Operation White Flame (3)
Meanwhile, Claire was hurtling toward her next target at breakneck speed. Her movement was so swift that unless you watched closely, she'd vanish from sight before you could even register her.
There was no time to agonize over mistakes now. All her thoughts, her very consciousness, focused solely on achieving the objective.
Just before boarding the monster bird, Claire recalled her conversation with Riana.
…….
….
"Isn't there a chance the enemy's main body slipped away somewhere else?"
"It'll definitely be with its wife."
"Its wife?"
"The Tentacle Monster thinks of certain women as wives. Tia, former vice-captain of the Seongyul Knights. Just keep a close eye on her movements."
Indeed. During the recent chase, the Tentacle Monster had shown deep attachment to a woman it had treated like a mere tool up until then. It was so utterly unexpected that even Riana had fallen for it.
But if she thought about it the other way around?
It explained why the Tentacle Monster couldn't abandon its cherished pussy even in a situation where fleeing alone would ensure survival. In the worst case, it could ditch its family and hide in some random woman's pussy or flee beyond the city walls, making it impossible to track.
Yet this operation was feasible because...
Somewhere in Furnaul's southern district lurked Tia—a confirmed wife of the Tentacle Monster, a black-haired big-tits beauty. Tracking a human walking on two legs was far easier than hunting a monster.
"So that's why you mobilized the knights to set up a surveillance net?"
"Yes. Tia stands out wherever she goes. If we capture her, the Tentacle Monster will have no choice but to show itself."
"So it's hiding with her right now."
"Exactly. So... think of it as searching for a person, and it'll feel a lot easier."
"Searching for a person..."
Riana smiled softly.
"The Tentacle Monster never acts independently unless its wife's safety is 100% guaranteed."
If this is just about finding a person...
Claire activated her Insight and arrived at the final operation zone.
It's definitely here.
The site of the third Black Moth. A vast clearing blanketed in flesh, with dozens of flowers taller than Claire sprouting at regular intervals in the nest.
……Monsters not mentioned in the report. What the hell were these?
Rooted to the ground with no sign of movement, they looked easy to smash. But first, Claire swung her White Dragon Sword at the Black Moth.
Slash!
Got it.
All the Black Moths collapsed. Except for the one in Riana's ruined building, of course. Claire had no way of knowing that.
The remaining gas will be swept away by the wind soon.
The risk of brainwashing by gas had dropped sharply. Good.
Claire examined the massive flowers more closely.
"Flowers made of meat...?"
Meat flowers. That was exactly the vibe they gave off. Enormously huge—big enough to mistake for trees. Growing 6 to 7 meters tall, with a blunt, rolled-up mass inside the giant meat petals.
Claire cautiously pressed her blade against a flower bud and sliced it open.
Squelch.
As if slicing through a living creature's innards, the contents spilled out.
"Oh.... Ooohh...."
"Nngh.... Nnguuu......"
Humans. Young women, at that.
The meat petals had cradled them warmly like a mother's womb; steam rose faintly from their bodies.
Ugh...
Claire grasped the true nature of these flowers and felt her mind reel.
These meat flowers were sealed chambers holding over ten women tangled together, sucking honey from each other. For what purpose...?
If she asked the Tentacle Monster, it'd probably answer bluntly that it was for slurping up pussy juice...
This grotesque scene was beyond human comprehension.
Are they all... sucking each other off inside there?
They weren't even animals anymore.
Claire lacked the resolve to look closer. Then a possibility struck her.
What if the main body is inside one of these?
A sudden thought. Should she check them all?
The women, robbed of their nest, grabbed at Claire's feet.
"Why!"
The rescued woman wailed with a face twisted in anguish.
"Why'd you take us out!"
"......Pardon?"
"...Why! Whyyy! Send me back! Back inside... please!"
"Th-that's..."
There's nothing I can do on my own...
As Claire hesitated, the pussies—stripped of their comfort—shoved their heads back into the meat flowers.
Prey struggling to be devoured... what a bizarre sight.
