Surviving as a Villain at the Academy - Surviving as a Villain at the Academy chapter 160

160 – Dungeon Exploration. (6)

His vision was red. Not just red, but as if it had been painted with blood. The wizard realized then that the procedure had been a success.

[Success, is it success……!]

He trembled with ecstasy. There was no need to care about how strange his voice was. It didn’t matter if he had become a monster. As long as he was alive, as long as his knowledge remained intact.

Then he would be able to achieve his purpose.

His body was filled with energy. He could feel his heart pounding and fresh blood flowing through his body. The feeling of weakness and decrepitude that had made him feel like he would collapse at any moment had completely disappeared.

He raised his head and looked at his body.

A monstrous body. It was only natural, since he had become one with the demon. He had replaced every part of his body except his head, including his heart.

The human body, combined with the supple demon’s head and limbs, was functioning perfectly with a strange vitality. It was a result that could be called nothing short of a miracle.

Yet his reason was clear. Of course, it wasn’t without interference. The thoughts of the demon that had been used as material were trying to invade his reason. Perhaps that was why the previous experiments had failed.

[Indeed. Is that why it failed? A miscalculation. I should have used a human with a strong spirit as the test subject. Then I wouldn’t have had to rush things so much…… What a pity.]

But he didn’t care. The thoughts of a mere demon were nothing more than fireflies before the sun in front of his mental strength, which had been honed through a lifetime of studying the dark arts.

He crushed the demon’s thoughts with his mind and then shuddered with ecstasy.

[Heh heh…… hahahahaha!]

Letting out a mad laugh, he thought of the bright future ahead of him. Eternal life. And the pinnacle of the dark arts. Because he had managed to catch both rabbits.

But he did not know. That monsters who would shatter his bright future to pieces had set foot in his comfortable cradle of dark magic.

* * *

“Ugh, this is disgusting……”

At Johan’s mutter, everyone in the group nodded. Of course. If the dungeon wasn’t disgusting, what would be?

“It definitely smells like a demon. And…… something rotten.”

Lina and Nea, who were sensitive to stench, also wrinkled their noses. Even though they were always carrying corpses around and should be quite used to the smell of death, the stench inside the dungeon was no joke.

Even I was forcibly blocking my sense of smell. If I kept smelling it, I felt like my nose would go numb.

“Indeed…… This seems to be quite a dangerous dungeon.”

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Even Adrian, who had suffered countless hardships in the Holy Kingdom, felt a sense of crisis in this dungeon, so that said something. Choosing this dungeon was quite a good choice.

The problem was, as always, the existence of variables. The strange ominous feeling I had felt ever since entering the dungeon.

Perhaps there might be a mad wizard. Most of the things that had happened to me since I fell into this world had turned out that way.

Since there was no easy way, I spoke to Asti through telepathy.

-Asti.

-Yes.

-There might be a wizard. They’re probably just watching for now, but if the situation gets dangerous…… I’ll ask you for help.

-Don’t worry. He’s just a human wizard who can make low-level chimeras at best.

-Even so, you never know. Adrian and I will be fine, but…… the others might not know how to deal with chimeras.

-I’ll keep that in mind.

-Good.

“Is there anything else being caught by the detection spell? Traps or demons?”

““No. Not yet.””

Diana and Aris answered in unison at my question.

“It seems there are no traps…… Let’s go in a little further for now.”

As soon as we took a step, Aris and Diana’s expressions hardened. Asti’s did too.

“There’s something there.”

“Ruslan.”

At the words that something was there, Ruslan and I held up our swords and took a stance. A chimera was an existence that you didn’t know how it would attack. It was a composite of various demons, so its attack method would naturally be quite unique.

And just as Aris and Diana had detected, just a little further ahead, a group of chimeras appeared, filling the narrow passage to the brim.

Demonic creatures of hell were already twisted in shape, but chimeras were several times more gruesome.

-aaah――!

Its head was hideously twisted, and its limbs were distorted and warped, as if they had been forcibly attached from different demons.

As if flesh had been mashed together and forcibly connected, numerous forelegs or hands of various demons were clumped together, forming a grotesque shape.

Its head, which was unclear whether it was a wolf or not, was half-fused with a human head, letting out a sorrowful cry.

