Ch.253The Great Invasion (6)

Despite being grabbed by the head, Sonia remained calm. She smiled casually and stuck out her tongue.

“I’ve already blocked my pain receptors. It doesn’t hurt. Nyah, nyah.”

“What the…!”

Zernya pushed and pulled Sonia with all her might.

“You tin can, learning about love? Come with me right now, I’ll format you!”

“Are androids not allowed to love?”

“No. Absolutely not. Even if you were human, it wouldn’t be allowed!”

Sonia frowned.

“I’ve known the young master for 20 years. I liked him first.”

“So what? The one who marries first wins.”

“If I weren’t an android, I would have proposed before you did.”

“Too bad for you. You’ll be an android forever. Be a proper robot and help with housework. Stop eyeing someone else’s husband.”

The fight was getting more intense. I intervened before things got worse.

“Both of you, stop it. We’re in the middle of a war—what good comes from allies fighting each other?”

“But honey! This tin can doesn’t know her place… mmph!”

I covered Zernya’s mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise. But soon, Zernya closed her eyes languidly.

When I pulled my lips away, a thread of saliva followed. Zernya let out an excited sigh.

I sat Zernya in a chair and spoke gently.

“You’re pregnant. Don’t overexert yourself. Getting angry might upset the baby.”

“…Then let me ask you something. Do you love that android as a woman?”

“To be honest, I do love her.”

“What?”

Zernya’s heart sank.

“If she were human.”

“Young master…?”

Sonia’s heart sank too.

“Sonia is like family to me. Similar to a father, mother, or younger sister. I do love her, but it’s ambiguous whether it’s romantic love. I want you to understand this clearly, Sonia.”

“…I understand.”

I gently patted Sonia and seated her. Then I relayed Sonia’s commitment to Zernya.

“An android becoming human? Talk sense.”

“She says she can do it, so I’ll watch and see.”

Zernya started chuckling. I understood her reaction. An android becoming human? Even I thought it was nearly impossible.

“Fine, I’ll acknowledge you if you become human. Go ahead and try if you can.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. Because it’s impossible.”

Sonia asked with gleaming eyes.

“Please tell me the specific conditions to be considered human.”

“First, your blood must be red. Also, when tested genetically, you must have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Finally, if you’re a woman, you must be capable of pregnancy and childbirth. Wouldn’t that qualify as a human woman?”

“To verify the last condition, I would need to have relations with Young Master Eidel…”

“First satisfy the first and second conditions before we discuss that.”

Zernya stroked her lower abdomen. It wasn’t showing yet as she was in early pregnancy. Still, it was where a life had taken root.

“Anyway, I took the day off today. I’m exercising my rights as a wife. The android can stay locked up in the supply room.”

“That’s not acceptable. I am the young master’s exclusive assistant.”

“Then act like it and stand like a screen.”

“I will, so please don’t interfere with the young master’s work. You may have the day off, but the young master needs to work hard today.”

Sonia’s last remark saved me, as the argument between the two women subsided afterward.

However, the peace didn’t last long.

WAAAAAANG!

The siren warning of a monster invasion blared.

“What’s falling outside the window?”

“Flowers.”

I turned around in alarm. Yellow petals were falling like rain.

No doubt.

It’s that one.

The avatar that drove Rustila to her death in the original story.

Wooong.

Zernya’s telescreen vibrated ominously.

“Hello? Yes, yes, yes. What? Right now? Yes, I understand. Yes.”

After hanging up, Zernya’s face clouded over.

“What’s going on?”

“They want me to cancel my day off and return. Without my constellation… they say there might be many dangerous patients.”

Zernya hurriedly put on her coat. Just then, Ireh rushed in. She spoke to me while catching her breath.

“Eidel, it’s that thing!”

“I know.”

Shamplawi.

A sunflower with two heads.

One of the strongest among the Queen’s direct subordinates.

“Ireh, I’m sorry, but please go protect Rustila and Zernya.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. I have Sonia.”

“Alright. Just in case, don’t leave this place.”

Ireh went back down.

Drrrr!

Shutters came down over each window to block the monster’s invasion. They could only be opened from inside. The research lab was plunged into darkness.

I was especially worried about Naiere and Rustila. This time, there was nothing I could do. The avatar was so strong that I would only get in the way if I went.

I closed my eyes and prayed in my heart.

Not to a god or constellation, but to Ireh Hazlen.

Please, may she be able to control the situation.

***

This swarm of monsters appeared about 5km away from the research facility.

“What’s the enemy’s advance status?”

“They’re primarily moving through spores or flower pots. Once a mature form takes root, it appears to remain stationary.”

“A plant-type monster? That’s a small blessing.”

