Chapter 218
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 218
The road where the accident had occurred was a complete mess. With no way to reverse or detour, people were abandoning their cars and fleeing on foot.
Several vehicles had exploded, including the taxi I’d been riding in. Crackling flames and thick smoke rose like signal fires, and as the fire spread, it triggered a chain reaction of explosions in the other cars.
The acrid smoke was so thick it nearly blinded me.
Weeeeee! Weeeeee!
I lifted my head at the sound of sirens.
Aerial vehicles, a rare sight in Border City, were descending. They belonged to various private security firms.
The vehicles hovered low as guards in combat suits, each emblazoned with their company's logo, leaped out one after another.
"Over here. Identity confirmed: Rover Lantus."
"And the other VIP?"
"Dead."
"What's our arrival time? Are we on the hook for a penalty fee?"
Heavily armed security guards were locating their clients. The lucky ones quickly extracted their targets and climbed back into their vehicles.
"Shit, is our client all the way in there?"
"What the hell showed up?"
The unlucky ones had to venture deeper into the chaos. The smoke was too thick to see what was happening at the far end of the road.
"We're going in anyway. Keep the cameras rolling. I've got a bad feeling about this."
Five guards advanced to find their client, guns raised.
'There's no reason for me to get involved.'
I planned to blend into the crowd and slip away.
But then gunfire erupted. The guards who had plunged into the smoke and flames were pulling their triggers. Soon, the heavy booms of high-caliber weapons echoed in rapid succession.
"M-M-Mushir Al-Kashura! Kashura is here!"
That shout stopped me in my tracks.
A guard stumbled out of the smoke, his full-body combat suit torn to shreds as he screamed.
At the name Kashura, the other guards panicked, frantically contacting their superiors.
"Are we retreating?"
"Abandon the remaining VIPs. This is force majeure. A calamity has appeared; there's nothing we can do."
Even the private security firms began to pull out, leaving their clients behind.
VWOOM!
A single beam of light shot through the smoke and pierced an aerial vehicle. It must have struck the fuel tank, because the vehicle exploded in midair.
KABOOM!
The occupants were vaporized without a chance to escape. The burning hulk crashed to the ground, engulfed in flames.
'Mushir Al-Kashura? Why is he here?'
I ducked behind an abandoned car, pressing my back against it.
'Kinuan said that if I wanted to find him, I should find Mushir Al-Kashura.'
But I had left that search to Ilay.
'Since I wasn't looking for him, did he come looking for me?'
Mushir Al-Kashura wouldn't have appeared here for no reason. His target might be me. At the very least, it was highly likely to be related to me.
'This is a problem.'
I needed rest.
'I don't even know his fighting style. It's best to avoid a confrontation.'
Just because I enjoy a good fight doesn't mean I'm an idiot who rushes in blindly. Fighting under advantageous conditions is my golden rule.
Snap!
I reached into the car beside me and ripped off its rearview mirror.
Adjusting the angle, I used it to watch the 'Legendary Mercenary' walk out of the smoke.
'A charcoal-colored, full-body exoskeleton.'
Mushir Al-Kashura was human, but his form was inhuman in a different way from the Empire's nobles.
'He's even bigger than in the reference photos.'
His exoskeleton, cluttered with unfamiliar machinery, looked almost painfully cumbersome. The bulky suit made his frame larger than even a fully grown Crawler.
Whir, clank.
Kashura strode forward, shoving and tossing cars aside like toys.
Judging by his movements, he wasn't fast. He was slow and heavy, like a tank.
'Is he controlling the suit with that box on his back?'
I studied his combat suit. He was carrying a metal box as large as his own body, which forced his back and upper body into a hunched posture.
Whir, click.
Every time Kashura turned his head, two pairs of lenses glowed with multicolored light. Bundles of cables and tubes snaked from the back of his helmet, all connected to the metal box.
'The box is definitely the core control unit.'
At a glance, the cables and tubes looked like metallic hair. Circuits flashed along the surface of the cables as if transmitting data, and some strange liquid gurgled within the tubes.
'This is a type of enemy I've never encountered before.'
Mushir Al-Kashura was completely outside my experience. He was a brute, smashing everything in his path as he advanced.
'There are still plenty of guards and civilians on the road. If I blend in with them and slip away…'
I blinked. Combat drones were emerging from the thick smoke.
Whirrrrr!
They were black, the same color as Kashura's exoskeleton.
Ten drones flew toward us in formation. The machine guns mounted beneath them twitched, locking onto targets.
'Is he insane?'
I knew what he was planning.
I'm not one to care about the lives of others, but I still draw the line at unnecessary slaughter.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Machine-gun fire rained down. Fleeing civilians were cut to pieces. Adults, children, other species—it made no difference.
'A massacre.'
The senseless slaughter continued.
The drones' machine guns weren't particularly powerful. The guards in their combat suits could withstand the hits and return fire.
Whir!
The ten drones scattered, tracing complex flight paths to evade the guards' shots.
Whirrrrr!
Spreading out, the drones ignored the armored guards and focused on hunting down the defenseless civilians.
Click.
I drew my auto-tracking pistol. Linked to my retinal display, the pistol's targeting reticle swept across the ten drones.
It wasn't that I wanted to play the hero. But I wasn't callous enough to simply stand by and watch a senseless massacre. Even if my heart wasn't in it, I had to act.
With minimal movement, I shifted my aim rapidly, pulling the trigger in quick succession.
