Tree (10)
The moment after that terrifying shriek echoed, sending chills all over my body, I started to hear sounds even though my body was frozen stiff.
It wasn't just the metallic thumping of a metal cylinder shifting around. It wasn't the sound of the press compressing metal scraps either.
It wasn't our breathing, nor was it the frantic voices of Celestia and Licorice shouting through the comms.
...... Tung! Tung! Tung! Tung!
It was the sound of ghouls swarming through the metal corridors.
- Lee Hyun-woo! From the ventilation duct...!
〈Warning. Unauthorized entities detected in the sector. The area will be isolated as per security protocol.〉
The base's warning broadcast cut Licorice off mid-sentence.
- U-aaaaahh! Monsters are coming out from the exhaust! N-no, they're trying to come out...! We are screwed! We're so fucking screwed...!
Kyle's scream rang out from the shuttle's side.
【Kiiaaaa!】
A ghoul's howl came from just nearby.
The situation had changed. It didn't take long for me to realize that. As soon as Nadia and I recognized it, we instinctively exchanged glances. There was no time to panic—only to act as fast as possible if we wanted to survive.
"Grab all the laser equipment! I'll carry the installer!"
"Carry already has it packed! We can go right now!"
"Carry! Go down first with Nadia and help Kyle! Don't overdo it!"
I shouted as I gripped the hefty tool. The laser installer was too heavy to dash with. It was better for Nadia to climb onto Carry and head down first—if we lost the shuttle, it was all over.
【ε=ε=ε=((((((っ`•ω•´)っ】
At my shout, Carry adjusted its thruster angle, and as soon as Nadia climbed on, it boosted away almost like a bullet, leaving nothing but a blue afterimage.
If only we had the time, I would have welded shut every vent connected to the ventilation system, but there was no time for that. That frustrated me.
As I was pushing off the ground, following behind Carry toward Kyle and Roxy's location, Licorice's voice came through the comms.
- I'll hold them off in the back! I can't block them completely, but I can buy us some time!
【Attention. The door is now being forcibly closed. The containment system is now active. Please eliminate containment triggers immediately.】
With a thud, the control room bulkhead closed, displaying a glowing red hologram window, as if to declare no one would pass. I could hear clamoring from the other side.
I rushed out of the control room and hammered the descent button, but the lift didn't care about my urgency—it descended at its usual pace. The ghouls hadn't breached the waste disposal sector yet, but the urgent voices over the comms never ceased. It was Celestia and Eric.
- Eric! Fall back!
- I can't. I don't know how the thing realized I was hiding here, but it's certainly fixated on me. If I withdraw now, it'll probably chase me.
- So you're going to fight?!
- If I must, then yes. I have to hold it here.
Eric spoke calmly, but frustration was plain in his voice. I heard his ragged breath and something collapsing. It sounded like the monster that had just shrieked was chasing him.
I desperately wished I could help him. But the problem was that our situation here was no better. None of us were in a position to help anyone else.
【Kraaagh!】
【Kiieeek!】
The ghouls, who had finally breached the blocked ventilation ducts, started appearing one by one. And they didn't just come from the vents.
They were now also oozing out from the waste discharge ducts, spilling over with mining byproducts.
...... Squelch!
Slick with sticky mucus, the ghouls sprawled out of the discharge opening onto the floor. Their joints twisted unnaturally, but only for a moment—as soon as they regained awareness, they sprang up immediately.
The blue crystals glowing wickedly in their bodies gave the entire scene an ominous feel, spreading malice throughout. The bizarre, dynamic movements inspired an overwhelming sense of dread in all who saw them.
They were different from regular ones. That single fact alone created a sense of alienation and tension.
Kyle, who had been fixing the shuttle thrusters, froze in terror at the sight of such creatures, but Nadia, who reached him before I did, moved Kyle back and raised her plasma cutter.
Her stiff expression and ears pinned fully back revealed just how on edge she'd become.
