SSS-Rank Extra: I Got a Chaos System-Chapter 11: The Accidental Beast Tamer

Kazuki barely had time to process the words there's a hydra outside before Lillian yanked him forward. His feet nearly left the ground as she dragged him toward the outskirts of the village, her grip iron-tight.

"Wait, wait, wait—!" Kazuki yelped, stumbling after her. "Why am I coming?! I am not equipped for this!"

"You're the holy one!" Lillian shot back.

"I AM A FRAUD!"

"Not the time!"

The moment they burst out onto the main path, Kazuki realized things were much worse than he thought. Villagers were already scrambling out of their homes, some holding makeshift weapons, others just running in blind panic. The distant glow of torches flickered against the dark forest line, and—

BOOM.

The ground trembled. A second later, a deafening roar split the night air, the kind that made Kazuki's soul attempt to evacuate his body.

Oh. Right. The hydra.

He immediately turned on his heel. "Yeah, no. I'm out."

Lillian yanked him back before he could take two steps. "Oh, no you don't!"

"Yes, I do!" Kazuki wailed. "What exactly do you expect me to do against that?! Lecture it on water sanitation?!"

"Just move!"

The two of them were swept up in the growing crowd of villagers rushing toward the outskirts. Kazuki, despite his desperate attempts to resist, found himself being forcefully escorted toward imminent doom.

He had a very bad feeling about this.

Kazuki stumbled as he was practically dragged toward certain doom. The crowd of villagers surged forward, their panicked shouts filling the air as they rushed toward the outskirts of the village, where the giant, many-headed lizard of death was presumably waiting to ruin everyone's night.

Kazuki, however, had very different priorities.

"Okay! Okay! Let's just pause for a second and reconsider!" he pleaded, digging his heels into the dirt. "This is clearly a terrible idea! Why are we running toward the problem?!"

Lillian didn't even look at him as she pulled him along. "Because if we don't stop it, the hydra will level the village."

"Right, right, very tragic. But counterpoint!" He gestured wildly. "What if—and hear me out on this—we evacuate instead? As in, strategically retreat to a nice, safe location where the hydra is not?"

Lillian shot him a look that could have killed a lesser man. "Kazuki."

"Yes?"

"Shut up and keep moving."

He groaned but had no choice but to comply. His grand escape plans were foiled by the iron grip of a woman who clearly did not care about his survival instincts.

As they neared the outskirts, the sound of battle preparations grew louder. Villagers with torches and spears were assembling near the treeline, forming a very underwhelming defensive line against a creature that could, in all likelihood, eat them in one bite.

And then, as if to drive home the fact that this was a terrible idea—

BOOM.

The ground shook again, and Kazuki's heart nearly jumped out of his throat. Something massive was moving just beyond the trees, the faint glow of firelight illuminating the thick, scaly hide of a towering silhouette.

Then, a pair of gleaming reptilian eyes snapped open in the darkness. Followed by a second. And a third.

Kazuki's entire soul screamed.

"...I changed my mind," he whispered. "We're all going to die. Horribly."

Lillian smacked the back of his head. "Not if we fight."

"Fight?!" Kazuki pointed at the six-headed monstrosity that was now stalking toward them like an apex predator that had just been rudely woken up from a nap. "WITH WHAT? POSITIVE THINKING?!"

One of the villagers nearby—an old man gripping a rusted spear—turned to Kazuki with wide, desperate eyes. "Holy One! Please! Bless our weapons so that we may slay the beast!"

Kazuki's eye twitched. What.

Lillian nodded. "Good idea. Kazuki, do that."

"Do what?!" Kazuki's voice cracked. "You think I can just wave my hands and magically turn sticks into dragon-slaying weapons?! What part of fraud was unclear?!"

The old man frowned. "But... aren't you blessed by the gods?"

Kazuki felt a cold sweat forming. "Ah. About that—"

Before he could even attempt to wriggle out of this, another deafening roar erupted from the hydra. The sheer force of it nearly knocked him off his feet.

The village militia immediately assumed battle stances, weapons raised, fear flashing in their eyes but determination keeping them from bolting.

Kazuki, on the other hand, did not have that kind of determination.

"This is a mistake," he wheezed. "A huge, huge mistake."

