It wasn’t a surprise for Rei to be the first to react after hearing Vihera call out Elena’s name.

He also sensed something slipping out from where Elena was and going straight towards him.

It was clear to Rei who it was without even thinking about it.

As a result, when Elena suddenly entered the fight……Oricule was distracted for a moment and Rei struck with the Death Scythe.

「Kuh-!」

Oricule blocked it with his rapier, but Rei’s attack had taken advantage of an opening he showed and he was knocked 2m back without being able to correct his posture.

「GURURURURURU-!」

Just as the distance between Rei and Oricule opened up, Set swung his claws down.

It wasn’t just an ordinary attack as well, it was an attack boosted with Power Crush.

「Gaaah-!」

Oricule still managed to block the attack, using his sword breaker as a shield somehow……but, unable to resist its power, he was blown back.

Even so, he didn’t suffer any fatal injuries from the attack as he was knocked back, although his sword breaker was shattered.

「Guru~, Gurururu~」

While raising a joyful cry at reuniting with Rei, Set turned a sharp gaze towards Oricule.

In front of an angry Griffon, an enemy that no adventurer would ever want to encounter, Oricule let out a wry smile. Rei had hit him hard, but Set’s attack had left him with nothing but the hilt of his sword breaker.

「You got to be joking……even after sending that big of a force to attack the Silva family, they’ve managed to deal with them in such a short period of time and get to the basement here in the mansion……seriously, completely unexpected.」

While muttering to himself, he still swung his rapier swiftly as sharp wind sounds echoed out.

There was still no sign of resignation in his expression.

Essetus aside, it was clear he had no chance of winning with the arrival of Elena and Set, who were exceptionally strong. However, even so, it was completely unacceptable for him to be captured by Rei and the others.

Rei seemed to realise that. He spoke up while stroking Set, who was glaring at Oricule with sharp eyes.

「Are you not giving up? That’s admirable, but……how do you plan to get out of this situation?」

Rei looked around the room while making sure to not to miss any movement Oricule made.

Almost all the dolls that had been trying to surround Vihera had been slashed and torn apart by Elena’s sword whip.

There were only a few dolls left fighting Vihera, a number that even the currently exhausted Vihera would be able to deal with.

Then there was the other battle, where Byune was trying to close the distance to Pree, with dolls trying to get in her way.

Even though Byune had woken up from being clouded by hatred, there was nothing she could do about the physical stamina and weapons she had consumed. Due to the difference in numbers stopping her from approaching Pree, Pree would release magic from the gems she created.

Although Byune managed to avoid the magic attacks, it was all she could do to keep Pree busy……but then, after Elena had confirmed Vihera’s safety, the situation changed completely.

Elena’s sword whip in whip form intercepted the dolls that were trying to attack Byune. Any dolls that tried to attack Elena directly would be struck down in a single blow as Elena’s sword whip returned to its sword form.

Although the dolls tried to ignore Byune and chase after ELena, using the Shoes of Sleipnir to escape into the air and using wind magic to collect the dolls into one place before cutting them to pieces with he sword whip.

As Essetus watched the battle from the sidelines, he let out a sigh of relief before realising that Nakuto was on the floor, unconscious.

Right after that, he saw Tivia’s figure in the center of the magic circle drawn on the floor. However, it seemed like she was guarded by some sort of magic, like the one protecting the door to the room.

「The battle is still in a state of balance, but it’s only a matter of time before it swings in our favour. If you could just give up quietly, it would save us a lot of trouble and we could help out Vosk.」

Kuku~, Oricule shook his head with a laugh and a faint smile at Rei, who said that while spinning the Death Scythe in his hand.

「Unfortunately, surrender is not an option for us.」

「Then, do you want to die in battle? I think it’s already clear that you guys have no chance of winning.」

Hearing Rei’s words, Oricule gave a thin smile and put his left hand, which had been holding his sword breaker, into his pocket……before taking out something.

It was something like a red gem.

Of course, Rei knew what it was. Because he had seen one being used inside the dungeon with his own eyes.

It was a gem like object that gave off a black, murky glow.

It was nearly twice the size of the one Rei had seen before, but even if he wanted to forget its distinctive appearance, he couldn’t forget it.

It was……

「That……if I remember correctly, you called it a Chaos Seed……」

Oricule’s eyes widened in surprise at the words Rei said.

「If you know that name……I see, so the three missing people fell into your hands.」

「Yeah, I was in the dungeon when they tried to create an abnormal species. They told me the name……and a lot of other information as well. For example, about you guys. For example, that you were manipulating the Levisor family while making it look like you were cooperating with them.」

Rei made it sound like he had interrogated the men and obtained that information, but, of course, it was nothing more than a bluff. In reality, the men had killed themselves when they realised they had been incapacitated and were going to be captured.

However, from the sound of it, it didn’t seem like Oricule had known how they had died, so Rei tried to get more information from him……unfortunately, all he got back was a small smile.

「It’s best not to tell lies that can be easily seen through. It will only lower your own value pointlessly. You might have unrivaled strength in direct combat, but you’re not used to dealing with underhanded trick.」

「……Well, I don’t know about that. Was what I said the truth or lies? We’ll find out after we capture you.」

「Do you think you can capture me quietly?」

While toying with the Chaos Seed in his left hand, Oricule gave a smile filled with confidence that he wouldn’t be captured.

