Chapter 40
Manticore.
Its torso resembles a lion's, but its body length alone exceeds that of an ordinary lion by more than three times. It weighs more than five times as much, and its claws are over ten times larger.
Rather than glossy brown fur, its entire body is covered in coarse fur with a reddish hue like blood, and it is considered impossible to pierce its thick hide with ordinary spears or blades. According to old tales, this is because it grows by coating its entire body in the blood of countless animals.
Its teeth are arranged in three densely layered rows from front to back, making them more akin to a shark's teeth than those of a land animal. A manticore's teeth are harder than steel and sharper than obsidian blades, so it should not be fought with similarly edged weapons; it must be confronted by shattering them with heavy blunt weapons. Research also shows that, like a shark's teeth, a manticore's teeth are continually replaced throughout its life, and that it goes through approximately eight thousand teeth.
A manticore's tail resembles that of an insect rather than a mammal. From near its rump to the tip, it is covered in thick armor, and the end splits into five sections resembling blossoming petals. Each of the five tips also bears a large, sharp barb like a scorpion's stinger, and the manticore secretes a paralytic venom from these barbs to slowly drive its prey to death. Even if one of these barbs breaks, it can regrow up to three times, so a manticore without five barbs at the tip of its tail is almost certainly either congenitally deformed or so old that it can no longer control its own body.
A manticore's head resembles that of a human. The red mane covering the area around its head evokes not fur but human body hair—sideburns, beards, and the like—and the snout protruding from its center like that of a carnivorous mammal only heightens its grotesque appearance. Not only its outward appearance but also the vocal cords inside it resemble those of a human, and it is said to instill fear by clumsily imitating human speech while enjoying its prey's reactions.
Once a manticore has acquired a taste for human flesh, it becomes a top-priority extermination target. Missions must be issued and every available person deployed as quickly as possible, whether they are active magic knights or still in training. The reason manticores enjoy human flesh remains unknown, but judging from the countless documented cases, it can be inferred that the species itself evolved to prey on humans.
Until extremely recently, it was believed that some manticores could breathe fire from their mouths. However, the latest research has revealed that breathing fire is an inherent magical ability of the manticore species. A unique mana organ exists deep in the throat, in the area corresponding to human vocal cords, allowing it to breathe flames in a manner similar to a formal fire-attribute spell. However, unlike reptilian monsters such as wyverns, which possess heat-resistant systems throughout their bodies, a manticore's throat is directly exposed to the heat of the flames once it breathes fire, resulting in fairly severe burns. Thus, individual differences seem to exist, with some individuals avoiding its use while others use it recklessly despite the pain. Moreover, the more frequently an individual uses this flame, the more the flesh of its throat adapts by becoming progressively thicker and tougher, allowing it to spew flames for longer and with greater force.
Once a male and female manticore form a bond, they refuse to part until death, guarding their nest and raising their young until the offspring mature and become independent. Furthermore, as with other mammals, female manticores with young are considered extremely dangerous, and exterminating them requires the utmost preparation….
-[Excerpt from {A Report on Manticore Ecology}, written by Samala Cagliostro in Solar Year 27.]
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“Gaaaaaaaaah!!”
Flames poured forth like a storm from the enormous red maw, grotesquely twisted like a human face.
“Stand back!”
Ayla stepped forward and thrust out both hands, with magic circles hovering before her palms. A snow-white barrier of cold surrounded the seven students, neutralizing the manticore's breath.
“Ugh, why does it look so fucking ugly…!”
Grinding her sharply grown teeth, Miriam growled. Glancing at her, Igor muttered,
“I’m sorry to say this, but your current appearance isn’t exactly easy on the eyes either.”
“What did you say!”
Miriam shouted at the top of her lungs.
“No, but seriously. Look at yourself right now. No matter how I think about it, you look more like a beastfolk than a human….”
“You four-eyed bastard, are you done talking!”
Roxanna shouted shrilly between the bickering Miriam and Igor.
“W-where is Instructor Rex…?”
“Looks like you forgot, cousin!”
Karen shouted at her.
“Instructor Rex can’t help us! Not unless one of us gets seriously injured!”
“Ah, right….”
Roxanna trailed off with a reddening face, and Karen, who had been looking back at her, soon clicked her tongue softly and turned away.
“Gaaaa… kh, kh.”
After spewing its breath for quite some time, the manticore twisted its face violently and coughed up jet-black smoke.
“Its breath stopped!”
Miriam shouted and charged headlong at the manticore.
The manticore opened its jaws wide at her.
“These puny teeth…!”
-Clang!!
Miriam's claws collided with the manticore's jaws. Contrary to their appearance, which at a glance seemed merely thin and sharp, the manticore's teeth remained intact, making Miriam cock her head in puzzlement.
“You idiot!”
Igor shouted as he charged in, now wielding a halberd reinforced with a thick layer of stone.
-Crash!!
It sounded like a window shattering. That was the sound of Igor's halberd smashing into the manticore's jaws from the inside and shattering dozens of teeth in an instant.
Miriam shouted.
