As the battle continued all over the world, Platoon A-1 was facing eight Chimera Beasts of their own.
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Battle 4
In the fourth battle, Arak, alongside two other members of Golden Paradox, faced a Chimera Beast with the body of a panther, dragon wings, and the tail of a lizard.
It moved like a shadow despite its size. It hid within the darkness and attacked whenever it found an opportunity. With the dim light in the area where the battle was taking place, the Chimera Beast was taking full advantage of its surroundings.
But on the other hand, Arak was simply waiting.
He patiently stood there, waiting for the right moment to erupt. His broadsword was burning red, with even lava dripping from its blade.
The plan was simple. The other two members would lure the Chimera Beast in, and at that exact moment, Arak would finish it in one blow.
One of them could use ice magic. She would wait for the Chimera Beast to rush forward and then freeze the floor, breaking its momentum. The other would act as a shield just in case something went wrong.
And the plan was recreated as perfectly as it could have been.
The Chimera Beast suddenly leapt toward the two members.
One of them raised his sword and shielded himself from the attack, while the other prepared her ice magic. The moment the Chimera Beast crashed onto the newly frozen floor, it struggled to regain its balance. Because of the ice, it had trouble returning to the shadows of the dimly lit area.
That was the moment Arak had been waiting for.
He raised his broadsword. The flames surrounding it burned so brightly that the dimly lit area suddenly felt like morning. Arak swung his broadsword.
In a single blow, the heat completely melted the Chimera Beast.
Not just its core.
Its entire body was purged all at once.
And just like that, the Chimera Beast was gone.
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Battle 5
In the fifth battle, Hex and two other members of Golden Paradox faced a Chimera Beast with the body of a gorilla, the head of an elk, and the quills of a porcupine.
It possessed tremendous brute force, but it also had a ranged option through its quills.
Hex used a bardiche as his weapon. However, his true ability was curse magic, which was considered one of the rarest forms of magic to use. Hex mainly applied curse magic to his opponents to weaken them, but he could also use it to strengthen himself. However, doing so came with side effects later on.
Still, Hex was used to it.
Some of his curses were even alive. They could talk to him and acted as his companions.
Hex had once had the opportunity to become one of the second-in-command of Golden Paradox and battle it out against either Arak or Indigo for the position.
But he refused.
Instead, he remained one of the captains. The reason was still unknown.
For Hex, this battle was less than a warm-up. He simply sat outside the main fight and left the other two members to deal with the Chimera Beast.
Not because he was lazy. He trusted that the two of them could handle it.
And if, at any moment, he felt like getting involved, he could simply enter the battle himself.
The two members continued fighting the Chimera Beast for several minutes.
Hex looked around.
A few of the other battles were already over.
He slowly got up.
And suddenly, the Chimera Beast turned into ash.
Both members immediately looked toward Hex.
His face carried a completely plain reaction, as if he had no idea what had just happened.
But they knew.
They knew this was Hex's doing.
Still, neither of them reacted.
And just like that, this battle was concluded by a mystery.
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Battle 6
Doran, Brian, and two other members of Golden Paradox faced a Chimera Beast with the body of a horse, the head of a griffin, and the wings of a bat.
It was an extremely weird combination.
It wasn't the fastest or strongest Chimera Beast out there.
But it was the most unpredictable.
Its movements were completely random.
On the other hand, Brian possessed an ability known as Loop. Using his ability, Brian could designate one action that had already been performed and force that action to repeat a certain number of times.
Doran was a pure brute warrior, while the other two members focused on support spells.
As randomness faced certainty, Brian already had a simple plan.
He would wait for the perfect moment to use his Loop ability.
He left Doran to take the offense and told him to give the Chimera Beast a clean hit.
After that, Brian would handle the rest.
The Chimera Beast went back and forth with Doran and the other two members.
Doran swung his weapon again and again, but the Chimera Beast's unpredictable movements made him miss most of the time.
Ironically, that randomness was actually helping them.
Doran continued attacking until, finally, one proper swing landed directly on the Chimera Beast's left abdomen.
That was all Loop needed.
No matter how random the Chimera Beast was, Brian could repeat what had already happened.
The same moment repeated.
Then another time.
And another.
The Chimera Beast was forced to experience the same opening repeatedly.
Brian immediately moved in with his bow and arrow.
He fired directly toward the location of the core.
The arrow struck.
The Chimera Beast collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud.
Moments later, its body turned into ash.
Another Chimera Beast had been defeated.
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Six battles had now been completed.
Only two battles remained ongoing simultaneously.
And soon, as the battles came to an end, the situation inside the dungeon was about to change.