"Fire!"
BANG—BANG—BANG!
The thunder of artillery echoed through the station as soldiers unleashed everything they had on the black smoke.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
"AaaAAAAGH!"
From within her cocoon, Horobi screamed in torment, her voice piercing through the chaos.
Each explosion tore chunks of kabane from the massive colony, sending them crashing into nearby buildings, leveling anything in their path.
"Ah—AAAAHHHH!"
BOOM!
Her enormous body slammed into the station's outer wall, shattering stone and steel alike.
The impact killed the soldiers stationed atop it instantly, while those nearby were hurled through the air like ragdolls.
To the horror of everyone watching, Horobi's massive body crashing into the wall created a gaping hole in the station's defenses.
"Beautiful, isn't it? Hehehe! She's working splendidly! This could even bring down Kongokaku!"
Inside a nearby train, Suei—the kabane enthusiast—watched the chaos unfold with wild excitement in his eyes.
"You won't get away with this!"
Ayame's voice cut through the noise, filled with anger and disbelief.
She and Yukina were bound in the same compartment, captured at the very start of the operation.
Yukina was injured—Ayame was busy bandaging her left arm and chest.
Suei sneered at them. "Oh yeah? And who's gonna stop us, girly? As you can see, there'll be nothing left of Iwato Station after she's done with it!"
He laughed, enjoying himself. That only made Ayame angrier.
Feeling mocked, she squared her shoulders and doubled down on her earlier words.
"You—just wait until Sir Kaelis learns of this! You'll regret it!" Ayame snapped, indignation shaking her voice.
At her words, he immediately recalled Kaelis figure and his eyes gleamed.
"Oh? You mean that flying kabaneri? Yes. I haven't forgotten about him. I will surely get a hold of his corpse and fully study him thoroughly."
Biba did promise him Kaelis's corpse and assured him that he would get hold of it at some point.
All he had to do now was wait — and that lovely specimen would fall straight into his lap.
"What?" The words stunned both girls. Ayame's face twisted into a sneer.
"You really think you can stop him? You have no idea."
"Hehehe! Don't be silly—he stands no chance against a hybrid colony."
"Is that so?"
"!" The three inside the car froze.
Clang!
Without a moment's notice, the thick metal door was blasted inward with a single, brutal kick.
"What?!"
Suei reacted instantly, snatching up a rifle and aiming at the intruder.
"Who are you?!" he shouted, his voice edged with panic.
"Hey, Ayame! Yukina! I've come to get you!"
The voice was unmistakable to both girls.
"Kaelis!" they cried out in unison, their faces lighting up with relief and excitement at the sudden arrival of their savior.
Though Yukina's voice was a little strained.
"That's me."
Kaelis stepped confidently inside, his presence filling the cramped space.
Suei began sweating profusely.
From his knowledge, a train door was supposed to be extremely thick—often weighing a ton—to keep kabanes from breaking through.
Even a kabaneri, with strength far surpassing a regular human, would at most be twice as strong.
And yet, here Kaelis was, standing unbothered inside.
For a door to be kicked clean off its hinges, one would need the strength of an entire hybrid colony.
Suei's eyes traveled over the wreckage, and what he saw left him trembling.
The massive chunk of metal—four inches thick—was bent and folded as if it were paper.
"H-h-hey! W-what do y-you want?!" he stuttered, his composure completely gone.
"I—"
BANG—Clang!
Suei fired at Kaelis before he could even finish his sentence, but as usual, the bullet simply bounced off harmlessly.
"Couldn't you have let me finish?" Kaelis remarked casually.
"A-A-Aaahhhhh!" Terror consumed Suei in an instant.
No amount of scientific knowledge could have prepared him for a monster like this.
He dropped the gun and scrambled toward the other door of the train.
But the moment his hand touched the handle…
Splat!
A single, devastating punch connected with his head, and it exploded on impact.
His body crumpled, falling lifelessly to the floor.
Kaelis strode over to the girls and scooped up Yukina in a princess carry.
"Wai-hey!" Yukina squirmed, clearly embarrassed, but Kaelis didn't pay it any mind.
"Nearly everyone is at the koutetsujou—let's go."
With a subtle motion of his hand, he lifted Ayame off the ground using telekinesis.
"Eek!" She let out a sharp, high-pitched screech, startled by being lifted by seemingly nothing at all.
She flailed, trying to grab onto Kaelis for something to hold.
"Don't worry. I'm the one lifting you," he reassured her.
"Huh? Really?" she asked, clearly surprised.
Kaelis didn't answer. Without another word, he took off, flying toward the koutetsujou with both girls in tow.
As they passed over the colony, he paused briefly to observe it.
They could see it collapsing, crumbling at the very spot where it had smashed through the wall.
"Hm? Do they usually do that?" Kaelis asked, speaking more to himself than anyone else.
"I-I don't know…" Yukina stammered.
"I have no idea," Ayame added, her voice equally uncertain.
From the shattered pile of kabane, a small figure began to rise, slowly pushing itself upright amidst the wreckage.
"Isn't that… that woman from Biba's crew?" Kaelis raised an eyebrow. "What was her name again? Horbi… Horobi."
"Was she part of that… thing?" Yukina whispered, eyes wide.
Her appearance this time was drastically different.
Her arms had transformed into sharp, blade-like claws, and her body was encased in a metallic, armor-like shell.
Each breath came so heavily it sounded almost like wheezing.
She truly looked feral…
Together, they watched as she moved with terrifying precision, weaving between soldiers and slicing them down with her blade-like arms.
Kaelis couldn't help but note that her strength and speed far surpassed Mumei's.
Must be the influence of that… thing, he thought, his eyes narrowing as he assessed her prowess.
The soldiers unleashed a hail of bullets, each one striking her with a metallic clang.
But the armor encasing her body absorbed the impact, slowing her only slightly.
Spotting soldiers positioned farther away, she let out a roar, a surge of blue energy crackling from her form.
"Raaah—"
BOOM!
A deafening blast erupted as she unleashed a searing energy wave from her mouth, cutting a path of destruction straight ahead.
Buildings crumbled, debris flew in all directions, and the soldiers were thrown back by the sheer force.
"This… this is new…"
Dear God…The thought ran through everyone's mind, unanimous, as they stared in stunned horror at the devastation before them.
Kaelis furrowed his brow, trying to force logic into the chaos unfolding before him.
What kind of evolution could cause this? Have we lost the plot?
Kaelis was trying to make it make sense.
Let's see… kabane—just regular undead, mindless and violent. Wazatori—a step above, clever and experienced. The colony—a mass of kabane acting as a single organism.
And now this…He shook his head slightly.
Energy projection? Seriously? That's… completely off the evolutionary chart.
There was no precedent for this.
No… there was that! From back when he first analyzed the kabane membrane.
Those two special properties it had.
But even then, for it to come into play drastically with no evolutionary display…
This might turn into some left4dead types shi.
Chapter 34 end.
This gonna be a constant thing in this novel as mc whole shrmick is to analyze stuff.