Translator: SumTLMan
Additionally, the two wind generals were still relentlessly pursuing his illusion, but as time passed, watching Angel in front of them, they started harboring some doubts.
“Why do I feel something is off?” spoke the lion head of the Chimera. The Chimera too was a three-headed creature, consisting of the lion head in the front, the goat head on the back, and the snake head on the tail.
“Hmm——?” A dull and dragged-out sound came from the massive air sac atop Kraken’s head.
Knowing that Kraken’s speech was severely hindered due to the air sac, Chimera didn’t mind and directly stated: “We only saw the humanoid’s shadow moving, but we didn’t feel the breeze that should be generated by his escape, something feels very wrong.”
Kraken, having a long reaction time, took a while before responding: “Oh——”
Chimera didn’t expect Kraken to provide any insightful answer; it was more interested in what the snake head, named Lobert, thought: “Lobert, what do you think?”
Chimera’s gaze shifted towards a spot a hundred meters away from Kraken, where clouds and mist swirled, barely revealing the silhouette of a three-headed lion dog.
However, after several seconds, the three-headed lion dog did not respond.
“Lobert?” Chimera called out again, suspicion flickering in its eyes.
At that moment, the three-headed lion dog in the mist suddenly moved vigorously, its three tails turning into turbines, blasting a column of wind towards a distant direction.
Chimera was momentarily stunned: “Wind tail cannon? Why did Lobert suddenly use the wind tail cannon? Is someone attacking Lobert over there?”
While Chimera was pondering the situation, it saw the distant “Lobert” roar angrily and rush into the farther mists, its figure quickly disappearing from sight. It seemed as if it was provoked and chasing after an enemy.
Chimera hesitated for a moment, looked at Angel who was still leading them on a merry chase, and then towards the direction where Lobert had disappeared.
“I’m a bit worried about Lobert, shall we go check it out?” Chimera suggested.
Kraken let out a long “Eh——” sound, then pointed with one of its thick tentacles, located below the air sac, towards the distant Angel.
The meaning was clear: if they went to check on Lobert, what about Angel who was ahead?
Although Chimera was somewhat skeptical about the escaping Angel being a fake, since why else would there be no wind flow? But that was merely suspicion, not certainty. A strange creature without wind elements running faster than wind elemental creatures was abnormal enough, so another oddity seemed plausible.
If Angel was real, and Lobert had encountered a formidable enemy, and they went to support Lobert, wouldn’t they be caught between two fronts?
Chimera was also hesitant at this point.
But recalling Lobert’s angry howl and the fact that it had activated wind tail cannon mode made Chimera unable to rest easy.
“Here’s what we’ll do: Kraken, you continue chasing that humanoid, and I’ll go check on Lobert.” Chimera shared its concerns that their battle would definitely be detected by the Wind Island Guardians. If those guys from Wind Island took the chance to sabotage them while they were engaged in battle, that would be troublesome.
After sharing its concerns, Kraken nodded in agreement.
“I’ll go take a look then. If it’s resolved quickly over there, I’ll flank this bastard from behind.” After saying this, Chimera took one last glance at the distant Angel, then flew towards the direction where Lobert had disappeared.
…
The real Angel, at this moment, was standing amidst layers of dense mist.
Whether it was Angel suspending the other two wind generals, or the three-headed lion dog that ran to the other side after activating the wind column artillery, both were illusions he conjured.
However, the reason Angel allowed the illusion of Lobert to create a combat state was not to separate them, but simply because Chimera began to suspect the illusory Angel.
To prevent Chimera from further investigating the illusory Angel, he decided to create a new distraction to divert their attention.
Thus, the scene where the illusion of Lobert activated the wind column mode and disappeared alone was created.
What Angel had not anticipated was that, due to Chimera’s suspicion of the illusory Angel and their disregard for the surrounding environment, they conjured up the possibility of an attacker from Wind Island. Concerned for Lobert and not trusting the illusory Angel here, Chimera proposed splitting up from Kraken.
This proposal was somewhat unexpected to Angel.
His goal was indeed to separate the three wind generals and defeat them one by one.
But his method had not yet been employed when Chimera took the initiative to split up, saving Angel a step.
Now that the other two wind generals, aside from the three-headed lion dog, had also separated, Angel now had to consider whom to confront first.
