Gulp—
The sound of someone swallowing echoed through the air.
But silence was all that followed.
In the stillness of the night, the unwelcome midnight visitor returned again, as if bound by some unspoken pact.
"How does it keep finding us...?"
Hildegard shook her head in disgust, and the rest of the team voiced their agreement.
"No kidding."
"Hmph, didn't I say it? It's because we're being underestimated."
"That barbarian—he's off on that mission again? Where the hell did he even go...?"
"Everyone, focus."
Whether it was familiarity born of repeated encounters or just carelessness from surviving each time, the recon team chatted among themselves even as the Turncoat Pawn approached in the dark.
[Keeek…]
Naturally, the unwelcome guest had no intention of tolerating their disregard.
"It's coming!"
"Prepare for combat!"
As the Turncoat Pawn lunged into action, Kurilta and Klutz were the first to move forward.
It was the ideal positioning they had learned through several ambushes.
CLANG!
Kurilta's twin hand axes clashed fiercely with the bone spear.
Meanwhile, Klutz peeked out from the side and squeezed the trigger of his DR-404 revolver.
BANGGG!───
The thunderous report of the shot pierced the air, the bullet aiming straight for the gap in the bone mask.
CLAAANG!
The sound that rang out seemed impossible to believe had come from bone, but Klutz wasn't fazed.
He'd expected as much.
"Now!"
At his call, the rest of the recon team, having surrounded the Turncoat Pawn, pulled the triggers on their Ark-15 Automatic Conversion Rifles.
In the past, they would have hesitated to fire from this range, fearing friendly fire.
But now, with better understanding of each other's positions, they fired without hesitation.
RATATATATATATAT!
A hailstorm of bullets surged toward the Turncoat Pawn.
But it was still the Turncoat Pawn.
This level of assault barely made it flinch.
"As expected..."
"Freaking monster."
Even after a coordinated barrage, the Turncoat Pawn stood unscathed, snarling at the team.
[Keeheehee!]
The recon team already knew their attacks wouldn't be enough.
They quickly repositioned.
"To formation!"
At Hildegard's command, Kurilta and Klutz fell back, replaced by Iris and Dmitri at the front.
[Catch, it...?]
[Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch. Catch...]
[Got, it.]
Ether surged from Iris's form and shot forth in unison.
Zzzzzziiiiing!
At the same time, Dmitri's R-1 Plasma Sword emitted a burst of white light.
KRACK-KRAKAK!
The blade narrowly scraped across the Turncoat Pawn's thick outer armor.
As they already knew, the R-1 Plasma Sword alone couldn't pierce through the dense shell in one strike.
'But if one strike isn't enough, we just hit it again. And again.'
Iris and Dmitri retreated once more, and Kurilta and Klutz stepped forward again.
A rotating attack pattern.
"Keep going!"
One or two attacks weren't enough to bring the Turncoat Pawn down.
So, the plan was simple—if once doesn't work, keep going until it does.
Kurilta and Klutz drew its attention again.
"Over here!"
"Come on!"
But there was one thing they had forgotten—
The Turncoat Pawn wasn't an idiot.
Yes, the recon team had improved.
But assuming it would keep falling for the same tricks was a mistake.
"...Huh?"
Ignoring Kurilta and Klutz entirely, the Turncoat Pawn charged straight at Hildegard.
She gritted her teeth and fired her Ark-15 Automatic Conversion Rifle in shotgun mode.
BOOM!───
The blast slowed the creature for a moment—but only for a moment.
It still surged forward, full of murderous momentum.
"Hold your positions!"
Even in crisis, Hildegard clenched her teeth and gave the order.
Breaking their formation now would only lead to them being hunted down one by one.
'I have to do it.'
Her Insight Eye gleamed golden.
'Read it. Read it. Read it. Read it. Read it...'
Muttering like a mantra, Hildegard stared straight at the tip of the incoming bone spear.
'I can dodge this.'
WHOOOOOSH!───
She evaded the first strike.
But the attacks didn't stop.
WHOOOSH!
Once. Twice. Three times...
Her eyes bled from overusing Insight Eye, yet she read the oncoming movements and dodged each strike.
[Keeek!]
The Turncoat Pawn let out a grotesque cry.
Whether it was laughing or crying was unclear—but one thing was certain:
It was intrigued.
However, Hildegard had overlooked one crucial fact.
The Turncoat Pawn's weapons weren't limited to its bone spear.
