The Monster Re-Encountered
KAABOOOOOM—!
With a roar that felt as if it would burst one's eardrums, the entire cave shook violently, as if having a seizure.
"Whew..."
I could see the ground beneath my feet heaving and dust raining down from the cave ceiling.
I've really been through everything.
I had only thrown mock grenades during training, but the destructive power in actual combat was on a completely different level.
Regardless, I didn't need to look inside to know what kind of living hell was unfolding in there.
Only after waiting for a long while did the raging flames gradually lose their momentum, accompanied by a wave of hot heat blowing from within.
"Commander."
Arva approached me and handed me a state-of-the-art gas mask with goggles and a helmet equipped with a flashlight.
"Thanks, Arva."
I put on the equipment with practiced ease.
For the ECHOs with their resilient bodies, such an environment wasn't a major issue, but for an ordinary human like me, I couldn't take a single step into a cave filled with that rotting air without this gear.
Putting on the familiar-looking gas mask made me feel like I was back at the training center for some reason.
"Gas! Gas! Gas!"
"……Huh?"
I tried making a joke, but the ECHOs gave me such strange looks that I just pretended not to notice and kept walking.
I guess they don't like dad jokes either?
"Oh my, Commander. How cute."
Only Pomen clung to me, wrapping her arm around my waist... which actually made it more embarrassing.
The condition of the interior was just as I expected.
The entrance of the cave had been literally cleaned out.
The hideous lumps of flesh that had been writhing and clinging to the walls and ceiling had crumbled into black ash, leaving no trace of their form. Instead of the nauseating fishy stench, the air was filled with acrid smoke and the smell of burning flesh.
[K-errrrgh—!]
Of course, some zombies had managed to survive and were making their final desperate struggles.
"Their vitality is insane. To think they're trying to move even though more than half their bodies are burnt..."
As Luna muttered with wide eyes, Helena gave her a light flick on the head and spoke sternly.
"Those are zombies. That's why you must never let your guard down until you've finished them off completely. Got it, kiddo?"
"Ye-Yes, ma'am."
Toward a zombie whose entire body was fused to the floor amidst the ash, I calmly raised White Tiger.
Bang! Ba-bang!
Two precise shots were fired in a burst.
With the gunshots, the zombie's head exploded like a watermelon, and a message flashed before my eyes—
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You have obtained 100C.
100 cash per zombie... the cost of living is brutal.
A bitter smile escaped me, but the Cash I had earned through this expedition already amounted to 80,000.
If I collected 20,000 more, I could purchase another Exclusive Weapon for the ECHOs belonging to the Ark.
Alternatively, I could create an Original ECHO or buy parts necessary for the Ark's development.
If I take down the Carapace Lord on top of this...
A quasi-named entity.
I was already looking forward to how much Cash it would grant.
Imagining that sweet future, I carefully advanced deeper into the cave, cleanly disposing of the surviving zombies.
However, before long, Arva, who was leading the way, raised her hand to halt the formation.
"Commander. It seems the flames didn't reach beyond this point."
Just as Arva's low voice suggested, the scenery of the cave had changed drastically.
Sticky mucus still dripped down, and lumps of flesh writhed like living hearts.
And a fishy stench, now even more pungent, pierced through the gas mask filters and stung my nose.
[Kieeeeeek!!]
[Kwaaaaak!]
Then, piercing screams echoed from the darkness ahead.
"Zombies—!"
Immediately, dozens of twisted figures began pouring toward us.
"Everyone, into combat formation—!!"
As I shouted to the ECHOs, I quickly checked the enemies' appearances.
Leading the charge were Bone Blades swinging their arm bones like sharp blades.
Behind them were Brutes, charging forward with reckless abandon, making the very ground itself quake.
In the rear, I could see Smokers emitting toxic smoke to stimulate the zombies' metabolism.
Look at that composition...?
It was a composition created with clear intent, one that would be difficult to handle even for an Original ECHO Squad.
And the most troublesome part of that lineup was none other than the Smoker.
Because of the Smoker's toxic fumes, the Bone Blades and Brutes became even more frenzied.
"Silva, target the Smoker!!"
At my command, Silva, who had lowered her body into a firing position, narrowed her eyes.
Bang—!
A single gunshot.
The bullet traced a long trajectory and accurately pierced the yellow, swollen poison sac in the Smoker's chest.
With a bursting sound, the Smoker, which had been vomiting toxic smoke, collapsed backward.
As a result, the momentum of the charging zombie horde faltered briefly, and that was enough for us.
Du-du-du—!!
Pomen's minigun, Queen's Calamity, erupted in a frenzied blaze of fire.
"Kyahahahaha!"
Her usual seductive demeanor was gone; her face was filled only with a manic euphoria, a desire to tear the zombies apart.
Following that, the Bone Blades charging at the front were shredded like sheets of paper, hit by a storm of bullets.
Helena and Noah, the tank-type ECHOs, also blocked the Bone Blades rushing from the front.
Bang! Ba-bang!
I too coordinated my fire with Silva, repeatedly pulling the trigger toward the Brutes, the greatest threat to our formation.
[Kwaaaaaak!]
I didn't have much AP-5 Ammunition left, but I poured it in without hesitation.
Since the ECHOs acting as tankers were tied down by the Bone Blades, the formation would completely collapse if those massive hulks pushed through.
Ba-bang! Bang!
