The music radiating from the Symphogear was necessary to keep Chris Yukine alive, but she’d soon realized making so much noise probably wasn’t the best of things as more and more of the shambling undead forces were drawn towards her. It was a vicious, unsustainable cycle. The more noise she made, the more enemies she drew. The more enemies she drew, the more noise she needed to make to defend herself. The walking dead went down easily enough, but the Hellhounds were tougher, faster, even smarter.

As a freshly initiated victim of the Necropolis, Chris didn’t know all the horrors the city had. She’d been driven into reactive defense so fast that she’d not had a chance to survey her surroundings or construct even a rudimentary plan. That reaction had clued her into one of the Necropolis’s more devious elements pretty quick, though. Her Symphogear wasn’t at full power. While she didn’t seem to have much problem conjuring forth as much ammo for her laser crossbows as she needed, Chris struggled and failed to manifest any of her heavier hitting weaponry. And even the limited capacity of her Symphogear’s abilities took far more effort than it should have, steadily sapping her energy.

Chris managed to hold the small horde at bay for a time, but as her strength waned, she was forced to pull back. The city street was littered in rubble and unfamiliar to her. With the monstrosities closing in on her, her options for escape grew limited fast. Focusing more on killing as many of the creatures as she could made it nearly impossible for her to plan an effective route. By the time she realized she’d backed herself into a corner, there were too many monsters to break through. Could really use a hand about now, she thought bitterly, unsure if there were even any others capable or willing to save her. She certainly saw no friendly faces amongst the decaying zombies or the slobbering Hellhounds.

The back of Chris’s left foot knocked against a chunk of broken asphalt. She let out a startled yell as her balance shifted and she dropped hard onto her ass. From the ground, the looming blend of zombies and demon beasts seemed a good deal more terrifying. She scrambled for her dropped crossbow as one of the Hellhounds charged towards her, leaping into the air. The creature’s big maw stretched open, fangs glistening with saliva. If she didn’t act fast, they’d soon be glistening with her blood.

Pure instinct saved Chris. She gave up on trying to grab her weapon and rolled onto her back. Her legs came up between her and the Hellhound just in time to become an effective blockade. The beast’s big head stretched towards her face, teeth snapping inches from her. Chris jerked her head back as far as she could to avoid having her face ripped away. The Hellhound’s paws clawed towards her, attempting to shred through her breasts, but the Symphogear armor managed to hold up against the assault. With a hard grunt, Chris kicked against the Hellhound, flinging it away from her. She rolled to the side, snatched up her crossbow, and fired several laser bolts through the beast’s head before it could recover.

The close encounter with the Hellhound had only taken a handful of heart-pounding seconds, but it had been more than enough time for the rest of the monstrosities to close in around Chris. She scrambled to her feet, searching for a way out or a way through. With the wall of an office building behind her, there was nowhere for her to go. She was too tired to kill her way through the problem with the crossbow. Desperation inspired a last-ditch plan that, not-so-deep down, she knew was insane. But she needed to do something – anything – to save herself. No one else was going to do it.

Chris activated her Symphogear’s Armor Purger attack. A radiance flowed across the protective suit as the armor reverted into a form of pure energy. Chris momentarily became a beacon not of sound, but of light. And then, with a sudden flash, the Symphogear exploded away from her body. The oncoming death of zombies and Hellhounds became a crimson mist as they were shredded by the powerful attack, saving Chris’s life. At least momentarily.

Gasping for air and feeling even more exhausted, Chris slumped against the wall. The rough cement pressed against her bare backside and she let out a groan as she lifted her arms to conceal her naked breasts and exposed crotch. She’d known exactly what the Armor Purge would leave her with, but in her panic, she’d not truly thought it out. It was – hopefully – only a temporary thing, but judging by the fatigue in her muscles, and the partially crippled abilities of her Symphogear, she knew it would be at least a few minutes before she could reactivate it. Until then, she’d have to deal with being utterly naked – in more ways than one – in the hostile environment. At least all the monsters are dead, she thought hopefully, moving forward to check through the pile of corpses to see if she could find something remotely intact enough – and not disgusting enough – to wear while she waited for her armor to recharge.

The Gulper looked a fair bit like the Blow Hunters. Appropriate, considering the nightmare creature was a mutated variant of the Hunters. It lacked the former’s impressive jumping ability, as well as its thorny self-destruct sequence. But it had a few of its own unique, terrible abilities. Drawn to the commotion Chris had caused, it crept out of a nearby alleyway to see the young woman’s perky posterior raised towards it as she leaned over a zombie corpse, attempting to tug free a mostly intact shirt. The Gulper’s lust stirred alongside its hunger. The creature prepared to strike.

