Mutagen



Day 341 - 1:21 PM - Technical Laboratory, Ariake, Reclaimed City, Ruins of Tokyo

The deadlock between the forces of the Reclaimed City and the eight-headed serpent continued for several minutes of struggle. Unfortunately, while the intention of the Defense Forces was to defeat the enemy and survive this deadly situation, all they could do was delay the enemy's advance. And worse, for every passing second in this fight, their chance of survival was getting lower.

Missiles, cannons, explosives, and bullets, every weapon the Defense Forces had in hand were finite in number. In every passing second, the battle was consuming hundreds of such. Once the Defense Forces ran out of weapons to combat the enemies, the end of the Reclaimed City and its people would inevitably come.

But what could the Defense forces do? They were using everything they had. It was not their fault that their weapons were ineffective against the current enemy.

With how the battle was progressing, it was unsurprising that the Prime Minister and the representatives began to think of evacuating everyone. But even if they decided on that action, the chance of survival was extremely nil.

"The retrieval of the survivors is a success!" The operator monitoring the ongoing fight on the eastern side of Toyosu reported. "But we have a problem, Sir!"

Everyone turned to the monitor showing the evacuation. As reported, the transport helicopters successfully retrieved the survivors. However, the armored woman, with the dragon and the golden dog, stayed behind.

It was not surprising. Considering that the transport helicopters would have no way of transporting giant creatures, the armored woman would have no choice but to stay with her monster companions.

But would it not be dangerous? As the two rescue helicopters flew away, the three stood with their backs facing the coast, surrounded by the Goo Creatures. There was no escaping the Goo Creatures at this point.

It was when everyone realized their naive thinking.

The armored woman stood in front of the two monsters, facing the horde of Goo Creatures. She then raised the strange wavy-bladed sword in her hands, igniting it with black flames.

And then, she slashed horizontally.

The black flames surged in a terrifying scene. It engulfed the surroundings, dissolving each Goo Creature it touched. In just a single slash, she broke the encirclement.

However, there were still a lot of Goo Creatures coming. That terrifying slash was not enough to stop them all.

Nonetheless, the armored woman showed that she and the two monsters could survive on their own. It also proved they struggled earlier since they had to protect the survivors. That terrifying slash could actually harm the survivors if they were close by. Now that the baggage was gone, the three could go further, eliminating enemies along the way.

After escaping the encirclement, the three began to move along the southern coast of Toyosu. It seemed that they intended to move to Ariake while reducing the number of Goo Creatures along the way.

Seeing the scenes on the monitor, the Prime Minister gave further instructions.

"Inform the frontlines about them. They should be part of the Evernight's forces. We can't have our people accidentally harming them."

"Yes, Sir!"

The operator in charge of communication answered before immediately following the order.

The Evernight. Before, it was just a name that caused curiosity among the people of the Reclaimed City. It was a group of foreigners rescued by the Black Lotus and ended up becoming a group of powerful [Freelancers].

Who would have thought that a small group of seemingly mysterious people were a group from a faction that the Temple and the Auraboros had to treat as equals?

It was such a terrifying thought, realizing that a group mainly composed of seemingly harmless women and children had enough power to turn the tide of this battle.

But in that regard, the Prime Minister was also thankful. Such a powerful faction that did not have strong ties with the Reclaimed City stepped up to foil the betrayal of the Mitsui Clan and fight the invasion of the Demons.

It was just, where were they now? Several surveillance drones scoured the burning Harumi and Toyosu, but not even a shadow of the group could be seen. It was the same for the forces belonging to the Black Lotus, Auraboros, and the Temple.

Were they all dead? Did that explosion swallow them and the remaining hope of the Reclaimed City?

The Prime Minister wallowed inside. However, he still kept a strong front.

BOOOM!

There was another flash of an explosion on the main monitor. Another one of the attack helicopters exploded, impaled by a giant nail made of stone. Only two of the attack helicopters remained. They had already used up their missiles, only using an ineffective machine gun against the giant eight-headed serpent. However, the two attack helicopters were not retreating.

It was not under the order of the Prime Minister. It was their own choice. Even with only their machine guns, they kept the monster distracted, allowing the Defense Forces to keep attacking in safety. If the attack helicopters were not there, it would not be a surprise if the monster's retaliations targeted Ariake and the Defense Forces.

  A little time. Even just a little time. The pilots and soldiers aboard the attack helicopters wanted to stall the enemy. It was even if it resulted in their ends.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the dilemma in this situation was intensifying.

"Movements detected from the west, northwest!"

An operator of one of the surveillance drones shouted.

However, it caused some confusion to everyone that heard it. It was because west of Ariake and Toyosu was nothing but water. Even if they accounted for further distance, all they would find was the ruins of Tokyo on the other side of the river.

But despite the initial confusion, they all turned to the monitor showing the camera view of the surveillance drone of that operator. And everyone's heart sank further.

A giant creature was moving through the ruins toward the direction of the Reclaimed City. Most of the people here had seen that creature for the first time. However, everyone was familiar with it.

It was a giant creature on all fours. Moving slowly, it shambled over the ruins along its path. However, it showed the grotesque body everyone knew, a body composed of the dead and the living.

While it was unexpected to see it coming, there was no doubt it was the named [Infected] everyone had heard about.

It was the named [Infected], [Abomination of Thousand Corpses].

Furthermore, it was not alone.

As the surveillance drone flew closer to the new danger, everyone saw the horde of [Infected] moving forward. There were all sorts of [Infected]. There were flying ones, animal types, there were even parasitic types.