The wind general pursuing the illusion of the three-headed lion dog was also a three-headed creature, but its goat and snake heads lacked cognitive abilities, with only the lion head showing normal intelligence. From the previous chase, this three-headed creature did not display much strength, leading Angel to speculate that its talents might still lie in the three different heads.
The one chasing the illusory Angel was a large creature, the biggest among the three wind generals, only slightly smaller than Harlequin. It resembled a giant squid from the deep sea, with a huge head sac and hundreds of wriggling curved tentacles.
This giant squid seemed somewhat dull, but the power it demonstrated was terrifying. Its movement involved releasing a large number of air rings from its head sac, which could extend for thousands of kilometers. The areas affected by the air rings would become voids.
In other words, the mere unconscious movement of the giant squid was continuously releasing a wide-range diffraction group attack ability.
One could imagine the destruction it could cause if it deliberately released air rings.
After some thought, Angel decided to confront the three-headed creature first. The giant squid would be dealt with last, not just because of its strength, but mainly because Angel speculated it had a talent for indiscriminate wide-area attacks. If confronted too early and it destroyed the hidden illusion nodes, it might release those wind creatures trapped in the illusion.
Therefore, Angel decided to let the illusion lead it even further away while he dealt with the three-headed creature on this side.
Having made his decision, Angel did not hesitate; his figure lightly flashed in the mist and disappeared.
On the other hand, Chimera continued to pursue in the direction Lobert had left.
After chasing for about two to three minutes, Chimera, seeing only endless white fog ahead, faintly felt something was wrong.
Lobert’s main head, although somewhat foolish, had smart deputy and tail heads, especially the tail head, which even Highness Hurricane had praised for its wisdom. In such a situation, was it really so easy for Lobert to be provoked into releasing its wind tail cannon?
Moreover, Kraken was not far away at that time; Lobert could have informed them of the situation and then chosen the best method. There was no need to release a powerful move right at the start.
Unless Lobert was subjected to a strong attack, forcing it to activate its powerful move.
Yet, as Chimera proceeded, it felt no disturbance in the air, not even from Lobert’s activation of the wind tail cannon, which was almost imperceptible.
Although the wind elements around were chaotic, this was merely due to the influence of the tempestuous cloud sea, distinctly different from the tumult of the wind invoked during battle.
It was precisely because of this that Chimera increasingly felt that something was off. Was the Lobert it had just seen truly Lobert?
After much hesitation and apparent internal struggle, Chimera ultimately sighed deeply, deciding to cease its pursuit of Lobert for the time being and to return to Kraken’s side instead.
As for Lobert, if “it” indeed was Lobert and had the tail head as a strategist, it should theoretically be capable of escaping even when facing the Guardians of Wind Island… naturally, assuming that the main head was willing to heed tail head’s advice.
Having made its decision, Chimera immediately turned to pursue Kraken.
However, shortly after retracing its steps, a vague figure emerged from the mist ahead.
Chimera halted, its lion-like gaze weighted with seriousness: “How are you here? Where is Kraken?”
The figure revealed in front of the lion’s gaze was Angel.
Angel: “Kraken, that giant squid? I thought you’d first inquire about the three-headed lion dog, given that it was your initial target, wasn’t it?”
Chimera quickly grasped the implication in Angel’s words: “The anomaly with Lobert just now, was that your doing?”
Angel smiled, offering no direct answer, yet his demeanor suggested an unspoken affirmation to Chimera.
Chimera’s expression darkened instantly. Among Harlequin’s original four wind generals, Chimera shared a particularly close bond with Lobert, both being three-headed creatures.
Angel’s actions had made it apparent that he might have done something to Lobert.
This incensed Chimera greatly.
With Elmhurst having perished in a self-destructive demise, could it be that Lobert had met a similar fate? This thought caused Chimera’s gaze to shift, its pupil color turning from black-green to a fiery red, a sign of impending rage.
Suppressing the rising fury, Chimera sought to further inquire about Lobert’s condition from Angel.
However, Angel remained silent, occasionally raising an eyebrow, further straining Chimera’s already taut nerves.
Eventually, Chimera ceased its questioning, roaring, “You deserve death!”
Transforming into a projectile of wrath, Chimera, fueled by towering rage, charged towards Angel, who still bore a smirk.
