CH 223: Its Final Charge

Claire felt like giggling for some reason. Her surge of confidence bordered on making her laugh, and it was a strange feeling. The massive beast had hardly put up a fight; it got cocky being the largest monster in the area. Its size and strength made hunting easy, with nothing able to penetrate its hide. Its last escapade into Duvain was much easier, since there were no magic users around.

The Chimera let out a gargled roar as it thrashed around. Its reign over the local mountains was soon coming to an end. Though its attention was on Claire entirely, it still didn’t let Ursa near it. Its attacks were random, and out of desperation, the lion's head was fading fast. It was only the goat's head and what was left of the serpent.

Claire readjusted her shield for another toss. She had quite a bit of distance to work with, but either way, her sword was useless right now. She held her shield with her right hand and waited to see what the Chimera would do. It was still fighting against the chains, pulling against them to flee.

Then, it stopped.

The goat's head stared directly at Claire. It became unnaturally calm as its yellow eye stared into Claire. It blinked, and there was a calmness. She was not expecting this reaction, so Claire didn’t know what she should do. She stayed in place, not daring to look away from it. It broke the silence of the battlefield by letting out a bleat that fed into a roar. It stomped its feet before charging at Claire. The ground beneath Claire shook, and it took her a moment to react.

Thankfully, it was only a fraction of a second. She was able to turn and run to the side and away from Hannah. The knight was still struggling to move, so keeping the monster away from her was crucial. Claire felt Catherine’s magic imbue her with speed this time, letting her nearly outrun the monster.

Despite its size, the Chimera was able to turn quite well. It used its wings like sails to turn its body the moment it realized Claire was running from it. Barely even stumbling or losing momentum, the charging monster ran straight for Claire. It barrelled towards the paladin, catching up to her despite Catherine’s magic.

Claire didn’t have much of a plan. She was more worried about getting the Chimera away from Hannah. Her only hope was making it far enough for the restraints to take care of that. She kept running at full speed and debated about abandoning her shield, but decided against it. It was the only thing she had that could even damage the monster, so she kept it.

She heard the chains snap into place and the ground shook underneath her. She stumbled and rolled back to her feet, turning to find the Chimera mere feet from her. The one good goat eye stared at her. It pulled against its restraints, bleating at her and loosening the ballista bolts.

It got to its feet and moved towards her. It struggled against the chains, no longer caring about pain. It struggled and strained against the chains until one of the bolts was dislodged from its body. The lion’s head had completely lost consciousness now, its neck wound now gushing blood. It freed itself from one of its restraints, but now it was losing even more blood.

Claire looked at the lifeless lion head, learning something new about the monster. It made sense given it had three brains, but she assumed it’d be panicking or even falter in its actions. But nope. It seemed even more determined to kill after losing its lion head.

The monster kept struggling, getting less resistance now. It pulled against the chains harder than ever. Claire could hear the metal groan and bend with the monster’s might. She quickly backed up, getting further from the monster. She did see Ursa sprinting towards them, followed by Jasmine.

Snap!

One of the chains holding it broke. Claire nearly flinched upon hearing the sound. She could hear Jasmine yell something, but couldn’t make out what was said. She held her shield up as the Chimera kept struggling towards her. It made it several more yards closer to Claire with sheer determination.

Claire heard the ballista go off before a bolt lodged itself into the back of the Chimera. It didn’t react, didn’t even flinch. It was so focused on Claire that both its remaining heads didn’t notice the hit. What caused them to finally react was a clever placement of Elsie’s magic.

She cast a lightning bolt right onto the bolt. The metal arrow let her magic penetrate the monster’s body and electrocute its insides. It stumbled, finally. The serpent tail now faltering, probably losing consciousness like the lion. Both hung limp off the monster’s body. Only the goat remained.

It shook off the pain, getting back onto its feet. It stared down at Claire with pure rage. She held her shield up and held back the smile forming on her face. She could do this. She could fight this monster now. It was weakened and restrained; she just had to be smart.

