You worthless fucking bugs—!” Pomen’s voice cracked coldly like a sheet of ice.
Her shoulders trembled with rage.
At the same time, the ‘Corpse Breeder’ in the center of the hall, who had been glaring at us while raping the ranger ECHO, unleashed a horrific shriek.
Kieeeek—!!!
With its piercing shriek, all the ECHOs being violated by the tentacles simultaneously turned their heads toward us.
Dolls whose brains had been burned away by the Z Virus.
A red murderous glint began to flicker in their vacant eyes.
And then, the belly of one of the ECHOS swelled grotesquely.
“-Get back!!!” The moment I shouted, the bloated abdomen burst open, ripping through flesh and organs.
From within, larval creatures emerged, dragging their mother’s blood-soaked womb and entrails like umbilical cords, pouring out like rain.
Dozens, hundreds of small, arthropod-like things with razor-sharp claws charged toward us.
‘Crawlers!’ Monsters with negligible combat power.
But they always appeared in groups of dozens or hundreds, and due to their trait of reacting to biological signals, they targeted humans rather than ECHOs—making them a tricky foe.
In the game I played, dealing with them required at least one firepower-type ECHO in the squad.
And the Arclight Squad had one firepower-type ECHO who could wipe them out in a single go.
“Pomen!” “Got it, Commander!
I’ll grind every last one of these filthy bastards!” As if she’d been waiting for my order, the missile pods on Pomen’s shoulders opened, and the machine gun barrels spat fire simultaneously.
Kraka-ka-ka-ka-!
A barrage of rage-fueled bullets shredded the crawler wave like a head grinder.
Limbs exploded, green bodily fluids and guts scattering like rain.
I also handled the crawlers closing in on us with single shots, gauging their numbers.
‘…Nest size is small-scale.’ Thank goodness for small mercies.
Since it was an empty ark with no nutrients to breed, it seemed the nest hadn’t grown larger.
If the Corpse Breeder’s nest had been any bigger, we might have had to abandon the ark and run.
‘Of all the zombie monsters to sneak into the ark, it had to be a Corpse Breeder.’ Of course, that didn’t make our current situation easy by any means.
There were plenty of visible crawlers, and zombies and corrupted ECHOS lurked among them, eyeing us.
“Tch!” Seizing the moment Pomen paused to reload, a crawler horde lunged at her.
“Pomen, I can’t let those filthy things touch the body you offered to the Commander.” “…Huh?” Noah stepped forward.
A dazzling golden translucent barrier unfurled around her, and the charging crawlers slammed into the holy shield, burning black like demons and shrieking.
“Commander, come inside mine as well.” “Got it.” “I’ll envelop you with my faith and my breasts.” “That sounds suspiciously like paizuri.” Unable to hold back at the oddly specific phrasing, Pomen shot Noah a glance.
“…Pardon?
What’s that?” But Noah just tilted her head.
“It’s something our Commander is crazy about.” Well, not that crazy.
Anyway, I slipped inside Noah’s barrier and unleashed a burst of fire at the crawler horde.
“Arva!
The Corpse Breeder?!” “It’s still observing us from its initial discovery point.
True to its cunning nature, it seems intent on collecting our combat data.” It In the game, it just charged at any humans or ECHOs it saw.
Was it different in reality?
It was actually using its head.
“Any way to take it down?” “Direct access to the main body is impossible right now.
We’d need to clear out all the infected ECHOS first.” “No choice then.
Pomen!” “Leave it to me-!” Pomen went berserk, spraying bullets at the infected ECHOS.
Kaboom!
Bang!
Under her focused fire, the ECHOs who had been moaning in pleasure from the tentacle violations exploded in bursts of flame.
“Go…
to a better place!” Arva wasn’t idle either.
The crawlers couldn’t detect her in stealth mode, and in a flash, she appeared behind an infected ECHO, slicing through its neck and body in one stroke.
The tentacles controlling their bodies met the same fate via her high-frequency blade.
Kieeeek!
As we prioritized killing the infected ECHOS birthing crawlers, the Corpse Breeder let out another agonized shriek.
Thick, sturdy tentacles then erupted from the surrounding walls and ceiling like whips, lunging at us.
But…
“Only the Commander’s can enter me-nothing filthy!” Noah’s barrier was impenetrable.
The shockwave made it waver slightly, but their attacks couldn’t breach it.
‘As expected of a top-tier tank!’ That was when we’d smashed the ninth ECHO.
Sensing the tide turning?
The Corpse Breeder, which had been watching until now, snatched the least-damaged mass-produced ECHO.
Right before our eyes, it slowly and deeply thrust its massive breeding tentacle into the hole in her torn combat suit’s lower abdomen, like a cock.
