Chimera King Box Set Books 1-3

by Atlas Kane

  As they came closer, the hill grew steep, and more than once, Bellows slipped.

  The turf was overgrown with such thick moss that it made for unstable climbing. The added weight of the plate mail alone, each set adding up to at least another thousand pounds, and the boars were suddenly a hazard.

  Cade looked to Satemi and told her his plan to gain the high ground. She agreed and also confirmed his fear of one of the boars getting hurt in the climb.

  Turning to Ketzal, he gave his orders. “We stop here. Everyone dismounts but for a handler and one fighter. You lead the boars around the front of the plateau. If anything comes, charge it but stay close.”

  “Dismount! All but two!” she shouted, Vrin taking up the call next. On down the line, the order was repeated, and in a minute, fourteen Casmeeri fighters were on foot.

  They trudged up the steep incline. Even for a human, the way was treacherous. Cade did what most of the others were forced to do: he sheathed his blast axe and sprinted up on all fours. Gemma, being the badass shifter she was, bounded up in tiger form and came to the top of the plateau first.

  It was only a thirty-foot incline, so in moments, Cade was standing beside her.

  Shifting back, the tigress looked to him, panting. They both stared into the roiling mists beyond, the edges of palms and sprawling trees barely visible. “I would say it is beautiful, but I am suddenly afraid. This is a defensible position, but… we are not alone, Cade.”

  He swallowed down a lump of fear. No, you have to stay cool, Cade. Or nobody else will be.

  Cade called the group together and told them his plan. “The cliff defends our right flank, and that slope should be enough to cover our rear. But Gemma feels we might have trouble ahead. The boars will guard our left, and we hold the high ground. Should anything attack, form two ranks. Melee to the front, and ranged, support and healers to the back. Understood?”

  There were no jokes dropped, no indecision, only loyalty and determination. He grinned savagely and pointed. “Ronden, Dan, to the front. Movement to contact. I’ll march front left and keep any eye and ear out for the boars below. Let’s do this.”

  The two tanks jogged forward. Dan extended his sharp claws, the Soul Weapon Enhancer having made them a few inches longer, a bit thicker, and gleaming with blue, etheric energy.

  Likewise, Ronden’s enhanced hammer made for a sight that encouraged the others. When walking behind a four-hundred-pound ape like Ronden, who swung a legendary hammer around like it was made of foam, courage began to blossom like daisies.

  The boars grunted below, and began to match the dismounted fighters’ progress. Cade gave a wink to Ketzal, who smiled back. Though he was walking thirty or so feet higher, she was about the same distance away horizontally as well. If he had the inclination, he could hit her with a casually tossed pebble.

  Ahead, Ronden swaggered beside Dan, the two tanks solemn and quiet.

  Mist began to wet their faces and bodies. It was cloying, making the air seem filled with powdered silver.

  A feeling of anxiety spread through Cade’s body. Here we go. Something bad is coming.

  And unfortunately, he wasn’t wrong.

  Fifty feet ahead, a bobbing and weaving shadow moved towards them. When it came within twenty feet, Cade saw it was a type of cat. The beast froze, hunkering closer to the ground. Unlike a cat, the creature had a ridiculously long and puffy tail. And its legs were strange as well. Its front elbow pushed up above its back.

  Inspecting it while he had a chance, Cade learned what two poor beasts had been blended to form its body.

  Ocelemur

  Level 12

  Predator Fauna Amalgam

  Ocelot and lemur! No way. If the circumstances were any different, I think I’d want one for myself.

  Even as he considered the beast, thinking it rather cute—with massive eyes and round, tufted ears—it did the most disturbing thing possible. It lifted a small hand, and with too-nimble fingers, pointed at them.

  The Ocelemur’s ruff lifted in a ridge, and it let out a chirping call.

  Then from behind, rising out of the mist like an army of fluffy terrors, scores of amalgams answered.

  “Form ranks!” Cade bellowed, running to stand at Ronden’s side. He was the leader, but his class deemed him a front-liner, at least at first contact.

