Chapter 52

Erabelle sat with a grim expression, lost in thought. If I can just slip inside and sweep the lab, I might find a way back to the unit...

“What are you doing?”

“Eek!”

The sudden voice made Erabelle jolt violently. Commander Dezeb Avganis scowled at her reaction.

“What is your problem? Why are you so jumpy?”

“C-Commander... what are you doing here...?”

“Better question—what are you doing here?”

“Well... I’m not entirely sure myself...”

Despite his annoyed grimace and sarcastic scoff, Erabelle felt genuine relief at the sight of him.

“Do you even realize where the hell you are? Damn it, you nearly gave me a heart attack. What is going on here?”

He glanced between Erabelle and the decapitated monstrosity sitting across from the fire, letting out a harsh laugh.

The commander and Virgo Hag locked eyes. Hundreds of barnacle-like pupils embedded in the mass of tentacles glared back into the furious gaze of a planetary deity. The hostility in the air was palpable.

Her momentary relief cut short, Erabelle grabbed a nearby sheet of rusty metal and began scooping the glowing embers away from the fire.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

After a tense silence, the commander asked, “...What are you doing?”

“Oh. It looked like you two were about to throw down, so I figured I’d move out of the splash zone.”

He barked another humorless laugh at her “consideration.”

“Does none of this strike you as wrong?”

Well... after thirteen years stranded in another world, I’ve pretty much seen it all.

“Are you blind?”

Nope.

Commander Dezeb jutted his chin toward Virgo Hag.

“You don’t see that thing?”

“I do.”

“Then why are you still sitting there? Why haven’t you run?”

“There’s nowhere to go.”

“What?”

Tension spiked again. Erabelle hesitated mid-reach for another ember before answering.

“Step fifty meters outside this clearing and it’s crawling with monsters.”

She tried to look as pitiful as possible, angling for a shred of sympathy.

“Then what about this one? You don’t consider that thing a monster?”

“I do...”

“Then why are you still here?”

“Like I said... there’s nowhere to run—”

“Shit, what’s the difference between this freak and the ones out there? They’re all the same damn thing!”

If you’re not going to listen, why even bother asking? The temperamental commander kept cutting her off.

“I figured a familiar monster was better than a stranger.”

“And that makes it better? Dying to something you recognize is somehow less painful? What kind of twisted logic is that? God, would you leave the damn fire alone?!”

“I didn’t think he’d kill me.”

They really were on the verge of fighting. Still clutching the embers, Erabelle gave her answer.

The commander sneered.

“Oh? Why? Why wouldn’t he? Don’t tell me... just because you know him?”

“He has a bet riding on me.”

“...”

“Twenty thousand CP per head.”

Even Virgo Hag seemed to let out a low sigh at that, as if sharing the sentiment. Caught between a tentacled monstrosity and a half-naked deity stomping across the continent, Erabelle felt utterly awkward.

Everyone here is insane except me, yet I’m the one being pitied? She couldn’t make sense of it.

“And your brain still functions in a situation like this? You can process this nightmare calmly? Then tell me—what about that? You don’t see that either?”

Though he asked, the commander didn’t even bother looking in the direction he was pointing.

“Uh... of course I see it.”

Erabelle had started to answer while staring at the massive shed skin twisting across the clearing, but the words caught in her throat.

The look on his face was dangerous.

“This singularity... is completely fucked. That thing almost fooled me for a second.”

He bared his teeth, looking ready to snarl.

“Yeah. Sure. Nothing strange at all, right? These things... wearing human skin...”

Maybe he shouldn’t be the one talking, but to Erabelle, none of it mattered. ETs, aliens—they were all the same.

A tentacle-faced horror like Virgo Hag or a shirtless, godlike commander tearing across continents—identical. Just different flavors of humanoid monsters.

Both could snap her in half with a flick of a finger. Just because she feared the Dogs more didn’t mean the commander was any safer.

“Incredible. You all think you know what the hell you’re dealing with.”

Dezeb turned his glare back onto Virgo Hag and the bristling mass of tentacles.

“Virgo Hag.”

Virgo shifted slightly toward him.

“Feels good, doesn’t it? Being back here. Like coming home.”

