Ch.429Arcane Orca (1)

Tock

A water droplet formed on my head carapace.

I lifted my head to look up. The dark clouds were so thick they seemed ready to pour down rain at any moment.

‘They should have infiltrated the ship by now?’

Beyond those dense clouds, outside the planet, the Sky Mother and PS-111 are there. They’re infiltrating the Jax Beta class ship that’s supporting the ranker from orbit.

The commander currently operating the pirate fleet is likely a high-ranking android. If it’s a high councilor, they might be able to eavesdrop on our communications. That’s why we agreed not to contact each other until the mission succeeds.

‘It’s been a while since we’ve had a mission where we each act independently.’

It gives me a strange feeling, probably because we haven’t done this for some time.

‘Those two should manage well enough.’

I shifted my gaze from the sky to look down at the ground.

Below my extended combat arms, colorful waves were surging. Waves made of homeless people, pirates, soldiers, technicians, and various other humans.

Their true identity: Hiveformers. AMorph’s army created using the people who were on AG-01.

‘More like a zombie horde than an army.’

Seeing the countless crowd moving at exactly the same pace reminded me of zombies from horror movies.

Of course, they aren’t animated corpses. Instead of flesh and blood, those skins are filled with black worms.

An enormous number of body snatchers advancing to subdue their target. In front of their destination stood 8 Monster Walkers.

All the Hiveformers here were based on humans. They couldn’t pierce a Walker’s heavy armor with bare hands.

‘But when their numbers reach hundreds of thousands, that’s a different story.’

This was on a completely different scale from the few hundred that had scuffled at the port.

No matter how impressive a Walker’s defensive capabilities might be, it would be difficult to survive being overwhelmed by a wave of Hiveformers. Once buried under the army, they would be unable to move due to the sheer weight and could only wait for death.

The enemies seemed to know this too, as they were mobilizing all their weapons to push back the approaching army.

The Walkers at the front adjusted the power of their plasma cutters to create makeshift flamethrowers and burned the Hiveformers. Those at the rear fired shells indiscriminately from the multi-barrel turrets on their backs.

Each explosion created holes in the crowd as the air vibrated with the blasts. But that was only temporary; other Hiveformers quickly filled the empty spaces. Unless they launched an orbital bombardment, it wouldn’t be easy to push them back.

Conversely, our side was also having trouble approaching the Walkers, but there was no need to worry.

I lowered my body and brought my head close to the ground.

‘Well then, shall I bring them out?’

This place where we stand is no ordinary ground. The moment my auxiliary organ under my chin touched the floor, my consciousness connected with the wide, shallow nest. In that state, I drew out the card I had prepared in advance.

Not far from where the Walkers were positioned, the nest disguised as ground deactivated its camouflage. A large pit formed, and the monsters hidden beneath rose up.

The identity of these creatures, several times larger than humans, was Megacorp’s biological weapon: Hulk Mutants.

‘To be precise, they’re worms wearing Hulk Mutant skins.’

The gardener Hiveformers of the nest make homes from the bodies of organisms that enter from outside. They can turn any target with a body they can consume into a hiding place.

‘It would be a waste to visit a Hulk Mutant testing facility and not make use of them.’

The AG-01 research complex had numerous incomplete or discarded Hulk Mutant test subjects remaining, besides the genetic samples. They were like byproducts created during weapon development, with no value beyond nutritional content when consumed.

So I decided to let my little friends have them.

‘Now, go.’

The Hulk Mutants, filled with black worms, advanced.

Though significantly slower than the originals, their sturdy defenses remained intact. Even when hit by incoming shells, they only faltered slightly without stopping their march.

The Walkers belatedly realized the problem. They tried to switch to shells with stronger firepower, but before they could, the Hulk Mutants reached them first.

Some swung arms fitted with large blades, while others rammed with heads protruding like battering rams. The Monster Walkers’ armor wouldn’t be damaged by such attacks, but they couldn’t be ignored either.

The Walkers at the front, which had been spewing flames, were forced to deal with the hollow Hulk Mutants.

Monster Walkers stand nearly 10m tall, making them about three times larger than Hulk Mutants. Their strength is proportional. The Walkers swung fists larger than small children like hammers, crushing their enemies.

But my army didn’t retreat even slightly. Because Hiveformers feel neither pain nor fear.

While our forces bought time, the humanoid Hiveformers closed the distance with the Walkers. Knowing they would be finished if surrounded, the Walkers struggled to keep the enemies at bay.

Among the fiercely fighting Walkers, I spotted one with twin blades attached to both arms.

A bipedal war machine with twin blades on both arms, roaming the battlefield like a robot character from Japanese SF animation.

That one is the Rank 25.

‘Well then, I should move too.’

I disconnected from the nest and spread my wing arms wide. Then I bent and straightened my combat arms that supported my body, launching myself upward.

Below me in mid-air, I could see the Walkers fighting back-to-back. One of them spotted me.

It tried to dodge, but it was too late. I pounced on the metal giant and knocked it over.

Then I bit down hard on the area where the cockpit was located with my three heads. A brief death cry escaped through the crumpling alloy plates.

‘That’s one.’

Now seven remained, including the ranker. In that position, I rotated my body widely.

My bifurcated tail moved with the rotation, sweeping across the ground. One Walker standing in its path was caught by the pincers at the end of my tail. Having lost both legs, it collapsed helplessly to the ground.

‘Two.’