But most importantly, another named [Infected] could be seen standing atop the abomination's head.

It was a woman with a dress of flesh.

The [Siren of Death].

"What are these doing outside their territories?"

Someone within the laboratory voiced out after seeing the horrifying scene on the monitor.

But as if the sudden presence of the [Infected] was not enough, another operator yelled.

"Movements on the northeast side!"

Everyone turned to that operator's monitor, kind of expecting a different horde of [Infected].

However, they were wrong.

"The alien robots!"

A representative exclaimed.

The monitor showed a scene of a large group of [Mechids] moving across the ruins. The group was much smaller than the horde of [Infected] on the west side, but it was not any less threatening.

Two large groups of terrifying creatures were closing in toward the Reclaimed City. These groups were not present when the invasion of the Demons began. It was very likely that the Demons had done something to bait them away and isolate them from the battle.

However, the invasion had already failed. The allied forces, especially Mark of the Evernight, had already eliminated the Demons. The only one left of the invasion was the eight-headed serpent.

And that was where this problem came from. Whatever the Demons did had lost its effect. Thus, the battle and the presence of the eight-headed serpent began attracting unwanted attention from other enemies.

The Yamata-no-Orochi, the horde of [Infected] led by named ones, and the group of [Mechids], each of them could trample over the Reclaimed City in its current state.

There was no hope.

And as if to remind everyone that they were right, two consecutive explosions occurred on the main monitor.

The Yamata-no-Orochi successfully eliminated the two flies distracting it.

BOOM! BOOM!

The Defense Forces continued to bombard the eight-headed serpent in the sky. However, it already learned to use some of its head to defend the others. And those defended heads turned their eyes toward Ariake.

Three heads opened their mouths. One began gathering a ball of electricity, one began to raise a pillar of stone from the ruins below it, and the third caused the wind to swirl in front of it. It was charging three powerful attacks at the same time. Just one of those attacks could easily trample the Defense Forces, not to mention three at the same time.

However, it seemed that the magical fluctuation the Yamata-no-Orochi was releasing caused some agitation in the incoming horde of [Infected].

SCREEEEEECH!

A loud screech echoed throughout the Reclaimed City. It was not a threatening screech but one of excitement.

Following the screech from the [Siren of Death], all flying [Infected[ from the horde excitedly rushed toward the Yamata-no-Orochi. It was a horde with hundreds of the flying [Infected] in various sizes and forms. All of them flew like a colony of bees, ready to sting their enemy.

The Yamata-no-Orochi detected the incoming pests. The attack helicopters' distraction had already pissed it off. It would not be welcoming to any other flying pest trying to buzz around it.

Without hesitation, the Yamata-no-Orochi faced the incoming flying [Infected] with the attacks it was charging.

ROOOARR!!

The Yamata-no-Orochi launched its attacks with a loud roar.

The blast of lightning pulverized everything in its path.

The nail of stone pierced through anything it flew towards.

The spiral of wind shredded everything caught within its vacuum.

In just that attack, the hundreds of flying [Infected] turned into just a few dozen. It was a relentless attack that could have killed more Ariake was the receiver of that attack.

Nonetheless, every people watching in the Reclaimed City heaved in relief as they saw another crisis averted.

Facing the remaining pests of the flying horde, another head of the Yamata-no-Orochi opened its mouth. It began spewing flames, turning anything that entered its heat into ash.

SCREEEECH!

The flying horde of [Infected] got eliminated just like that. It was rather unsurprising that the [Siren of Death] was unhappy as it screeched out loud.

But that screech caused another level of agitation within the horde. Every single [Infected] began moving faster. Even the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses], known for being slow despite its size, was rushing forward.

However, there was water separating the Reclaimed City to the west side of Tokyo Bay. There was no way this horde would be able to traverse it.

But to everyone's surprise, the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] began scooping parts of the horde with its right hand. And with a swing of its gigantic right arm, the [Infected] rained on still burning Harumi and Toyosu.

On the other side, the [Mechids] also began a commotion. However, their enemy was not the eighth-headed serpent or the Defense Forces. There was more landmass on the east side of the Reclaimed City. It meant more places where the [Miasmic Residues] could spread.

As both mindless creatures saw each other as enemies, a fight began between the [Mechids] and the [Miasmic Residues].

The people of the Reclaimed City watched the chaos in fear. Different threatening forces were invading the remains of the Reclaimed City. No matter which side took advantage, the survival of the people of the Reclaimed City would be at stake.

But then, everyone noticed something on the main monitor. It was the monitor showing the Yamata-no-Orochi and its battle with the Defense Forces.

However, there was something odd on the screen. There was a black hole that suddenly appeared in the Sky over Toyosu.

And then, a giant cube came out of it. As the black hole closed, the cube was left hovering in the sky.

That scene caused confusion. And then, fear. No one here knew what that unidentified flying object was. If it was another enemy, it was clear that it would be the end of the Reclaimed City. No, it would be the end of Japan as the Reclaimed City was the final stronghold of humanity within this country.

"YES!"

However, the operator of the surveillance drone nearest to the flying cube stood up and yelled excitedly, to everyone's surprise.

Seeing the despair-filled stares directed at him, the operator switched the main monitor to what his drone was seeing.

And everyone's eyes widened. The despair soon turned into hope and excitement.

It was because on top of the hovering cube, the Priestess, the Empress, and the couple from Evernight, along with people both familiar and not, stood watching the chaos before them.

And it was not all as a report came from the Defense Line. A black hole opened, with the members of Black Lotus, the Temple, and the Auraboros, along with a few helpers, arriving to join the final battle.