The Greatest Fight [progression cultivation isekai]

X2.3.4 – Theta Nine

"Can you guys hear me?" asked Roa over the spacesuit's communication system.

"I hear you," confirmed Indigo and Rosso.

Their bulky armored suits clanked with each step, metal on metal, as they made their way deeper into the pitch-black hall of the cargo hold. Another screech echoed in the darkness.

"This place gives me the absolute heebie-jeebies," Rosso said.

"Stay close. Turn on your suit's radar. Mine is picking something up in the walls," Indigo confirmed as she stared into a digital map of their surroundings.

Something scuttled in front of them, disappearing in some open grate in the floor. The three carefully shone their lights into it, but could not see anything but an empty metal shaft.

"We—in the—we are—bridge," Arnalaxia's voice broke up through the static. "Something—big—coming."

"That way," Indigo pointed to the right, "looks like the siblings are down there."

The walls began to change from metal to being covered by some strange, organic matter. It was a mix of reddish, dark purples and black hues, and much of it was slowly pulsing, as if alive. The air became damp and hazy, as if some kind of pollen was in the oxygen-less air.

"What is this stuff?" asked Rosso, poking it with his laser cannon.

"I don't know, but it looks disgusting," said Roa.

"Shush!" said Indigo, lifting her arm. "Someone's coming."

The three stood back-to-back, pointing their guns in various directions, looking for anything moving through the darkness.

"There!" she said, pointing her beam to something crawling on the ground.

"Help—help me…"

Realizing that it was Human, the Jumpers carefully approached the individual.

"What happened to you?" asked Roa, kneeling down while carefully keeping a safe distance from him.

The man was pale as snow, sweating profusely and had a blank stare in his eyes.

"Send help. Please, don't let me turn," he said, lifting his hand toward the boy.

"I don't understand. What do you mean?" Roa asked.

"The whole crew is infected. We need—medical help. Don't let me turn—please. It—burns…"

The three Jumpers glanced at each other and decided to help the stranger to his feet. However, to their horror as they lifted the man off of the floor, they understood the macabre situation he was in. The man's spacesuit was torn open in the front, and out came his intestines and organs, which fell onto the ground with a gushing plop as the man let out a loud groan.

"Holy—Mother of all Truths," said Rosso.

The insides of the stranger began wiggling, as if they had a mind of their own. Tiny little finger-like appendages stuck out from the gaping wound as the man's eyes rolled back.

"Don't let me turn. Don't let me turn," he repeated over and over.

Roa signaled to the others to keep moving. The man stood there with his wiggling guts out, head tilted back, mouth open, repeating the same thing over and over again.

"Don't let them touch you!" he screamed, gurgling and wheezing, as he was left behind in the darkness of the cargo hold.

The metal surroundings were now completely covered in organic matter as the three travelers finally made it to the bridge of the ship. A few blinking lights from the whirring machines blinked beneath the hideous skin of the strange substance covering everything. In the middle of the room was one large cocoon.

"There!" Roa said, running up to it. The three siblings' faces were sticking out of the shell. Tapping on the glass of their suits, the Sunflower managed to wake one of them up. "What happened here?"

Boreo's eyes opened slowly as he tried to regain consciousness. "They'll hear you," he said, passing out again.

It was too late. Indigo's radar started going off as it filled with numerous, fast approaching red dots. "We got a swarm of something coming!" she said, charging up her laser cannon, pointing it at the doorway they came from.

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A moment of silence followed; it felt like it lasted somewhere between forever and an eternity.

Then—a blood-curdling screech broke the silence. A horde of monstruous creatures clawed, crawled and climbed their way into the large room. It was the crew of the cargo hold, now transformed into hideous space zombies. Some had half of their heads missing, others sprouted strange claws from their bodies. They were clumsy and made strange noises, as if they were in pain, falling over one another as they ran towards the Jumpers in a frenzy.

"Open fire!" Roa screamed, letting out a blast from his guns, hitting one of the monsters in the head.

The others followed suit, unleashing a barrage of lights and explosions, turning the place into a bloodbath. However, no matter how much they blasted the enemies, more came from behind, crawling on the body parts of the defeated ones that had collapsed on the ground.

"My cannon is at 47%. I can't keep firing at this rate. I'll run out soon!" shouted Rosso.

"Damn it," said Indigo, dropping a small, empty gun on the floor, and unleashing blasts with a larger one she pulled out of her suit's backpack. "Same!"

Roa glanced at the opening where the zombies were crawling out of.

"Keep shooting! I got an idea," he said, reaching into his pocket and running straight into the horde.

"What the hell are you doing?" shouted Rosso, trying to down every enemy heading toward the boy.

