Chapter 101

“A.”

An involuntary sigh escaped.

Is this how it ends?

As I thought that, I clenched my eyes shut, but after waiting for a long moment, there was no excruciating pain or the feeling of a freezing blade piercing my body.

I slightly opened my eyes.

The blade that had come right before me was stopped just in front of the Cryptid child’s nose.

– Grrrr…

The Vanguard’s low, startled growl.

A hand that emerged from the darkness firmly held the arm that was about to strike.

– Kieeee!!

The Vanguard that raised the blade on the other side.

In the next moment, a fist that shot out from the shadows roughly struck the creature’s face.

Crack!

– Kieeek!?

The dull sound of impact rang out as the Vanguard was flung to the corner.

Then, the beast knight we thought was dead stood in front of us.

Violet blood streamed down the knight’s body.

Despite the fatal injuries, the beast knight didn’t budge an inch in front of us.

The beast knight’s head slowly turned.

The Cryptid child’s figure was reflected in the hazy pupil, and the child also reacted by reaching out a hand.

“Ooo! Kyaah!”

The beast knight gazed at the child with a sorrowful expression.

– Grrr…!

As the Vanguard’s cry echoed again, the beast knight’s head turned back to the front.

– Kyaahaaaaa!!

The Vanguard pointed the blade towards the beast knight and emitted a sharp cry of threat.

– Kieeaaa!!

The beast knight also growled low, bolstering its resolve, and charged at the Vanguard.

The battle between the monsters began.

At the same time, a heavy vibration echoed.

Boom.

As if something had taken a step underground, a great reverberation traveled through the ground.

This was the beginning, and the situation rapidly changed.

Boom. Boom. Booooom.

The frequency of the vibrations gradually shortened.

– Grrrrrrk!!

A howl reverberated from inside the tunnel dug behind the Vanguard.

Booooom. Boom boom boom.

The vibration accelerated to the point one might mistake it for an earthquake.

– Kaaaaah!!

The intermittent cries became immediately clear and piercing to the ear.

Boom, boom, boom boom boom.

– Grrr, Kaaah!!

The signs were obvious even without careful observation.

I released the suspended arm and shouted to Nisia.

“Nisia! Go outside first!”

“Um, Edu?”

“That child, quickly!!”

In the confusion caused by the rapidly changing situation, there were still some things that could be reasoned out.

First, the Cryptid child hanging in Nisia’s hands.

Judging from the beast knight’s protection of the child, the child’s identity was either one of two things.

An entity somehow connected to the White Queen, or the White Queen herself.

On top of that, the child was friendly to us, and the group of Cryptids, including the Vanguard, were hostile to the beast knight and this child.

The group of Cryptids, while trying to exclude two individuals from the picture, had clearly targeted the Cryptid child, not us.

Most likely, the beast knight also retreated into the sealed city with the child to avoid the group of Cryptids and protect this child.

The problem is, why did this happen?

Given the setup, the White Queen’s forces should have had substantial power well before Act III.

However, the appearance of the beast knight and the child closely resembled that of a princess escaping from a collapsed kingdom with her knight.

“Something’s happening within the Cryptids themselves.”

That was my conclusion.

Somehow, I also had an instinctive feeling that the purpose of the group of Cryptids that the Vanguard belonged to must not be allowed to succeed.

“Anyway, we can’t take both of you, go out first!! Hurry!!”

“But…-”

“It’s okay, remember?”

As I said those words, I immediately extended my hand toward the air.

“Humanoid Summon! Marionettes!”

– Consuming MP to summon the summoned creature.

Boom.

The thin-bodied, skull-like Marionette appeared.

“See? Hurry!”

“A, alright!”

Only then did Nisia dash outside, and the Marionette quickly came over and carried me.

“Humanoid Summon! Marionettes!”

Summon after summon.

Two more Marionettes immediately appeared, and I pointed towards the vault containing K Company’s confidential files and the food printer.

“Marionettes! Take the tools and the vault in that corner! Let’s head to the surface!”

[ Understood. ]

The Marionette carrying me sprinted off quickly, and the others followed carrying the items.

Bang! Crash!!

– Keeeeee!

– Kyaahaaaa!

The sounds of battle from behind and the fierce roars exchanged between the beast knight and the Vanguard.

Leaving the two behind, we ascended to the surface.

The vibrations sensed underground now reached the surface, and the old street lamps and buildings were seen trembling slightly.

“Edu! This way!”

The swiftly moving Marionettes.

As I was lifted by the hand of the Colossus, the vibrations grew even fiercer before abruptly stopping.

Whooshhhhh!

Clumps of dirt and rocks scattered explosively.

With the ground ripped apart, crumpled and flattened buildings were thrust upwards into the sky.

The massive dirt pillar gradually dissipated, and the culprit of the vibrations slowly revealed itself.

It was a massive worm-like creature with a thick carapace covering its skin.

The Cryptid of Hazard Level 7, Giant Worm.

– Grrrlek! Kaaaaaahhhhh!!

The monstrous cry that erupted from within its wide-open “flower” mouth shook the city.

My friends’ faces turned as pale as a sheet, and their bodies trembled like branches in the wind.

Edward sharply turned his head.

