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"Hiss…"
As Irumi transmitted the information to the other units, the black and red tentacles coiling around them suddenly began to sway.
"It's moving again!"
The helicopter began to shake violently. The soldiers fastened their seatbelts and tightly gripped everything they could, preventing themselves from being thrown out. The black and red tentacles began to sway intermittently from the bottom, eventually flinging the helicopter away.
"Hold on tight!"
The staff sergeant yelled as the helicopter was thrown from hundreds of meters in the air by the tentacles.
"Boom!"
With a loud crash, the helicopter smashed into the roof of a building, creating a large hole in the roof and kicking up a huge amount of dust and smoke.
"Anyone injured!?"
After falling, the staff sergeant shouted again, confirming if there were any casualties.
"No, Staff Sergeant."
The soldiers spoke one by one, allowing the staff sergeant to confirm the condition of the team members. Fortunately, due to the low altitude and slow speed, and the helicopter's crash resistance and impact energy absorption, there were no casualties apart from minor injuries.
"Hiss…"
As everyone breathed a sigh of relief, a black and red tentacle crawled up the wall to the hole made by the helicopter, "targeting" them.
"Fire!"
The staff sergeant roared. The soldiers immediately raised their rifles and aimed at the tentacle, a rapid series of "tat-tat-tat" sounds.
"Clink, clank, clatter…"
But unfortunately, this weapon had little effect on it. Aside from temporarily hindering its advance, it served no other purpose.
"Bang bang bang…"
Suddenly, the sound of a machine gun rang out from outside. The black and red tentacle trembled, and its tip was "poof" blown into two pieces, falling to the ground, no longer moving.
"Whirring, whirring, whirring…"
A sound of rapidly rotating rotors and helicopter engine roaring entered their ears.
"Support has arrived!"
The soldiers looked up. An armed helicopter flew past above them, and immediately, their faces lit up with joy. Climbing onto the roof, they looked around the city. The sky was filled with military armed helicopters, firing at the numerous black and red tentacles emerging from the ground.
However, there were simply too many black and red tentacles within Bio City, as if their numbers were limitless, continuously emerging from underground.
"Something has been continuously creating these black and red tentacles."
Irumi soared high in the sky as a golden eagle, overlooking the battlefield below. Although machine guns could damage the tentacles, their sheer number was overwhelming.
"That box should be the core."
Irumi recalled the murals in the tunnel hall, realizing that the core of everything was that black and red box. If he could find it, this incident might very well end. The question was, how to find it?
Irumi looked at the dark red walls that surrounded the city. The military was still continuously bombarding them from outside. But the walls were too thick, and thick tentacles continuously emerged from underground, covering them and reinforcing them.
"That's right, it can block my En."
Irumi suddenly remembered that when he first discovered it, it could block the detection of En. If he used En to search, it should be very easy to find it. After all, this characteristic of it was like drawing a black dot on a pure white paper; it was that conspicuous.
"So, now we just wait for Netero and his group to arrive."
Irumi flapped his wings and flew towards the city center. According to his deductions, the core should be in two locations. The first possibility was within that body. The second was likely within the altar, but since the altar was destroyed, it must be underground in the area where that body was located. After all, so many black and red tentacles emerged from underground.
"I'll try to probe it first."
A gleam flashed in Irumi's eyes. He suddenly flapped his wings and flew towards the body held high in the air by the blood-red tentacles.
"En."
A semi-transparent circular barrier formed by aura expanded with Irumi as its center. Irumi rapidly approached the body filled with cracks.
"Boom!"
The moment Irumi's En touched the body, more than ten black and red tentacles suddenly burst from the ground, striking at him.
"Swish swish swish…"
A series of whooshing sounds broke the air. Irumi's mind was highly focused. With the flapping of his wings, his body weaved and dodged through the gaps in the attacks of the black and red tentacles.
Is it because of contact with aura? Or simply because it sensed danger and launched an attack? This question flashed through his mind. While dodging the tentacles' attacks, Irumi continued to look for opportunities to approach that body. He had only touched a bit earlier and hadn't fully scanned it.
He flapped his wings, increasing his speed.
"Swish!"
Irumi and that bizarre body "grazed past" each other.
"Nothing."
Irumi clearly felt that it was empty inside, completely a hollow shell, and there was no sensation of anything blocking his aura.
"To below."
Irumi quickly changed direction, diving down towards the ground below him. But the moment Irumi changed direction, two beams of white light suddenly burst from its pure white eye sockets, slowly lowering its head to look at Irumi, who was diving downwards.
"Hm!?"
The instant it lowered its head, Irumi's En accurately detected it.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh…"
Extremely subtle, sharp whistling sounds broke the air. Irumi's En detected that numerous black lines suddenly shot out from its body, heading towards him. But there was no intention of attacking; it seemed to want to grab him.
"Trying to catch me?"
A white light streaked across Irumi's body. He instantly transformed into a smaller but faster peregrine falcon, diving vertically downwards at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour. In just a blink of an eye, he reached the ground.
"Boom boom boom…"
The moment he touched the ground, countless dense black and red tentacles burst out of the earth, surrounding him.
"Such a strong reaction. It seems the core should be below."
Irumi guessed. He quickly changed direction, avoiding the tentacles' encirclement. The monster above had awakened. Before Netero arrived, it was better not to do anything to provoke it.
However, after he flew a certain distance, the tentacles and black lines behind him stopped pursuing him. For some unknown reason, all the black and red tentacles ceased their activity, and the military's armed helicopters took the opportunity to destroy them one by one.
"Human…"
A peaceful, natural, magnetic, and infectious voice suddenly resonated. Irumi, who was flying at high speed, trembled all over. He had heard it. Irumi's eyes trembled. His body streaked across the sky in a white light, transforming into human form, and landed on the church rooftop.
"It can communicate?"
"And it's using human language?"
Irumi's expression was grave. The three of them stood together on the church rooftop, gazing at the white figure held high in the air. For some unknown reason, its voice managed to transmit throughout the entire city. Even the army outside, which was attacking the walls, ceased their bombardment. Everyone was listening intently as the voice, like the voice of God, resonated again.
"Roar!!!"
Just then, a deafening dragon roar echoed from the clouds above Bio City, like a bolt of thunder.