The Sunflower activated the bomb and threw it on the floor, through the stampeding legs of the zombies at the doorway. He slid on the floor and turned around, pivoting his body back towards his friends. However, as he was about to start running away and escape from the explosion, something grabbed his arm and a sharp pain shot through him, forcing a groan out of him. He fell to the ground and saw one of the zombie's claws had pierced through his spacesuit, holding him down as it dug into the flesh of his forearm. He screamed and shot the claw enough times to sever it from the creature; grabbing it, he threw it away.

It was too late, however. The bomb went off.

Limbs, blood and guts splattered in all directions, as the room filled with smoke. Roa's friends rushed towards him, shooting the last standing zombies until the last one fell on the floor with a squishy thud. In the smoke, something flickered.

"Are you alright?" asked Rosso.

Roa sat up, stared at his arms and legs, and noticed that he took no damage. "Yeah, I'm still in one piece, but—we got a problem."

"What?"

"I didn't mean to—it just kind of happened out of instinct. I used the Scutum Gift. I used my aura to protect myself from the explosion," he said, as the last bit of his auric shield flickered and disappeared.

"We'll worry about Shadows later, if they even manage to find us in this immense space world, anyway," Indigo said, helping him to his feet.

A burning pain shot through Roa's arm.

"Are you good?" asked Rosso, again, noticing his friend's pained expression on his face.

"Yeah. I was repressing my aura, so one of the monsters managed to cut through my suit," the boy from Earth said, showing his lacerated sleeve.

"We'll get you fixed up in no time. I'm sure it's nothing but a scratch," Rosso smiled.

The Sunflower took out a large knife and began cutting the cocoons the siblings were trapped into. As if spectating a macabre birth, the three fell out and unto the ground with a splat as the putrid juices covered the floor.

"What—" said Arnalaxia as she woke up. Her brothers were already sitting up, complaining about their heads hurting.

"What happened?" Roa asked.

"We were looking for some loot here on the bridge, when that horde of monsters came at us. We were keeping them at bay at first. Then, something big came," said Arn.

"What was it?" Indigo asked, helping her up.

"I don't know. But it was huge, and it seemed—intelligent. It grabbed us and forced us into these cocoons. Then, we sort of lost consciousness. I think it was feeding this—stuff on the walls. Barrus, do you still have the—"

"I got it," he said, lifting the briefcase.

Rosso snatched it out of his hand.

"Hey! Give it back," he complained.

"No. We're done tagging along through your mess. This stays with us until we know where the Exit is," Rosso pulled the briefcase away as the other tried to grab it from him.

"Fine," Barrus said. "We're only a few days away from the Gray Bazaar anyway."

Arnalaxia's face grew pale, her mouth opened and her shaking index finger raised.

"What?" Boreo said looking at her.

The group turned around, and their hearts sank. The large creature that had caught the siblings had made its way into the room, silently sneaking up on them as they were talking. It was hideous, as if several of the crew members had melted their bodies together into one grotesque monstrosity.

"Fire!" Roa screamed, as all six Jumpers began shooting at the beast.

"Keep shooting!" Indigo screamed, as the monster fell to its knees as bits of its flesh exploded unto the walls behind it.

After several minutes the shooting ceased.

"Hold!" Roa said, lifting his arm up.

The smoke cleared, but instead of revealing a dead body, the creature stood back up and walked towards them again. The Jumpers unleashed another barrage of blasts at it, hoping to finally defeat it. To their dismay however, no matter how much firepower was thrown at the monster, it just kept on standing back up. At one point it screamed and charged at the heroes.

"I'm out of ammo," the boy from Earth said as the others quickly ran out as well.

The charging monster was about to leap on them, swiping its claws as it crawled, revealing its many, misshapen teeth, when the Sunflower, out of desperation threw his cannon on the ground, lifted up his hands in the shape of a Gunhand and invoked the Gift.

A blast of pure aura tore through the monster's head and top portion of the body, disintegrating half of it in the process, and finally putting a halt to its fury.

"No—" said Boreo, "what have you done, you fool?"

"I had no other choice. We were going to die," Roa said.

"We have to leave this location, now!" Arn said. "The Shadows will surely pick up on this signal and be on their way here. We have to leave and disappear, fast."

The six space travelers made it back to their ship with little trouble, defeating a few straggling zombies along the way. Taking off their suits, they sat in their chairs as Arn undocked the ship and flew them back out into deep space.

Roa was in the bathroom, washing his hands and face when he noticed the wound on his arm. The cut was neither too large nor deep. However, around it was a small, dark-purple and black stain, as if his skin had begun to rot around the wound.

He stared at himself in the mirror and sighed, "I'm sure it's nothing."