The Hounds of Paradise
BOOM—! KABOOM!
The squad that appeared to belong to Ark 74 demonstrated impressive prowess.
Their gear was worn and patched up in places, but their movements exuded the flawless efficiency honed over years of facing life and death together.
How could a veteran squad like that...?
Arva wondered as she watched them.
With combat prowess like theirs, they had to be a well-known elite squad even in Ark 74.
There was no reason for them to come all the way to this forsaken district of Ark 69, fighting desperately like that.
[Arva—! You heard gunfire? What the hell is going on?]
"I've spotted an ECHO squad from Ark 74."
[What? Ark 74? Weren't they the ones who...]
"I'm joining the fight for now."
Further observation was pointless.
And since she couldn't just stand by and watch fellow Original ECHOs die right in front of her, Arva decided to intervene.
Just then, a pack of screamers and spitters, drawn by the commotion, lurked behind the squad from atop a pile of collapsed containers.
They haven't noticed the new enemies yet.
The rookie of the squad, perhaps?
The young-faced ECHO at the rear was too busy firing her pistol at the zombies in front to pay any mind to the ones behind.
If things continued like this, the squad's formation would collapse in an instant, and they'd suffer heavy losses—it was an obvious outcome.
Arva drew the blade from her waist and leaped silently from the steel structure, diving straight into the midst of the screamer and spitter pack.
[KEEEAAAK—!]
As the monsters panicked at the sudden intruder, Arva's blade traced a blue arc through the air.
Arva's movements as she slashed through the zombies resembled a perfectly choreographed sword dance.
With a single leap, she severed the necks of three spitters, then spun on landing to bisect a screamer in one stroke.
In mere seconds, over four unique variants of the infected lay rolling on the cold floor, dead without even a scream.
"Huh?! Zombies behind—! And... an ECHO?"
The ECHO finally noticed and shouted in surprise.
At her cry, the sniper who had been popping zombie heads turned toward Arva.
"What the—?! Where'd you come from?!"
"Arclight Squad from Ark 69. I’ll be providing support."
Arva briefly stated her affiliation before charging at the remaining zombies, blade swinging.
If it had been before, maybe not—but with her combat abilities boosted by the synchronization system, she could handle a pack of unique zombies single-handedly.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT—!
Moments later, the sky-splitting roar of machine guns announced Pomen's arrival.
With the two ECHOs joining in, the desperate battle's tide turned in an instant.
Before long, the zombie horde that had filled the abandoned factory was reduced to a pile of cold corpses.
The acrid stench of blood and gunpowder hung heavy in the air.
As the fight ended, a heavy silence descended once more upon the factory.
Arva shook the blood from her blade and turned toward the squad from Ark 74, still on guard.
"...Helena from Cerberus Squad."
The scarred woman in the battered tactical vest ejected her shotgun shell and tossed it aside casually.
"Arclight Squad, Arva."
"Arclight Squad... I heard everyone in Ark 69 got wiped out by the Crawler Queen, though?"
Arva nodded calmly at Helena's words.
Apparently, the news of Ark 69's annihilation had reached the other Arks.
"The main force was wiped out. This is their grave. Fortunately, one commander survived and is leading the Ark."
Helena's mechanical eye glowed red as it scanned Arva up and down, as if surprised by the revelation of survivors.
"...You barely avoided stasis, then."
"That's right. So what brings a squad from Ark 74 all the way out here? You're pretty far from your Ark."
Helena fell silent at Arva's question before speaking.
"Just on a mission."
Arva's expression hardened at the curt reply.
There were very few reasons for an ECHO squad to venture this far.
One of them was resource gathering essential for the Ark's survival—which meant they could be potential rivals, not just survivors.
"Ah, no need to misunderstand. We're a combat squad. Not exactly gifted at scavenging materials."
Reading Arva's face, Helena shrugged and added.
"More importantly, you seen a crazy bitch with a shell on her back?"
"...The Carapace Lord?"
No sooner had Arva asked than Pomen blurted it out, drawing every eye in Cerberus Squad to her.
Pomen shrugged off the stares and continued.
"We scrapped with her here. Our commander sniped off that ugly bitch's dick clean. She fled north after that... Why? Something up?"
Cerberus Squad's faces stiffened at Pomen's blunt description.
Helena let out a deep sigh before continuing slowly.
"It's not just something. That damn cunning bitch has been raping human commanders and ECHOs to rapidly build her forces."
"Build her forces? Like a Corpse Breeder?"
Arva asked.
"Similar, but worse. ECHOs raped by the Carapace Lord usually gestate unique zombie variants. In other words..."
Helena bit her lip, unable to continue, so the sniper beside her added quietly from behind her mask.
"...Depending on the ECHO's condition, she can produce several unique ones a day."
