune moment to handle Shane was not as easy as it had been before.
Unlike before, Shane was now constantly working on modifying magical patterns. This excluded him from night watches and kept him in the center where people always gathered.
The more time passed, the more anxious Dominic became about it, but he still had several cards to play.
And Shane was not oblivious to Dominic’s watchful eyes.
After completing the final verification tasks, the expedition team gathered in one place.
They were unsure of what awaited in the central area, but it certainly wouldn’t pass peacefully.
Soon a pale blue light began to emanate from the magical pattern where the expedition had gathered, and the light gradually grew stronger and began to surround them.
When the light reached its peak, Dilaila in the center started to channel her magical power into the magic circle drawn by Shane. The blue light then transformed into a deep brown, creating intense waves of magical power.
And when the light gradually faded, no one remained in that spot.
“Huh?!”
When Dilaila opened her eyes again, she couldn’t hide her confusion.
After confirming that the magic circle had activated correctly and looking around, she noticed the number of expedition members had significantly decreased.
“What is this…?”
Dilaila wasn’t the only one feeling bewildered.
Adam of the Haiel Knights lost sight of most of the members of the expedition team and he quickly looked at Raviata as if to ask her what was going on.
Since Raviata had been the next person to interact with Shane’s magic circle, Adam directed his gaze towards her.
However, Raviata merely smiled as usual. As if she had expected this situation to happen.
“Don’t panic. This isn’t the time for that. Can’t you feel it?”
“…!”
At her words, Adam’s intuition sounded an alarm and he felt hostility coming from all directions.
“Haiel Knights, prepare for battle!”
As to be expected from the knights representing a kingdom, they skillfully drew their swords and readied themselves for battle. And soon enough, they spotted the enemies approaching with glowing eyes in the darkness.
“Th-those are…!”
Seeing the enemies, Adam’s face briefly showed shock, followed by extreme anger.
“You dare!”
With Adam’s cry, a wave of killing intent erupted around him, and Raviata ignited flames in both fists of her fists.
They were both ready for the approaching enemies.
Meanwhile.
They were not the only ones facing those enemies.
Klein, Anais, Dominic, and the Lambert Adventurer Party, who had awakened after the magic circle activated, were also confronting the approaching enemies.
“Bastaaards! Who did this to you?!”
Dominic who was swinging his sword in anger similar to Adam’s couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by his emotions at the sight of the enemy.
It was because he immediately recognized the origin of the bizarre creatures before him.
“Grruk, grrrrr.”
They were familiar faces.
However, the form of their bodies below their heads was not that of humans.
Some of them crawled around with eight legs attached to caterpillar-like bodies, while others had sharp mantis-like arms and insect wings.
But what shocked the expedition team the most was that these creatures had the faces of their lost comrades.
The clear evidence of chimera experiments on humans and insects was enough to enrage Dominic.
Even though they had temporarily allied with the organization, using the corpses of the proud imperial guard knights in such a manner was unacceptable to him.
They are truly an untrustworthy bunch!
While Shane worked on modifying the magic circle, Dominic had not been idle either.
During that time, he leaked information about the magic circle to another new member of the organization.
Though he wanted to decapitate that member on the spot, he had to restrain himself for the greater good.
Luckily, the organization successfully managed to slightly tweak the key destination in Shane’s work, causing the expedition team to be split once again.
Everything was good up to that point, but the fact that the corpses of knights killed by the dark elves turned into chimeras was something that even Dominic could not have imagined.
“Ughhhh…”
It had been a long time since he had felt such intense anger in his later years.
Someone who sensed Dominic’s boiling emotions shouted out.
“Sir Dominic! You shouldn’t engage in battle so recklessly right now!”
“Are you telling me to endure this?!”
When the leader of the Lampert Adventure Party Eleksa belatedly grasped the situation and shouted, Dominic clenched his teeth. But despite his words, his mind began to cool down.
As a veteran, he quickly regained his composure and assessed the situation calmly.
Yes. I cannot let their sacrifices go in vain due to this old man’s mistake.
In the end, Dominic retrieved his sword and moved behind the shield set up by the Lampert Adventurer Party to catch his breath.
“Whew. I’m sorry. This old man acted rashly.”
“…No, it’s fine. But how do you see the situation?”
“It doesn’t seem normal, Eleksa. Do you see those creatures over there with the same faces?”
“Yes.”
Just like Dominic said, among the chimeras, there were several creatures with identical faces.
In addition to their faces, the insect-like bodies below their necks were also the same shape, and Dominic deduced a few clues from this.
“I’ve seen something like this before when dealing with black mages. It’s a bit different, but it seems they have the same origin.”
“…Are you saying they are multiplying?”
Eleksa’s face hardened.
The bizarre appearance was one thing, but each of their attacks was also highly threatening.
“There’s a high probability of that. It’s the only explanation I can think of to explain creatures that are identical down to the shape of their faces.”
“Then, it means there’s no point in continuing to fight them here.”
“That’s how it seems. Others who got separated from us are likely in a similar situation.”
“Some of those chimeras died less than two weeks ago.”
“Good observation. It might not be too difficult for them to multiply this way.”
“What kind of entity can even create something like this …?”
Eleksa’s words struck Dominic’s heart like a dagger.
Indeed.
Perhaps the imperial family had underestimated the organization’s power.
While it was uncertain how long those chimeras would survive, creating such a force in such a short time was no small feat.
The fact that they used chimeras of the corpses of the imperial knights proved just how little they feared the imperial family.
“At least we have Klein here, so we shouldn’t lack strength.”
“It’s times like this that you know you’re lucky.”
Just as Eleksa had said, Klein who was fighting at the front while unleashing his magical power was silently swinging his sword without showing any signs of fatigue.
However, Klein’s expression was dark. It was all because he remembered what Shane had said to him before the expedition team split up again.
“Klein, there will likely be a second time when we are separated. When that happens, don’t panic and be prepared for the threats that come. I can take care of myself. Got it?”
Shane’s words, as if he had known this would happen, weighed on his mind.
However, Klein wasn’t the only one with a hardened expression.
Next to him, Anais who silently assisted Klein with her sword also didn’t look happy. Instead of focusing on the immediate enemy, she kept thinking about what Dominic had said earlier.
Who did this to you?!
Even in this situation,
Dominic’s lie echoed in her head.
Anais’s intuition whispered to her that Dominic knew the identity of the enemies when he spoke those words.
She wanted to run to Dominic right away and ask what he meant by that lie.
But this time too, Anais held herself back.
She lacked the strength in her sense of justice to uncover the lie.
With these thoughts in mind, Anais pushed the recurring lumps of doubt back into a corner of her mind.
These were lumps of doubt that could explode at any moment.
As soon as the light faded away, Shane’s vision was filled with a sword engulfed in a blue aura.
However, as if he already expected this, a burst of layered magic projectiles deflected the sword right in front of Shane’s face.
“Ugh?!”
Could it be that the attacker hadn’t expected Shane to respond to this ambush?
The imperial knight furrowed his brow and retreated. He quickly slashed through the next set of layered magic projectiles that flew at him before he asked Shane.
“How did you know?”
“…”
Shane didn’t respond to the knight’s question. Instead, he started looking around.
Before the teleportation magical pattern was activated, other expedition members could all be seen, but now only the imperial knights filled this area.
“How did I know, you ask…”
Shane slowly smirked at them.
“That’s not a question worth answering.”
Actually, Shane really didn’t need to explain anything to them.
In time, their doubts would be resolved on their own.
Although, whether they would accept it was another matter.
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