However, battle preparations could not be resolved in an instant.
Because that monster stood as if guarding the door, it did not rush at us immediately, and thanks to that, we were afforded ample time to observe it.
"……."
Incubator.
A machine for premature babies who failed to fully develop and emerge.
"…I don't know who named it, but it's truly vile. To give such a name to that monster."
The orc ajusshi said that.
Writhing.
The monster bearing the name Incubator stood motionless, guarding the emergency exit.
But that did not mean it was entirely still.
Incapable of leaving its body still for even a moment, its reddish flesh surged in waves like the tide.
'…A device for premature infants.'
It was a swarm formed by dozens of small mimics tangled together.
Yet they were connected so organically that one might think the many had become one.
Like tangled human blood vessels, they had become a being that could not be separated even if one tried.
"…I-it's not just stuck together."
Yu Inha suddenly spoke.
"If you look closely… the flesh is attached as if fused. Slowly, as if melting into one another…"
"…You have better insight than I thought."
Her unexpected insight had shone.
Those words reminded me of something, and I asked Captain Kim,
"…What was the testimony of the soldiers who came before?"
"According to their testimony, it felt somewhat crude at the time. Of course, due to the darkness they couldn't properly make out its appearance… but they said there were moments when the swarm momentarily split apart."
They said it was akin to intricate clockwork.
It moved as if they had become one, but would break apart when struck.
But look at it now.
It appeared to possess a degree of cohesion that would not shatter no matter how much it was struck.
Moreover, as Yu Inha said, its flesh was pressing together as if fusing…
"…It looks like it's evolving, doesn't it?"
"…Yes. It does."
Captain Kim agreed.
I didn't know who had coined it, but it was certainly an apt designation.
A chrysalis on the verge of metamorphosing into a higher monster.
That was the true nature of the Incubator.
"…If that thing completely fuses, what will it become?"
Elder Owlbear asked, his voice trembling.
In truth, whatever it became would obviously be beyond our common sense and imagination.
But it could probably be expressed in a single word. Whatever it became, it would be blasphemous.
However, the important thing was not what it would evolve into.
"…If it ultimately fuses completely and becomes one, even then, would it be possible to turn it back?"
A miracle I could invoke.
The power to turn mimics back into humans, if only as corpses.
Of course, my holy power held boundless possibilities to the extent that I did not know its limits…
'There's no telling. Even if I were to purify an Incubator that had already become one, would it return to being the hundreds of children that make up its body?'
Everyone froze at that possibility.
This was not good.
To break that atmosphere, I stepped forward…
Clap—!
With a clap, I brought everyone's focus to bear.
"Now, now. Let's all come to our senses. There's no need to dwell on possibilities that haven't even come to pass yet, is there?"
Someday, the Incubator would kick away that incubator and metamorphose into a higher being.
But the important thing was that today was not that day.
And…
"That it might become irreversible once it becomes one? That is a meaningless hypothesis. Because today, I am here."
That I was here.
Before that ominous possibility could even be foreseen, I would turn those children back.
"…Yes, that is exactly right."
At those words, everyone came to their senses one by one and gripped their weapons.
The scouting was over.
"Pull the pins on every grenade we have!"
Captain Kim's shout became the signal.
The moment his command fell, our few remaining grenades simultaneously had their pins pulled and split the air.
Clang—! Rumble.
Chunks of metal poured down in heaps at the base of the giant tower of flesh.
Then, a momentary silence.
Kwa-aaaang—!
An explosion so tremendous that the narrow fourth-floor hallway and the entire intensive care unit seemed ready to collapse.
Fierce flames and a storm of fragments raged, ruthlessly tearing into the Incubator's massive wall of flesh.
Black blood and charred chunks of flesh rained down in all directions.
Until now, grenades had never failed to meet our expectations.
No matter how massive the swarm, could it withstand a point-blank chain of explosions?
"……Did we get it?"
Amidst the rising smoke, Elder Owlbear swallowed dryly and muttered.
"Elder…! Why did you have to say that…!"
As always, the resurrection spell had tremendous effect.
Oooooong—!
A bizarre sound wave that shook space itself tore through the thick cloud of dust.
"Kieeeeek—!"
A lump of meat half-destroyed by the explosion, spilling its gruesome entrails.
