The moment the Mirage Chimera landed, the very world around them all shook violently.

The impact of its landing cracked the ever-changing stone underfoot, and a shockwave of elemental chaos surged outward.

From waves of fire that was only slightly weaker than Albedo’s crimson apocalypse flames, to vicious bursts of lighting, clouds of frost and more all rippled from the Chimera’s body.

Even the very air distorted as it exhaled, each breath bending the light around it. The monstrous being stood nearly three stories tall, its chimera body an amalgamation of every nightmare Albedo had faced thus far.

One limb pulsed with frost, claws glinting like jagged icicles. Another was wrapped in molten fire, dripping embers onto the earth that ignited into miniature infernos.

Its hind legs radiated desert heat, warping the ground it stepped on into dry, cracked sand. Its tail flickered like a storm-cloud, every twitch a threat of thunder and ruin.

And its head, or more correctly its many heads, were much worse.

One was a skeletal dragon’s skull cloaked in shadows and frost, exhaling cold mist with every breath.

Another was a lion’s head wreathed in golden lightning, eyes sparking like miniature stars. The third was a twisted, abstract mask of light and illusion, its gaze enough to distort perception.

Ember neighed, hooves sparking wildly, her flames already rising in preparation for battle. While the Chimera was terrifying, she was an ancient celestial beast for a reason, she didn’t fear any other monster, instead inviting the challenge.

“Stay with me,” Albedo muttered, drawing a slow breath as the air warped around them.

~BOOOOOM!~

The Chimera didn’t wait.

A single stomp from its back leg cracked the field beneath them. The land warped, frost blooming under its right paw, flames under its left. It launched forward with a roar that shattered the surrounding clouds.

Albedo barely activated his Mirage Body in time, illusions scattering in every direction as the Chimera swiped a massive claw through where he’d just been.

The illusions burst under the pressure of the swing, and he ducked beneath another strike, rolling and firing Havoc in Infernal Mode mid-slide.

~BOOM!~

The crimson shot struck the Chimera’s midsection, and did almost nothing. Albedo wondered if he had even hit, since the Chimera didn’t even react, just robotically turning its head to his true form.

Its body flared, and fire rippled up its spine, absorbing the attack before retaliating with a tail lash. Albedo jumped, just avoiding being crushed as the ground exploded behind him.

Ember flared into motion.

She galloped wide, avoiding the Chimera’s line of sight and launching twin trails of her white-blue corrosive flame in a spiral toward its flank.

The flames reached, but the Chimera turned. Its wind-infused horn glowed, summoning a burst of razor gales that shredded the fire and knocked Ember back, her hooves skidding across the fractured ground.

~ROAR!~

The lion’s head roared, and lightning exploded from its mane in all directions. Albedo activated his Ethereal Armor’s Phase Step rune, blinking just as a bolt annihilated the space where he stood.

He reappeared atop a jutting stone platform, breath ragged.

“This is bad,” he muttered, eyes locked on the Chimera’s movements.

It wasn’t just powerful. It was intelligent. Coordinated. Every limb and head moved independently, reacting with terrifying precision.

At his current level, he could barely see the openings for attacks. He needed to make one himself, or else he’d eternally be on the back foot, dead before the Mirage cracks.

“Ember!” Albedo shouted, using his Voice of Beasts, the command slicing through the chaos, “Flank it from the left, force its fire aspect to rotate!”

She responded instantly, charging wide in a blur of flames. The Chimera turned to meet her, shifting its lion head to track the motion. That opened a moment, small, but real.

Albedo fired three rapid Graviton Slugs into the Chimera’s left knee.

The space warped, just enough and the Chimera staggered slightly, shifting weight,

~CRASH!~

Albedo leapt high, twisting mid-air, both pistols blazing in Infernal and Mana-Drain Modes. The explosions detonated point-blank against the illusion aspect’s mask. The Mirage face flickered, fractures appeared in its smooth surface.

Then a pulse of psychic mana screamed outward, and Albedo was thrown back like a ragdoll, skidding across the ground, ribs crunching against stone.

“Ahh fuck,” Albedo muttered as he landed, quickly trying to stabilize himself before he was ran down and killed.

~KRA-KOOM!~

Meanwhile, Ember galloped in from behind, launching a massive plume of corrosive flame straight into the Chimera’s desert limb.

This time, it burned. It hissed. The chimera shrieked, one of its heads spinning 180 degrees to track Ember.

Then the frost head opened its jaws.

~WHOOOOOM!~

A blizzard of soul-chilling wind surged outward. Ice coated Ember’s legs instantly, locking her movement. She whinnied in pain, but still burned, igniting her flames full-force to melt the frost before it could spread.

“NEIGHHH!” With a defiant cry, Ember reared back on her hind legs and slammed her forehooves down with a concussive blast of flames. The explosion shattered the creeping ice around her, sending glittering shards in every direction.

“Atta girl,” Albedo coughed, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

His ribs throbbed violently with each breath as his senses were distorted, yet he still gripped Havoc and Ruin tightly, matching up with Ember as he unleashed barrages of shots.

The Chimera meanwhile, quickly continued to pounce forward. It tanked two shots to its legs, causing it to roar as the shots combined with Ember’s flames, quickly corroding it and landing the first real injury of the fight.

“ROARRRRR!” The Chimera didn’t take too kindly to that however, igniting its limbs with molten lava as it stomped towards Ember.

She leapt away, just barely, but even her incredible speed couldn’t fully outrun the blast wave. The explosion that followed sent her tumbling across the battlefield, her body rolling like a burning comet.

“EMBER!”

Albedo’s voice cracked from strain. The Chimera turned its lion head toward him, charging a roar of lightning once more.

He braced himself and blinked, the lightning tearing through his afterimage, cracking the platform behind it into molten rubble.

He reappeared behind the Chimera, staggering as he landed and fired off.

~BANG~BANG~BANG!~

Infernal bullets fired with deadly precision into the Chimera’s desert leg once more, aiming to hobble it. Ember had already softened that limb and the damage was piling up.

~CRACK!~

The Chimera’s frost limb spun like a hammer, and Albedo quickly dodged, rolling closer to Ember who was still recovering, but the Chimera wasn’t done, sending another attack his way that caught him in his side.

Pain exploded through his body and he crashed into a cliff wall with a sickening thud, the impact shaking the ledge he’d landed on.

He coughed, a splatter of red dripping down his chin, “My ribs are definitely fucked,” he muttered to himself as he saw the blood and looked forward.

The Chimera didn’t give him a moment.

It came, like a tempest, but Albedo quickly moved, spotting Ember coming his way and mounting her, just barely dodging the attack.

Ember was very slowed, but her flames still burnt bright, every step leaving corrosive flames that blocked the Chimera’s path temporarily.

All the while Albedo lay on her back and unleashed attack after attack, trying to damage the vicious beast in any way.

He had landed hits, especially to the exposed leg, but that wasn’t enough, the Chimera would continuously either warp the environment or create elemental shields to block the attacks.

And even if the attack hit, he’d need multiple to truly deal big damage.

“Damn it… damn it…” Albedo muttered, gripping Havoc and Ruin with shaking fingers as he continued firing.

He couldn’t keep going like this. The Chimera, despite its many cracks, its burns, its twisted illusion face and melted limbs, was still strong.

“Ember,” he said softly.

She turned to him, while running, fire in her eyes. Even injured, even staggering, she stood like a wall between him and the storm.

“I need you to buy me ten seconds,” he whispered, coming off of her.

She neighed, blood on her lips, and turned toward the Chimera once more. She charged. A reckless, blazing, celestial missile of flame.

The Chimera roared, all of its heads turning in sync, every element building in its limbs, tail, and maw.

