Slayers: Alive

Slayers: Alive 50

Slayers: Alive

Episode 118: Unbreakable! Ties To The Past

The group had come together in the kingdom of Seyruun, the final stop of their respective traveling routes. Lina, Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadis, had joined those who were already at the kingdom, Philionel, Naga, Gravos, Fili and Palou. Xellos, Filia, Elena and Jillas also arrived at the city.

In the mean time, Beast Master was at Wolf Pack Island, going over all the information her spies and researchers had gathered. The information had slowly changed and evolved with every new discovery. Theories were formed, discarded and replaced and the truth had finally come to light. The enemy was stronger than they thought. Zelas was also rather busy overseeing a series of experiments to make sure it would be possible to fuse the End with the rest of the fragments of the Stillness. Another different experiment involved borrowing power from the Sea of Chaos, a project that Celo was working on.

As for the matter of the fragments, they would surely only get one chance for the combination to be carried out and they couldn't risk the Stillness resisting the fusion. Thus they attempted to make Tiffany into a chimera that was a little more similar to the components of the Green Alchemist in hopes of raising the possible success rate of the fusion. As a result of that, Zelas was as of yet to visit Seyruun with any further plans or instructions to try to draw out the Nameless Beast, not that the group was waiting for her to appear anyway.

A very changed Tiffany was trying to practice her instant fusion techniques. Making a chimera that was part monster and part something else was relatively simple because of the way monsters were, but that might not be so beneficial in this case, because the End within Tiffany might end up consuming the monster part somehow. Making chimeras that were not in part monster was something that Zelas had no real reason to often do. Though she did add any beast-like chimera she found to her collection and usually ended up with a few little mutant pets if it bred with her wolves, that was something that mostly just happened, not something that needed to be carefully planned and calculated.

The chamber was a raw cave-like basement with glowing symbols carved on the ground, surrounding the area where Tiffany participated in the experiment. She moved forward within the designated space. Her skin was oddly pale, her hair discolored to white. She had some wolf-like qualities to her, most clearly noticeable in her ears and facial features. She reached for the small tree sapling and attempted to fuse with it, but could not do so instantly, instead taking some time to painfully absorb it, despite being aided by the spells that filled the marked area. Her right hand became like a wooden claw, though she could still move it with the agility of a wolf. A few leaves sprouted from her hair and she gained a slightly green tint on her otherwise pale skin.

If she was enough of a mix, if she was sufficiently chaotic, that could weaken the Stillness after she was absorbed. The plant components should make the merge easier by making her similar to the materials that came from the remains of the Green Alchemist. As for the fusion, it needed to be fast, more than fast, it had to be instant, and most of all it had to be absolute. This was not exactly absolute, as one could still distinguish the pieces of one creature from another in different areas. The dormant End within Tiffany made the chimera blending process more difficult than expected.

Tiffany fell to her knees breathing heavily. She had been participating in such experiments for a long time without rest. At least this time she was actually absorbing something, unlike with the unsuccessful first few attempts where her body refused to become a chimera. This was still not enough though, not nearly enough. When she faced the Stillness, she would have to force herself to unite with it before it had the chance to stop her. "We're going to need a more powerful chimera spell," Zelas concluded. "I have an idea about where to get it."