Chapter 55: The Feast of Chimaera Z-X

Bradley’s breathing grew increasingly heavy as his eyes remained glued to the giant robot staring down at him, standing so tall before him that his vision was slightly obstructed by the sun’s glare. As he stood frozen in awe,

"Commander!"

Bradley turned to look at the soldier beside him, who was pointing toward the jeep. Swiveling his head toward the vehicle, he saw three soldiers waving a fabric flag. Though greasy, it was white, fashioned from several cloths tied together. Bradley looked back at the giant robot in front of him, whose head was now turned toward the jeep behind him.

Bradley watched as the giant robot’s previously clenched fists slowly unfurled. Though his heart was still pounding wildly, a slight sense of relief washed over him, and his face relaxed just a fraction. But because the universe had no intention of granting him peace,

"Skreeeeeech!"

The soul-crushing roar of a massive beast resonated nearby, sending a violent shiver straight down his spine. Turning around, he watched the helicopter hovering above spin away to put distance between them. There in the middle of the forest stood a colossal monster nearly eighty meters tall. Its body resembled a dragon covered in red and black scales, yet it stood upright on two massive legs, wielding long arms tipped with claw-like talons. Most terrifying of all, the creature possessed two heads set atop long necks, lined with long fin-like horns slanting backward.

"Damn it... damn it all... why did that monster have to follow us here?" Bradley thought to himself, his face drained of color.

Before he could even process how to deal with the giant beast in front of them, a massive shadow swept over him. Boom! Chimaera Z-X leaped directly over Bradley and his troops, landing squarely ahead to form a barrier between his forces and the giant monster. Stunned, Bradley instantly snapped back to his senses and snatched his radio,

"Fall back! Maintain a safe perimeter and make sure nobody fires, even by accident! Leave that monster to them!" Bradley screamed into his radio.

"Um... to them, Commander?" the soldier beside him asked.

"Yes... them! Don’t ask questions, fall back to the safe perimeter immediately!" Bradley barked back.

Meanwhile, inside the cockpit of Chimaera Z-X, Craig stood up front, Casca, Celes, and Corie were lined up in the middle, and Clyde stood in the rear, taking in the colossal beast on the wide screen floating before them. Without even realizing it, all five of them broke into smiles,

"What luck! Time to test what Chimaera Z-X can really do," Craig said, grinning.

"Brother Craig, don’t get too carried away," Casca replied with a smile.

"That’s right, don’t drop your guard or get reckless out of excitement," Corie added, smiling.

"Come on, everyone, let’s get ready to fight that monster," Celes said with a grin.

"Yeah... stay sharp, everyone! Charge!" Clyde yelled, smiling.

"Charge!" Craig, Celes, Casca, and Corie shouted in unison.

Without further delay, Chimaera Z-X marched forward toward the monster, its steps starting slow before accelerating into a full sprint.

"Skreeeech!"

The monster broke into a sprint toward Chimaera Z-X as well, the earth trembling violently as the two titans closed the distance to clash. The beast spun to strike with its long, whip-like tail, but—clang!—Chimaera Z-X parried the blow with an arm, brushing it aside before driving a straight punch forward. Boom! Chimaera Z-X’s fist landed square on one of the monster’s heads, sending it reeling backward.

However, the second head snapped forward with bared fangs, intending to sink its teeth into the giant robot. Chimaera Z-X pivoted out of harm’s way and performed a small leap, driving an uppercut knee strike straight into the monster’s second head.

Boom!

The monster was knocked back as both its heads flew upward, causing it to crash onto its back. Inside the cockpit,

"Go... go!"

Clyde, Casca, Celes, Craig, and Corie cheered enthusiastically, their arms and legs moving as though they were physically walking up to the monster themselves. They watched as the giant beast slowly pushed itself back up, shaking both of its heads from the impact of Chimaera Z-X’s punch and knee strike. As the monster stood up and both of its heads glared forward, it recoiled in shock, Chimaera Z-X was already right in front of it, reaching out to grab both heads and wrenching back on its horns.

Crash!

Chimaera Z-X ripped the horns clean off both of the monster’s heads. "Skreeeech!" The beast shrieked in agony from having its horns torn out, leaping backward to put distance between them. Then, the fins and scales along the monster’s body ignited in a radiant red, the glow pulsing from its tail up through its two necks. Both of the monster’s heads opened their maws wide, revealing blinding red energy gathering inside.

