Crack. The flower revealed its true nature the moment it sensed a living being. It was as if it had been quietly dormant until now, conserving its strength for this very moment.
Gray stems expanded like a net, instantly climbing over the broken glass tube. Some writhed like tentacles, baring their teeth toward them. This is not a metaphorical expression.
'Truly, there are teeth at the ends of the stems.'
It would be appropriate to consider those not as stems, but as the mouths of some living creature. To be precise, perhaps like monstrous leeches that devour humans.
-Whoosh!
The first tentacle that shot out was aimed at Neo.
"Huh?"
Neo couldn't react in time. With a thud, the stem pierced through his rags and protruded out the back.
"No!"
Don Quixote screamed at the sight. Osian and David were equally shocked. It was because if Neo, the artificial intelligence automaton that was the core of this mission, was destroyed here, everything would be over.Fortunately, however, the worst catastrophe did not occur.
"Phew! That was a close call! I survived because I'm slim!"
The tentacle had only pierced the rag-like cloak Neo was wearing. It had narrowly passed by his waist. It was fortunate that Neo's waist hidden under the rags was so thin.
"But why did my friend suddenly become like this? What's going on?"
"Stop talking nonsense and get back!"
Osian grabbed the back of Neo's neck, who was still blinking his yellow eyes in confusion, and threw him backwards.
"Yahoo! I'm flying!"
Neo was making such carefree remarks even while floating, finding joy in who knows what.
"David!"
"Yes!"
David immediately caught Neo. But his expression soon turned serious. There were gray residues around the hole in Neo's cloak. The residue was wriggling and moving, gradually consuming the cloak.
"Sir Osian! This thing is dangerous!"
David quickly removed the cloak and threw it far away. The thrown cloak twitched, then was completely consumed and began to sprout twisted buds.
It was a seedling similar to a flower. The immature seedling bobbed its head around, searching for prey.
"Stand back!"
Don Quixote stepped forward. He stabbed the seedling with his jousting lance.
Thud! The lance properly pierced the seedling, but Don Quixote's expression was not good. The seedling was still moving alive and instead started to erode the jousting lance.
Gray stems like spider webs climbed up the surface of the lance. The pulsating thing looked like human blood vessels.
"Hmph!"
But Don Quixote wasn't going to just take it. With all his might, he swung the lance to shake off the creature, while simultaneously giving an order to Rocinante.
"Rocinante! Fire!"
The steed, having received the command, opened its mouth wide and spewed flames. The bright red flames engulfed the lance, burning away all the gray stems that were eroding it. Amidst the scattering black ashes, they could see the seedling contracting from the heat of the flames.
"Everyone listen! The creature is weak against flames!"
"Indeed."
Osian responded like that while cutting down a tentacle shooting toward them with his sword. It wasn't just any sword. It was a sword burning with Starlight, so the tentacle was cut off without resistance.
Neo, who was being guarded by David from behind, shouted.
"It's my first time seeing my friend move like that!"
"You still see that as your friend? Do you know you almost died just now?"
"I think my friend is very angry."
"I told you, it's not your friend."
Perhaps in Neo's mind, everyone except himself might be considered a friend. There was nothing strange about it since he was such a carefree automaton.
All he had learned was probably limited to the few books he had, living alone in a place isolated from society.
'Whatever the case, I've encountered something damn annoying.'
Why on earth was such a creature sleeping deep underground here?
The gray flower was extending more stems. Its stems eroded the rusty metal it touched and assimilated with it.
The speed wasn't that fast, but the problem was this process of erosion.
'It erodes whatever it touches and makes it identical to itself.'
Moreover, the new stems rising from the eroded metal had the unique luster and texture of metal. It was even replicating the characteristics of what it eroded.
In Osian's memory, there was something with similar properties.
"Plant. Erosion. And flowering into a similar form."
It was similar to the ethereal plant fought in the underground waterway, but clearly different. That was still a real plant, but this was something else mimicking the appearance of a plant. The more he accelerated his thinking, the faster the puzzle pieces fit together. Osian could realize what it was.
"Gray fungus. Being from the Outside."
Yes. Like the Outer Gods, it was a being that had flowed in from outside this world.
When beings from the outside appear in this world, they inevitably possess similar characteristics.
That is 'erosion.'
The external environment is distinctly different from this world. Just as birds that fly in the sky cannot live underwater and vice versa, adaptation and evolution to fit the environment is an inevitable process.
Evolution is the process by which living beings conform to their environment in order to survive.
The problem is that evolution requires a very long time. Ordinary living beings cannot achieve it in their own generation.
But what if a living being placed in an isolated environment actually has the power to dominate that environment? Like a fish turning land into a puddle of water. Like a land animal creating solid ground in mid-air.
Constructing an environment suitable for oneself, instinctively or deliberately. The 'erosion' that beings from the outside engage in when they come to this world is the result of such processes.
'Outer Gods also possessed the power of erosion. They could interfere not only with living beings but also with other objects.'
This could be seen in the abilities of the Slithering Sisters who wielded the power of the Outer Gods. Making human mouths and ears protrude from bare walls, or turning the surrounding ground into writhing masses of flesh.
And such forms were manifested in a way that evoked fear in the coastal village at that time. That environment also affects the surrounding living beings. The residents of the coastal village had transformed into bizarre forms where humans and fish were mixed together.
It was the same with this creature now.
The beautiful-looking gray flower was merely its outward appearance. It was a mass of fungus.
What made it worse than an Outer God was that while an Outer God tried to rule this world by keeping its followers alive,
'This one wants to erode and devour everything it encounters.'
