If They're That Precious, Don't Let Them Out of Your Sight

I plunged through the rain.

All that work changing and warming up, wasted.

Even deep in the forest, the downpour lashed relentlessly against us.

At least it was better than being out in the open.

Wearing just a shirt over my underwear, I was drenched again in no time.

Maybe I'd move more easily if I just tore the shirt off.

If I'd been alone, I definitely would have.

The forest at night was pitch-black.

I had good night vision, but without even a sliver of moonlight, I could barely see.

Alexia quickly covered the area with light magic.

Mages really were versatile.

Getting any visibility at all without a lantern in this downpour was impossible without a mage.

The wind made the light magic flicker, but it still lit up our surroundings well enough.

I pushed the hair plastered to my forehead aside.

"Almost there."

"Got it."

"Buffs incoming. Be careful."

Elza's blessing enveloped my body.

The cold I'd been feeling eased, and a sensation of power flooding through me surged across my body.

A blessing was a pure enhancement. It had basically no downsides, but there was a gap in perception between before and after the buff.

The better the priest, the stronger the blessing, and the bigger the gap.

That gap could make you trip mid-run or slam into a tree if you weren't careful.

I smiled wryly at the luxurious problem.

On flat ground it would be one thing, but in a forest full of obstacles, the others couldn't keep up with Finn.

I pulled ahead by a step.

At this distance, I could sense them even without Alexia's magic.

I crossed my arms, gripping a short sword in each hand.

There.

The silhouette of a four-legged beast.

A moment later, Alexia flooded the area with bright light.

What it illuminated wasn't a wolf.

It had a face like a small lion, and its tail was a serpent.

I sliced the head off immediately.

Blood gushed from the stump as if erupting.

But it didn't fall. The serpent tail twisted toward my throat.

I bit down on the snake's body to stop the attack, then sliced that tail off too. Only then did it stop moving.

Looked like I'd finished it.

"These aren't wolves! They've got two heads!"

"They're Chimera cubs!"

Beside me, Alexia's battle-axe pulverized one of them.

With that, it didn't matter if they had two heads.

Swinging such a heavy weapon with that much force was a testament to Alexia's strength and technique.

She didn't even care that trees were in the way; she just smashed through them.

I really didn't want to make an enemy of her. One slip against someone like that and the whole fight could flip.

The Chimera cubs had lion claws and fangs, plus venomous snake fangs. That was the extent of their threat.

To a novice adventurer, they'd be terrifying opponents, but for the people here, they weren't much.

With visibility, they went down easy even in the downpour.

Azu dispatched them methodically, sticking to the basics.

That was normal.

Elza and Alexia each finished them in a single blow, so the pack's numbers dwindled fast.

A slightly larger one drew in a breath and unleashed a breath attack at me.

But with so little magic behind it, I deflected it with my weapon and it dissipated.

"You're the last one. This is what happens when you get too close."

I closed in to finish it.

Never enter the territory of an enemy you can't beat.

That was nature's rule, even for monsters.

The Chimera cub just glared at me.

It had the courage to stand and fight instead of running, but that wouldn't keep it alive.

At least I'd make it count for something. I raised my short sword.

The Chimera cub roared at me.

A small roar befitting its size. Hardly even intimidating.

But halfway through, that small roar transformed into a massive bellow that shook the air.

I revised my judgment on the spot and pulled back at full speed.

Too much momentum. I slammed back-first into a tree.

A careless mistake. The air was knocked out of my lungs.

I recovered immediately and looked toward the Chimera cub.

An adult Chimera now sat there.

It was enormous. And unlike the cubs, it had a goat head on one shoulder and a dragon head on the other.

The Chimera cub clung to its leg, nuzzling its head against it.

The Chimera scooped the cub up in its jaws and tossed it behind itself.

Whether it was in the way or whether it was worried about collateral damage, I couldn't tell.

"So something like this was lurking deeper in the forest."

"With something like this around, nobody would come near here. The downpour must have thrown us off our usual route."

"Maybe us wandering in set it off?"

"… Then it should have just stayed put. Now the other side can't back down either."

Before the fight, maybe. But we'd already killed several cubs.

It had to know that.

It was too late to retreat.

Looking at its eyes, I could see the rage of having its children killed.

If they were that precious, you should've come out first.

"Isn't a Chimera classified as a Dragon?"

"I don't think so. But I'm pretty sure it's considered quite dangerous."

"Watch out for breath attacks from each of its mouths."

Not just breath attacks.

Massive claws and fangs, plus a serpent tail that moved freely.

This was going to be a tough fight.

But not unwinnable.

I closed in rapidly and stabbed the tip of its foreleg with a short sword.

A minor wound for a Chimera, but enough to distract it.

I wasn't suited for bringing down something this big.

I'd left my bombs behind since they were useless in this rain.

The key would be how many of Alexia's spells and Azu's sword strikes we could land.

"Eyes on me, big guy. I'm the one who killed your first cub!"

Did it understand human speech? All three heads turned toward me at once.

I swallowed involuntarily under the overwhelming pressure of their gazes.

Every mouth opened, and three colors of breath rained down.