The Horde's Shadowy Descent
The behavior of fate's Erosion Species was remarkably beast-like. Conversation and negotiation were alien concepts to them. Ravenous as starved beasts, utterly devoid of fear. They roared noisily at the mere sight of humans. They charged headlong even in hopelessly disadvantageous situations. They fell for the simplest tricks.
That was why we divided roles into tankers and dealers. The tanker absorbed every frenzied attack from the agitated Erosion Species. The dealer piled on damage from a safe distance. It was the most efficient way to fight them.
“Ugh…?! Aggro again…! Be careful-sawayo!”
“Danger….”
“Ugh…. Ubina! Hard to aim! Fall back!”
“Ugh, this guy's not letting go-sawayo!”
But Midyr was different from every Erosion Species we'd faced before. It had stayed utterly silent, not roaring even once. Its gaze constantly scanned the surroundings. It paid Ubina scarcely any attention, as if it knew she couldn't inflict real damage.
And that was far from all. Whether annoyed by shots from the rear, it used Ubina as a shield. It deliberately took hits to target the approaching Anje. It slammed its tail against the ground, flinging debris backward. It moved as if tankers didn't exist at all. Naturally, the battle against Midyr spiraled into chaos.
As expected…. The trickiest Erosion Species I've fought so far.
Of course, Midyr wasn't some ordinary Erosion Species. No, it could even be called the most special in the world. Because… it possessed intelligence close to a human's.
Sneaking into the city to target civilians and Valkyries. Ambushing the supporter Promina from the ceiling. None of it was coincidence—it was deliberate conclusions it had reached on its own.
To fight this thing, I had to discard every preconception from battles past.
At this rate, combat incapacity is just a matter of time.
The one silver lining was the lighting drones scattered everywhere. In a pitch-black cave, if Midyr hopped between shadows, we wouldn't last ten seconds. But in this state… I could handle it alone.
Having reached that conclusion, I turned to Promina. She was busy treating the wounded Anje and Dalia, but I wished she wouldn't waste her abilities on such frivolities.
“Promina-ssi. Please attach a few body-enhancement butterflies to me.”
“Eh? Yes! Got it.”
“And… please look after the commander.”
“L-Leira-ssi? What are you planning?”
“I'm stepping forward. Explanations later!”
Entrusting the commander to Promina, I charged ahead. Naturally, the two of them looked flustered by my sudden move. It was the expected reaction. My role was strictly rearguard. There was no reason for me to rush into danger on my own.
But the opponent was a being that defied the norms of ordinary Erosion Species. Even if it meant some risk, I had to take the front here.
“Leira-nim! What in the…?!”
“Everyone, fall back! You're in the way!”
In the original story, the Rabbit Hole Squad ended up combat-ineffective in this fight. Promina was slashed deeply across the back in a surprise attack and fainted. Ubina and Anje suffered wounds that left them unable to fight.
But for my plans going forward, I needed their combat strength. Passing the stunned Ubina, I stepped to the forefront.
“…Kyrk.”
Midyr let out a sound as it regarded me standing alone. Its form came into view: beetle-like exoskeleton, elongated limbs, and a long tail. Roughly three meters tall—about double my height.
Yet despite the vast size difference, it eyed me warily. Even as the strongest of Erosion Species, stronger than any creature alive, it was always gripped by fear. That was why this thing… was a more troublesome enemy than any other.
Then… shall we play a little?
I moved first. Leading with my nailgun, I closed the distance. The moment I entered its range, I pulled the trigger.
The nail-turned-projectile accelerated along the electromagnetic rail, surpassing the speed of sound. Its power was enough to wound even the tough flesh of an Erosion Species.
But perhaps insufficient to breach Midyr's defenses. The nail scraped across the exoskeleton as it assumed a defensive posture and ricocheted away.
“Kyr…”
Only then did it lunge at me. It had been crouching just in case—truly a coward.
I barely maintained distance, probing its body here and there.
Hmm… Can't pierce the exoskeleton with the nailgun. Have to aim for the gaps.
In the brief window as I emptied one magazine and swapped it out, Midyr kicked off the ground and charged.
Of course, I'd anticipated that and stayed calm. I smoothly reloaded and sidestepped.
But had it predicted my evasion direction? Midyr pursued with an outlandish maneuver. Looking closely, its tail was stabbed into the ground.
“Cheating with your tail…!”
If that hit, I'd be cleaved in two. I leaped backward like a high jumper to evade.
With the nailgun reloaded, I fired electrified nails in rapid bursts—bang, bang.
Midyr swiftly deflected them with its shoulder exoskeleton. But at this range, its second attack wouldn't land. Cocky in that moment, it whipped its tail at me.
Surprisingly, its reach exceeded its arms—long enough to connect fully.
