Searching for Andromeda

Ephraim watched Anna run towards the walls as she chased after the other hologram, Realna. Through his spectacles, his blue eyes narrowed down to the large creature standing before the door, and then his eyes widened as numerous flower-monsters they had escaped from earlier started to appear. Ephraim didn't have the time to dwindle. The team started to grab ammo from Hiroaki's combat equipment. Ephraim equipped a dual handgun—he was experienced and trained how to use one, but he never engaged in a real battle before.

At least not in monsters.

The whole place was still tinged with a red hue from the 'WARNING' signs being displayed all around the walls, which made it harder for him to see, thereby increasing anxiety. The creature looked like one of the Orcs in MMOs Lucian played, but this one looked like Freddy Krueger. Ephraim knew comparing a real monster to fictional ones would deem useless, given the fact it was slowly walking towards them with a desire to kill.

Hiroaki and Ephraim proposed a plan—Hiroaki gave them specific tasks while Ephraim explained the goal. The goal is to have the creature killed or slowed down (e.g. damaging its vitals) to buy the team the time to escape. Berthold and Samuel shot bullets to the approaching smaller creatures (since the Hunchback was slower than them due to its heavy weight), whilst Ephraim and Hiroaki explained the plan.

Esmeralda will be the one in charge of blinding the Hunchback, whilst the rest of them shoot the smaller monsters. Of course this had a time limit. Bullets, after all, aren't infinite. Esmeralda ought to shoot the Hunchback within two minutes approximately to save the bullets of the team members.

When the creature turns blind, Hiroaki and Ephraim will proceed to hit all of the creatures' vitals. Berthold was the one supposed to do it because he was a doctor, but he was hesitant to do it—

"Dammit, stop treating me like a child!" Samuel yells at him when Berthold said he wanted to fight alongside Sam to protect him.

"Please, Raim." Berthold pleas.

Of course the most logical thing would be to let Berthold and Hiroaki take the lead because they knew best on how to defeat the creature—but then, Ephraim felt something.

Sympathy?

He didn't have the time to scrutinize and reanalyze his decisions. He already agreed to Berthold despite Samuel's banter. A reasonable banter, at that. But none of the team members showed disagreement over Ephraim's decision—as a matter of fact, Hiroaki seemed to approve of it as well. For reasons Ephraim did not know why.

Not that he had the time to think and speculate.

Ephraim and Hiroaki charged to the creature, their guns ready, and Hiroaki's small dagger set to pierce. The creature held its face in the position of its eyes—and as they predicted, it dripped a green ooze.

The sign of a creature that withstands metal!

"Ephraim!" Hiroaki yells.

Ephraim dodged the creature's attack only in a matter of seconds. The two of them panted as they drew back from the creature.

It had regained its eyesight.

Hiroaki exclaims as he panted, "now I don't think slowing it down would be possible," he says as the continued shooting occurred while the team members blasted the advancing smaller monsters with multiple shots.

"No," Ephraim utters. "Esmeralda, can you do it again?"

"Y-yes!" Esmeralda answers as she positioned the crossbow to the monster again.

She shot its face, which made it growl loud.

"Shit!" Samuel yells. "Look at what you've done, Hag!"

The yell sounded like a battle cry, which summoned a number of monsters of different kinds to the room. Soon the entirety was overwhelming with them, making it impossible to escape.

Rodent-looking monsters with stem tails and plant-animal bodies swarmed the entirety of the space, along with creatures with large, petal flowers embedded to their neck and a head filled with several eyes as they dripped down with slime and ooze. Ephraim winced as the smell of foul, putrid odor wafted the atmosphere. He covered his nose. Both him and Hiroaki started to walk backward, meeting with Berthold and Samuel.

The room started to fill in with monsters of different kinds—ones they fought, and ones they haven't even seen before. All of them had no choice but the back away as the creatures breached the whole room in masses. The monsters eyed them like how a predator eye its prey—with desire and hunger from keen and clever eyes.

Esmeralda grew paler as she trembled, dropping the crossbow to the floor.

How would they survive this?

Even with Hiroaki here, such a number of monsters would be impossible to defeat. Esmeralda started to sob as she hyperventilated.

"Oi, Hag!" Samuel exclaims.

"No, no, no, I don't want to die like this—" Esmeralda sobs as she grew paler at every second. Ephraim's eyes widened as he realized how powerless they are—and how that reflected to Esmeralda.

"Esmeralda." Ephraim says, as calmly as could. "Calm down. Take a deep breath."

Some of the monsters started to lunge themselves towards the team—one after another. They attacked in flocks, which required the team to shoot without discretion. Even if they want to save their bullets, they didn't have the choice now. Esmeralda's shots were off-ranged, but she still shot and tried to even with her blurry vision.

The sounds of gunshot and the growling monsters. The flickering red hue. The sobs of Esmeralda. The task force's hopeless expressions. Endless shots of bullets for survival.

Everything turned a white noise to Ephraim. Strategy. How would he come up with a strategy when he's clearly opt for something completely different? He was human—he was an archeologist.

That's right. He was an archeologist.

Ephraim stares at the vibrating glass floor, his dread reflection looking back at him.

And then he stares at the abyss.

He closed his eyes, working all his senses as he generates a plan to his mind. He eyed the large creature as it stomps to the glass, walking towards them as their doom goes near.

Ephraim took a deep breath.

Now is the time he does what he was good at.

Archeology.