Its right forepaw suddenly twisted backward and stabbed into the frozen ground, while its claws swelled into bluish-gray hooks somewhere between keratin and metal.
A thunderous roar of cracking ice came from the depths of the tundra.
Corpse chunks covered in Dark Red frost suddenly began to writhe. Every congealed bead of blood reflected tiny, swirling yellow seals.
The bellies of the wolf pack that had gnawed on the corpse chunks swelled grotesquely. Through their increasingly translucent skin, slimy egg-shaped objects could be seen pulsing within.
The alpha wolf's eyes were stained with incomprehensible madness. Its broken claw hooks dug deeply into its own swollen eye sockets, but what flowed out was not blood, but large clusters of fluorescent spores wrapped around nerve endings.
At that moment, the aurora tore through the dark clouds and spilled over the tundra wolf pack.
Within the curtain that should have been emerald green surged a filthy, tar-like dark yellow, as though the heavens had been torn open into a festering wound.
All the tundra wolves suddenly threw back their heads and let out inhuman shrieks—their throats were splitting into three lobes, and the frequency of their vocal cords' vibrations blasted spiderweb-like cracks across the ice beneath the abandoned whaling station.
Thick black liquid seeped from the depths of the cracks.
Under the moonlight, the liquid possessed the bizarre texture of metal fused with flesh and blood, winding around the mutated wolves' limbs like living tentacles.
Gradually, human sobs and manic laughter mixed into the tundra wolves' howls.
On every tundra wolf's face, faintly visible twisted expressions of humanity emerged.
They were the gazes of the cultists who had just performed their mad ritual here.
Bzz—
A faint, fleeting hum, like the flow of some kind of energy, passed through the air.
A dark-blue band of light emerged in the void and swiftly traced a luminous formation across the ground, composed of intricate mathematical set patterns.
A squad of Mech Servants in battle uniforms rapidly materialized from the light formation.
After the thirty-person squad led by a general appeared, they swiftly established a defensive formation around the area.
Each Mech Servant deployed positional-combat barriers from their own Tactical Space. Their human-like bodies transformed mechanical and energy structures along their arms and other parts, linking with the deployed defensive barriers.
In less than a breath, they had fused their bodies deeply into the impregnable line of defense, forming a circular perimeter.
Once everything was in place, four figures finally emerged from the opened spacetime gate at the center of the circular defensive position.
Hans, whose towering frame led the way, no longer looked like a suited thug. He had returned to his general's attire, clad in a battle uniform, and after confirming the area was safe, he stood respectfully to one side.
The next to emerge were Jiang Lianqiu, followed by Belfast and Von Neumann Meow.
The biting cold wind made Belfast frown. With what appeared to be a casual sweep of her right hand across her skirt, a thick pure-white fox-fur cloak appeared in her hand.
"Commander, the climate here is harsh. Please take care of yourself."
After draping the fox-fur cloak over Jiang Lianqiu and tying its fastenings for him, Belfast nodded in satisfaction and stepped back.
Jiang Lianqiu felt like Belfast had wrapped him up like the king of quilts.
"You should know my body can withstand this temperature now. Besides, aren't I wearing the bracelet you gave me?"
It was a Mech Servant technological product with numerous functions, including defense and temperature regulation.
"But attending to Master's needs at all times is a maid's duty." Belfast smiled gently. She had her own principles, and she had no intention of yielding on this matter.
Jiang Lianqiu calmly accepted her concern, then shifted his gaze toward the group of strange creatures beyond the circular defense perimeter... creatures that were supposedly tundra wolves.
They completely ignored the people who had suddenly appeared and continued madly devouring the remaining bloody corpse chunks.
"So disgusting!" Jiang Lianqiu frowned. "Good thing we didn't bring Eriri and the others here, or let them see what's going on."
Of course, although Eriri and Utaha Kasumigaoka had not seen it, someone had.
Ugh—!!!
Big Pillow Li's retching rang out in his mind.
Qiu Zi! It stinks!
Through the Five Senses Linked she shared with Jiang Lianqiu, the girl smelled the overwhelmingly rancid stench that made her stomach cramp.
Before you continue