I frantically looked below from the gap in the railing. The largest mutant mass of sludge that got its hand blown just now had regrown in the blink of an eye, and its entire body was coated with bright-brownish light. It reached its hands to the wall and was pulsing strange energy into it. That must be the cause of the earthquake.
“Ngh.” I grabbed my gun and was about to shoot the door, but then I realized that the door was automatic. So simply shooting it might not work.
Tuilë was quick on the uptake and unleashed her lightning punch to the door, but the door was barely dented. It must have been made from hardened stainless steel or something.
Either way, the top priority at this moment was to make a hole to the exit!
“It’s too hard! It’ll take me more than two or three punches,” Tuilë commented, her hand a bit bruised.
In the interim, the mutant masses of sludge were converging into one below us. Inflating its size to be as tall as twenty meters while maintaining the earthquake it made. It was now almost at the height of where we were standing.
Desperate, I shot a bullet at the monster, but it only left a hole that then closed without any superficial injury. I realized that whatever cards were available to me wouldn’t be able to push it back, meaning I didn’t have much to go about in this situation. Completely useless.
My heart was feverish. Blood and source energy careened through me like a river flooding over in a hurricane, my whole body aflame.
Ah, dammit! I cursed inwardly.
My knees weakened and then caught under the pressure. I felt like losing track of time, feeling as though things were happening too quickly to process them.
Calm down! I had to gather myself together!
However, it was at that bleakest moment that the water from the pipes cascaded in like unending torrents and quickly flooded the plant. The mass of sludge was mixed with water and began melting down. Because it didn’t have a vocal cord, it flailed around, slowly being dragged to the center of the plant where the drain hole was intensely sucking in the water.
Meanwhile, Tuilë didn’t stop with her progress at destroying the door, finally blasting it open. The ray of light coming from outside splashed me awake.
“Fast, to the outside! I think it’s about to shoot its toxin at us!” Tuilë yapped at me, removing the gun from her back along with its battery before throwing it at the mass of sludge, which was opening its mouth as if it was about to vomit something, after making momentum.
Then she chanted a strange language that I was somehow able to understand: “{Electrocute}!” A purple electrical chain shot from her pointing finger and hit the large battery of the gun.
The battery exploded amidst the mutant masses of sludge and blowing them into countless pieces. Thankfully, we were already outside by the time that occurred.
Was that magic just now? At the end of the day, the information pertaining to evokers was a total mystery, but I didn’t bother with the thought and sought a hiding spot from the stray chunks of toxic sludge that were raining from above.
“Did you just hear that? Boom! I bet it died after the electromagnetic battery exploded. Cutting it close, aren’t we?” She replayed what just happened with her hands. Funny.
“Tuilë, don’t you only have one such gun?” It was a waste to use that like that. Similarly, we would have been hit by the toxin spit if she hadn’t done that.
“Don’t mind about it. With enough material, I can make another one. Since… if a chance to exterminate a monster present before me, why wouldn’t I?” she stated with a steady, lower-pitched voice.
“Fair enough.”
We might even be able to reap another Third-Order source crystal with it killed. But still, our safety was of the utmost importance. Besides, the source crystal was more likely than not sucked by the drain hole and brought to who knows where.
“Maxim! Watch out!”
“Huh?!”
I was abruptly pushed to the side; her strength was truly absurd. More importantly, what was that for?
“Aaargh…!” Her face contorted in pain, as a handful of purple sludge splashed on her back, corroding her.
It was then that it finally clicked in my mind. Chances were high that she noticed it in time while I was tired and pushed me aside to save me, at which point she got hit by that stray chunk of toxic sludge on her back…
I didn’t understand. Why would she do that for me?
As if knowing what I was thinking, she made a forced smile, saying, “You saved me once, I saved you once. Now we’re even. Besides… the source crystal is inside your backpack.”
“Tuilë!” Geez… prioritizing the source crystal over her life…
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“I’m fine… Ngh…” She wobbled and fell to her knees, her right hand holding her left shoulder, where the wound was the most severe.
“Are you okay?! You’ve been, like, seriously injured on multiple occasions. You sure you’re fine?” At this point, it was more about me than it was about her.
[…]
Species: ???
Condition: Injured | Poisoned (mild)
Sex: Female
Age: 19 years old
Height: 172 cm
Occupation: Mechanic | Inventor | Voyager
Through [Identification], I was able to see her condition, which only appeared when there was something going on. Different from identifying mutated monsters that could be determined through features alone, her species or race was something more abstract, or at least it was incapable of that at this point in time, but that wasn’t the main point of concern here.
Luna-1 flew to us while all of this was happening along with Lunaria’s snarky comment, “You two sure are two peas in a pot. Getting into one danger and into another like that is something normal.”
With my eyebrows creased, I ignored her spicy remark and swiftly opened my backpack to take the first aid kit out. She wasn’t badly injured, but the wound had to be treated now or else. Although her high VIT stat would make her able to weather extreme heat and cold, it didn’t make her completely invincible… yet.
“Whatever. I’ll explore the surroundings to see whether it’s safe or not. You two stay here,” said Lunaria as she controlled Luna-1 away from here.