"Back! I wanna go back in...!"
"Please.... Please eat me again...!"
Unable to bear it, Claire destroyed the meat flowers.
Slice!
"Kyaaaaah!!"
"Nooooooo!!"
The women screamed as if the world had ended. It almost made Claire feel like the villain.
Fruits swollen with sucked-up pussy juice burst from the flower tops, splattering and crushing on the ground.
......Bugs?
Hundreds of tiny larvae writhed inside those fruits.
……Claire furrowed her brow.
No stench of decay. If anything, a sweet fragrance wafted from the larva-infested fruits...
To Claire, that was unbearably revolting.
White Flame!
Whoosh!
……Claire incinerated every scrap of meat flower and turned away.
These probably have some perverted ability too.
But if she didn't approach or touch them—just burned them from afar—she'd be fine.
Should I destroy the rest too?
Claire considered it briefly, then shrank back from the pussy livestock glaring at her like they wanted her dead.
Not now.
She couldn't save them yet. No time to research what they were.
She had to hurry and find the main body...
"Claire!"
Claire whipped around in shock.
"Uncle Glova?!"
"Over here!"
"I thought you were dead...!"
"Me too."
When Furnaul's southern district fell to the Tentacle Monster, no one said it aloud, but everyone assumed Glova's survival odds were hopeless. The Tentacle Monster ruthlessly killed males... and Glova had been bedridden, barely mobile.
That realization made Claire's expression harden as she leveled her White Dragon Sword.
"W-whoa! N-national treasure! Hold on—just brushing it kills... kills me! I'd really die!"
"......"
Glova trembled with a face about to wet himself.
This pathetic sight... it really is Uncle Glova.
Claire didn't realize how intimidating she was when pointing a sword at someone. Even a grown man was on the verge of kowtowing and begging for mercy, yet she didn't lower her blade.
"......Are you really Uncle Glova?"
"Who else would be here!"
"How'd you survive?"
"...That thing had no interest in my life."
"That thing? You mean the Tentacle Monster?"
"Yeah... Captain. It took a liking to my wife... kept doing that to her."
...Doesn't seem like acting.
But crawling out at this exact timing? Too suspicious.
Claire didn't drop her guard easily.
"No, really! I get why you're suspicious, Captain!? That bastard has zero interest in half-crippled males! For real!"
"Even so... letting you escape in this situation...?"
"I swear on everything! It's truly no-touch with males. At least confirmed it's not into dudes!"
Really? Bizarre things happened in the real world sometimes.
Glova's sudden appearance was joyful yet absurd. Claire kept her sword up.
"Turn around."
"Yes..."
"Sorry, but I have to be thorough."
"Understood..."
Claire patted down Glova's body, checking for hidden threats. But his wounds were severely worsened, his malnourished frame withered...
"Ugh! Ack! It hurts... there... that spot really hurts! Captain!"
"......"
Claire steeled her softening heart and frisked him from head to toe meticulously.
"Turn back."
"Yes..."
Glova's legs shook; he could barely stand.
"......Five years ago, you peeped on me bathing."
"......Even that?"
"Say it."
"No, that was... an accident, I got confused..."
"Repeat exactly what you said to me then."
"......If it happens again, I'll atone with my life! While bowing deeply..."
"......"
"Should I bow now?"
"No. That's enough."
Verification complete. Claire finally relaxed and hugged Glova.
"Uncle Glova!"
"Urgh."
Glova winced in pain. Even the Royal Big-Tits Captain's embrace couldn't bring joy to his battered body.
"S-sorry."
"It's fine. When else would I get to hug the Royal Big-Tits Captain?"
"......"
Claire shoved him away.
"What the hell are those things?"
"It called them Flesh Incarnations."
"Flesh Incarnations?"
Meat flowers? Spot on with the name.
"Probably harvesting. That monster absorbs nutrients from women's bodies."
"Does it hurt a lot? You're sweating bullets."
"......Hurts like hell. Standing is a miracle."
"How'd you know where I was?"