Chris tugged the shirt free and let out a groan of disgust as she saw just how much blood had soaked into the fabric. She let the garment drop, silently urging her Symphogear to recover so she didn’t have to stand around in the buff much longer. The Gulper’s greasy tongue smacked across her back, leaving behind a sticky wad of slime. Chris cried out, stumbling forward from the impact before cocking her head to the side to locate her attacker. Turning her back to potential threats had been a dumb move. Thankfully, she’d only gotten another reminder of how disgusting her new environment was. With no weapons and no way of defending herself, her options were ridiculously simple. Flee.

Chris made it only a few feet before the tingling permeating her slime-coated skin seeped deeper into her. Her face filled with horrified confusion as her spine began to numb. Her legs stuttered, nearly pulling her back to the ground. She managed to keep herself upright by twisting to the side and flopping against the building wall beside her. She gasped, full breasts pressing against the rough surface as she realized the slime wasn’t just gross, it was weaponized. The paralyzing neurotoxin worked steadily, crippling her without doing the slightest damage to her immaculate flesh. Chris slumped to her knees against the building, gritting her teeth as she tried to force feeling back into her heavy legs. Her efforts doubled – but remained equally unsuccessful – as she heard the Gulper trudging towards her.

The Gulper clamped a hand down around Chris’s head, clutching her white hair and pulling her partially paralyzed body up. It twisted her around and shoved her back against the wall. Her purple eyes widened with sickened horror as she took in the gruesome, wide-mouthed creature’s appearance in far closer detail than she would have ever cared to. She wanted to lash out at the thing, to beat it back with her fists, but her arms were already feeling like a couple of limp noodles draped at her sides. She managed to lift them only an inch or so before they slumped back. If not for the Gulper’s bulk keeping her pinned to the wall, she would have collapsed completely.

The Gulper’s lust outpaced its hunger. With the young woman’s soft body mashed up against its slick flesh, the tingles of ecstasy that rushed through it could not be denied. A thick, bulbed prick slid free from between the Gulper’s legs, pushing between Chris’s thighs. The white-haired woman let out a yell of disgust as she felt the oddly shaped phallus drag across her helpless cunt lips. The thing’s bulbous lumps pressed hard against her folds, mashing against her clitoris and sending jolts of sickening, unwanted pleasure shooting through her loins. Chris strained even harder to get her muscles to work, tears stinging her eyes as horrid flashbacks to her childhood filled her mind. “P-please,” she whimpered out. “Not again!”

The Gulper could not comprehend Chris’s words. It had no knowledge of her previous molestation. Even if it was capable of such things, it would not have stopped the monster. The frog-like nightmare adjust itself, mashing the tip of its misshapen prick against her sex. Its hips thrust, skewering several of the thick bulbs into Chris’s cunt. The young woman shrieked, less from physical pain and more from mental torment. Her purple eyes bulged, gushing tears as her body trembled against her attacker. The Gulper took only ecstasy from the way the girl’s hot pussy convulsed around his pumping member. The creature fucked her harder, sandwiching her against the wall.

The Symphogear should have been recharged enough to activate her armor. Chris hoped it would be. The defensive shell would not only save her life, it could put an appropriately cruel end to her rape. The fact that she couldn’t really feel the big, bulbed dick pounding into her very well clued her in to just how paralyzed she was, but as she tried to sing out for the Symphogear to activate, she realized it was even worse than she’d feared. The squeaks that crept up her throat weren’t even close to the song she’d intended to sing. The neurotoxin had reached her lungs. As she struggled to suck in air, Chris whined with rising horror as she realized her only chance of defending herself was impossible to activate.

Chris didn’t need to feel the Gulper’s cock. Even with her cunt muscles paralyzed, the warm sheath was quite pleasant to thrust into. The monster hammered into her faster, fucking its way closer to its inevitable climax. As the urge to blow its load into the young woman built, so did its hunger. Its wide lips peeled open, stretching wide to reveal its glistening maw to Chris. She stared down the Gulper’s gullet and let out a weak, half-strangled scream. She wiggled between her rapist and the wall, the most movement she could muster with the neurotoxin continuing to work its way through her muscles, transforming them into limp, inert jelly.

The Gulper stretched its head forward, easily moving its lips over Chris’s head. The young woman’s world became humid darkness as the monster’s lips smacked closed around her throat. She sobbed within the claustrophobic environment of the Gulper’s mouth, mind revolting from the combination of old traumas and new ones. The creature’s tongue slathered her face in more of its slime, leaving her skin tingling. The Gulper arched its head forward, sliding its lips over Chris’s shoulders as it humped harder into her unfeeling sex.