This was the second time I bandaged Tuilë, but I had to remove the acidic toxin this time, unlike before. It just so happened that I had two bottles of clean water with me, so I first washed the toxin with the water before applying skin disinfectant to the wound with cotton. Lastly, I applied the bandage.
She was one tough girl to not cry after being injured this much… the fur along with her back skin was burnt from the toxin, showing the flesh beneath… If it were me in her position, I… didn’t want to think about what I would do.
“Thanks…” She made a tiny smile.
“You’re welcome.”
Now that the wound on her back was taken care of, I asked her about this one piece of information that had been itching me: What was the magic spell she used to detonate the gun battery just now?
“Oh, it’s an evoker spell. As you know, an evoker can manipulate the source energy in the air to conjure magic spells.”
“Interesting… But don’t you need to chant a long incantation or something to do that?” I wouldn’t be surprised if they had to chant line upon line of incantations or even perform rituals.
“What incantation? All you have to do is say the spell’s name in the source language or magic language if you prefer.”
“Oooh. Neat.” I shook my hands together. “Then, how to become a source evoker?”
“Sorry.” Her shoulders slightly down, she elaborated the reason, “Even I ain’t too sure about that one. In the past, someone taught it to me when I just arrived in Aquarine.”
“I see.”
I didn’t bother to ask about who it was from her since I already had a target in mind if I ever wanted to become an evoker. Of course, the person that I was talking about was none other than Spitzek himself.
Soon enough, Luna-1 returned to us. Lunaria then told us about all the landscape around here, which in addition to the map that she had made before, we had a complete route to return to the steam kite.
Hearing her report, however, Tuilë’s face fell. “Uh, oh. We must be located somewhere at the edge of the interval zone.”
Right now, the shining sun had begun to dip below the horizon, and the area around us had gotten dark. There was no light to speak of, but what was of utmost importance was that the longer we lingered here, the more dangerous it would become.
“Let’s hurry back to the steam kite. Can you walk?” I looked at Tuilë with concern.
“Yup, no biggie.” She stood up and flexed her arms.
“Great. Lunaria, please guide the way. You’re our hope in returning safely.”
“Sure. Leave it to me.” Lunaria was tractable despite her emotionless voice and attitude, and all I had to do was to give her some praise now and then.
The journey back was pretty much uneventful because we intentionally evaded all the dangerous areas where mutated monsters were rampant. We didn’t go straight through the city center like we previously did but went through the outskirt. Being a source enhancer also helped me in traversing hard terrains that previously I was unable to as easily.
Interestingly enough, I stumbled upon a plastic board that told, “The end is nigh!” and another that said, “The crimson fog of death is coming!” I wondered what happened to this place before the apocalypse appeared — I could clearly picture the masses doing aimless demonstrations in the middle of the road.
Still, what exactly caused this whole thing? Alien? Failed experiment? Meteor shower? Or even some unexplained supernatural cause?
Only God knew about that.
Even so, I vowed to myself to find such a place where humans lived. It was small, yes, but there was a desire within me to find other people like me. Perhaps there was a remnant of an advanced civilization just like my previous world — Earth — out there.
A few minutes later, the steam kite was in sight. There were some of those white freaks blocking the way, though. It would be impossible to reach the aircraft without alerting them in the process. So instead of sneaking there and failing miserably, it’d be better to kill them off in one fell swoop.
I brought my semi-automatic rifle out that had been hung on my shoulder all this time and took aim from a strategic spot I found above an abandoned minimarket. The distance between us was not that far, and I had gained quite an experience using this thing. I wouldn’t easily miss my shot no more.
“Do I have to do anything?” Tuilë approached me from behind, her face pale than ever.
“You’re injured, and I need you as the pilot, so save your strength.”
“Okay.” She nodded.
I shot the few closest white freaks, aiming them at the neck each time. For those that were far away, I asked Lunaria to lure them just like we usually did. This all happened in the span of less than two minutes, which cost me two full magazines.
After taking care of the white freaks, we quickly ran toward the steam kite. Fortunately, the things stored there were untouched. Well, the monsters wouldn’t be interested in tools and other miscellaneous things alike. Otherwise, it would be scary if they were able to use them.
“Ah, ow… Cough, cough.” She closed her mouth with her hand and, as if trying to wipe something, made a sweeping motion.
“What’s wrong?” Without the need from asking, I knew that coughed out blood just now from the slight red trace left behind.
“Nothing.” She messaged her left shoulder. “It’s just… my back is starting to ache a little.”
“Clearly, being splashed by poison always leaves a side effect, it’s better to get treated as soon as we get back,” Lunaria advised. “It stands to reason that the poison seeped into her body from the open wound.”
“Do you have no way of treating her?” I asked Lunaria.
“Nope. Unless we bring her to the airship.”
“Hmm…”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She motioned at me not to worry and climbed onto the steam kite. “C’mon up. The sooner we get back, the faster I get treated, remember?”
“You’re right,” I concurred.
Afterward, I hopped on with Luna-1 inside my backpack. Moments later, the propellers started to spin, and we took off into the air — away from this no man’s land. As the red fog soon enveloped this interval zone into obscurity.