Chapter 1129 - More Complicated Than First Assumed (Patreon)

Jake needed a moment to process what the Sovereign had just said. Looking toward where the B-grade bird was pointing, Jake was damn close to calling the Sovereign a damn lier as the Forest Fae being this close seemed too much of a coincidence, but he didn’t. Instead, he asked the B-grade to clarify.

“The most powerful B-grade you say... now why would the Forest Fae be in their domain? Are they allies? If so, why is the Forest Fae located in Area 1, and this other B-grade in Area 5?” Jake asked skeptically.

“To my knowledge, no, the two do not have a friendly relationship,” the Rainbowfeather Sovereign shook his head. “The Darkwood Chimera has always been a solitary creature. It’s not known to have formed any alliance or even positive relations with anyone. At the same time, the Chimera doesn’t invade others either, meaning no one dares bother it.”

Jake listened, also hearing the name of the B-grade in question. Jake hadn’t read up on any of the B-grades in Area 5, but seeing as Jake had been put on a direct collision course with this monster, he decided to check the Hunting Grounds Manual entry quickly.

“Darkwood Chimera. A mutated variant of the Darkwood creatures that were wiped out from the planet millennia ago. As one of the oldest B-grades and due to the power of its variant, this monster is considered the strongest B-grade on the planet. Engaging it in combat should be done with absolute caution. Is not known to be aggressive unless its domain is invaded. If successfully hunted, please report your kill to the nearest Outpost. No other information shall be provided, and good luck is wished to any who take up the challenge.”

This was one of the shortest entries to a monster that was recognized as likely the strongest B-grade. It wasn’t that surprising, though. Jake had noticed that information was scarce when it came to B-grades, likely because the Pantheon of Life didn’t want to give too much away. Walking into a fight with too much foreknowledge about your opponent when they didn’t know anything about you wasn’t very fair either, so Jake respected the lack of information.

What he didn’t respect was the Chimera, likely having decided to help the Forest Fae for some reason.

“This is annoying,” Jake muttered.

“It’s certainly outside my expectations,” the Rainbowfeather Sovereign also frowned. “From what I know, anything and anyone that dares enter the Chimera’s territory is promptly torn apart and consumed. I cannot comprehend why the Forest Fae would be an exception.”

“You know what she’s capable of better than I,” Jake said, turning to the B-grade. “Seeing as the Darkwood Chimera is technically a plant monster, does she perhaps have some kind of magic that’s super effective against it? Perhaps something allowing her to control or stay hidden from other monsters?”

“The Forest Fae primarily relies on illusion magic, mysticism, and nature magic. It’s possible she can hide and remain undetected while still staying on the island, but from the sound of mana, she is towards the center of the island... the same place there the Chimera lives,” the Sovereign answered, the rainbow-colored magic still lingering in the air from the ritual he had performed.

Jake considered matters for a moment before asking the B-grade bird again:

“How powerful is this Chimera? Have you ever fought it?”

“Yes, I have,” the Sovereign nodded. “About two decades ago, we had a clash. You might not know this, but occasionally, treasures spawn from beneath the lake and float to the surface, always sparking a conflict when that happens. Back then, I battled the Chimera and lost.”

“How badly did you lose?” Jake wondered.

The Sovereign took a moment before looking at Jake. “I envision a battle between you and me would end in a far more miserable loss.”

Jake raised an eyebrow at that answer as he was beginning to get an inkling of the Sovereign being up to something. “Almost sounds like you’re encouraging me to fight this Chimera.”

“Assuming the Forest Fae uses it as a shield, will you?”

“If she does, the two are gonna be fighting together. Perhaps I can defeat one of them, but both at once might be a tall order,” Jake said, doing a bit of hinting on his own. Also, to know if the Sovereign was planning what Jake thought he was planning.

The Sovereign was quiet for a moment, staring toward the island before speaking. “If the Chimera dies, and I’m involved with the kill, I will be recognized as the most powerful in not only this Area, but potentially the entire planet. The act would also hopefully help push me to where I can leave this Hunting Ground for good. Last but not least, I have no love for the Forest Fae, and seeing her slain alongside the Chimera would only bring me joy.”

Turning to Jake, the bird continued: “Of course, the benefits brought upon with their death cannot compare to the gains I would receive should I succeed in slaying you. But I have already resigned myself to that not happening, so yes, instead, I am looking to take advantage of your presence on this Hunting Ground to elevate myself.”

