Chapter 262: Chapter 262- Late

A grin spread across Emma’s face as flames flickered to life around her clenched fists. "Finally! The main event! Let’s light this place up!"

Beside her, Celestia’s silver threads, thin as spider silk and sharp as monomolecular wire, shimmered into existence around her fingers. Her cold eyes scanned the encroaching figures, analyzing their movements and biology in seconds. "Twenty-three hostiles. Confirmed. They have evolved beyond the shambler stage. Their bio-signatures indicate a parasitic symbiosis controlling the neural functions. Their speed and coordination will be significantly enhanced."

From the center of their forming circle, Beatrix called out, her voice strained but clear. "I cannot fight on the front lines! You must carry the battle!"

Julian’s orders were swift and precise. "Zoe. Your only mission is to protect Aya, Veronica, and Beatrix. Nothing gets past you."

Veronica’s head snapped towards him, her pride bristling. "What? I don’t need to be coddled! I belong on the front line!"

"Conserve your energy," Julian shot back, his voice leaving no room for argument as the first of the sleek, fast-moving zombies began its charge. "We don’t know the nest’s full population. You’ll get your fight. For now, amplify us."

Scowling but seeing the tactical sense, Veronica relented. She raised her hands, and a shimmering, golden aura enveloped the frontline fighters. "Fine! [Enchant: Fortitude and Edge]!" A visible surge of power reinforced their muscles and sharpened their weapons.

Aya, positioned behind Zoe’s protective frame, took a steadying breath. Her crossbow was already loaded. She raised it, her eyes narrowing, and the world seemed to slow down as her [Eagle Eye] skill activated. Every twitch of the approaching mutants, every vulnerable joint, became crystal clear. She took aim.

Clarissa stood firm, her hands outstretched. A blue telekinetic field shimmered around her, ready to deflect any projectiles or lunge that made it past the initial line of defense.

The air crackled with tension, a split second before the storm.

"Now!" Julian commanded.

The response was instantaneous and devastating.

Julian exploded forward, a bolt of human lightning. Blue-white electricity arced from his blade as he moved, creating a devastating zone of chain lightning that charred the first wave of parasites, their movements seizing violently.

Emma unleashed her pent-up energy with a gleeful shout. "Burst!" A torrent of fire erupted from her hands, washing over the right flank of the horde. The parasitic mucus on the walls sizzled and popped, and the evolved zombies shrieked as their forms were engulfed in flames.

Simultaneously, Celestia’s fingers twitched. Her silver threads shot out, invisible to the untrained eye, and with surgical precision, they sliced through the legs of three charging mutants on the left flank, sending them tumbling to the ground before they could even get close.

THWIP!

Aya’s crossbow bolt sang through the chaos, perfectly finding its mark in the eye socket of a parasite that had managed to leap over Julian’s electrical field. It fell mid-air, crashing to the ground motionless.

In a flash of blinding speed and devastating power, the last of the evolved zombies fell, its head severed from its shoulders by a clean, final swing of Julian’s blade. It tumbled to the fleshy floor with a wet thud, the red light in its eyes extinguishing.

A brief, heavy silence descended, broken only by the sizzle of fading electricity and the squelching of the pulsating nest around them. Julian stood amidst the carnage, his chest rising and falling steadily. He scanned his team, his gaze sharp and assessing.

"Anyone injured?" His voice cut through the silence, crisp and clear.

A chorus of replies came back, slightly breathless but confident.

"All good here."

"Not a scratch."

"I’m fine."

A single, curt nod. "Good." He knelt, swiftly and efficiently using a dagger to extract the mutagenic crystals from the fallen creatures. The others followed suit, their movements practiced and efficient despite the gruesome surroundings. Within moments, the valuable resources were secured.

"Let’s move," Julian commanded, sheathing his sword and leading the way deeper into the heart of the station.

The further they went, the more oppressive and alien the environment became. The floor, walls, and ceiling were now almost entirely composed of a living, breathing flesh, warm to the touch and veined with that same sinister, glowing mucus. It pulsed rhythmically, like a giant, diseased heart.

Aya shuddered, her knuckles white as she gripped her crossbow. "This... this is like a nightmare," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.

Suddenly, their path was blocked. A wall of thick, intertwined muscle fibers and sinew sealed the corridor ahead, throbbing with a life of its own.

Without a word of warning, Julian stepped forward. His blade, still crackling with residual energy, flashed. A single, immense slash cleaved through the living barrier, which let out a grotesque, tearing sound as it parted, revealing the chamber beyond.

The sight that greeted them made even Julian freeze for a fraction of a second.

In the center of the vast, cathedral-like chamber, a large, organic cocoon—now torn wide open—stood empty. Its tattered, fleshy strands dripped with a clear, viscous fluid. And standing before it was the source.

It was a monster unlike any they had ever seen. Its form was a horrific amalgamation of various animals. It had the powerful, haunched legs of a giant insect, covered in chitinous plates. A long, scorpion-like tail, tipped with a glowing, venomous stinger, twitched menacingly above its back. One of its arms ended in massive, bone-crushing pincers, while the other was a grotesquely muscular humanoid limb with razor-sharp claws.

Its head was a nightmarish fusion of canine and reptilian features, with multiple sets of glowing red eyes that fixed upon them with chilling, predatory intelligence. The very air around it seemed to warp with a palpable, aggressive aura.

But the most terrifying part was the way it looked at them. It wasn’t the mindless hunger of a zombie, or the base instinct of an animal. It was a gaze of cold, calculating assessment.

A recognition of prey.

Aya gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Veronica instinctively took a half-step back, her eyes wide. Even Celestia’s icy composure seemed to crack, her lips parting in silent shock.

Julian’s expression hardened into granite. His grip on his sword tightened until his knuckles turned white. The air grew heavy, charged with a tension far greater than any they had felt before.

He spoke, his voice a low, grim murmur that echoed in the horrific chamber.

"It seems... we’re too late."

The hybrid creature let out a low, guttural sound that was neither growl nor hiss, but something far more intelligent and menacing. It took a step forward, its insectoid legs clicking against the fleshy floor, its multitude of eyes locked directly on Julian.