Boom... boom.

Seeing the monster primed to fire, Craig, Casca, Celes, Corie, and Clyde actually sprinted straight toward it with smiles on their faces instead of backing down.

Blast!

The monster unleashed two crimson laser beams directly at the charging Chimaera Z-X. A semi-circular protective barrier, resembling a holographic lens, deployed in front of Chimaera Z-X, deflecting both red lasers off to the sides while the mecha continued its forward surge. As the lasers ceased and the gap closed, Chimaera Z-X spun, whipping its tail around to bind one of the monster’s necks before yanking its head forward.

Yanked off balance, the monster slid helplessly toward Chimaera Z-X. Shing! The wings of Chimaera Z-X suddenly hardened like razor-sharp steel, slicing through both of the monster’s necks and severing both heads simultaneously. Boom! The monster’s headless body shuddered as its severed heads detached, one caught in Chimaera Z-X’s grip, before collapsing onto its knees in the middle of the forest and slumping face down right in front of Chimaera Z-X.

Watching the battle unfold from inside the helicopter, Bradley was left utterly stunned, his jaw practically dropping to the floor. The monster that had been pursuing him and his troops, forcing them to go through immense trouble just to evade it, had been effortlessly slaughtered by the terrifying, mysterious giant robot below. A soldier beside him turned to look at him,

"Commander... what kind of robot is that down there...? It took down a Tier 5 Nephilim Beast Pyrodraco like it was nothing!" the soldier yelled.

"A robot whose five pilots we do NOT want to make angry! Don’t shoot, just watch!" Bradley shouted back.

Suddenly, the faces of Bradley and the soldiers inside the helicopter turned ghost-white. Bleergh! Several soldiers began vomiting out the helicopter door toward the ground below. The reason was simple: they watched as Chimaera Z-X sat down cross-legged in the middle of the forest. Its mouth, which had previously been sealed shut like a mouthless mask—gaped wide open, revealing rows of giant, monster-like teeth before it bit directly into the severed Pyrodraco neck it held.

Then, its hands tore into the Pyrodraco’s body, ripping the monster to shreds with a single hand and pulling out all of its internal organs.

"Co... Commander... w-what are they doing?!" a soldier screamed.

Bradley didn’t answer. Instead, he clapped a hand over his mouth, his complexion turning a sickly grey as he fought off intense nausea at the sight of the giant robot, now looking every bit like a ravenous monster devouring its prey raw on the spot. Meanwhile, inside the cockpit of Chimaera Z-X, on the holographic screen stretched out beside the five of them displaying their statuses, synchronization stability, and abilities, their hunger progress bars could be seen dropping by several percent,

"Oh... so when Chimaera Z-X eats... we get full too?" Casca asked.

"I can feel something in my mouth, traveling down into my stomach," Corie added.

"This is... actually pretty nice and delicious," Craig said.

"Wait a minute... Celes, when you were trapped here and we found you, you were already full. Does that mean Chimaera Z-X ate so you wouldn’t starve? But wasn’t Chimaera Z-X inactive the whole time you were trapped?" Clyde asked Celes.

"Hmm... I don’t know about the forty years I was asleep... but ever since I woke up ten years ago, I kept feeling constantly full, so I had no trouble thinking or feeling hungry... when I found out why... it turned out many dog-like monsters kept wandering into the hangar. Chimaera Z-X used the telekinetic power from my third eye ability to kill them and feed them into its mouth," Celes answered.

"Oh... so that’s how it was. That means you were basically hunting for food yourself," Clyde said.

"Hmm... you could say that. My ability, Chimaera Z-X’s labor, hehe," Celes replied.

"Forget that for now, Brother Clyde, just enjoy the food first... more importantly, what are we doing about those troops circling in helicopters above us?" Craig asked.

"They were waving a white flag earlier, you know," Corie replied.

"Yeah... I saw it too, even if the flag wasn’t super white and looked dirty," Casca added.

"What should we do with them, Clyde?" Celes asked.

Clyde fell silent, staring at the screen in front of him and observing the three helicopters hovering above them, clearly watching their every move. Clyde narrowed his eyes, a smile spreading across his face.