Nanri Kaori clearly understood the Terror Puker's deadliness. She immediately dispatched one team member to secure the emergency exit door while she and another soldier frantically dragged clothing racks, display counters, and sofas to barricade the escalator entrance. They fired precise headshots through gaps at any Dead that squeezed through the makeshift barrier.
"Yoru-kun! There are too many Dead! We can't hold this position much longer!"
The escalator hugged the edge of the central atrium. Its exposed structure naturally prevented massive hordes from gathering directly below, making the hastily built counter-and-furniture wall surprisingly sturdy. Yet the horde drawn by the Flesh Mountain's mucus was overwhelming. While most tumbled down the atrium shaft to the first floor, a significant number crashed onto the second floor from the escalator's upper section.
Nanri Kaori and her two soldiers were pinned down like a firefighting crew, relentlessly gunning down Dead raining from above. The situation was critical. If they couldn't quell the tide soon, not only would Nanri's four-person team perish, but even Nightmare (Yoru) himself might not escape unscathed.
Conserving points was no longer an option. Yoru switched his blade to his right hand and without hesitation drew his F-grade blue-quality pistol, the [Crimson Bride M92F Custom], from his storage space. He slammed in a pre-loaded Magnum clip with practiced speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yoru emptied the entire eight-round Magnum clip. Bolstered by muscle memory from his past life, the accuracy bonuses from his F-GOLD skill [USS Bio-Special Forces Training Manual], and his Title's hit-rate boost, every shot slammed into the area near the Flesh Mountain's chest – the suspected location of its head. Hitting a stationary target three meters tall from under ten meters away wasn't exactly difficult, however.
The pistol's maxed-out 160 power, amplified by the "Illegal Modification" skill's +100 bullet damage, blasted eight bowl-sized craters across the monstrosity's torso.
"Wait... what the—?"
Yoru's pupils constricted sharply. Fresh, pinkish tendrils of flesh were already squirming like maggots from the edges of the fresh gunshot wounds. Within mere seconds, the craters had healed over, leaving only patches of raw, pink skin. The horrific wounds inflicted earlier by the [Kabane Black Feather Arrow] had vanished completely, without even a scar.
What the hell kind of regeneration speed is this?!
A wave of frustrated fury washed over Yoru. What tier of hidden quest is this?! This mutated Terror Puker's abilities are absurdly overpowered! This wasn't just a Flesh Mountain; it was the fucking Lord of Flesh Mountain...
"Yoru-kun! Hurry! I'm running low on ammo!" Nanri Kaori's urgent shout echoed from her position. A thick layer of corpses already piled before her and her team.
Yoru had no breath to reply. Over a dozen tentacles lashed around him, weaving a near-impenetrable net. They slammed down like a storm, cracking the floor tiles beneath with terrifying force.
In his past life, he'd despised two types of monsters: those with impenetrable hides, and those like this – regenerating health faster than he could damage it. The standard tactic against regenerators was overwhelming coordinated firepower – sustained damage outpacing healing. But that required numbers he simply didn't have.
The other method was disrupting the regeneration itself. This wasn't a game. Unless a creature wielded reality-bending powers, wounds couldn't regenerate infinitely without resources. Especially for bio-monsters, hyper-regeneration demanded a massive nutrient source. Cut that off, and the healing stops.
Scanning the mall, the source was instantly obvious: the hundreds of female Dead swarming around him. Every new wound on the Flesh Mountain prompted it to snag the nearest female Dead with a tentacle. The limb plunged deep, siphoning flesh and blood through internal channels to fuel its repairs. It didn't discriminate – living Dead or fresh corpses, all were consumed. The victims shriveled rapidly, reduced to empty clothes and a desiccated husk of skin, like insects drained by a spider.
But so what?
Yoru realized grimly that knowing the secret didn't solve the problem. Unless he could obliterate the monstrosity in one strike, the sheer number of female Dead on the second floor alone could sustain it for days. And that didn't include the thousands more flooding down from the upper levels.
Do I really have to abandon this hidden quest?
The intense combat drained his stamina. Instinctively, he reached for a potion, then stopped. "Death Reforging" wasn't an option now.
"Wait... maybe..."
A desperate spark ignited in his mind. No time for detailed planning. He hacked through several incoming tentacles, grabbed a nearby voluptuous Dead woman by her long hair, and shoved a grape-sized pill of *[True·Laughing Without A Step] poison into its mouth. To ensure it went down, he rammed it deep with the thick pommel of his sword, tearing the Dead woman's lips grotesquely.
"Come on! Do or die!" Yoru slammed a fresh Magnum clip into the [Crimson Bride].
He dodged the whipping tentacles, raised the pistol, and blasted several more holes into the Flesh Mountain's bulk. With a roar, he hurled the poisoned Dead woman straight into the forest of flailing tentacles.
True to its mindless nature, driven purely by instinct, the Flesh Mountain caught the offered meal. A thick, serpentine tentacle speared effortlessly through the Dead woman's chest.
Then... nothing.
The colossal Flesh Mountain froze as if struck by temporal stasis. Its dozens of writhing tentacles locked rigidly mid-lash, each still dangling a female Dead in macabre, grotesque poses – like some avant-garde sculptor's nightmare installation.
"It... died?" Nanri Kaori lowered her assault rifle, staring dumbfounded at the motionless mountain of flesh. She couldn't fathom how the seemingly unstoppable abomination had just... stopped... in the blink of an eye.
"Hmm..." Yoru pondered for a moment, his expression utterly serious. "I suspect... silicone poisoning."