First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 8
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
Please note that this is a super slaughter?TIME.
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(Alpha 3 POV)
“Captainnnnnnnnnnnn!!”
At the sight of the captain collapsing in front of him, a shriek escaped from my lips.
The discomfort in my head had returned to its original itchy feeling.
“Damn, where the hell did that come from!”
“The sound of wind slicing… and something reflecting…! Let’s hurry up and get out of here! It is most likely a sniper! The direction is possibly 11 o’clock!”
“Even if you said to leave here, where are we even supposed to go!?”
“I spot a shadow of a structure at 3 o’clock! Let’s head there first!”
“Damn it! I’ll never forgive anyone for what they did to captain!”
With my comrades leading the way, I started making a run towards the shadow of the building.
And there, the discomfort struck once more.
“! What the hell…?”
By the time I said that, the gravity of the situation had already settled on the scene of Alpha 4 being toppled over into the swamp and having his chest impaled by a gigantic bug.
Despite this, my discomfort has not subsided.
“You son of a b*tch!”
Alpha 5 readied his gun and was about to fire at the giant bug.
The wolves, on the other hand, were gnawing at every part of Alpha 5 at the moment. It was evident that the wound was deadly.
“Alpha 2, Alpha 3, escape!”
“Understood!”
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Hence, the only thing I could do was to run anyway to elude the discomfort in my head.
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I wonder how long I have been fleeing. I estimate we have been running for at least 10 minutes.
Alpha 6 and I had made our way to a house we had stumbled across. While we were escaping, Alpha 2 strayed away from us.
“Hah, what the hell is this place!”
“Don’t make a fuss… What if they are on to us?”
I hastily glanced around after hearing that. However, there was no sign of discomfort… no, that discomfort within me was likely a sign of those creatures’ presence.
“What are we going to do now…?”
“Do you think we have any hope of prevailing in a proper combat with them…?”
“It’s impossible… even I can tell that much.”
“Then we’ll just have to sneak away to the entrance without them discovering us…”
“Without knowing the distance and direction…?”
“No, if the location of the house hasn’t shifted, I can figure out the general direction from the address of this house.”
“That’s a relief.”
There appeared to be a glimmer of optimism now. Even if we still lacked a defense against those threats, if we can make it to the entrance, things will most likely wind up out well. My respiration has returned to normal. Our gears should be sufficient to handle the circumstances.
“Let’s move, Alpha 6. Strike while the iron is hot.”
“Yes, Alpha 3, but I don’t think that’s the correct phrase to use in this situation.”
Alpha 6 and I rose to our feet and searched the house for the address of this house. Once it dawned on us which direction to take, it also became crystal clear that we were already more than a kilometer away from the entrance.
“Then all that matters is time.”
“By the time we reach the entrance, even an hour would have passed.”
“Well then…”
“Yeah… the two of us shall initiate our own private retreat.”
Both of us then dashed out of the house and began to bolt in the direction of our destination…
But the next thing I knew, Alpha 6 was being dumped into a black swamp by a swarm of small child-like creatures of a different hue than those around him, and he was reduced to a dried-up corpse in the blink of an eye.
That discomfort crept back into my consciousness.
These “somethings” had apparently chosen Alpha 6 as their initial target and had paid no attention to me. That was probably the reason I didn’t encounter the same discomfort.
“What the hell…?”
While cackling, these “somethings” drew closer to me. They seemed to resemble children who take delight in crushing ants to me.
And with no sense of direction or anything else, I began to flee with all my energy.
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To me, everything was already a jumble. The only certainty I had was that all of Alpha Squad members were dead apart from me, and my immediate fear was that if I made a wrong move, I will soon join them as a corpse in a heartbeat.
All I could do at this juncture was run as fast as I could to avoid the discomfort.
I had drifted into a forest of eerie trees and a mixture of plants and concrete before even realizing it. It was a scene I had seen from time to time in this labyrinth. If I was to characterize this landscape succinctly, I would call it a concrete-sculpted mangrove forest.
As I advanced through the mangrove forest, I mumbled to myself, “Where is this place…?”
I vaguely spotted the airlock-like entrance door as I was ready to pass through the mangrove forest.
My heart was bursting at the seams with exaltation, ready to flee the labyrinth at once.
Yet, at that instant, a far deeper sensation of discomfort than I have ever experienced before washed over me, prompting me to turn around and look back.
“This… this can’t be right…”
Simultaneously with the searing impact on my body, what I witnessed were red eyes glowing in the cave and an arm formed of wood puncturing through my body. Then there was Alpha 2, speared into the top of the tree like a butcher-bird prey impaled for later consumption.
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(Kurokiri POV)
“Game over, well, this is what happens for the first-timers, isn’t it?”
I was watching the last image of Alpha Squad projected on a screen in a private room supplied by the labyrinth, which was the boss’ room from the intruder’s point of view.
[All except one were annihilated by surprise? That’s impressive.]
“But, well, the benefit of status is enormous, isn’t it? I could lift one person up and send them smashing into a tree.”
This time, I left the boss’ room and participated in the battle line for the sake of getting accustomed to the situation.
As a consequence, the man known as Alpha 2 died, and none of his attacks were effective against me. Well, that was bound to happen since my body was composed of mist.