Glova leaned against a wall, catching his breath. He really seemed to be in agony—pale face, body trembling like it might collapse any second. Even to Claire, without medical knowledge, he looked in dire need of rest.
"Saw the White Flame spreading from a window and ran here. Knew you'd be around... haha..."
"Do you know the Tentacle Monster's location?!"
"Yeah, it's this way...!"
Glova's body froze abruptly.
"Uncle Glova?"
"...Save Diana."
"What happened to Diana?"
"She became the monster's wife."
…….
Silence fell between them.
"Right now, this instant, she's writhing in ecstasy at everything that thing does to her..."
Claire patted Glova's back comfortingly.
"It's not her true feelings."
"Yeah...?"
"The ecologists say it's due to the monster's secreted fluids. Definitely not Diana's real heart."
"......I... just want to... talk to Diana... like normal again."
"I'll save her. I promise."
The Tentacle Monster was close. Hearing Glova's wife had been stolen—and was still being violated—convinced Claire.
It planned to make her its wife.
Trampling on someone else's love like that.
Spilling Glova's guts would have been easy anytime, yet it toyed with him instead. Infuriating.
If the Tentacle Monster were a man, it'd be her most despised type, Claire thought.
Her mind wandering meant she was that pissed.
"Cut through this alley. It's at our house."
"It's at your house—with Diana!?"
"......Ugh. Nngh.... Don't make me reconfirm... it shatters my spirit..."
"Sorry..."
Utterly shameless. Claire's head filled with die, Tentacle Monster, die.
Disgusting.
When the chance came, she'd unleash her full-powered White Flame without hesitation and burn it to ash.
Claire's breathing steadied; she turned ice-cold. Her sharpened focus needle-like. The elegant white blade hummed, as if infused with her pure killing intent.
"Was Tia, the Seongyul vice-captain, there too?"
"How'd you know?"
Confirmed. The Tentacle Monster was with its wives right now.
Claire gripped her Belicon and spoke.
"Captain Riana. Can you hear me? I've pinpointed the Tentacle Monster's location. Can you provide support?"
Static. Crackle.
Noise, like interference.
"Captain Riana."
[Ah.... Ooohh.... Ngh...]
......? A moan...?
"Captain Riana. What's your situation? Do you need help?"
No way. Captain Riana should have escaped on her own easily.
Tentacle Monster trap?
"Is it an emergency!?"
[Ngh.... Haa....... Get here... first...... *****!]
Think, Claire...
Calling in Riana for a pincer would be surefire. But if the situation was bad, could she handle it solo?
With the Black Moths eliminated, the southern district was reclaimed. But if Riana was in danger, now might be the only window to save her.
[......Tentacle*... **Mo*nster......*]
"Pardon? I can't hear you!"
[...Cla*ire... it's a* tra*p**]
Trap?
"Uncle Glova. Wait here."
No choice but to confirm personally now. Kill the Tentacle Monster, then rescue Captain Riana.
Claire sorted her tasks clearly per the original plan and steeled herself.
"Uncle Glova?"
No response.
Turning back, Claire froze solid.
Thick tentacles sprouted across Glova's face.
"Glova...?"
Shock. Utter shock. They said unexpected events freeze people solid. That was Claire right now.
Where was the chattering Glova from moments ago? A monster stood in his place.
She couldn't process it instantly. Strangely, what flashed in her mind was...
Siroko's words.
A deception beyond imagination. No way...!
"Ngh...!!"
Claire's hand reacted, but too late.
From Glova's face, tentacles erupted, coiling around Claire's neck. Thorns pumped paralyzing fluid—glug, glug, glug—straight in.
Thorn tentacles that spray paralytic...!! From the reports...... Tentacle Monster type...!
Claire thrashed.
"Gkh...! Ngh...! Urgh...!"
Strength drained rapidly. The potent paralytic that had left even Riana limping from a graze now flooded Claire's body for 3 seconds, 5, 10.... Glug glug glug.
"Ah.... Kh.... Hic...!!"
Claire gritted her teeth.