Lillian shoved a sword into his hands. "Here. Try not to die."

Kazuki stared at it. Then at her. Then back at the hydra.

Then, finally, he took a deep breath, straightened his back, and did the one thing that made sense in this moment.

He turned on his heel and bolted.

"NOPE."

Lillian immediately tackled him to the ground.

"DAMMIT, KAZUKI!"

Kazuki hit the dirt with a thud, Lillian's full weight pressing down on him as he struggled like a fish out of water.

"Let me go!" he yelped, flailing. "This is not my fight!"

Lillian, entirely unimpressed, locked an arm around his neck and dragged him back to his feet. "It is exactly your fight! You're the so-called 'Holy One,' remember?!"

"By accident!"

The ground rumbled again as the hydra stepped forward, its massive form now fully emerging from the trees. Six heads loomed high above, each one moving independently, scanning the crowd of terrified villagers with cold, hungry eyes.

One of the heads turned toward them—toward Kazuki.

He stiffened.

"...Lillian."

"What?"

"It's looking at me."

One of the hydra's heads tilted, nostrils flaring as if sniffing the air.

Kazuki grabbed Lillian's wrist in a death grip. "It's smelling me."

The head snapped toward him with unsettling precision.

His stomach dropped. "Oh no."

Then, with alarming speed, the hydra lunged.

Kazuki screamed.

Lillian shoved him to the side as the massive jaws slammed into the ground where he had just been standing. Dirt and debris exploded into the air, villagers scattering in every direction.

Kazuki scrambled backward on all fours. "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE—"

Lillian grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up again. "Move!"

"I AM MOVING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!"

The hydra roared, shaking the earth as its other heads slithered forward, surrounding them. One of them eyed Kazuki with something horribly close to curiosity.

"Okay, hear me out," Kazuki gasped, waving his hands. "What if... instead of fighting, we just—uh—befriend the hydra?!"

Lillian side-eyed him. "Kazuki."

"No, no, seriously! Maybe it's just misunderstood! Maybe it's angry because someone—uh, I don't know—stole its favorite rock or something!"

"Pretty sure it's angry because we're standing in its territory."

"We can give it a new one!"

The hydra did not look like it wanted a new rock. It looked like it wanted dinner.

Which was bad, because Kazuki very much preferred not being eaten.

Just then, a spear soared through the air and smacked into one of the hydra's necks with a hollow thunk.

The creature paused. Slowly, one of its heads turned toward the offending villager—a young man, pale and shaking but still gripping another spear like his life depended on it.

Kazuki's eyes widened in horror. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

The hydra roared, all six heads snapping toward the villagers now.

"Oh, great. Now it's pissed!" Kazuki groaned, grabbing Lillian's arm. "We need to run!"

"We need to fight!" she shot back.

Kazuki gestured wildly at the massive, god-killing lizard that was now actively advancing on them. "With what?! The sheer force of my anxiety?!"

"With the blessing of the Holy One!" the old man from before called out, gripping his spear.

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Kazuki cried.

Lillian shoved him forward. "Just—do something!"

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Kazuki stumbled, arms flailing as every single villager turned to look at him expectantly.

His brain short-circuited.

"Uhh—uhhh—"

The hydra hissed.

"ANY DAY NOW!" Lillian snapped.

Kazuki did the first thing that came to mind.

He raised a hand toward the hydra and yelled:

"BAD DRAGON! SIT!!"

For a moment, everything stopped.

Even the hydra froze, six massive heads blinking in eerie synchronization.

The villagers stared.

Lillian stared.

Kazuki barely dared to breathe.

Then, with a slow, menacing rumble—

—the hydra sat.

Silence.

Kazuki blinked. "...What."

Lillian blinked. "What."

The hydra simply stayed there, massive tails curling around itself as it stared down at them.

Kazuki's brain failed to process what just happened. "I— I was joking. That wasn't supposed to work."

Lillian's eyes flicked between him and the now very obedient hydra. "...Holy One?"

Kazuki's mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again.

He slowly turned to the wide-eyed villagers.

Then, finally, he straightened his back, placed his hands on his hips, and cleared his throat.

"Yes," he said with all the confidence of a man who had absolutely no idea what he was doing. "Behold, the divine power of the Holy One."