“Oh, a halberd! Is that your usual weapon?”
“Spout that useless trivia later!”
Igor shouted back at Miriam.
“Don’t you know manticore teeth have to be broken with blunt weapons!”
“Oh, really?”
“What kind of empty-headed response is that…!”
Growling, Igor adjusted his glasses and sighed.
“…From now on, make a habit of thoroughly reading relevant reports before carrying out a mission. Since there’s only one manticore, I’ll take care of all the teeth….”
“For fuck’s sake!”
“What now!”
Igor whipped his head around at Miriam, who had suddenly screamed.
“…For fuck’s sake.”
Then he muttered exactly the same words as Miriam.
One more. A manticore was flying toward the students.
Worse, it had a mouthful of blazing fire.
“Everyone, get back!”
Ayla shouted as she stepped forward. A barrier imbued with cold rose in the manticore's path, and its breath was neutralized by the cold, sending snow-white smoke billowing upward like a cloud.
“…Ghk?!”
But that lasted only a moment. Ayla's expression soon twisted, and the barrier of cold began to crumble little by little.
The red flames were visible flickering beyond the white wall.
“…Damn it, it’s one of those individuals that fires its breath without hesitation!”
Igor clicked his tongue and shouted.
And then.
“H-hey, hey, hey! That bastard can fire too?!”
“What?!”
At Miriam's frantic voice, Igor turned his head and saw the manticore getting back up despite having lost dozens of its teeth.
It was dripping blood from between its broken teeth while spewing terrible heat from deep within its throat.
“Ayl…!”
Igor turned his head to call Ayla in alarm, but she was already wrestling with one of the manticores.
To make matters worse, the breath of the one that had appeared later was far more powerful than expected, and she was barely managing to match it.
Maximilian and Karen had already gone to help her. After hesitating, Igor turned his head toward the manticore whose teeth had been broken.
“I’m sorry, but with Class E’s class representative absent, I’ll take command….”
-Zzt.
At that moment, a small flash of lightning flickered above the manticore's left eye.
-Crack!!
Immediately afterward, a bolt of lightning tore through the air and came flying toward them.
“…No, thanks, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”
Kariya answered quietly when he saw the tomahawk flying toward them wreathed in lightning.
-Kzzzzzt!!
The flying tomahawk lodged firmly in the manticore's left eye and discharged all the lightning it held.
With its eyeball's lens seared until it boiled from the agony, the manticore screamed as it spewed the breath it had been about to release wildly into the sky.
“Gaaaaaaaaah!!!”
-Zzt…!
The embedded tomahawk soon pulled itself free and flew back into Charlotte's hand.
“Sorry I’m late!”
“It’s fine. Where is Instructor Haru?”
“She went to help evacuate the villagers.”
This was one of the advantages trainee knights had. Although instructors could not directly assist with the mission, they could help ordinary people escape safely and work to calm the surrounding situation, reducing the distractions facing the students and allowing them to focus entirely on the battle.
In other words, they could bring their full strength to bear.
“…Perfect aim. Did you switch weapons?”
“It just sort of happened.”
Charlotte answered Igor's question quietly.
“Then… we’ll leave this manticore to Class E.”
“You should go too.”
Charlotte replied, lightly tapping Igor's shoulder. Igor silently nodded, then gripped his halberd and ran toward the manticore on Class A's side.
“….”
Charlotte stared intently at the halberd in his hand, then turned her head toward the manticore missing one eye.
More precisely, the one whose eye she had just taken.
“…Just so you know in advance, trying to take its other eye would actually be a bad move.”
Kariya said.
“I know.”
Charlotte nodded.
“So, instead, I’m planning to use it.”
“Use it…?”
“I’ll draw its attention.”
-Flash…!
At the same time, a small bolt of lightning struck the manticore's right eye.
“While it’s distracted by its right eye, we’ll break all its teeth first.”
-Bang!!
The tomahawk wreathed in lightning flew through the sky. After flying this way and that in a dizzying curve, the tomahawk soon swooped toward the manticore's right eye as if it had regained its momentum.
“Kaaaaah…!”
Screaming in a hoarse voice, the manticore raised its forepaw to cover its right eye.
“Now!!”
Charlotte shouted as she charged, and at the same time Kariya and Miriam rushed toward the manticore's jaws.
-Kzzzzzt!!!
Miriam's claws, Kariya's chain sword, and Charlotte's tomahawk tore through the inside of the manticore's jaws in succession.
Even teeth as hard as steel could be broken if struck by weapons heavily coated in mana. They had not been completely crushed, but even this would certainly reduce the risk of a fatal injury.
“Kaak!!”
-Kwoooom!!
The manticore's hastily swung forepaw slammed into the ground. The earth shook and split as though an earthquake had struck, and unlike Charlotte, who had only been throwing her tomahawk from a distance, Kariya and Miriam had no choice but to retreat.
But that was all. Class E was not weak enough to be caught by a literal blind blow thrown while the manticore covered its right eye and could not see at all.
“…This is manageable.”
Miriam muttered with a grin.