Naiere put down the tactical map and gripped her Plasma Sword.

Keeeng.

The blade gleamed sharply.

It was a modified sword imbued with scientists’ souls. She had cut down dozens of avatars with it.

“I hope this ends easily again.”

Naiere was somewhat tired from the continuous defensive battles. Still, she couldn’t rest. It was the fate of a Great Omega class swordsman.

She arrived at the front line with Rustila.

The ground and air were contaminated with spores, seeds, and flowers. Below, victims who had inhaled the contaminated air now had vines growing throughout their bodies.

The vines that invaded the body constricted people like pythons. After suffocating their prey, they used surgery to begin the hydration process. People became vessels for flowers.

The process from pregnancy to birth didn’t take long. Half-human, half-flower beings were already wandering near the cocoons. Literally, their heads were flowers.

“Ugh.”

Rustila swallowed her nausea.

“It’s too late for them. All we can do is cut them down to give them peace.”

It was dizzying just to look at, enough to cause delirium.

Rustila felt only one emotion: rage. She hated the outer gods that destroyed human habitats.

Rustila also heated up her god-sword. Liquefied Aether stretched like molasses.

“Maximum plasma firepower, deploy body techniques and break through!”

Naiere’s orders fell. Rustila wrapped her entire body in starlight. Fierce energy raced through her blood vessels.

Attack!

Her comrades charged forward in unison. All were veterans of EX rank or higher. They stabbed and cut everything in their path. They split open cocoons to extract people who weren’t fully infected yet.

The victims hovered between life and death. They would die without immediate treatment. Medics shouted as they ran.

[Front clear.]

[Requesting radiation.]

Rustila and Naiere pulled back their swords. They firmly fixed their legs and bent their joints. Adding rotational force to their waists and shoulders, they swung their swords like whips.

Whoosh!

The horizontal sword path left a comet-like trajectory.

Omega class conversion, plasma radiation.

The monster’s nest burned in the high-temperature Aether. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The fierce flames grew as they devoured the madness.

“Keeeeek!”

As even the ground melted, the plants had no chance to take root. Ordinary monsters were consumed by the flames without a single cell remaining.

Yet, two flowers remained unburned. These flowers bent their stems and curled their leaves, wheezing.

“That’s…”

“Wait.”

Naiere blocked Rustila’s path.

“It’s an avatar. Strong.”

It was intact despite taking a hit from an Omega-class swordsman’s strike. Not a scratch. It couldn’t be weak.

“If we cut down that thing, today’s work is done.”

Finally, the avatar raised its head. It stood over 5 meters tall, with a stem thicker than most logs. Both flowers grew from a single stem.

They looked like sunflowers. They had large black eyes and wide-split mouths.

“Hee, heehee. Heeheeheehee.”

“Sob, sob.”

One was laughing, the other crying.

An eerie blackness swirled around the flowers. The soil was rotting. Naiere sent a radio message.

“Surround it.”

The swordsmen encircled the flower. Rustila took position opposite to Naiere. She waited for orders.

That’s when it happened.

“Hello?”

The laughing flower began to speak. It was facing Rustila’s direction.

“I’m Joy. I’ve come to bring you happiness on the Queen’s behalf. Do you know what happiness is?”

“…”

Protocol for responding to avatars:

Never engage them in conversation.

Rustila didn’t answer.

“You don’t know.”

The avatar laughed.

“Then I’ll tell you.”

Rustila instinctively sensed a threat to her life. She swung her sword before orders were given.

Chaeng!

A high-pitched sound hit her ears a moment later. Something had definitely struck her sword and bounced off.

A rustling sound came from behind. Rustila glanced back. Her pupils trembled.

“Ah…”

Her comrades had fallen, struck by something like steel needles. Some groaned in pain, others didn’t move a finger.

Most of the swordsmen, except for Rustila, were incapacitated. It had happened in an instant.

The flower finished speaking with a sneer.

“Happiness is death. Why? Because seeing your inferior species die makes me so happy!”

Kahahahahaha!

Rustila gritted her teeth. That’s when Naiere’s radio message came through.

[Major!]

“Captain, we’ve been annihilated. Everyone but me is down.”

[I know, I can see. It’s the same on this side.]

There was nothing they could do. They immediately realized this avatar was in a different league from those they had fought before.

[Can you fight?]

“Even if I can’t, I must.”

Rustila and Naiere were the only Omega-class swordsmen in the Pastel planetary system. If Omega-class retreated, the front would collapse instantly.

Especially…

Abandoning this planet would be like abandoning her husband.

She couldn’t do that.

“Captain, I’ll take on the laughing one.”

She had to stop it, even at the cost of her life.