The large metallic doors slid open gradually. Gazing at the dim, gloomy space ahead, Rhode extended his arm and slid his finger across the hilt gently. According to the conclusion of his younger sister’s investigations, this should be where the last piece of slate was. Judging from the look of this place, it indeed resembled a place of huge importance.
In the Americas Region’s headquarters? Perhaps this may turn out to be a bothersome international issue.
Rhode shook his head and threw this thought to the back of his head. No matter what and who the enemies were, he must get his hands on the Akashic Slate. Anyway, everything would be fine as long as it didn’t involve his country because if it did, he might need to use means of communication and oppression to reach his goal. But now, since this shabby place had nothing to do with him at all, he couldn’t care less about it.
“———!”
The exhaust from the isolated cabin sounded and Rhode turned a deaf ear to it. He squinted at the heavy metallic door ahead, while listening to Lydia’s rather uncertain voice.
“Please be careful, Your Majesty Rhode. I sense a strong, sinister energy.”
“Yes, me too.”
Rhode nodded at her reminder. In fact, just like Lydia, he also sensed that something was amiss with this building. If it were said that Rhode sensed an extremely familiar technological feel in the earlier bases, the presence of this seemingly high-tech building felt more like a certain decaying and dangerous ruin to him. It had a mysterious, faint, and dangerous atmosphere that could not be neglected.
At this moment, Rhode and the three young ladies weren’t wearing spacesuits. As long as one reached their caliber and activated the spiritual shield, one could be isolated from external harm. They didn’t need to breathe either, not to mention worrying about the harsh coldness of space and immense difference in air pressure. Perhaps Rhode should consider if he could burst through the atmosphere himself.
Beep——! Beep——! Beep——!
The sirens clamored. After confirming that everything was normal, the function of the isolated cabin stopped working entirely and the door in front of Rhode’s group opened to reveal a dim, metallic corridor. The scarlet emergency lights flashed and reflected off the inorganic metallic surface, leaving one annoyed.
“Why do I feel like a protagonist in a shooter game about to enter a monster’s nest…”
Looking at this scene, Mini Bubble Gum said grimly. She looked around her uncomfortably and extended her arm. Along with her movement, little white spheres emanating holy radiance appeared one by one in midair, revolving around the group. The bright, gentle rays of white light eradicated the dark, eerie atmosphere. Mini Bubble Gum lowered her right hand and pointed her hand ahead like a pistol.
“Alright, let’s go! MISSION START!”
One had to admit that Mini Bubble Gum’s hunch was really accurate.
As they headed down the metallic corridor, Rhode quickly discovered something strange. Logically, the enemies should have taken some actions after the four of them strutted through the entrance. In fact, they were prepared to be ambushed before they entered the corridor. After all, on the moon’s surface, there was technology that could hide one’s presence, so it couldn’t get easier to spot them through the surveillance cameras. On the contrary, Rhode’s group wasn’t attacked at all, which was really strange. And now, he felt that the situation was getting increasingly odder.
“Don’t you guys feel like… something… isn’t right?”
At this moment, the group had passed through the dim corridor and arrived at a brightly-lit, spacious hall. A reception table with two long benches, as well as a vending machine by the wall were set up before them. Judging from this look, nothing seemed to be wrong. But be it Rhode or the others, they didn’t feel comfortable. It wasn’t only that none of the guards in the base showed up before them, but was more like they had an increasingly strong sense of insecurity. As the most powerful player of the game, Rhode trusted his capabilities and his instincts were obviously sounding out the ‘danger alarm’ to its owner. This made him raise his guard and he felt rather dubious at the same time because in the clash yesterday, he realized that there should be nothing in this world that could threaten him—logically speaking. But now, why did he sense such a dense and dangerous aura?
Something was definitely up. He didn’t sense this feeling from a specific direction, but from all around him instead. It was as though he had entered an ambush and yet, he couldn’t spot anything wrong. In this case…
Rhode’s eyes glinted. Then, he turned around abruptly, clutching the silver-whitish, holy sword in his hand and streaking across a dazzling radiance in midair. In the blink of an eye, the menacing blade ray struck heavily on the wall made of super alloy. The strong, heavy wall was ripped apart effortlessly, but…
What presented before them wasn’t the crumbling wall or broke steel wires, but chunks of squirming, crimson flesh instead. Not only that, but sea anemone-like tentacles, eyes, and small teeth could also be seen on the surface of the flesh. Upon being attacked by Rhode, the chunks of flesh shuddered instantly before shrinking and retreating swiftly.