Rei was skeptical at his response, but his eyes widened at Oricule’s next move.

That was because he pressed the Chaos Seed in his left hand against his forehead……and absorbed it into his body.

「Guh-……if possible, I had wanted to do this when the head of the Silva family was here, but……」

Oricule let out a painful voice. The blood vessels under his skin pulsated and even Rei, who was far away, could hear a thumping sound.

That sound finally brought Rei back to his senses as he shouted out without thinking.

「You’re crazy-! Are you trying to kill yourself!?」

Rei had seen the process of the Cactus Mimic transforming into an abnormal species. It’s size had certainly changed and its appearance had become a lot more vicious, but in the end, the monster had ended up losing its own life. In other words, there was a very high risk of dying in the process of becoming an abnormal species.

Using it on himself seemed like nothing but suicide to Rei.

(No, in the first placing, the Chaos Seed is used to turn monsters into abnormal species. Does it even work on humans?)

Rei thought to himself in confusion.

Normally, he wouldn’t have waited for an enemy to get stronger and would have attacked immediately.

But, Oricule’s actions had exceeded Rei’s expectations and caused him to miss the golden opportunity.

「Guru~!」

「Ouch-!」

Come on! Set seemed to say as he lightly poked Rei with his beak.

Set had poked Rei through the Dragon Robe, so Rei wasn’t injured, but the impact was enough to bring Rei back to his senses.

「Yeah, we should do something……let’s go, Set!」

「GURURURU~!」

Oricule was still in the process of becoming an abnormal species and the transformation had yet to finish. If so, now was the best time to attack.

Having made that decision, Rei and Set went left and right and closed the distance to Oricule in a pincer.

「Guh-……I see, this is certainly tough. But!」

With Rei and Set’s physical strength, the distance was closed in an instant……but in that instant, an enormous amount of magic power came out from Oricule’s body as it blew up into the surroundings.

As the Death Scythe and Set’s claw swung down, they were repelled by a torrent of magic power just as they were about to hit Oricule, knocking them back.

「Gah-, damn it……」

「Gurururu~」

Rei used the shaft of the Death Scythe to keep his balance as he was knocked back while Set landed on the floor on all fours.

A few seconds……Rei had been at a loss for just a few seconds after seeing Oricule absorb the Chaos Seed, but those few seconds were a decisive loss.

After the torrent of magic power was released and calmed down, what remained was something humanoid in figure.

It was easy to guess what it was without even thinking, as it was where Oricule had been.

However, his appearance had transformed into a strange shape that was incomparable to when Oricule had been human.

At a glance, the most obvious change was his height. Oricule had grown from 1.8m to over 2m and his skin colour had turned blue.

Was there a change in his shoulder blades or was it due to something else? At any rate, there were two new hand like appendages that extended from both his shoulders.

The difference between the new appendages and actual hands was that instead of fingers, there were some sort of sharp, bone like tips that extended out from them.

Was it Oricule’s subconscious that changed them into such a form because he used a rapier as a weapon?

His hair, that had stretched down his back, had turned into needles at the tips. A red pattern spread across his blue face, as if his blood vessels had turned into tattoos.

There was a third eye on his forehead from where he absorbed the Chaos Seed, which moved around to look at the surroundings.

Grotesque. If using a Chaos Seed on a monster created an abnormal species, then Oricule’s current form could only be called an abnormal human……no, he had changed into a form that could only be described as grotesque.

「Kuh……fuu~……it looks like it was a success.」

「You still have your own consciousness, huh?」

「Gurururu~」

Although his words sounded strange and the ends of his sentences would sound higher pitched, there was still a light of intelligence in Oricule’s eyes.

He hadn’t died in the process of becoming an abnormal species like the Cactus Mimic and his consciousness was still his own.

Oricule, had been able to fight Rei in his original body and he was now an abnormal species. How much power did he have? Just imagining it brought a bitter smile to Rei’s mouth.

(At the very least, he only has his bare hands……wait. Where’s his rapier?)

Rei was sure that Oricule had used the Chaos Seed with his left hand while holding Esta Nord’s rapier in his right hand. However, Oricule, who had now become an abnormal species, was bare handed and his rapier was nowhere to be seen.

The rapier hadn’t fallen to the floor either. It had just disappeared completely.

「Abnormal species……no, it’s not quite right to call my current state an abnormal species.」

Oricule said that as he moved his limbs around, as if getting used to his new 2m tall body, swinging the two new arms that grew from his shoulders and shaking his head with hair that ended with sharp tips.

With each movement, Oricule’s intimidating aura spread.

「O-Oricule. What the hell is that……what is that?」

Suddenly, a voice echoed out into the surroundings.

Until a while ago, Pree had been fiercely fighting against Elena and Byune with the dolls at her side. But now, her face was filled with astonishment as she pointed at the abnormal species……no, Oricule, who had turned into an abnormal human.

The same was true for Elena and Byune, who unintentionally stopped fighting as they looked at Oricule with shocked expressions.

While being stared at by everyone, Oricule shook his head lightly without any particular concern……the next moment, his shaking hair suddenly flew out.

That’s right, just like Byune’s throwing needles.

Nearly 30 of them were shot out.

The needles were not aimed at Rei, Elena, Vihera, Byune, Essetus, Nakuto, or Tivia……but Pree.

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