Nyx saw probably one of the grossest scenes of her bird life playing out right in front of her eyes.
The mutated corpse within the thick, jelly-like red liquid let out a growl, throwing its hands forward.
A stream of a similar gelatinous substance escaped the corpse from somewhere, instantly making the entire jelly mound grow in size.
Then, making Nyx twist her beak in disgust, the red mound slid forward.
"It's like watching a person shit," she cawed, spitting. "Imagine that shit piling up around you and then swimming in that shit…"
[Nyx!] Luke gasped from the other side.
"I… can't fight this thing," Nyx said, looking around for a way to escape. "I am too old for this shit! Pun intended…"
But there was no escape.
The only way to avoid confronting the Jelly Rampager was to go back.
That route would take her directly toward Gehrman Sparrow and Alexander Becking, ruining everything.
With Luke guiding her, Nyx needed to reach the central module first and get as close to the Control Room as possible without giving herself away, all the while keeping herself within a hundred-meter limit of Bioalchemy.
That meant matching Gehrman and Alex's pace.
With the two of them taking care of Rampagers on their side together, Nyx had to find a way to avoid spending too much time fighting a single Rampager.
Not to mention, she needed to be extremely careful about how many Spirit Points she spent while using her Beyonder abilities.
What if Luke needed to activate a Super Quirk at once and found that Nyx didn't even have that many Spirit Points remaining to sustain that Quirk?
As long as the bestowed Quirk wasn't activated, Nyx's Spirit Points were still freely available to use.
However, the moment Luke activated the Quirk, the corresponding Spirit Points would be consumed instantly.
In case she didn't have that many Spirit Points, forget about using that Quirk—Nyx would pass out.
Or, worse…
So, in finding an escape path, the Clown within Nyx was actually trying to find a way to bypass the Rampager completely, instead of trying to take it down.
A Magician's strength lay in preparation.
Against such Rampagers that spawned out of nowhere and with unfathomable mutations related to their Quirks…
Nyx found that the best way she could contribute to the mission, while digesting the potion, was to keep running away.
Sadly, the entire circular module went around the central, upright cylindrical module, with a diagonal corridor acting as a connection between them.
Luke and Alex were already approaching one end of that diagonal connecting bridge.
The other end lay right beyond the Jelly Rampager, which was slowly, but heavily, crawling forward, consuming all space from top to bottom, from left to right.
Creaks and cracks rang in all directions as the red jelly bent the walls, floor, and ceiling, pressuring them outward.
The corpse within the jelly was continuously secreting more and more of that gelatinous substance, making the jelly mound expand.
Nyx, involuntarily, fluttered a step back, her head snapping in all directions as she tried to find a way out of this shitty mess.
Suddenly, just as she stepped back, the corpse let out a monstrous growl.
The continuous stream of gelatinous substance coming out of it instantly thickened, its discharge and volume increasing out of proportion.
The jelly mound, which was still a few meters away from Nyx, crawling toward her at a snail's pace, suddenly gained speed, covering half the distance between them in one creaky swoop.
Not only that, but the walls, floor, and ceiling were pushed out so much that it felt like the Jelly Rampager would burst apart any moment, exposing both itself and Nyx to space with an explosion.
Nyx cursed.
Her secret move — running back to Mushroom-nimi — failed as well.
It was obvious that the Jelly Rampager was reacting to her movements.
The more she backed up, the more it would try to catch up, ultimately bursting apart like diarrhea and taking her along with it.
Just thinking about her dead body covered in that red shit made Nyx gag.
That's it! she snapped her beak shut. It's time this Empress gets serious!
Her mind raced as she thought of a way out of this pinch.
The only ability that could let her bypass the Rampager, without giving it much chance to retaliate with sudden expansion, was Flaming Jump. With its range being thirty meters, she could easily teleport behind the Rampager.
However, for that, she would need a spark or flame on the other side.
Using Flame Controlling, I can ignite flammable substances within thirty meters, Nyx thought hurriedly, the Jelly Rampager looming over her like a mountain of bloody shit. But this is a fucking Space Station. Logically, there wouldn't be anything flammable on the other side. My only option is to randomly use Flame Controlling and ignite everything beyond the monster. But if there's something just waiting to explode upon catching fire… Fuck! Quick Reaction, my ass! Should have asked for Penetrating Gaze or something… Wait! Penetration!!!
Bang!
Because of Quick Reaction, the moment Nyx thought of an idea, her body acted on it, surpassing logic.
The moment the Air Bullet's sound rang, it landed on the Jelly Rampager.
With a squelch, a head-sized hole opened up in the monster's belly, red goo splattering everywhere.
Nyx's eyes glowed.
Bang after bang resounded as she hit the same spot over and over.
The gel threatened to fill that cylindrical emptiness, but Nyx's reactions were much faster.
Giving it no chance, she instead increased the rate of firing, the Air Bullets puncturing right through the massive monster but remaining much lower than the corpse itself.
Then, just as the Jelly Rampager was about to crush Nyx, unbothered by the hole in its belly, she made a clicking sound with her mouth, a spark replacing her existence.
Flames burst open on the other side midair…
… the Magician flying out of them before instantly disappearing into the darkness.