Chapter 23: Self-Introduction, Then Battle

Sewage Treatment Plant, beside the sedimentation tank.

“Interrupting another’s battle without warning is hardly proper etiquette. I detest such behavior.”

“The enemy struck to kill first. We won’t show mercy either.”

Only moments ago, these two had been locked in a deadly contest. Now, after the sudden attack, they found their positions perfectly aligned.

The man with glasses and the masked woman turned their eyes toward the sedimentation tank, from which the monster had leapt. “Are you ready for what’s next?”

Bubbles rose to the surface.

Murky bubbles burst upon the water, the sludge-colored current bulged, and a man emerged from the pool, his feet planted atop the swiftly rushing sewage.

Though he rose from the depths of the sewage pool, not a single stain marked his clothes. He had long hair, slanted eyes, wore blue, and his expression was gloomy. He was exactly the man described earlier by the information broker as one of the five—Gongsun Ce’s target tonight.

The long-haired man swept his sullen gaze over the two hovering in the air.

His next words, however, caught them both completely off guard.

“Greetings. I am Yoshihisa Takizawa, companion to Tirlos and Kaplo, and my practiced Unpredictable Art is the Chimera Form.”

This devotee of the Dragon, who had just launched a sneak attack, was now actually introducing himself!

It was less a matter of etiquette than of questionable sanity. Who would respond to such a bizarre greeting?

“Hello, I’m Gongsun Ce, the psychic who was just ambushed.”

“I am the Combat Specialist, the mysterious Masked Woman.”

And yet such people did exist in the world; at least, the two suspended in the air now proved it! The odd man’s greeting was met by equally odd replies. The stench was revolting, the atmosphere inscrutable, and the three peculiar figures, all unflinching, made the sewage plant a veritable demonic domain no ordinary person would dare approach!

Takizawa lowered his gaze. “Forgive me. Ordinarily, I am not discourteous… But just now, I intended to kill you both at once, so I skipped the pleasantries.”

“That’s understandable,” the young man nodded.

Takizawa continued, “To avoid drawing your attention, I created only a single Chimera. I patiently waited for the perfect moment to guarantee a fatal strike. Even when one of the hunters drew very close, I held back. The Chimera spotted both of you approaching. If it failed, I’d be at a severe disadvantage. Just now, when you two seemed about to settle your fight, it should have been the perfect moment—so why did you evade it?”

He spoke haltingly, often pausing as if searching for words, giving his speech a stilted rhythm.

The Combat Specialist landed lightly and answered his question.

“A true specialist is always vigilant of their surroundings, no matter the circumstances. Besides, fighting him was far too easy—I didn’t need to go all out. On a scale of 100, I’d say I used about 49.5% of my strength.”

“You’re bold, Miss. I only used 15%.”

“Correction—I used 14.5%.”

“My output was just 1%.”

The last time the Dragon Devotee had heard such a conversation was back in elementary school.

He decided to use the time to create more monsters in the pool.

Just then, his beasts stationed afar sent him messages, and Takizawa could only shake his head.

“I see. That ambush attempt failed as well. It seems my judgment was mistaken.”

The young man in glasses raised his right hand. “Are you planning to surrender now? If you tell us your plan in full, we won’t resort to violence.”

“No, what I mean is—the success rate for ambushes is not very high.” Takizawa whistled.

“Jellyfish, eagle, rat, dog.”

With a splash, a jellyfish formed from sewage rose from the pool, spewing bubbles to obscure their vision. Then an eagle soared into the sky, and several rabid dogs and giant rats charged at the masked woman, aiming to tear her flesh with fang and claw!

Every animal the Dragon Devotee summoned shared a common trait: they were several times larger than their natural counterparts, their watery bodies centered around a “core” of filth. For any ordinary person, being beset by such monstrous beasts would shatter their morale before even a single wound was inflicted—they’d flee for their lives.

But these opponents were far stranger than even he. Against them, these sewage creatures were no more threatening than their real-world inspirations. The psychic clenched his fist, and the jellyfish and eagle were ripped apart by invisible force; the masked woman swung her long blade, slicing the charging beasts into fragments!

In the blink of an eye, the summoned creatures reverted to puddles of sewage. This exchange revealed that his attack was not only reckless but completely ineffective.

The masked woman raised her blade, pointing it at Takizawa. “Is that all?”

“It’s over. I needed to experience firsthand your speed and methods of attack. Next, there will be no ambush, no probing. The real battle begins.”

The true contest was about to start.

So declared the Dragon Devotee, but the two had no intention of granting him such an opportunity.

Gongsun Ce conjured a massive white hammer and brought it crashing down from above; the masked woman, using her earlier method, launched a hardened gray energy projectile at the enemy. Without exchanging a word, the former adversaries now acted in perfect unison—this was a time for swift resolution, not for letting the enemy gather his full strength.