Facing Chimera’s furious onslaught, Angel did not confront it head-on but instead kept a distance while intermittently casting minor, taunting spells, further provoking Chimera’s ire.
Provoked to the brink of fury, Chimera, upon reaching the peak of its rage, ceased its pursuit. This was not a sign of calm but a realization that Angel was significantly faster; continuing the chase would only exhaust its opponent over an indefinite period.
Thus, Chimera decided to employ a drastic measure.
Drawing a deep breath, its massive lion’s mouth glowing ominously, Chimera unleashed a scorching wind column at unprecedented speed towards Angel.
Despite Angel’s attempt to dodge, a momentary lapse resulted in the loss of his left hand to the blistering wind column.
The disappearance of his left hand inflicted pain on Angel’s expression, transforming his previously composed gaze towards Chimera into one of fury and venom.
Upon witnessing the scene, Chimera felt an immense satisfaction within. However, amidst its exhilaration, it failed to notice that not a single drop of blood was shed from the severed left arm of Angel. Nonetheless, even if Chimera had noticed, it might not have cared, for in the Tidal Realm, elemental beings, even if they were missing limbs, do not bleed.
Succeeding in a strike, the enraged scales of balance began to shift. Previously, it was Chimera chasing Angel, but now, Angel, fueled by rage, sought an opportunity to find Chimera’s flaw and decide the battle of life and death.
However, under the assault of numerous high-temperature wind columns, it was difficult for Angel to approach. Even getting a bit closer would result in significant damage.
Finally, Angel found an opportunity. He dodged the lion head’s high-temperature wind column and reached Chimera’s side, directing a blade of wind straight at Chimera’s waist.
At this moment, the lion head of Chimera, rather than showing anger, smirked with a gleam of scheming success in its eyes.
Under Angel’s horrified gaze, the goat head, which had been silent up until now, suddenly opened its mouth, unleashing a massive tornado, the power of which was comparable to twice the wind column of the three-headed lion dog!
With all his strength, Angel barely evaded the wind column, but his form ended up behind Chimera.
The snake, which Chimera used as a tail, suddenly raised its head, transforming into a whip and striking at Angel.
The strike shattered several of Angel’s phantasmal limbs.
As Angel hastily retreated, the snake head opened its tooth-filled maw, launching a green wind column with a foul stench directly at Angel’s face.
Angel’s head burst instantly, and his body, losing all motion, stiffly fell into the sea of clouds below.
Watching this scene, Chimera couldn’t help but roar excitedly!
No matter how capable of running, it still fell victim to its “scheme”!
With Angel dead, the mission given by Harlequin was completed. Now, it was time to retrieve Kraken and find Lobert.
Having encountered Angel first, it was certain that Kraken was safe. Therefore, following the previous route to find Lobert was the primary objective.
Thinking this, Chimera turned around, intending to track down Lobert.
However, at that moment, a voice came from behind it.
“The lion head breathes hot air, the goat head unleashes hurricanes, and the snake head emits toxic winds. Is this your power? I must say, it’s quite a mix,” a crisp voice reached Chimera’s ears.
Turning around, Chimera was shocked to find that Angel, whose head had evidently exploded before, was now standing nearby, unharmed, as if he had casually strolled through the area.
“How are you unharmed?”
Angel didn’t answer but continued: “The winds released by your three heads are all wind columns. The energy structure is very similar to that of the three-headed lion dog… ah, Lobert’s self-propelled wind column artillery, in my terms. So, did you develop your abilities by emulating his?”
Chimera, bewildered, nodded subconsciously.
“Is that so? What a pity. Both you and Lobert have commendable abilities, but the development is terribly flawed,” Angel sighed. “If Fafnir were here, seeing such crude use of abilities, she might have already beaten you back to your basic elemental form.”
Chimera didn’t know who Fafnir was in Angel’s reference. It was only curious about who he had previously managed to ‘decapitate’.
When Chimera inquired, Angel indifferently said, “Do you think, in battle, an opponent would reveal their capabilities to you? If you really want to know, you should probe like I did earlier.”
As the words fell, a glint appeared in Angel’s eyes, and from behind him emerged dozens of figures identical to “Angel”, all of whom charged at Chimera together.