The valley erupted.
The moment the Chimera crossed the forest edge and charged toward the Bloodheart fortress, the battlefield transformed from tense anticipation into absolute chaos.
The creature moved like a living avalanche.
Each step crushed the ground beneath its enormous weight, claws carving deep trenches through the soil as it surged forward with terrifying speed. Its three heads roared simultaneously—lion, serpent, and the monstrous bone-jawed predator—each voice overlapping into a single thunderous sound that echoed across the valley.
Bloodheart soldiers on the fortress walls shouted orders.
"Ballista ready!"
"Loose!"
The first volley fired.
Three massive bolts screamed through the air and slammed into the Chimera's advancing body.
One struck the creature's shoulder.
The metal tip shattered instantly.
The second bolt glanced off the armored scales along its flank, skidding away into the mud.
The third struck the lion head directly between the eyes.
For a single moment the creature slowed.
Then the Chimera roared.
Not in pain.
In fury.
The bolt snapped in half as the beast shook its head violently, the broken shaft falling uselessly into the grass.
The soldiers on the wall froze.
"Gods…"
"That thing is armored…"
Below them the valley floor exploded with movement.
The vermin swarm surged forward.
Thousands of rats flooded across the battlefield like a dark tide, pouring from burrows and hollow roots as Kael's network drove them toward the approaching monster.
Serpents rose from the soil like living spears.
Insects filled the sky in a black cloud that blotted out the morning light.
The Chimera ran straight into the swarm.
And the swarm shattered.
The beast's massive paws crushed hundreds of rats instantly, its wings beating once to scatter the insects into the air like dust before a storm.
The serpent head struck downward with terrifying speed, jaws snapping shut around three snakes at once before flinging their broken bodies aside.
The bone-jawed head bit down on the ground itself, tearing a chunk of earth free as it surged forward.
The vermin swarm was vast.
But the Chimera was unstoppable.
High above the battlefield, the two Tier-3 controllers watched calmly from the forest edge.
Their crimson sigils glowed faintly across their gauntlets as twin threads of control stretched outward toward the monstrous creature rampaging through the valley.
One of the controllers smiled faintly.
"The vermin king sends insects against an S-grade beast."
His companion chuckled softly.
"I expected more."
Then the first controller raised his hand.
The sigil on his wrist burned brighter.
The Chimera roared again.
And its speed doubled.
---
Ashfang met the creature head-on.
The silver wolf burst from the vermin swarm like a bolt of living lightning, his claws digging deep into the mud as he launched himself toward the Chimera's flank.
Compared to the monstrous beast, Ashfang looked small.
But the wolf did not hesitate.
He struck the Chimera's shoulder with all the strength in his body, claws tearing across the armored hide as he tried to drive the creature off balance.
For a brief moment—
The Chimera stumbled.
Ashfang landed lightly on the ground and lunged again, his jaws closing around the creature's foreleg as he attempted to tear into the thick muscle beneath the armor.
The serpent head reacted instantly.
It whipped around with terrifying speed.
Ashfang barely twisted away in time as venom sprayed through the air, the corrosive liquid burning deep grooves into the grass where it landed.
The wolf growled.
"…Ugly beast."
Behind him, the vermin swarm surged again.
Thousands of rats climbed over the Chimera's legs, claws digging into the joints between the armored plates.
Serpents wrapped around its limbs.
Insects swarmed the creature's eyes.
The Chimera thrashed violently.
Its wings slammed downward with hurricane force, scattering rats and snakes across the battlefield.
Then the lion head bit down.
Its jaws crushed a dozen rats instantly.
The serpent head struck again.
The bone-jawed predator roared.
The monster fought like a living storm.
And it was winning.
---
Kael stepped onto the battlefield.
He dropped from the fortress battlement with controlled precision, landing lightly in the grass as the vermin swarm parted around him like water around a stone.
The moment his boots touched the ground, the network surged.
Every creature in the valley responded.
The system pulsed across his vision.
---
[Battlefield Authority Active]
[Vermin Network Overload: 73%]
---
Kael raised his hand.
The swarm reorganized instantly.
Rats shifted formation.
Serpents moved in coordinated strikes.
Insects thickened into a black cloud that descended over the Chimera's heads like a living curtain.
The beast roared as hundreds of insects crawled into its eyes and nostrils.
But the control threads remained intact.
Two crimson signals burned inside Kael's awareness.
The controllers.
Still directing the creature.
Still strengthening it.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"…Two anchors."
The crimson subsystem inside him pulsed in response.
---
[Dual Control Threads Detected]
[Override Probability: 11%]
---
Too low.
For now.
Kael stepped forward.
The vermin network surged behind him like a living army.
---
Izazel landed beside him a moment later.
The vampire prince dropped lightly from the battlement, crimson cloak swirling around him as he straightened with a relaxed expression.
He glanced at the raging Chimera.
"…Well."
He cracked his neck.
"That is a problem."
Kael nodded slightly.
"Yes."
Izazel smiled.
"Good."
Then his eyes turned crimson.
The air around him darkened.
The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly as ancient vampire power spread outward like invisible pressure.
The Bloodheart soldiers on the battlefield felt it immediately.
Their strength surged.
Their wounds slowed.
Their instincts sharpened.
Dormon Bloodheart himself stepped onto the battlefield moments later, his ancient presence adding even greater weight to the growing aura of the vampire army.
The Chimera turned.
All three heads locked onto Kael.
The monster recognized the true threat.
The controllers felt it too.
The second controller laughed.
"Ah."
"So the Vermin Lord finally enters the field."
The first controller raised his hand again.
The Chimera's wings spread wide.
The creature roared—
And charged directly toward Kael.
The ground shook.
The vermin swarm scattered as the monster barreled forward like a moving mountain of claws and teeth.
Izazel sighed.
"…Here we go."
Ashfang lunged first.
The wolf intercepted the Chimera before it reached Kael, slamming into its chest with enough force to stagger the creature slightly.
But the Chimera was far stronger.
The lion head snapped downward.
Ashfang barely twisted aside as its jaws closed where his neck had been.
The serpent head struck next.
Its fangs scraped across Ashfang's flank, leaving a long burning line of venom across his fur.
The wolf staggered slightly.
Kael moved.
His hand rose.
The vermin swarm surged upward again.
Thousands of rats flooded the Chimera's legs.
Serpents wrapped around its wings.
Insects blinded its eyes.
For a brief moment—
The creature slowed.
Kael stepped forward.
The crimson subsystem burned in his chest.
He reached for the control threads.
Two crimson lines stretched across his mind like chains.
One from each controller.
Kael grabbed one.
And pulled.
The controller staggered.
"…What?"
The Chimera shuddered.
Its movements faltered for a single heartbeat.
But the second controller reacted instantly.
His sigil burned brighter.
The control thread snapped tight again.
The Chimera roared.
Its massive claw swung downward.
Ashfang was directly beneath it.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Ashfang—!"
The claw struck.
The impact shattered the ground.
Mud exploded outward in a violent shockwave.
And the silver wolf disappeared beneath the monster's weight.
The battlefield fell silent for half a second.
Then the vermin swarm exploded into a frenzy.
Ashfang lay motionless beneath the Chimera's claw.
And the war had just turned.