Civilians were being devoured.
No, wait—these things lacked digestive systems. They were just gnawing on people. Even so, the outcome was the same: they were dying.
They were being bitten, swung around like ragdolls, and tossed into the air.
I pushed my way through the panicking crowd. Suddenly, the roof of a nearby building caught my eye.
"Huma-san!"
"On it!"
Huma-san cupped his hands together and held them low. I took a running start and stepped onto his palms.
"Hmph!"
With a powerful heave, Huma-san hoisted and launched me upward. I timed my jump perfectly with his throw.
I soared through the air like a roach and clung to the side of the wall!
Scuttle, scuttle, scuttle.
Phew. I made it onto the roof.
I drew my cutlass and sprinted.
"Oraaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
I leapt down from the building. There was an old man directly in my path below. He seemed frozen in terror, staring at a duke.
The monster was just about to sink its teeth into him when—
"Look out!"
I led with a diving kick to knock the old man out of the way, then used his back as a platform to vault even higher.
"Guaaaaaaa!"
"Sorry!"
I vaulted over the enemy, spun in mid-air, and slashed down.
A direct hit to the back!
Perfect. I’d severed the vitals. The creature stopped moving instantly.
"Sorry about that, old man!" I said, reaching down to help him up.
"D-don’t sweat it! I’m an ex-pirate myself! I’m always ready for a scrap!"
He was a good guy, even if he did look a bit like a thug.
Sorry, pops. I didn't have time for a more graceful rescue...
Huma-san arrived a moment later.
"Captain! Are you alright?"
"Taken care of!"
The man I’d just kicked scurried over to us.
"H-hey, Huma! Did you say 'Captain'? Is this kid... wait, is he Leo Kamishiro!?"
"Ah, the greengrocer... Yeah, this is Captain Leo Kamishiro."
"H-hey! Everyone! Leo Kamishiro is here! We’re saved!"
"Um... that's great and all, but the guy I just vaulted off of..."
"Huh? Fishmongerrrrrrrrr! Are you okaaaaaay!?"
They rushed over to assist the fishmonger. The commotion must have reached Lily, because she arrived on the scene shortly after.
"Get a medical drone over here too! Agh, seriously! You lot! Hurry up and evacuate!"
"I'm going to check the other sectors!"
I left the rest to Lily.
"Huma-san! Guard Lily!"
"Ah, hey!"
Huma-san was Lily’s private soldier. It was his duty to protect her, so I left him behind. If my own wife were here, I’d make her safety my absolute priority, too.
"Dammit! Don’t go dying on me, Captain!"
"You got it!"
As I wove through the crowd, I spotted a group of boys from the Officer Academy.
"Yo! How’s the situation?"
"Leo! We ran into one of those monsters! We hit it with ballistic weaponry, but it didn't do a thing!"
"Did you shoot it from behind?"
"No, only from the front."
"Their vitals are concentrated in the back. You can take them down easily if you attack from the rear."
"How are we supposed to get behind them!?"
"I don't know, maybe coordinate with Huma-san...?"
"Only you and the Sergeant can pull off stunts like that!"
"I bet Uncle Piggett could do it, too."
"That's your benchmark for us!?"
"You guys can manage. Anyway, there are fewer dukes than there are of us. If we just surround them and gank them, we’ll win."
"Geez, Leo, your plans are always so haphazard!"
"Don’t think, feel. You know the saying? Head going blanky-wanky~♪"
"Don't add weird lyrics to it!"
Phew. After playing the straight man for so long lately, this felt great. Being the one making the jokes truly was the peak experience.
"...Fine. Whatever. So the back is the weak point?"
"Exactly."
Information shared. I was wondering if I should broadcast it, but the Fairy beat me to it.
"Attention everyone! The monsters have a weak point on their backs! You can easily neutralize them with a rear attack!"
Sure, they’re easily neutralized if the attack hits the back, but she neglected to mention that getting to the back was the hard part.
Total fiend move. What a terrible person.
I was about to move on when one of the boys stopped me.
"Wait, take that thing!"
He pointed toward a humanoid heavy machinery unit. Based on its classification... it was a police model. It was painted pink and featured a pirate flag. It was less than half the size of a humanoid fighter and lacked the power of a military model—plus it wasn't rated for space—but it was plenty strong for this.
The only downside was the weak joints; you usually ended up breaking the thing if you pushed it too hard.
"Thanks!"
I hopped into the cockpit. I’d operated one before, so startup was a breeze. I moved out.
My weapon was the Jagulator.
Oh, wait. I see now! This thing is basically a handgun—or maybe a submachine gun—scaled for a heavy machinery unit. It wasn't a rocket launcher at all!
As expected, the main street was too crowded for the unit, so I stuck to the back alleys. I didn't expect to see a single soul, but... there were people. They were everywhere. All the late evacuees.
"Head for the main street, there are soldiers there!" I called out, and they waved back at me.
As I kept moving, something blurred in the corner of my vision. The moment it saw me, it lunged. A duke!
"Gishaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
It threw itself at me. For a split second, I had the careless thought that I’d be fine since I was armored.
That thought was shattered in the next instant.
With a sickening crunch, something punched straight through the armor. A rib!
I swiped it away with one arm. The duke collided with the unit's hand for a moment, but it managed to escape by kicking off my palm.
Naturally, I tracked its landing and opened fire with the Jagulator.
The enemy was blown clean in half and stopped moving.
Yeah, I definitely couldn't use this weapon in a crowd.
Even so, the threat level seemed low... No, I couldn't think like that. Even the standard crabs were dangerous. These things transformed in an instant. They were incredibly high-risk.
Besides, the regular soldiers were clearly struggling. Because of that, I felt like I was being lured deeper and deeper into the district...
Lily had the situation under control, yet I was still being pushed back...
Could this be... a diversion?
"Fairy! Where’s my wife!?"
"Eh? For some reason, her location is shifting rapidly! I can’t establish a connection!"
"It’s a diversion! Her ship is the real target!"
I spun the unit around and floored it toward the spaceport.
Veronica... please be safe!