Ch.109Jungle (5)

Morning arrived in the forest where fog and darkness had made it impossible to see even a step ahead.

Light descended upon the dim forest floor. The ground was slightly damp from the morning fog and dew.

The moist soil was covered with footprints—tracks left behind by pirates and Walkers as they moved through.

With morning’s arrival, movement and searching no longer posed significant problems, unlike the dawn hours.

However, their mood had changed considerably from when they first arrived here hours ago.

Behind their helmets, their faces were etched with an unfamiliar emotion.

Fear.

It was the instinctive terror felt by prey.

“Vice Captain. Do you think the assistant is still alive?”

“Shut up.”

“…Yes, sir.”

When Dylan growled, his subordinate immediately backed down.

Currently, they were using trackers to follow the missing assistant deputy.

The assistant deputy had suddenly disappeared during their ambush. Almost certainly, the monster had dragged him away.

‘Damn it! If the boss finds out about this…’

The assistant deputy was someone the boss had personally assigned to assist Dylan.

If the boss discovered such a person had been captured by a monster, he would never let Dylan off the hook.

To avoid that unfortunate future, they needed to capture the monster by any means necessary. Whether they captured it alive or presented its corpse didn’t matter.

“Enemy spotted!”

As soon as the Walker pilot shouted, everyone opened fire at the creatures hiding in the trees.

In less than a few seconds, a creature with only part of its lower body remaining fell to the ground.

“…Damn, another Wood Devil. There should be two more, so find them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Since earlier, they’d been killing nothing but innocent Wood Devils. The real monster was still nowhere to be seen.

Though they couldn’t rule out the possibility it had fled far away, Dylan was convinced otherwise.

‘It’s a hunter.’

And one that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the most lethal predators on this continent.

It wouldn’t stop the slaughter until every pirate who entered this forest was dead.

“Vice Captain! Look over there!”

Just then, one of his subordinates pointed up into the trees.

Dylan looked up expecting Wood Devils, but what he saw was something far worse.

“…This fucking bastard.”

Skinned corpses hung from every tree.

It was a message.

A warning that they would end up the same way, or perhaps a taunt that they were nothing more than this.

Reading the meaning behind the hanging corpses, Dylan gritted his teeth.

“Sh-should we recover them?”

“……”

Neither Dylan nor the pirates present had much camaraderie.

Yet the reason for suggesting they recover the bodies was none other than the other predators in this forest.

There were no predators in the immediate vicinity powerful enough to threaten the pirates.

However, they couldn’t rule out the possibility that predators from farther away might be drawn here by the earlier explosion and the movement of the Plant Lizard herd.

For example, the ‘Horned Giant.’

A bipedal carnivorous reptile with scales as hard as a ship’s hull and jaws powerful enough to easily crush a Heavy Walker.

Moreover, they always traveled in male-female pairs, meaning you’d have to face two at once. The personnel present weren’t enough to fight a Horned Giant couple.

‘…They have keen senses of smell.’

The monster who hung these corpses clearly knew this fact and deliberately set this up.

The pirates tracking the missing assistant deputy had to pass through here. This meant they would likely encounter other predators attracted by the smell of corpses.

“Get those corpses down right n—wait a minute.”

Dylan closed his mouth as he was about to order his subordinates to recover the bodies.

‘No. Would it make such predictable moves?’

This was the same creature that had predicted where the transport ship would land and even planted mines.

It seemed unlikely that such a cunning creature would leave the corpses untampered.

‘The corpses are hung low.’

In the footage his subordinate had sent earlier, the corpses were hung much higher, but not now.

They were hung low enough that even a pirate in reinforced armor could jump and pull them down.

Almost as if inviting them to recover the bodies.

‘Suspicious.’

Dylan aimed his Purple Spray Gun at the corpses hanging from the trees and fired.

Purple flames erupted from the long barrel, burning the corpses and trees.

The precariously hanging corpses fell to the ground and exploded with a thunderous boom upon impact.

