A Stage I Gastrea, when measured against the Tyranids, was little more than cannon fodder, roughly equivalent to a basic gaunt.
Stage II was simply a stronger class of gaunt.
Stage III marked the true dividing line. It was no longer something a lone Imperial Guardsman could kill. Taking one down required a ten-man squad of well-armed veterans.
Unless a creature at this level suffered enough damage to completely destroy its body, leaving its skeletal structure as unstable as a building whose load-bearing supports had all been shattered, it would simply continue its relentless charge.
Worse, anyone bitten and injected with its bodily fluids would undergo genetic recombination and soon transform into a Gastrea as well. Sometimes, its infection spread even faster than the Tyranids could reproduce.
As for a Stage IV Gastrea, the mere description of its abilities left both Tendo Kisara and Sima Miori stunned.
Without Varanium to suppress a Gastrea's regenerative abilities, the only way to kill a creature at this stage was to bombard it with enough thermobaric explosives to completely destroy its entire body.
Psychic power was not an option. This world had no psychic energy to draw upon, making it impossible to use.
Kain did possess super materia from Tifa's world, but in a world without psychic energy, any power extracted from it would rapidly dissipate before it could form a stable psychic force.
An Untouchable's null field might have some effect on the Gastrea, since most of them had originally been mutated humans.
But that was only a possibility. The effect did not appear particularly strong, and the field's effective range was limited to the immediate area around the user.
It would likely be completely useless against higher-stage Gastrea. By that point, their mutations had carried them so far that they could hardly be considered human at all.
Kain had never encountered a Stage V Gastrea, so he did not know exactly how powerful one would be.
Still, based on the setting of the original work, a Wave-Motion Gun should possess enough raw power to physically destroy one.
Of course, a Wave-Motion Gun was excessive. Even the orbital firepower of an ordinary Lunar-class cruiser should be enough to obliterate a Stage V Gastrea hundreds of meters in size, despite its molecular-level regeneration.
If a virus like this ever broke out on an Imperial planet and spread beyond a certain threshold, the Imperium would probably issue an Exterminatus order without hesitation.
After all, Stage V Gastrea were already this dangerous. Who knew what kind of monstrosity might emerge if they developed yet another stage?
Returning to Stage IV, the difference in power between individual Gastrea of the same stage could still be enormous.
At the extremes, the gap was comparable to that between a preschooler and a fully grown strongman.
The Stage IV Kain had dissected was no less troublesome than fighting several Tyranid Screamer-Killers alone.
At first, he had attempted to destroy it using conventional weapons. The result was that no matter how much damage he inflicted, the creature simply refused to die.
Through repeatedly destroying its body, he had managed to identify one of the energy sources sustaining its regeneration: radiation.
In other words, part of the radiation produced when he attacked it was absorbed and converted into energy.
Another way to describe it was that the force striking the creature produced an equal reaction force, which then became another source of energy for it.
That was only Kain's personal theory, however. Determining whether it was correct would require proper instruments and further analysis.
Varanium, meanwhile, was the only known element capable of restraining Gastrea.
According to the information available, the substance generated a unique magnetic field that suppressed the activity of the Gastrea virus and slowed regeneration.
A2 had yet to determine exactly what kind of magnetic field it produced.
She had also received a batch of Varanium ore from Tendo Kisara as part of their agreement and was currently processing it.
"Hm?"
Kain suddenly sensed something. The blade in his hand flashed toward the right.
Something fell from the tree trunk he had severed. It was a Gastrea resembling a giant stick insect.
The creature had wrapped itself around the trunk and hollowed out part of the wood before merging its body into it. Its camouflage had made the two seem almost indistinguishable.
Kain took out a miniature metal specimen case and collected one of the fingertip-sized pieces of flesh he had precisely sliced apart in midair.
Another new sample.
After storing it inside his personal storage space, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the forest ahead. It seemed to have transformed into a hellish woodland capable of devouring anyone who entered.
The forest had originally appeared peaceful and tranquil.
Now, the creatures hiding within it seemed to lose their patience. Countless crimson points of light suddenly appeared in the shadows.
They were eyes.
The next instant, an endless tide of red eyes surged toward them.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Bullets shot from Sima Miori's pistol in rapid succession, blowing apart the heads of several Gastrea charging directly at her.
The gunfire shattered the forest's silence and immediately drew even more Gastrea toward them.
According to the primitive instincts of most Gastrea, the louder something was, the greater a threat it posed.
Among the swarm pouring from the forest, some realized too many of their companions were already attacking the man. With no room to join the assault, they began turning toward the women instead.
Before they could complete the turn, however, the bodies of the creatures ahead of them split apart.
A cold flash swept through their gelatinous flesh as well.
In the blink of an eye, the forest floor was covered in chunks of meat.
"Kisara, this man looks like he really enjoys dismembering his targets."
What Miori truly wanted to say was that Kain seemed to be enjoying the slaughter.
It was as though the Gastrea were nothing more than monsters in a game, while he had immersed himself in the role of a player character attempting to clear the level without taking any damage and achieve the highest possible score.
That mindset was even more terrifying than someone who simply took pleasure in destroying and dismembering living bodies.
Someone who thought that way might treat humans like NPCs as well.
If he ever started killing people, he might not even regard them as living beings. To him, they could become nothing more than clusters of data to be erased.
"So don't ever point that gun at him. One careless move, and you might end up in pieces too."
Tendo Kisara delivered the warning with a teasing tone, as though she were joking with Miori, but her eyes were completely serious.
Kain was the type who would attack the moment violence became an option. He had little interest in wasting time negotiating with his enemies.
After giving her warning, Kisara said nothing more and followed him into the forest, which was already carpeted with chunks of flesh.
Their journey was almost entirely unobstructed. The only unpleasant parts were the mangled meat, the pools of bodily fluids, and the nauseating stench filling the air.
And this was the result of Kain fighting without his power armor.
If he had worn it, the scene would have been far more gruesome.
If he deployed a Gundam or called in his squad, he could probably cleanse most of Earth's Gastrea population within a few days.
Nearly every Gastrea at Stage III or below would be exterminated.
Only Stage IV and Stage V Gastrea would prove somewhat troublesome.
As for the pitiful humans of this world, dealing with them would be even easier.
Saying Kain could wipe out all of humanity was hardly an exaggeration. It would merely take him a little more time.
Had Kisara invited him here to save this world?
No.
After awakening and speaking with him, Tendo Kisara had clearly told Kain that this world did not need to be saved.
It was not because humanity lacked sufficient capital to hire him. Even if they could afford his services, Kisara did not want a world like this to be saved.
Deep down, she almost wanted the entire world to perish.
Kain did not appear to have much interest in saving it either.
The Cursed Children were different. He seemed willing to take them away from this world.
If he could do that, then he should take every last one of them.
The adults of this world could all go to hell.
At first, they would probably celebrate. Nearly all the Cursed Children they despised would finally be gone.
But those adults would soon be plunged into despair.
After all, they would have lost their greatest fighting force.
Tendo Kisara was eagerly looking forward to seeing that despair on their faces.
Before Kain took the children away, however, Kisara had one request.
She wanted him to help her break a few people first.
(End of Chapter)
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