Chapter 63: IF-017-1 Part 16

Great Old One, a situation has arisen that is beyond the capabilities of this young and inexperienced human.

Please, reach out your hand and aid us.

“Gyak.”

…Great Old One, the stars above the lake have multiplied so much. It is time to reveal your divine face…

“Gyaaak.”

“…We will construct an entrance that connects directly to the city and the temple. Please, just move ten steps from where you lie.”

“Gyaaak…”

“Great Old One! I offer this prayer. If not for me, then at least for the face of Mna…?”

“Gyao.”

“Ah! We are grateful for your grace, as vast as the lake! We will begin construction immediately!”

Yeah.

I remember being quite surprised back then.

I thought, ‘Whatever, sure,’ and gave my half-hearted permission.

But when I opened my eyes again, an entrance I didn’t even know the first thing about had already been built.

I can still clearly remember Mna’s proud smile at that moment.

It was the moment I began to see humans in a different light.

‘Ah…’

Even when I was tired, those days were fun.

“Gyaooo…”

I lightly tapped the tightly shut door with my tail.

It was definitely an entrance Mna had built just for me, but it had broken down.

Now, I couldn’t use Mna’s gift, and I couldn’t get to the lake either.

‘This is about… 20 Breaths’ worth of anger…’

If the entrance collapses, everyone but me will be caught up in it.

Carefully, I withdrew my hand to prevent that from happening.

What came into view was Kang Hana.

Her hand was over her heart, and she was vaguely communing with the Thousand Flames.

And beyond her—

I saw the absurd white-coat fortress that had made such a ruckus earlier, launching bursting iron arrows.

I quietly observed their ridiculous behavior.

Weeoo weeoo! Weeoo weeoo!

“The cause of the failed intercept on the unidentified flying object was…”

“It may be related to the neutralization of 017-1 that we had secured…”

Pathetic words.

‘Do they not realize that I’ve enveloped the entire world in my senses?’

Weak, and on top of that, petty.

So petty.

‘This is about… 30 Breaths’ worth of anger.’

I exhaled a thin stream of flame.

Just then, I received a telepathic thought.

‘Is there something on my face…?’

‘What kind of nonsense is that?’

I blinked twice and looked again—Kang Hana was staring at me uncertainly.

‘No. I wasn’t looking at you—I was watching the ones behind you.’

I thought those others were the only ones who didn’t know I had extended my senses across the world, but apparently, you’re clueless too…

I narrowed my eyes and stared silently at Kang Hana.

Her white coat, stained here and there.

Every time she lined up in a straight line with those detestable humans in the fortress, I was reminded that she was wearing the same uniform as them.

I didn’t like it.

Kang Hana’s outfit was so improper, it made my fury surge.

Same with Nessho.

‘Do these kids have some new hobby of playing around with uniforms?’

‘This is about… 40 Breaths’ worth of anger.’

I reached out and grabbed Kang Hana’s collar.

“Uh, huh? Lulu?”

Then I tore it.

I’d rip it to shreds—make it completely unwearable.

***

Rrrip.

“Ah, ahh…?!”

Kang Hana gasped, dropping to the ground and covering herself with both arms as she panicked.

She looked around wildly, clearly unable to grasp what was going on.

I stomped down on the tattered remnants of her clothes.

“Gyao.”

I delivered my will directly.

Don’t wear something like that again. Ever.

Kang Hana’s cheeks flushed bright red.

‘Weirdly… kinda powerful…’

That thought came from her, and I saw my horns reflected in her eyes, gleaming brightly.

I looked on with satisfaction as Kang Hana gave a small nod.

Good.

Even if I’m not fond of her, if she’s going to be my priestess, her attire matters too.

She can’t go around wearing the same thing as those about to be erased.

Leaving the crouched Kang Hana behind, I made my way toward the fortress of the despicable humans, intent on delivering justice on behalf of the Thousand Flames.

The Thousand Flames cried out for divine punishment.

Step. Step.

My steps were heavy.

After passing through the dark forest, I arrived at the marshes, my foot splashing into the water.

Ssss.

The water recoiled.

As if to say, ‘You can’t even go to the lake—how dare you put your foot in me?’

I wasn’t planning on stepping into water that wasn’t mine anyway, but this made me irrationally annoyed.

‘This is about… 50 Breaths’ worth of anger.’