  Eight Casmeeri warriors lined up, spears, hammers and swords held ready to thwart off the oncoming beasts.

  Knowing a tough engagement was upon them all, Cade cried out an Alpha’s Call. Following his lead, several more party buffs were applied by the support classes.

  In moments, Cade’s body and mind had transformed into something more potent and terrible than it had ever been. His Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity were through the roof. He could feel his heart racing to match the increase in power, and most glorious of all was the clearing of his mind as his Intelligence and Wisdom perked up as well.

  No sooner had they completed their line than the animals crashed into its center.

  Ronden swung and sent three of the cat creatures flying. The giant’s movements were sped up and amplified, making his hammer blur in the air as quick as if it had been a simple dagger.

  Dan roared, his fangs flashing in the air as he dropped a chain lightning that fried a half dozen more. Even the intensity of his skill had been enhanced. The lightning burned brighter than before, and lanced through the hapless creatures’ bodies with ease.

  The brief reprieve lasted less than a second. Thanks to the sturdy shields Satemi had provided, the monsters’ claws failed to find purchase. Still, one front-line fighter was knocked backward, two of the beasts slamming into their shield at the same time. Satemi stood at the far end and swung one of her great swords to great effect. Fighting in a line prevented her from using both with as great effect.

  Cade saw Gemma’s arrows streaking over his shoulder, embedding in the few cats that got close enough for him to consider swinging at.

  Frustration sought to overwhelm his better judgement, but if the woman wanted to protect him from the rear, it was her right to do so. After all, what else were support fighters for?

  The battle was going well. Each ocelemur was not much bigger than a full-grown dog. Cade had no illusions as to how effective their incredible claws would be on unprotected flesh, but with the two tanks in the front, and the others with shields, they were safe enough as it was.

  But the tide of enemies didn’t show any signs of slowing. In fact, after firing a Piercing Shot through two of the beasts and squinting ahead, Cade saw other forms in the mix. Larger ones.

  A wave of screeching bodies rushed at the Casmeeri forces, perhaps a hundred in total.

  Knowing he’d kept a wild card up his sleeve, one that would work best in just such a situation, Cade decided to lay it all down on the line.

  He took a knee and leaned forward, pulling the axehead into his shoulder. Then he fingered the lovely trigger that had grown when he used the Soul Weapon Enhancer.

  Bullets began to fly.

  Rather than let loose with a forty-second burst, he found a nice rhythm with five to seven-second bursts. The bullets sounded and felt different than the last time he’d used his soul-bound machine gun. Louder than before, and with the tiniest bit more kick, the bullets leapt from his blast staff with greater speed.

  The most notable difference was the added 25% blast damage. The first round that struck cracked open the chest of an ocelemur, dropping it like a bar fly on a Monday morning.

  His reign of terror was precise, rewarding and devastating. A clump of the beasts was cleared away from his first burst alone, their bodies sliding to stop before Ronden’s feet. More and more came, and each wave met with more of Cade’s wrath. Despite bursting, the bullet fragments continued past their initial victim and shredded the bodies of those that came behind.

  None of the creatures, even the new ones he had no time or desire to inspect, had unarmored bodies. Under the application of a well-aimed
automatic weapon, they were no more than bullet sponges.

  A full minute ticked by, and finally, the last burst of mana bullets careened through a pack of goat-like beasts. They fell, shrieking in pain, their hooves pawing at the air. Only a handful more of the creatures came on, only to be hacked down by a warrior.

  Silence fell again, thick and loud after so much chaos.

  Cade panted, and wiped a trickle of sweat from his brow.

  Then he stood up and glanced to his soldiers. They were all staring at him. Ronden, chief among them, ogled Cade like he’d never seen him before. “You are insane. It was one thing with the moth. We were all hitting it. But you just killed dozens of beasts by yourself.”

  The awkwardness that followed was broken by Ronden’s roaring laugh. He crossed to Cade and punched him in the breastplate, heedless of the effect the hardened steel might have on his knuckles. “Now that is an Archon I can follow!”

  Cade accepted the praise but held up a hand. “Thank you, but please, we should—”

  He stopped talking as he heard a squeal from the boars below. The trouble wasn’t over yet.