“You son of a bitch!”

The monster had hidden bombs inside the corpses, rigged to explode upon impact.

A double trap.

The monster had prepared a trap that would be problematic whether they removed the corpses or not.

“…Grr, let’s get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Understood!”

Passing through a path lined with hanging bombs was hardly a welcome choice, but they had no alternative. It was better than attracting other predators with explosions.

Dylan and the pirates quickly moved past the corpses.

“Fifty meters ahead, the assistant deputy’s movement has stopped!”

They were getting closer to the monster, but Dylan felt increasingly uneasy. He couldn’t guess what trick it might be planning this time.

“Everyone halt.”

It seemed he would need to investigate personally, wearing the Mask of Indomitability.

“You, you, and you come with me. The rest stay here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Dylan advanced with a few subordinates.

Breaking through the dense undergrowth, they came upon a wide clearing. The assistant deputy was leaning against a tree stump.

The reinforced armor he wore was severely damaged, as if the monster had mauled him.

Every part except the abdominal area was completely torn.

Dylan first surveyed the clearing with his Mask of Indomitability. If the monster was concealed, it would appear as a purple light, but no creatures were visible in the vicinity.

Checking the assistant deputy, he could see the body twitching. He was still alive.

“Hey asshole, you alive?”

“Ugh, mmph! Mmph!”

He seemed seriously injured, only able to groan without moving. Dylan gestured to a subordinate.

One pirate cautiously approached the assistant deputy.

“Assistant Deputy?”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

As the pirate approached, the assistant deputy’s groans grew more intense.

“Huh?”

Only when he got close did the pirate notice something strange about the assistant deputy’s body.

His abdomen was unnaturally swollen.

Just as the pirate reached out to touch his abdomen—

The reinforced armor burst open, and black insects that had been attached inside lunged out, engulfing the pirate.

‘Good.’

The Tooth Fairies I had hidden began their assault. Now it was my turn.

I had climbed to the top of a giant tree to avoid detection, concealed by Metal Consumption.

‘Their leader seems to have some brains.’

It was somewhat impressive that he noticed the bomb trap, but that was still within my expectations.

They were so focused on the corpses that they couldn’t check above them, which is why they failed to discover me hiding at the treetop.

‘They’re in the palm of my hand.’

I leaped down from the treetop.

My target was the Walker preparing for battle in the rear.

My body, made extremely heavy by the Nightmare Horizon effect, fell rapidly. The Walker, charging its plasma launcher due to the screams from the front, didn’t notice me falling.

“Ugh?!”

“Aah!”

The Walker I collided with toppled forward. As it fell, the charging launcher fired, reducing two pirates ahead to dust.

“I-it’s the monster!”

The pilot’s cry came from inside the cockpit. I had planned to crush him instantly, but unfortunately failed.

The thick steel armor was bent like taffy from our collision, but not enough to kill the pilot.

Other pirates and Walkers turned around in response to the pilot’s words.

I activated Ghost Claws and reached into the cockpit.

After a few swipes to silence the pilot, I quickly lunged forward. A plasma beam narrowly grazed my back.

｢Pain Reduction Activated!｣

‘Damn!’

I thought I had dodged safely, but I was wrong. The beam destroyed the bone plates on my back.

I couldn’t use the Signal Jamming ability until they regenerated.

Following the beam, purple flames from Purple Spray Guns blazed at me from all directions.

‘…This is really hot.’

The psychic flames scorched my outer skin.

The Purple Spray Gun is not only powerful, but its flames don’t extinguish easily, like white phosphorus. Made of unrefined psychic power, the flames continue burning until a certain time passes.

Currently, I possessed Psychic Enhancement, Psychic Resistance, and Pain Reduction abilities.

Thanks to these, I only felt the heat, but if I had lacked even one of them, I wouldn’t have been able to move properly due to the pain of my entire body burning.

‘I used Metal Absorption for nothing, what a shame.’

