Chapter 34: Project Chimera (Review Bonus)

Chapter 34. Project Chimera (Review Bonus)

The entire corridor changed.

Hundreds of microscopic runes unfolded between the larger circles, forming geometric structures so complicated that even my Arcane Eye needed several seconds to separate the layers. Mana pathways intersected with biological markers. Core resonance equations connected to skeletal reconstruction arrays. Regeneration commands sat beside nervous-system stabilization sequences.

Ancient magi would probably look at this thing and decide I’d drawn it while having a seizure.

They wouldn’t understand.

Because this wasn’t ancient magic.

It was modern magical engineering.

Advanced modern magical engineering.

One of my unfinished projects.

One I had deliberately buried.

Project Chimera.

The assassins apparently sensed that something had changed.

The leader’s eyes widened.

For the first time since I’d captured him, discipline cracked.

He struggled.

Hard.

The Abyssal chains rattled violently.

"What—"

Apparently horrifying magical experimentation was more persuasive than interrogation.

I reached into my dimensional storage.

Something heavy materialized above my palm.

The Ironback Behemoth core.

Dark amber.

Brown-gold currents moved beneath its crystalline surface like molten veins.

The leader froze.

Then his eyes widened further.

"What are you doing?!"

I tossed the core.

It didn’t fall.

The formation caught it.

The Behemoth core stopped in midair and slowly floated toward the assassin’s chest.

He thrashed. "NO!"

I watched carefully.

Every trace of amusement vanished from my mind.

Researcher mode.

"Fusion."

The formation ignited.

The assassin screamed.

The Behemoth core struck his chest.

Then sank through it.

No wound.

No blood.

The formation temporarily converted the core’s physical structure into mana information, allowing it to pass through tissue before reconstructing around his mana core.

Two structures touched.

Human mana destabilized immediately.

Monster mana surged.

The assassin arched against the chains. "AAAAARGH!"

His veins darkened.

Muscles spasmed.

The Behemoth core resisted integration.

Different species.

Different mana architecture.

Different biological instructions.

Normally, the two systems would reject each other violently enough to kill the host.

Project Chimera existed specifically to prevent that.

The formation rotated.

[Foreign Core Integration: 11%.]

[19%.]

[31%.]

I opened my eyes wider.

Don’t blink.

Observe everything.

The Behemoth’s natural mana pathways unfolded.

Human pathways responded.

The formation forced both systems to compromise.

Not human.

Not monster.

Something between.

[47%.]

The assassin’s missing leg twitched.

Then something pushed from the wound.

Bone.

New bone.

Except it wasn’t human.

Thick.

Dense.

Armored.

Muscle formed around it rapidly before dark gray hide covered everything.

A massive clawed foot struck the floor.

I inhaled sharply. "It regenerated the missing structure using the monster template..."

Fascinating.

His arms expanded next.

-Crack... Crack-crack-crack!

Bones lengthened.

Shoulders widened.

The Abyssal chains strained as his body grew.

Dark armored plates erupted across his forearms.

His fingers thickened.

Nails became black claws.

His torso expanded so violently that his assassin uniform tore apart at the seams.

The others stared.

Nobody struggled anymore.

They simply watched their leader become something else.

His scream dropped lower.

Rougher.

Until...

"GRAAAAAAAHH!"

His jaw widened.

Teeth sharpened.

Dark armored ridges formed along his cheekbones and forehead.

Yet the basic structure of his face remained recognizable.

Human eyes.

Human skull.

Human intelligence...

Hopefully.

[Core Fusion: 72%.]

My heartbeat accelerated.

This was further than I’d ever taken it.

Because I’d never actually tested Project Chimera.

Not once.

I’d simulated it.

Modeled it.

Tested individual components on monster tissue.

Built artificial mana networks.

But never this.

Never a human.

The project hadn’t started like this.

Originally, it had been another attempt to fix myself.

My broken mana core couldn’t safely contain more than a fraction of its original capacity, so I’d asked a simple question.

’What if I added another core?’

Human cores were out of the question. They couldn’t be extracted and preserved. The moment a human mana core was removed from its host body, it collapsed and died along with its mana structure.

Monster cores, however?

Those were an entirely different story.

Monster cores were plentiful.

Natural mana containers.

Stable.

Powerful.

I wanted to use one as a substitute reservoir.

An auxiliary core.

Take pressure away from my damaged one.

Simple idea.

Terrible complications.

Because monster cores didn’t merely contain mana.

They carried biological magical information.

Instinct.

Affinity.

Physical adaptation.

Evolutionary structures.

And under certain magical conditions...