“At least you’re honest about it.” Jake couldn’t help but chuckle. “I hope you understand why I would be skeptical about fighting alongside you, though. You’ve shown yourself to be quite willing to ambush others if an opportunity arises. Also, from what I know, you Rainbowfeathers are quite notorious for holding grudges. Am I really to believe you won’t try to exact revenge if given the chance?”

“Do you know why we are a race that holds grudges?” the Sovereign answered Jake’s question with another question.

“Because you’re petty?”

“No. It’s for survival,” the Sovereign answered. “As you’ve no doubt noticed, the Rainbowfeather Songbirds are not exemplary on their own. At least not in C-grade. To make up for our weakness, we had to create a weapon that would make others hesitate to attack us in the first place, as we are fundamentally fragile compared to other monsters. Being a vengeful race has helped tremendously there, to the point it has become part of the Rainbowfeather Songbird Path.”

“See, you saying holding a grudge is part of your Path makes me more certain you’re gonna try to kick me in the head from behind should I ever turn my back,” Jake said.

“I just told you before. We do it for survival,” the Sovereign said. “If the grudge hampers survival, it goes against my Path far more. I already tried and failed to kill you. With that, I fulfilled my obligations and attempted to exact revenge. Moreover, the reason why my attempt failed lies with the Forest Fae, so if I bear any grudge now, it’s towards her.”

“Just the Forest Fae?” Jake asked. “How about all the other B-grades I killed?”

“You must know by now that the Forest Fae was the ringleader. They all followed her lead to slay you and potentially even me.” the Sovereign shook his head before looking directly at Jake.

“I have voiced my offer. I propose that rather than fight one another, we stand side by side to defeat the Chimera and the Forest Fae. Of course, should the Chimera not be involved with the Forest Fae at all, but just involuntarily involved, I shall leave and allow you to hunt her on your lonesome,” the B-grade proposed.

“Not gonna lie and say I don’t have some serious reservations... but sure,” Jake agreed to team up with the bird that had tried to kill him the last time they’d met.

“You have my word that I will not attack you,” the Sovereign said. “Even if you attack me first. I do want you to know that while you may hold reservations, so do I. But be aware that my involvement in this fight is not an invitation to turn your weapons toward me in the event of your victory.”

“Fine,” Jake waved off the B-grade. He would have liked to still fight the Sovereign, but he had to accept it wasn’t going to happen. Instead, he would have to find satisfaction in an impromptu team-up with a former enemy... though in truth, he didn’t really plan on making it a real team-up.

“To make matters easier for both parties, I propose we try to split the two apart and have our own individual fights,” Jake said. “I believe there is a high chance the Forest Fae has some magic that can interact positively with the Chimera, so if we keep them away from one another, we can avoid that. Moreover, if they have indeed formed an alliance, I would expect their teamwork to be far superior to ours. Finally, no need to worry about being ambushed if we aren’t side by side.”

Jake saw no need to voice the final reason he wanted to avoid fighting together with the Sovereign, as he saw no reason to explain his own skills to the bird. If he fought alone, he could still use Lone Hunter, which Jake seriously needed if he was to fight a B-grade, likely even stronger than the Sovereign.

Lone Hunter also boosted the effects of Big Game Hunter, and against a B-grade, the stat boost was quite meaningful. Not to say Jake would be unable to fight properly without Lone Hunter, but he would definitely be weaker.

“That sounds reasonable,” the Sovereign agreed. “The question is, who are you to fight, and who am I to battle?”

“I believe you care more about revenge than I do, and seeing as the Chimera is the strongest, I think the answer is clear,” Jake said smugly.

“The Chimera shall be yours, and I will keep the Forest Fae out of the way,” the Sovereign nodded. “I cannot guarantee my victory against the Fae, though. She is a tough opponent with many tricks. However, do not be concerned, for while I cannot guarantee I will kill her, she certainly will not be the one to kill me.”

“Well, everything’s planned out, then,” Jake said, cracking his neck. “Let’s go.”

“Indeed, there is no need to delay,” the Sovereign said as he began walking forward. “I have one proposal, though. My showing up there will be unusual, but not entirely unexpected. I can simply explain that I heard the sound of the Forest Fae’s mana and came to investigate. In the meantime, you can remain hidden and ready to strike once the situation is confirmed. If it turns out the Chimera is not allied with the Forest Fae, she shall meet a swift death at our hands.”

Jake didn’t argue, but nodded. Though deep inside, he definitely hoped that the Chimera would actually be allied with the Forest Fae. Facing the most powerful B-grade on the planet sounded like a damn good time, and Chimeras tended to be pretty interesting and even powerful opponents, though it was hard to tell from just the name alone.