The tracking bullets curved from the muzzle, homing in on the drones' propeller shafts.
Clang!
A single bullet wasn't enough to destroy a drone, but with their shafts warped, they lost their balance and plummeted to the ground.
In an instant, all ten drones were grounded. Kashura's gaze shifted to me.
Taking cover was no longer an option.
I aimed my pistol at him while placing my other hand on the hilt of my sword.
Whir, whir.
Kashura's two pairs of lenses focused on me. Taking advantage of the distraction, the remaining guards and civilians scrambled to their feet and fled.
Whir.
Kashura watched the fleeing people for a moment, then turned his attention away. His attitude was so serene, it was hard to believe he was the same man who had just ordered a massacre.
If he were just some scumbag who killed for pleasure, he would have continued the attack.
Instead, Kashura placed a hand over his chest and gave me a polite bow.
"So, you are Luka."
His voice was polite, almost gentle.
Kashura wasn't a thrill killer. He had a reason for the massacre, though by no means a justifiable one.
"Did you slaughter those civilians just to test my reaction?"
"I was curious about what kind of person you were. Considering your background, you possess quite a righteous character."
I snorted. "I've lived long enough to be called righteous, I suppose."
"I would love to chat and get to know you better, but I imagine I'll have to sever all your limbs before you'll deign to speak with me?"
Kashura dragged his heavy frame forward, closing the distance between us.
I drew my Hwagwang Yedo. It was time to use Lapis's special flint.
The sword's preheating device, F.A.I.
Fire and Ice. I focused, holding F.A.I in my left hand.
With the Hwagwang Yedo in my right, I inserted the blade into the preheating slot and pulled it out.
Tsssssk! Tsk!
The entire process took less than a second. The preheating was complete in an instant.
A plasma glow erupted along the blade's edge.
Hummmmm!
Imbued with intense heat, the Hwagwang Yedo sang, causing the air around it to shimmer.
"Where is Kinuan?" I asked, pointing the blade at him.
"Questions are the right of the victor, and answers are the duty of the defeated. What do you say, Lucaus Custoria?"
Hmm. Honestly, I liked the proposal. But since I had no desire to exchange pleasantries with him, I answered with silence.
"Your silence is like that of a haughty lady. Very well, let us dance."
Kashura drew a weapon from his waist. At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.
'Valek's Hwagwang Magnetic Swords?'
A pair of swords just like the ones Valek used to wield were in Kashura's hands. In his massive grip, they looked more like daggers.
Kashura held a Hwagwang Magnetic Sword in each hand and snapped them out to his sides.
Ching!
The hilts elongated, transforming them into short spears.
"They were too short for me, so I modified them. Since they are no longer swords, perhaps I should call them Hwagwang Magnetic Spears?"
Kashura clashed the two blades together to preheat them, just as Valek used to.
Hummmmm!
A plasma glow erupted from his twin spears as well.
'Did Kashura kill Valek?'
The swords originally belonged to Valek. It was highly likely Kashura knew what had happened to him. Furthermore, he must have information on Kinuan.
'Kashura has all the answers I've been looking for.'
I abandoned my plan to flee. I now had a reason to gamble my life on this fight.
'If I defeat him here… I can get much closer to finding Kinuan.'
An opportunity was being served on a silver platter, and I had no intention of turning it down. Even if it was poison, this time, I had to swallow it.
Rustle, thud.
I shrugged off my coat, tossing it aside with my pistol. I needed to be as light as possible and eliminate any loose fabric he could grab.
Snap.
I unbuttoned the top two buttons of my shirt, loosening my collar.
An intuition bordering on precognition screamed a warning at me.
'Mushir Al-Kashura is a tier above me.'
Even in peak condition, I would still be a step behind him.
A legendary mercenary whose combat records could only be explained by Legion-class power. And circumstantially, someone even Kinuan couldn't easily handle.
...I searched my memories. Had I met anyone stronger than me since waking up in Lazarus?
I counted on imaginary fingers.
En didn't count; we never had a proper fight. The washed-up Ragnata was a disappointment. The Menoa Elite Guard Captain and Valek were decent opponents, but even they were a step below me.
The mere existence of Mushir Al-Kashura was a powerful stimulant. Memories of strong opponents from my past resurfaced—all those who had once looked down on me.
My fatigue-laden nervous system sparked to life. It felt as if every hair on my body had become a sensory organ. The colors in my vision grew vivid. The surrounding noise, which had been a single mass of static, separated into distinct, high-resolution sounds.
'Not bad.'
Thanks to the expanded perception of Akies Victima, the positions of every wrecked car on the road flowed into my mind. My brain seized time itself, stretching it out. The drifting clouds of smoke seemed to crawl.
I didn't even know I had this much concentration and energy left. My heart pounded furiously, pumping a massive amount of blood to my brain.
Drip.
A trickle of blood ran from my nose.
"Haha..." I laughed at the absurdity of it all. At my laughter, Kashura tilted his head.
A moment ago, I had considered fleeing. I had decided that leaving was the best course of action. But the instant I resolved to fight, my body reacted as if it had been waiting for this moment.
"Haaaa..." I exhaled a slow breath.
My body was flooding with combat hormones, my brain awash in natural stimulants. I was incredibly excited for a fight I had such low odds of winning. My mind had never been clearer since I woke up in Border City.
It felt as if every combat technique I had ever mastered was a second skin. I could perform any high-difficulty maneuver with ease.
Well, the body never lies.