  Giving a few hand gestures, Cade and the others sprinted to the edge of the plateau. Below was a disconcerting sight. Bellows had his tusks buried in the side of another boar, half his size, one whose form had been warped. Two more of the Casmeeri boars were crushing another, this one larger, but with so many twisted tusks goring its body, it was dying quickly. One final amalgam boar was trying to fend off attacks from two sides. Though it seemed the fight was well in hand, Cade wasn’t willing to take any chances.

  “Fire at will!” he shouted. “Take out the last one standing!”

  Arrows and spears fell onto the odd-looking beast, and Cade inspected it.

  Boardillo

  Level 18

  Megafauna Amalgam

  Armadillo, he guessed, was what had given the monstrosities the curving plated armor over its back. A formidable combination, for sure, but against superior numbers, and having the huge Bellows fighting for the good guys, the amalgams had no chance.

  A few spears clattered off the remaining boardillo’s back, and arrows seemed similarly ineffective. Cade fired a Piercing Shot that tore through the beast’s chest. Blood spurt out on the other side, but rather than die, the beast went into a frenzy.

  Reckless, it charged the smallest of the Casmeeri boars. Gritting his teeth, Cade could only watch.

  Gemma, however, had other plans.

  Drawing her bow, she activated a new skill, one she must have earned on her last deadly foray. The arrow glowed bright white and lanced downward. Rather than aim for its chest, as Cade foolishly had, her arrow fell into the boardillo’s eye. It stuck there, burning for a few seconds, until the entire shaft erupted.

  The last enemy tumbled sideways, and its body rolled down the hill.

  A feeling of relief passed through Cade’s entire body.

  Bellows tore himself free of his huge opponent, and the other two trotted away, finding a place at their great leader’s side.

  Raising a hand, Cade hailed Ketzal, grateful she’d survived. The demoness gave a few orders, and the Casmeeri boars began to form up. They’d need to loot this time, and from the devastation around them, the threat had been neutralized.

  By Gemma’s expression, however, Cade saw she wasn’t convinced. The tigress continued to eye the horizon and scan the lakeside in turn. She’s expecting something else, something more. By her description, that big-ass boar wasn’t what she’d seen at all. And what of the quills in Bellows’ side?

  A mute splash pulled his attention back to the lake. The fallen boardillo had at last reached the bottom of the hill. Its rotund form had allowed it to roll further than it otherwise would have. Its front leg dangled in the water, and what was left of its skull stained the lake crimson.

  The blood spread out like a foul blossom.

  Ronden made a crack at Dan, and the wolf took it in stride. Cade heard Satemi throw an insult back at the giant, but Cade wasn’t hearing any of it. He too, like Gemma, was staring into the depths of the lake. For though he couldn’t make it out, he could swear that something huge was rising to the surface.

  18

  Wrestling the Mountain

  It was more like watching a piece of the earth rise to the surface. How a single beast could be so big, Cade simply couldn’t understand, and yet, mountains just didn’t move like that.

  A few dozen yards out into the lake proper, a vast dark circle rose, its form becoming more and more distinct by the second. Satemi caught on soon after, and Cade heard the quick gasp Ronden gave off beside her. They all saw it too, so at least he and Gemma weren’t hallucinating.

  “Ketzal! Move away!” Cade shouted, and the demoness turned to see the source of his fright. Thankfully, the woman was well disciplined. Instead of falling victim to shock and staring idly at the surface of the lake, which now bowed upward, water and mud streaking off the monster’s back in waves, she snapped her heels into Bellows’ flank.

  The boars turned and began to retreat back south, the way they’d first come.

  Yet when the new threat finally erupted from the water, the smallest boar had been caught close to the edge of the shore, and was trying to scramble over instead of around the bulky corpse of the fallen boardillo.

  That was its undoing.

  Despite the slow and dramatic rising, when the amalgam broke the surface of the lake, its huge head nearly the size of Bellows himself, it snapped out at the fleeing boar with terrible precision.