SHLAASH!───
Perhaps it wasn't arrogance, but she had not anticipated the bone tendrils bursting from its chest.
THUNK!
A tendril pierced her shoulder.
"Guhhh!"
It wasn't a vital spot, and the stab wasn't deep—but it rendered her left arm unusable.
"Kh...!"
The Turncoat Pawn lifted her effortlessly with the tendril and flung her aside.
THUD!
It could have killed her—but it didn't.
A few team members looked confused, but now wasn't the time to question why.
"Hildegard!"
Before the creature could follow up, the recon team rushed to her aid, forming a protective wall around her.
Her command to hold position had effectively died with her injury.
"Hold... posi... tion..."
"Quiet. Staying alive is more important right now."
"That's... not..."
"If you're hurt, then act like a patient. We'll handle this."
"Hmph. I don't like this smug little noble, but I'll admit he's right."
With even Kurilta agreeing, Hildegard couldn't argue anymore.
But the real problem was still right in front of them.
The Turncoat Pawn.
Though they had improved, they had once again failed to stop it.
Step. Step. Step.
It advanced.
Their formation was shattered.
Their weapons, inadequate.
"...Damn it."
Someone muttered what they all felt.
[Keeek...!]
With its foul cry—
Bone tendrils shot out from all directions.
* * *
In the end, they lost again.
"Ugh…"
When Klutz finally opened his eyes after blacking out, the first thing he saw—like always—was Carl Marcus standing steadfast in place.
"The Turncoat…?"
"It fled."
The same answer he had heard before.
But now, it was an answer he'd grown used to.
"…So, we lost again."
The past few days had felt like living in hell.
He thought he'd made some progress, but the result was the same.
"Sigh…"
One of the thoughts still lingering in Klutz's mind, even amidst defeat, was the question of why the Turncoat Pawn wasn't killing them.
'There were plenty of chances.'
It was possible that the Turncoat Pawn intended to kill them later, only to be interrupted by Carl Marcus.
But too many things didn't quite add up for it to be that simple.
'Especially Carl's behavior… Could he be… colluding with the Turncoat?'
Klutz shook his head immediately.
'What a ridiculous thought.'
It was telling just how far things had gotten that such an idea even crossed his mind.
"Carl Marcus."
"Speak."
"Are we… doing well?"
"You likely are."
"…Please say it clearly."
"You already know the answer."
Klutz couldn't respond.
Because deep down, he knew the answer too.
And it felt unbearably heavy.
"Ourselves…"
Have I… Have we really grown stronger?
Maybe, if viewed subjectively.
But in the face of the Turncoat Pawn, nothing had changed.
It still toyed with them, and they still couldn't lay a scratch on it.
"Ugh…"
One by one, the other recon team members began to rise.
"Again… huh?"
Hildegard looked around as she woke from her long rest and immediately grasped the situation.
It wasn't hard. It had become all too familiar.
Kurilta was next.
"Brother. You're here."
"Kurilta."
"I've no excuse. Once again, we needed your help."
"Don't worry about it. I wasn't present either."
Iris and Dmitri got up next, both clutching their heads.
"Oww, my ribs…"
"Just spit on it, it'll heal. Like last time."
"Why are you like this with me?"
"What do you mean?"
Once awkward—almost hostile—their exchanges had become more relaxed recently.
"..."
Meanwhile, Hildegard couldn't shake her suspicions about the repeated Turncoat Pawn attacks.
Not just her—everyone here had to be wondering the same thing.
'Why does the Turncoat Pawn keep coming after us—and why doesn't it kill us?'
The Turncoat was a monster.
While behavior varied by individual, most monsters hated the Ark and humans with blind hostility.
Even if the Skull Turncoat was an exception with wildly differing behavior, this was too strange.
'And Carl Marcus always disappears… only to reappear at just the right moment. It's like… he's waiting for us to be attacked.'
Strange.
Everything about this was strange.
"Carl Marcus."
"What is it?"
"I know your mission is important. But this can't keep happening. Next time, can you stay at the camp with us?"
Hildegard was sure.
If Carl Marcus had any connection to the Turncoat Pawn, he would reject this proposal.
And she was certain he did have some kind of connection.
But then—
"Sure."
"…Excuse me?"
"I'll skip my mission tomorrow and stay here."
Carl's answer was far too calm and composed.
And Hildegard could only stare, her thoughts spiraling.
'What… is going on?'
What on earth was this man hiding?