Ch.438Ruins (2)

“…Why did it suddenly get so quiet?”

Inside a bunker surrounded by thick metal walls.

Six men and women were looking up at the flickering lights with anxious expressions. They were temporary administrators of the Egerton Resource Management Center.

No, to be precise, they were former administrators. The city they were supposed to protect had collapsed.

It didn’t take long for the defense line that had barely been holding to crumble. As soon as the line was breached, they abandoned command and immediately retreated to the bunker.

In truth, bunkers aren’t particularly good evacuation facilities in space cities, but they had no choice. Trying to escape on a spaceship would only result in being quickly caught by Outspacers. Hiding in a bunker deep within the base offered the best chance of survival.

“Maybe they’ve left?”

“Could the Quarantine Manager have succeeded? He said he could control the Outspacers.”

“Ha. If that were possible, the attack wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Think before you speak, would you?”

“What? Are you done talking?”

“Quiet!”

Savierre, who had silenced everyone, pressed his ear against the wall. The faint vibrations he had felt until just now had completely stopped.

Outspacers don’t leave survivors. After a battle, they thoroughly search the base and devour every human they find.

The search time seemed too short to believe the bunker had luckily been missed. Normally, it should have remained noisy for at least a few more hours.

“…Strange.”

After checking for nearly five minutes, Savierre pulled away from the wall.

“So they really did leave, right?”

“We should send a distress signal now…”

The bunker was equipped with various devices necessary for maintaining the lives of evacuees in emergencies. Among them was a signaler to send rescue requests to the outside.

The Material Management Team Leader suggested turning on the signaler, but Savierre shook his head.

Outspacers react sensitively to various signals. If they turned on the signaler now, they would almost certainly be detected.

“If they’re still in the city, they might detect the signal. Let’s wait a bit longer until we’re sure it’s safe.”

Since it was a reasonable argument, everyone agreed to follow his opinion.

And that judgment proved wise. Not long after they started waiting, the bunker shook violently.

The vibration was so strong that everyone inside tumbled to the ground. It was certain that not just the bunker, but the entire city had shaken.

About an hour passed after the massive vibration hit the bunker. There were no more noises or vibrations.

“Shouldn’t we activate the signaler now?”

“We can’t just keep waiting forever.”

“……”

Everyone except Savierre nodded at the Food Management Team Leader’s words.

Perhaps due to the fear of not knowing when they might die, everyone looked unwell. They clearly wanted to escape reality somehow.

And the oxygen supply system in the bunker had been damaged by the earlier impact. For now, they were fine with the oxygen remaining in the city and the oxygen capsules stored in the bunker, but it wasn’t good in the long term.

Since there were no tools for repairs here, they needed to go outside to get what they needed.

“…We’ll activate the signaler after I return.”

“Leave here? What are you saying?”

“I’ll check the state of the city. We need to go out anyway to fix the oxygen supply system.”

Savierre continued speaking as he put on the power suit in the bunker.

“Since there won’t be… any volunteers, I’ll designate them myself. Material Management Team Leader and Medical Team Leader, follow me.”

“What?! Why me…?”

“W-wait a moment! On what grounds are you taking us?”

“The Material Management Team Leader is the only one who knows where the tools are, and the Medical Team Leader is coming along in case of emergencies.”

“Wait! We can’t do without the Medical Team Leader. What if something happens in the bunker?”

“Then would you go instead, Food Management Team Leader? If not, keep your mouth shut.”

Having absolutely no desire to venture into danger, she closed her mouth. The others also avoided eye contact with each other.

Shortly after, the three left the bunker in full armor.

“Oh my… It’s completely wrecked?”

The underground train they had used to reach the bunker had derailed and fallen over. Even at a glance, the rails showed numerous damaged sections.

“We have power suits, so let’s move on foot.”

The three ran along where the rails had been.

They found traces of Outspacers along the way, but no living ones were in sight.

‘Did they really leave?’

If there was one thing learned while fighting against the Outspacer invasion, it was that they weren’t simply beasts. Those terrifying monsters had systems and strategies. The possibility that they had temporarily retreated to achieve a more important objective than the resource center couldn’t be ruled out.

“We don’t know when they might return. Let’s hurry.”

But for now, it was safe. Savierre quickened his pace. The sound of footsteps from the three in power suits echoed faintly through the underground passage.

After moving for quite some time, they finally reached the surface.

“Good heavens.”

“What on earth happened here?”

The surface that unfolded before their eyes was even more devastated than underground.