Cordelia, who had recently joined, and the mass-produced ECHOs, who were still capable of moving, pulled their triggers relentlessly.
Every time Cordelia fired a burst, the heads of the ordinary zombies rushing toward us exploded with precision.
It was certainly the marksmanship befitting the leader of a squad, an Original ECHO.
"Whew—."
By pouring out firepower through organic cooperation, we were able to defeat the rather tricky zombie combination without much difficulty.
"That was dangerous."
"Yeah. We need to be careful."
I nodded at Arva's cold analysis.
To think that this level of force remained even after we had perfectly cleaned the entrance with a high-temperature incendiary grenade...
If we hadn't used Hellfire, it would have truly been a grueling fight.
"Karen, remaining AP-5 Ammunition?"
At my words, Karen hurried over to report.
"Uh... for the rifles, only about twenty magazines left. For the sniper, 40 rounds... and for the shotgun, only three magazines left."
"Right."
Listening to Karen's report, I gazed into the deep darkness ahead.
It wasn't a luxurious situation, but for some reason, I felt it would be enough.
Seeing that other groups didn't follow immediately after hearing the clash of the first wave, it likely meant they were short on numbers as well.
The boss fight should be soon.
I hoped the Carapace Lord was around the level it had been during our skirmish at Hongwei-7.
If it was still at that level—which the Arclight Squad and I could drive away on our own—the battle would be much easier.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the intense battle with the elite zombie horde, we took a moment to catch our breath and reorganize our lines.
As the adrenaline subsided, fatigue hit all at once.
Actually, other urgest hit me too, but the location was poor for relieving something like that.
The ECHOs replenished their energy by chewing Concentrated Nutrients, and I satiated my hunger with the military rations Madeline had prepared.
"Now, stay sharp. The real deal starts now."
At my words, the ECHOs nodded silently and readjusted their grip on their weapons.
How long did we walk after that?
Finally, we reached the deepest part of the cave, a vast, open cavern.
And there...
"……."
I had expected it, but I was faced with a sight more horrific than I had imagined.
The representative infected zombie of the Crawler Queen is the Corpse Breeder. And the Carapace Lord is also a monster born from the Crawler Queen.
I slowly raised my head.
A giant tree rooted in the center of the cavern.
But it wasn't a tree as I knew it.
It was a sort of giant flesh tree, where writhing lumps of meat, tendons, and dark red blood vessels were intertwined and connected to the ceiling.
What was even more horrific were the things hanging from that tree like fruit.
They were several human women and ECHOs.
"Ahh! Ugh! Nnngh!"
"More, more—! Cock...! Cock—!!"
Their combat suits were torn to shreds, leaving them practically naked, and their entire bodies were being violated by the flesh tentacles that served as living branches.
The pulsating tentacles, making squelching sounds, were obsessively burrowing not only into their mouths but also into their vaginas and anuses.
"Ah! Ang! Ah!"
"I'm, I'm cumming—!"
"I think I'm going! I'm going—! I'm goingggg!!"
"Ah! Aaah! Aaaaah!!"
Their eyes, a mixture of pain and strange ecstasy, were unfocused and glazed, and suppressed moans leaked incessantly from their mouths.
Among them, some had bellies swollen to a grotesque degree, to the point where something inside could be seen moving violently.
"It's a... breeding tree, Commander."
Arva whispered lowly, struggling to suppress her disgust.
"Hmm..."
It was a scene I had seen in text descriptions in the game and in a few tentacle-themed Hentais.
At the time, I had just chuckled it off as a provocative setting, but facing this hellscape directly before my eyes, a violent wave of nausea surged up.
"A, aaah... no..."
Just then, I heard someone's voice filled with despair from behind me.
Turning around, I saw Cordelia trembling like an aspen leaf.
Following her gaze, I saw several ECHOs twisting their waists and letting out moans.
The insignia showing they belonged to Ark 74 was clearly visible on their torn combat suits.
"It seems they are your comrades from the Ark."
"……Yeah."
I stared blankly at the hellscape before me.
It seemed the Carapace Lord had expanded its army in this manner.
By kidnapping humans and ECHOs and turning them into breeders that gave birth to zombies through endless pleasure and pain while keeping them alive. A fate much, much worse than death.
This was the ecology of the Crawler Queen and the monsters influenced by her.
And for those who had become zombie breeders... there was no salvation other than death.
"End it cleanly."
"Yes, Commander."
Bang! Ba-ba-bang!
Following my order, the guns erupted in unison.
The bodies of the ECHOs and humans, who had been violated by tentacles while letting out moans close to screams, went limp, and eternal peace found their distorted faces.
Swish! Whip!
Sensing our attack, the flesh tree swung dozens of tentacles like whips in rage.
However, those attacks were futilely sliced apart by Arva's vibroblade.
As Arva flew through the air as if dancing, lumps of flesh thudded the ground.
And then...
[Who is it—! Who dares touch my precious children!!]
At the commotion we caused, the master of the nest finally revealed itself.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A futanari monster in human form, wearing a giant carapace like a beetle.
The creature had a half-insane human woman tied tightly to its body, thrusting the massive cock attached to its lower waist deep inside her.
"Ogok! Ot! Ogogogot—!"
Every time it thrust its hips upward strongly, whitish semen surged back out of the woman's mouth.
"……."
It was a sight that gave me goosebumps just by looking at it.
Perhaps because it was a quasi-named entity…
Its entrance was certainly unconventional.