The commander’s eyes narrowed, and razor-sharp scales rose along his tentacles. Shhhkk— The hiss of scales scraping together set the fine hairs on Erabelle’s arms on end.

“While you’re here, why not drop by the incubator? Might as well say hi to your mommy.”

The commander had officially devolved into hurling insults.

“If she saw that disgusting face, even your mother would turn away—”

Clatter. Clatter clatter.

“—turn away—”

Clatter.

He exhaled in sharp annoyance.

“Ah! Will you leave the damn embers alone?!”

“I’m just trying to give you two room to fight comfortably.”

“If we start fighting, this entire sector is getting flattened. You think you’ll be able to run?”

“Better to try than sit here and take it.”

“Sit down and cut the crap!”

“Yes, sir.”

The commander was clearly in the middle of a complete meltdown. He kept prodding at Virgo Hag, looking for trouble without tiring, throwing out insults like candy.

He must have woken up today and chosen pure chaos.

If he put half this much energy into actual duties, the unit wouldn’t be in such shambles.

With her escape route cut off and the commander too busy picking fights to be of any help, Erabelle pulled an old energy bar from her pocket and began roasting it over the fire.

The commander trailed off mid-sentence, letting out a short, exasperated sigh.

“...What are you doing now?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Hah...”

He looked on the verge of tears.

“Do you even know who I am?”

Suddenly, he was launching into a dramatic self-introduction. Erabelle quickly shook her head.

“No need, sir. Really.”

“Kallitus.”

“...Sorry?”

She pretended not to hear.

“Kallitus. The planetary god of this world.”

It didn’t help.

“I am the rightful ruler of this planet. Its origin. The father of every living, breathing thing that walks this land.”

“Ah... I see.”

Yeah, she already knew. But still, she didn’t want to acknowledge it. Erabelle gave the middle-aged man a faintly pitiful look.

“What’s with that expression?”

“I’m... overwhelmed with awe.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Really, I swear. It’s my first time meeting a god. I’m just... stunned.”

She hadn’t expected him to declare it out loud. The temples here were practically collapsing into ruins; a dramatic revelation like that just felt sad.

Besides, planetary gods only held true power among native believers. On a world crawling with off-worlders, that authority plummeted fast. When the priesthood is worrying about paying the electric bill, the religion is on its last legs.

And that was exactly what Kallitus looked like.

She was actually starting to feel sorry for him... until his next words turned her cold.

“This isn’t your first time.”

“...What?”

“You’ve already done the deed with that one.”

Didn’t hear it. Didn’t hear it.

“Want a cigarette?”

“Your life... tsk. How did someone like you end up as a compatible one?”

“I’m not following, sir.”

“Don’t ‘not following’ me. You were alone with Avganis all night yesterday. How are your insides holding up? That bastard has some nasty habits.”

At this point, Virgo’s silence was starting to look suspicious. Whether their heads were chopped off or their spines ripped out, the Dogs always remained loyal.

Compared to the planetary natives who supposedly revered their deity, the Dogs were far creepier.

She could roughly guess what Dezeb was implying... Still, since he seemed to suffer from a chronic urge to provoke everyone around him, Erabelle simply glanced over at Virgo.

“Everyone thought you were the one being investigated, Commander.”

“Me? There’s nothing to find.”

“I know.”

“...Shit.”

The commander looked genuinely miserable. As he wallowed in self-pity, Erabelle handed him the perfectly toasted energy bar.

“Don’t need that. Give me a smoke.”

This was her chance. Shoving the bar into her own mouth, Erabelle pounced.

“I’ll give you some when we get back to the unit. Two packs. No—ten!”

“...What?”

“For free. I swear. I’ll even throw in beer. Ten cans. No—twenty! Just... please get me back to the unit.”

“...”

“Please.”

Erabelle clung to his pant leg like a desperate child. Beside her, Virgo cupped his headless neck as if nursing a sudden migraine.

The greatest power of a planetary god was the ability to warp through hyperspace anywhere within their domain.

It was essentially an internal, infinite teleportation device—he could probably make a fortune running an interdimensional delivery service.

That divine ability had inspired countless spacefaring technologies.

Right now, however, for Erabelle, it came with one massive drawback.

The motion sickness was infinitely worse than riding a shuttle.