TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!,
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"Proceed according to plan. Clear floor by floor. Ensure the abducted students are safe!"
With a sharp gunshot, Zhu Yuan's round dropped a cultist who had still been standing there in a daze. The large-caliber ether buckshot carried tremendous stopping power, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Drop your weapon! You're under arrest!"
She barked the command as a security automaton rushed forward, restraints ready.
But a mind enslaved by a Warp god does not fear the law of New Eridu. In the cultist's fractured perception, he saw only grotesque blasphemers opposing his deity.
He lurched upright, howling, charging forward despite blood spraying from his shoulder wound.
The security robot's suppression protocol activated instantly. A Taser launcher deployed and fired. At this distance, its targeting subroutines made missing nearly impossible.
Yet the drooling madman twisted his body in a grotesque, anatomically impossible contortion, evading the probes entirely. Ignoring the robots blocking his path, he lunged at Zhu Yuan, dagger stabbing for her eye.
Zhu Yuan did not retreat. She pivoted forward instead—rotating past the blade and snapping a side kick into his ribs. The impact sent him flying.
"Pin him!"
Other officers shouted as robots rushed to restrain the attacker.
But he rose again—jerking upright like a marionette with broken strings. Zhu Yuan frowned. That kick should have shattered ribs.
The cultist grinned.
His spine elongated. Arms twisted and split, bone bursting through skin to form crab-like claws. His legs fused into a serpentine tail. His skull sharpened into a reptilian shape, tongue flicking outward.
"What is that thing?!" Nicole stared, stunned. Even an information broker rarely saw a man transform into a monster.
"Ether corruption?" Billy tightened his grip on his revolver.
"No," Anby said quietly. "This isn't an Ethereal. There's no core."
The half-serpent monstrosity shrieked, the piercing sound forcing many to clutch their ears. Its tail lashed, smashing robots aside as it lunged into the crowd.
"Stand down!"
A small figure darted forward—Detective Qingyi.
She slid beneath a crushing claw strike, staff snapping upward to intercept the other. The tip crackled with high-voltage discharge. Electricity coursed through the creature, charring flesh—yet it did not collapse.
Qingyi's calculations shifted rapidly. The stun output was more than sufficient to boil human organs—yet this thing endured.
As the current faded, it regained strength. The free claw rose high.
Conclusion: Evasion impossible. Impact would destroy chassis.
Failure to protect others unacceptable.
But she did not fight alone.
Thump—thump—thump.
Zhu Yuan had already swapped her K22 to a grenade launcher module. Three ether grenades detonated against the monster's claw, blasting it apart. Purple blood sprayed, sizzling and foaming upon the floor, releasing sickly sweet pink vapors.
"Senior Qingyi! Everyone, move!"
Seth Lowell charged forward with his riot shield, joined by several officers. They pressed in, shields locking, forcing the wounded creature down.
"Chief Zhu Yuan! Hurry! It's too strong!"
Seth jabbed with his shock baton—but Zhu Yuan was reloading. She rarely needed grenade munitions. Most criminals fell to pistols.
This was different.
The serpent tail whipped violently, flinging officers aside. Moments earlier, it had been an ordinary man—now it possessed terrifying strength.
Zhu Yuan fumbled briefly—misaligning the module. Only seconds lost. But seconds mattered.
The tail coiled around Seth.
The rookie officer—brave, earnest, first to rush forward during the Razor incident—once again placed himself between danger and others.
This time, it nearly killed him.
The crushing force bent armor plates. His bones groaned. Muscles tore. Breath failed.
Still he refused to yield. Even if he had to bite, he would take flesh from it. Children still waited upstairs.
His vision dimmed.
He saw Qingyi rising—staff drawn back—
But something else moved faster.
A furious mechanical snarl erupted.
A chainsaw blade slammed down beside his head. Teeth screamed to life, shredding scaled flesh. Blood gushed. Bone splintered.
Anby tilted her head slightly, avoiding the spray. The serpent lunged with its remaining claw.
She stepped onto the back of the chainsaw blade, pressing downward. The interlocking teeth bit deep, severing the tail cleanly.
The creature collapsed, shrieking.
Anby drove the blade through its abdomen and ripped upward. Blood and viscera burst forth. A final horizontal sweep severed the head.
Silence fell.
She flicked gore from the blade and walked back to Nicole, passing officers rushing to extract Seth.
Zhu Yuan swallowed. If this was the first enemy…
Last time, much of the burden had fallen upon Ignis and Gotthardt. Now the elite Criminal Investigation Unit struggled visibly.
Upstairs, more awaited.
Outside, the three Space Marines still battled mutated horrors. If even they required time, then perhaps their struggle was no disgrace.
"We're heading up," Nicole said. The Cunning Hares ascended the stairs. They did not concern themselves with arrests. Their task was simpler—eliminate resistance.
"Make sure your recorders are running," Zhu Yuan ordered. "These are no ordinary criminals."
Despite fear, duty prevailed. Teams moved. Clear upper floors. Eliminate firing points. Rescue children.
On the second floor, cultists were still pouring fire outward at the Space Marines below—unaware of the trio behind them.
Anby revved her chainsaw to charge, but Billy stopped her.
"My girls might not cut it," he holstered his revolver, "but I've got something bigger."
He slung forward the autocannon Ignis had lent him.
"Try this!"
A metallic clack. A 40mm Dragon's Breath canister shell chambered.
The dragon-headed muzzle brake erupted in flame. Propelled by high-intensity ether charges, the shell burst into a storm of burning steel shot.
It tore through the corridor.
Blood splashed. Limbs shattered. Organs scattered.
A storm of steel and fire erased the firing line.
Several distant survivors writhed—then fused together. Flesh knitting grotesquely. Limbs merging. Tendrils sprouting from slabs of meat as they absorbed scattered remains.
The swollen mass began crawling forward.
Nicole's face paled. Ignis had warned them—but this?
"Burn it!"
Billy fired again and again. Dragon's Breath shells tore and ignited the monstrosity. Steel shredded its surface while flames consumed bone. It writhed and shrieked, form destabilizing.
The autocannon thundered like a tolling bell of judgment as Billy advanced.
The creature vomited blood in attempts to smother flames. A ribbed maw unfolded from its torso, jagged teeth formed from warped bone. It lashed tendrils toward Billy—
"Eat this!"
Nicole flipped open her case. A rocket module extended. She loaded a specialized incendiary round.
After a quick aim, she sat atop the case and fired.
The recoil hurled her backward.
The rocket punched into the monster's mouth. The armor cap was stripped away by grinding flesh—
Then detonation.
Internal flames erupted outward, consuming it entirely.
Nicole groaned, rubbing her lower back. "He never mentioned the recoil was that bad…"
Anby helped her up, checking quickly.
"You're fine. This floor is clear."
Billy reloaded. "Your launcher packs a punch, Boss. These things are nasty…"
Nicole straightened slowly. "Check for kids first. Then I'm having words with the big guy."
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