The heartbeat hidden in the sound of the wind made the hair on Su Yuzu's entire body stand on end.
Especially after distinguishing that heavy and powerful heartbeat, the sound of the wind gradually faded, making that dull thumping sound practically deafening in Su Yuzu's ears.
The girl closed her eyes.
It was as if she could see a pair of gigantic... brilliant, torch-like dark golden vertical pupils opening in front of her, staring at her coldly and inorganically.
Clearly—
Kujou Katora, sitting on Su Yuzu's left, noticed the girl's abnormality. "Yuzu?"
"Shh—" Su Yuzu raised her index finger to her lips for silence, signaling Kujou Katora to listen with her heart.
Kujou Katora stared blankly at the girl sitting by the bonfire with her fingertip raised.
Under the reflection of the crackling bonfire, the girl's face glowed with warmth; behind the raised fingertip, her lustrous lips seemed like the softest, bounciest jelly.
Everyone in the courtyard held their breath and watched the girl, mimicking her by closing their eyes to listen.
Aside from the crackling sound of burning branches, only the sound of the night wind brushing across the lake surface remained in the night.
Then—
Kujou Katora and Hayabusa's expressions changed drastically in unison.
They opened their eyes in horror, looking at Su Yuzu.
"What is this!???"
"I don't know." Su Yuzu turned sideways to gaze at the quiet lake water in the night. "But I think I understand... the reason why that group of Walking Husks wanted to keep us here."
Under the tranquil night, the lake water was limpid and beautiful, but Su Yuzu seemed to see that beneath the vast expanse of water, everything was shrouded in a massive shadow.
A pair of dark golden vertical pupils seemed to be lurking at the bottom of the lake, staring coldly and deeply at the lakeshore.
Anticipating a gluttonous feast.
Su Yuzu probably understood the reason Miss Hayabusa mentioned... for not being able to catch any fish.
"Does Kujou-senpai still remember that monster created in the Tokyo metropolitan area underground drainage system?"
"The Chimera Amalgam."
"Its birth was brought about by sacrificing the life force of all the remaining members of the 'Eye of Insight' sect in the Tokyo metropolitan area at that time... a monster close to something between a Walking Husk and a Catastrophe Beast."
Kujou Katora instantly understood Su Yuzu's meaning.
At this very moment, a similar monster was lurking at the bottom of the lake, quietly waiting for its opportunity.
"Then what do we do?"
"Leave overnight?"
"The jeep has been repaired, but we don't know for the time being how many roadblocks that group of Walking Husks has created."
If it were in the past, Kujou Katora would never have thought about how to escape at a time like this.
This fellow's brain only held two outcomes: charge in, or charge in and die.
But now it was different.
She had to ensure Yuzu's safety.
The Chimera Amalgam that had only sacrificed that number of people last time had already stepped into the Third Sequence.
Then... what about this time?
This time, where everyone in the laboratory was sacrificed?
Peak of the Third Sequence?
Or even higher?
Kujou Katora dared not think too much about it.
There was a massive watershed between the Third Sequence and the Fourth Sequence.
Su Yuzu shook her head. "We definitely can't escape."
That group of Walking Husks was obviously being manipulated by that monster.
Su Yuzu raised her eyes to glance at the deep forest.
In the deep forest, it seemed as if pairs of dark golden vertical pupils were peeping in the direction of her and the others.
Acting rashly at this moment would only alert the enemy.
"If we don't flee... then enter my domain." Kujou Katora licked her lips with a hint of bloodlust.
"But..."
"Lady Yuzu." She suddenly spoke with great respect.
"Hmm?" Su Yuzu smelled the solemnity in Kujou Katora's words, and also smelled the unease in them.
"If that... whatever Chimera Amalgam is truly a monster we cannot handle."
"I hope that at the final moment, you can let Hayabusa send you back to the Tokyo metropolitan area."
"Hayabusa has set a beacon in your bathroom."
"Miss Yuzu can soak in the bath to wash away the fatigue on her body, and then forget about us."
Kujou Katora spoke very frankly, her serious manner making it seem like she was leaving her last words.
Hayabusa was the final insurance on Kujou Katora.
Her safety was more important than anything.
Because the Abyss stood behind her.
But Kujou Katora didn't care about the Empire, nor did she care if Kujou Iruka would turn the world upside down after she died.
She only wanted to keep Su Yuzu safe.
"Okay." Su Yuzu nodded.
But in her heart, she would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.
"Then prepare for battle." Kujou Katora tightened her grip on the branch that still held deer meat, and she gave orders to the burly men opposite her.
"Gan, Wen, Cui."
"You three go prepare the 'fishing', the bait is Mithril bombs."
"Prepare a wake-up greeting gift for our Mr. Monster."
"Everyone else, prepare for firepower coverage."
Although once an erosion domain was opened, ordinary gunfire bombardment lost its meaning against Catastrophe lifeforms.
But... the equipment equipped by the Fourth Action Division was completely different from those standard Technology Division equipment.
They also had a certain killing effect when facing ordinary Third Sequence Aberrants.
Of course—
Once the opponent stepped into the Fourth Sequence.
Using them as crutches or splints would also be a decent choice.
Su Yuzu's eyelid twitched.
She knew that the members of the Fourth Action Division were the kind of burly men who might not even have eyes drawn on them in the game plot, and their lines might just be a very fluent '...'.
But... Gan, Wen, Cui?
Su Yuzu suddenly felt that the odds of winning on her side had instantly dropped from thirty percent to ten percent.
The girl even put on a look of being ready to die a hero's death.
-
-
-
In the dark night, the camp was bright with bonfires, and the scent of roast meat drifted along the night wind into the night, blowing into the mountain forest.
Su Yuzu fiercely bit into the deer meat.
Hayabusa's cooking skills were not bad, it was just that she put a bit too much cumin.
And the deer meat was slightly tough, making her jaw ache from chewing.
Actually, there weren't that many stratagems to speak of when facing Catastrophe lifeforms; if you can beat it, you can beat it.
Not every Catastrophe lifeform would be like that Abyss of Eternal Smiles.
Stalled by a damaged music box.
Su Yuzu gazed at the lake surface.
The burly men beside her were busy setting up the firepower defense line.
Su Yuzu listened to the increasingly powerful heartbeat in the wind; in her eyes, the surging waves of the lake water had all turned into waves surging in tandem with the contractions of that possibly colossal monster's heart.
Then, she pressed her hand against her own chest.
The Seat in her own chest was also clamoring, its heartbeat suppressing the other wave after wave, as if wanting to overwhelm the opponent.
It was a pity that Su Yuzu's front armor was still too thick.
If it were the figure of the crybaby Soga Yura, she probably wouldn't need to press so tightly to feel it clearly.
Su Yuzu felt increasingly uneasy.
She knew the terror of that monster inside her chest cavity.
Even that Chimera Amalgam from last time hadn't been able to make it throb like this.
Listening to the wind gradually whistling past her ears, Su Yuzu stood up and looked at Kujou Katora.
"Kujou-senpai."
"Get ready."
Although she didn't know how Su Yuzu knew that monster was preparing to move out, Kujou Katora still chose to believe Su Yuzu unconditionally.
"All hands prepare!!!" She stood up and shouted.
Beside Kujou Katora's hand, the pile of sundries that looked like a pile of withered leaves also revealed its true form.
The leaves curled up one by one, flying toward Kujou Katora's loosely gripping fingertips.
Those were all dried blood.
"Wooo—" A whimper resounded through the night and the lake.
Just like... a whale song.
Two smears of dark golden light flowed at the bottom of the lake, slowly floating up.
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