All of the storage hinges were locked tightly, and unlocking them would take several seconds at the very least. However, they did not even have a single second to spare in the middle of the chaos. The leader dashed straight through the swarm of monsters in a desperate attempt to reach the ship.
He kicked one of the monsters away with his cybernetic legs because his remaining arm had become sore from repeatedly punching. His cybernetic legs had the force and impact of a moving car, but the monsters were too many in number and they were strong too. They kept coming, wave after wave.
"Gaia!" he yelled again.
"Almost there! Ten more seconds!"
She moved her arms as quickly as she could, her hands working nonstop, opening the hinges one by one as fast as possible.
After unlocking the last hinge of the storage unit, she opened the lid with both hands, revealing all of the weapons stored inside. Without wasting a second, she quickly grabbed one of the weapons and threw it away from the container toward the leader.
The leader reached out, grabbed the gun with his sore arm, and immediately began firing nonstop at the swarm of monsters surrounding him from all directions.
Gaia grabbed another heavy weapon from the pile and began firing in different directions, aiming carefully but quickly. Corpses began to pile up on the ground, one after another, and the number of monsters steadily started to decrease.
There were thousands of monsters surrounding them from every side, but hundreds of bullets were fired every second, ripping through many of the monsters in a row.
After the bullets had stopped, the leader threw the gun away.
"Gaia!"
She grabbed another heavy weapon and threw it at him, and he caught it with hand and fired all of the bullets, just like the previous one. The bullets tore through more monsters. There was now a lot more space between them and the approaching monsters.
They continued using all of the weapons, one by one, in rapid succession until they completely ran out of bullets. All the ammo was gone. The number of monsters was also reduced, not completely, but it was a lot better than before.
Gaia passed the leader a long blade, and without saying a word, he grabbed it and charged at the remaining monsters.
His arm strength was already lower than usual, but he continued to push his body to its absolute limits. The blade whipped through the air, slicing down corpse after corpse and cut through flesh without stopping.
A few of the monsters were still able to reach him and scratch his body with their claws and teeth because he was slower than before, but he kicked them away with his legs.
"You bastards!"
His movements grew increasingly slow with each passing second. There were still more than a hundred monsters left, and they were coming one after another.
He mindlessly swung his blade again and again, but exhaustion was catching up to him fast. It was getting more and more difficult for him to maintain his balance.
Gaia kept firing her last remaining weapon at the other monsters on the opposite side of the spaceship. The leader continued fighting, continued pushing, but he suffered more wounds and more cuts. The space he created between himself and the monsters shrank back to its original size. He was back surrounded again.
The monsters lunged at him from all directions, opening their mouths wide and ripping small chunks of flesh from his body with their paws and teeth. His breathing became heavier, and he slowed down even more.
"Is this it... Is this how I die...?"
He shut his eyes tightly and ceased moving altogether. Every single muscle in his body ached beyond reason. He wanted to lie down in a soft bed and sleep for hours, if not days. What was the point of continuing that fight anymore? He had already lost everyone and everything. Others had died because he failed to be an effective leader.
He could simply die now. Let everything end here.
"...why should I die? Why me?!"
The leader opened his bloody eyes and swung his blade in a wide arc, chopping every monster in his path in half.
"I'll kill you all!"
He ignored his pain, most likely forgetting about his wounds and missing limbs. He used his remaining arm and cybernetic legs to crush and sever every living thing in sight. Despite the monsters' persistent pursuit, he attacked them first, giving them no opportunity.
The field was covered with more than a thousand corpses and blue blood. When the number of monsters reached six, the remaining ones fled. The leader was the only one standing among the corpses.
His entire body was soaked in blood, which dripped from his chin and blade. He accomplished something astounding. Even someone with full cybernetic parts could not do what he did with a human body.
His head was pointing down. The blade fell from his grasp before he collapsed on his back. His blood loss was critical, and the lack of it interfered with his mental function. Everything appeared blurry as he slowly closed his eyes.
Gaia fought with a blade when her bullets ran out, but she was nowhere near him. He fought until the end even when his arm was gone, heavily wounded and exhausted.
Gaia walked slowly toward him before dropping to her knees from exhaustion. Her whole body trembled, and she lay on the monster's corpse. She noticed Solus walking over the corpses in her direction and stopping a meter away from her.
"You're still alive...I'm glad..."
"I assumed the swarm would kill everyone, but you two are still here. What a pain."
Gaia was puzzled for a moment before asking, "What do you mean?"
"Why do you think a swarm of monsters suddenly attacked the safe zone? It cannot be a coincidence. Since you made it to the end, I will tell you that this was all part of my plan."
"...what? You planned all of this...why?!"
"A villain does not need a reason."
He turned around and approached the leader. Solus kicked him in the body as he lay motionless. When the leader opened his eyes, Solus grabbed his hair and dragged him up.
"Now that both of you are alive, let's play a game."
He pulled a gun from his belt and threw it at Gaia. It landed just in front of her, near her hand. She rose from the ground and stared at the gun.
Solus extended another gun to the leader's hand and pointed at Gaia.
"Shoot her."
After hearing such accursed words, the leader forced himself to fully awake.
"Wait, what are you–"
"You heard me. Shoot her and live, or be shot and die. The decision is yours."
Gaia stared at them blankly, her mouth hanging open.
"Julius, why are you suddenly—"
"Shhhh. I will count to ten. Make a choice. Ten..."
Gaia was left with no clues or options. The leader was her senior, who looked after her like a big brother. She would never allow herself to kill someone.
"Nine..."
The leader was initially perplexed, but he grasped the situation the fastest. Solus was not lying, but both of the options he presented were advantageous to him.
"Eight..."
"Gaia, raise your weapon and shoot me."
Gaia was taken aback when she heard the words he spoke. He did not appear sad, but rather happy.
"Seven..."
"Gaia, I don't know what happened or what will happen, but listen to my words."
"Six..."
"I'm barely alive and I will die anyway. So just shoot me."
"Five.."
"No! I would rather die!"
"Gaia, now is not the time for that. Look at me! Do you believe I will live long in this condition?"
"Four..."
"Raise your weapon, Gaia! Shoot me! Or else he will kill you too!"
"Three..."
"No! You are like my big brother! I won't!"
"Gaia! This is my last order! Shoot me!"
"Two..."
"N-no...I c-cant do–"
"Shoot me!"
"I-I..."
"One..."
The leader raised the gun to his head and pressed the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
The bullet passed through his skull and flew outside. He dropped the gun from his grasp before collapsing on the ground.
Gaia gave a blank stare ahead. A tear rolled down her cheek and landed on her hands. Solus sighed as he stared down at the corpse of the leader.
"He broke the rules. I did not give him the option of killing himself."