Chapter 269 ·Turning Point (32)

Turning 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󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄂Point (32)

Clang!-

A large shell casing was ejected behind the cannon and fell to the ground. As the hot casing touched the floor with a heavy sound, the heat it held began to cool in the outside temperature, and wisps of white steam slowly rose.

While the automatic reloading system prepared for the next shot, Nadia shouted.

"I'll buy us time with Carry! Don't let them get any closer if you can help it!"

Nadia didn't wait for our answer. She simply fired the reloaded cannon immediately.

Thud-boom! The powerful recoil split the ground with a sharp crack. The attitude-control thrusters kicked in, keeping the power loader from losing its balance.

A red spark momentarily ran along the surface of the power loader's armor. Fortunately, there was no malfunction. That meant the overload phenomenon's power had weakened further.

"Keep going!"

"Okay!"

We deliberately resealed all of Archive's outer gates. With the spatial encryption barrier set to maximum, it would be a real headache for them to get out.

As soon as we started to move, Nadia did as well. The mechanical giant crossed the red spark zone, which hadn't settled yet, disrupting the targeting of the armed shuttles.

The thruster's output was being finely tuned at every moment. The bombardment from the armed shuttles barely missed, sometimes just by a hair. It was extremely dangerous, but right now, we could only trust Nadia.

She was recklessly drawing their attention, but that didn't mean we could just stand still. Nadia was risking her life to block the enemy assault, so we needed to find a way through this crisis too.

'The influence of the red spark is much weaker now.'

Its negative effect on our circuits had disappeared. The pureblood supremacists surely noticed what we had. They must have sent down a shuttle to check the ground situation firsthand, so that information must have been relayed up the chain.

Though there hadn't been any further deployments yet, it should only be a matter of time. It wasn't as if they'd occupied places like Titan and everywhere else purely by luck.

So, before that happened—or even if it did—I had to secure us a quick means of transportation to avoid more damage.

'If the red spark's power has diminished, some things must be functional again.'

For example, armored personnel carriers or shuttles. Even if they were carrying monsters, that didn't matter. We just needed to kill them and take control.

I scanned the area quickly with my eyes. Others thinking the same thing were already searching too. What we were looking for were the pureblood supremacists' vehicles that had come racing toward Archive.

Any shuttles would have crash-landed mid-flight, making them unusable without repairs. But ground vehicles like armored carriers were mostly just motionless, so if we could get them started, they should work.

That was what I thought—until I realized I couldn't see anything intact, no matter how hard I looked.

"Eric, see anything?!"

"I do, but they're all wrecked! Looks like there were internal explosions!"

We had to find one as fast as possible. There was no way to get out of Archive's territory on foot. We managed to walk in because nothing but rough terrain tried to stop us before. But with this distance, we absolutely needed transportation.

Boom-thud!

The grenade cannon fired and downed an armed shuttle. Even a glancing hit from it packed so much explosive force that few things could survive without being destroyed.

A shuttle spun above our heads, trailing fire from its tail. Its remaining thruster struggled to keep it aloft, but with only one left, the shuttle couldn't stay under control.

With no landing technique, it crashed straight down, skidding across the ground as inertia flung sharp debris in all directions. The armed shuttle was soon engulfed in red flames, pouring out heat.

With the chaff grenades still affecting the area, the pureblood supremacist fleet was tied up. Their main guns were jammed up and couldn't move properly, and the thrusters' ignition was unstable. But things wouldn't stay this way forever.

"Kyle! Send out a shuttle on autopilot!"

— I can, but it'll crash right after it's launched! There are dozens of units on standby to self-destruct nearby!

"They're closing the gap! If they catch up, we'll miss our escape window!"

— Damn it! Hang on! I need to wrap it up more than I thought!

With that, Kyle cut off communications briefly. If it were truly impossible, he wouldn't even have suggested it. Right now, we had no choice but to trust him.

Things were a mess, but we had prepared more than a handful of plans before executing this operation. Surely one of them would offer a way through the current situation.

At last, while we were still in the throes of a desperate chase, the rear hatch of Albatross opened. The catapult deployed, just enough not to affect speed too much.

What was he up to? Whatever it was, the enemy obviously didn't intend to let it slide, cranking their thrusters to maximum.

Weapons blazed. Orange sparks flew frantically. Albatross's armor had been reinforced time and again, making it so thick that only scratches appeared under normal firepower.

