The monster standing before me was thankfully still four-legged⦠But not thankfully, it was quite big. I guess if it were to stand with its two hind legs, itâd even be taller than meâ¦
The monsterâs body looked like a combination of a deer and a tigerâits head had antlers like horns, face like a tigerâs, and ears like a dogâsâ¦
âReynald, what kind of monster is this?!â
The first thing in my mind was to turn to my walking encyclopaediaâEin.
âThat⦠Is that⦠a conjuring?â Einâs answer came up with an unsure tone.
âConjuring?â I tilted my head, unsure.
âItâs an ancient magic that not many can do⦠They can make apparition like this monster out of their magic. And it will stay, even if their creator has left⦠Thatâs why,
,â Maiara explained.
âAh⦠So it is based on the creatorâs imagination, huh? Never seen a monster like that.â
I swallowed my last sentence as I continued to stare at the Conjured Chimera in front of me.
That was when I noticedâ¦
âThereâs a key hanging on its neck!â I said as I pointed at its neck. At the same time, the chimera shook its whole body, just like what dogs used to do especially after they got wet.
âHey, we just need to take the key, then?â I asked again when I noticed that the monster didnât seem to be chasing after us.
âYeah, itâs not attacking at all⦠The quest here is to grab the key from this conjuring, then?â Ein also speculated.
âDonât drop your guards,â Maiara warned.
We nodded.
At that time, I had this inkling in my mind.
Although it seemed fierce, there seemed to be an element of a dog in this conjuring. Dogs tend to be tame and cute, so could it be a test of courage?
If we were able to look past its fierce exterior and treat it with care, could it be cooperative and willing to give us the key?
I walked closer and treated it like I would treat a dog. I crouched down, extended my hand towards it gently andâ¦
âGRAAAAWRRR!!â
âAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!â
â¦and I ran away as it suddenly went berserk on me.
âYeah⦠Seems like itâs the type of conjuring that will be tame to its creator only. Knowing that none of us are its creator, it will go berserk, wanting to tear our limbsâ¦,â Ein crossed his arms and spoke.
âSay that sooner!â I said as I continued to run, becoming the bait without my consent.
âBryne clîewen!â
Suddenly, I heard Maiaraâs voice at the same time as there was a bright flash of light coming from behind me.
I turned around to see that Maiara had attacked the Conjured Chimera with her magic, halting its track before it turned to chase after Maiara.
âMaiara!!â
Somehow, it seemed as if the Conjured Chimeraâs speed and fierceness increased the moment Maiara attacked it.
It really scared me to see the Conjured Chimera pouncing on Maiara.
âBryne flân! Bryne clîewen! Gâl lid!â
Maiara didnât waste any second as she continued to attack the conjuring repeatedly as she distanced herself from it.
Light magic, light arrow, light spears⦠Any kind of light attacks rained down on the conjuring.
However, the attacks only disturbed its movement. The conjuring didnât seem to be damaged at all, oddly!
âLetâs help her!â Ein said.
âEh?â
I wanted to say that it was obvious, but I was surprised when I noticed Ein who dashed off towards the conjuring right after he uttered those words.
But at that moment, I saw Ein suddenly taking out a small sword from inside his magical pouch and swinging itâGrabbertonâs style, minus the power that the original style had.
By this time, I had completely forgotten that Ein was part Grabberton as well, and it was natural for those with Grabberton blood to wield swords.
However, it didnât seem like Ein was strong enough to wield the usual Grabberton big swords and to swing it in Grabberton style.
Even so, it was enough to contribute to a fight!
Blood rushed to my brain when I saw Ein swinging his sword.
I immediately materialized a sword from my light magicâas I remembered that we were still in disguiseâimbued it with more magic and started swinging it towards the chimera.
âHyaahhh!!â I tried slashing the conjuring with my magical sword, but it didnât seem to give any significant damage other than stopping itâ¦
âIf slashing doesnât work, what aboutâ¦,â I took a deep breath as I imbued my body with magic and leapt while swinging my sword.
âStabbing it?!â As I said it, I swung down my sword on the conjuringâs body, with its sharpest edge facing it.
The moment my magic sword touched the conjuringâs body, however, it felt as if its body was made out of iron or barrierâfor my sword didnât stab through its body, but it was deflected!
âGahhh!!â
I wasnât prepared for this outcome, so I faltered a bit before jumping on the air to distance myself from the Conjured Chimera.
Well, well⦠Though the outcome wasnât as what I wanted, at least our attacks successfully halted the chimera until there was finally a considerable distance between us and it⦠Hahaha!! (T__T)
âGrrrrâ¦,â the Conjured Chimera growled at us as it seemed to be readying itself for another attack.
