Chapter 310

Episode 310 – Monster Hunting (1)

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Five days have passed since Alkadi, the family of Alshas, the captain of ‘Defender of Berzan 02’, died.

The entire planet was moved by the unprecedented situation in which the captain of an imperial carrier died. Cults with the ability to track knowledge managers belonging to the Surveillance Office, warrior groups belonging to each organization, etc. In addition, the Priests of the Eye of Revelation and the Society of Prophets, who protect Berzan 02, were mobilized.

As others may not know, it was unusual for priests and prophets to participate in the investigation.

The purpose of both groups is to eliminate entities that violate providence. In charge of problems that arise from within the empire, not from outside, such as searching for the Vortex One cult and eliminating spies.

However, there is one reason why they intervened in Alkadi’s death.

Although it was not known to the outside world, Outspacers had recently been using unusual methods to undermine the empire.

Previous attacks had been carried out by creating a ‘bio portal’ on an empty planet and then summoning a large group. Once the portal was created, a huge amount of energy was generated, allowing the Empire to prepare in advance.

But now things have changed.

They improved the parasites that inhabited the bodies of ‘worker bugs’ and forcibly transplanted them into the bodies of captured cultists and various intelligent beings. Infected intelligences became their slaves and infiltrated several planets to prepare for an offensive.

The good news was that there were no successful cases because the intelligence of the infected people was extremely low.

Of course, there is no guarantee that this will be the case forever.

Ever since the priesthood learned of the existence of parasites, they have prepared to prevent the infiltration of infected people. By distributing parasite tracking equipment and psychic technology that identifies the characteristics of infected people to members.

It was for this reason that the vice-captain took ‘action’ against Alkadi and their involvement in the investigation.

However, although many people participated in the investigation, those who had been injected with parasites were not easily found.

This is because Alkadi’s behavior was very different from that of a typical infected person. He behaved perfectly normally until he lost his life in Chisos’ mansion. It was not easy to find anything suspicious in his movements.

And he was treading into gray areas other than the legal ones in business. Since many cases were handled secretly without leaving any evidence, the investigation was bound to face difficulties.

In the end, it was only four days after the investigation began that we were able to find clues about the person who planted the parasite.

Before his death, Alkadi sent a container containing living creatures to an abandoned building on the Avenue of Glory once every three days for about three weeks. It is a widely known fact that he has an abnormal desire to collect. There was absolutely no reason for such a person to send the animals from his collection to an abandoned street.

Additionally, creating an outspacer’s bioportal requires a huge amount of organic matter. The Priests and Prophets claimed that the abandoned building, namely the ‘Hover Bus Center’, was their hideout.

However, Alshas and others with experience fighting large-scale offensives in the past denied the theory that it was an operation by Outspacer. Many of the captains and warriors witnessed Outspacer’s parasites. The being that emerged from Alkadi’s body had a completely different appearance and had extremely advanced abilities.

So they expressed the opinion that it was the work of the Vortex One priests.

The reason this became a problem was because the composition of the punitive force had to change depending on who the opponent was.

An outspacer who is resistant to psychic power but cannot use psychic techniques. To deal with them, you need high-firepower psychic power weapons and equipment with high physical defense.

On the other hand, Vortex One cult members are very anomalous. The battle pattern completely changes depending on which Vortex One they serve. So, after the selection process, it is common to prepare equipment suitable for the relevant religious group.

Since this opinion could not be narrowed down during the investigation, Keysos took action to mediate.

While persuading Alshas, he ordered the Society of Prophets to prepare for the cult’s possible secret plans. This is so that if anything suspicious is discovered during the subjugation, those deployed as reserve units can be deployed immediately.

Since he agreed to pay half of the cost of operating the reserve unit, the Society of Prophets also accepted the arbitration.

Among the priests, there were some who expressed dissatisfaction with having to divide the forces, but they could not refuse orders from higher authorities. In the end, the matter proceeded according to Kisos’s proposed mediation plan.

And on the fifth day.

A punitive force to hunt monsters has entered the streets of glory.

「Punitive force. Moving towards the ‘hidden place’.”

“It’s finally starting.”

Nern muttered as he heard a message from the imperial carrier floating in the sky.

He is currently in the situation room of a defense facility located in the ‘Water Fortress’. I was watching the operation with Alshas and several soldiers.

“...I should have gone.”

