Chapter 186: Seafood Fusion Kaisen-Oh!!!

Even with lop-ears, she doesn't just have big ears for show. Acting as an excellent radar, Emul guided me straight toward Araba. There were a few times we were almost spotted by Mermaids, but we managed to avoid a situation where we'd reunite with Araba while dragging a whole train of monsters behind us.

"So, we managed to meet up with Araba, but..."

"Oh, Sunraku! You're awake! If so, I could use a hand here!"

Ah, yeah, that's fine. I'll help, I'll totally help.

But I'm having a little trouble comprehending the monster standing right in front of us... uh, what is this? It's a little over two meters tall, but its shape is bizarre.

"Uh, what is this?"

"It's probably a Chimera desu wa...!"

"A Chimera?"

When you hear Chimera, you usually think of that super-hybrid monster mixed with a lion, a goat, a snake, and whatever else. In Japanese terms, you'd think of the Nue. Wait, doesn't a Cockatrice count as a Chimera? It's a pretty complicated monster category, but they generally share the trait of being "a single organism possessing elements of multiple creatures."

It's a pretty big-name monster in fantasy, but... is it really okay to classify that as a Chimera?

"Curse you, using my beloved blade in such a manner...!"

On its Right Arm, a sharp sword that seemed to belong to a swordfish.
On its Left Arm, a rock... no, that's an oyster. It has an oyster shell attached like a shield.
On its Right Leg, a tentacle... the suction cups are arranged differently from an octopus, so it's probably a squid tentacle.
On its Left Leg, a crustacean's limb, specifically the slender leg you'd see on a crab.

All these jumbled parts were connected to a torso made of semi-transparent gel, and in place of a head, a thick chunk of coral sprouted from atop its neck. Yes, it was, so to speak...

"Seafood Fusion Kaisen-Oh...!"

I don't know why, but if you threw that whole thing on a charcoal grill, it looks like it would be incredibly delicious! Ah, but maybe the crab leg would be better simply boiled rather than grilled. Well, it's basically the same thing as the rotten fish paste, so it's rotting anyway.

Actually, between the squishy gel in the center and those thin, semi-transparent cord-like things connecting the limbs, is it possible... no, it's incredibly hard to believe, but is the base a jellyfish?

Did a Chimera Jellyfish gain a humanoid form due to Ctarrnid's power, resulting in that grotesque Tokusatsu robot-looking appearance...?

"Squid tentacles, crab legs, a swordfish horn, an oyster shell, and a jellyfish sprouting coral...?"

"Chimeras can add whatever they eat to their own bodies desu wa!"

"Ah, I see."

In other words, last night's dinner is directly reflected on its body. Talk about zero privacy. Wait, so it's not a specific species called "Chimera," but rather treated as a type of mutation?

No, whatever, that doesn't matter right now. The problem is the reason Araba is so pissed off—the condition of his "beloved blade" that Kaisen-Oh has absorbed.

"That positioning, dangling right below the navel, between both thighs..."

"It's a d*ck desu wa!?"

"Idiot, a girl shouldn't be shouting things like that out loud!"

"My beloved blade is not a shameful body part!!"

Is it supposed to be a "Look at my Excalibur (crotch)" kind of thing? If Pencilgon were here, she would absolutely be dying of laughter right now... that guy drops dirty jokes pretty frequently, after all.

"Even so, it's actually attached in a pretty annoying spot... ah, no, I'm talking about the combat difficulty."

To pull that thing out, you'd have to stand directly in front of him. If it was growing out of his ass, there'd be plenty of chances to rip it out, but since it's facing completely forward...

"I'll ask just in case, but you're not planning on giving up, right?"

"Of course not! S-Such... such treatment is absolutely unforgivable! No, I absolutely will not forgive it!!"

Alright, then we need to put together a Kaisen-Oh subjugation strategy. That being said, the strategy is extremely simple: beat the shit out of it!

"Alright, let's charge in!"

"Yes sir, desu wa!"

It might be multi-functional, but it's just a Merman at the end of the day. Its durability is probably around the same as mine, if not lower. The tentacle attacks and the swordfish horn on its right arm need to be watched out for, but it's not an overwhelmingly terrifying enemy!

"Drop dead!"

Gripping the Aspiring Blades of the Hero—Duxram—in both hands, I leaped at Kaisen-Oh. Slicing through the air in a perfectly straight line, my blade slammed into the Oyster Shield. The slight numbness echoing in my hands cleanly transmitted the shield's sturdiness, and on the backswing, the swordfish blade aimed straight for my torso.

"Guh...!"

"Sunraku-san!?"

Damn it, it grazed me. I thought I dodged it, but my timing must have been slightly off. Still, when you're Level 99, even half-naked you have a decent amount of HP.
Besides, in this game, how you hit and how you get hit is far more important than the raw numbers being processed. A scratch like this can be completely ignored.

"Emul, aim for the torso."

"【Magic Edge】!!"

A blade of magical power slammed into Kaisen-Oh's torso, and Kaisen-Oh let out a scream. It was a completely indescribable sound. It doesn't have vocal cords, so is the creaking of its body just sounding like a voice?

"So the main body really is the jellyfish part in the center... Charge up a spell focused entirely on firepower, leave the maneuvering and positioning to me!"

"Yes sir, desu wa!"

"Araba! You work too, handle the aggro!"

"Leave it to me!"

Even though it has a misshapen humanoid form, it spawned as a monster, so it seems to have at least enough intelligence to swing the swordfish blade and block with the Oyster Shield.

Furthermore, those jellyfish tentacles connecting the limbs to the legs and torso are pretty concerning. From time immemorial, jellyfish monsters have always possessed poison.

