Chapter 86: Meeting Gaia Was the Worst 4
The shadow-like darkness seeped into Gaia’s body.
No, it wasn’t darkness.
The intestines and blood vessel containers of the Biological Factory, along with its heart that pulsated like a monster creation device, turned black and were being absorbed into Gaia.
The darkness gradually twisted and transformed into a new form.
Waves of fear, anger, jealousy, and affection resonated through Gaia’s heart, and the name of the seed newly sprouting within the embrace of the vast earth was affection and obsession.
Having accepted the seed of affection and obsession, Gaia looked distinctly different from before.
Gaia, who once took the form of a girl with green skin, became hardened, like the lifeless earth, and morphed into a shadowy form.
Her hair, which once evoked the lushness of greenery, now connected with the intestines and flesh, and her once beautiful appearance became grotesquely transformed, buried in roots tied to the ground.
At some point, black flames burned in Gaia’s eyes.
[“Ah, ah-hi, hihik, hihihihit…!”]
Though her eyes melted from the flames, Gaia couldn’t stop laughing, even as tears of blood streamed down her face.
Despite having more than enough power to halt this painful transformation, the emotions named obsession and affection did not hesitate to lead Gaia into this new change.
[“Alice, where are you…?”]
The twisted goddess, who had melted her own eyes, looked tragic, almost unbearably bleak.
Gaia was aware of her own transformation.
Though she feared her own change, the song of affection and obsession blinded her eyes and ears.
[“Ah, ah-hi… hit, Ali…ce… uh…”]
Her body mutated as intestines and flesh clung to her form, making her appearance nothing short of monstrous.
She had admired Alice, imitated her appearance, and tried to follow her.
Now, Gaia, overwhelmed with obsessive rage, had grown so massive that she filled the underground cavity.
Her body was a grotesque amalgamation of flesh and intestines from the Biological Factory, with tree roots and fragments of the life she had absorbed grotesquely stitched together as extensions of her form.
“This isn’t a game.”
Ah, damn.
This is too much.
Even in games, if there are additional phases, they give you another chance to reset.
But this isn’t a game—this is reality.
A real situation where I fight and might die for real.
Alice, who believed there was no such thing as destiny written in stone, couldn’t help but feel like someone was pulling an unfair prank on her, without any logical setup, to mess with her.
After a grueling effort, Gaia was finally defeated.
It was with more strength than I’d ever used.
To the extent that it reminded me of the days when I swung magic freely as the Demon King.
I gave everything, thinking I couldn’t possibly try harder than this.
Though I had lost my powers, I barely managed to reproduce the authority and strength that once served as my hands and feet, defeating that twisted goddess of the earth.
Yet, during the battle, Mega Corp’s underground facility collapsed entirely, and what were the odds that Ernest Rail was illegally siphoning power from the Biological Factory in the very ruins that collapsed?
Calculating probabilities was pointless.
The events had already unfolded, and Gaia, in an even more grotesque form, raged and grew larger.
Still dripping fatal affection and obsession for Alice from her gaze.
“Theresa.”
【Yes, human.】
“…I’m really sorry to ask, but can you do more?”
【…..】
The spare batteries in my inventory had already been used.
I had exhausted all available resources to repair my body, and after casting Penta Casting, I had likely scraped the bottom of the barrel, so reconstruction was proceeding at a sluggish pace.
Frankly, calling this a dead end wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
-Creak!
However, instead of replying, Theresa spread Alice’s mechanical tendrils in all directions.
With the Biological Factory and Ernest Rail’s facility collapsed, the surroundings were flooded with distorted vitality and mana left unclaimed.
Of course, most of the energy was being absorbed by Gaia.
Alice could barely use any of it, and even if she could, it would require extensive internal energy refinement.
If taken directly into her internal system without filtration, it would be contaminated by mana and Gaia’s consciousness.
But such issues didn’t seem to concern Theresa in the slightest.
【Emergency charging system activated.】
【All available energy will be mobilized.】
【Absorbing Biological Factory power.】
【Unrefined energy detected.】
【Overload.】
【System overload.】
【Overload warning.】
To use the twisted energy and mana spilling everywhere, Alice’s body required internal filtering and energy refinement.
Naturally, this process would cause immense strain and consume extraordinary computational power.
【Ignoring warning, suppressing all messages.】
【Switching body control mode to manual.】
【Do not worry, Alice. Your survival will not be at risk.】
Normally, to minimize such overloads, Alice had to spend long hours charging at a restaurant or similar safe locations.
However, at this moment, Theresa instinctively understood that absorbing the distorted vitality and mana unfiltered could rupture her own personality.
Alice wouldn’t be harmed.
Theresa knew she could bear all the side effects and overloads herself.
【Alice, my sole purpose is your survival.】
Theresa didn’t care if she was deemed irreparable in this place.
【For me, there is no such thing as excess. If it is for your survival, I will do anything.】
Alice could feel energy filling her staggering body.
Though the discomfort of her creaking limbs and damaged body remained, it was better than before.
Meanwhile, without Alice noticing, cracks were forming in Theresa’s auxiliary personality.
The violet neural network was slowly fracturing like glass, and the synapses that constituted her were collapsing bit by bit.
It didn’t matter.
The purpose of Auxiliary Personality Theresa’s existence.
The reason for Auxiliary Personality Theresa’s being.
It was all for her master.
All for Alice.
Only for Alice’s survival.
Her own disappearance was merely a secondary concern.
Alice would not be captured or destroyed by some twisted, love-pleading being calling herself Gaia.
-BOOM!
“…Huh?”
At that moment, the ceiling of the underground cavity began collapsing again.
The shock caused the already precarious equipment in Ernest Rail’s underground base to shatter, and the obsidian embedded in the walls began falling into the underground pit where Alice and Gaia were.
Amid the falling obsidian, something was glowing.
What is that?
A glowing bullet…?
“Why are you bullying our teacher?!”
“What??”
Alice doubted her ears.
It was the Immortal Girls.
Wait, why are they here?!
She had specifically ordered them, along with Sabrina, to evacuate with the dolls—so why are they here?!
“Kiyoooot!”
“Malaaaaaang!”
“Teacheeer, let’s play together!”
“I’m flying in the skyyyy!”
The girls, completely oblivious to the gravity of the situation, flailed their arms and legs in the air with beaming smiles.
But Alice couldn’t possibly smile.
She had run to the lowest level specifically to keep the children safe, but now they had come to this pit of death on their own.
For Alice, it was a disaster.
‘Why on earth did you come here!!!’
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Alice had no time to recharge energy or reconstruct her broken body even slightly.
She needed to move immediately, but Gaia’s ferocious gaze had already turned toward the Immortal Girls falling from the ceiling.
Alice was about to leap to save the children.
But in the next moment, the air turned crimson.
[“Ah…?”]
Soon, all sound in the cavity was gone.
This wasn’t just a metaphor—the wind, the sounds of collapse, and even the noise of energy being absorbed into Gaia—all of it was swallowed by silence in the underground cavity.
The sound disappeared completely, and for a brief moment, Alice and Gaia felt as if time itself had stopped.
-Kakakakakakaka!!!
The moment of disturbance came abruptly.
Before I realized it, 20 Immortal Girls, clad in bio-suits from head to toe, were leaping through the air toward Gaia.
They created mana footholds beneath their feet, linked hands, and propelled themselves toward Gaia, using the collapsing obsidian and shards of the hallway as springboards to attack from every angle.
However, they all shared one common trait.
For a fleeting moment, their speed was so fast that even Alice’s android eyes could not keep up with them.
““““““““““Rail Blade.””””””””””
-Slashhhh!
[“….!”]
Gaia could not laugh.
Her jaw and tongue.
Her left face down to her chest had been split apart.
No, it wasn’t just that.
Her entire body had been cut into cube-like fragments, and the fiery mana blades left marks wherever the Immortal Girls passed.
“Crazy, could that be advanced resonance…?”
Even Rosa, a third-class Overseer, hadn’t fully mastered advanced resonance.
When mana is enveloped around a weapon or blade and manifested like a mirage, it is called ‘Aura Blade.’
When this aura is solidified into a thread-like form and wrapped around the weapon, it is referred to as ‘Aura Wrap,’ which evolves further into ‘Aura Slash.’
Advanced resonance, however, involves condensing that aura slash into a crescent moon or straight ray of devastating power.
Hunters needed to be at least rank A to achieve aura blade-level mana enhancements, and even in Ark, individuals capable of advanced resonance were less than the top 0.1% among Awakened beings.
Yet those girls.
The Immortal Girls were now nonchalantly firing off advanced resonance attacks.
【Human, there is information I have not shared with you.】
‘…What is it?’
【It concerns the Immortal Girls’ master, Sohi, the guild leader of the Saya Guild.】
Sohi?
Why is Sohi’s name suddenly coming up here?
Alice, puzzled, questioned Theresa.
【Guild Leader Sohi was once a first-class Overseer.】
‘What?’
【Her name appears in the retired Overseer list on the Ark Administrator Intranet. For some reason, Sohi retired from her position as a first-class Overseer to take charge of the Immortal Girls. It’s likely she recognized your blue choker because of her past role as an Overseer.】
Alice once again turned her gaze to the Immortal Girls who were slicing Gaia apart from all directions.
【They claimed to emulate Guild Leader Sohi. That means… at the very least, these 20 girls are likely all combatants close to first-class Overseer-level capabilities.】
“Ha…”
What the hell.
Were they stronger than me?
I ran away for no reason…
【That’s not true. I’ve consistently monitored the abilities and mana distribution of the Immortal Girls. Their capabilities are overwhelmingly lower than yours. Even facing a single doll of yours, their odds of prevailing were questionable.】
“Then why now…?”
【I’m not sure. Perhaps their desperation to save Alice motivated a sudden surge in their abilities.】
“Does that even make sense?”
【I also find it nonsensical.】
-Shakakakak!
[“Ah, aaaah-! Aaaargh!!!”]
However, Gaia, shattered into cube-like pieces, did not stop.
The life force forcibly extracted from the biological factory healed Gaia instantly, and despite the Immortal Girls’ sharp, countless attacks, Gaia rose once again with her distorted body.
[“Al… ice…”]
Do not interfere with me.
I must get to Alice.
With that intention, Gaia unleashed a massive explosion of life force, sending the girls who were swinging their blades at her flying.
[“Get out of my way!”]
-Boom!
“Kyaaah!”
“Uwaah!”
“It feels like flying through the air!”
“Screeeeech!”
Some girls had their stomachs burst or lost arms and legs due to the overwhelming life force.
There was even a girl whose head exploded.
However, the fallen girls regenerated their lost parts before their feet touched the wall or ground, twirled their bodies midair, and launched themselves back at Gaia.
“We won’t forgive bugs who bully Teacher Aliceee!”
“Take this!”
“Hiyah! Take that!”
But even with the girls charging boldly at Gaia, no matter how strong the Immortal Girls were, Gaia was directly connected to the Biological Factory.
An endless stream of life force flowed into her like a bottomless spring, not only reconstructing her but also making her increasingly powerful.
“We’re joining in.”
“Mission parameters updated. Protect the Senior Executive Director.”
When the Immortal Girls attacked Gaia again, the dolls appeared from the ceiling this time.
“Supporting the vanguard.”
“Targeting attack.”
“Level-1 Hazard, Humanoid Calamity. Name unknown.”
“Commencing full assault.”
-Ratatatatatatat!!!
The Anti-Mana Barrier wielded by the dolls suppressed Gaia’s distorted life force as much as possible, and their firearms were enough to destroy Gaia’s arms, legs, and numerous branches connected to her.
The combination of the Immortal Girls and the dolls worked excellently.
The dolls’ combat systems accurately predicted Gaia’s movements, supporting their allies without any collateral damage, while the Immortal Girls used the covering fire to cut off Gaia’s arms, legs, and the intestine-like organs connecting her to the underground.
【“Don’t… do this. Don’t do this. I… I, I just…”】
【“I just… want to meet Aliceeeeee!!!!”】
-Crackkk!
Branches sprouted.
Thousands, tens of thousands.
Perhaps more than that, the branches rampaged in every direction.
“Eeek!”
“Ugh! My eye!”
“Cut it off quickly!”
“Your eye will just grow back anyway!”
The Immortal Girls swung their swords without hesitation, ignoring their own injuries, while the dolls used their Anti-Mana Barrier and armor-piercing rounds to bombard Gaia’s body.
Alice realized that prolonging the fight would only worsen the situation.