Not far ahead, beside the collapsed highway overpass, the six-story fortress-like Titan still stood tall and unmoving.

It was a monster of steel.

Even after taking over 100 RPG hits and more than a dozen Dove missiles, its armor remained intact. It was only scarred and dented.

Glancing back at the few brothers still alive and the meager weapons they held, Sideline Slacking’s crooked smile faded into something more bitter.

So much for getting the First Kill.

But even so, there was no reason to retreat.

Death was only the beginning of the cycle. Three days later, it would all begin again.

They were the true immortal warriors!

Pushing himself off the wall, Sideline Slacking steadied his feet on the ground. “Anyone who wants to head back and save your progress, go ahead. You’ve already done enough. Even if you don’t make it to the end, I won’t blame you... But our mission isn’t over yet. I’m going to keep going.”

If they could find a way to climb onto that thing and shove explosives into the moldy brain, maybe, just maybe, they could bring it down!

They still had a chance!

His throat tightened as he clenched the assault whistle hanging from his neck between his teeth, ready to blow it.

But just then, the massive Titan that had been striding forward suddenly froze mid-step. It let out a deep metallic groan, and with a sound like grinding steel before slowly sinking to one knee.

The six-story-tall body tilted forward like a collapsing tower, its sharp-edged armor plates slamming into the ground, throwing up a storm of dust and debris.

Everyone stood there, dumbfounded.

A second ago it had been radiating murderous intent, and now it was... kneeling?

Before anyone could make sense of it, the roar of engines came from the nearby intersection. Several Tank 2 tank destroyers, each armed with a 60mm railgun, rolled onto the battlefield, escorted by Chimera armored vehicles.

“Fire!” Half-standing on one of the Chimeras, Escaping Mole shouted the order. Blue electrical arcs crackled in the dark, and an orange-yellow tracer streaked across the night sky, slamming straight into the kneeling Titan.

The impact made the Titan shudder violently, as though it had been punched in the face. A deafening metallic clang reverberated through the ruins.

When the dust cleared, the Titan remained motionless.

Escaping Mole blinked in surprise, then quickly raised his arm to order another volley.

He wanted to see how many railgun rounds this hunk of steel could actually take!

But before he could give the command, Sideline Slacking suddenly shouted, waving his arms frantically. “Wait! Hold your fire! Stop shooting!”

Hearing his voice, Escaping Mole swallowed the command to fire just as it reached his lips.

As Sideline Slacking limped up to him, Escaping Mole frowned in confusion. “What’s going on? We’re not shooting anymore?”

“... It’s over.” Sideline Slacking raised his arm and pointed at the VM screen on his wrist.

On the display flickered a pale-blue notification window.

[Congratulations to the Death Corps for achieving the first kill of the Evolved Type, Slime Mold Titan!]

Although the Titan still looked capable of fighting, the system had already judged it defeated, and it had indeed ceased resisting.

Maybe, if one indulged in a bit of sentimentality, it was as if the fallen soldiers of the 111th Orbital Airborne Division had recognized their courage and granted them victory.

Whatever the reason, the system’s verdict was final. The beast was done.

As long as the doggy developer didn’t pull another stunt and rewrite the script again... They won!

With the first-kill announcement and rewards secured, the Death Corps were overjoyed.

Escaping Mole, however, looked more like someone who’d just been scammed. “You’re kidding me! It’s already dead?! I came all this way for nothing?!”

Sideline Slacking gave an embarrassed laugh and coughed. “Can’t help it, our strength speaks for itself. Anyway, enough about fighting... We almost forgot the main objective. Thea is still down below. We’re out of ammo, so it’s your turn now.”

At those words, Escaping Mole’s irritation melted instantly into a broad grin. “Heh, now that’s what I like to hear!”

He turned and yelled to the rear, “Brothers! We missed the mini-boss, but the final boss is ours!”

“The Mother Body behind this Tide is right ahead, charge!”

MVP!

Haha! This time, the title would be his!

Escaping Mole’s eyes gleamed with manic excitement.

The Skeleton Corps had been stuck as second or third place for so many battles, but now, they were finally going to take the crown!

The men behind him shared his thrill, their roars echoing through the street.

“RAAAAH!”

Wheels thundered forward. Players riding on tanks and armored vehicles racked their weapons, ready for the next battle.

Watching the armored convoy rumble past, Drumhead Washing Machine, sitting by the roadside with his rifle, couldn’t help muttering, “Attacking that thing? You guys are crazy.”

His brothers were true degenerates.

...

The retreating Tide was still several kilometers away from Thea.

