LEGEND

Chapter 451

The scene unfolding before Rei’s eyes made him hold his breath.

It was the same for Elena and Set, who instinctively realised the danger of the abnormal species.

Naturally, the men had no idea they were being watch and focused their attention on the abnormal species.

Until a few minutes ago, they had been very wary of their surroundings, but right now, they were more wary of the abnormal species.

Even so, despite the fact that the Cactus Mimic was transforming into an abnormal species right in front of them, they didn’t make any moves to run away.

No, on the contrary, they were intently watching the Cactus Mimic as it transformed.

(What’s going on? Wasn’t the Levisor family the ones creating the abnormal species? Not only was evidence found, even a research lab was found, so there’s no doubt. The Levisor family has also already been overrun by the Silva family and the new family head doesn’t have the guts to rebel against Vosk……was that just a bluff or pretense?)

The abnormal species had stopped trashing about the desert, but it was still twitching about and in no condition to move.

No, that was probably why the men were observing it rather that running away.

While the three men discussed something among themselves, they turned to look at the Cactus Mimic that couldn’t move, as if to confirm something.

((Are they survivors from the Levisor family? It’s true that the researchers were killed by someone and it wasn’t possible to obtain information on how many there originally were, so it’s no wonder if there were survivors……but why would they bother to experiment with new abnormal species in this situation?)

Rei had his doubts on what was happening before him, but the reality remained the same.

On the other hand, Elena, who was next to Rei, had a rather understanding expression on her face.

(So it is that……after all. If Schaffner had been in charge of the whole affair with the abnormal species, it would have been too late for him to clean everything up. That means there is a third party. By chance, someone happened to be left at the attacked warehouse. They were left in an identifiable state and by coincidence they had relations with the Levisor family and had been fired just earlier as if matching the time of the attack. One or two coincidences is fine, but three in a row is rather a lot……)

With those thoughts in mind, the three of them watched the moment of the birth of an abnormal species……

The Cactus Mimic that had been thrashing about on the sand suddenly bounced up to a greater height than ever before.

Up to a height of 5m.

And, when it fell back down, it stopped moving completely.

It was as if that was the Cactus Mimic’s final death cry.

(What happened?)

Rei looked confused as he kept his eyes on the Cactus Mimic, which didn’t even twitch.

However, it seemed that the fact that the Cactus Mimic had stopped moving was unexpected even for the men and one of them clicked his tongue as he kicked the Cactus Mimic lying on the ground.

「Damn it, it couldn’t bear it.」

「Among the chaos seeds, the number 3 strain shouldn’t be that badly compatible with plant monsters. Was it just a really bad match for the Cactus Mimic or was it something else?」

「I think it’s something else. Cactus Mimics are a troublesome monsters, but mainly due to their mimicry and numbers. It’s not that strong individually.」

「That’s true……but even the Sword Bee, which is a lower rank, managed to produce……no, turn into an abnormal species. Considering that, I don’t think it’s a problem with the target species……」

「I don’t care which it is. Any how, this experiment has failed. Let’s get rid of the corpse and go back. If we spend too much time here, the higher ups with complain.」

「That’s right. It’s going to be troublesome if this gets found by the Silva family.」

One of the men nodded as he looked further out.

The desert looked the same as usual, but the men didn’t care as they reached for the legs of the Cactus Mimic……

Seeing that, Rei and Elena silently nodded at each other before jumping out from their hiding place.

They did so while trying to hide their footsteps, but even so, as they ran out into the open desert, there was no place to hide and the three men naturally noticed and quickly turned their attention towards them.

What they saw was two people approaching.

Furthermore, as one of them was holding a 2m long scythe, they quickly realised Rei’s identity.

It was the person who had caused them to cut off their relation with the Levisor family and someone with a title. That is to say……

「Crimson!? That’s impossible, why is he here!?」

One of the men shouted out in astonishment.

Hearing his shout, one of the other men brought himself back to reality and quickly turned his gaze to the dead Cactus Mimic lying on the ground……the corpse of a monster that had failed to become an abnormal species.

Ignoring the fact they had been found, the corpse could not be handed over to Rei.

Rei and Elena were running at them at a speed as if they were running along ordinary ground and not desert sand. Before the two of them could arrive, he turned his gaze to where he had been looking at before and stretched out his hand.

「Hey, we can’t let them get this! I’ll get rid of it immediately!」

「Y-Yeah! I understand!」

One of the men reached out to the Cactus Mimic with those words while the other stepped forward with a determined expression.

……Yes, forwards towards the approaching Rei.

「Hurry up! I’m confident in my own strength, but not enough to take him on seriously!」

「I know!」

To buy some time……even if just a second more, he drew the sword at his waist and rushed towards Rei and Elena.

As he had said earlier, he didn’t think he could do anything to Rei. He understood the difference in their strength.

But even if he couldn’t win, he could at least stall for time.

Or so he thought, but his thoughts were naive.

