The massive body of the King of Flies, having lost its wings and lift, began to fall.
In an instant, its altitude dropped. Even amidst this, new flies continued to spill out from behind it, frantically forming a new infinite swarm.
Bang! Bang!
Damien fired shots at these flies, shouting,
"Over there! New flies are coming out from that spot!"
The King of Flies's back had several small passages from which new flies were emerging.
Those passages must be the source of the new flies.
'We need to eliminate them to completely smash the King of Flies to the ground!'
I stretched out my hand forward and shouted, "Charge! Smash into them-!"
Whoosh!
At my command, Geronimo accelerated further, flying towards the King of Flies's main body.
Dearmudin and Damien, still half protruding from the hatch, prepared for another attack.
"Make way...!"
"We will clear it-!"
Dearmudin unleashed another burst of flame magic towards where Geronimo's bow was heading, and Damien spared no magical power in shooting consecutive magical bullets.
The magic bullets pierced through the tattered outer walls, creating holes, and Geronimo's bow directly collided with the weakened walls.
Crash-!
The front half of Geronimo's elongated body successfully penetrated the King of Flies's back and entered inside.
"Having escaped with such difficulty only to re-enter, and into a much higher level, damn...!"
Kellison grumbled but started to repair the damaged devices on Geronimo during the entry.
The airship's devices, heavily damaged by the intense movements, were lit up with red lights.
I quickly signaled to my subordinates.
"Damien, stay and take care of the monsters attacking the airship!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"Kellibey and Kellison, the repair team and crew will stay to fix Geronimo and defend the ship, everyone else, disembark! Let's go!"
The first to jump out was Bodyback.
Bodyback had rushed out first to install armored covers for our allies to use as shields.
However,
"Bodyback! Dodge!"
"Huh? Ack...?!"
It seemed she hadn't expected a monster to be right in front of the hatch.
A mutated fly that had been waiting right in front of the hatch violently swung its forelimb, and Bodyback couldn't dodge it.
Instead, Burnout rushed in, grabbed Bodyback, and rolled to the side.
Thud!
Blood splattered. Burnout's side was deeply slashed.
"...!"
"Burnout?!"
Unable to speak, Burnout bit down on her gag in pain.
Bodyback, with a pale face, pressed down on the wound to stop the bleeding, and Zenis, who had run down after, sprinkled healing magic for first aid.
"This damn bug!"
I used [Gaze of Command] towards the rampaging mutated fly.
"Stay still, you filthy creature-!"
Crack!
The [Gaze of Command] took effect, and as the creature momentarily froze, the other heroes poured their attacks on it and finished it off.
"Huff, huff..."
I looked back. Zenis was wrapping the wound with a bandage after administering healing magic, but blood was still seeping out of Burnout's abdomen. It was clearly not a minor injury.
"Sorry, Burnout. I'm sorry. It's my fault..."
Bodyback continued to apologize, not knowing what to do.
I clenched my teeth. To have casualties as soon as we enter, and it's Burnout, the one responsible for firepower. Damn...
"...We don't have time. We proceed with the remaining members."
"Yes, my lord."
We cautiously surveyed our surroundings.
The interior of the level we had entered was a wide corridor leading to a huge door.
And in front of that massive door, mutated fly monsters were lined up horizontally, ready to block our path.
"Damn, it really never ends...!"
"My lord!"
Lucas nodded at me, and I reluctantly took out an Excannibal from my inventory and threw it to Lucas.
With smooth movements, Lucas drew a magic sword in his left hand and a light sword in his right.
Swoosh-!
Lucas, transformed back into a dual-wielding swordsman, led the charge with a sharp gaze. The rest followed him.
The mutated flies put up a fierce resistance, but Lucas's force was several levels higher.
"Haah-!"
The crimson trail of the magic sword tore through barriers, and the subsequent strikes of light cleaved the bugs in two.
Due to the lack of time, Lucas pressed on more aggressively than before, clearing the way to the door in no time.
While the rest of the party members took down the remaining monsters with a concerted attack, I pointed at the firmly shut black door and ordered,
"Nobody! Break through-!"
"Why do you always make me do this kind of thing-?!"
Despite his words, Nobody faithfully followed my command. A short sword was drawn from the blind swordsman's waistband, sparking as it was drawn.
Zzzzak!
The short sword drew a long Z-shaped trajectory, and the thick door crumbled, opening inward.
We rushed in and all lost our words.
Bubble bubble bubble...
How should I describe this place?
Perhaps it's similar to the spawning pool found in a classic game?
Inside the dark body of the King of Flies, unidentified jellies were bubbling in green. Growth accelerants? Evolution enhancers? What is this?
To call it simply a hatchery would be an understatement; it seemed like a concentration of technologies unique to this lifeform that I was unaware of.
This alien facility was almost artistic in its own way.
Despite having destroyed quite a few eggs before, there were still a tremendous amount of eggs piled up here...
And more importantly, the pupae.
Nearly fully metamorphosed adult flies were wriggling in their pupae, trying to lift their bodies.
At first glance, the number was enormous, and they seemed ready to burst out at any moment.