That information could overwrite human tissue.

Mutation.

I’d discovered it accidentally.

Then people became interested.

Mercenary corporations.

Military contractors.

Governments.

Everyone heard the same thing and somehow reached the exact same horrifying conclusion.

"Super soldiers".

Humans with monster strength.

Monster regeneration.

Monster defenses.

Human intelligence.

And obedience engineered directly into the fusion structure.

They offered funding.

Facilities.

Subjects.

That last word had ended the conversation.

Subjects.

Human experiments.

I refused.

Declared Project Chimera a failure.

Locked the research away.

And eventually died with it unfinished.

Yet here I was.

Thousands of years in the past.

Watching it work.

My morality hadn’t disappeared.

That was perhaps the strangest part.

I still knew exactly why I’d refused.

The difference was that the man screaming inside my formation hadn’t volunteered to help medical science.

He’d come here to murder me.

And somewhere along the road between being poisoned, hunted, lied about, and attacked by six elite assassins...

My ethical review process had apparently become significantly more flexible.

[Core Fusion: 91%.]

"Come on."

[96%.]

The creature’s back arched.

[99%.]

I leaned forward.

Then...

[Core Fusion Complete.]

[Host Species: Human.]

[Donor Species: Ironback Behemoth.]

[Hybridization: Stable.]

[Cognitive Function: Preserved.]

[Physical Enhancement: Extreme.]

[Earth Affinity acquired.]

[Regeneration acquired.]

[Obedience Imprint: Established.]

The formation dimmed.

Something stood before me.

Almost three meters tall.

Broad enough that its shoulders nearly touched both sides of the corridor.

Dark stone-like armor covered portions of its body. One leg was disproportionately monstrous, the replacement built entirely from Behemoth structure, while the other had partially mutated to compensate.

Its face...

Human enough to recognize.

Monster enough that nobody would mistake it for one.

It breathed.

Slowly.

Heavily.

-Hhhh. Hhhh.

My lips curled upward. "Oh..."

Successful.

Project Chimera fucking worked.

The creature looked at me.

I immediately watched its pupils.

Recognition.

Focus.

No berserk confusion.

Excellent.

"Who sent you?"

Its mouth opened.

The first sound came out distorted. "R..." It swallowed. "Raven. Raven... Dusk."

There it was.

Direct confirmation.

"Not the guild?"

The Chimera’s head moved awkwardly. "Not... guild."

"Assassins Valley?"

"Not... Valley." Its claws scraped stone. "Raven. Dusk."

Personal order.

Interesting.

So Raven hadn’t acted officially through the organization.

One of the Five Heroes had personally sent six elite assassins after Rey.

I smiled at the Chimera. "I see."

It waited. Obedient.

That part bothered the old researcher in me more than I wanted to admit.

The formation hadn’t merely transformed his body.

It had worked exactly as designed.

Including the control architecture.

I could study the moral crisis later.

Right now, I had five other assassins.

One of whom was dying.

I looked toward them.

Fear.

Finally.

They had watched their leader become something impossible.

And worse... He had answered me.

I gestured toward them.

The Chimera turned its head.

Its nostrils flared.

Blood covered the corridor.

Five wounded bodies.

The dying assassin’s heartbeat was getting weaker.

The creature’s Behemoth instincts reacted immediately.

Hunger.

Its mouth opened.

Saliva slid between its teeth.

I watched. So cognitive function remained, but predatory instincts had increased dramatically.

That would need adjustment in later versions.

Later versions.

...

Wow, okay... Apparently I had already accepted there would be later versions.

My moral descent was becoming remarkably efficient.

I pointed toward the restrained assassins. "There’s your reward."

The Chimera looked at me.

Then them.

"Eat well."

The remaining assassins started struggling.

Chains rattled.

One finally shouted something behind his mask.

I couldn’t understand it.

Didn’t matter.

I lifted one finger. "And don’t spoil your food."

The Chimera grinned.

Not human.

Not anymore.

Then it lunged.

The corridor erupted into screams.

I didn’t interfere.

I simply stepped backward, Eclipse blades hovering around me, and watched. With attention.

Cold.

Clinical.

The same way I’d once watched volatile mana reactions through reinforced laboratory glass.

How quickly did predatory instincts override former social bonds?

Did it recognize them?

Would recognition create hesitation?

I folded my arms and sighed.

This date had gotten slightly off track.

Still...

My gaze returned to the Chimera.

Project Chimera worked.

And now I had something new to send back.

My smile returned. Slowly. "Oh, Raven..." I tilted my head. "You really shouldn’t have given a researcher free test subjects."