Chapter 103: A Beta-Level Infection
The growling of a beast together with the imminent sign of danger coming from the system was a mixture of disaster. If that wasn't enough, we saw how the zombies that were approaching us... started to go away, as if afraid.
'T-Those things know what fear is?!' I wondered, looking at the place where the growling had come from. The noise produced waves that scared even the nearby birds that started flying away.
"What is that!?" Lucy was the first to react, preparing her rifle with Saeko raising up and frowning in response.
"Be careful... it is a beta infection. So far we have been fighting alphas, so this one is going to be stronger, stay on guard".
I checked my scanner and saw a bigger red dot mixed up with us whites and other reds.
"Do you see it?"
"Yes... it is a bigger red dot on the map, though it seems to be inside a building-"
*BOOOMMMMMM!!!*
All of a sudden we saw a cloud of dust coming from the spot where the noise came, the inside of a building. That creature now shrouded in dust managed to destroy a wall to make its exit from the building.
'Holy cow'.
To be able to do that spoke tropes about its physical strength. This fight wasn't going to be easy at all.
"Lucy!"
I threw her the loaded rocket launcher that I just pulled from the inventory. Aside from the monkey bombs, this is the most devastating weapon we have. She caught it and nodded at me before aiming it at the beast. The dust was dispersing and we finally managed to get a look at the beast we were going to fight against.
"No way..."
"A dog?"
It was an enormously hideous-looking hound white in colour and with long darker ears. Its mouth was stained in blood much like the rest of his body, coated in so much blood and dirt that its original white colour was barely visible. From my point of view, this beast was at least three metres two metres high on its four legs.
I gulped and witnessed how 'it' set its gaze on us, or more specifically on me.
*GROWWLL!!!*
The moment it started running towards us, that was the moment Lucy fired the first rocket.
!!!
This woman was 'decisive' in every sense of the word, she didn't wait for anything and fired it right away!
*WHOOOSHH!!*
Saeko and I covered ourselves from the cloud left behind by the missile and saw it move in slow motion towards the incoming beast.
*BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!----
The explosion happened at a relatively safe distance from us and yet... I felt the shockwave as if it had exploded just in front of us, making me stumble. Saeko wasn't any better, she clenched her teeth and fell towards me, I caught her and saw how her wound started to stain from the inside. The shockwave emitted by the explosion seemed to have opened it slightly.
I held her and looked in hope together with them how the creature was blasted away towards the side of a building, impacting it harshly to the point it dented inwardly.
"Did that do it?"
"I haven't been given the points yet," I said with gritted teeth how the beast started to recover soon after with half of its body charred and burnt.
The explosion didn't do much more than that!
*GROWWLL!!!*
The beast regarded us again, this time it didn't run, it staggered... it seems the explosion did do some damage.
"Saeko stay behind me, Lucy give us cover fire and get ready for the next shot!" I didn't think twice and created another rocket for her with gacha points.
[-100 gacha points]
"BRAND-KUN! THAT THING IS QUITE BIG! RUN!" I heard Hirano yell at us, they were all in the building's courtyard looking at everything.
"BRAND-CHAN! TAKE THE GIRLS AND GO!" Shizuka yelled even stronger and I resisted the urge to curse out loud. Lucy twitched her lips and noticed as well.
'Fools... now that you yelled, we can't run anymore'.
The beast was looking at them, easy prey in a higher position... that thing had the strength to destroy the building or just jump up there and hunt them.
"Fuck..."
*PA!*
*PA!*
*PA!*
I took my gun out and shot three rounds at the beast, placing his attention back on us and away from the girls. We can't run anymore.
*GROWWL!!*
"It is coming, quickly dodge!"
It would take a while before Lucy could reload her rocket launcher, moreover... if we are close to the explosion, it going to get us as well, this situation is tricky!
Lucy ran away while I took Saeko and jumped away from the way of monster that ran towards us as if he was a bull.
*WHOOSH!!*
I felt the breeze of the beast passing by and it crashed against a vehicle that was behind us, thankfully we managed to dodge that, otherwise... that would have been enough to trample us to death.
*BAANGG!!*
Lucy had jumped behind a nearby vehicle with the rocket launcher and the carabine; she unloaded the rest of her mag onto that thing. All the bullets impacted the head and the creature grunted each time, it seems piercing damage is more effective than an explosion.
"What the hell, what is this?! a mutated thing or something?!"
*GROWWL!*
*WHOOSH!*
Tired of the nonsense the beast sliced through the car where Lucy was in, she dodged again but the vehicle was split in half!
"I will make some distance between us and him. Blow his ass then!"
*PA!*
*PA!*
*PA!*
I tried to get his attention again by firing several rounds of the stronger nambu revolver on his head, I managed to catch it; it would give enough time for Lucy to reload the rocket launcher, but... now that thing is onto me and Saeko.
"Cover yourself, you're in no condition to fight this thing!"
"I can do it, Brand. I'll wait for the right moment to go for the legs"
*BOOM!*
The gigantic bloody hound was upon us, thrashing corpses and vehicles around effortlessly. I kept firing my guns at him and pushed Saeko away towards the entrance of Rika's apartment. Thankfully, the things attention kept on me as I started to run.
*GROWWL!!*
*PA!*
*PA!*
Hirano's bullet impacted the monster's head from the top of the building, it managed to disorient it. Sadly for me, its attention focused back on the building and no matter how much I fired at him, he wouldn't switch sights.
"I am ready to fire another one, Brand!" Lucy confirmed me with her launcher aimed at the beast, but she couldn't fire.
"Wait! we have to take him away from the building first! Hey bastard, come after me!"
It was useless, no matter how much I fired on it. That creature's gaze was fixed on Saeko and my heart nearly stopped when he started walking forward. Saeko is in no position to dodge or protect herself. If it attacks her, she's going to die.
"I'M TELLING YOU TO COME HERE!!"
*THUMB!!*
I felt a palpitation and for the briefest of seconds, it was as if my sight, everything in front of me, suddenly turned grey. Perhaps it was less than a second... but the next thing I knew was that my body was crashing against the hound's ribcage.
*BAAANGG!!!*
With a single hit of my whole body weight, that big beast was blasted towards the nearby light post, bending it and coming to a stop when it crashed against a wall.
!!!
Saeko and I couldn't believe what we were seeing. It was as if silence descended into the world from one moment to the other.
"..."
Lucy was looking at me in disbelief while I put my gaze on my body and saw some mild red aura that disappeared the next instant. All I had in my mind was the desire to save Saeko... and then... this happened.
"W-What the fuck?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone