WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ I Became the Slit-Eyed Henchman of the Evil Boss

Chapter 034

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Chimera Hunt (2)

Neiro turned off the augmented reality displayed on his gas mask.

Because Dimedes's traces had vanished?

No.

Precisely the opposite.

The grotesque rocks studded across the plain were painted over with liquid, mostly red, but sometimes green, yellow, or black.

Seen from afar, it might have resembled an avant-garde painting. The lines, wildly drawn with reckless strokes, had something that called abstract art to mind.

Neiro's magic found traces of Dimedes and the demon-beasts he commanded in all of it.

Everyone who had been in this place, that is, most of the human dregs, including the Bacchus cultists and criminals, must have become the paint for this picture.

Neiro's brow furrowed behind his gas mask. It wasn't shock at the horrendous sight.

He had witnessed countless murder scenes essentially similar in nature, if somewhat smaller in scale. That was simply the kind of profession a demon-beast hunter had.

What unsettled Neiro's mood was simply the 'scale.'

'With this much blood and bodily fluid spilled, it must mean they set out to kill every single resident of this place.'

The demon-beasts under Dimedes's command did not normally commit such indiscriminate slaughter. To be precise, they didn't do it where others could see.

Only under Dimedes's orders did they devour, leaving no evidence behind.

This was why Neiro, though he had persistently watched for a chance to eliminate Dimedes in Etna City, had ultimately been unable to wage an all-out war against him.

'Devouring….'

This, too, was an important clue. Normally, demon-beasts devour the prey they've killed unless their master holds them back. Yet in this blood-soaked scene, no trace of feeding was visible.

'Bodies gone, only bodily fluids remaining?'

It was bizarre. No remnants of a meal, no bones or scraps of flesh left after even the marrow had been sucked dry, only bodily fluids were left behind.

Considering the demon-beast habit of devouring even the blood without a trace, this was clearly a scene staged with intent by someone who controlled the demon-beasts.

"But what would drive someone to do such a thing?"

"Hmm. Director Neiro."

Ortes, who had been surveying the area, approached Neiro. He couldn't help but wonder whether those nearly shut eyes of his could actually see anything….

"Do you happen to have a drone? The kind that flies."

Neiro nodded. He had left his usual cybernetic-kite-type hunting support drone behind due to its bio-components being in their maintenance period, but he had about four ordinary mechanical drones equipped with auto-turrets.

But because this place was a high-crime district, he had kept drone observation off the table until now, not wanting to draw attention with needless noise.

If he activated the drones, they might reveal their position to whoever had created this scene. Ortes surely couldn't be unaware of that….

'Ah.'

At that moment, Neiro realized Ortes's intention. The grotesque rocks were painted with colorful bodily fluids wherever one looked.

A metaphysical diagram drawn across an extensive area with the blood of living sacrifices.

Wasn't this, in truth, a magic circle!

High-altitude observation was essential to grasping the circle's exact structure. Because one couldn't deduce the whole from seeing only parts.

The moment realization struck, goosebumps ran over Neiro's body. The hint Ortes had just subtly offered was a mercy.

'If I couldn't figure out even this much, it would mean I don't deserve a seat on the board.'

It was clear that faithfully carrying out the pursuit of Dimedes had left a good impression. Neiro hastily launched the drones into the sky.

'What about the attackers who might appear?'

Glancing at Ortes, Neiro noticed that a high-frequency blade resembling a long black plank had somehow already appeared in Ortes's grip.

'So he means to identify the cause of the problem quickly, even at the risk of danger. That's the difference between me, who puts safety first, and him, who puts the President's will first.'

But Neiro himself hadn't come to this place as a hunter. He had been dispatched as a director of Hydra Corp who possessed a hunter's skills.

If that was the case, he should devote himself fully to the task, following the will of the one in charge on-site.

"I have four drones. Even with all four deployed, it'll take about ten minutes to observe this entire plain. If an attacker appears, I'll leave it to you."

***

What is this old man talking about.

I only said to use the drone to find a clean spot, since the ground was too filthy to sit on.

I'd opened my eye after a long while, and maybe because I'd been taking too many business trips, my whole body ached.

To assess it honestly, most of it was due to the eye-opening (開眼). The burden accumulated in my brain while the eye was open is released as pain across my entire body.

Once I've opened the eye, it's not just a headache that lingers, my whole body feels like it's been evenly tenderized.

My legs were already cramping from just standing, so I was using the newly delivered blade as a walking stick. Neiro, who had cast a sidelong glance at me holding the sword, wore an oddly solemn expression.

