“Skreeee… Grrrrk…!”
Sanmo fell.
The massive body that had endured dozens of bullets squarely in its back finally seemed to reach its limit and toppled to the floor.
But even in that fleeting instant as it fell, the creature desperately twisted its body to land on its side, preventing its swollen belly from striking the cold ground.
An obsession bordering on the pathological.
Watching that bizarre yet pitiful sight, none of us could lower our guns rashly; we could only catch our rough breaths.
‘…Because it’s not over.’
The information we’d heard during the briefing rang in my ears like tinnitus.
The special entity Sanmo revives once more after being incapacitated. In other words, a second phase remains.
“Do not lower your guard! It’s not over yet!”
At my sharp cry, the orc uncle used a dented cart as a shield and gripped the greatsword he’d drawn in place of his K3 tightly, while Elder Owlbear pricked his sensitive, feathered ears up over his broken shield.
Captain Kim had his gun barrel aimed at the fallen creature with empty, unfocused eyes.
His index finger on the trigger trembled faintly, incessantly, as if shivering from the cold.
Thump, thud-thud. Squelch.
What broke the heavy silence was the bizarre rupturing sound coming from the fallen Sanmo’s body.
Its hunched back began to writhe as if swarming with earthworms.
Its skin, riddled with holes like a beehive and torn to shreds, grotesquely twisted, and through the gaping tears, new crimson muscles and blood vessels began to bulge forth.
“It’s regenerating! Prepare for round two!”
It was the very moment I trained my Glock on the crown of its head.
With a massive rupturing sound, the creature’s body grotesquely contorted.
But the direction it faced was not us, as would be typical of mimic beasts.
Instead of baring its hostility toward us, the Sanmo thoroughly wrapped its swollen belly with its massive arms and bio-blades.
Then, to avoid the impending hail of bullets, it hurled itself down the hallway like a beast, its body nearly scraping the floor.
“It’s running? A mimic beast?”
The orc uncle shouted in disbelief.
For a mimic beast—one driven solely by killing instinct and appetite, no less a special entity equipped with a revival gimmick—to turn tail was an aberration none of us had ever experienced.
“Pursue it! We can’t let it get away!”
At my urgent cry, the party hurriedly dashed around the curved hallway where it had disappeared.
But the moment we rounded the corner, we had no choice but to halt our steps roughly.
“Kieeeek—!”
“Krrrrrk!”
A dense pack of mimic beasts that had been hiding throughout the third-floor wards blocked the path ahead of the fleeing Sanmo.
They were creatures that had crawled out of the darkness, drawn by the loud gunfire and smell of blood.
They appeared relatively intact, seemingly not yet victimized by the Sanmo.
They were probably individuals that had been hiding to avoid the Sanmo.
Even such creatures seemed unable to suppress their boiling killing intent upon seeing us.
The Sanmo’s eyes gleamed upon seeing the mimic beasts.
In an instant, its long, gaunt hand shot out, and one mimic beast was caught in its grip.
“Wait, if that thing devours them like before…”
Elder Owlbear muttered, readjusting his grip on his shield.
It was hardly a good sign.
The Sanmo’s predatory behavior clearly served some purpose. And that purpose was likely something akin to strengthening itself.
Crack!
With a horrific rupturing sound, the Sanmo’s maw beastially bit into the nape of the captured mimic beast.
“Slch, sluuuurp…!”
It was the same chilling sound we’d been hearing since before entering the third floor—like a gigantic leech sucking blood.
It began to ravenously absorb the bodily fluids and life force of its still-struggling kin.
But the truly grotesque aspect lay elsewhere.
Normally—if such a thing could even be called normal—when absorbing energy like that, shouldn’t it be poured into mutating the body into something more threatening or increasing its size?
Yet the Sanmo’s outer appearance showed no signs of evolution or enhancement whatsoever.
Instead, all the blackish-red blood and energy it had sucked in was being channeled entirely into its grotesquely swollen belly skin.
Glug, glug.
As if a gigantic heart were trapped inside, the veins bulging across the surface of its bloated belly throbbed grotesquely.
‘Just what in the hell is inside that belly…’
A blind act of funneling nutrients to something within its belly instead of strengthening its own body.
It was far too alien and repulsive a spectacle to be seen as simple second phase strengthening.
Moreover…
‘It’s too desperate.’
Important enough to prioritize over itself.
In an instant, a terrible premonition and a great doubt washed over me.