Knowing standard firepower wouldn't suffice, the enemy raised the stakes with heavier ordinance. It hardly seemed right to call it ordinance—their "weapon" was actually their own armed shuttles.

Judging from the start, they had planned for suicide attacks, loading their shuttles with all kinds of explosives.

Kwoooooom—

An armed shuttle turned its entire body into a massive bomb. As it traced a long death tail through the air, something was loaded onto the catapult. With a pair of thunk-thunk sounds, it was launched.

It turned out to be a cargo container for storing supplies. Kyle had scattered their containers like chaff to reduce weight. Hidden among them was a shuttle.

— Getting a shuttle is the best-case scenario, but if you can't, target the containers I marked! There's an armored vehicle inside!

Now I saw it was a double feint. As the data Kyle shared was uploaded, the containers' info was listed on my suit HUD. The first prize was an armored vehicle. The second prize was scout hover bikes. As there were no empty-handed draws, grabbing any one was a win.

Albatross unleashed a barrage at the rapidly-approaching enemy shuttles. Lasers drew lines across the void, laying down covering fire, while the thudding autocannons hammered at the enemies. Explosions filled the air.

Even Griffin threw its body in to help block the suicidal shuttles. But sheer numbers made it impossible to stop them all. Eventually, an armed shuttle broke through the barrage and rammed into the shuttle we were sending down.

Even in our mad dash, everyone's eyes went to the scene—some cursed, others sighed. We saw the shuttle destroyed in a massive self-detonation.

It looked like it had survived the first explosion, but the second was too much. The enemy kept firing at the shuttle consumed by the blast, as if they'd never allow us even a chance to board it. Its split hull was shredded even further.

"After the containers!"

"Roger!"

Some containers were destroyed, but apparently, since they thought they were just smoke screens, a few survived because they weren't priority targets. Luckily, the one with the armored vehicle inside had made it.

One corner was badly crushed, but the contents were largely unharmed. While Nadia's power loader fought to buy us time, we ran with everything we had.

If we could just secure that vehicle, we could escape Archive's zone in time.

"Huh? No, don't—!"

It only lasted a moment before I cried out in alarm. The pursuing force had adjusted their thruster angles, having noticed we were after the containers.

The soldiers tried to form a barrage with their pulse rifles, and Celestia added her Linear Rifle, but the effort was haphazard at best. The firepower was enough to handle one or two, but that was all.

There were too many pureblood supremacists now focusing on new targets. With only a dozen or so on our side, our firepower was nowhere near enough.

"Nadia, we have to stop them!"

"Raaaaah—!"

With a scream that was nearly a battle cry, Nadia aimed the grenade cannon and blasted them. Her attitude thrusters worked overtime, but the instability couldn't be fully overcome and the power loader rolled along the ground.

Not sure whether we could even reach in time, I gathered my strength to give it a try. Just then, a pale hand suddenly shot out at the edge of my vision—from behind me.

It was Licorice's hand—no one else's. Wondering if she'd regained consciousness, I whirled around in a hurry. If her condition had worsened and she was having a fit, that could be a huge problem.

But what I saw was far beyond my expectations. Licorice's eyes were open. Only her eyes. She didn't look conscious at all—the ruby-red irises glowed with a light completely different from usual.

"......!"

A powerful sense of déjà vu overcame me at the sight of that light. Even before I could figure out what it meant, Licorice slowly closed her outstretched hand, as if she were grasping something.

What followed was anything but simple. Every armed shuttle attacking the containers and the shuttle was enveloped in lines of red code.

It felt as if countless scratches were being etched into the very world, and the armed shuttles began malfunctioning. Every single one in my field of view exploded.

Not a chain reaction, but a simultaneous detonation. A rain of metal fragments and wave of red flame erupted, unintentionally cloaking our position.

Jagged debris struck my force field and fell to the ground as everyone stared, stunned and flustered. Many eyes darted between me and Licorice.

No matter how urgent things were, it was obvious who'd caused the explosions. Though the silence was brief, many glances were exchanged in that short time.

To me, it was even more serious. It was just too shocking.

Red code that my mind simply could not comprehend. Crimson bones revealing the hidden structure of the world—lines buzzing with static like noise.

The power Licorice had just unleashed was like what Lobelia showed briefly before. The destructive force was on a whole different level, but aside from that, the sensation was identical.

Licorice manifested Lobelia's power and destroyed dozens of armed shuttles. I was horrified—and yet, on some level, it felt inevitable.

