Origin (12)

Not once did I ever think of giving up due to unfairness. The world was unfair to begin with.

The only difference was whether that unfairness came from another human being or a horrific monster. Either way, it was equally maddening.

Blue Eye was getting agitated. It was because I managed to stand up, though I was staggering.

I brushed the dust off my shoulder and glared straight at the creature. The monster let out a shriek, like metal scraping. Maybe it thought I'd try to run in a situation like this.

Detecting something unusual, my suit pulled up a hologram window to warn me.

【Warning. Respiratory mask damaged. External air is being introduced. Please replace immediately.】

Unfortunately, that was impossible. The embedded respirator mask in the suit was the one I was currently using, and any spares were stored in Carry's transport box.

I couldn't see where Nadia or Carry were either, so swapping for a new one was out of the question. If I called, Carry would fly to me no matter where, but the monster would never allow it.

That meant I had now entered a time attack stage. If I didn't defeat the monster before I lost consciousness from the toxic air, we'd all die.

The only silver lining was that although the shuttle station was open to the outside, the storage sector was closer to the base interior, meaning the air was somewhat neutralized. I would last longer than expected.

"Red! Ceiling! And the container!"

I shouted that as I charged toward Blue Eye. It was just a string of words, not a real sentence, but I trusted Licorice would understand my meaning.

—Ceiling? Container? ... The cargo anchor!

Licorice didn't betray my expectation. She controlled Alpha to pull Eric out from under the container debris. Then, after doing something to his suit, she forcibly woke him up from unconsciousness.

Eric gasped for air and quickly sprang up. Maybe she sent him a private message, because after shaking his head, Eric rushed off somewhere—the direction where Nadia and Carry were.

【Krrrrrrr—!】

Blue Eye, seeing me charge at it, expressed its anger with its whole body. It rose to its feet, sending debris tumbling down, then stomped them all to bits.

'It can't fire the beam repeatedly.'

Despite my close proximity, Blue Eye didn't choose to fire its blue beam. It wasn't just taking the long route to tear me apart with its bare hands; more likely, it was actually impossible.

The exoskeleton behind its shoulder was still open and venting white vapor. It seemed it needed time to cool down. That waiting time must be its firing interval.

Keeping a narrow distance, I locked the plasma cutter to maximum output and swung it.

Pazzzt!

As expected, sparks shot out from the repulsive force, making the blue blade flicker unsteadily. Plasma repulsion. It happens when energies made of blue crystal collide—they disrupt each other's form if their forces are opposite.

I'd already experienced it once. I didn't panic and withdrew my weapon. I couldn't hesitate—for even a moment of hesitation, and my body would be shredded.

To block a ghoul's attack, you need at least power loader-level armor.To block a mimic's attack, you need at least a shuttle's auxiliary armor.

So, to withstand an attack from the monster in front of me—or even to just endure—what level of armor would be needed?

Cargo shuttles had at least twice as thick armor as others, to protect their freight. The monster tore through that armor like paper with a single punch. The beam could split an entire sector.

'No matter.'

No matter how strong its attack, it didn't matter. If it couldn't land a hit, it was just showing off its strength.

Thump, thump. Maybe because of the extreme focus, I heard nothing but the beating of my heart and the sound of my own breathing. In the inky space, only the monster and I remained.

I moved in disproportionately wide arcs, to the point that it would seem excessive to anyone watching. By always using my blind spots to dart in and out several times, I figured out something: the repulsive action of plasma didn't apply to Blue Eye's entire exoskeleton.

The part where plasma scattered was limited to the upper body. The lower body showed no reaction—the exoskeleton was so tough, it only got scratched, even without a repulsive reaction.

'The core is in the upper body.'

I glanced at my plasma cutter, its mechanism groaning from physical collision, and recalled: my target should be the core.

Goooooh...

Having dodged several attacks in a row, the monster stretched its maw open again, preparing to fire its blue beam. It seemed not all of the heat had dissipated—but it must have been quite pissed off.

Once the beam's angle steadied, I felt the plasma cutter blade start to sizzle, so I pulled out a spare battery from my belt pouch and swapped it in right away.

The time between removing the dead battery and inserting a new one: only two seconds. But those two seconds gave the monster enough of an opening. Blue particles had gathered in its mouth during that brief interval.

Its attack was to collide blue crystals, unleashing powerful energy. The first strike couldn't be avoided—or, more accurately, couldn't be blocked. Dodging was the only option.