If Rei had been his only opponent, he might have been able to buy a few second by putting his life on the line. Unfortunately for the man however, Elena, the General Princess, was also at Rei’s side.

Their superiors naturally knew about Elena. However, they didn’t tell any of their men as they had judged that if Elena’s position became well known, there would be high probability that their existence would be exposed due to political issues.

That led to this fatal mistake.

「URAAAAAH-!」

The man ran across the sand with a shout to overcome the fear within himself.

His speed was much slower than Rei and Elena, but he still managed to close the distance to them……the next moment, he suddenly lost his balance and fell the the sand, rolling several meters.

His thighs, covered by leather armour, had been slashed by the sword whip in Elena’s hand, which had been turned into a whip with magic power.

With Elena’s skill, she could have slice the man in half, vertically or horizontally, in a single stroke. However, the reason she didn’t do that and just cut through his armour to the extent that he could no longer walk was to increase the number of people they could extract information from.

As the man rolled across the desert sand, he tried to prop himself up with his sword. However, Rei and Elena had already passed him by, heading for his companions.

「Damn it, Crimson’s gone! Hurry up!」

At that moment, the other two men heard his shout and tried to throw the Cactus Mimic, lifted by the both of them, towards their target location.

「GURURURURURU~!」

Set fell from the sky in a straight line like lightning, landing right before the men.

Although he had dived down like lightning, just before hitting the ground, Set flapped his wings, causing him to land without a sound or impact, as befitting an A rank monster. Turning his attention to the two men in front of him, he gave a threatening cry.

「GURURURURURURURURURURURURU~!」

Set didn’t just give an ordinary cry. He used one of his skills, King’s Awe. It was a skill that had the effect of frightening, cowering, and immobilising enemies who heard his cry.

「……Huh?」

「W-What……is this……」

The two men carrying the Cactus Mimic were struck by King’s Awe at close range and were unable to resist the trembling that came from deep within their bodies as they cowered where they stood.

Of course, since that happened, there was no way they could keep their hold on the Cactus Mimic which had mutated into a abnormal species……or rather had failed to mutate, and it fell to the ground.

「Well done, Set!」

Rei shouted out as he moved to Set’s side.

In his hands, the Death Scythe’s huge blade was held against their heads, ready to behead them if they did anything suspicious.

Beside him, Elena held her sword whip.

The men had been cornered to a dead end.

「Now then, I have a lot of questions for you. Of course, you’ll be honest with me, right?」

『……』

The two men were silent at Rei’s words, who asked as shook his Death Scythe.

They didn’t seem to be able to move their mouths, let alone their bodies, due to the effect of King’s Awe.

「What’s wrong? I’m sure you can still move your mouths even if you can’t move your bodies. Can’t you just answer my questions? You don’t want to get hurt, right?」

『……』

Rei asked again, but the men still didn’t open their mouths.

(Is it……because of their loyalty to their superiors? In that case, I would have no choice but to break them……well, how to do that? I think the safest thing to do would be to hand them over to the Silva family.)

Rei thought about what to do with the men in front of him.

He couldn’t let them go, but even if he captured them, it would be difficult to take three men out of the dungeon.

The quickest way would be to ask them for information here, but they stubbornly refused to do so.

Rei’s eyes caught the dead Cactus Mimic lying on the ground.

It’s body was so changed that someone who didn’t know might have thought of it as a rare species or higher ranking species of Cactus Mimic.

「It’s changed a lot from its original appearance. You said it was a chaos seed or something. The creation of abnormal species had been something the Levisor family was working on, but all the researchers in the lab were supposedly killed. In that case, are you survivors?」

One of the men’s cheeks twitched for a moment at Rei’s words.

「I see. It looks like you have nothing to do with them. Then, I can’t ignore it. How can I get you to talk? Do I have to hurt you?」

As Rei spoke, he swung the Death Scythe through the air to show them how sharp it was.

It was an outright threat, but it was Rei, known as Crimson, who was saying it……there were rumours that he had burned the entire vanguard of the Bestir Empire during the spring war, placing incredible pressure on the men.

If they didn’t do something, they would be forced to give up all the information they knew.

Knowing there was no way they could escape, the two men confirmed their intentions with each other by moving their eyes even though their bodies were still immobile. And……the next moment, they carried out the last resort they had with them.

「-!? Rei, stop them!」

「I got it!」

Seeing the look of determination in their eyes, Elena gave a sharp shout as Rei closed in on the men.

However, despite their physical prowess, it was impossible for them to react to the mens actions.

Gritting their back teeth, the two of them swallowed the poison that was hidden their.

The poison was intended for suicide and carried no pain. It quickly took effect, killing them.

By the time Rei and Elena reacted, both of the men were already convulsing. They attempted to force the poison out, but it was already too late.

The men, who were both dead from the painless poison, collapsed to the ground as their flames of life were extinguished. ……The man that Elena had wounded in the legs had likewise taken poison and was already dead.