François looked at Kayle with all the despair in the world as he forced a fake smile, tears welling up in his eyes.
Suddenly, Kayle had an idea. He took off his shirt as well and used it to fasten himself to the creature. Luckily for him, the creature's body was anything but smooth, covered in many broken or protruding spots with enough relief for him to secure his shirt tightly.
A shirt in his left hand and his jacket in his right, Kayle suddenly shouted to François:
— Catch this!
François understood the plan instantly and was already reaching out his arm.
He was only a few meters away when Kayle swung the jacket toward him so he could grab it.
By some miracle, François managed to catch the jacket and began spinning from the inertia. Kayle clenched with all his might, contracting every muscle in his body to avoid letting go.
François completed a quarter turn and then slammed into the creature's chest. Kayle was at his limit but held on through the entire process, his face turning as red as a tomato.
François didn't waste any time and quickly climbed back onto the chimera's shoulder to relieve his companion.
They had both managed to land. That was already something. Now, the second part of the plan was about to begin: stopping this thing.
Kayle examined the beast more closely. Its purple skin reflected its ugliness perfectly. Foul holes—surely oozing venom—covered its body. Its many arms bore burns where the skin had mixed with blood, forming some viscous, ever-bubbling substance along with crusts just as hideous. And its eyes…
— What a nightmare!
The eyes on its face had been pierced, and Kayle easily recognized Roïd's arrows. However, others had grown on its legs. The sight was truly horrifying.
— Damn it. If I'd known, I would've asked Rack to send you alone. What was I thinking?
François looked straight into his eyes before replying.
— You really think this is the time to complain? We have to stop this thing before it reaches Lilly.
— You've got vomit on your mouth, by the way.
— And?
The chimera continued calmly on its path while Kayle kept thinking of a way to stop it.
Shit, this horror is really the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Or maybe that little thing in the forest was worse. I don't know. But in any case, I have to stop it. I need to find a way…'
Kayle suddenly turned his head when he saw movement to the side. François had already pulled out a dagger and was vigorously stabbing the creature multiple times.
— What are you doing?!
— While you're thinking, I'm already draining it of its blood.
— We're not even sure this thing can actually be drained of blood!
— Then come up with a plan, Kayle.
— Aren't you supposed to be the genius here?
François was right. They had to act quickly. But as Kayle looked to see how far they were from the center, he suddenly saw a huge, disgusting hand rushing toward him at high speed.
— Shit, it… or she… or that thing noticed us!
Kayle suddenly shoved François, and both of them fell off the shoulder just before the hand crushed them.
— Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Kayle quickly found a crevice in the monster's horrible, battered skin. He grabbed François with his other arm and held on tightly to that hollow.
— Come on!!
Kayle wasn't exceptionally strong either. In his world, his strength was above average, but holding a human being who was himself hanging from one arm was difficult for anyone.
But he held on, refusing to let his companion fall.
Yet suddenly, just as Kayle's efforts seemed to be paying off, François abruptly made him release his hand.
— Hey, what are you—
The very young boy grabbed his knife and plunged it into the beast as he slid downward, slowing his fall. A terrible gash grew wider the more meters he lost in height.
The little boy growled like an enraged warrior, which stunned Kayle. In truth, he had underestimated the kid's determination. While he himself had been searching for a plan, François—who wasn't the physical type at all—was desperately trying to wound the beast. His fighting spirit left Kayle speechless. Even if he didn't really have a way to stop the chimera, François was trying to create that way with whatever he had.
And that was where Kayle was falling behind: precise, concise plans.
He had to act. Just like the little boy beneath him was acting.
François landed on the chimera's foot at the perfect moment.
Clearly, the kid hadn't abandoned his sense of calculation and strategy. His rage hadn't erased his common sense.
Looking upward, he saw the chimera groan in pain before deciding to give its best kick to the tiny thing standing on its foot. François felt the danger coming but couldn't even react. The impact was going to be so violent that holding on would be useless. He braced for the blow—but it never came.
Instead, the chimera stopped its movement and focused on another part of its body. Its hand shot at high speed toward its left flank, where Kayle was.
As it turned out, Kayle was also stabbing the beast with all his fury.
Seeing this, François smiled. Kayle, however, did not.
— Oh shit!
Letting go at the last possible second, Kayle barely avoided being crushed by the giant hand. He then stabbed his dagger again and slid down the monster's left leg while carving a gash into it. The chimera understood that those two were going to be a pain for a long time.
It shook its left leg violently, but Kayle was already ready for that. It was impossible to make him release his dagger, and impossible to shake him off.
Then François climbed onto its right leg and shut the three eyes located there before closing the fourth and continuing to slash.
The chimera focused on its second parasite, but the first was still causing terrible pain. Even if the cuts weren't deep, they were deep enough for the creature's purple blood to keep flowing freely from multiple cracks.
And suddenly, Kayle noticed something.
— It 's completely stupid.
Grinning, he continued stabbing the creature while sliding down its body and creating more gashes.
But as he climbed back up onto the beast, his foot suddenly lost all traction against its skin and he slipped helplessly, hitting his head rather hard.
At first, he didn't pay attention to it, and under the rush of adrenaline, he kept climbing as if nothing had happened.
But some time later, he slipped again. And that's when he understood.
Shit, there's blood everywhere. It's getting hard to move properly on its body and then…
And suddenly, another horrible thought struck him.
Kayle looked at the young boy struggling around the creature. He seemed to be avoiding certain spots, as if he shouldn't touch them.
Kayle panicked.
'He's not immune.'
And the creature didn't look damaged enough to stop. In any case, they were screwed.
Kayle had to go back to what he did best: having a backup plan for his backup plans.
— And I don't have one!
And he didn't have one!!!
The creature began moving faster as it realized it was starting to lose too much blood. However, François had less and less ground to stand on, and Kayle kept slipping because of the venom, making each fall dangerous since he absolutely couldn't touch the ground.
This is really the game "the floor is lava" but in a way too realistic version.
The situation was becoming desperate, but at least the chimera was almost coming to a stop. Not because it couldn't move anymore, but because it was taking the time to try to get rid of them.
Kayle looked toward the place where he had left the former soldier and Rack, and they didn't seem able to come anytime soon. The chimera was struggling more and more, and it was only a matter of time before it killed both of them.
Suddenly, Kayle had an idea. He looked toward François and saw in his eyes that he'd had the same idea.
'If this thing was made like a human—at least partially—then it has the same basic structure. If there's one thing we can cut to stop it from walking, it's the heel. More precisely, the Achilles tendon.'
Both of them lunged toward the hairy, hideous legs of the chimera and held on as best they could. Kayle was on the left leg and François on the right. The chimera didn't lower its eyes, but Kayle could feel it had sensed their presence.
Instead of a welcoming arrival on its legs, a dozen globular eyes with two pupils each turned to stare at them. Kayle shivered before stabbing one violently.
— What the hell am I even doing here?
But even if he questioned it, he still had to reach his goal, so the answer would have to wait.
François was the first to try cutting the beast's heel. But that was easier said than done. Even the chimera's ankles were like two huge tree trunks. François wasn't Rack or even the former soldier, so the task was truly difficult.
Kayle wasn't making much better progress. He knew he shouldn't cut through the entire ankle and sever the weird foot from the rest, but even reaching the tendon was complicated. The deeper he cut, the tougher the skin became, and the venom flowed almost like a waterfall.
It was taking too long…