Just as I was about to get out of its firing line, Blue Eye suddenly snapped its jaws shut, looking for all the world as if it was about to fire.

Instead of blasting the beam, it moved in close, rapidly shrinking the gap. With its massive bulk, just one push brought it right in front of me.

'A feint...!'

All I'd been thinking about was dodging the linear beam, so Blue Eye's sudden move was a massive crisis. It was supposed to be my turn to close in, but my turn was stolen.

What should I do? I need to dodge—but where? My stance was unstable. Dodging would be tough. Blocking? If I tried to block, I'd be injured, maybe even rendered unable to move—or worse, be taken out in just one hit.

A flurry of thoughts spun through my mind in an instant. Start to finish, I was aware that I might die this time.

My hand moved behind me to the shockwave emitter. I wasn't planning to push its fist away or freeze it like I'd done before—I already knew that wouldn't work.

The one to be repelled wasn't the monster—it was me. Having decided what to do, I kicked off the ground and sprang into the air. At once, I pulled the trigger.

PANG—!

It was all a single, nearly simultaneous process. Instinct guided my body. As the backlash hurled me backward, the monster's fist cut in.

The fist, ready to destroy whatever it touched, fortunately wasn't at its full power—I was already flying away from the impact point as far as possible.

Since the fist kept extending past its original target, I couldn't fully avoid it, but I could at least reduce the damage.

Whump...!

"...!"

The fist shattered the shockwave emitter first and then struck my body. I expelled every bit of air I had. The blow was so heavy, I thought my torso had caved in.

For a moment, my consciousness flickered as if snuffed out and returned. Even without blinking, my position kept changing, as if I were teleporting.

CRASH—! Thud! Clatter!

I slammed into a wall or the ceiling. Searing pain savaged my back. That alone would have been enough to make me cough up blood, but the pain just kept coming, beating every inch of me.

I rolled with the rebound from a merciless impact—yet, the sensations only intensified.

... Thud!

At last, I ran out of space to roll—I hit a solid wall with the back of my head. That impact brought forth a rush of blood from my nose. A whining tinnitus blared in my ears, and my eyes felt like they'd burst.

My respirator mask was now completely gone—nothing shielded my face. Acrid smoke and toxic air scraped at my face and respiratory tract.

"Uwek...!"

I vomited a liquid streaked with red. There were chunks of unknown meat in it; I must've ruptured something inside. Despite blurry vision, I surveyed my surroundings. This was the control room, overlooking the entire storage bay at a glance.

I thought I was just flung, but did I really get knocked up here in one blow?

"... Khrrk!"

A cough sounded from beside me. I turned and saw the nameless man collapsed in a corner of the control room. A long metal fragment was embedded in his abdomen.

He must've been hit by shrapnel when the beam grazed the control room. His breathing was shallow, as if he would fade away at any moment. He seemed to be barely holding on to consciousness.

This time, there was no need to ask if he was okay. He very clearly wasn't.

"... I'm already finished..."

Telling me not to worry and to just run, the man stifled my urge to curse. My eyes remained fixed on him.

He had followed us to get the medicine he needed. It might look like a voluntary act, but more than that, it was resignation—he simply complied with circumstances beyond his control.

If he hadn't needed to take that medicine, he wouldn't have come with us. He came to survive, but that choice almost cost him his life.

My head felt like it would explode. Forcing down a cough that tried to surface, I asked. This one thing—I wanted to know.

"Do you regret... following us?"

"... I don't know. Khrrk! Maybe dying here is better, I think. Rather than staying in a world like this... it's probably easier... to die..."

The answer of someone who'd lost hope. With a groan, I forced myself to my feet. I could still move, so there was no excuse to just sit here.

"... What's your name?"

Hearing that, the man met my eyes with a hazy gaze. Then, snorting and coughing, he burst into a shaky laugh.

"... You finally... ask, huh? I thought you'd never... Khrrk! Khrrk...!"

With a trembling voice, the man told me his name: Domestica. He said he was dying anyway, so I should take his respirator mask.

Without a respirator, the average person could survive outside for maybe ten minutes. Being in the control room extended that a bit—maybe thirty minutes, tops.

If the hatch were sealed, it'd be different, but with everything smashed like this, no way.

If I took Domestica's respirator, he would die for sure.

As I picked up my broken shockwave emitter, I spoke up.

"Better to suffer and be alive. At least, that's how I see it."

