Mechanical Giants! Steampunk Needs Something Like That!

"Holy shit, how many of these things are there?"

The park where my Legion and I had been summoned only moments ago was now packed solid with mushroom-infected monsters.

"Kieeek!!!"

"Ukiik!!!"

The Void Hounds and elite Void Monkeys that had entered the 11th floor with me now walked among the horde, mushrooms sprouting from their backs.

"Haram, can you save them?"

"They're already dead. The mushrooms are just puppeteering the corpses."

No emotions reached me from the kids the fungus had claimed. The only times I couldn't feel my Legion's feelings were when they were too far away—or when they were gone.

"Kieeeek!!!"

A long-limbed monster with a mouth split ear to ear smashed its fist down on a rooftop. Frustrated that it had failed to catch me, it kept shrieking orders at the other infected.

"Lucky for us, they can't sense spiritual bodies."

"Hehe! You'd be toast without me, Haram!"

"Doesn't look like they have stealth detection either."

Ghostification let us fly, so Lucy and I drifted through the air, studying the monsters below.

Even in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spiritual form I could still pocket ownerless items, so I recovered every weapon the dead elite Void Monkeys had been carrying. The infected seemed to trust their raw physical power; none of them bothered looting the gear.

"Never seen these monsters before… but I've got friends who always know the answers."

I opened the system window, logged into the Transcendent Gallery, and described the new creatures.

According to Ruler of the Bitter Cold, Cordyceps first-stage mutants came in three main flavors.

Spitters that launched acid spit laced with infectious spores.

Goliaths—slow movers packing insane durability and raw strength.

Jumpers—blindingly fast, with ridiculous leap power and gliding membranes.

Lucy and I soared over the ruined city until we found every type the gallery had described gathered in front of the clock tower at the center.

"Ugh… Haram, I feel sick. I think I'm gonna throw up."

"You're a ghost. You can't throw up."

"Are you a T, Haram?"

Sitting before the clock tower was a bloated monster that looked like the super-obese patients America used to have before humanity fell—except twice as big.

"So we have to destroy the mushrooms buried in all that fat, right?"

"Can that thing even walk?"

"Looking at the thickness of those arms and legs, yeah."

The limbs were half-buried in flesh, but each was more than five times thicker than a normal adult man's.

"Those ones next to it must be the Jumpers."

Infected wrapped in red cloaks prowled the street beside the tower. Thin red membranes stretched between their arms and legs like flying squirrels. Their arms were spindly compared to their thick legs, and blade-long claws glittered under the streetlamps.

As I scanned the first-stage mutants, something felt off about the ratio of Infected to mutants.

"Lucy, were there this many first-stage mutants back at the park?"

"Nope. Just the one Spitter."

"Then why are there so many here?"

The park where we'd just fought a Spitter and thousands of Infected had held only a single first-stage mutant. Here in the plaza around the clock tower, I could count more than ten just with my eyes.

"That alley over there is packed with them…"

I drifted toward the alley that seemed especially dense with first-stage mutants. A road led straight to a massive factory, and countless first-stage mutants choked the path. Everywhere else Infected dominated and first-stage mutants were scarce—but this street was wall-to-wall mutants.

—Thud. Thud.

In the distance, Goliaths lumbered out of the factory entrance, left the alley, and vanished into the city.

"Haram, I've got a bad feeling. We shouldn't get any closer."

"…No way survivors are in there. All right, pull back."

I put distance between us and the factory, then checked the remaining duration on Skill Share.

"Time to find the real survivor group."

Even after Ghostification ended I could still hide with Stealth, but a city this cluttered could hide any number of traps. Better to settle things while the ghost form still lasted.

"Haram, where do you think the survivors are?"

"Hmm… hiding inside the city would be tough."

Lucy and I climbed higher and took in the whole cityscape. Infected stood frozen like statues on every street. They conserved energy that way until a sound or a first-stage mutant's order sent them swarming to make more "friends."

"Cordyceps aren't especially weak to sunlight, so they probably aren't camping in the city. More importantly…"

I glanced at the system window explaining the main objective.

"'Still resisting the monsters' means they have the strength to fight those things, right?"

"Huh? You think so?"

Even with the numbers gap, those enemies had crushed a Legion of elite Void Monkeys and Void Hounds. Any force that could stand against them wouldn't be small.

I turned my gaze beyond the city. High mountains and forest rose to the north; open plains stretched south.

"If they're fighting those monsters, their numbers can't be tiny."

"Could be an elite few, though?"

"To fight those things with a small elite force, every single one would have to be at least Lucy-level."

Even a conservative count put the monsters in the city at hundreds of thousands, with thousands of first-stage mutants. Taking them on with a handful would require high-ranker strength—and Impossible difficulty would never hand us allies that strong.

"I'm estimating at least a thousand survivors. Minimum."

"That many? That's not a small group—that's army-sized."

"You'd need at least that many to fight those monsters."

The survivors we met this floor would be the ones we linked with for the next floors. Impossible difficulty meant they wouldn't be powerhouses, but they should at least have some combat capability.

"So where do you think our precious survivors are hiding?"

"The plains, obviously! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Armies that go into the mountains are doomed!"

Lucy pointed south, but I disagreed.

"'Don't go into the mountains' only applies when the forces are roughly equal. When the enemy is overwhelmingly stronger, you hide in the mountains."

If my read was right, the fight between survivors and Infected was closer to a resistance against a world-dominating power. That meant they'd be tucked away in a mountain basin rather than out in the open plains.

"Looking at how the Infected in the city are in power-saving mode, they hate doing anything that burns a lot of energy."

"A military commander who likes hiking is a disaster waiting to happen…"

"Come on, stop wasting Ghostification time—let's go!"

Lucy and I flew toward the mountains ahead. We scoured every ridge and valley until the skill ran out, but all we found were Infected left in standby mode. Not a single living human trace.

"See? What did I tell you! Armies don't go into the mountains!"

Once Ghostification ended I kept searching with Stealth as well, but the only thing at the edge of the map was a white curtain. No living people. Finally I gave in to Lucy's opinion, abandoned the mountains, and headed for the southern plains. We found the survivor group in thirty minutes.

"Holy shit, those are supposed to be allies? We're gonna get shot the second we get close!"

"Whoa! It's the mechanical giant they talked about on the Hunter Gallery! Steampunk needs something like that!"

A fortress sat right where forest met plain. Massive wooden palisades bristled with people. Bright ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠searchlights swept the perimeter, and flanking the gate stood three-meter-tall bipedal mechs, vulcan cannons mounted on both arms, standing guard.

Two-legged giants with huge ammo drums strapped to their backs.

"…They have tech like this and they still lost to mushrooms?"

I'd expected flintlocks at best. Instead the soldiers on the walls carried long-barreled sniper rifles and mechanical crossbows.

"Haram, that looks like way more than a thousand."

Judging by the length of the palisade and the size of the camp, the population inside easily topped a thousand.

"What the hell? Why is Impossible difficulty giving us allies this strong? Are they even allies?"

Earth's humanity had lost to the Gates, so it was easy to underestimate conventional weapons. But the real reason humanity fell was that it couldn't sustain the brutal war of attrition against monsters.

Pure firepower-wise, guns turned most monsters into neighborhood mutts. Those riding mechs could wipe out Infected all day if the ammo held out.

"Those are really allies? Get too close and we'll end up with extra holes in our heads."

"Come to think of it, how do we even clear this floor? Just walk up to those people?"

Clear condition: join the survivor group. Problem was, we had no idea what kind of people they were. If they'd been weak I would have shown off my power and proven how useful I was. But if those mechs weren't just one or two units, they might not care about my strength at all.

"Showing the Legion before we've built trust is out… Will they even take us in?"

Walking straight up and getting turned into Swiss cheese wouldn't have been surprising. I turned to Lucy, still floating beside me in Ghostification.

"Lucy, help me put on a little act."

"Huh?"

"You won't die even if they shoot you. No matter how cold-blooded they are, they won't gun down a little kid on sight, right?"

I looked like an adult woman, but Lucy looked like a child. They'd hesitate at least once before pulling the trigger. And since her body dying cost her nothing, the risk was zero.

"Here's the plan…"

I canceled Lucy's Ghostification, rubbed dirt into her clothes, and got everything ready.

"Please help me!"

A filthy, ragged little girl sprinted toward the palisade.

"Squad leader! Something's coming!"

"Stop right there! Come any closer and we open fire!"

People scrambled along the top of the wall the moment they spotted Lucy.