The Gulper closed its hands around Chris’s sides, pulling her further into its mouth. The creature’s bottom lip crept over the curves of the woman’s plump tits, tickling her nipples – one of the few parts of her still capable of feeling anything. The Gulper’s humping sped up as the gooey bulbs of its cock slowly pulled free from Chris’s snatch, forced to drive into her with shallower strokes as it consumed its barely squirming meal. The lips of Chris’s cunt dragged across the sensitive tip of the Gulper’s cock, unwillingly – and unknowingly – teasing the monster to the point of release as her paralyzed bladder drained warm piss down its shaft.

The head of the Gulper’s prick popped free of Chris’s pussy. The length of glistening, bulbed flesh pulsed before spraying out a creamy load of pale green spunk across the young woman’s violated sex. It pumped over her folds and flowed along the insides of her thighs. As the Gulper’s throat muscles tugged Chris deeper, her body shifted and her belly received the final few spurts of the creature’s orgasm. The Gulper’s member drooped, gradually drawing back into its body, much like Chris was being gradually dragged into it. With its lust satiated, the Gulper focused fully on devouring its post-sex meal.

Tilting its head back, the Gulper made good on its namesake, gulping at Chris’s limp form. Her perky ass raised towards the air, legs dangling against the creature’s torso. The smooth cheeks of her rear vanished into the Gulper’s maw as its tongue slithered up between her thighs, hooking against her to help pull her down. Chris’s legs disappeared bit by bit into the monster, until only her feet remained, pressed close together. Her toes, still resisting the neurotoxin and wiggling wildly, were the last to go, vanishing into the Gulper with a wet slurp. The creature jerked its head, swallowing hard several more times to work the massive lump of young woman fully down into its stomach. The monster’s skin stretched, offering the vague outline of its victim pressed against it.

Digestion was a guarantee. Trapped within the Gulper’s gut, Chris’s body was already being basted in stomach juices. The process would be slow and, if she’d been unlucky enough to live through even some of it, excruciating. But Chris had far more immediate problems. Her paralyzed lungs, specifically. Frozen within her chest, Chris strained to suck in even the fetid air within the Gulper’s body. Her lips smacked against the pool of juices gathering at the bottom of the monster’s stomach, face darkening and eyes bulging as she suffocated. The neurotoxin was saving her from hours of painfully slow digestion. In her panic, Chris did not see it that way. She struggled and suffered, trying desperately to breathe, until her brain began to shut down. With the paralytic affecting her so strongly, there wasn’t even much of an indication of Chris’s death. She went from a limp, helpless lump of meat waiting to be broken down to a dead, useless lump of meat waiting to be broken down with only the subtlest of shudders to indicate the transition.

Satisfied with its conquest and its meal, the Gulper crept back towards the alley it had been lurking in. Its movements were a good deal slower with Chris’s added body weight and the awkward lump of her corpse distending the creature’s gut. But the Gulper had nothing to fear. With the girl dead and consumed, there was nothing left to threaten the monster. It disappeared back down the alley and settled in to digest its big meal.

***

“The music’s stopped,” Kay-Em announced to the rest of the scouts. She didn’t need to elaborate on the statement for the others to understand what it meant. Whoever had been making all the noise was almost certainly dead.

Alice glanced to Fuuka, seeing her own guilt mirrored on the young woman’s face.

“We should have tried to help them,” Izumi muttered, voicing her own regret. “I know we’re dealing with a lot, but no one deserves what this place does.”

Renamon said nothing. Her animal face was hard to read, but Alice was pretty sure she wasn’t particularly bothered by the loss of life.

Homura was more vocal about reinforcing the choice they’d made. “You’re not wrong, but we can’t save everyone. And not everyone who’s brought into this nightmare is worthy of saving.” She looked to Izumi. “You weren’t around for the crazy Japanese bitch with the mace. And anyone making that much noise in this place is, at the very least, crazy.” She shrugged. “Or they were, anyway.”

“That’s cold,” Izumi shot back, glaring over at Homura.

“Enough,” Alice barked. “I made the call. I’ll take the guilt. Whether it was a smart choice or not, I guess we might never know.” Speaking of choices, she thought as she eyed the looming Sports Arena ahead. They’d spotted the building before, but had chosen to go around it to avoid the potential of an ambush in such a confined space. Previously, they’d not had to worry much about time constraints. Now, they did. And going through the Arena would save them a good deal of time. But it was unscouted and still just as potentially dangerous as it had been the first time they’d come to the place. It was another potentially damning choice. This time, Alice decided to keep it to herself, pondering the pros and cons in her head.