“Kigigi!”
“What's so funny? Think you've won?”
I sneered at the gleeful Midyr. Then I unleashed electricity, magnetizing the nails I'd tucked into my clothes beforehand.
In other words, my pockets were now filled with a dozen strong magnets. Using a pre-electrified nail I'd fired, I twisted my midair posture.
Have to watch for the tail too.
Barely evading, I landed safely. I immediately fired the nailgun again, reading its movements.
Perhaps because this was its first time fighting Valkyries. Apart from the irregular tail strikes, Midyr's motions were simplistic. No matter the power, misses meant nothing. Its inexperience in combat was glaring.
“Kiiik!”
Midyr screamed for the first time—a real howl. A sharp nail had lodged in a gap in its exoskeleton.
Maybe it rarely felt true pain. Its movements turned passive in an instant. It seemed more eager to flee than to kill me.
But a cornered rat bites the cat, or so they say. While scattering rock debris to keep me at bay, Midyr finally noticed the lighting drones hidden on the ceiling.
The sole light sources illuminating this pitch-black cave. Ignoring me, it began targeting the drones.
“Everyone, hurry out of the cave! Without lights, we can't fight!”
“Yes! Everyone, retreat-sawayo!”
“Commander, hop on.”
“Understood.”
This made the fight impossible. Its ability was traversing shadows—more precisely, turning shadows into its domain. In a lightless cave, Midyr was invincible.
It hadn't noticed the drones until now. At this point, fleeing was the right call. I couldn't die here.
I wasn't planning to kill it anyway. Perfect excuse.
We slipped out of the cave while Midyr smashed the lighting drones. Once safely outside, I told the commander,
“Commander-nim. Contact the branch immediately. We need to request support from HQ. That Erosion Species… we absolutely can't let it escape.”
“Understood.”
“I think I get what Leira-nim means-sawayo.”
“Definitely felt dangerous. Like we can't just leave it be….”
They hadn't suspected Midyr's intelligence, but the Rabbit Hole Squad had sensed something off too. After all, an Erosion Species ignoring the tanker to strike the rear? Nothing like it had ever appeared before.
No wonder it was treated as humanity's worst threat in the original story someday. Though… there it was dealt with before fully blooming.
Anyway. It's about time.
While the commander busily contacted the branch, I perked up my ears, focusing on distant sounds. It had been several minutes since we exited the cave. If my prediction was right, it should arrive any moment.
And right on cue, a ear-shattering roar echoed from afar.
-Guoooooh!
“Ugh?!”
“This sound…”
“Erosion Species?!”
A roar too ferocious to believe came from any living thing. It continued relentlessly from the distance. Even the commander, who rarely showed emotion, went pale with unease.
We rushed toward the source. At a steep cliff overlooking distant mountains, we came face-to-face with countless shadows.
“Th-that…”
“No way, all of those…”
“This has to be a lie…?”
Dozens, hundreds—no, thousands of Erosion Species. An overwhelming horde visible even kilometers away. Under the moonlight, they trampled the forest to ruins as they advanced.
What could anyone do against that? The Rabbit Hole Squad stared in stunned silence.
It has no intention of letting us leave quietly.
Obviously, this was Midyr's doing. Its goal: eliminate me, the one who'd wounded it.
In the original, Leira's Blue Thunder struck a careless Midyr. Light was the weakness of its shadow-jumping. Her lightning pierced it like a dagger to the heart.
Tortured by unimaginable pain, Midyr fled the cave in panic. Then it unleashed every Erosion Species it had gathered.
Weak individually, but their numbers reached the hundreds. A sight that eroded the mind just to behold—pure despair.
“Something like this… how are we supposed to…”
“Even support will take hours…”
Let's think. Here we have Leira and the Rabbit Hole Squad, plus the commander. But the squad—all but one—are combat-ineffective. Leave the Erosion Species be, and the entire city dies.
So what would the original Leira choose?
-I'll buy time. Commander-nim, please bring back support no matter what.
That was it. A saintly self-sacrifice. To buy time for HQ reinforcements, she sent the commander away and stayed alone on this mountain.
Of course, Leira wasn't actually that strong. B-rank in a system with S-ranks. Her unique ability: hurl mid-power lightning five times at most.
She was treated as strong only in rundown Ruina. On a world scale, she ranked fairly low.
Thus, Leira dies here. Her commander returns with support to find her mangled corpse.
Haa…. Finally, we've reached this point.
My heart pounded. If their faces looked like this now, what expressions would they wear in the final moments?
I stepped before the demoralized Rabbit Hole Squad and commander.
“Everyone, listen.”
Don't be afraid. I won't let any of you die.
“I have a way.”
I strained to suppress the grin threatening to bloom across my face. I only hoped it didn't look too strange.