“What in the world is that!”
Looking at this disturbing scene, Mini Bubble Gum shrieked and extended her arm quickly. Along with her movement, the light spheres revolving around her suddenly blasted incomparably bright lights at the disgusting flesh. At the same time, Canary raised her arm and endless flames exploded from her palm in the blink of an eye, gushing toward their surroundings like powerful tides.
“Ohhhhhhh!”
The entire hall shook as the bloody, wriggly flesh underneath the walls trembled frantically. In a few moments, everything changed before their eyes.
The seemingly modern metallic facility was entirely gone, only to be replaced by a revolting presence. The crimson flesh twisted from side to side, drilling out of the cracks in the walls and spreading to the surroundings like mold. Patches of warts appeared on the walls, rupturing and flowing out like repulsive, blood and plasma-like liquid. Everything before their eyes transformed. The strong, enormous tentacles flew out of the walls and pounced on the enemies.
Shing!
Two streaks of blade lights dazzled in midair. Lydia rolled over after drawing two incredibly stunning arcs with her swords. The dazzling golden brilliance erupted, enveloping the tentacles completely. Shortly after, in blood-curdling screeches and wails, the huge tentacles turned into ashes entirely. But at the same time, several tentacles broke out of the ground and fluttered at her.
“W-What are these things that look like Zergs and strange alien parts?!”
Mini Bubble Gum flustered. Even though she had plenty of battle experience, this view was simply too disgusting for her to accept. At a glance, some rib cage-like objects wrapped in bloody flesh were seen drilling out of the ceiling. The sleek floor beneath her feet had already been eroded and turned into a carpet of flesh. Not only was it warm and wet, but it was also slimy like a pool of vomit. What disgusted Mini Bubble Gum was that the vomit was also squirming constantly as though trying to dissolve the food that had entered its stomach.
“Ahhh, I can’t take it anymore. This is too, too, too, too disgusting!”
Mini Bubble Gum squealed and raised her arms high. Along with this movement, a dazzling light beam shone from above, striking the floor heavily. Shortly after, the holy and powerful force dispersed like bolts of lightning, devouring the chunks of flesh around her.
“What are they?”
Meanwhile, Rhode had also flitted across and dodged the berserk attacks of the tentacles. He clearly witnessed that these creatures weren’t just tentacles. The tentacles were covered in crimson eyes and their tip was full of razor-sharp teeth in a mouth. This was his first time seeing such creatures, not to mention Mini Bubble Gum. Even though he had encountered several disgusting creatures in the Bottomless Abyss, such strange creatures were still rather rare. At this moment, his younger sister’s frantic and terrified voice sounded in his head.
“Be careful, Big Brother, this is a Chaos Nest!”
“Is it difficult to deal with?”
Rhode evaded the tentacle’s ambush and retaliated with his sword at the same time. Even though the silver-whitish, holy sword slashed the tentacle successfully, it wasn’t destroyed by him effortlessly like the other creatures he encountered. On the contrary, he even felt recoil against the blade. Although the tentacle eventually collapsed to the might of the holy sword, Rhode was still astonished. After all, it seemed to him that theoretically, no one in this world could match up against him. Not only that, but he also sharply sensed that the presence of Chaos was getting denser! And it was slowly overwhelming their strength of Order!
This isn’t logical… no, even though it isn’t logical to begin with, this is too illogical!
Rhode had never faced such a creature even in the game which was why he didn’t know how to react to them. Even though he knew there must be a core somewhere, it seemed to him that the creature had fused with the base entirely. In this situation, he couldn’t let his younger sister infiltrate the computer system and conduct leisurely research anymore. But if this continued, the situation might worsen.
“It will be really tough, Big Brother. They used to be the main fighting force of Chaos when they invaded the Dragon Soul Continent. They can devour Order Beings, inject Chaos into them, and convert them into formidable Chaos Beings! In terms of level in the game, the lowest level of these Chaos Beings is 65, at the Elite Stage, and the highest can go up to level 75! We have to destroy this place entirely. If not, the Chaos Nest will use this place as a trigger point and dominate the entire moon!”
This spells trouble!
Rhode’s expression sank slightly. He raised his left hand and along with his movement, dazzling rays emanating from a summoning ritual erupted with him standing in the middle.
“Canary, Bubble, Lydia. Go all-out; we’re going to destroy this place!”