“E-Edu! What did you do this time!”

I frowned at his urgent call.

“I did nothing!”

“That’s impossible!”

“It’s true!”

After raising my voice, Edward’s eyebrows twitched.

“Well then, what exactly is going on-”

Whooshhhh!

An explosion erupted in the middle of the city, cutting Edward’s words.

The towering clouds of dirt and broken pieces of buildings flying in all directions.

– Kaaaaaahhhhhh!!

The Giant Worm appeared again.

During the commotion, the Colossus’s hand stopped at the chest area, and the front cockpit opened.

“We’ll discuss this later! Everyone, get inside the cockpit!!”

My shout was met with nods from my friends.

In that way, all the members squeezed into the cockpit.

“…Pretty cramped.”

“Deal with it! You don’t know what might happen out there!”

Jack and Edward were stacked awkwardly like objects at the back of the cockpit.

“Ugh…”

“Let’s, let’s endure, everyone.”

At least Janie and Clarissa managed to occupy some wider space next to us, so they didn’t seem too uncomfortable.

Once all of us were inside the cockpit, Nisia naturally held the control lever while passing the Cryptid child over to me.

“Kau?”

Round, wide eyes turned towards me, then curved into a wide smile.

“Kyaah!”

The baby, with tiny hands about the size of my index finger, wiggled them and pulled my finger, hugging it tightly.

“Ahbu, Ooo!”

The child’s face happily rubbed against my finger.

The soft touch of delicate skin.

After removing my cap, I cradled and held the child in my arms, then turned my head slightly toward Nisia.

“Nisia, until the shuttle arrives, let’s fall back for a moment-”

Drrrrrrr…

“Hmm…?”

The vibrations echoed again.

‘Another Giant Worm?’

That thought crossed my mind, but somehow, this vibration felt distinctly different from the previous ones.

Not a sound from beneath the ground, but a ground tremor transmitted directly across the surface.

‘What is it?’

After a brief moment of consideration,

The vibration quickly intensified, resolving my question.

– Kyaahaaa! Kieeee!!

– Shaaaaaa! Kyaahaaak!!

Savage cries echoing from outside the city.

In no time, a Cryptid revealed itself on the outer wall of the sealed city.

Its emaciated body floated in the air as if defying gravity.

The moment one of the six emaciated hands folded over its chest pointed towards us, countless Cryptids appeared over the outer wall.

– Kyaahaaa!!

– Shaaaaaaa!!

The innumerable creatures swarmed into the city, unleashing constant screeches.

Like a great wave when a dam bursts.

Trampling the shaking earth, the army of monsters advanced under the guidance of a collective consciousness.

Quickly dyeing the gray city blue and moving forward, forward.

“Crip, Cryptid Swarm…!”

Edward’s voice tinged with panic.

Cryptid Swarm.

Unlike colonies who settle in one area to live, these were wanderers of the land, constantly on the move and hunting, ruthless hunters.

Though low-level creatures of Hazard Level 1-3, often seen in colonies, were mixed within the swarm, most of them were high-level creatures of Hazard Level 4 and above.

Turning on the biological detection function of the Colossus’s electronic panel, the radar screen rapidly changed.

“K?!”

Jenni caught her breath.

The numerous red dots approaching us quickly from both sides of the city.

The dots merged into lumps, the lumps melded into waves, and then the waves were swallowed by even greater waves, forming a crimson carpet on both sides of the radar.

Not hundreds or thousands.

At minimum, tens or hundreds of thousands, perhaps more.

An endless number of monsters with a unified will were rushing towards us at high speed.

“Nisia! Head south immediately!”

“Unn!”

Kuuuuu—

Energy filling the Colossus’s propulsion mechanism.

In the next moment, with a loud “boom,” the giant body shot forward.

The rapidly changing scenery followed by the Colossus’s body gliding over the ground.

Then, a communication came in, and the sturdy face of a soldier covered in large and small wounds appeared on the screen.

“Director, are you safe!”

“Mr. Balder!”

“Yes, I’ll send down a shuttle right away. We’ll withdraw from this area as soon as the recovery is complete!”

Balder, speaking with an urgent voice.

But my thoughts were slightly different.

“Au?”

Looking down, the Cryptid child made eye contact with me and started to smile widely.

“Kyaah, Ooo!”

Gently patting the child who was simply smiling happily, I turned my gaze back to Balder.

“…No, that would be difficult.”

It was certain that this Cryptid Swarm was targeting this child.

Considering the state of the beast knight, it was nearly evident that this pursuit had been ongoing for some time.

In such a situation, bringing the child, whose identity we were unsure of, back carelessly might also pose the risk of drawing the Cryptid Swarm to the Ark or the Forward Base.

“Sir? Is something the matter?”

“Yes, an unexpected event has occurred.”

Taking a deep breath and steadying my heart.

The rushing Cryptid Swarm, an overwhelming power gap, the child of unknown origin, and even the beast knight.

A situation akin to wandering through a fog-bound path.

However, fortunately, it was not a situation where there was no room for countermeasures at all.

Cryptids follow a single will, and there might be a solution hidden in this situation.

“First, please send down one shuttle, then we can discuss the details.”

“…Understood!”

[!– Slider main container –]