【Kiiaaak!】
Seeing a ghoul lunge at her, and with the lift barely halfway down, I just threw myself off. As soon as a floating feeling tickled my stomach, both feet crashed hard onto the deck below.
Every nerve in my body bristled at the stinging rebound. I bit down hard to shake off the tingling rush of adrenaline, then started sprinting.
"Haaap!"
Nadia thrust the plasma cutter forward. She wasn't new to fighting ghouls—her attack was sharp, aiming precisely for its neck.
The blade of blue light scorched the air but struck the torso, not the neck. The ghoul knew—getting hit by burning plasma was dangerous.
Was that instinct? It lowered its center of gravity, evading a lethal blow, and ignored the blade stabbed into its side. It knew better than anyone: it wouldn't die from just this.
With its mouth split four ways, the ghoul swung its arms at Nadia. Its grotesquely deformed hands lunged for her. Nadia tried to retrieve her tool for another strike, but the ghoul was quicker.
Luckily, I hit the ghoul before it struck Nadia.
Thud—!
I targeted its protruding blue crystals and rammed into it, making its claws swipe only at empty air. Even as it tumbled away, its hostile gaze never left Nadia.
It struggled with everything to kill her, but I wasn't about to let that happen. Instead of bothering to draw my plasma cutter, I raised the laser installer I was holding and smashed it down.
Though classified as a heavy industrial tool, it did well enough as a weapon, slamming the ghoul's head with full force. The monster tried to endure with its signature toughness. But when I added more force, its head exploded into fragments as if a bomb had gone off.
The smell of blood rushed into my nose. I saw grisly flesh and sticky fluids dripping. Complete severance or utter destruction—this was closer to the latter; this ghoul wouldn't move anymore.
Believing that, I immediately sought out the next target—or I would have, had Kyle not shouted out in panic.
"We have to deactivate the isolation system first! If it comes down, we're all done for...!"
Only then did I notice a different sound. Originally, there was a barrier distinguishing inside and outside. Now, with the barrier gone, the bulkhead was lowering.
Because unauthorized lifeforms had been detected, the containment system had activated.
"Damn it...! Can't we stop that thing?!"
- The isolation system isn't that flimsy! I'm overloading it as much as I can, but this is the limit! The only choice is to clear out all the ghouls! Or move the shuttle!
Licorice yelled back—she hadn't just been sitting on her hands. In fact, the bulkhead was jerking as it kept lowering and stopping over and over.
We'd bought some time, but that didn't change the fact that if we didn't deactivate the system, the shuttle would be sliced in half by the bulkhead.
And there wasn't just one or two ghouls swarming toward us. How could we possibly kill them all in time? Even if each of us could handle one, if more showed up, we wouldn't stand a chance.
Time attack—defeat all the ghouls before the bulkhead comes down and crushes the shuttle?
Time attack my ass. That was nuts. Just surviving without getting overrun by those things would be a miracle.
No one can always be at their highest tension. Our bodies are built to manage excessive stress.
I thought I was being cautious, yet look at the state I was in now. Truly a desperate situation—we could neither move forward nor retreat. The ghouls surged ahead enraged, and behind us the shuttle—something we absolutely had to protect.
Just as Nadia was about to destroy the device controlling the door to stop the bulkhead from coming down further—
"My turn, huh!"
Roxy, who'd been beside Kyle, hesitated for just a moment, then dashed past Kyle straight into the shuttle, a sly grin on his face as if he wasn't at all afraid of the situation.
His sibling Kyle yelled out in shock.
"It's not fully fixed yet! It's barely holding together! If you force it, it could explode!"
"Hahat! Not really the time to get picky! You'd all better stand clear! This is my first time piloting this model, so it could get rough!"
"That, that lunatic...!"
Kyle barely had time to curse before he scrambled back even quicker than when the ghouls had rushed. The shuttle core lit up, its thrusters flaring blue as the vessel started to drift off the ground.