The command tower stood precariously with half of it blown away, and other high-rise buildings had their upper portions completely gone.

Not only that, but the dome-shaped wall covering the city had also been damaged. A newly formed crack, large enough for a battleship to pass through easily, was visible. Oxygen and various debris could be seen being sucked out through the gap.

Due to the severe damage to the inner dome wall, the devices creating the artificial sky were also ruined. Particularly, the atmospheric lighting panels kept flickering incessantly, creating an extremely eerie atmosphere.

“Now I understand what caused the vibration earlier.”

“Was it the Outspacers’ doing?”

“……”

By the time they evacuated, the city had already fallen. With the fighting stopped, such damage couldn’t have occurred.

Moreover, Savierre hadn’t seen any Outspacers capable of causing that much destruction.

Which meant that something unidentified had appeared here.

‘…Not good.’

The probability that the newly appeared entity would be friendly to Savierre’s group was low. They needed to hurry as much as possible.

“Where should we go to get repair tools?”

“There’s a temporary supply management office nearby. We should go there.”

Savierre nodded at the Medical Team Leader’s suggestion.

They walked through the ruined streets with more tension than before.

The gravity maintenance system was still operational. Thanks to that, debris from collapsed buildings remained piled on the streets.

But nowhere could they sense any sign of survivors.

“It’s strange that we haven’t seen a single survivor yet.”

“There are other bunkers too, so they might be hiding there.”

“Yes, that must be it.”

Unlike the two who questioned the absence of people, Savierre was thinking something different.

‘Why are there no bodies?’

After the city’s defense line collapsed, an enormous number of people died. Yet not a single corpse was visible on the streets.

‘There aren’t even any Outspacers?’

Although humans died in overwhelmingly larger numbers, Outspacers had also been killed. It would be normal to see at least one or two corpses, but again, none were visible.

‘It’s as if someone deliberately cleared away the bodies….’

“Administrator. It’s that building.”

The Medical Team Leader’s voice snapped Savierre out of his thoughts.

In the direction he pointed with his gun barrel was a low building. Judging by its relatively intact state, it seemed to have suffered less damage due to its low height. The three cautiously entered the building.

The interior was also in good condition, like the exterior. Glass and lights were broken, and stored supplies were scattered, but the building itself was in decent shape.

“Plasma cutter, metal injector, portable tool maker—these three are the priority. If we have time, we’ll also gather medical supplies.”

“The tools are stored on the third floor. Let’s go up.”

The three administrators in power suits moved, stepping on broken glass.

Perhaps it was the sound of glass being crushed, or the irregularly sparking lights, but the atmosphere was quite eerie.

Fortunately, despite the atmosphere, nothing concerning happened. The three safely reached the third floor and began searching the rooms in the corridor.

“There doesn’t seem to be a plasma cutter here.”

“Wait. We should take this. It has some side effects, but it’s effective for reducing pain.”

“Good. Then let’s move to the next room.”

“Ack?!”

The Material Management Team Leader, who had finished searching and opened the door to the next room, screamed.

The room with windows was filled with corpses.

“D-did they do this?”

“We need to get out of here quickly!”

“Wait!”

Savierre stopped the two who were trying to flee and entered the room to examine the bodies.

“…As I thought, this is strange.”

“What?”

“The bodies are too intact.”

An Outspacer’s claws can pierce through a ship’s armor. They easily turn people into pieces of meat.

But the bodies in this room were too clean. Apart from their bloodied heads, there were no other visible wounds.

‘Moreover, the posture of the bodies, the way they’re arranged…’

All the bodies in the room were lying face down with their heads toward the window. That posture, as if bowing toward the outside, was extremely bizarre.

Savierre approached the window and looked outside. Apart from having a good view of the crack in the dome, there was nothing special.

“C-could this be the work of humans?”

“I don’t know.”

“Whatever it is, this place isn’t safe. We need to leave quickly…”

At that moment, a body near the door moved. A survivor, who they thought was dead, slowly rose.

“Shit! He gouged out his own eyes!”

“W-who’s there?”

The person had no eyeballs. Fingernails were embedded in the eye sockets. Even Savierre held his breath at the horrific sight.

“W-who’s there? I can’t see anything!”

The eyeless survivor approached them, waving his arms.

“C-calm down!”

“P-please, help me, please help me!”

“We’ll help you, just stay where you are!”

“I-it’s here! N-no! I don’t want to see it!”

The staggering survivor suddenly lunged at them. Startled, the Material Management Team Leader fired his laser rifle.

“Guh!”