Whatever you're thinking, that's not what I intended.

"Wait-"

BZZZZZZ-!

Before I could get a word out, four assembled drones shot into the sky from the heavy steel case Neiro carried on his back.

"Demon-beasts are sensitive to mana scent… ah, that's a hunter's way of putting it. In other words, they're sensitive to the shape of each individual's mana wavelength."

This was something I already knew. Each person's mana wavelength was said to be like a fingerprint, it could be similar, but never identical.

I couldn't say the same for someone like me, who had no mana at all.

There would need to be more humans without mana wavelengths for comparison, but so far I hadn't seen anyone besides myself who lacked mana.

"You probably already know this, but Dimedes's demon-beasts will catch the scent and come swarming. The mana scent from the drone batteries is the same as the mana scent coming from me."

Wouldn't know.

"I'll combine the visual data of this entire plain as quickly as I can and piece together what kind of magic circle it is. The moment the work is done, I'll pick up my bow, so I'm counting on you until then."

I couldn't even begin to guess what that old man was thinking. Demon-beasts were coming, and he was asking me to hold them off with a bladem so I'd give it a try.

I let the words out with a sigh.

"Nothing much. I'll give it a shot."

How many demon-beasts had Dimedes brought along again?

***

'Nothing much.'

That was the word Ortes had used to describe Dimedes's demon-beasts.

The demon-beasts Dimedes and his subordinates had brought numbered 120. With sufficient manpower mobilized, it wasn't a number that couldn't be subdued.

Conversely put, they weren't enemies at a level one could guarantee annihilating single-handedly.

In Neiro's mind rose the underworld of Etna City before the arrival of Ortes and Karisia.

Dimedes had challenged the Lernian school time and again, aiming for their mana cores, but was defeated every time, and in the end came to avoid confrontation altogether.

The Lernian school, too, hadn't gone so far as to chase Dimedes into the filth of the back alleys to kill him, but the hierarchy of power was clear. The Lernian school was stronger.

And Ortes was the very one who, together with Karisia, had annihilated that school with just the two of them.

'Indeed….'

From his standpoint, a mere 120 demon-beasts really were 'nothing much.'

The moment Neiro's recollection ended, a wolf came charging at him. Its abnormally developed right foreleg carried enough power to not merely tear a person apart, but to thoroughly crush them into pulp.

Shhk.

Its outstretched right foreleg went flying first, followed by its neck, unable to overcome the momentum of its charge, severed in a curve.

"Please do this as soon as possible."

With a sly grin, Ortes aimed his blade at the horde of demon-beasts.

***

It was a scene of one-sided slaughter. With every swing of the blade, a demon-beast's head flew off without fail.

No. Rather, it should have been called butchery. The high-frequency blade's trajectory was drawn with more precision and ruthlessness than the hand of a machine slaughtering livestock.

Among Dimedes's demon-beasts, there were some that flew through the sky. But the monstrous birds circling above did not readily move to chase the source of the mana the drones emitted.

Because their sight, and beyond that, their will was subjugated to another being.

The old man, watching the carnage through the monstrous birds' eyes, was lost for words.

Far more than expected…

Too strong.

"Have you come from the organization that sent you?"

Behind the man stood Dimedes.

In the chimera form he had so desperately tried to hide.

In fact, it was far more twisted than Dimedes's original form.

His upper body, which at most had been covered in a lion's mane, was now clad in a carapace resembling a scorpion's or crab's shell, and both arms had stretched to a bizarre length.

The fingers were no exception, at the tip of each elongated knuckle sat a maw lined with serpent fangs.

On his face had formed such a grotesque number of eye sockets that, like the giant of ancient myth said to possess a hundred eyes, he saw the world without a single blind spot. The irises of those eyes were not human in shape, they were the rectangular pupils of a goat.

Behind Dimedes, monsters of similar appearance stood in formation.

"Are you truly a member of an organization of 'directors'? How? That skill is reminiscent of the accursed murderers of the Ten Towers…."

The old man fell silent. Even uttering that name felt like blasphemy.

Instead of recalling the unpleasant memory, he thought of ways to raise the ritual's completion level even higher.

"The blood of one so strong."

What a powerful offering, what a sweet wine it would become.

"I shall make that man the final drop of the ritual. Go! You patchwork rags of life! Bring that blood bag to me!"

At the command, the chimeras began to walk, slowly moving their twisted bodies.

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