“Don’t you know best that you can’t do that too? “Kisos was considerate of you.”

The defenders of Alshath’s imperial carrier Berzan 02 did not participate in this operation.

She lost her family to an unknown entity.

An ordinary soldier might not know this, but if a captain of an imperial carrier falls into a desire for revenge while carrying out an operation, it becomes a serious problem. So another imperial carrier took part in the operation in her place.

Nern pointed out that point, but Alshas shook his head.

“That’s not it. What concerns me is that the enemy may not be just an outspacer. “You know this too, right?”

In fact, Nern had similar thoughts to her.

Even if it was true that Outspacer did what the priests said, there were many things that were unclear.

The war between them and the Empire is not just a day or two. There is no way they don’t know that Berzan 02 is difficult to attack. It is much more efficient to attack planets on the outskirts of the empire step by step rather than here.

‘And of course, his rule over Alkadi is also suspicious.’

His younger brother is the captain of an imperial carrier, and he himself is an influential figure in the streets of light. It is foolish to infect those who are overly exposed to the outside gaze.

‘They are monsters, but they are not fools.’

Although the priests eagerly expressed their opinions, Nern felt that the explanation alone was insufficient.

From his perspective, they are hiding a secret that the priesthood does not know about. Or a third entity that is not an outspacer.

But I didn’t bother to say those words out loud.

“I can’t help it. “I have no choice but to point out immediately what is suspicious about you.”

“Will those proud priests listen to me?”

“I have no choice but to listen. “You are the one who has fought against them countless times.”

She looked away slightly, as if she was embarrassed by Nern’s simple praise.

Currently, Alshath is participating in the operation in the capacity of an advisor approved by the Council and the Planetary Governor. You cannot directly participate in operations and battles, but you can instead convey your opinions to the punitive force on the field.

The priesthood did not particularly object to that aspect. This was because they knew that she was a veteran warrior with tremendous combat experience.

“Isn’t that the same for you, senior?”

“More than that, you’re not even going to fight, but you brought a weapon.”

Nern’s gaze went down the chair she was sitting on. Alshas held in his hands the two black axes standing at his feet.

“One of these was given to me by a friend of mine at the Society of Prophets.”

“You use an ax while you’re in the Society of Prophets. “You are an unusual friend.”

“It is not a weapon that he personally used. To be precise, he gave me a weapon that he received from someone else.”

There were complex emotions in her eyes, as if the object had some story behind it.

“If you have a friend in the Society of Prophets, wouldn’t he give you some advice on this operation?”

“Unfortunately, that is not possible. “Because Providence took it away not long ago.”

“...I’m sorry.”

After hearing those words, Nern realized that the true nature of that feeling was sadness. He quickly apologized and she nodded as if it was okay.

“My friend gave his life for the cause. “We have lost many of our compatriots so far, but I believe that one day their sacrifice will pay off.”

“...you.”

“Now it is my turn to follow the legacy left behind by my friend. I hope that the great cause will be accomplished without any further sacrifices.

“You will definitely be able to bring peace to the empire. “Do you believe me?”

When she heard those words, she looked at Nern with a strange expression. She met Nern’s gaze for a moment and then said.

The punitive forces poured bullets from their respective weapons at the enemy. There was a deafening explosion and the ceiling of the passage collapsed.

The collapsed ceiling was littered with building debris. As tremors occurred underground, some of the abandoned buildings above collapsed.

In the meantime, the guy was still getting beaten up. Whether or not he knew that all his attacks would be reflected, he just poured out acid until the ceiling collapsed.

After remaining motionless for several minutes, it stopped attacking and disappeared into the passage.

“oh my god. “It’s incredibly hard.”

“The current weapons are not enough. “We need to increase our firepower.”

“How’s the communication status?”

“It has become normal.”

The senior priests exchanged glances at the signalman’s words.

“It’s an entity that spews strong acid and blocks communication. “This is my first time seeing a guy like that.”

“...A new hybrid. “It’s a big deal.”

“Report the matter to the authorities and request support.”

“What should we do? Shall we leave it to the ship from now on?”

“If it is an object with radio jamming capabilities, it may be difficult to track it with a ship. “I’ll keep tracking him just in case.”

Following the decision of the senior priests, the punitive force began tracking him down again.

However, unexpectedly, I was able to meet him quickly. In the narrow passageway, it once again hid its body and revealed only its head.

“It’s toxic mold!”

