Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Storming the Hatchery
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In an instant, the sky cleared.
The descent path for the high-speed assault ship had been blasted wide open with a single psychokinetic burst.
“Whew...”
There was a world of difference between seeing it in footage or reports and witnessing it firsthand.
My whole body instinctively shrank back.
“Nice one, Merdi.”
“Don't make a fuss over something this minor.”
“I'll handle the rest. You can head in now.”
“No need. How long could it possibly take?”
Merdi rejected my offer and gripped the safety bar even tighter.
I looked down at the ground.
The alien air forces had been wiped out, but the flesh flowers blooming on the surface were still spewing seeds into the sky.
The few remaining fighters plunged down the cleared path in one go, bombing the flesh flowers.
“Good.”
The danger had completely passed.
Air forces from other directions rushed toward us in a panic, but the fleet's indiscriminate supporting fire reduced their numbers to a handful by the time they got close.
Finally, the high-speed assault ship touched down on the surface.
The ramp opened, and combat crew disembarked first, followed by the superhumans.
The Crusader Order's vessel landed right after, disgorging its passengers.
“Jang!”
I spotted a familiar face among the Crusaders and shouted.
“Leonard.”
His face was still expressionless, his voice flat as ever.
But somehow, his vibe felt a little different.
He strode over to me, gripped my outstretched hand firmly, and said, “I didn't expect to see you here.”
“The Cardinal didn't mention it?”
“I just pieced it together from Merdi here's psychokinesis.”
I could feel a slight tremble in his voice as he said Merdi's name.
'No way he'd forget.'
He'd probably never been through anything like that before in his life. It must be etched into his bones.
Jang glanced sideways at Merdi, then noticed Roze beside her and lit up.
“Lady Roze is here too. I can rate our chances of success even higher now.”
“Let's talk on the move.”
Jang Woolf nodded and signaled his Crusaders.
With preparations complete, we advanced toward the hatchery.
Right on cue, the aliens came out to greet us.
Bursting from tunnels they'd dug to hide in, they charged from all directions.
Their momentum was so fierce that even the soldiers hesitated.
“Don't stop moving! Anyone who falls behind gets left!”
The squad leader's voice boomed out.
I followed behind him, manipulating my panel.
The assault ship's lower deck slid open, and metal spheres about 50cm in diameter rolled out.
“The combat machines will clear the path.”
We needed to conserve the superhumans' strength for the real fight ahead.
We'd brought 200 combat machines in total.
They cost about a hundred times more than standard military-issue models, but offered roughly five times the combat power.
Efficiency was utter shit.
But for ops like this, we needed raw firepower, not efficiency.
Whirrr!!
The combat machines rolled past the vanguard at high speed, then transformed one by one.
Sleek war-spider models with eight prominent legs.
Once transformed, the war spiders unleashed a volley from the high-output laser cannons on their heads.
Sparks flew, explosions rang out.
Aliens struck by the lasers—packing over 1,000kW per shot—screamed and collapsed.
Each shot expended a battery the size of a AA, which the war spiders ejected.
“Charge! Keep charging!”
The hatchery was about 2km away.
Everyone in the assault force was elite spec-ops level or better, so 2km was nothing.
The assault team pierced the alien hordes and reached the barrier, then re-formed ranks.
“Rear guard, face back!”
Everyone except the superhumans turned their guns rearward.
'We need to break through as fast as possible.' This was where the real trouble began.
The barrier isolating the hatchery looked incredibly sturdy at a glance.
“Want me to do it?”
“We'll give it a shot.”
“Knock yourselves out.”
Nora stepped forward but backed off at the Crusader captain's words.
There were 20 Crusaders, each wielding a Holy Weapon in a unique form.
Spears were the most common, but there were massive warhammers, swords, and axes too.
“First time seeing Holy Weapons up close.”
“You don't get many chances. Their attack power is the stuff of legends, though.”
Holy Weapons were products of hypertechnology, just like Core Weapons.
Unlike Core Weapons, they offered no protection for the user's body, but being purpose-built weapons made them unmatched in offense.
Which was why handing the barrier to them was the smart play.
'Armorsuit—or should I call it holy armor? Defense has to be top-notch.'
That's why Crusaders wore armorsuits designed purely for protection.
Unlike standard suits, these were thick and bulky to the point of looking cumbersome.
Overwhelming offense paired with rock-solid defense.
They might just be the true holy warriors of this age.
-Beep! Massive alien reaction underground!
“Watch your feet!”
At that moment, R3D3's alert blared, and the ground shook violently.
I sensed the earth giving way and leaped clear, but most soldiers failed to react in time.
“Whoa...!”
My eyes went wide.
Below the sudden sinkhole yawned the gaping maw of an enormous unidentified alien.
But for some reason, the falling soldiers hovered motionless in midair.
“Huh...?”
“I'm okay?” Telekinesis.
I finally noticed Nora and turned to her.
“Nora!”
Floating in the air like the others, she held both hands aloft.
