There was no sign of the enemy.
I was starting to get a sense of what these things were.
They were dying.
They lacked livers and kidneys. A patient with chronic renal failure would be immobilized without immediate dialysis, and liver failure brought its own brand of hellish agony. These creatures were essentially nothing more than smoldering piles of murderous intent, kept animate through death-like suffering.
The Zork... they were truly merciless. These things were controlled by pure instinct, lashing out from the depths of a biological hell.
Their combat prowess was roughly human-equivalent. Their hides were tough, but blades could still pierce them. More importantly, the Jagulator worked wonders.
Their heads were split into four sections that functioned as a massive maw. Those mouths were packed with fangs designed to tear prey apart. However, since their digestive systems had withered away, they likely didn't actually eat what they killed.
Two soldiers could handle one if they kept their heads. But their appearance was so profoundly grotesque that it ground down one's mental state just looking at them.
"Where is Lily?"
She had to be fighting somewhere nearby. She'd still had some breathing room when we last spoke, though.
We moved through the exit of the current block and pushed into the next section. As we ventured deeper, the sound of gunfire reached us.
"Hey! Move it!" Huma-san barked as he surged forward.
In the back of the area, Lily was locked in a struggle with... well, it was another transformed duke.
Without a word, Huma-san and I unleashed the Jagulators.
"Milady!"
"Huma! Help me!"
The circular saws slammed into the duke's torso, and the creature collapsed into a heap. These things really did seem to pour every ounce of their being into raw attack power.
"What on earth is that?" Lily asked, staring at us.
"Which part? The weapon? Or the enemy?"
"No, that weapon... that's for Humanoid Heavy Machinery, isn't it? It’s not something a human is supposed to carry..."
I had thought it felt a bit oversized. I'd been bracing it like a rocket launcher, after all. It was strangely heavy and the recoil was brutal.
"Huma-san?"
"Milady... don't say it. Now the Captain's realized it," Huma-san sighed.
"Well, I suppose Huma could manage it since he's an enhanced human. But Leo... you're just flesh and blood, aren't you?"
"I'm pure flesh and blood, I'll have you know. Wait, did you say enhanced human?"
"Yeah," Huma replied. "I'm from a Baronet-class frontier planet. You need enhancement surgery just to survive on a world that harsh. It’s nothing fancy, though—just muscle reinforcement using chlorella."
There certainly were a lot of modified people around here. As an Esper, I suppose I was in the same boat, though I was technically a "natural" specimen.
...Wait, if I really thought about it, wasn't I technically an invasive species here?
The Jester-as-an-Invasive-Crayfish Theory.
Suddenly, my motivation took a dip.
"Raccoon Pose!" I hissed, hunched over with my hands clawed.
Kishaaa!
"What are you doing, Captain...?" Huma-san asked, deadpan.
"Nothing. Just trying to settle my nerves. Anyway, you're saying this was a weapon a normal human shouldn't be using?"
"Eh, don't worry about it! These things happen, right?" Lily said with a shrug.
I really didn't think they did. Lily's personality was surprisingly laid-back. I felt a strange sense of kinship with her. We were like two idiots sharing the same wavelength.
"Anyway, what's the situation?"
"We were engaging the enemy, but we lacked a finishing blow. We had the numbers, but our beam weapons were getting reflected and we’re low on ballistic ammo."
"So you were pinned down?"
"Exactly. I had enough leeway to send the hoverboat, but regardless, you saved our necks! Oh, by the way, I heard you're a fan of the ladies. Want to be Nina's groom?"
"Don't you dare defile Nina-san!" I snapped. "The peak of romance is for Nina-san to be a background character in a class of many, while I watch her with lewd eyes and think, 'Only I truly understand Nina's charm. The world remains blind to her appeal. Heh heh heh...' That is the ultimate goal! Even though more than half the class has already noticed how great she is!"
"You’re warped! Are you some kind of fetish monster!?"
I was perfectly self-aware on that front.
"Whatever. You seem to like Her Highness well enough."
"I do."
"You said that without even a moment's hesitation."
I would say it as many times as it took. I wasn't giving my wife to anyone. She was the first girl to ever reach out to me. I would never let go of that hand. I would never, ever tolerate an NTR plotline.
"Alright, alright! Let's get moving!"
We followed Lily outside.
Technically, we were still inside the colony, but since we were no longer within the confines of a specific building, it felt like being "outside." The evacuation was in full swing. The streets were swarming with civilians.
"Man, what are we going to do if an enemy pops up in a crowd like this...?"
"Lily-san! That's a flag! You're literally setting a death flag!"
And it was a flag. My eyes met with those of a soldier directing traffic. A Private First Class. He wasn't one of the students; he was likely a regular soldier from Prince Thomas's expedition force.
Behind him, a staggering figure loomed.
It was another duke!
I drew my cutlass. If I used the Jagulator here, I’d hit the civilians. Huma-san drew his blade as well and we charged.
The duke's head split open, revealing that four-way maw. It lunged at the Private directing traffic, biting down and shaking him like a ragdoll. The moment we reached them, the monster hurled the Private toward us.
I couldn't risk catching him, so I had to dodge. I cleared the falling soldier and slashed at the duke.
Its torso was wide open!
I couldn't cut through it in a single strike!
"Oraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Huma-san slashed in from behind. The weak point was the spine! Ribs suddenly elongated from the creature's chest, stabbing toward me like spears. I delivered a sharp kick to deflect them, and in that opening, Huma-san landed a decisive blow.
Threat neutralized.
"Phew. Having two of us makes this much more stable," I said.
"Indeed it does, Captain."
"No, no, no, no! Both of you are insane!" Lily shouted.
It seemed our roles as the straight man and the idiot had been reversed.
"Dodging a falling soldier while coordinating an attack like that? You guys aren't human!"
"I don't know, it's just easy to move when I'm paired with the Captain," Huma-san noted.
"Wait, Lily! Check on the Private!"
"Right! Requesting a medical drone. Hey! You still with us!?"
The soldier was unconscious, but he was still breathing.
I looked around and realized the situation was rapidly deteriorating. Screams were erupting from several directions.
"Damn it! Another 'duke'!"
At this point, "duke" had become a slur in my mind. We rushed toward the nearest source of the screaming.
There was another transformed creature. Honestly, I couldn't even tell if it was a duke anymore, or if they had been lurking in the colony this whole time. All that mattered was that there was a monster.
"We're stopping that thing!"
The crowd's screams intensified. We threw ourselves into the fray.
God, we were completely on the defensive!