It was such a gruesome sight that even someone with a strong stomach would vomit at once.

“……What a nasty taste.”

“It seems that the author, the master of the dungeon, has also conducted human experiments.”

However, the members gathered here were people who had experienced all sorts of hardships. There wasn’t a single person who was so weak-hearted that they would scream at the gruesome visuals.

No, rather, they only burned with anger at the sight of a human and a demon combined.

There were things that people could do, and there were things that they couldn’t do. And what the master of this dungeon had done was clearly the latter.

“How dare you do such a thing. Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment?”

Adrian’s expression darkened. However, I could feel extreme anger from her. Adrian was someone whose basic nature was close to absolute good. For her to see such a thing, the magnitude of her anger was unimaginable.

She pulled out Deus’ Judgment and wrapped her body in divine power.

-Kyaaah!

-aaah!

And with that as a signal, numerous chimeras moved their arms and legs abominably and charged at us.

It wasn’t just that chimeras had appeared in front of us. The same was true behind us. They were running like mad to devour us after sensing the presence of a living creature.

However… well.

They weren’t that threatening. It was true that the chimeras’ attacks were irregular, and they were so strong that an ordinary knight would be crushed right away.

Look. That arm, which was formed by combining numerous arms and looked like a giant’s arm. Would the knights’ swords be able to withstand that arm as it swung around in this narrow passage? Even a sword imbued with magic probably wouldn’t have been able to properly wound that chimera.

However, the party I had gathered now had long surpassed the skills of ordinary knights. Ruslan, in particular, cut off that giant’s arm as if he were cutting tofu and then struck the chimera’s neck.

“Be careful!”

But why were chimeras called chimeras? A chimera was something that combined various demons, bringing together the characteristics of those demons in one place. Naturally, there were also individuals with extreme regenerative abilities.

The one whose neck Ruslan had cut off was such a creature, but I didn’t intervene, simply warning him to be careful. You never know when you’ll have to respond to a variable.

Of course, there was no way that Ruslan would lose to such a chimera.

-Oooooh!

Splash!

He literally cut the chimera, which had regenerated and was swinging an unknown part of its body around, in half and burned its body with magic power.

Swish.

The chimera burned and couldn’t even regenerate. However, the battle was only just beginning. Ruslan continued to swing his sword busily.

I slowly blocked or cut down the ones approaching me while silently watching how the party was fighting. I felt like a kind of coordinator.

I gave a little support to those who were in danger. I deliberately guided chimeras to those who were fighting well. The party didn’t notice my actions as they fought desperately. Only Asti seemed to be aware of it.

Asti also didn’t intervene much in the battle under my direction. She took on a similar role to mine, keeping a close eye on Aris and Diana. As a magician, she would know much better than I did how the two of them were fighting.

Diana and Aris were intercepting the parts of the chimeras that were attacking them with pinpoint accuracy, making it easier for Lina and Nea’s servants to deal with the chimeras.

They seemed to be fully aware that the party could be swept away in the narrow passageway.

His main attribute is fire. After watching Ruslan burn the chimera with magic earlier, it seemed that they had realized that they didn’t have much resistance against fire.

Also, Adrian was mercilessly swinging Deus’ Judgment, crushing the chimeras to the point where they couldn’t even regenerate.

Of course, it wasn’t like there were no dangerous situations at all. No matter how experienced the party was, dangerous situations would naturally arise from time to time.

The chimeras were literally the embodiment of irregularity, so it was impossible to predict how they would attack.

However, with my support and Asti’s, the party was able to handle the chimera group safely.

By the way, Ruslan’s growth was surprising even to me. Sure enough, what I felt during our last sparring session might not have been in vain.

He was blocking all sorts of variables and steadily cutting down the chimeras.

Before long, the passage was cleared and filled with the corpses of the burned chimeras.

However, that was just the beginning.

As we cleared the narrow passage and moved forward, we came across a huge cavity.

……Just how big is this dungeon?

And as always, when a huge cavity appears in a dungeon.

It meant that great danger was lurking.

As expected.

Red eyes flashed in the darkness. Hundreds of them.

……Damn. It seems that all the demons that overflowed during the Great Demon Wave have been turned into chimeras.