One-way traffic

The blue, star-patterned dress appeared on the girl's body.

"I will do my best to do whatever I promise."

And so, under the watchful eyes of these two Valkyries.

A dark blue, star-like teleportation array appeared on the ground.

——————————————————————————————————————————

They received the highest level of command authority.

—Tonight, the enemy will surely attack ME headquarters.

It was precisely because they received such orders that all these soldiers gathered in this area.

"What do you think?"

Hearing the voice coming from the communication device, the man standing in front of the gate took a deep breath.

"What did Lady Cocolia say?"

She said that the most important matter right now is on the third floor of ME Company.

"Does that mean I just need to keep an eye on things on the third floor?"

"Don't talk nonsense to me."

As the team leader, he immediately let out a low growl.

"Don't you know how important this mission is? What did Lady Cocolia say? If we fail, we're all doomed. Even if the enemy doesn't kill us, she'll mercilessly slaughter us!"

"what…"

A series of gasps could be heard coming from the other end of the communication.

That's no joke.

If the mission fails, even if they survive by sheer luck, they will certainly be killed.

They might even be used for human experiments.

Upon realizing this, the soldiers immediately quieted down.

'…but.'

Even so, the soldier who was the captain was still extremely puzzled by this.

What exactly is that Lady Cocolia placed in the third-floor area?

This is something that is simply beyond the knowledge of these people.

Although he was the captain of this squad, that was all. He held a slightly unique position among the lower-level personnel, but that did not mean he had direct access to the most confidential information about the Anti-Entropy organization.

He knew very well that this building was the headquarters of Anti-Entropy, the organization fighting against the Honkai, but he had no idea about the various factors inside.

No matter what.

Here, he was to guard the place to the death for his mission; that was his task for the day.

"Come on though."

Holding the rifle, his eyes began to turn cold.

Countless Titan mechs guard the exterior of the building, and countless more are stationed throughout the rest of the building.

Infrared detectors and surveillance cameras have all been installed.

In this situation, not even a fly can get in.

However, if anyone manages to sneak in, he will fight them mercilessly.

The captain's eyes gleamed with a blood-red light.

"We will make sure you don't leave alive."

No matter who the enemy is, he will never show mercy.

With this resolute determination, he stood directly by the gate.

then.

—In that instant, all the lights went out.

"What--?!"

"Team, captain!"

"What's going on? Is there a power outage?!"

That's simply impossible. ME Corporation's circuitry is incredibly sophisticated, and its generators are all independently equipped, making a power outage of this scale impossible.

But all of this did happen.

"...Tsk! Calm down, all of you!"

As the team leader, he roared without any mercy.

"This could be a trap set by the enemy, so be careful and don't let your guard down!"

"Enemy, enemy?"

"Understood…!"

They responded without hesitation.

However, somehow...

Since just now, I've had this inexplicable feeling lingering in my mind.

"..."

The captain stood close to the edge of the gate.

Because of the power outage, the lights, infrared sensors, cameras, and even the alarms were all unresponsive.

It's unclear whether it was an enemy operation or simply a circuit malfunction.

No matter what, we must stand firm on our own front.

With that thought in mind, he took a step forward.

Click.

—Snap! !

"Goo—what?!"

The captain's eyes widened, and he pointed the muzzle of his gun at the area behind him.

It is a wrench.

A wrench appeared to have fallen from the ventilation duct above.

He was somewhat dazed and used his left hand to turn on the night vision goggles on his helmet—only then did he realize something.

My left hand was trembling slightly.

"Impossible...why would something like this fall down here...?"

In the dark space, the only thing that could be seen was an iron wrench lying on the ground.

Even if you look up along the ventilation duct, you can't see anything at all.

Even though the night vision goggles were already on, the captain felt an incredibly strange sensation.

It's also possible that the workers simply forgot to clean it up after the repairs.

He tried to convince himself like that.

thump.

—After that, there were footsteps.

"—!!"

The man's back was instantly soaked with liquid—cold sweat.

This time, he didn't hesitate to aim his gun upwards; the sound was coming from the ventilation duct.

Boom, boom, boom.

Something seemed to be moving slowly inside the ventilation duct.

but--

'That pipe...it simply couldn't support a human body!'

It's probably only animals like foxes and dogs that can walk in those ventilation ducts.

But if it were those creatures, they would never make such a loud noise.

No, in the end—

Why is something moving inside the ventilation duct?

Just as the captain was racking his brains, he had completely forgotten one thing.

Start just now.

"—?!"

There were no more voices from his teammates in his communications.

"Hey! This is the captain! Where's the rest of you? Hey!"

“…clunk…”

I can't hear anything.

No.

Upon closer listening, he could still hear a voice that was so faint it was unbelievable.

“I…T…S…”

That wasn't a human voice.

It is a very low, mechanical sound, like the sound of an old, worn-out electronic device.

Boom, boom, boom—

dong dong dong-

A series of sounds rushed in from inside the ventilation duct.

Those were the footsteps of some creature moving rapidly, step by step.

No, it can't be—

“I…T…S…M…E”

"No way!!!!!"

He could no longer bear it.

The captain, who had raised his rifle, fired without hesitation at the ventilation duct.

The sound of flames echoed throughout the room. His hand slipped out of control, like a reflex action triggered by a sudden stimulus after nerves had been stretched to their limit.

A series of sparks flashed continuously on the ventilation duct.

Click.

His gun was out of ammunition.

The captain leaned against the wall, his mind wandering.

Whatever it was, the sound finally disappeared.

The communications were free of noise, and the ventilation ducts became quiet.

Although the power has not been restored, I have managed to hold on.

There are no problems anymore.

He raised his head like that.

--Then.