If we were to be specific, it's not something that deserves to be called a god. But it's still a being from the outside. Its abilities are on par with those of the Outer Gods.
No. This creature is more terrible. It's eroding and devouring everything indiscriminately without reason. Isn't it even eroding the metal scattered around?
-Slash!
He cut down another tentacle that shot toward them. The tentacle cut by the power of the Starlight could not regenerate. The gray fungus wriggled and was wary of Osian. Although it lacked reason, it had survival instincts, so it detected an entity that threatened its life.
But at the same time, greed was felt. If it could eat its natural enemy and absorb its characteristics and strength, it could become even stronger.
"Why is such a creature buried in a place like this?"
Such a creature couldn't have appeared suddenly. Of course, there are occasional instances where beings from the outside invade this land. In fact, such beings often appeared as enemies in the game.
Coming directly, or expanding their domain by granting power to beings of this world. Of course, this is possible because they possess that much intelligence and power.
But this gray fungus does not possess such reason. That means it couldn't have created a door and entered by itself. Yet it entered.
"Unless someone opened the door from inside."
The creature was being contained in a large glass tube and even the place being a research facility conducting some kind of experiments.
"Now the mystery is solved."
David and Don Quixote also caught on to what Osian was trying to say.
"Don't tell me they invited such a monster through experiments and it went berserk?"
"Sir Osian. That means, the Return of Fire in District 49 was ultimately..."
Osian nodded at David's words.
"Yes. It was probably done to eliminate this terrible creature here."
The situation came together in his mind.
District 49 would have been a brilliantly developed area, one of the most remarkable. That's how it was actually built. Everything was equipped with the latest facilities, and it was considered a bridgehead to further expand the city of Tirna outward.
But because of that, they overlooked something. The sharpness of this overly brilliant civilization crossed a boundary that should not have been crossed.
And so a being from the outside flowed into the most brilliant place.
Whether they opened a door or pierced a hole doesn't matter.
At first, they probably thought about containing and studying it. They surely made thorough preparations for that.
But that's not enough. Far from enough. Modern science, not ancient power, cannot possibly deal with external phenomena.
In the end, the result was predictable. The erosion would have consumed this place and tried to spread to the entire District 49.
'Rather, the Return of Fire was a quick response to prevent that. Although the cost was the abandonment of the entire District 49, it might have been the right decision considering what would have happened afterward.'
It was like cauterizing a wound with fire to prevent excessive bleeding. Of course, they probably didn't care what happened to the people living inside. They just had to prevent it from spreading into greater damage.
But there was a problem. The creature that should have been completely burned away by those hot flames is still alive.
The dry gray flower is probably the form it took to withstand external threats and preserve its life.
Yes. The creature was close to a state of hibernation.
'What woke it up wasn't Neo, but me, David, and Don Quixote.'
Neo couldn't wake it up because he wasn't a living being. What the creature in hibernation wanted was life force. It probably intended to replenish its energy by using living beings as nutrients.
That's why it didn't respond no matter how much Neo talked to it. Conversely, Neo probably didn't expect the true identity of the gray flower to be so vicious.
Whatever the case, the worst situation has unfolded.
'No, maybe it's better this way.'
What would have happened if Osian had ignored this place and passed by?
There was a possibility that a gang with eyes for treasure would have thoroughly searched the junkyard and reached here.
No matter how carefully hidden, if large organizations that rule District 49 decide to search thoroughly, it would eventually be discovered.
'If that happened, this fungus would have eaten them and regained its strength.'
It would have expanded its influence, built up its forces, and gradually devoured other people in District 49. Then the disaster they tried to erase with the Return of Fire would occur again.
'Considering future problems, it's better that we discovered it now.'
Osian looked behind. The tentacles of the gray fungus, which had already expanded its influence, were blocking the exit. Anyway, having encountered it, there was no way to pass without dealing with it.
There's no choice but to fight.
Osian gripped his sword tightly and stood before the fungus, with the power it hated the most.
"Let me fight alongside you."
Don Quixote approached Osian's side.
"I won't stop you, but as you saw earlier, your weapon might be eroded in reverse."
No matter how expensive and special the steam suit Don Quixote was wearing, the fungus would ignore all that and erode it.
Unconditional erosion regardless of the opponent's strength. That's why beings from the outside are dangerous.
Rocinante can breathe fire, but it would be difficult to go all out.
"You don't have to worry about that."
Don Quixote said as he raised his spear high.
Just as the heat was felt from the brass jousting lance, its surface turned red. There was a weapon that came to mind the moment he saw that intense heat.
"Heat weapon."
"That's right. This level of high heat should be enough to bring down that terrible monster."
"To think such a function would be added to a small weapon like that. It's absurd."
"That's why I can't use it for long. At most, it'll last 5 minutes before the weapon can't withstand the heat."
"5 minutes, huh."
Osian looked at the fungus. Its main body was making cracking sounds as it grew larger.
It instinctively knows that those standing before it are not just prey. Rather, if it's not careful, the life it barely preserved might be lost.
Therefore, it squeezed out all of its remaining strength and its size increased. The flower bud reached the high ceiling and the tentacles, stretched out as far as possible, writhe around.
It might sound funny, but the fungus standing before the knight Don Quixote somewhat resembled a windmill.
"My heart is racing."
Don Quixote mounted Rocinante and looked at Osian's Starlight sword.
"Your power can end it in one go. So I'll open the path. Comrade."
"I'm counting on you."
Don Quixote laughed aloud at Osian's response.
"Let's go! Rocinante! The beginning of a magnificent battle!"