Using telekinesis, she maneuvered the soldiers to safety and said, “Leave the troops to me. You'll handle that thing, right?”
“Got it.”
I said as much, but I didn't need to step in.
Shepin, who'd been saved by Roderigo from the sudden collapse, was already unleashing flames in a fury.
“You scared the shit out of me! Die! Die!”
But the alien was tough.
With most of its body buried underground, Shepin's psychokinesis wasn't landing well.
Unable to withstand the heat, the alien clamped its mouth shut and tried retreating into the earth.
“It's escaping!”
“Not on my watch.”
Nora, having evacuated all the soldiers, thrust her hands downward.
The ground quaked again, and the alien's massive body began slowly emerging.
It was even bigger than expected, buried as it was.
The torso alone was 7m thick, and its length topped at least 30m.
It thrashed wildly in resistance, but Nora's power was overwhelming—it got dragged out helpless.
“Gah...” Shepin gaped at the sight.
Her eyes shook as she looked at Nora; she was finally grasping just how insane her abilities were.
Boom!
The fully extracted alien slammed into the ground.
By size alone, it was at least hazard level 4.
“Antlion...”
I identified it.
A hazard level 5 that had evaded sightings until now.
It burrowed freely underground, collapsing the earth to swallow surface targets whole, just like this.
Its drill was stealthy enough to pierce solid bedrock, making prior detection nearly impossible.
'If there are a lot of these, reclaiming the planet later will be a nightmare...'
What made antlions trickier was their habit of targeting infrastructure and weakening foundations.
Even if this op succeeded, clearing the remaining hatcheries and aliens wouldn't be easy.
“Heh heh, sis. I roasted it nice and crisp for you.”
“Well done.”
“Right? How dare it mess with you. Take that!”
Shepin fired off another blast to char the antlion while sidling up to Nora.
Roderigo shook his head at the display.
“Incorrigible.”
“Haha...” I chuckled briefly, but the battle situation left no room for leisure.
The number of aliens swarming to block our barrier strikes was growing.
'Definitely more high-hazard specimens here.'
Dozens of mammoths charging in groups, hazard levels 4 and 5 popping up constantly.
Each time, superhumans and Crusaders stepped up.
Even so, some aliens broke through the formation, forcing depleted combat machines into melee and self-destruct cycles.
Soldier casualties were zero so far, but combat machines were down to less than two-thirds. Zzzzt!!!
“We're through!”
Good news arrived.
The Crusaders had breached the barrier.
They hammered the gap relentlessly, drawing aggro while calling us over.
“Move!”
Soldiers rushed in, entering the hatchery.
Combat machines lingered to the last, pulling alien attention before oxidizing.
Crossing the barrier, we found combat already raging inside.
Aliens that had been lying in wait for us were dying under Crusader blades.
But the confined space was packed with too many.
Soldiers were taking unexpected wounds from the crush.
“Shepin! Merdi!”
Before my voice could carry, the two were already unleashing their powers.
They'd honed their skills through repeated hatchery assaults.
They instinctively knew when to deploy their strength.
The duo wiped the aliens once over.
Survivors got finished off by Crusaders.
We methodically cleared and advanced.
“Give me periodic contamination readings.”
-Beep!
Even just past the entrance, contamination was thick.
Compared to the previous hatchery, it was nearly triple.
Not enough to pierce shields yet, but exposure could cause additional casualties.
The aliens, meanwhile, went berserk in the thick atmosphere.
'Pathfinding's easy this time.'
No need to puzzle over direction.
Follow the rising contamination.
That led straight to the infection lord and the core.
I checked readings constantly.
An hour in, contamination had nearly doubled from start.
“How far have we come?”
“Judging by distance, we're at best halfway. Double that to the core.”
Ivan's eyebrow twitched.
Despite our pace, the core was still distant.
Fatigue mounted from constant resistance, and combat machines were mostly expended.
“We're not reaching the core anyway.”
Projections put us at 90% mark max before contamination spiked too high.
From there, it'd be just me and Jang.
Ivan, who knew the op inside out, stepped forward. “Then it's time to push hard.”
His muscles rippled across his body.
This man's physique was a weapon in itself, sheer overwhelming bulk.
He strode to the front.
A massive alien was lumbering down a broad corridor, filling half its width.
Even at Ivan's 2.5m height, his head barely reached its knee.
One wrong move, and it'd flatten him.
“Hup...!”
But Ivan inhaled deeply, flexed massively, and struck the alien's foot—snapping its ankle and toppling it.
Without pause, he uppercut its falling jaw, sending it crashing into the wall.
An unbelievable sight.
The size gap was so vast, it was hard to credit even seeing it.
'His strength really is insane.'
Ivan finished it off and bulldozed ahead relentlessly.
One hit, or two at most.
He dealt impartial violence to every charging alien, holding point for nearly an hour.
-Warning! Contamination levels reaching critical!
“Already?”
R3D3 chimed in amid the frenzy.