  Like a snapping turtle, it launched its head forward, its mouth clamping down on the rear of the boar. The unfortunate spearman who sat on its back was cut in half in the blink of an eye. As the handler screamed, turning about and sinking a sword into the vast mouth, the monster bit once more. It took another two feet of the boar in its mouth, the handler’s arm with it.

  A river of ice filled Cade’s gut as he watched the water fall away from the beast’s back. It was smaller than he’d originally imagined, the mud billowing off its shell making it seem nearly twice its actual size. Yet in all, the creature they faced was no less than a hundred feet long, from snout to bristling tail.

  “Fire at will! Aim for the eyes and neck!” Cade commanded, hoping to give the handler just a little bit of spare time to escape.

  The boar screeched out a death cry and blood poured out its mouth and nostrils. Falling to the ground, the handler crawled with one arm a few feet before growing still, the gouts of blood that had pumped from their severed shoulder ending them in less than a minute.

  Cade fired a Piercing Shot, clipping the huge beast in the top of the head, hoping to damage its brain in some way. The bullet zipped through reptilian flesh but seemed to have no effect. Frustrated and terrified, Cade inspected their enemy.

  Snapping Turtlepine

  Level 32

  Megafauna Amalgam Elder

  An elder, huh? I wonder if the porcupine or the turtle had been ancient before they were fused, he wondered, but dismissed the curiosity. How they would kill the damned thing was a sight more important.

  Cade considered having the boars charge its exposed flank, but the monster’s shell was covered in innumerable quills, all three to five feet long. Drenched in mud and reeds as it was, the turtle had a putrid smell that wafted up the hill, and it had the look of something covered in worms.

  He had only one plan forming as to how they might hurt this terror.

  “Assemble the cannon!” Cade barked, and immediately, Ronden, who’d been carrying the heavy barrel in his Inventory, set down his hammer and obeyed.

  Watching the progress of the Casmeeri fighters, Cade spit out a plan with Satemi. When he was done, he turned to the group and shouted his orders. “Satemi is in charge of this position. Heed her commands. You are to fire at will with the cannon, aiming for vital areas. Should the turtle charge, drop this in its path, and retreat if necessary. Those of you who aren’t firing at the monster, stand g
uard. More amalgams may attack.”

  Squeezing his general’s hand, Cade turned his back on Satemi, who fell to shouting her own instructions, ensuring the cannon was assembled as quickly as possible.

  Then, he flagged down Ketzal and began to run along the ridge of the plateau. She was a few hundred yards away, the remaining boars standing in formation facing the turtle. He needed to reach her as quickly as possible, so he activated Wyrm’s Wrath. In combination with the few buffs that still lingered, Cade sprinted like a cheetah over the ground. He reveled in the rush of it, but turning back to witness the vast monster as it ate, Cade suppressed the emotion.

  The beast had started in on the fallen boardillo now, the smaller Casmeeri boar and its riders nowhere to be seen.

  When Cade was a hundred strides away, he activated Locust Leap and propelled himself down the hillside. Landing in a whoosh of ether discharge, Cade jogged the rest of the way and leapt up onto Bellows’ back.

  Cade whispered the plan into Ketzal’s ear, and she nodded.

  The demoness called off two of her diminished cavalry and sent them back further to protect the southern approach. If anything managed to get through and attack during this ridiculous boss fight, their losses would skyrocket.

  As if their precautions had triggered some plan, a few dozen lizard amalgams emerged from the distant tree line and darted toward them.

  Trusting that the two boars with their riders and handlers could manage the modest threat, Cade turned back to the major battle ahead.

  A rock-splitting crack sounded from atop the plateau, and pale smoke rose up. Well, the fucking thing works, he mused, grateful once again for the genius mind of Latsi. But will it do any good at all?

  A spray of blood fountained up from the turtle’s neck, painting the sky red. A gaping hole that Cade could easily see even from a few hundred feet away had formed in the sagging folds of the beast’s neck. The shells Latsi had crafted were no more complex than a simple bullet. A chunk of metal hurtling at great speed, however, could do massive damage, especially when they’d been designed to split and spread out.