And behind her,

Albedo stood, “Execution Mode,” he muttered, Havoc and Ruin merging. He could barely stand, his legs aching, yet he forced himself up and aimed the rifle.

~KRAK!~

The first shot tore through the Chimera’s wind horn. It cracked, disrupting its aerial dominance. Albedo shifted again, analyzing, reading. The illusion aspect was still glitching. The lightning head was charging a blast.

He needed more time. He fired a second Execution shot, not at the Chimera.

At the sky.

The shot pierced the swirling clouds above, pulling light down. A mirage echo of a sunbeam formed, disorienting the illusion mask’s sensors. The Chimera blinked, confused for a split second.

And in that second, Ember struck.

She surged forward, hooves coated in flame, and reared. Her front legs crashed down on the frost-limb, cracking the joints, sending shards of frost flying.

The Chimera’s body twisted, wild and flailing.

Then its tail struck Ember.

~BOOOOOM!~

She was hurled across the battlefield, crashing through two floating boulders and tumbling into a crater.

“EMBER!”

Albedo’s voice cracked.

She rose slowly, wounded, blood trickling down her side. Her breathing was labored, but she wasn’t down. Not yet, her sheer will keeping her up.

Albedo’s eyes narrowed. Something flared in him.

The Chimera charged again, and Albedo didn’t dodge.

He ran toward it. At the last second, using Mirage Body again, then dropped down low, sliding under the Chimera’s frost claw.

~BANG!~

A single shot, point-blank into the fire-limb’s elbow. A spark ignited.

~BOOM!~

The limb erupted outward, the prior attacks doing just enough to weaken the joint.

The Chimera roared in pain, stumbling.

Now, now was the moment.

Albedo and Ember moved in tandem. Wounded or not, Ember returned to his side, flames roaring as her aura burned hotter than ever. The temperature surged, clashing against the storm-soaked terrain.

“Last shot,” Albedo muttered.

Execution Mode flared.

The targeting rune locked on, to the illusion mask.

~KRAK-BOOM!~

The final round spiraled through the air, curved, twisted through dimensions, and struck the Mirage face.

At the same time, Ember unleashed her final attack, barely standing as she poured all her power into an intense barrage of corrosive flames directly at the Chimera.

As both attacks hit, cracks spread across the Chimera’s mask

~SHATTER!~

The illusion aspect broke, distorting violently. The remaining heads screamed in unison as Ember’s flames ran rampant, using the destroyed limb to find their way into the Chimera’s body and corrode it from within, spreading to every inch and burning.

Then the world exploded.

The Chimera thrashed, elemental chaos erupting from every limb and wound. Lightning poured like rain. Frost formed into storms. Fire bled from the ground.

And Albedo stood in the center of it.

He closed his eyes, felt the chaos, read the pattern.

Then moved.

He jumped, flipped, spun mid-air, and fired Havoc and Ruin simultaneously.

Graviton + Infernal.

He pulled the Chimera inward, forced it to collapse on itself, just as Ember released her final breath weapon. The flames struck the Chimera’s exposed heart-core.

And it screamed, like something ancient and powerful had been denied. Its body unraveled, and the Mirage finally broke into nothingness.

And when the storm passed, there was only ash.

Albedo collapsed to one knee, and then just collapsed fully, his chest heaving as he breathed. Ember laid beside him, both of them injured and exhausted.

The satchel at his waist pulsed gently.

The Leviathan… was still safe, but barely. So much time had passed, and the battle with the Chimera had cracked the orb’s surface, which didn’t help things at all.

Albedo doubted it could survive for another 10 hours, but he rose up, crawling and stumbling his way to the edge of a cliff that appeared after he won the battle.

He rose, slowly, lifting a hand to the edge of the cliff that had formed from the storm’s passing.

Below?

A lake.

Still. Dark. Crackling with black lightning and violet energy.

The Black Thunder Pool.

They had made it.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep