Chapter 172
Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Hostage Situation
Something snaps in my mind in that instant.
The back of my head throbs. A sudden wave of nausea surges from my gut, and my vision shakes amid unstable noise.
"Joo-ho!"
Aria hurriedly grabs my hand, but even her soft touch and warmth can't calm my heart.
Veins bulge on my neck and forehead. I can't tolerate this blatant provocation.
I finally shake off Aria's hand and step outside.
Even Amy doesn't try to stop me. Instead, she steps aside, as if making sure I can face that severed head head-on. She knows full well that persuasion won't work in this situation.
"What the hell are you?"
"..."
I muster the last of my patience to demand their identity, but no answer comes.
Instead, the head impaled on the coral skewer is tossed down to me with a thud.
It rolls twice before coming to a careless stop at my feet.
I quietly kneel and confront the death that's come right up to me.
Death is surprisingly light. Especially inside this godforsaken planet, where an individual's death weighs as little as a feather.
"Kate... right, it was Kate."
The head of Kate that I lift with both hands has no moisture left. Has it been dried out for days by the salty sea breeze?
"I think I saw her in the rations room. Right, Amy?"
"Yes. It's Kate, the galley staff."
Kate is pierced through by the coral,
eternally trapped in the nightmare she endured in her final moments.
Her long hair hangs limp and broken, pitifully splayed out. In her eyes, just starting to decay, blackened rotten whites are visible.
With trembling hands, I gently close her eyelids for her. How terrified she must have been. Why couldn't she even squeeze her eyes shut until the moment of death?
"If you have something to say, say it now. In one minute, I'm killing every last one of you."
I can't forgive this. After gently setting down Kate's head, I shout toward the base of the cliff.
"You killed her knowing we'd come for you anyway, right?"
The moonlit sea is thick with tension, each side gripping the other's throat.
Amy, Aria, Isaac,
and Nephyr, who's just arrived by circling the outer wall—all of them watch my cue.
The tension and silence break only after their mocking voices from the sea truly begin.
"Kuh-huh, heh-"
It's blatant mockery. They heard my warning to kill them loud and clear, yet they laugh anyway.
They don't seem right in the head.
Their movements as they climb the cliff remind me of seaweed swaying in the waves.
"What, one head not enough? Want another?"
The unexpected phrasing and provocation make me snort derisively too—a crude tone.
Amy immediately aims the weapon on her shoulder at them to carry out my order, but—
"If we'd only had that one bitch, we'd have brought her back alive. We've got ten times more anyway, even if one dies."
"...Amy, stand down."
The situation isn't turning in our favor.
It's a disgusting threat.
Now I understand why they provoked us like this.
"Ah-hee, hee-hee... Th-that guy's pissed. Really pissed."
Finally, they fully reveal themselves.
Their outer skin crawling up the cliff is covered in blue tattoos. Add to that their limp, drugged-like writhing, and it evokes an indescribable disgust.
"Kee-hee, gulp... Got some fire in ya."
"Ee-hee-hee... This is a gift from Father to you!"
"E-everyone, be, be careful..."
They look somewhat like Aria's kind at first glance. But they have webbed feet reminiscent of frog hind legs, bent legs, and patches of glittering scales embedded here and there.
Even their appearances differ wildly from one another. The differences between them are too extreme to call them the same species.
The first one, grinning and needling my temper, has long claws and a tongue,
the second screeches like she's lost her mind, her body plastered with shells and starfish-like things,
"A-ah... Daddy said to be careful..."
and the timid third, who stammers and writhes, has long black hair trailing down to her soles.
She evokes a sinister sea urchin,
or a walking kelp stalk.
"Kee-hee... heh... yeah..."
Among the three, the one leading the conversation with us is the first, who looks especially nasty-tempered.
"You that strong? Then don't fight. We're already two steps ahead. Yeah... I know what you're thinking. You there! Yeah, you. You... male..."
Of course, she's not normal either. Even mid-sentence, her emotions flip like turning a palm.
"You fucking bastard... How dare you kill all my cute babies? Smash my precious Crabbies? You fucking prick! Aaaah! That asshole! They were so cute and sweet!"
Her foot-stomping tantrum shows unstable, pathological symptoms that make me not want to get close.
It's confusing. The women by my side each have traits suited only to themselves. For example, Aria has fish traits... Arachne spider, Nephyr snake...
But these things are different. They feel like a jumbled mishmash of everything.
Yeah...
They seem like the result of that Moon bastard's beloved [biological experiments].
Similar vein to Jenny.
"Mm. But they were gonna die anyway. Planned to boil 'em tomorrow."
Her head's a mess too—her words and emotions lack any order. The first rants furiously, mocks me, then calms down again, repeating as she relays the Moon's message.
"Anyway, that's not the point... Let's not cross lines from now on and get along, okay?"
After slicing off my old comrade's head and tossing it at my feet, she says that crap.
It's revolting. Even if their looks aren't that grotesque, hatred and disgust boil up inside me for my slain comrade.
"Ears open, kneel nice and pretty, and listen up! This is a revelation straight from our Daddy! Ee-hee... hee-hee!"
"Y-yeah... b-better if you l-listen..."
Still,
I have to hear them out first.
They introduce themselves as the Three Sisters of the Deep Sea.
Even Aria, who freely roams the ocean depths, is taken aback by them. They're the [Moon's direct descendants], living in service to him at the seaside where he shines brightest.
"Daddy's especially pissed. At you... a male who doesn't know gratitude and betrayed him?"
I rack my brain—what's she talking about?
Back in the desert, the Moon did quietly give me a chance to leave.
He even sent succubi to block the temple path...
Was that incredibly merciful from the Moon's perspective?
Considering he's the psycho dragging males across the universe to breed with natives, yeah, his offer to me was downright kind.
"Can't just take it lying down. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."
The first leans on her slender coral spear, staggering as she speaks.
Her outstretched finger points right at me. The webbed part glistens and trembles.
"We've got your kin. From now on, we lead all talks and deals. Got it? Keep those eyes wide open."
"Haa... fucking bitches."
It's a hostage play.
Even before we reached the sea, they'd raided and kidnapped the Paradise Ship survivors.
"H-hey, Maknae. How many was it? Uh?"
"T-t-ten... t-ten..."
"Right. Seven males, three females. Hear that clear?"
In this brief exchange,
I swallow my rage for a moment and tally how many survivors are left.
There's still quite a few.
As I tamp down the rising fury, key info filters in.
The Paradise Ship crashed near the atmosphere, but somehow about twenty survived.
Thirteen on the opposite coastline,
and ten held by these bitches...
At least half are alive.
Yeah, we can save half.
There's still a chance.
I have to save as many as possible.
I don't know who's left, but I have to do my duty.
If I can save them, I must. They're all waiting for my help.
"Cowardly. That Moon bastard must be uglier than his size suggests, huh?"
"Kyaaak!"
"D-don't insult Daddy..."
To shake off this shitty mood even a little, I mock the Moon. Sure enough, his daughters react hypersensitively, glaring like they want to kill me.
But no violence breaks out between us.
They already know Amy, Jenny, and Nephyr's combat power.
"That attitude ends here, male..."
Wait,
Jenny?
"If you don't obey from now on, we kill one a day. Exactly one each time."
I realize Jenny's nowhere in sight.
They're ignoring her too. Did she dive into the sea following those monstrous tentacles?
"We hold the reins. Give up resisting. Kee-sit."
Their words aren't registering.
"Male, you come with us alone. The other monster bitches stay here."
They're rattling off negotiation terms,
but all my focus is on finding Jenny.
"Heard you're getting close to the Sun... We need to manage that seed—"
But Jenny's always one step ahead of me.
"O-ver—"
Crunch—
The first, mid-rant,
clutches at her face without finishing.
But only for a moment.
Right before our eyes,
the first's head splits cleanly in half and flops to the ground with a splat.
"Overstepping."
A voice rises from the base of the cliff.
The most welcome sound to us right now,
terror itself to them.
"Pathetic things."
...But we can't just kill them all like this.