I appreciated the pain I felt—no, not that I enjoyed pain, but because this was a sensation only the living could feel, a reminder of being alive.

To feel because I live—that was my conviction. My survival instinct was stronger than most. Even if my actions seemed closer to courting death than preserving life, I intended only to do my utmost, leaving not a single regret.

Violent fighting erupted in the storage bay.

With their senses recovered, Nadia and Carry joined Eric to attack the monster. The escort robot Alpha entered autonomous mode, overworking its frame to support them. Licorice was fighting to take control of the cargo anchors in the storage.

—Hyun-woo, I know what you're thinking! I don't know if it'll work! Honestly, I doubt it, but since you want it, I'll do it! Got it?!

【Notification. Cargo anchor is being re-aligned. All workers in this sector, beware of falling objects.】

—So get up already! You said you wanted to take that monster down! If you yelled that much, you'd better land a hit or two!

I had said I'd take it down, but I hadn't exactly shouted. I gave a weak laugh, but then sharp pain clamped my lungs, making me grimace. I spat out a wad of bloody phlegm and opened my mouth.

"The respirator mask, you keep it on, Domestica."

"... I'm already—"

"Just hang in there."

I didn't wait for Domestica's reply. I didn't bother to promise I'd save him—it was impossible to know what the future held. Instead, I resolved to show him through action, not words.

... Tap.

I stepped onto the control room's glass and perched on the railing. On cue, one of the ceiling-mounted anchors fired toward me. With a metallic clink, the wire shot out.

—Hyun-woo, jump!

I took a deep breath, timed it, and leaped forward. Just before the anchor would drop from gravity, I grabbed hold.

Whoooosh—!

Without a mask, the cold wind cut straight across my bare face. The gloves gripping the wire grew hot from the friction, but I didn't flinch. I focused my gaze on Blue Eye, which was closing the distance.

From this height, the arena below was laid out at a glance. Blue particles swept into Blue Eye's open maw, converging inside.

This time, it was for real. From above, I could see it had planted itself to fire. If it shut its mouth and moved, I'd be able to outrun it—but I wasn't about to let it fire its beam in peace. Blue Eye glared at me, perhaps surprised I'd dropped in from overhead.

There was no panic in those cunning, stubborn eyes. The blue beam was about to unleash, and I knew if that hit, I'd be dead anyway.

As the anchor wire tightened, I let my burning hands release it. With a fresh plasma cutter battery at the ready, I hurled it straight into Blue Eye's gaping mouth.

Ssszzzt—... Boom!KABOOM—!

Stimulated by the external energy, the battery exploded inside the maw just as the blue beam fired. Compared to the beam, the battery's blast was trivial and couldn't cancel out the energy.

But it still had a significant effect. The beam's angle was thrown off, enough to miss me entirely and instead gouge the ceiling.

CRASH...!

As the beam cut through, the ceiling, unable to withstand the force, came crashing down, raining debris and filling the area with clouds of dust.

"Kyaaaaa!"

... I hadn't intended it, but there were now people caught in the dust storm. Nobody was knocked out or injured, since everyone had noticed I was dropping in from above and evacuated the area in time.

【Notification. Cargo anchor is being re-aligned.】

Because the beam scraped the ceiling, the anchors mounted there got thrown out of alignment, necessitating a re-alignment. During that time, I landed right above Blue Eye. The clash of my plasma blade and the monster's exoskeleton happened almost simultaneously.

PANG—!

The impact of my fall was channeled into the strike. The plasma blade exploded from the repulsive reaction, leaving only a sharp metal sliver at the tip.

That fragment stabbed into Blue Eye's exoskeleton. Despite the repulsive force, the blue blade did enough damage to the armor that it could dig in—helped by my brute force.

The plasma cutter, now like a spear, lodged deep into its shoulder exoskeleton, and I nearly slid off, barely hanging on.

Being this close, I could clearly see the strange script engraved on its bio-tissue. My gaze lingered only a second, then I took a deep breath.

【KIAAAAAAAH!】

Sensing my intent, Blue Eye writhed and bellowed, trying to shake me off. Each movement nearly tore me off its back. My arm muscles screamed from the effort.

Blue Eye's frenzy meant no one else could come near. The thought that I'd die if I let go filled my mind. Sweat from tension poured down my face.

'I'm not letting go...!'

After all that effort to get this close, I had no intention of dropping until I landed a solid hit.

"Nadia!"