We locked eyes, being alert to one another, but nobody seemed to be ready to break this stalemate yet.
âLetâs attack it together!â Maiara commanded.
âGraaarrhhh!â
As if it understood what we wanted to do, the Conjured Chimera leaped towards us, not giving us the time to arrange our united attack.
âLet me!â Ein quickly rushed off to hold the chimera back with his sword.
ââ¦Eynald!â I almost yelped his real name in surprise.
The distance between Ein and the chimera was so close now!!
âEscha, letâs attack it with our strongest magic!â Maiara quickly told me.
âRight!â I snapped out of it and focused on chanting my best light magic.
âO light, I beseech your help!â
âBetlic oferyrnan!â
At the same time as my chant, Maiara also shouted her chant.
I was chanting in the ancient language to make sure the magic was more powerful. But surprisingly, Maiara switched to chanting not in ancient language!
A giant cross of light appeared before me at the same time I felt that a huge mana was drained from my body, as it aggressively launched its blinding attack towards the chimera.
Meanwhile, I saw Maiara swinging her hand as countless light appeared from all over her body, moving as if they were small birds of lights, before they merged and launched from Maiaraâs bodyâthe giant bird of light hurling at the speed of the light towards the Conjured Chimeraâ
ââ¦!â
Ein noticed our attack as he quickly jumped back, dodging the attacks.
Our attacks successfully hit the conjuring only, the impact between our magic and the conjuring caused a blinding light at the same time as some dust flying around.
âCough cough⦠Did we do it?â I tried to open my eyes, waiting for the surrounding dust and light to disappear, revealing the place where we attacked the conjuring last time.
With this kind of impact, it would surely be defeated, right?
I gave it my all, and Maiara seemed to have given it her all, tooâ¦
âWhat?!â
âGrrr!!â
There it was, growling with what seemed to be a smug face, with a body that only seemed to be a bit scathedâ¦
It was such a rapid progress, but I definitely saw its wound healing up very quickly!
âSo, itâs not like we didnât do any damage⦠We damaged it, but itâs regenerating so quickly?â I said with a trembling voice.
ââ¦The medium is this area, huh?â Maiara muttered.
âBut weâre locked up here. We canât go anywhere,â Ein said and then he suddenly looked up as if he had an idea and said slowly, âWhat if thereâs a trick?â
âA trickâ¦?â I asked.
âGraaaawrrr!â
But the conjuring didnât seem like it wanted to let us finish the conversation, as it pounced and attacked us.
It seemed to target what it perceived to be the weakest link among us, as it aggressively lunged itself to Ein andâ¦
âAah!!â Einâs calm voice suddenly went up several pitches with this scream, but Iâd scream too if I were in his placeâthe Conjured Chimera actually bit on his shirt and carrying Ein with it!
The Conjured Chimera swung Ein around as if it was playing with it before itâ¦
âItâs throwing Reynald!!â I quickly gasped at the situation when I noticed it swung Ein to another direction with such impact, after making sure it leapt quite high above.
I reflexively chased after Ein, wanting to do whatever it is in my power to help him.
âGo after the conjuring!â
Surprisingly, Ein didnât look too panicked as he instructed me to not worry about him.
I halted my steps, but I was in dilemma since Ein clearly seemed like he needed help!
âTake this!â Maiara was the first one to react, however.
She swung her hand and a fierce light beam emerged from her hand, causing the monsterâwho wasnât ready for another action yetâto be pushed by the light beam and hit the other side of the wall.
At the same time, I saw Ein tinkering with a small object that suddenly showed up in his hand before he landed safely without any issue.
âPlease continue your words from before,â Maiara told Ein.
âIf we canât defeat it, what if we just focus on escaping from this place?â Ein said calmly, as if he wasnât the person that the conjuring swung around earlier.
âAhâ¦!â But thanks to his words, it finally dawned on me.
âLetâs go grab that key! Nowâs our chance!â I said as I saw the chimera collapsing on the ground once all the dust and light were gone.
I quickly dashed towards the chimera, wanting to quickly snatch the key and escape from this situation.
âNo, waitââ
âCareful!â
I heard Ein and Maiaraâs warning from behind me.
Just as I was wondering what could be the problem since the conjuring was now lying defenseless on the ground⦠Suddenly, the Conjured Chimera turned its head to look at me with its red eyes glowing.
And in the next moment⦠It suddenly disappeared from its former position.
âHuh?!â
I was running frantically and it was hard to stop so suddenly, but the scenery right in front of me frightened me so much to the point of turning silly.
Right, suddenlyâ¦
The Conjured Chimeraâs wide open mouth and its sharp teeth were right before my eyes!!!!!!