A red light flashed, and an acrid smell filled the room. The survivor, with a hole in his abdomen, collapsed.

“Cough, s-sky, sky…”

The survivor uttered incomprehensible words and then died.

“You shot someone who might have known about this situation! What were you thinking?”

“H-he suddenly went wild…”

“Damn it!”

It’s impossible for an ordinary person to damage a power suit with bare hands. Because of one person’s stupid action, they had lost a survivor who knew about the situation.

“G-General Administrator? It’s dangerous here. We need to gather the items and return quickly.”

“…Tch.”

The Medical Team Leader was right. They still had work to do.

The three left the room full of corpses and resumed their search.

Luckily, they quickly found the tools needed to repair the bunker. Together, they carried the tools and left the building.

The return route was the same as before. No survivors or Outspacers were found. They safely reached the entrance leading underground.

“Phew, I was worried we might encounter them, but thankfully we didn’t.”

“Indeed.”

The Material Management Team Leader and Medical Team Leader sighed in relief. Even Savierre, who had been feeling an inexplicable sense of foreboding since leaving the supply management office, could finally relax.

“Let’s rest a moment before going down.”

“Yes.”

Even with power suits, carrying bulky and heavy items like the plasma cutter was quite tiring.

“Oh my, moving without using enhancers is killing me.”

The Material Management Team Leader put down his load and stretched his back.

“Huh, how can you say that when the side effects of enhancers are so severe?”

“Come on, I was just saying… huh?”

The Material Management Team Leader, who was looking up while stretching, froze. The Medical Team Leader, who followed his gaze, also stopped.

“Let’s head down soon.”

“What is that?”

“Was that thing there before?”

“What?”

The two dazed people pointed upward. Savierre’s gaze slowly rose.

In the sky of the dome, with its anxiously flickering light panels, broken materials, and the giant crack sucking in oxygen, there was something white.

‘A cloud?’

Judging by how its edges rippled like a mirage, it looked like a cloud, or perhaps a sun halo created by light refraction.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t important to them.

Despite knowing this, Savierre couldn’t take his eyes off it. The other two were the same. The three remained fixed in place, heads raised and eyes wide open.

The unidentified phenomenon moved toward the three who stood frozen like statues.

As the ‘phenomenon’ drew closer, their eyes began to burn painfully. Tears streamed down between their trembling eyelids.

Suddenly, Savierre recalled the last word the survivor had left.

Now he understood what it meant.

“Ah, aah. Aaaah.”

“Aah. Ah. Ah.”

“……”

‘S-stop! I don’t want to see!’

The ‘phenomenon’ had somehow approached right in front of them.

Now it wasn’t just his eyes that hurt. All organs perceiving the ‘phenomenon’ were melting. Through the pain, the only thing he clearly felt was that the ‘phenomenon’ was watching him.

‘Don’t look! Don’t look at me!’

He couldn’t hear the voices of the two people with him. Whether it was because his ears had gone deaf, or because they were already dead, he didn’t know.

The ‘phenomenon’ leaned toward him.

‘Ah.’

The moment his eyes met the light cluster, a sensation like a fuse blowing out enveloped Savierre.

He could no longer feel anything.

–

“Dwarf” “Dead”

[Zz-zz (Really?)]

“Yes” “Head” “Food” “Flowing out”

Adhigh, landing lightly, poked the fallen human with his front paw, but the target didn’t move at all.

I picked up the human with my arms, which had become much shorter than before. Brain matter and blood poured out from the helmet of the human hanging upside down.

[Zz-zz (Oh my)]

“Big baby, don’t be too rough. That makes people ‘ouch’.”

[Zz-zz-zz (That’s right)]

“It’s okay! If you study hard, you can do well!”

“Great one” “Talent” “Has” “Cheer up!”

[Zz-zz Zz-zz-zz (Thank you both)]

Listening to their encouragement, I tossed the corpse into my mouth. The food that entered my mouth disappeared instantly, digested without even having time to taste it.

‘Study, huh.’

One month ago, after finishing the Arcane Orca hunt, I created a new unique trait.

As a result, my body underwent tremendous changes. Changes even greater than when advancing to a new growth stage.

The power of the newly acquired trait was as formidable as the physical changes. It’s among the most powerful unique traits I’ve ever experienced.

However, in exchange, several unresolved problems arose. The human whose brain melted upon seeing me was one of those side effects.

‘…Hmm. I wonder if this can be resolved with effort.’

Suppressing a sigh that was about to escape, I opened my newly changed text box.