I called for Nadia. She saw where I was looking and immediately got it. She urged Carry to manually grab one of the anchors whose auto-control had failed.

Although the circuitry got fried by the massive energy surge, the mechanical device was still intact. Once the anchor was aimed at Blue Eye, Carry forced it to deploy, causing its wire to rapidly unspool.

Thunk!

Once the anchor hit, it deployed in a cross shape and embedded itself with incredible force—yet it still wasn't enough to pierce the exoskeleton with just one shot. The anchor bounced off the armor.

I watched the anchor arc upwards. There was no realistic way for me to catch that. I didn't even try. I simply trusted my partner, who had always kept pace with me.

Carry maxed its thrusters, shooting past my head and catching the anchor that had bounced above me, then dropped it right into my hands.

I wrapped the anchor's wire around Blue Eye's throat. I fixed it in place with the plasma cutter I'd embedded, to keep it from being easily shaken off.

Finally, I plunged a second anchor into what looked like its heat vent—an unarmored spot, which made it surprisingly easy to pierce.

"Pull—!"

Nadia, clinging to the anchor device, tried to manually retract the wire and tighten it, but something went wrong midway, and she looked panicked.

Seeing her expression, my own face fell. If we didn't pull now, the wrapped wire would snap or come loose.

—You need to move further in! Just a bit more...!

Licorice's urgent voice. As she said, one or even two anchors weren't enough to restrain Blue Eye. We had to drag it to the designated spot, then immobilize it with as many anchors as possible all at once.

Right then.

—... Khrrk! The controls... Even from the control room...!

Domestica, clutching his bleeding belly, had staggered to the console in the control room. He was operating the hologram console; at first, I didn't understand, since Licorice was in control of all devices in the sector.

—Hyun-woo! Get clear!

I finally understood thanks to Eric's shout. Eric, missing for some time, now appeared at the edge of the storage. He'd attached a container to one of the cargo anchors.

As the wire stretched tight, the container began to swing like a pendulum—meaning a massive load was now careening down midair, straight along its trajectory.

'... You maniacs—'

Before I could even curse, I pulled back in a hurry. Three meters wasn't normally a daunting drop—but in my battered state, I feared I might get hurt.

Of course, while considering this, I'd already released my grip and was dropping off Blue Eye's exoskeleton. Dilly-dally a moment longer and the container would hit and kill me.

Blue Eye must have also seen the accelerating container. If it went forward, there were the anchors waiting; if it went back, the wire around its throat would catch. There was no way to dodge either way.

For a brief second it hesitated—perhaps overestimating its own exoskeleton. That was the difference between me and the monster; that was its fatal mistake.

BOOM...!

The container slammed straight into Blue Eye's back. The huge metal box caved in from the impact, sending small shrapnel flying everywhere. The exoskeleton withstood the shock but couldn't overcome inertia.

Trying not to fall, Blue Eye staggered a few steps forward—landing exactly where Licorice had marked. All according to our plan.

【Warning. Cargo anchor realignment complete.】

As I crashed messily to the floor, every anchor in the vicinity aimed at Blue Eye below. The cargo anchors—all now ready to fire. Licorice triggered them all at once.

Simultaneous anchor fire bombarded the monster. Some spread like hooks, wrapping its arms just as I had wrapped its neck, while others, striking weakened armor, pierced deep into raw tissue.

Struck by a devastating barrage, the mutant let out a shriek of agony.

【KIAAAAAAAH!】

Blue Eye struggled to snap the wires and tear out the hooks. But the more it thrashed, the tighter the embedded anchors became.

The wires didn't break easily, either—they were built to secure massive loads, and now several of them restrained the mutant, stretching taut to pull its limbs apart.

Now, we faced a choice. We had no ranged weapons left. The flamethrower was out of fuel, the plasma cutter was no longer in my hands, and we had no other way to finish it.

Maybe this was as good as we could hope for. Even smashing another container down wouldn't finish Blue Eye.

As with other mutant lifeforms that regenerate, it wouldn't die unless entirely severed or completely destroyed.

Running away now was risky too. Once it finished cooling, Blue Eye would fire its blue beam again, and we were all too scattered and injured to be sure we'd all survive.

—I'll buy us time! Everyone, get ready to run!

The fearless security bot Alpha charged out. Licorice clearly chose retreat. Understandably so—her decision wasn't wrong; strictly speaking, "wrong" wasn't even the right word. There was only the best of bad choices, or a lesser evil. In this case, to fight or to flee—both were valid.

