The Haniwa Tank wasn't designed for passengers. To remedy that, I pulled some option parts out of my Pandora Gift. It wasn't anything fancy—just a massive cart, really. There weren't any seats, so everyone just sat directly on the floor. It wasn't exactly a first-class ride, but since it was only for a short trip, I figured it would be fine. I hitched it to the Haniwa Tank, everyone climbed in, and we were ready to go.
"Alright! Let's move out!"
At my command, the Haniwa Tank let out a low, mechanical growl. It started slow, but the acceleration kept building until we were hurtling through the dungeon at a terrifying speed.
"Wait... too... fast...!"
"We're—shaking—to—pieces!"
"H-hey, Tort! This is a bit much—ow!"
"Don't talk or you'll bite your tongue!"
Yeah, that was a blunder on my part. Why did I make it a cart? The dungeon floor was uneven, making the ride incredibly bumpy. The Haniwa Tank itself was hovering; I should have made the cart a hover-type too.
I'd installed handrails as a precaution, and as we clung to them for dear life, the shaking suddenly stopped. It felt unnatural. No matter how smooth a road is, as long as wheels touch the ground, there should be some vibration. But here, I felt nothing. Even the loud clattering of the wheels had vanished. The only sound left was the mechanical whirring of the Haniwa Tank's treads.
"...What is this place?"
"It's scary."
It was a bizarre sight. Everything—the floor, the walls, the ceiling—was pitch-black. It was as if the world had been painted over in ink. Curiously, it wasn't dark in the traditional sense; I could clearly see the worried look on Halfa's face beside me.
In this void where up and down felt meaningless, something was glowing in the distance.
"The enemy is over there," Allen reported calmly.
Them—the high-ranking members of the Silver Faction. Eudas was likely among them. The silver light shimmering in the darkness looked like a guiding beacon, or perhaps a lure meant to draw us in.
Without any landmarks, my sense of distance was skewed. The light was further away than I'd initially thought. It was hard to judge our progress without the vibration or sound of the wheels, but the Haniwa Tank was still moving at high speed. Even so, the light grew closer only slowly. Finally, its true form came into view.
"Haniwa Tank, stop."
I whispered the command, and the whirring of the treads—the only sound in this world—died away.
A silent, pitch-black world. It felt surreal. The only things I could truly confirm were my companions and the mysterious, glowing entity ahead.
"Are those... humans?" Rei asked, his voice raspy. No one answered him. No one knew the answer.
But in my heart, I knew. They weren't human anymore. They were pure Invaders from the Outer World—Silver Abominations.
At the center of the light was a Silver Ring. It looked like a string of irregular prayer beads. But they weren't stones. Even from this distance, I could see they were shaped like people. These were the Cult Executive Remnants. About ten of them, I guessed. They were sitting in a circle, bound together by silver threads.
But their humanity was a thing of the past. Their bodies were completely silverized, the surfaces writhing and shifting out of human form. Their individual boundaries had blurred until they were a single, integrated mass.
"Tort, purification," Lowell whispered. I nodded silently.
As gruesome as they looked, if they were made of pure silver, my purification would be devastating. We were still some distance away, but well within the reach of a wide-area spell. I focused my mind, wishing to purge these foreign entities from our world, and let the power flow.
"Clean."
A pale light washed over the area. In response, the Silver Ring flared with a brilliant, harsh glint.
—Guaaaaaaaah!
A sudden scream tore through the silence. It was a dissonant sound, layered with multiple voices both high and low. The Silver Ring began to change. The surface, which had been undulating gently, now surged violently like a storm-tossed sea.
It was an unexpected reaction. It looked like they were writhing in pain from the purification, but I couldn't be sure. Usually, purification caused silver to shrivel or turn black. The ring had flickered black for a second, but every time it pulsed, the blackened parts peeled away and fell off, leaving the silver beneath restored.
"Haniwa Tank, detach the cart."
The Haniwa Tank gave a mechanical roar of acknowledgment. A sharp click followed as the hitch released.
I'd uncoupled the cart so the tank could charge. I cast Clean on the tank itself first to give it an antibacterial effect. It might have had that trait naturally, like the Haniwa Knight, but I wasn't taking chances.
"Haniwa Tank, go!"
With a thunderous boom, the Haniwa Tank charged into the Silver Ring. Upon impact, the ring shriveled instantly and vanished. The tank, having lost its target, rolled forward a bit further before coming to a halt.
"What happened? Did we get them?" Rei asked, sounding skeptical.
He got his answer a second later. A heavy thud shook the space as the Haniwa Tank was flipped onto its back.
"...What's that? A giant... hole?"
Halfa's murmur mirrored all our thoughts. A Pitch-black Large Hole had opened in the middle of the already black space. Even though everything was dark, its presence was unmistakable. It was wrong. My instincts screamed that this thing shouldn't exist in our world.
—Haha... hahahaha!
A laugh echoed, sounding as if it were coming from the very bowels of the earth.
—I've won! Victory is ours!
Something began to rise from the hole. A massive Silver Mass, twisting and coiling as it took shape. When it finally stopped moving, it had formed a familiar human head.