Inside, the Nosferatu, including the heavy-duty types, were swarming and it was quite a hellish scene.
“YAAAAAAAHH!!”
Letting out a cry like a monstrous bird—this way gets me pumped—I transformed my drawn sword into a slashing motion, cleaving through the enemies with a fierce strike and unleashing my blade like a violent storm as I took them down one after another.
My physical strength, being on a different scale than the old-world standard type B cybernetic bodies, meant that when I swung my sword with all my might and skill, the enemies would be cleaved in two with a significant delay, without even the sound of wind being produced.
It seemed like the key unit was located in the head, and destroying the head or severing it from the torso caused them to stop moving, which was quite convenient. Conversely, it seemed that they felt no pain, as severing their limbs had little effect, making it challenging to achieve a one-hit kill… but it was exhilarating.
Swinging the sword really makes me feel the most “alive.” VR is fine, but sometimes it’s nice to let the capabilities of the cybernetic body run wild. If I had a type A cybernetic body, I could execute even more astonishing and colorful motions, but even with a type B, it’s more than sufficient.
[Wow, the companion of a god is incredible…]
[The chief is scaryyy…]
The time it took to slice through the thirty or so Nosferatu swarming the corridor was just a little over twenty-five seconds. Thanks to the tiny mechanical groups with water-repellent functions, I wasn’t covered in blood, but I still used my left hand to slap my wrist and wipe away the residual blood before sheathing my sword.
This isn’t just for show; it’s an important routine.
As I carefully sheathed my sword while waiting for the sharpeners inside to restore the mono-atomic molecules, footsteps echoed from the other end of the corridor in a multi-layered rhythm.
“Forward!”
[Prepare to fire!]
[Release safety devices!!]
My squad deployed to either side of me, and as enemies rounded the corner, we unleashed a barrage from our coil guns. Thanks to the exoskeleton, our shooting accuracy was excellent, and the enemies fell like puppets whose strings had been cut, while the bullets aimed at us either missed entirely or were blocked by additional armor, sparking uselessly.
[All clear! Cover!]
[There’s a lot of them, damn it!!]
The point man from the Sylvanian advanced cautiously, with Tech Gob riflemen covering him. Upon reaching the corner, Peter took out a grenade and tossed it in while crouching down and covering his ears.
This was a regular fragmentation grenade without OQ explosives. The grenade exploded in the midst of the reinforcements, shattering the casing into countless metal fragments as it raged through, creating a storm of steel that swept everything away on the other side of the corridor. The armored Nosferatu were sliced apart in the vulnerable areas, rendered ineffective by the reflected steel.
[Clear!!]
One of the Sylvanians pointed with his pinky finger across the corridor and then shouted “Safe.” There was a small visual sensor embedded there, which was connected to a sub-monitor on the display. It was safer than inserting a mirror and provided a wide view, which is why it was a standard option equipped on all exoskeletons.
The corners are always the most dangerous, after all. The equipment in those areas has become increasingly refined over the years.
Well, if I had a type B exoskeleton, a dedicated reconnaissance drone would be equipped—one about the size of a ping pong ball with dragonfly-like wings—so there would be no need to take the risk of getting my fingers blown off.
“Resume advance. Don’t forget to finish off any dying ones.”
Fearing a last gasp, I stabbed my bayonet into one while ensuring it was truly dead and advanced down the corridor. Just two more corners to go when heavy footsteps echoed.
This… is different from the standard security drones. Unlike the regular “meat shields,” they are designed to weigh a total of 300 kg for usability on board ships, so they wouldn’t produce footsteps this heavy. Calculation using auditory sensors and my neural interface suggested that they had to weigh at least 500 kg to yield such sounds.
With a thud, something heavy clawed around the corner of the corridor.
The point men reflexively opened fire, but the sharp claws deflected the bullets, not even spilling any. The thick flesh seemed to absorb the impact, causing bullets to embed within, only to be casually dislodged by the force of the shock.
Then, the creature’s front appeared…
“Crouch!!”
[Whaaa!?]
[That was close!!]
I felt no particular emotion and without hesitation unleashed the “Holy Lance” to obliterate it.
Well, I felt a bit sorry that it seemed to be trying to give off a boss vibe, but the safety of my comrades was far more important.
After all, I had powerful weapons at my disposal, so it would be foolish not to use them, right? My mission was set to ensure that everyone returned safely, so of course I would use whatever I could.
But it was huge. Standing at about 3.5 m even when crouching in the wide corridor, the massive body was layered with muscle, akin to a powerful biological armor, likely filled with some form of shock absorber under the skin, as it had absorbed the bullet impacts entirely.
If we had gotten into a fair fistfight, we would have incurred significant losses.
[Nozomu-sama! Please warn us before you shoot!!]
[This “Holy Lance” only affects what’s in front, so it’s fine.]
As I was scolded by Peter, I moved my sub-arm to return the Holy Lance to my back and tested the large Nosferatu by kicking it with my toes. The thick mass felt like kicking the tires of a super-sized rover, making me glad that I had attacked first due to its density.
A railgun fired in strong mode or a mono-atomic molecule blade could cut through it, but anything else would struggle against its strength.
But why weren’t they mass-producing this guy? It would have been better for the Magius Geanaite if they had a hundred of these rather than creating so many weaker troops. If they had a three-dimensional molding machine capable of producing tens of thousands of Nosferatu, they could cultivate endless of these giants.
From what I had gathered, this “Valley of Death” had been a threat since the founding of the Canopy Holy Capital, so they must have had plenty of time to create it.
Or is there some reason not to?
“Captain, there is an attack on the foam wall behind us.”