The purple flames clinging to my body rendered invisibility useless.

‘…But I can still use a strategy even in this state.’

I charged toward the remaining Walker with flames covering my body. As I approached, it hastily activated the grenade launcher mounted near its shoulder.

‘How stupid.’

The grenade containing condensed plasma energy hit my head and bounced off.

The deflected grenade landed in front of the pirates who were busy pouring psychic flames at me.

“What the—!”

Ignoring the explosion behind me, I lunged at the Walker. Unlike the Walker that was helplessly defeated at dawn, this one tilted its body to evade my charge.

My horn scraped the cockpit’s outer armor, leaving a long mark but failing to penetrate. Having avoided my horn, the Walker kicked me away.

Focused on charging, my body was pushed back significantly by the Walker’s kick.

‘But that’s fine.’

The Walker aimed its launcher at me as my posture crumbled, but its intention couldn’t be realized.

“Ugh, aaaaargh!”

This was because the psychic flames enveloping my body had transferred to the Walker.

As the cockpit was engulfed in purple flames, the pilot hastily escaped.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

I swung my tail at the fleeing pilot.

Hit by my tail covered in hard scales, he flew far and crashed into a tree. Upon impact, he was squashed like a mosquito hit by a palm.

“Shoot! Shoot and kill it!”

The pirate leader, who had gone ahead for reconnaissance, had returned and was shouting orders.

The Auto Plasma Gun mounted on his shoulder fired directly at me.

I turned my head to block the plasma bullet aimed at my arm. My head rang, but I could still endure.

‘Time to change positions.’

I jumped among the pirates, avoiding psychic flames and plasma bullets.

The Purple Spray Gun doesn’t discriminate between friend and foe. The pirates with heavy weapons hesitated and stopped firing.

“You idiots! Shoot it now!”

The intelligent pirate leader screamed, but it was too late. I drew all the weapons from my combat arms.

First, I struck down a confused pirate’s head with a bone axe.

“Gack!”

As his brain matter scattered, blood-red vampiric tentacles grabbed another pirate’s leg.

“Ugh?!”

The pirate caught by the vampiric tentacles became a 1.9-meter club used to beat other pirates.

“Gaaah!”

“Aah!”

Even pirates in reinforced armor couldn’t withstand being hit by a makeshift club made from a similarly armored pirate. They fell like bowling pins.

Seeing this, other pirates seemed determined to abandon their comrades and tried to activate their Purple Spray Guns again.

I opened my mouth wide toward them.

From an organ in my throat, pouches containing malignant fungi were expelled.

The black mass flew in an arc and landed behind the pirates with heavy weapons. With a sound like a water balloon bursting, vicious fungi were released and clung to the pirates.

“Guh, guhgagagagak!”

“Agagagak!”

The pirates writhed, screaming strange cries. Thanks to the Infection Enhancement ability, the effects of the Space Bacteria and Decay Fungi organs were much stronger now.

The decay fungi, much more vicious than before, rapidly ate away at the pirates’ bodies.

“Th-this fucking… Retreat! Retreat!”

The Walkers were annihilated, and nearly half the remaining pirates were gone.

At the pirate leader’s retreat order, the other pirates turned and fled.

I didn’t chase them. Instead, I gathered the pirates who weren’t dead yet.

“S-stop… gack!”

‘I need to recover before pursuing.’

I chewed on the struggling pirate’s head.

The bone plates that activate the Signal Jamming ability were damaged, and my entire body was burned by psychic flames.

Rather than hastily tracking the enemy, it was advisable to recover from injuries and replenish energy first.

‘I’ve already eliminated all the Walkers and heavy weapon infantry anyway.’

The only one who seemed to be the leader was armed with a Purple Spray Gun and an Auto Plasma Gun, but that was it.

In this dangerous forest, they were like wounded deer.

‘Now I’m the hunter.’

It’s a shame I won’t get to use the traps I prepared, but that’s fine.

I quite enjoy the chase too.