'... Of course. She couldn't have been ordinary.'

Licorice is a clone of Lobelia. They said high-grade materials were used, so it couldn't be an ordinary body. That was the very thing we'd always been cautious about.

Licorice's strange symptoms only grew stronger as she drew nearer to Lobelia. And once they finally met, those symptoms intensified.

It was far beyond a simple increase in hacking skills. That was just a side effect, nothing more.

Whenever Licorice forcibly injected herself with stimulants to stay conscious, I felt as if knowledge was being forcibly implanted in her mind. It had already surfaced as a nightmare.

So much data was crammed in at once—far more than a person could handle—that her brain just desperately processed it however it could, resulting in side effects like a sharp rise in body temperature.

Meeting Lobelia had apparently been a trigger for Licorice—a boundary that probably shouldn't have been crossed.

'Just drop it.'

Looking at her now-limp hand, I gritted my teeth. What could I do about it now? The trigger had already been pulled, and things were about to go south. I never lost sight of my priorities. The most important thing was to get out of here.

If we could just escape Archive, board Albatross or Griffin, and get into orbit, we could make it to Earth. With Carrot's or Myosotis's abilities, they'd surely be able to remove the suggestions placed on Licorice and disable the many safeguards Lobelia had set up. That's what I believed—what I had to believe.

'We promised to go to Earth together.'

I had no doubt that promise would become reality. So I shouted loudly:

"Recover the container! Hurry!"

At my call, the soldiers rushed toward the container. Instead of unlocking its lock, they smashed it open.

The armored vehicle was there. Kyle had somehow crammed two hover bikes in as well. But, maybe due to the blast, the armored vehicle had landed at an angle and was tipped over.

"Move!"

At a glance inside, I immediately drew forth my power. My telekinesis manifested, pulling the armored vehicle and the other transports outside. My control wasn't delicate— the armored vehicle's hatch scraped against the container floor, but nothing broke, and that was enough.

"Vehicle control secured! Board now!"

An invisible hand gave the armored vehicle a push, setting its wheels on the ground just as Eric quickly opened the cargo hold door.

We split up: some to the driver's seat and shotgun, some in the cargo area, some on the hover bikes. With all the armed shuttles pursuing us blown up, the unintended smokescreen would surely be visible even from the distant fleet.

I didn't think these were all the forces they'd send. The orbital bombardment wouldn't last forever, and as soon as it stopped, they'd send another unit.

These fanatics were out for blood and would never give up so easily. Unless we died, they wouldn't stop the chase.

"Engine status green! We're good to go!"

"Please start...!"

Just as we started the engine, preparing to bolt, Myosotis's engineer, eyes glued to the scanner, drew a deep breath—then yelped in agitation.

"Gravitational fluctuation detected!"

"What?!"

There wasn't even time to ask what that meant. With a deep rumble, the armored vehicle seemed to lift slightly off the ground, and outside the ballistic glass I saw the red spark streak upward into the sky like a lightning bolt.

"Underground! There's a high-energy reaction detected below! It's matching the pattern of the Maker, the entity we destroyed with a nuke!"

Could the Maker have survived the nuclear reaction? That thought flashed through my mind but was soon dismissed. I'd instinctively known the thing was gone. At least when it came to the death of mutants, my instincts never missed.

In that case, what was this entity we were detecting now? Had they resurrected the Maker somehow? Either way, it was bad news.

Through the shattered ice floor, the movement of a great body splitting and pushing aside the ground was visible. We all turned pale at the sight.

"Son of a...!"

"It's working! The engine's started!"

"Then step on it!"

The soldier in the driver's seat slammed the accelerator like he wanted to break it. The wheels began to spin wildly, hovering in the air for a moment until a gravitational shift put them back on solid ground.

We were thrown back by the jolt as the armored vehicle surged ahead, bumpy and jarring.

VROOOOOOM—! As the engine's full output kicked in, the vehicle rocketed forward.

BOOOOOM—!

The earth exploded beneath us, like a volcano erupting. Out of that burst came the Ragged One.

A mutant with flesh and machine parts haphazardly stuck together. It had clearly recognized us. The patchwork monster opened its mouth wide and let out a monstrous howl. Its broken, blender-like teeth each looked uniquely grotesque.

「KRRRRAAAAAGGGH!」

As I watched the giant entity sucking in energy from its surroundings, I realized instinctively that this thing was the very cause behind the disappearance of the overload phenomena inside Archive's zone.

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