“Sea cucumber.”

Boing.

What reached their ears was a sound like a trampoline’s bounce.

Compress a spring to its limit, release it, and the resulting force is enough to launch objects many times its own weight. The scene before them looked as if it were drawn from a slapstick comic—exaggerated for comedic effect. The giant hammer, descending with tremendous kinetic energy, struck a creature and was sent flying back up!

“Rhinoceros.”

The response to the energy projectile was simpler.

Without a trap hidden within, an invisible bullet is little different from ordinary ammunition. All that was needed was an animal with a tough enough hide to withstand the blow.

Indeed, in this environment, his ability could solve anything.

“You call yourself a practitioner of the Chimera Form. I expected a mage, but you’re more of a summoner,” Gongsun Ce observed, dispersing his weapon and lowering himself to ground level.

He stood beside the masked woman, closely studying the two new creatures who had intercepted their attacks.

Takizawa was shielded from within by an enormous sea cucumber, several meters long, and a massive rhinoceros stood between him and his opponents. Like the previous creatures, both had transparent bodies encasing filthy cores.

—No problem.

The young man made his assessment silently, certain the girl at his side had come to the same conclusion.

Just a matter of elasticity, just a matter of hardness; there were countless ways to deal with such summons.

Takizawa replied, “A summoner, you say? That’s about right. Jellyfish, eagle, rat, dog.”

The sewage on the ground rose at his words, and the animals the two had just destroyed reformed again.

The masked woman raised her blade, ready to charge. “If you think repeating the same tactics that failed the first time will yield better results, you’re mistaken.”

Surprisingly, Takizawa nodded. “I think so too.”

As the two exchanged bewildered glances, he continued:

“Tigers, lions, locusts, mantises.”

Animals leapt from the pool in turn as he named them, each one as formidable as the last two.

A dreadful suspicion dawned on Gongsun Ce.

“It can’t be…”

“Cheetah, elephant, sea lion, gorilla.”

The tide of sewage-born beasts kept coming, yet the pool showed no sign of diminishing. In this near-fully automated era, the plant’s processes would not halt just because the staff had evacuated—in other words, untreated sewage continued to flow in without pause.

“Giraffe, bear, monkey, lizard, cobra, octopus, bat, crab, moth, wolf, boar, yak, fox, shark, crocodile, hyena, lynx—”

Takizawa’s speech grew faster and faster, and the beasts he named sprang from the pool at a dizzying rate, forming a wall before him, charging in all directions, completely encircling the two!

The practitioner of the Unpredictable Art was guarded by several monstrous brutes. The psychic and the masked woman, however, found the number of their foes multiplying rapidly; for every beast destroyed, two more took its place, and those defeated reformed from the water as before. In less than a minute, the number of summoned beasts exceeded one hundred.

“Chimera.”

Finally, the original monster that spewed high-pressure jets was summoned again. At last, Takizawa stopped.

“Life, when dead and decayed, becomes filth; only in corruption does vitality endure.” He pressed his palms together and bowed his head. “Chimera Form, Divine Communion—Corrupted Beasts of the Foul Waters.”

More than a hundred corrupted beasts roared menacingly. Takizawa’s voice was faint amid their cries: “This is… my limit. I lack the mind for combat, am no good at scheming. Yes—this is all I can do: create things like this.”

The psychic rubbed his brow. “Have you considered that you’re being far too modest?”

“Without a leader’s command, this is the best I can devise. Win or lose by numbers alone—that’s why I came here.” His words stumbled out, “This is all I can do, but even so, I will give my all. Either I kill you all here, or you kill me. Perhaps this is the sort of battle I don’t understand.”

The masked woman placed a hand on the psychic’s shoulder. “Time to show the remaining 99% of your power.”

Gongsun Ce clasped his hands in mock thanks. “Come now, this is your chance to unleash that long-hidden 85.5% of yours.”

A hundred corrupted beasts bared their jaws; the Dragon Devotee gave his final order:

“Go—Corrupted Beasts of the Foul Waters!”

The psychic and the masked woman fell silent, each readying their own means to resolve the crisis—

“Move!”

The instant the beasts launched their frenzy, both vanished, leaving behind only a small freesia trampled to pulp.

Dozens of meters away—

On the rooftop of a drab building within the plant, the Hunter led the other two out from within a blossom.

She wiped the cold sweat from her brow. “My god… Rushing all the way back here, teleporting from the very limit of my range, and taking two people with me at once—I don’t know about you, but I feel like I might be sick.”

Alice crossed her arms, glancing at the two whose faces were none too healthy. “Anything you wish to say to me?”

“Many thanks, truly.”

“Deepest gratitude.”