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Chapter 138: Planning For The Tsero

“Tsk…”

“Once those closest to the Tsero have taken their fill, they leave and lay on the edges. Like that one there napping. Going in is… The Tsero won’t all attack right away. But once they realize that we’re getting close to their ‘Food’, they all become enraged. They don’t have a particular Tsero Crystal that they feed on, so going for any of those Tsero Crystals, could attract all of the Visero in the area. Hundreds of Tsero coming at once.”

‘They’re smaller than both Giganto Zillas and the Wizzos’ Alphas, but their numbers more than make up for it. And to top it off, they can take energy from the Tsero Crystal without being in contact with it. In other words, even if I were to get hit by lightning, they would end up draining me of the surplus of energy…’

“Did you see enough?” Roka sighed. “Let’s turn back before-”

“We’ll need some kind of distraction.” The Paru interrupted. “Can I have that?”

Roka furrowed her brows.

“S… Sure.”

Handing a weapon to a male instead of keeping it for herself felt a bit strange to her.

She was more used to calling the male useless and ordering him to hide behind her.

The Paru took hold of the hammer, before slowly turning around.

“Well…?” Roka stared at his back.

‘I like this place. My Endurance Points fill up quicker. I suppose that’s because the air is much more electrically charged, and the crystals on my back can store some of that energy.’

Once he turned around,

“Yarn balls?” Roka’s face winced. “Did you just knit that?”

The Paru’s eyebrow twitched, but he didn’t let that get to him.

He extended them to her, and Roka took them.

“Huh?” Her surprise was obvious. “They’re heavy… And the smell is-”

“Throwing them might be enough to make them explode. You can also throw them, then shoot at them. Make sure not to drop them though.” The Paru explained as he smirked. “A spark is enough to make them explode.”

The Skill “Exploding Threads Lv.2” was obtained by Merging the Skills “Spiderweb Production Lv.3” and “Burning Mist Expulsion”.

Roka stared at the balls of wrapped crystalline threads for a moment.

“That’s the distraction?”

“Well… Gotta start somewhere.” The Paru shrugged. “Use those after I’ve given you the signal.”

A slight frown appeared on Roka’s face.

“What signal would that be?”

The Paru stared into the distance for a moment, before pointing.

“I’ll make that one collapse.”

“That pillar? You can’t be serious…” Roka’s disbelief slowly faded as she was reminded of what Liz had told her. “Using that?” She asked, her gaze moving towards the hammer in the Paru’s hand.

“Amongst other things.” He answered.

The two started walking cautiously, circling around the area towards that pillar, the tallest one visible.

“So we’ll try to make this pillar fall without being noticed or attacked, then-”

“The pillar might crush some Tsero, but it also might not. I’m not sure how strong they are or how heavy this pillar is.”

“Very heavy, and very tough. Using that about four times is enough to make my shoulders feel like they’re about to get dislocated. It will take way more than four hits to bring the pillar down.”

“Which is why you didn’t do that yourself.”

“Yes…” Roka looked away. “Because I can’t.” She cleared her throat. “Even if this goes well, that only brings us about halfway to the Tsero Crystal, if we run over the pillar after it has fallen. Further than that is still-”

“You won’t be coming with.” The Paru interrupted. “Stay behind and assist me.”

“While you’re surrounded by dozens of Tsero? I can’t do that.”

“You’re more useful to me away from that mess. You’ll have a better view of everything happening, and you’ll be able to attack those coming for me from behind, or from the sides while I run on the fallen pillar.”

“…”

“I can handle it.” The Paru said as he slapped his chest. “I got thick skin.”

“Yeah, alright…” Roka muttered, rolling her eyes. “It would still be tough and risky. Letting you take all the risks doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Then make sure your shots don’t miss.” The Paru sneered.

The Commander’s eyes narrowed as she took hold of her sniper rifle.

“They never do.”

…

At the foot of the pillar that they planned to bring down,

“There would be perfect.” Roka muttered. “As long as it falls in the right direction…”

“It will.” The Paru said without turning towards her. “Just because I’m a male doesn’t mean that I’m useless.”

“I… Didn’t mean it like that.” Roka looked away. “Our guys just… Haven’t proven very useful during this mission.”

The Paru moved his gaze towards the top of the pillar.

‘Now that I think about it, she did say some pretty fucked up things back then… Guess the stress of a mission taking months and months can do that. She never swore at or gave fucked up remarks to Kris or Bak though, so I suppose we’re alike in that way. It’s more dislike of Al and Jay than dislike for males in general…’ He thought silently for a moment. ‘Looking back on what Al and Jay added since I entered the spaceship… I can understand her calling them useless.’ The Paru sighed.

Noticing that sigh, Roka decided not to press the subject. It was meaningless anyway.

“Alright, I’ll position myself there, then.”

Roka took a dozen steps away, took hold of her sniper rifle, and tossed it onto a pillar much shorter than the one they were planning on bringing down, but tall enough to allow a wide field of vision on the area filled with Tsero.

‘From there, I’ll be able to see everything…’ Roka thought to herself as she placed her hands on the crystalline pillar’s jagged surface. ‘We can’t lose sight of the Tsero Crystal’s location even if the Visero start going crazy. I’ll have to tell him exactly where it is positioned no matter how-‘

Roka’s body suddenly froze just as she had started climbing.