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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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A crimson-soaked cave,
Filled with the strange aftermath of my first kill.
The deafening roar of the rifle fire faded into a ringing silence, replaced by a pulsing in my ears.
I took a deep breath, reassuring myself that I had made the right choice. But there was no time to dwell on it. I had to keep moving.
“…Isaac, let’s go. Let’s get out of here.”
I slung the working rifle over my shoulder, its strap digging into my skin, and picked up one of the broken rifles from the ground.
I intended to use it as a club to free Isaac. But he shook his head, stopping me.
“Juho, leave me… you have to escape…”
“Just turn your head. And clench your teeth, just in case.”
I didn’t understand why he was suddenly urging me to leave him behind, but I wasn’t going to abandon him.
I would get him out.
I had to save everyone I could.
“Haa…!”
Crack-
I swung the broken rifle, putting all my weight behind it, and a crack appeared in the hardened substance.
Thwack-
But unlike my strengthened hand, the already damaged rifle bent and broke.
“Stop! That’s enough!”
Isaac shouted, his face gaunt and pale. He seemed more concerned about the rifles than his own life.
“Juho, look at me. I’m done for. Take as many rifles as you can and run. Salvage any usable parts, you can replace them later if yours malfunctions.”
He was talking nonsense.
I grabbed another piece of the broken rifle.
The substance encasing Isaac was weakening. A few more blows, and-
Crack-
It shattered.
And Isaac,
Collapsed onto the ground.
“Isaac…?”
I finally understood what he had been trying to tell me.
Why he had urged me to leave him, why he had survived this long…
“Go… you have to live…”
Isaac couldn’t stand. His body, emaciated and weakened by two months of captivity, was broken.
Only his mechanical leg remained functional. The prosthetic limb, replacing his left leg from the thigh down, beeped and whirred, its warning lights flashing.
He couldn’t even walk,
And it was a miracle he had been able to talk to me.
The flesh-lumps (Blood Beasts) kept their prey alive, just barely. They likely preferred live food for their offspring.
I was beginning to understand their grotesque lifecycle. The flesh-lumps, created from human parts, were merely slaves.
The true power, the reproductive force, resided in the unique females who resembled Jenny, and in the Leader.
The image of the newly transformed Jenny flickered in my mind.
Her pale skin, interspersed with patches of black exoskeleton. Different from Arachne’s.
Arachne’s armor had been smooth and hard, like an insect’s,
But Jenny’s black patches resembled a reptile’s scales.
Not just any reptile,
But something mythical, something out of a legend.
Mixed with a strange, bone-like sharpness…
“…”
No, this wasn’t the time to analyze the Blood Beasts.
I had to escape with Isaac.
I couldn’t ignore the finger’s warning.
“Go, Juho. Quickly…”
I had a [skill], something that could alleviate his hunger and weakness.
I had never used it before,
But I knew I could access this power within me.
“Isaac, open your mouth.”
I extracted the nutrients,
Removed the narcotic component,
And produced honey.
It wasn’t much, having been produced without Alraune’s help. And it probably didn’t taste very good.
But,
I offered it to him without hesitation.
“Juho…?”
Isaac’s eyes widened.
He couldn’t comprehend the green plant sprouting from my arm, the flower blooming at its tip.
But,
He trusted me, and he drank the honey.
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Within minutes,
Isaac had recovered enough to stand, albeit unsteadily.
Sugar was the most efficient source of energy. It had given him a temporary boost.
“…Thank you. I won’t ask.”
Isaac didn’t seem repulsed by my transformation, only… saddened. I couldn’t quite decipher his complex emotions.
He had witnessed the gruesome deaths of his crewmates, and now, he was being rescued by the youngest member of the crew, but…
I was no longer the same.
My transformation, my newfound abilities, seemed to disturb him.
The scar on my ankle,
The plants growing from my skin,
The strange light in my eyes…
“I have to pull my weight. I’ll carry the supplies.”
Driven by guilt and a sense of responsibility, Isaac, despite his weakened state, took the lead.
He carried three heavy rifles. It was hard to believe he had been on the verge of collapse just moments ago.
I wasn’t sure if it was the potency of my honey,
Or Isaac’s incredible resilience.
“So, what happened? Why did they suddenly give us a chance to escape?”
“S-some kind of… internal conflict. Let’s just go.”
He was a valuable ally.
Even in this madness, Isaac remained rational, making logical decisions.
With each step, his mechanical leg hissed and clicked, the sound of pressurized gas escaping from its joints.
Hiss- click-
In a way, he was like me now.
The human body had its limitations,
And we had overcome them through technology.
“Let’s head back to the Paradise. How many survivors are there?”
But,
We couldn’t rely on technology alone.
Isaac hadn’t even considered the possibility that the Paradise crew might have been wiped out. I understood. I had felt the same way.
“…Just me.”
But someone had to tell him the truth.
Isaac turned, his face a mask of exhaustion and grief, pleading with me not to joke.
“The Paradise crashed.”
I saw the depths of human sorrow in his eyes. I must have looked the same.
“…It crashed. I see.”
But he was different.
“It’s okay. You’ve been through a lot.”
Isaac patted my head, his touch surprisingly gentle. My eyes stung.
“Just because it crashed doesn’t mean everyone is dead. We’ll find them. There must be other survivors.”
Someone was finally offering me hope, even though it was a flimsy, irrational hope. But it was enough.
“Yes, you’re right. Let’s go.”
Having a trusted companion, a fellow crew member, filled me with a sense of relief.
We would escape this cave together,
Retrieve Amy, find the Paradise crash site…
And perhaps,
There would be other survivors.
Reyes, or the captain.
Or even Isaac’s wife.
The wedding ring on his left ring finger gleamed in the dim light of the cave, a small symbol of hope and love.
“Let’s go. We can talk later. We have a lot to catch up on.”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
The chaotic coup within the Blood Beast nest was still ongoing.
We had to escape while Jenny was creating a diversion.
A pang of guilt stabbed at me. I should have tried to save her, but
I didn’t have the time or the resources.
I had to get Isaac out.
And Jenny would probably survive.
It was an irrational assumption, but based on her power and ferocity, I couldn’t imagine her being defeated.
Perhaps the Jenny I knew was gone. Replaced by the apex predator the Blood Beasts had been waiting for…
“Wait.”
Isaac stopped me.
The three rifles slung over his shoulder rattled ominously.
“…What is that monster?”
While the others had either fled or been killed in the chaos,
One, the strongest, remained, its eyes fixed on us, its prey.
“Run. Run to the Paradise crash site.”
Isaac was prepared to sacrifice himself,
But I had to face this unknown creature.
“Jenny…”
I saw her eyes gleaming in the darkness.
She was much larger now, her silhouette menacing.
“Isaac, run. I know her, I’ll handle this.”
Her gaze was fixed on me.
I was the only one who could stop her.
Isaac was irrelevant.
“Turn around and run! Now!”
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