If all these were mutated flies or even their superior species.
For us... no, for Crossroad, there is no chance of winning.
"We must destroy everything here..."
As I spoke and turned around, I belatedly realized our situation.
We don't have the power.
The magicians had long run out of magic power.
Burnout, who was severely injured and had long run out of arrows, was being supported by Bodyback and Zenis who had followed belatedly.
The other heroes were also severely depleted, and we didn't have the means to destroy the entire hatchery.
"The remaining explosives on Geronimo are..."
Junior shook her head at my words.
Due to spending ammunition liberally to shoot down the monsters that attacked us while we were chasing the King of Flies, there was hardly any explosives left on Geronimo.
Above all, it was impossible to destroy the entire hatchery, which was so vast.
Crackle, crackle...
The sound of pupa shells tearing apart echoed throughout the hatchery.
Sensing the intruders, the flies hurriedly completed their metamorphosis and began to stick their heads out one by one.
At the same time, the eggs also broke, and swarms of maggots started to crawl out towards us.
There's no time. If we don't do something now, the mutated flies will complete their transformation, and we will be annihilated here, leading to the downfall of Crossroad... and even the world.
But there was no way out.
At this moment, when I was frozen, not knowing what to do, Dearmudin stepped forward.
"Huhu, it seems it's time for the elder to step in."
"Dearmudin?"
"Everyone, get out quickly. If I sacrifice my life with my flame, somehow..."
Dearmudin was about to say something heroic with a determined expression. That's when it happened.
Click. Clank.
A sound of something being unlocked came from the side, followed by a long sigh.
"...Step back, old man. Your firepower is insufficient."
When everyone looked in that direction, it was Burnout.
Holding one side of her bleeding flank with one hand, and with the other, she had removed the gag from her mouth.
Burnout looked around at us with a blank stare and suddenly spoke.
"I knew this day would come."
Everyone was surprised by the voice they heard for the first time. It was unexpectedly thin and beautiful, almost like a soprano's tone.
I blinked.
"Burnout? Oh, so you can speak well?"
"My mouth has always been itching. Every time I saw your foolishness, I boiled with the urge to say something."
With a pale face drained of blood, Burnout smirked.
"I hated you all."
"..."
"You're naive and too kind. It always frustrated me. Why do you all live taking losses... It was annoying."
Sssss...
Somewhere, the sound of a fuse being lit echoed.
"Good people always end up losing. That's why I hated this city."
"...Burnout."
"Everyone is too kind. It's annoying..."
Flames started to emerge from Burnout's fingertips and toes.
Like the flame traveling down a fuse, the fire slowly moved from the extremities of Burnout's body towards her heart.
"I've already triggered a magic power overload. Once it's activated, it can't be stopped. In a minute, I'll explode."
"...!"
"If you don't want to die caught in it, scram."
Then Burnout started to walk toward the center of the hatchery on her own.
"You don't need to feel guilty. I'm severely injured anyway. Born with this kind of magic power, the end is nothing but an explosion. I'm just seeking relief a bit earlier."
"No, Burnout, please...!"
Bodyback, with a trembling voice, clung to her and tried to dissuade her, but Burnout shook off her arm and continued walking.
"45 seconds left. You're not leaving? Want to die together?"
Burnout, already burned gray up to her elbows and calves, muttered annoyingly.
"..."
Is this the only way?
Is there truly no other way?
Because of my inadequacy...
Clutching my fist and swallowing hard, I barely said,
"...Burnout."
"What."
"So, we... liked you too."
"..."
Burnout did not respond.
I clenched my teeth and waved my hand. Everyone gave a final bow or salute to Burnout, then turned around and started running.
"Ah..."
Dearmudin raised his hand towards the departing Burnout, then clenched his fist and lowered his arm.
And then he turned and ran.
Lastly, Bodyback.
Standing in place with tear-filled eyes looking at Burnout, she tried to step towards her without leaving.
"Burnout, I'll go with..."
"Bodyback."
Without even turning around, Burnout spoke as if she knew it would happen.
"Live. Until the end."
"..."
"Prove that Shadow Squad existed on this battlefield, by you."
Burnout whispered with flames flickering at her lips.
"Please."
"..."
Tears uncontrollably flowed from Bodyback's eyes. I gently grasped Bodyback's shoulder.
We turned and ran.
We couldn't let Burnout's sacrifice be in vain by hesitating.
To survive, we ran desperately.
Geronimo was in tatters, dealing with monsters charging from the outside.
The crew, holding the magic guns Damien had distributed, fired and shouted upon seeing me.
"His Highness has arrived!"
As soon as Bodyback and I entered the hatch, I slammed the wall switch to close the hatch, then shouted towards the cockpit.
"Deploy the barrier!"
"What?!"
"Now! Deploy the barrier-!"
Realizing it was an emergency, Kellibey clenched her teeth and smashed the barrier activation button with her fist.
Ziiiing!
The barrier was hurriedly raised, and the next moment,
Boom-!
A massive explosion erupted from within the King of Flies's body.
--TL Notes--
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