It lurched forward. Still trying to get to Claire. It was having a harder time now with its strength failing it. Claire cautiously approached the goat head with her shield held high. It growled at her and tried to push forward. Claire got close enough to feel its feral breath hit her exposed skin.

Her shield glowed with her Defensive Strike skill, and she slammed it straight into the creature’s nose. If the Chimera were like a regular goat, its nose would be sensitive. It recoiled from her blow, the blunt force on a sensitive area brought unexpected pain. It bleated and thrashed before trying to bite at Claire. Thankfully, Claire was already backing up before it even had a chance to snap at her.

Ursa was finally close enough to help. She was nearly out of breath when she got there, but ready to strike. She focused on the limp serpent tail and expected it to attack her again, but it didn’t. Still, she was cautious about getting hit again. The first hit nearly depleted her entire health bar and let her wolf loose.

Claire couldn’t help but smile now. All she had to do was outlast the monster now. If she played it smart and cautious, she could even completely blind it. She reached across her body and unsheathed her knife. She needed it to bite at her again, so she walked forward.

Every day, she became more and more thankful for the rigorous training Jasmine put her through. She could switch hands and be just as effective with her left hand as her right, not to mention the sheer amount of stamina she built up. Claire took a calming breath right before she got in its range.

It opened its mouth to snap at her, signaling Claire to move. She jumped to the creature’s left, dodging the bite. Some of Catherine’s magic was still imbuing her, so the margin for error was far better than she expected. She jabbed the knife directly into its eye with the blade facing her. She pulled it across the eye and cut the membrane.

It recoiled one last time and let out a long groan. Claire quickly backed up so she wasn’t caught in the thrashing. She made it to safety and inspected the damage she’d done. It was no longer focused on her, with the goat head shaking its head violently. It could no longer see anything. It could now only rely on its smell and hearing.

Ursa circled around it to get to Claire, but her feet made noise as she ran. The monster attacked where it heard Ursa. It missed, but not by much. The berserker rolled towards Claire and made it to her. Claire helped her stabilize before both turned their attention to the monster. Both backed up slowly to make sure that it couldn’t hear them.

Once they got out of its range, Claire spoke. “Now, we wait for it to die. I know it may not be honorable, but-”

Her words were cut off by the loud growls of the Chimera. It thrashed in their direction and snapped its jaw at them. Claire paused and watched the monster.

“It’s nearly dead already,” Claire continued after its growling died down. “Rather not risk you getting hurt again. That looked like a lot of damage.”

Ursa growled. She knew Claire was right. She knew the smart decision was to wait for it to die, but her blood lust didn’t care. It wanted to attack, it wanted to kill the creature, not wait around.

She stepped forward, just to be intercepted by Jasmine. The assassin snuck up on them, and Claire forgot she was even heading her way. “She’s right, Ursa. Be a good girl.”

Ursa’s eyes dilated. Even Claire’s breath caught upon hearing that phrase. Both were stunned for a moment before Ursa nodded. She let out a small coo and lowered her axe.

“Good girl,” Jasmine exhaled. She resisted the urge to pet Ursa, then turned to the monster.

“What about me?” Claire asked with a smile hidden by her helmet. “Am I a good girl too?”

“Sure,” Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Actually, no. You threw your shield and charged the enemy alone. Twice.”

“Awww,” Claire chuckled. Felt weird talking with a monster so close to them, but its thrashing was beginning to slow down.

The monster let out softer and softer growls. Its body swayed left and right, with its limbs almost buckling under its weight. It was definitely on the verge of death now. All they had to do was wait.

Though Elsie and Jean didn’t have to. They attacked, almost in sync, landing a regular bolt right before Elsie’s firewall ignited underneath the Chimera. This bolt landed on its chest, puncturing between its ribs. Then, its flesh and pelt were set on fire.

With one last defiant growl, the Chimera fell to the ground.