But this was no situation where I could stop pulling the trigger.
Ratatatat—! Bang!
“Kuaaaargh!”
Under the pouring barrage, blood sprayed anew from the Sanmo’s fully regenerated shoulder and back.
But once again, it did not counterattack us.
It threw the drained, bleached husk of the mimic beast it had sucked dry moments ago as a meat shield, then seized another ordinary mimic beast by the nape and began sprinting straight toward the darkness.
Thud, thud, thud!
A bizarre flight: it galloped with its torso nearly scraping the ground, its massive arms wrapped protectively around its belly while its other hand drained the blood of the prey it clutched.
It ruthlessly rammed the remaining mimic beasts blocking its path with its shoulder, clearing a way, and instantly vanished beyond the corridor’s bend.
“It’s escaped!”
I know, dammit.
But there was no way we could pursue it immediately.
“Damn it! Cut through the ones blocking the front first!”
We had to deal with the ordinary mimic beasts that had been sent flying by the Sanmo’s brutish charge and were now lunging at us, snarling.
The orc uncle roared and swung his greatsword. The narrow hallway filled with the death throes of beasts and the acrid reek of gunpowder.
The battle did not last long.
“Huff, huff… Situation contained.”
They weren’t particularly formidable creatures.
Some had been absorbed by the Sanmo and were in a mummy-like state.
But our own armaments had dwindled, so they weren’t opponents we could take lightly either.
“Injured! To the front!”
At those words, Elder Owlbear and the orc uncle stepped up before me.
These two had fought at the very front, so their injuries were especially severe.
The orc uncle’s forearm was deeply gouged by a mimic beast’s claws, and Elder Owlbear’s shoulder was crushed and mangled by a massive blow.
They had layered on armor, but they couldn’t completely avoid bodily harm.
I closed my eyes and focused my consciousness on the halo floating above my head.
Hwaaaah—!
A warm, pure white wave of light flowed from my fingertips and gently enveloped the two men’s wounds.
In the instant a miracle was performed, torn veins and muscles intertwined on their own, and new flesh began to grow.
“Whew, I think this is the first time I’ve been healed like this. It’s a ticklish feeling.”
The orc uncle stroked his now-clean forearm and took a rough breath.
Come to think of it, this seemed to be the first time my healing ability had truly shone.
Until now, we’d only fought small numbers of mimic beasts or engaged when our armaments were in good condition.
Everyone except me had become mutants, so their increased physical abilities had allowed us to secure victory.
With the injured treated in short order.
“…We lost the Sanmo.”
We returned to the operation.
“Shouldn’t we hurry after it? If it gets too far away…”
Kim Jihu asked anxiously, looking toward the end of the hallway where the Sanmo had disappeared.
But Captain Kim shook his head, emptying his magazine and loading it full of fresh rounds.
“No, there’s no need to rush the pursuit. In fact, it’s better to catch our breath before proceeding.”
“Huh? What do you mean…?”
“Look at the direction the bloodstains on the floor are headed.”
At Captain Kim’s words, the party’s gaze turned collectively to the floor.
The bodily fluids sucked from the mimic beasts and the blackish-red blood the Sanmo had shed mixed together, forming a sticky, grotesque trail that stretched deep into the hallway.
“Recall the third-floor layout from the briefing. There are no branching side paths or emergency staircases leading to other floors at the end of this path.”
I pulled the slide of my Glock with a metallic clack and added:
“Fortunately, the Sanmo fled into a dead end. Rather than fleeing, it’s more accurate to say it cornered itself. So there’s no need to rush in and fall into a trap; we just need to advance slowly and pressure it.”
At that explanation, everyone finally let out sighs of relief.
The orc uncle picked up a steel pipe that could serve in place of the broken cart, and Min Aji and Yu Inha steadied their rough breathing and readjusted their grips on their weapons.
We stood in the middle of the blood-reeking hallway and took a brief moment of respite.
The fact that there was no monster lunging at us immediately, and the fact that we didn’t need to rush in and fall into a trap, were enough to make us feel like we could breathe a little easier.
No, I wasn’t sure.
Was I really breathing any easier?
We had been given time.
Which meant we had the luxury to think.
But the more desperate the situation, the more thinking always ends up constricting one’s throat.
Even so, I spoke.
“…The Sanmo’s behavior.”
“…Yes.”
“It was strange, wasn’t it?”
Even if it threatened to choke the very breath from us, we could not afford to stop thinking.