Alpha darted through the web of wires and leaped onto Blue Eye's exoskeleton, right where I'd stabbed in the plasma cutter. Alpha's core glowed a furious red.

BOOM...!

A blast swept out, a corona of red flame scattering blue sparks, so intense it cut off Blue Eye's howl.

As the blast faded, the state of our foe became clear. Despite Alpha's self-destruction, Blue Eye had only lost one arm and a bit of armor.

The blast at close range had dealt it a heavy blow—but not a fatal one. Its gaze, filled with hatred, found us all, its most furious glare settling on me.

The sheer pressure was suffocating. The murderous intent was so thick it pressed on my chest.

Thump, thump. My heart pounded wildly. Eric's mumbled curse, Licorice and Nadia's sighs, Domestica's silence—they all echoed in my ears.

A desperate situation—despite throwing everything we had, it still wasn't enough. It was brutal. It was relentless—from me or from the monster.

See here—despite being pushed to the brink, neither I nor Blue Eye was backing down. By now, even nemeses might look for a next opportunity, but it was as if we both knew there wouldn't be any next time.

"... Huh."

Fear and anxiety welled up. But then, suddenly, a weak chuckle escaped me. I realized—it wasn't just me but Blue Eye as well.

What caught my eye was a power tool poking out from the jumble in a half-open container. A polar demolition impactor—heavy machinery for blasting tunnels. It had slid halfway out of its case.

It must have been in the container Eric fired at the monster.

Tools made for such rough work are built for durability. This one was, too. I decided to trust the tool that had saved my life so many times already.

Quickly making up my mind, I dashed toward Blue Eye. Nadia screamed at the sight.

My goal: retrieve the polar impactor before the wires could snap, and deliver the final blow. I yanked the core from my broken shockwave emitter and tossed the useless shell aside.

Hurling myself forward, I scooped up the fallen impactor. Then, I jammed the core into the polar impactor, forcibly connecting it even though the specs didn't match—the battery replaced by sheer brute force.

At first, nothing happened. But after a few whacks, the impactor woke up and began to charge. Energy surged into the demolition spike, filling it with blue light.

At that moment—

━━━━━━━━━━!

Blue Eye howled and reached for me. In the rush to arm the impactor, I couldn't dodge in time—twisted my ankle in my lunge and couldn't have dodged anyway.

Licorice desperately tried to control the anchor wires to restrain Blue Eye's arms once more, but the mutant's monstrous strength was tearing the anchor devices free from the ceiling. With a clang, the mounting brackets snapped.

Creak— Crack—

Perhaps in a last frenzy, Blue Eye began to crush me in its grip. I felt bones shift and my consciousness wavered, but what touched my lips was not a cry of despair, but a smile.

"... I told you. I'd kill you."

【Tunnel demolition impactor charging complete. Ready for use.】

The impactor linked with my suit, and a hologram popped up. The spike slammed back with a hum, vibrating in my hand. It was loaded.

"... Die, you monster bastard."

I jammed the polar impactor into Blue Eye's torso. My legs were shot, so I'd been worried about how to climb up—but this, being lifted high, made the hit all the easier.

I pulled the trigger.

Thunk—

Pure blue energy flared between me and the monster. It didn't look like much, but the power was incredible.

That's because, centered on where the spike struck, everything blew apart.

With output way over the limit, a shockwave tore a wide hole. What was left in the center was a huge blue crystal—what must have been Blue Eye's core.

For a moment, time seemed to stop. In that instant, nothing else existed for me but that blue gem.

Staring at it, I felt as if I could almost hear ghostly whispers. The cracks left by the impact were clear as day. I absently thought that the core's blue hue looked just like an eye.

Until I saw the surrounding bio-tissue starting to regenerate.

I didn't know how it maintained its shape even after such a blow from the impactor, but if destroyed now, it should all be over.

"Blue Eye... Now that I see it, it really fits."

I reached out and grabbed the monster's core, squeezing hard. Instantly, I felt the creature's terror—its gaze shaking with primal fear, a weak whimper trembling beneath.

Its bound arms twitched, desperate to stop me. But only for a moment—I was still faster, and I crushed the core in my hand.

Ting— With a clear crystal shattering sound, blue particles scattered all around.

It looked, for all the world, like pollen floating from a blossom in full bloom.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=One bud destroyed! Mission completed!Time to go home, miner!【٩(^ᗜ^ )و】

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