“Priests prepare for air impact! “Don’t let mold spread in the air!”

Unlike before, what he vomited was not acidic liquid, but a lump of malicious fungus. It moved its neck and fired disgusting projectiles at them.

“Oh, it hurts...it hurts...!”

“Ugh...”

“Spray disinfectant! “Hold on a little!”

The parts touched by the mold rotted rapidly. A lucky few survived with first aid, but others did not.

Is it because of the sudden change in attack? This time there was a victim. Just like before, it continued attacking for a few minutes and then ran away.

The same thing happened when the guy disappeared and communication was reactivated. However, this time there were casualties, so we had to spend a longer time on the passage than before.

While other members worked diligently to help the casualties, the senior priests discussed the second enemy they encountered.

“...Did you just see him?”

“I saw it. “The guy’s head is different.”

“okay. It had no eyes and its horns looked different. “The shape of the head has changed since when I shot the acid.”

“Do you have the ability to transform?”

“I don’t know. “I’d better report it first.”

What has become clear so far is that it has the ability to disrupt communication due to its size and that it has more than two types of attack methods.

They reported the information they had confirmed to the top and then set off again.

And on the third encounter, more people died than on the second.

It’s not the communal level in the center’s basement, but it’s a fairly spacious space. That’s where he made a surprise attack.

This attack did not fire malicious fungal projectiles or acid. In fact, it was a much simpler attack than that.

It moved at a speed so fast that it was invisible to the eye and hit the subjugation team members with its head.

As I confirmed when I first encountered it, its carapace was incredibly hard. The members who collided were literally torn to pieces.

The punitive force tried to counterattack somehow, but it was difficult to even find the guy. This is because he disappeared as if he had assimilated into an earthen wall.

The guy who turned ten warriors one by one into chunks of flesh flew across the passage.

“Damn... it was so fast I couldn’t see it properly. Did anyone see it?”

“I looked and something was strange. “It has shrunk in size.”

“What size?”

“okay. “It didn’t seem like it would be even 10m, let alone 40m.”

“What happened? “Could it be that there are other creatures here?”

“For now, the request for support has been completed. “When the unit comes, we will move together.”

There were still about 180 members left, but they decided to go safely. Since its identity is unpredictable, it is dangerous to move hastily.

And before the reinforcements arrive.

The fourth raid occurred quietly.

A voice was heard from the group waiting for them. Someone was calling them from across the aisle they had passed.

I’ll move the injured out first, so come this way.

At first, no one thought it was strange. Believing that some of the support units had arrived, the members helped their injured colleague and followed the voice.

If the senior priest had not been with them, and if the signalman had not tried to confirm this through communication, they would have fallen into a trap without any move.

Because there was a guy there.

From the rubble of the building piled up in the middle of the passage, the guy was calling out to them with only his neck and head exposed. This time too, the shape of the head was different. The appearance itself was similar to when I first saw it, but the color was pink.

The guy who was imitating the voice crushed all the injured members and hid in the rubble.

We searched the surrounding area with the real support unit that showed up late, but there was nothing. Although we found a few small holes that were only a few tens of centimeters wide, it was impossible for that large animal to hide inside them.

In the end, they returned to where their comrades were, losing only the wounded.

“Imitating voices? “Is that possible?”

“...It seems like whatever happened has become clear.”

“that’s right. “It’s clear that his abilities change every time he changes his head.”

“What kind of monster did the Queen create?”

“No, now I don’t know if it’s an out-spacer. “Maybe it really has something to do with a cult.”

“If you’re talking about ‘masquerade,’ then probably not. If that were the case, a major disaster would have already occurred.”

There were a total of 250 members here, including the support unit, but the senior priests could not shake off their anxiety.

The anxiety that an unknown enemy was lurking underground somewhere, watching them, oppressed them.

And the communication that arrived from above drove a wedge into that anxiety.

“Please say that again. “What did you say just now?”

“The advisor opined that the creature you are dealing with looks similar to a ‘three-headed demon.’”

“We know about it too. Does he have the ability to transform? Or rather, how on earth did they get here....”

「An advisor contacted the Prophets Association and the Temple Guardians to investigate this matter. The results of the investigation are: Retreat Chijijik.」

“Communication is unstable!”

“....”

A clue to the guy’s identity was obtained, but no one was happy.

The devil’s fifth attack is approaching the punitive force.