When the invisible force field pushed Jack back, it made a kind of light, yet bubbly sound. It was as if Jack had thrown himself into an elastic wall and was bounced back. Besides the shock of being thrown back so suddenly he was fine.
His grimace, however, was extremely ugly. Clearly there was no information about Jessie gaining access at the same time as Nero and the rest. Although that did not automatically mean she was an enemy, Jack did not think trust her at all.
Arter also frowned, but did not do anything drastic. He still believed that since she had been selected by his family, she was on his side.
But before the situation could develop further, the force field made the same sound. For a moment Nero felt like Vanessa had returned, possibly to taunt Jack, most likely because she had immediately encountered some kind of unexpected obstacle.
But none of those proved true. He only caught a glimpse of slimy tentacles as the figure blurred past him and fell onto Jack. The poor guy was caught completely unaware and was squished.
For those who hadn't caught on to what had happened, the ear-piercing scream of the wretched monster was warning enough. Even the fog did not fade that things sound.
The problem, though, was that unless the enemy was right in front of them, no one could see it.
Nero did not hesitate to stab directly above Jack, the tip of his spear burning with a blue flame, and felt it pierce into something before getting stuck. He could not push it forward, nor could he pull it out. It was as if whatever he had stabbed into was holding onto his spear as well.
He felt a vibration carry through his spear, and for the first time since he was deployed, Nero let go of his spear completely and jumped back, just in time to catch the sight of a slimy tentacle shooting above his spear, almost hitting him.
Although the tentacle was thin and flexible, Nero got the distinct feeling that it would have torn a hole directly through his chest!
Something in that moment told him that if he had hesitated even the slightest bit, he'd be dead.
Arter swung his electric blade, while Maximilian and Gabrial attacked the creature as well.
"It's very strong…" Nero had barely been able to say when he was interrupted by an explosion, the shockwave throwing him off his feet.
Before he even landed Nero covered himself in flames as self protection, and the moment he was able to, he drew the dagger he had strapped to his leg. Yet in the fog, surrounded by countless unseen enemies, he did not dare move recklessly.
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Indeed, there was no longer just the monster that had attacked Jack. He could not see the enemies, but he could see the countless soldiers who had escorted him all either fighting, being flung around, or disappearing from view, meaning that they were dead.
"The four of you, don't fight!" Jack said, kneeling on the ground a short distance away. Somehow, he had managed to push the creature away from himself, but Nero hadn't seen how. He was also bleeding profusely, not only from a massive hole in his chest, but from a cut in his neck as well. One of his arms was also bent the wrong way.
A single glance was all it took for Nero to know that the man wasn't going to make it.
"Take the bomb and complete your mission. Leave the rest to us."
Nero looked aside and saw that the other four had also been knocked back from the blast, whatever it was.
Nero clenched his fist. He was witnessing a deadly ambush, and from how quickly all the soldiers were dying he could tell that the enemy had some kind of advantage they didn't. Maybe the fog didn't block their senses the same way. Regardless, this was one of the worst defeats Nero had suffered.
Though he was lucky to still be alive, the fact that he had to abandon his spear to save his life stung his budding pride.
Though filled with frustration, Nero did not hesitate. He rolled to the side, just in time to avoid another projectile. He had learned something.
Though he could not hear, it appeared like he could not see anything, in actuality he could see the fog. While the fog appeared like it was nothing but a white canvas in front of it, in truth it was like a gas, and moved like it too. Though he could not see the things the fog hid, Nero could see the fog moving.
It was a barely perceptible difference, but he could use it to detect anything coming towards him in the fog.
"Let's go!" he roared as he grabbed Gabriel by the collar and pulled him back towards the highly secured zone. Gabriel seemed like he had sprained his ankle in the explosion, so Nero had to drag him.
Arter and Maximilian wore expressions worse than even Nero. After all, it felt like they were retreating from a fight. Compared to Nero, who was prideful in how much he had grown, they carried the pride of belonging to prominent backgrounds. It was a lot harder for them to put their pride aside, but they had to.
The moment all of them went through the entrance of the secured zone and disappeared from view, Jack coughed out some blood, becoming even more pale.
"I'm issuing new orders," he said weakly, though his words were heard by everyone. "Protect Shirly and retreat."
Jack had only just finished his words when his left eye popped out of his skull, and behind it, from his eye socket, emerged a small tentacle.
Jack fell limp, though he was far from dead. His body trembled from pain as more and more tentacles emerged from his body, eventually covering his entire body. A large figure appeared in front of him, holding Nero's spear.
Inside the secure zone, Nero was taken by surprise at what he saw - because he could actually see things!
There was not a single trace of fog in here, all of it magically being kept out by the same barrier that stopped Jack and the monster from entering.
Arter and Maximilian were just as surprised when they came in, gaping at what they saw. After all, it was not just the absence of the fog that made this place unique. No, this place looked entirely different from the rest of the research facility, because it strongly resembled research labs and facilities in Kolar!
All the machines had visible terminals that could be used, and in fact looked eerily similar even in design to the machines they used. If anything, everything here just looked like an upgraded version of the computers used in Kolar.
A sudden thud behind them woke them all from their reverie, and they turned around to the sight of a dark berserker trying to enter behind them, but it was pushed back by the barrier effortlessly.
But the creature tried again, or perhaps it was a different one, but none of them were successful.
"We need to find the security node," Nero said.
"Where's Jessie?" Maximilian asked, looking around the room. He looked warily at Arter, since he had declared that she had been vetted by his family, but Arter kept his mouth shut.
"It doesn't matter," Nero said. "As long as she doesn't get in our way, where she is has nothing to do with us. From the look of things, we might not need the bomb to turn the security node off."
Nero approached the nearest computer and clicked a few buttons, hoping to turn it on. Instead, he activated some kind of mechanism.
"Please place your hand on the scanner to confirm your identity before using any of the machinery," a polite, feminine voice spoke out of a speaker in the corner of the room. At the same time, a hand-shaped scanner lit up on a wall near the entrance.
Just as Nero was about to go towards it, he noticed something. Gabriel, very subtly, gave him a sign to stop.
He finished using some card on his ankle, allowing him to temporarily use it like it wasn't hurt before he stood up and cracked his neck.
"Gentlemen, we find ourselves in a peculiar predicament," he said slowly as he walked towards Nero, and away from them.
"I'm sure I don't need to tell you what this place is, right Arter?" Gabriel asked, his voice slow and accusing. Yet Arter did not respond. Instead, his gaze was locked on the scanner. Much like Nero, Maximilian did not know what Gabriel was talking about, but he did not fail to notice how Gabriel had put a distance between himself and Arter.
Slowly, he too took a step back, and drew a dagger as well. Like Nero, he had also lost his primary weapon, but that didn't mean he was defenceless.
But first he needed to understand what was going on.