“Hngh, ah, ahng!
Mmph!
Uuuboo!” Simultaneously, tentacles descending from the walls and ceiling invaded every orifice—the raped ECHO’s mouth and anus included.
“Uub!
Uuummph!” Then it began pulsing, injecting something into her.
“Uub!
Ummph!” Her body arched like a bow, convulsing.
A scream indistinguishable from pleasure or pain echoed through the hall, mingled with tears streaming from her vacant eyes.
“Such…
truly filthy creatures.” “Damn it, Arva!
Can you take it out?” “I’ll try, Commander!” “I’ll clear a path!!!” Pomen and Arva charged to stop it, but other tentacles desperately blocked them, preventing approach.
And…
“…N-no, I don’t want it!
No-!!!” With her final spark of reason’s scream, the ECHO’s body convulsed violently, then shriveled like a desiccated fruit at rapid speed.
Her pale synthetic skin darkened to a mummy-like hue, and the faint glow from her core began to fade.
Her life force and data offered as tribute to the monster.
The breeding tentacle that had raped her slowly withdrew.
“Fuck.” I cursed involuntarily.
The Corpse Breeder brought that tentacle to its mouth, licking the ECHO’s life essence beaded at the tip like a whore savoring a man’s cum.
The way it slurped up every drop, coated in its vile mucus, was more profane than any violation.
And each time, the Corpse Breeder’s body twitched, slowly transforming.
“Predatory Evolution…” Game messages flashed in my mind.
Back then, I thought it was just the second-phase skill.
But witnessing ‘Predatory Evolution’ firsthand was far more gruesome and shocking than imagined.
Parts of the violated ECHOS began sprouting on its body.
Shoulders swollen like buttocks, a back shell mutated into breasts, blades smoothed like thighs.
The bastard was…
taxidermying the most beautiful parts of the ECHOs it raped and killed onto its own body as trophies.
“That motherfucker—!” Pomen spat curses and launched a rocket at it.
But the Corpse Breeder, having completed its Predatory Evolution, dodged with unbelievable speed.
Watching it, I recalled the traits of a post-evolution Corpse Breeder.
“It’s finished its Predatory Evolution!
Combat abilities have spiked—be careful—!” As I warned, its overall power had surged dramatically.
Like jumping from level 10 to 15.
The silver lining: it could no longer rape ECHOS to spawn crawlers or expand its nest.
Proof: the tentacles hanging from the ceiling and walls were losing strength, dropping one by one to the floor.
With my shout, it roared and charged us.
“Noah-!” “Yes, Commander!” Noah’s barrier blocked our front once more.
But when the Corpse Breeder’s massive blade struck it, cracks spiderwebbed across the golden shield with a crunch.
“Tch!” Lack of upgrades?
Or just recently awakened?
The barrier’s durability was way weaker than expected.
If it were the Noah from my phone, she’d have shredded a Corpse Breeder squad laughing while adapting her shield.
Regrettable.
“Damn bastard—!” Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
Pomen unleashed her machine gun wildly at the approaching foe.
Most bullets ricocheted off its carapace.
No, it didn’t pierce the shell, but she succeeded in opening gaps across its body.
The instant I glimpsed its pulsing red organ, I aimed White Tiger’s barrel.
Bang-bang-bang!
The tracer rounds pierced the Corpse Breeder’s organ dead-on amid the racket.
Kieeeek—!
It retreated with a single-shot scream.
But Arva, the Arclight leader who lived for such openings, wouldn’t miss.
Slipping behind it in stealth, she severed its leg tendons.
Pomen’s weapons blazed again at the suddenly kneeling beast, and I fired White Tiger into the gap.
“Nice one, Commander!!!” “My, our Commander’s marksmanship is impressive!
Who knew the skills piercing Pomen’s holes would shine here!” ‘…Is that a compliment?’ Bang!
Bang-bang!
Anyway, I dropped to one knee like a sniper, systematically targeting the Corpse Breeder’s body.
Kiek!
Kieeeek!
It was in total disarray.
Block Pomen’s frontal assault?
Arva struck from behind.
Focus on Arva?
Exposed to Pomen and my combo.
How many bullets had we embedded-thirteen or so?
-!!!
Blood and mucus fountained from wounds across its body.
It could barely stand now.
“Arva.” At my quiet command, Arva circled behind and plunged her high-frequency blade deep into its heart area without hesitation.
The beast glared at me to the last, then slowly toppled forward.
Only then did I lower White Tiger.
I’d thought this was a light ark restoration op with three ECHOS…
But round one threw a boss at us.
“…It’s dead.” Arva practically disassembled the thing.
Probably making sure no Z Virus tentacles remained.
Thus ended that brief but hellish battle.
And then, a message appeared before my eyes.