“Whoops, no time to be lost in thought.”
I had wasted about two seconds of base-real-world time. I signaled to advance and stepped over the corpses toward the Central Control Room.
Since the code was already broken, I intended to use a breach bomb to blow open the door. However, I was met with a counterattack from within.
It was a fixed security coil gun. Surprised to find it still operational, I shoved the barrel into the hole and blasted it with my railgun. Once I neutralized the defense system set up according to standard model arrangements, I crawled through the blasted hole and entered the Central Control Room.
Inside, I found two corpses and one abomination.
The bodies belonged to mechanized humans, the type A cybernetic body having decayed to the point of being evidently dead. The casing of the number series self-consciousness entity that it had embraced was also eroded with age, and it had met its end.
According to IFF automatically displaying AR tags, the female body was that of Nakai Shizuka, the officer in charge of this management hub, and the one she embraced was Mishurine 22410. Both had been caught in a communication bandwidth pollution and presumably perished in each other’s arms just before going mad.
And there, clinging to a console just behind them, was the “Corrupted Male Deity” from before, which I had also seen with the “Tiamat 25.”
Here it was again on the two-thousandth year; this time, I would crush it once and for all.
“Selene, prepare for electronic warfare.”
“Command efficiency will temporarily drop.”
“I don’t mind; Ridelberdy will handle it well. The formation is solid, and they’ll be just as busy responding to the rioting in their guts as we are.”
I lowered the computing device hung on my left sub-arm and deployed it.
This time, it would be fine; it wouldn’t break just from being connected.
After all, this one is special.
It’s a pseudo-quantum computer equipped with a linked ultra-raw photon crystal, having gone through the transcription of data called the “Crystal of the Fallen Hero,” gifted from the Tech Gob.
By their customs, the deceased are returned to the Great Mother to be reborn anew, using the photon crystals. But it is a one-time use; once it’s done, they are shattered and scattered across the land.
When they suggested wanting to give the fallen hero another chance to shine as I was sending them off in their own burial ceremony, the tribal chiefs gladly brought me the finished crystals. They supplied me with thirty photon crystals claimed to belong to a certain hero who had become active over a hundred years ago, along with the orally transmitted adventure tales that went with them.
We gratefully linked them while ensuring that the data memory areas were not damaged, reconstructing the core of the computer with it.
Originally, these crystals did not house any soul. They served as a shell carrying memory and genetic data with innate secondary neural capabilities. Yet, understanding their reverence towards this, I used them with care.
Each pseudo-quantum computer was produced by linking about ten pieces of photon crystals—though it couldn’t be perfect—allowing it to have about 15% of Selene’s processing power, functioning as a powerful auxiliary brain.
I connected the wiring, synchronizing the calculations and building a pseudo-protocol to operate three computers as one CPU. While bringing up the OS control software that Selene painstakingly developed in my neural network, I extended the cables from my neck for direct connection.
Wow, the amount of information is incredible. It was my first time possessing a secondary brain, so I hadn’t known that having a pseudo-neural system within your body apart from your own brain would be like this.
No wonder the aptitude tests are strict, and regular officials seldom use it. Just staying afloat with this information volume is overwhelming, and the computational speed of the brain shell skyrocketed, creating heat that couldn’t be dissipated.
“Hot.”
[Chief!? Are you serious about taking off your armor on the battlefield!?]
[It’s better than being steamed.]
I removed the sealed helmet and ruffled my hair to let out some airflow for cooling. I connected the codes to both additional terminals on my neck; preparation complete.
Right now, I’m like a small data fortress. My computation speed has exceeded three times the normal rate. While a professional electronic warfare officer would scoff at it, there’s no way I’m going to die easily.
“On the count of three, we’ll connect directly.”
“Understood. Electronic warfare support is ready. Don’t forget the lag with the field.”
“A synchronization error of 6.2%—damn, it’s like trying to lead a shotgun shot 2 km away.”
“But you can do it, right? You haven’t forgotten those all-nighters spent in VR during your student days.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll show you. Three…”
I established the data link with Selene. Because we were at a distance, and with multiple relays in between, there was about a ten-second communication lag. Damn, light is still slow. I wish I had a quantum communicator.
“The shield is direct. The mental barrier is deployed, and please be mindful of areas thirteen to twenty-five, which will be detached as decoys.”
“I’ll do it. Just keep the first three and the final barrier safe. Two…”
Once again, I’m directly connected; I’m on offense while the reliable partner Selene handles defense. If I start getting anxious and cowardly now, it would ruin my reputation as a man.
After all, unlike last time, I have the remnants of thirty Tech Gob warriors backing me up. Surely their divine protection will safeguard me alongside the three exultant saints.
“As with last time, please don’t expect much from the offensive and decoy barriers. They will come to burn us with mere verbal dialogue instead of viruses or hacks.”
“I get it, I get it. I’m not that forgetful…”
While smiling wryly at my anxious partner, I let the terminal touch the abomination, which resembled a bloated corpse. Last time it was through “Tiamat 25,” but this time, there would be no intermediaries; it was a direct link. I wondered just how much information would flood in, and felt scared. If I were still a type B, I would have probably been trembling.
“One, commencing direct connection.”
“E-War support starting now.”
Alright, who are you, and where do you come from?…
【Planetary Exploration Addendum】 The Tech Gob can reproduce not only through physical contact but also with genetic samples supplied through the “Great Mother.” They firmly believe that this is part of a cycle of souls returning to the Great Mother and being reborn again, continually striving to refine excellent genes.
I sincerely apologize. I overslept magnificently.
I plan to update again tomorrow at around 15:00.