Yet it did not die.
On the contrary, its body, nearly half blown away, gurgled red before sucking in its scattered flesh and blood like a vacuum cleaner, beginning to recover its wounds at a terrifying speed.
Overwhelming regenerative power that defied common sense.
As hundreds of twisted infant faces glaring at us from beyond the flames screamed in unison, a suffocating pressure swept over us like a tidal wave.
"Kuk……!"
Had they been ordinary soldiers, their sanity would have collapsed from that sound and crushing presence alone.
However, the Halo floating above my head emitted a gentle pulse, firmly protecting my teammates' minds.
"Open fire! We must press the attack before it regenerates!"
Captain Kim shouted with veins bulging as he pulled the trigger.
Tadadadang—! Kwa-ang—!
The first to spew fire was Seo Doyun Ajusshi's K3 machine gun.
5.56mm bullets poured out as the heavy recoil was perfectly suppressed by an orc's immense strength, ruthlessly tearing once more into the Incubator's not-yet-healed wall of flesh.
Captain Kim and Yu Inha also fired into blind spots.
Elder Owlbear gripped his shield tightly, preparing for the monster's counterattack that could spring out at any moment.
But the situation did not improve in the slightest.
The monster's speed of gathering blood and fusing was far faster than our pace of tearing away its flesh.
No matter how many bullets we poured into it, the giant wall of flesh squirmed and immediately returned to its original form.
At this rate, our prepared ammunition would run out first.
"Damn it! The previous combat records clearly stated they suppressed it with concentrated firepower! Why won't it die!"
Captain Kim urgently shouted as he swapped magazines.
It was just as he said.
According to the vanguard's records, it had lost its form and collapsed before overwhelming firepower.
'They suppressed it with firepower?'
I paused my hand on the trigger.
Look at that overwhelming regenerative power. It was a monster that recovered from even a chain of grenade explosions in the blink of an eye.
There was no way mere rifle fire from the vanguard could have suppressed it.
Then the conclusion was one. Coincidence.
I considered the possibility that they hadn't suppressed the monster with overwhelming firepower.
The possibility that among the countless blind bullets they poured out, one lucky round had happened to strike the fatal weak point capable of bringing it down.
'There's a weak point. Definitely somewhere.'
I calmly caught my breath and opened my eyes wide.
The Halo above my head throbbed fiercely as if responding to my will.
'It was the same in the elevator.'
The world began to slow.
As my dynamic visual acuity was pushed to the extreme, all movement before my eyes decomposed with clarity as if traced by dotted lines.
The trajectories of K3 bullets cutting through the air. The movement of blood droplets bursting from bullet impacts.
And even the Incubator's muscle fibers bizarrely repeating contraction and relaxation amidst those fragments.
'…I see it.'
The very instant Seo Doyun Ajusshi's machine gun tore away a large chunk of flesh from the monster's right side.
Between that narrow gap where other mimics' flesh squirmed trying to fuse, something like a very small, dark red dot briefly revealed itself.
So small, revealing itself only in a fleeting moment shorter than 0.1 seconds.
That was undoubtedly the weak point.
For someone in the vanguard to have hit that spot by chance must have been a miraculous probability.
It was hidden so cleverly that no one could even notice its existence.
But for me, it was different.
A moment others couldn't even see. And a target no larger than a dot.
But to my eyes, it was already as clear as the center of a target painted starkly on a canvas.
The sole gap that only I could perceive, and only I could hit.
"Ajusshi, three o'clock! One more crossfire!"
At my shout, Seo Doyun Ajusshi immediately turned his muzzle and concentrated fire on the monster's right center.
Tadadadak—!
Flesh chunks were torn away in droves.
And once again, between gaps as narrow and minute as a needle hole, a tiny dark red core revealed itself as if playing peek-a-boo.
Without a moment's hesitation, I raised my Glock and pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
A single 9mm bullet traced a perfect trajectory as it flew.
The bullet passed like a needle through the narrow gap in the flesh created by Seo Doyun Ajusshi's gunfire, embedding itself precisely in the center of the core that had not yet fused.
"Kieeeeeek—!"
Dozens, hundreds of mouths screamed.
Then, thud-thud-thud.
As if a landslide were occurring, the Incubator's form collapsed.