"Help! My sister's in danger!"

—Bang!

"Don't come any closer!"

A brown-haired woman fired a warning shot at Lucy's feet.

"Take off your clothes and show us your back! We have to check for infection!"

"My sister's in danger! She lured the monsters into the forest!"

—Bang!

"Hurry!"

At the woman's shout Lucy yanked her hoodie up, baring bare skin.

"Captain, she's clean."

The woman spoke into the radio clipped to her belt.

—Wait by the gate. I'm coming now.

"Kid, see that Atlas? Stand next to it."

"There's no time…"

Lucy carefully approached the three-meter mech. The pilot in the cockpit, goggles on, didn't even glance at her—just kept staring straight ahead.

A short while later the wooden gate opened. A middle-aged man in a black fedora and sunglasses stepped out with the brown-haired woman from the wall.

"You okay, kid?"

The woman checked Lucy over.

"My sister's still in the forest! She drew the monsters away so I could escape, but—"

"Shh."

The middle-aged man in the oddly formal coat put a finger to his lips.

"Where have you been living until now? How did you find this place?"

"Captain, she's just a child…"

"Quiet. Answer, kid."

Lucy spoke carefully.

"I… I was hiding in the mountains with my sister… We ran out of food and came out, and then I saw this place…"

"Not impossible. Send her to the Number 3 servants' quarters—there should still be space."

"No! My sister's still in the forest!"

Lucy clung to the man's leg.

"Please save my sister!"

"If Infected were chasing her, your sister is already dead. I'm sorry, but—"

"My sister is super strong! She killed a red-cloaked monster with a sword!"

"…Lynn, wake the standby unit. We're going into the forest."

"Yes, sir."

Minutes later roughly two hundred soldiers armed with mechanical crossbows and rifles, plus ten Atlas mechs, marched toward the trees. Still stealthed, I watched from beside the palisade, then followed them into the forest.

Lucy's performance had netted me several useful facts.

More competent than I expected. And not a completely selfish group either…

The tighter a survivor group's resources, the more closed-off and selfish they became. Taking in a completely unproductive child like Lucy meant they still had some breathing room.

They didn't even question the "we've been hiding" story… so the Infected don't have any special ability to detect people in hiding.

Plenty of small details, but the most important one stood out.

This world has mana users too.

Killing a Jumper with a sword instead of a gun was impossible for an ordinary person. The fact that they believed Lucy instantly and dispatched troops meant people who fought with mana existed here.

Sending a company-sized force out in the middle of the night just to find one person… mana awakeners must be rarer than I thought.

I'd tested the waters enough. No point tormenting soldiers this late, so I raced ahead of them into the forest.

Deep in the darkened woods, armed soldiers advanced cautiously.

"Captain, no dormant Infected in sight."

"Kid, which way did your sister run?"

"Um… that way! Over there!"

At the fedora-wearing man's question, Lucy pointed exactly where she and I had agreed. The forest should have been full of Infected in power-saving mode, yet it was completely silent and empty.

"There! She ran toward that big tree!"

"Hmm. Ordinary Infected can't climb trees. Smart choice."

The soldiers approached the ancient tree that stretched toward the sky. As they drew near, the thick scent of damp grass grew stronger.

"I smell Infected."

"All units, combat ready."

Arrows nocked on mechanical crossbows; Atlas gun barrels began to heat.

When the ancient tree finally loomed close—

"Engage Infected on sight… Hm?"

"Captain, this is…"

A head rolled across the ground, body nowhere in sight. Torn mushrooms and shredded limbs lay scattered through the undergrowth in chaotic heaps.

"Good god…"

"Merciful heavens…"

While the soldiers stared blankly at the carnage—

"Excuse me? I'm coming down, so please don't shoot?"

A woman's voice floated down from high in the ancient tree.

—Swish.

A woman in a white hoodie dropped lightly to the ground. The height would have shattered a normal person's ankles, yet she landed as softly as a cat.

"Lucy! You're safe!"

"…Sister!"

I ran to Lucy, gave her a quick hug, then bowed to the middle-aged man in the fedora.

"Thank you for the help. If it's all right… may I join your group?"

I wiped Infected blood from my sword with a cloth.

"I'm pretty good with a blade. I'm sure I can be useful."

The middle-aged man didn't answer, but the system window that appeared told me the plan had worked.