Kwaaaaa—
The shuttle's thruster glowed blue, lifting the hull. In that brief span, Roxy had somehow managed to patch up the engines. Impressive, but since repairs weren't complete, the thrusters struggled to maintain steady power.
The thruster angle adjusted minutely. Roxy must have been piloting in real time from the cockpit. The shuttle hovered, unsteady, just a hand's width off the floor—awkward, but still afloat.
But Roxy didn't care; he cranked the still-functional thruster to max. A moment ago he'd looked out of it, but not anymore. All that remained was someone grinning, as if savoring every exhilarating second.
"If you don't want to die, get out of the way!"
"Goddamn, you maniac...!"
With all forward thrust now coming from one engine, the Medivac lurched forward. The moment it shot ahead, the bulkhead scraping dangerously close to the hull nearly coincided.
Kagagang—!
Sparks flew and part of the shuttle was sheared off, but at least it wasn't cut in half by the bulkhead. Whether from intention or necessity, Roxy didn't stop, and the shuttle plowed right through the interior, smashing into the ghouls.
The result was worlds apart from what I'd managed. The auxiliary armor still deployed on the shuttle struck the monsters, sending them flying like bowling pins. Which made sense—its output was in a different league, even with one side busted.
Some ghouls bounced around, caught midair by the antigrav system, floundering helplessly, while others who fell into the compartments with laser devices were sliced to pieces on the spot.
At the gruesome sight, Nadia gasped hard, and Carry's eyes widened in shock.
Even I could barely believe my eyes at the ghouls floating through pipes amidst the debris. Then the shuttle, unable to turn, started spinning in place, only adding to the surreal spectacle.
【Kiiaaak!】
More ghouls poured from the waste chute. Thanks to the shuttle, we had thinned the horde once, but now they were emerging from the exhaust at shorter and shorter intervals. We couldn't hold out much longer at this rate.
Finishing another wild pass, the shuttle turned toward us. As its thrusters faded, it dropped down and scraped along the floor, coming to a stop in front of us.
"Kyle! Fix it! I'm not dead yet!"
At Roxy's shout, Kyle began cursing nonstop but grabbed his repair tools. He put his hands on the thrusters belching black smoke. Despite the red-hot heat, trusting his suit's performance, he jumped into repairs at once.
I took a step forward to shield him.
"Kyle, just focus on fixing it. I'll buy time for you."
"No, Hyun-woo, you go help Eric outside. Go and support him. Carry and I will handle things here."
"What?"
"There's no time! Carry, get the laser installer!"
Nadia handed the laser installer I'd been holding over to Carry. Bits of unburnt flesh dropped to the floor.
Carry used his auxiliary arm to secure the device to his body, and with Nadia mounted on him, she loaded the laser unit.
With a clank, they were ready. Nadia, staring fiercely at me hesitating, barked almost like a scolding. Steely determination flashed in her eyes.
"Get out before the bulkhead closes and you get trapped! Go! And believe!"
Believe. That word jolted me awake. It's said trust is always tested. Here I stood at a crossroads.
Trust Nadia, leave, and help Eric? Or let uncertainty win and stay to guard the shuttle?
I knew well enough that trusting doesn't always yield good results. And I knew I couldn't solve this on my own.
Then what should I do? There wasn't much time before the bulkhead closed. By that measure, my moment of hesitation was brief. I chose to trust not the current Nadia, but the Nadia who'd stood by me in the past.
"... Celestia! Lead me! Now!"
Shouting, I hurled myself outside. The moment I crossed the threshold, the bulkhead slammed shut, sealing the space.
The internal tumult was cut off like a lie, but knowing the fight still raged inside, I grit my teeth hard. Then, hearing howls unlike those of the ghouls, I sprang off in their direction.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Thrust in Nadia!
Also, Hyun-woo's strength is showcased again by using the heavy laser cutter like a hammer.
【(˶• ֊ •˶)】