‘Ah…’

Humans used to use base-60 units not too long ago…

Looks like it’s about time to move up a digit.

Ssss.

Whoosh.

***

017-1 Auxiliary Base.

Due to the chain of unexpected incidents, tension fell like a heavy shroud over the situation room.

Everyone was moving frantically.

The chaos caused by IF-017-1’s escape incident hadn’t even been contained yet, and now an unidentified flying object had appeared in the sky—and failed to be intercepted.

For some reason, the Anti-Entropy value couldn’t be measured, making it impossible to get a proper lock on it, but it was assumed to be IF-017-1.

This was a state of emergency.

Fortunately, the object didn’t strike the base and simply passed by.

But only for a moment.

***

Soon after, it was spotted walking in the direction of the base.

There were no signs of the Jindamani organ—the core source of IF-017-1’s power—heating up, but despite that, this entity had fully grown horns, wings, and a tail.

Even clad in something like lightweight armor, it was clear—this was an irregular the likes of which they’d never seen before.

Code Black.

The auxiliary base of 0171 immediately entered combat readiness.

At the same time, weapons were deployed.

Tanks, fighter jets, multiple rocket launchers, even bunker busters.

The preparations were thorough.

They were even ready to deploy nuclear weapons if necessary.

In the stifling tension, a staff member in the command room reached for his water, his mouth parched.

That’s when he noticed something strange.

He hadn’t realized it in the stress of the moment, but his sleeve was wet.

He frowned in confusion.

The cup of water, already half-empty after he’d drunk from it, was now overflowing.

As someone who dealt with unexplained phenomena for a living, it was not something he could just shrug off.

Still, the atmosphere was far too tense.

Given the situation, he hesitated to raise his voice and report it—

BOOM!

A sudden, ear-shattering explosion.

Everyone in the tense command center turned their gaze toward the sound.

The water jug had exploded—violently.

It looked like it had swelled far beyond capacity and burst under pressure.

No one had touched it.

But the cause was immediately obvious to everyone.

Water was gushing from the crushed jug.

Endlessly.

Logically, once the water inside spilled out, the jug should be empty.

But it wasn’t.

The water inside was still clearly there—and so was the water spilling onto the floor.

In moments, the volume of water had grown to more than five times what the jug could physically hold.

An unmistakable anomalous phenomenon.

Everyone’s attention turned to the jug.

And then it happened.

An alarm blared from the control console—damage alert.

It wasn’t an external breach.

The IF-017-1 currently walking toward the base through the outer swamp couldn’t have physically touched anything yet.

It was the coolant tanks.

The console’s hologram reported that the deep-core coolant tanks had burst from internal pressure.

Not just the main ones—every single water tank throughout the base had ruptured all at once.

No one had time to react.

Water started leaking from concrete walls.

Pipes exploded one after another, sparks flying, and within seconds, flames erupted inside the base.

Even the battle-hardened veterans stationed at the 0171 auxiliary base had no idea how to respond.

It was pandemonium.

And when the fire spread—

The sprinkler system was activated throughout the facility.

Water rained down.

At first it was just droplets.

But as the drops fell, they thickened into streams.

And when they hit the floor, they became waves.

Waves that surged down the hallways, swallowing people whole.

The water, swelling like madness, began to drown the base.

They had to run.

‘But where?’

The same thing was happening everywhere in the facility.

A tsunami of terror consumed the 0171 auxiliary base.

Nothing was attacking them.

And so, they couldn’t defend themselves.

It was just water.

After all, IF-017-1 was a semi-aquatic organism.

The base itself was built near wetlands.

Everyone there knew how to swim.

But despite their desperate thrashing, they couldn’t stay afloat.

The water just kept rising.

Endlessly.

Just like in the plastic bottle—

Even when the space was already full, the water kept expanding.

This was no longer a matter of swimming ability.

In the increasingly heavy water that robbed them of movement, one by one, they sank.

***

…creaakk… creaakk…

And then, moments later.

Just before all power shut down, one final sensor captured the appearance of the entity presumed to be IF-017-1.

Its appearance was the same as before, but there was one difference.

With every step it took, water surged outward— not just splashing, but as if something immense and invisible displaced the swamp’s water with its sheer volume.

The sensor captured one last sound, the entity’s voice:

“Gyaoooo.”

The interior of the base was now completely filled with water.

And the water continued to rise.

Endlessly.