If it was just normal poison, that would be one thing, but if it was paralyzing poison... something that inflicted the "Paralysis" status effect, it would be an absolute nightmare. With paper-thin armor like mine, if my movements get sealed, I could die in a single combo in the worst-case scenario.

"Guuu... Acting so insolent despite being nothing more than a failed imitation of life given form by Ctarrnid's power!"

It's not exactly a master swordsman. It feels more like its biological instincts are being forcibly artificially boosted, most likely padding out the arm's inherent muscle strength by wrapping jellyfish tentacles around it.

That's why it can forcibly make its body keep up with sudden reactions. But at the end of the day, it's just a mob monster. It might be a rare monster, but its movements are full of openings. There's no way it can string those reflex movements together consecutively.

"So the neck... is just for show. In that case, the target definitely has to be the torso, but... that sword and shield are really annoying."

Activating my skills, I boosted my stats and dashed forward. Even while feeling that lingering friction—as if the back of my collar was being tugged—I rapidly closed the distance to Kaisen-Oh in a single breath.

"I'm gonna spin, Emul, hold on tight...!"

I intentionally directed my attack toward its left side, and exactly as expected, Duxram's attack was deflected, but it forced the auto-guard to proc.

Using my forward-stepping right foot as an axis, I spun my body to the left. Bending my waist and ducking low, I slipped past Kaisen-Oh's left side—slipping right under the Oyster Shield—and circled around to its back.

"Ugh, gross!"

They're squirming! The tentacles! The tentacles! And the fact that they're rotting just makes it infinitely worse!!

"I really want to take a bath after this... but I'm mincing you first!"

Activating Continuous Flash Dance. Three slashes were appended to a single swing, and the skill and damage effects scattered violently.

Kaisen-Oh tried to turn around toward me since I had taken its back, but in the very next second, it took a full-body, completely unarmed full-swing punch from Araba directly to its torso, forcing it into hitstun. While its aggro frantically scrambled back and forth, even as the skill's effect ended, I continued relentlessly piling on attacks.

Every time my slashes tore through the rotten gel, sticky, slimy chunks splattered and stuck to me. Endure it, Emul. If you scream right here, the whole thing goes to waste.

"You're a deceptively tough bastard..."

But at the end of the day, it's just a mob monster. Its attention is way too scattered. The biggest threat here isn't me or Araba, but Emul, who's been steadily assembling a guaranteed-kill strike.

"No matter how rusty I am, there's no way I'm getting hit by that... Emul, do it."

A full-power overhead swing with so much torsion you'd think the rotting, massive body was going to literally rip itself apart. An attack that would instantly flatten both me and Emul if it connected, but an attack that doesn't hit is worse than a glancing blow.

A rotting fish paste obviously doesn't possess the delicate technique required to adjust the trajectory of its slash mid-swing. With plenty of time to spare, I even struck a victory pose as the swordfish blade whistled right past me and smashed into the ground.

I stepped firmly on the blade as it tried to yank it back out, staring straight at Kaisen-Oh—though I had no idea where its eyes actually were.
It's not like I had any personal vendetta against Kaisen-Oh. I simply cleared the line of fire.

"【Magic Edge】!!"

Add Spell—a technique used before casting an attack spell to boost its power. The proportionally enlarged blade of magical power slammed directly into Kaisen-Oh's torso, into the jellyfish section that served as its main body.

The rotting gel was torn open and pierced entirely through by the magical power. The gel tentacles wrapped around its entire body writhed violently, its limbs locked up, and finally, as if its limbs had simply detached, it crumbled and collapsed into a grotesque heap.

A disgusting jelly wrapper. Even the British would shy away from this thing.

"What about your weapon?"

"Oh, oh! It's safe! It's safe!"

I only just realized this now, but that thing dangling from its crotch... wasn't it basically being eaten starting from the hilt? In other words, if we had found it just a little later, it might have turned into a Kaisen-Oh equipped with the abilities of Araba's beloved blade.

"I will never let you go again! Ah, yes, exactly, I will never repeat this same mistake twice...!"

"Aren't you a little too invested in a single weapon...?"

Look at our Duxram-kun over here. He's been worked to the bone ever since his Marsh Dagger days, you know?

The slightly slimy single-edged sword... Well, it's a katana, but given its size, it's practically a greatsword. That thing is easily as big as some lower-tier greatswords.

When I inadvertently muttered that to Araba, who looked like he was about to start rubbing his cheeks against his weapon, Araba seemed to realize something and thrust the greatsword out to show me.

"Ah, right, my introductions were delayed. Sunraku, this is my partner, 'Grand Strait'... and the Existence dwelling within it, Nereid."

"............Hello."

"Veehh?"

Something just came out of the swoooooooord!?

Author's Afterword

• Chimera
  A monster possessing the characteristics of multiple organisms. However, in the world of ShanFro, it is an extremely rare biological mutation, and strictly speaking, cannot be defined as a proper species. Therefore, Goblin Chimeras exist, and Jellyfish Chimeras also exist.

As Emul explained in the main story, by undergoing predation and ingestion, they reflect the cellular information of their prey onto themselves. However, they cannot absorb or increase parts outside of "the organs inherently possessed by the monster that serves as the Chimera's base."
In other words, a Shark Chimera eating four other sharks will not turn into a Five-Headed Jaws.

In Kaisen-Oh's case, the base was a "Re-Doll Jellyfish," a truly baffling creature that attaches larvae it produces to the tips of its tentacles and manipulates them semi-automatically. Therefore, swordfish heads and oyster shells grew out of its tentacles (limbs).

What's that? An ecology of "reflecting what it eats onto itself" sounds familiar?

...Among certain organisms, there are monsters that have permanently fixed the Chimera trait at a species level—a trait that is normally only a single-generation occurrence and is not passed down to offspring. The Crystal Scorpion is one such example.