Chimeras were more a classification of monsters than anything. A Chimera was just the combined form of several beasts, and this one was apparently even made out of wood, going by its name. Though considering it was still a Chimera, Jake was fully prepared to meet some weird combination between flesh and wood squashed into one.

Heading off with the Sovereign, the two of them flew the relatively short distance over to the island of the Chimera. There were still around five thousand kilometers separating each island from one another, with every island being a few hundred kilometers in radius at their smallest.

As they flew, Jake entered stealth but let the Sovereign be aware of where Jake was. Due to how Unseen Hunter worked, Jake simply informing the Sovereign where he was made his skill ineffective on the B-grade, something that confused the bird quite a bit, but Jake refused to elaborate on how his stealth skill worked.

Soon enough, the island entered sight, the Sovereign speeding up as Jake went skywards in case he would have to start blasting. In preparation to face the Sovereign, Jake had neglected to make an Eternal Hunter Protean Arrow as he planned on fighting the B-grade without it, but during their flight, Jake used some time to prepare a non-Eternal Hunger Protean Arrow. It would make his opening strike weaker than it could be, but that was just something he would have to live with.

When they got within the boundaries of the island, Jake began to really feel the aura of the monster that lived there. Its presence has soaked into the environment itself, the entire jungle teeming with its energy signature. This jungle was also different from any of the prior ones. It was a lot less green and instead had far more muted colors, the influence of a creature with Darkwood in its name clear.

From this, Jake instantly recognized that this Chimera used dark and life affinities, perhaps a combination of the two. A type of opponent Jake likely hadn’t met before, which already made him look forward to what came next.

Watching from afar, they reached further and further into the island. Occasionally, the Sovereign let out a soft clicking sound as a bit of rainbow-colored light was emitted from his body, and based on how he slightly corrected his course after each one, Jake assumed he was continually checking for the Forest Fae’s location using his weird sound magic.

It didn’t take long before they approached the center of the island. Jake detected what was coming before the Sovereign did, but made no attempts to say anything to keep the illusion of the Sovereign being alone going. Besides, two seconds later, the Sovereign stopped abruptly, feeling the presence moving through the jungle below.

A few more seconds later, the Darkwood Chimera showed itself. From the jungle, a large creature emerged, approximately ten meters from head to toe. The Chimera reminded Jake a bit of a dog at first with how it had four legs, but its head was more akin to that of an alligator, and what was more disturbing was its almost barrel-shaped mid-section.

The entire stomach region looked like it was made of twisted flesh and wood that had been forced together and spun around a spool. What’s more, this section pulsed every few moments, the bark-covered flesh contracting and expanding unnaturally.

In summary, it was a four-legged creature with eighty percent of its body mass comprising the barrel-shaped midsection, with four legs and a head sticking out of it. There was also a tail, but it was obviously just one of the fleshy wood bits that looked to have temporarily escaped the tangled nightmare.

Using Identify, Jake confirmed this was indeed the one they had come looking for.

[Darkwood Chimera – lvl ???]

This creature floated up and regarded the Sovereign as it spoke, its voice sounding monotone and genderless, as if someone had changed the void to anonymize it. “Rainbowfeather Sovereign. Why have you invaded my domain?”

The Sovereign, not intimidated in the slightest despite how grotesque the other B-grade looked, crossed his arms and answered. “Invaded? Oh, it must be my misunderstanding. I thought you were having a get-together, seeing as the Forest Fae is allowed here.”

“You are here for the Fae?” the Chimera asked, its voice genuinely giving Jake horrible vibes.

“Yes,” the Sovereign answered without missing a beat.

“I see. Yes, she came to me and informed me of what has been happening in Area 1. In return, I allowed her to stay. But seeing as you are here now... you can have her. She’s fulfilled her purpose,” the Chimera said, throwing Jake and the Sovereign off. “In turn, have the hunter reveal himself.”

The Chimera looked toward the sky, not seeing Jake, but clearly suspecting he was there. The Sovereign was already perplexed why the Chimera was acting as it was, and he was even more confused with what the B-grade said next... while Jake suddenly realized this monster was more complicated than he’d first assumed.

“Show yourself, hunter... no... I should call you the Chosen of the Malefic One.”

Jake suddenly felt something was off with his last Identify, and while he usually limited the skill to just basic information to limit the risk of his Identify being noticed, this time he tried to see everything he could, which certainly complicated the situation further.

[Darkwood Chimera – lvl ??? – Lesser Blessing of ???]