Next, the parasitic tentacles sleeping on my back all shot out at once.

The tentacles targeted the Walkers’ cockpits.

Three of the tentacles successfully penetrated the bodies of nearby Walkers. The pointed appendages were covered with some liquid—blood or fuel, I couldn’t tell.

‘That makes five.’

But I failed to destroy the three at the front. That’s because Rank 25 cut the tentacles flying toward them.

“Pain Reduction activated!”

‘Tsk, as expected.’

The twin blades he used were unique equipment obtainable from specific locations, like the “Golden Spear of Shaman.”

Their name: “Sacred Fangs.”

They have extremely high durability, making them nearly impossible to destroy. They’re so sturdy they can withstand even Red Gallergorn’s “Starflame.”

Yet they’re not dull either. They’re sharp enough to easily cut through parasitic tentacles, as they just did.

Other tentacles moved to grab the enemy wielding the unique equipment. The Walker with twin blades used thrusters attached to the sides of its legs to nimbly evade the attacks. Not only that, but it also channeled the momentum from dodging into its arms to cut down the approaching tentacles.

Further tentacle attacks would be meaningless. I retracted the tentacles into my back plate and prepared to charge.

But this time, they were faster.

The Walkers that survived thanks to the ranker aimed their back-mounted multi-barrel turrets at me. The gun ports opened, and hundreds of small projectiles were fired from within. They were binding shells used to capture beasts.

“Grrrr!”

My left head opened its mouth toward the shells filling the sky. A green fountain that dissolves everything surged from within my throat. The binding shells hit by the acidic breath oxidized before they could activate.

Most disappeared after being hit by the breath, but not all. Some shells that luckily avoided it burst above my head. Crystal-like formations resembling amber bound my left head.

Taking advantage of this opening, Rank 25 and two Walkers tried to distance themselves from me. They concentrated energy into their leg thrusters for an instant and jumped over the Hiveformer crowd.

However, they overlooked something—what lay beneath their feet.

Although the battle with the Walkers wasn’t long, it had been enough time for the Hiveformers to approach.

The Hulk Mutants pounced on the three that had jumped up. The ranker escaped by a hair’s breadth, but the Walker with the multi-barrel turret on its back couldn’t avoid being caught.

Then humanoid Hiveformers piled up on the fallen Walker. The Walker resisted by flailing its arms, but it was futile. The massive army swallowed it in an instant.

Rank 25, having escaped the Hiveformer attack, had already fled far away.

‘Must have been in quite a hurry.’

Using energy so recklessly like that will cause the engine to overheat and stop before long.

As I was about to chase after him, the remaining Walker blocked my path. In its hand was a massive vibrating blade that must have been several meters long.

The blade, vibrating with an ominous sound, struck my head. Sparks flew wildly as the saw blade collided with my head carapace.

But the result wasn’t what it had hoped for. The alloy blade that seemed capable of grinding anything quickly dulled, leaving only slight scratches on my head.

‘How annoying.’

With my central and right heads, I bit both sides of the Walker and pulled in opposite directions with all my might. The enemy couldn’t withstand it for long and was torn in half.

‘That makes seven.’

I spat out the fragments of the Walker that had become scrap metal.

All the Walkers supporting the ranker had been dealt with.

Now only one prey remained.

–

“ちくしょう! (Damn it!) ちくしょう! (Damn it!)”

Shinobu cursed as he roughly struck the control stick.

He was currently hiding in a small town near the port. It was to cool down the overheated Monster Walker engine.

“When is this thing going to move again!”

The gauge on the dashboard indicated he needed to wait a few more minutes for cooling to complete.

At any other time, it would have been a negligibly short period. But in this situation, being pursued by AMorph, it felt excruciatingly long.

‘And Pisces, you bastard! When was the bombardment supposed to happen? Why haven’t you fired yet?!’

They had agreed to distract AMorph with an orbital bombardment, but there was still no sign of it. He had sent communications asking what was happening while fleeing, but was met with silence.

‘Could he have been taken out?’

Perhaps while he was fighting on the ground, AMorph’s pets had attacked Pisces Twelve.

He didn’t know how they had deceived the high councilor specialized in detection, but the opponent was that infamous Morph-freak. He must have pulled some nasty trick again.

“…Phew. Stay calm.”

Shinobu sighed, forcibly suppressing his anger.

If something had happened to Pisces, it would also be impossible to receive support from the ships in orbit.

There was only one thing he could rely on now. The Perk he received when crossing into this world.

It was a difficult Perk to use, but if utilized well, he could escape this threat.

He looked at his palm, wet with cold sweat.

‘It should be coming by now, why is there still no signal?’

The ampule he took during battle was a preparatory step for using the Perk. The Perk had already been activated, but the “being” he was expecting hadn’t arrived.

‘Others came right away, so why aren’t you coming! Damn it!’

Just then, the dashboard indicated that cooling was complete. At least something was going right in this situation where nothing else was going according to plan.

He moved the Walker again.

‘First, I need to hide and buy some time… Ugh?!’

The moment he left the building where he had been hiding, the cockpit shook violently. Sparks flew from various parts of the cockpit, and damage reports written in red appeared all over the dashboard.

‘W-when did it…?!’

Then, with a loud sound of tearing metal, the ceiling above his head was ripped off.

At that moment, Shinobu directly faced the creature for the first time.

A ghost clearly visible even in darkness. That eerie being spoke softly.

‘Eight,’ it said.