Chapter 103: Paranormal Creatures
In the streets of Paris, bugs and birds vanish. A few people notice something’s off—nothing more, though. No real trouble came of it.
The first time it became a problem was when a man collapsed in the middle of the street.
The man collapsed on the street during his commute and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, but the doctor noticed something off. His ID said he was in his twenties, but he looked at least fifty. The patient was weak, showing no signs of recovery.
The next day, the man died—no cause, no cure, still unknown.
What wasn’t even a big story at first... turned into a massive problem. People kept collapsing, one after another.
The French health authorities started suspecting some kind of infection, given how it spread from central Paris. A few days of investigation passed... nothing. No cause. And then the officials doing the investigation—collapsed. Taken to the hospital.
France紧急封锁了城市的一部分，对周边居民实施了外出限制。为了防止恐慌，媒体公司被要求自我约束，依据的是“灾祸之日”后成立的新闻管制特别法。
This would later become a huge problem.
Days passed... and instead of getting better, the situation just kept spiraling. More and more patients were being carried into the hospital. And the area affected? It was only spreading.
The French government reported the unexpectedly widespread, mysterious incident to the WHO—but with no precedents anywhere in the world, there was absolutely no sign of a solution in sight.
It wasn’t until a few days later that the French government realized this wasn’t just illness. That’s because the Louvre Park—sealed off as the epicenter of the outbreak, now avoided by everyone—was right there.
A twenty-meter-tall “tower” thing had just appeared in the park’s grass.
A human from the French Union Health Ministry, suit sealed tight, tried to investigate—but everyone died the moment they got near by car. Zooming in with a long-range lens, it was clear as day: not an artificial object.
The surface was covered in writhing, elongated creatures, slowly growing larger.
The French government declared it a paranormal entity and immediately requested Prometheus’ deployment to the European Parliament.
"What? A monster in Paris?"
"Yes, Prometheus is on the case."
"Get it taken care of fast. Can't have it messing with the German state election."
Hans Berent didn’t particularly care about this incident. Monsters were everywhere. Another one? No big deal. What mattered was their party’s state assembly election campaign.
People in this world had become too used to crises—badly, dangerously used to them.
Prometheus, sent to investigate, classified the “tower” as a paranormal entity and decided to attack. Since it couldn’t get close, they opted for long-range bombing.
That day, dozens of new ballistic missiles designed for paranormal threats were fired. The force was terrifying—the “tower” was obliterated, nothing left.
The attack was complete. But approaching it was still deemed too dangerous, so full-scale investigation was postponed until the next day. Yet the next day, they witnessed something unbelievable.
The “tower”—which should’ve vanished completely—had grown even larger.
From that moment, the situation’s severity shifted. Prometheus decided to end it once and for all with maximum firepower, opting for a new type of explosive: the MOAB.
Known as the "Mother of All Bombs," the MOAB had been the weapon that buried the Leader of Libya.
The assault on the Tower lasted half a day. We dropped a dozen MOABs, bombed it to hell—still couldn’t blow it to pieces this time.
The creature’s growth rate defied imagination. Changes were visible every hour.
Prometheus gave up on the attack and requested an emergency meeting with the European Parliament. Meanwhile, the monster kept growing—second by second.
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“What the hell is going on? We hit it hard—wasn’t the attack supposed to work?”
Suddenly, European Parliament members were summoned. Responding to a request from Prometheus’ commander, General Gert Schmick.
Conflicting intel—was the attack a success or a failure? Was the front line in chaos?
“General Schmick. Report.”
“Sir! We launched the attack on schedule, but failed to fully silence the target. Further attacks would yield no meaningful results. We halted operations.”
“So it’s a failure, then!”
The chamber fell heavy with silence. Every single one of us here—me included—had never imagined the operation would fail.
Prometheus had that kind of power. That kind of trust.
“It’s a lifeform beyond our initial estimates. If we don’t act now, the damage will spread. We’re here to request the Parliament’s judgment on future responses.”
With that, Schmick projected footage of the monster onto the screen set up in the conference room. There it was—a massive lighthouse-like structure, or perhaps a tower.
And on top of it… something… “round.” Something…
“Absorbing life energy from the surroundings, growing at an insane rate. Height exceeds 800 meters, and it’s still growing. We suspect it’s the Leader.”
"Leader?!"
No signs of monsters had appeared in France at all. Now suddenly... "Leader"?! I couldn’t believe it. But there it was—on screen. Couldn’t deny it, no matter how hard I tried.
"So, what kind of creature is this?"
"According to biologists, it’s probably closest to an insect."
"Insect? I’ve never heard of an insect monster. You sure about this?!"
"Yes. The tower itself is believed to be composed of a bundle of annelids—earthworms, leeches, things like that. And the sphere at the top... uh..."
A close-up of the sphere filled the screen. Disgusting. Nauseating.
"This is the biggest reason why they think it’s an insect monster. Every biologist we’ve consulted says it looks exactly like a moth’s egg."
"A moth? If it’s just a moth, we could destroy it easily! Why are we just standing around?!"
"We attacked it first, priority one. But it regenerated at an insane speed. The only explanation is that the tower is supplying it with energy. Even Prometheus’s firepower can’t completely destroy it."
"So what the hell are we supposed to do? Why did you call this meeting?!"
"Request help from the Sanctuary Knights. We can’t handle this alone..."
"Idiot! Do you have any idea why we formed you in the first place? You think I’d let you beg for help now?!"
"But they have experience and proven results we lack. With their help, maybe we can actually defeat it."
Some European parliamentarians, after hearing Gert’s explanation, even joked about asking the Sanctuary Knights for help. Absolutely not happening.
"Use nukes. Use hydrogen bombs. Doesn’t matter. We’ll destroy it—just Prometheus. Alone."
"The strongest weapon we currently have is the 'MOAB'—it should surpass nuclear and hydrogen bombs if it's a counter-organic target. And yet... it still hasn’t destroyed it."
"How many MOABs do we have left?"
"Twelve."
"Use them all. Pour every last bit of firepower into it—guarantee success. Got it?!"
"…Yes, understood."
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That afternoon, the assault on the "Leader" resumed. Prometheus unleashed all the firepower their army possessed, launching a full-scale attack.
Even airstrikes from distant bombers were attempted—but when the "Leader"’s range for absorbing life force expanded rapidly, fighter pilots died mid-flight and crashed.
When they’d exhausted nearly all their specialized explosives, the military stared in horror at the now even larger "Tower." The creature’s growth had become exponential.
It was obvious now that nothing could stop it. The military high command called off the operation and reported the failure to the European Parliament.
The Parliament had watched the entire operation video, and murmurs of disappointment echoed through the chamber.
After the failure, experts weren’t just military personnel—doctors, mathematicians, statisticians were summoned to explain the situation to the members. This was General Gert’s attempt to make the politicians truly understand the crisis.
"Dr. William, from the field of statistics, will explain."
Gert said that, and Hans crossed his arms, clearly annoyed.
"That 'Tower' seems to absorb biological vitality—but the real problem is that its range is expanding. In just a few days, it’ll reach all of France."
"We already know that. Can’t you say anything else?!"
Hans snapped at William, voice sharp with reproach.
"The tower's already over a kilometer tall, and there's no sign it's stopping growing. The range it's absorbing life from is expanding in direct proportion—take a look at these figures here."
Dr. William displayed a series of data on the screen. The most striking was the exponential graph—the curve shot sharply upward.
"If it keeps expanding at this rate... we’ll be extinct in two weeks."
The politicians present froze, speechless.
A long silence hung in the air. Then Hans broke it.
"...Call the Sanctuary Knights... Leo Garcia..."