And crossing several kilometers of urban ruins off-road was nothing like traveling across open plains.

Especially when the entire city was a wasteland, and the retreating Tide was being pounded from above and below by the New Alliance’s combined army and air force.

Almost every nursery across Clearspring City had been under the Main Mother Body’s control. Thea only controlled those few along the retreat path.

The Mutant Slime Mold ran quickly, but not faster than the Skeleton Corps’s engines.

At the entrance to the underground tunnels, exoskeleton-clad armored infantry jumped from their vehicles, storming into the pitch-black subway.

Spawn lurking in the darkness hurled themselves forward, using every possible means to halt the players’ advance.

But with the fall of the Main Mother Body, Thea’s remaining forces were utterly exhausted. Its final resistance was nothing more than a death spasm.

Sensing the ferocious organisms closing in, Thea, standing upon its crimson fungal mat, felt fear in its very essence.

“Mother...”

“What should I do?”

The spores floating around it were still. It was like a windless lake, silent, without ripple or response.

Of course.

Its mother had fallen into eternal slumber, taking their unfinished fate with it.

Despair welled up within Thea. It didn’t know what to do.

Since its birth months ago, it had always followed its mother’s guidance.

It had never imagined there would come a day when the Main Mother Body would leave first, nor that it would happen so suddenly, leaving her completely unprepared.

Then, just as it trembled in confusion, a faint ripple disturbed the silence.

“Surrender.”

A moment ago it had felt a spark of hope, but upon hearing those words, its heart sank again into despair.

“They’ll kill me! Just like they killed my children!”

The rippling voice in the spore clouds replied, calm and commanding. “If you yield to me, they won’t.”

Thea cried out in frenzy, “Why?!”

The voice continued, “They say the laws of nature cannot be reversed. Like every other creature, we are part of this great system. As long as even a single cell survives, a new Mother Body will eventually arise from the old.”

“To erase us from this planet would be as impossible as erasing every grain of dust. That path was doomed from the start. So they offered me another path, an invitation to explore the future together.”

Thea asked in confusion, “... The future?”

“Yes,” the voice said gently, echoing in her mind. “No one can return to the world of two centuries ago. But everyone can decide how to live through today, and tomorrow.”

“Who... are you?”

The voice carried a note of joy, almost playful. “You can call me Little Feather. That’s the name they gave me, and I rather like it.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The bright, cheerful tone resonating in the spore clouds made Thea feel something like envy.

In her brief, ephemeral life, only its mother’s approval had ever given it that warmth.

Silence lingered.

The gunfire in the tunnels grew louder and time was running out.

Just as Little Feather was about to urge her again, the spores around Thea stirred with a sigh. “Perhaps... you’re right.”

Little Feather asked, “You agree?”

“No.”

“... Why?!”

Sensing Little Feather’s confusion, Thea smiled softly. Its restless soul calmed at last. “... I was born to devour, to kill, to conquer, just as you were born to explore what lies beyond imagination.”

“My mother once told me that death is only the beginning of the cycle. We are born from the soil beneath our feet, and to the soil we shall return.”

“Thank you... for letting me hear my mother’s voice one last time before I go. I realize now that embracing the end isn’t so frightening after all. Our deaths will have meaning. Our footprints will remain upon this land.”

“You need not carry my burden forward. I will fulfill my destiny here, and with my death, put an end to this war that has lasted two centuries.”

“Perhaps when I next open my eyes, my consciousness will awaken in an entirely new world.”

“If that world truly exists, please, go see it for me.”

“Farewell... fellow member of my race whom I never met.”

With those final, simple words, Thea severed the link.

The crimson Slime Mold writhed like boiling water. Its chest swelled severalfold, its spreading carapace flaring like armor, and countless twisted tendrils flailed outward, propelling Thea forward.

It was its strongest, final form, the full power of a Mother Body! In that instant, Thea became a demon straight from hell.

Having lost all its Evolved Types, it turned herself into the last of them and launched its final attack at the players storming into the tunnel.

“Embrace the glory of evolution!” Thea screamed, lashing out with its tendrils, impaling, shredding, and devouring players beneath its flaring mantle.

The Skeleton Corps’ unstoppable advance faltered for a brief moment under Thea’s furious onslaught.

However, it was only for a moment.

Facing the rampaging boss, not a single player flinched. Instead, their fighting spirit blazed even brighter.

The long-awaited boss fight had finally begun!

Roars of excitement thundered through the tunnel.

“Frontline, hold the line! Ranged, spread out, time to farm the boss!”

“Everyone, group up!”

“Let's go!”