The thing that burst through the window was whatever remained of the former duke.
His body had been split open from the inside, revealing skin that looked more like a reptile's than a human's.
We readied our cutlasses.
I wondered if these would even be effective. Well, only one way to find out.
The count’s head split apart.
I had a bad feeling about this.
Inside the head, which had divided into four sections, rows of fangs were visible!
This was total creature-feature stuff!
The wide-open head lunged at me.
"The sight of it is disgustinnnnng!" I shouted, thrusting my cutlass into the center of the opening.
"Shut upppppp!" Sergeant Huma yelled as he stabbed the creature in the neck from the side.
Our enemy didn't even flinch. The maw of fangs continued its advance toward me.
"Hmph!"
I wasn't about to die from an attack that clumsy. I lashed out, kicking it square in the face with everything I had.
Luckily, the fangs didn't even graze me. Talk about a difficult target to fight!
"Nice!" Sergeant Huma shouted, slashing at the back of its neck.
I followed up, slashing from the front to sandwich it.
It was hard!
"Leo! Put your back into it!"
"Oraaaaaaa!"
Hmph!
As I pulled the blade through, the head fell away and thudded to the floor.
...Phew.
"Something’s wrong..."
It wasn't a premonition or anything—it was a simple observation. What was wrong?
It's not bleeding!
The moment I processed the thought, I thrust my blade into its chest. I twisted the edge sideways, aiming for the lungs through the gaps in the ribs.
The moment I stabbed, there was a sharp clack.
The chest cavity burst open wide, the sharp ribs acting like teeth as they tried to clamp down on me.
"Sergeant Huma! It’s still alive!"
"Understood!"
Sergeant Huma slashed from behind. The moment he hit the spine, the creature’s body jerked violently.
"Gishaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Its weak point was exposed on its back. I suppose it made sense—if you gutted the internal organs just to make a mouth, the rest of the machinery had to go somewhere.
"I want to run away already..."
They were playing with the human body way too much. The Zork never intended to rule humanity from the start; this kind of atrocity was only possible because their goal was pure extermination.
"If the Captain runs, everyone dies," Huma reminded me.
Right. My presence acted as a buff. From a battlefield perspective, a Jester really was an indispensable asset.
"Still, I've never met a Jester-type Esper before."
"Well, yeah. Their ability is way too hard to pin down."
Even though the ability was a support type like crisis detection, the class itself was a pure frontline fighter. You wouldn't realize its worth unless you were a soldier. Conversely, if you were a soldier, its usefulness was obvious. The same went for hitmen or pirates...
Pirates probably die before they can even awaken, though.
I figured it was about time for me to promote to Sage. Though I had a feeling I’d probably die the moment I hit the Class Change.
"More importantly, is the monster dead?"
"Yeah, it’s not moving," Sergeant Huma said, scanning the thing with his terminal. Ultrasound and X-rays, probably.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, back in my day, we were supposed to take ultrasound and X-ray images whenever we found a new species of dangerous creature."
"Eh? ...I didn’t know that."
"No, that rule doesn't exist anymore because the veterinarians were all laid off during budget cuts. But there’s a veterinarian in our Pirate Territory who was part of that group. I'll just send this over to him."
Sergeant Huma sent the data. Almost immediately, a transmission came back to his terminal. He invited me into a Group Chat Mode.
Sergeant Huma really was thoughtful.
"Hey, Huma! What the hell is this!" a white-haired old man barked through the comms.
"Hey, Doc. Notice anything unusual? Aside from the fact that the whole thing is an anomaly, I mean."
"It's a freak of nature. No kidneys, no digestive tract."
"Meaning..."
"It won't live long."
"Why would they do that?"
"Did they sacrifice longevity for raw power? Making them entirely disposable..."
There wasn't even malice in it. They weren't even treating humans like livestock—we were just pests.
"Captain... this is sickening."
"When we're treated like pests to this extent, all I can do is laugh."
"I'm sending this data to the military!" the old man said.
"Yeah, I'm counting on you, Doc."
"Please do."
"O-oh, the legendary Leo Kamishiro... he's a lot more casual than the rumors suggested."
"Despite that, the Captain seems to be putting quite a lot of thought into this," Huma added.
Wrong, Huma... unfortunately, I'm just winging it based on intuition and gut feeling. Actually, I did my best to keep my mind as blank as possible. If I thought about every little detail in this situation, I'd have a breakdown.
The data was sent. For now, we knew the back was the weak point and that they'd eventually die on their own regardless. The whole Kevin situation felt almost quaint by comparison.
Of course, I wouldn't forgive them for trying to kill me. I was going to kill the Zork. Every last one of them. This was purely personal.
I was the type to hold a grudge.
We continued toward the exit of the block. I glanced into the room where the other duke had been held.
...Empty.
"Sergeant Huma, the duke is gone."
"Captain... even I can tell. I have nothing but a bad feeling about this."
...I wanted to run. But this was the kind of scene where the one who shows their back dies first.
"Let’s move with caution. Fortunately, it seems we can cut them with our cutlasses."
"How about the Jagulator?"
"No problem. Just please don't hit me with friendly fire."
"Roger that."
I focused. I could hear a faint sound of breathing. It was a pained, struggling sound. Ah, you... are you dying already?
"It's coming."
I muttered the warning and aimed the Jagulator upward. A monster crashed through the ceiling.
I was already locked on. With the Jagulator’s power, it didn't really matter where I hit it, but I aimed for the center of its mass and fired. The ejected saw blade sliced clean through its torso, separating the upper and lower halves. It simultaneously destroyed the weak point on its back and the remaining organs.
"Gisha..."
With a weak shriek, the monster that used to be a duke died.
"Captain... you're a monster in your own right."
"Not really. There's always someone better in this world."
If there were a Jester who'd managed to promote to Sage, they'd be far stronger than me. And as for the late-game Edge—the version of him from a few years in the future—I didn't feel like I could ever win against his firepower.
Regardless, I was going to finish this mission and push the front lines onto Edge. Then I could spend my time flirting with my wife, Melissa, and Ren!
You get it, right?! No more life-and-death struggles!
...Well, I had to survive this first.