"Rebels? Those guys again?"
Geno narrowed his eyes and activated his Ether Vision, peering into the distance ahead.
What he saw made those eyes go wide.
The obstacle in their path was indeed the rebels — but they were nothing like the rebels from before.
"They've been hit by Ether Corruption?"
"No... those markings. That's Filth."
The group crept closer, and what came into view stopped them cold: soldiers with grotesque tendrils growing from their bodies, movements stiff and jerky, their appearance edging toward something Ethereal.
Those markings were unmistakable — the same as Ethereals soaked through with Filth.
"What in the world happened? It's only been one day."
Geno's shock wasn't about the rebels showing up. It was about why rebels — these rebels — had been consumed by Filth.
These were well-equipped fighters. He knew that firsthand: the three bullets he'd taken in the rear end that day were proof enough that their gear was every bit a match for the Defense Force's.
And that was exactly what made it so unbelievable. Soldiers this well-armed, with full anti-corruption countermeasures — every single one of them infected by Filth.
"Something is very wrong here. But that's a problem for later — right now we need to figure out how to get around these things."
Unlike before, the rebels were clustered right near the exit. If they wanted to leave the Hollow, they'd have to pass through the corridor those things were guarding.
The only other option was to backtrack and find a way out from the opposite side of the Hollow.
"Geno, what do you think?"
Yidhari put the decision in his hands. Her own instinct said to detour — it was the safer call — but Geno was the hardest hitter in the group, and in a moment like this, his word carried the most weight.
Geno turned it over in his mind.
Breaking through on their own would have been a stretch before. But these rebels had thinned out considerably, and the Filth's corruption had clearly dulled their coordination and judgment. Their odds of punching through were a lot better than they used to be.
Still, Geno couldn't shake a nagging sense of dread. If they just charged in like this, he had a feeling something would go very, very wrong.
"Awoo?"
Carrot tilted its head, watching Geno tie himself in knots — then opened its mouth in one enormous, utterly carefree yawn.
That tiny little sound was all it took.
"Who's there?!"
BOOM. A shell laced with Filth came screaming out of the rebel camp.
The group scattered. The round hit the ground and left a spreading stain of thick, viscous Filth — tarlike, clinging, and absolutely reeking.
"Ugh~! That attack is disgusting!"
Every one of the girls recoiled from the foul stench. Getting hit by that stuff — you probably wouldn't feel clean again after three baths.
"Is now really the time to worry about that?! They're charging!"
Geno summoned his greatsword. Thanks to Carrot, whether they wanted a fight or not, they were getting one.
The rebels moved fast, encircling Geno and the others just like that time outside the Hollow.
Only this time, they could actually fight back.
"Can't drag this out — if more corrupted rebels show up as reinforcements, we're in serious trouble."
With the numbers looking manageable, Geno planned to end this fast and clean. Take them out and move on.
Then the rebels did something none of them expected: from within the mass of corrupted soldiers, a cluster of guards emerged — each hefting a massive shield, each one equally soaked in Filth.
Those shields, thick with Filth's power, became a wall that Geno and the others simply could not break through.
Shieldmen in front, artillery in the rear — these Filth-corrupted brutes were somehow still operating with ironclad discipline.
That was so far beyond what Geno had anticipated that it took him a moment to process.
"Something's off! These things still have their minds. Don't engage head-on — fall back!"
He hadn't even finished the sentence when a tremendous clang rang out.
Yidhari's hammerhead had come down hard on one of the shields — and left nothing but a faint dent on the surface.
"That's solid. Are these things defense-specialized?"
One strike, no result, instant retreat. Yidhari bit down on her lip, the tentacle-tail behind her twitching involuntarily.
She'd never once met a defense she couldn't crack with her hammer. Until now.
"Don't try to muscle through — their firepower is overwhelming."
Behind the shieldmen, the artillery units kept pounding, raining shells down on Geno's position over and over, steadily shrinking the space they had to move. A perfect encirclement was closing in.
"What do we do? We can't break their line, and we can't get away."
Yuzuha held up her parasol-shotgun, standing back-to-back with Alice as they weathered the relentless barrage. The easy confidence she usually carried was nowhere to be found.
"Looks like we need to run that play again."
Geno's eyes sharpened. Yuzuha caught on immediately, snapping her parasol-shotgun upright and firing a single colorful signal round into the sky.
"Alice!"
"Leave it to me! Witness the most perfectly symmetrical display of brilliant swordplay!"
A single gleam of cold light led the way — and a flurry of sword-shadows followed.
Alice's blade found the signal round precisely and shattered it mid-air, sending a cascade of colored confetti and pigment dust billowing down to mask the group's position.
Geno seized the opening, throwing out both arms — trying to pull off the same maneuver as before and teleport everyone to safety.
But the same trick never works twice.
One of the artillery units fired a Filth shell straight through the cover. The moment Geno's Ether signature began to rise, a wave of foul, sticky sensation slammed into him — and the teleport he'd been building collapsed before it could release.
"Geno! Are you all right?"
The others closed around him, putting Geno at the center as they scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes.
That last shell had blindsided all of them. No one had imagined the rebels could pinpoint their location perfectly even through visual obstruction.
"These things — have their senses Etherealized too? Ngh—"
Geno pressed a hand to his back where the shot had landed, fighting through the malicious crawl of Filth trying to work its way in, and forced himself upright through gritted teeth — trying to push the corruption out.
Before he could manage it, the artillery opened up again. Lucia and the others were outnumbered on all sides, and no matter how hard they pushed back, Filth kept finding its way onto them.
"Ugh~ That smell is revolting. Damn it — I can't get my body to move properly."
Alice clapped a hand over her mouth, feeling the sticky slick of Filth spreading across her skin, her strength draining away as if something was siphoning it out.
Yuzuha and Lucia were in the same state.
The only one still holding up was Yidhari. The tentacle-armed young woman had been swinging her great hammer non-stop, intercepting the vast majority of the shells — she hadn't taken a drop of Filth.
But even as she kept fighting with everything she had, something shifted behind her — and the unease of it made her heart stutter.
____
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