Nadeshiko's scream, distorted by absolute terror, pierced Shen Kai's eardrums like a sharp ice pick. It violently dragged him back from the collapsing abyss of his mind and into reality.
He gasped for air as his vision refocused.
He saw the screen on Nadeshiko's wrist-mounted scanner flashing frantically with a blood-red warning that read,
"EXTREME DANGER — IMMEDIATE EVASION RECOMMENDED,"
and emitting a deafening, highest-level threat alarm.
Almost simultaneously, the seemingly solid cliff face directly in front of them—the one Shen Kai had been staring at—suddenly emitted a grating sound,
"crack-crack"
like bones being crushed inch by inch.
Countless slick, black vines as thick as a child's arm, glistening with an oily black light, burst from the crevices of the hard rock and tore the stone structure apart. The next second, with a terrifying, earth-shattering roar, huge sections of the rock wall collapsed and tumbled down.
A bottomless, irregular cavern, at least twenty meters in diameter, appeared before them.
The cave emanated a putrid, bloody stench so thick it was nauseating, along with an ominous, flickering, purplish-black energy glow.
In Shen Kai's field of vision, the "color" of the cave was so foul, chaotic, and malevolent that it seemed to connect directly to the deepest nightmare of the universe.
"ROAR—!!!!!!"
A terrifying roar, neither human nor beast, blending the death wails of thousands of creatures, erupted from the depths of the dark cave like a shockwave of destruction.
Then, a massive, twisted, horrifying shadow slowly squeezed its way out of the cave's dark entrance, which resembled an entrance to hell.
It was a monster that defied all comprehension.
A horrifying "Aggregation," massive enough to rival a small mountain, was forcibly fused from countless incomplete human and mutated animal limbs, some of which were still twitching. Large amounts of twisted, deformed metal armor plates and innumerable low-quality "iridescence" energy crystals, which shone with a murky, ominous light, were mixed in. All of these were held together by a viscous, tar-like biomass that was constantly writhing and churning.
Countless human faces, contorted by agony and terror, continually emerged and sank back into its massive surface. Black tears of blood flowed from their hollow eye sockets, and their mouths opened and closed silently, emitting a spiritual wail that pierced eardrums and burrowed into the depths of souls.
Shen Kai could "see" that the residual "colors" on their faces were filled with endless pain and venomous resentment. At the core of the Aggregation was a giant "Turbid-Color Core," as large as a millstone, which radiated an incredibly dense, ominous, purplish-black light and pulsed greedily and malevolently like a heart.
"It's the 'Wailing Aggregation' recorded in the Federation archives!"
For the first time, Captain Gestalt's voice carried a trace of disbelieving hoarseness and a deep, instinctual fear.
Calamity-Tier!
Ryan was already pale with fright from the hellish scene before him; the rifle in his trembling hands felt as heavy as lead. Nadeshiko clamped her hands tightly over her mouth to stop herself from making a sound. However, the tears streaming down her face blurred her vision.
"Listen up!"
Gestalt's voice was hoarse and strained from forcing down his fear.
"We absolutely cannot fight it head-on!"
"Nadeshiko, send a top-priority distress signal immediately to 'Worker Bee Six' and Federation Command!"
"Ryan! Use every weapon you have, and unleash maximum firepower to draw its attention!"
"That's an order!"
He didn't even have time to finish.
The "Wailing Aggregation," which had now fully squeezed out of the cave, seemed to have finally noticed these few tiny "insects." Its massive, bloated body shuddered violently, and the countless pained faces on its surface let out an even shrill and venomous combined shriek.
Then, at least several dozen horrific tentacles composed of pitch-black biomass and mangled limbs swept toward their position like a swarm of crazed vipers, blotting out the sky.
"Scatter!"
"Find cover!"
"Return fire at will!"
Gestalt roared, pushing himself to his limit. He violently shoved the somewhat stunned Nadeshiko and Ryan, who were frozen in fear, out of the way.
The battle against the most terrifying of enemies erupted suddenly in the worst possible place in the most brutal and desperate way imaginable.