"......"
A heavy silence fell over Arclight Squad at the horrific explanation. But that wasn't the end.
"On top of that, she's using humans for breeding too. We lost five commanders to her. And among them..."
Helena's gaze shifted to the large-caliber revolver held by the young-faced ECHO.
It seemed that the revolver was a memento from Cerberus Squad's commander.
"Ah, he didn't die."
"...Then?"
At Arva's question, Helena grimaced and answered.
"He got feminized and turned into a zombie breeder."
"......"
He hadn't died, but it was a fate worse than death.
Even Pomen fell silent at the gruesome tale.
"So you're here to hunt her down?"
Arva steered back to the main topic.
"Yeah. Half of Ark 74's forces attacked her nest, but we failed."
"Failed? With that much firepower?"
"...Predictable. Since we were led by a dumbass commander who ignores ECHO input. ECHOs were forced to follow his orders. We lost most of our forces in the process, and only us, the Cerberus squad, barely escaped. That's how we ended up here."
Helena's calm voice carried a mix of anger and helplessness.
Karen, who had been quietly listening, tentatively raised her hand.
"So Cerberus can't return to Ark 74 right now?"
"......Why?"
Pomen nudged Karen and asked.
"Your commander's basically KIA, right? By Ark rules, a squad that loses its commander gets scrapped upon return to Ark 74... right?"
"Eek—?!"
The young-faced ECHO let out a terrified squeak at Karen's words.
She was right.
The fate of an ECHO squad that lost its commander was sealed.
Lucky ones might get reassigned, but most were scrapped as they were deemed bearers of bad luck and repurposed as parts for other ECHOs—that was the law of this hellish world.
"What a fucking world. Die to monsters or humans. Tch. We're just consumables in the end."
Helena gave a bitter smile of resignation.
Arva watched her, lost in thought for a moment.
They were uncertain elements, for sure.
But considering their combat strength and the disaster called the Carapace Lord, Cerberus Squad would undoubtedly bolster the Ark's forces.
And above all, as fellow ECHOs, Arva didn't want to abandon them to die.
"...Come to our Ark."
"Huh?!"
Pomen whipped around in shock at Arva's sudden proposal.
"In your condition, you won't last a night in this sector. Better head to our Ark first and regroup. Then talk it over directly with our commander."
"...How can we trust your commander? Humans are all the same in the end."
"Yeah. Better die fighting zombies here than get scrapped back at the Ark."
Helena and the masked ECHO, Silva, spoke with eyes full of distrust.
"Our commander is different."
Arva stated firmly, her gaze unwavering.
"You'll understand once you meet him."
Helena stared at Arva for a moment, then turned to her team.
Her eyes lingered briefly on the young ECHO.
Moments later, Helena looked back at Arva.
"Fine. Die there or die here. If we're gonna go, might as well leave some useful parts behind—for a good cause."
That was when their leader, Helena, agreed to head to Ark 69.
"Then you'll come with us to our Ark?"
Karen chimed in again.
"Since you're heading to our Ark anyway, mind helping me with something first?"
Everyone—Helena, Arva, even Pomen—turned puzzled looks at her.
Karen pointed cheerfully at the pile of rare materials she'd been collecting.
"We three can't carry all this. You guys have spare hands, right?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Once you've crossed a line once, crossing it again becomes ridiculously easy.
After taking the Mito Drive, my daily life became guided by pure instinct.
"Ubuup, glrk! C-Commander!"
To test the drug's effects, Noah had her face buried between my legs as I swallowed the concentrated nutrient gel.
"Noah, you can drink it all, right?"
"Glrk! Mmmph!"
Now, I naturally treated Noah's head like a sex slave's, using it at will to dump my load down her throat. It was the same when I was training.
"C-Commander—! Does my insides feel good?"
"A bit more—shake your hips."
"Y-Yes—! If that's your will...! Aaaah!"
During bench presses, Noah mounted me, rocking her hips to take my cock.
Her moans mixed with the clanging metal, filling the gym with lewd heat.
Thus, I spent every moment—meals, showers, walks, workouts—with Noah, filling her every hole with my cum.
"Ah, aaaah—! Your grace—!"
Not just pussy, but ass too.
My endless lust claimed all of her.
True to her ECHO nature, Noah never refused, accepting my cock naturally.
I drew out every slutty desire hidden beneath her noble face, using her like my personal whore to vent nonstop.
And as I lay atop her sweat-slicked body, panting and fondling her breasts—
[Arclight Squad's return confirmed. Additionally..., three unidentified ECHO units approaching together.]
The voice of Wanderer, the Central AI of the Ark, informed me about the ECHOs’ return.
Unidentified ECHOs?
What the?
Aren't the girls supposed to be out gathering materials for Ark development? What the hell were they doing?