Laboratory Assault (2)
The deafening roar of the explosion shook the entire building.
“W-whoa...”
“...I didn’t expect the power to be this strong.”
The research facility now had a clean, gaping hole in its side where the powerful plasma bazooka had struck. The membrane-like barrier surrounding the building flickered erratically. It seemed they had invested in some defensive measures, but it had still been breached.
‘The performance is insane...’
No matter how much I had studied, I could never wrap my head around SF-level technology. That was why I had always stuck to familiar weapons from my original world. They consumed less mana and were far more efficient in every way. But now...
‘My mana only dropped by one-twentieth?’
The total mana cost to materialize a weapon and fire a single plasma round was this low. In other words, if I kept producing rounds with the same destructive power, I could easily fire dozens of them.
“U-uwahhh..!”
‘If I could, I’d want to carry this thing around for the rest of my life.’
I had expected good synergy, but I never imagined the efficiency would be this high. It would be great if we could take on missions together in the future.
‘Maybe I should ask Astra for it as a reward next time?’
The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but something told me she wouldn’t allow it.
“Huu...”
“...?”
“It’s nothing. Shall we head inside now?”
I felt a brief pang of regret as the plasma bazooka’s information completely vanished. Together with the training officer, I stepped into the research facility.
“Understood, Maker-nim.”
Oh, and 42 was coming with us too.
“We’ll carry out the operation exactly as planned with Astra-nim.”
“Y-yes!”
In truth, there wasn’t much of a plan to speak of.
First, the training officer and I would draw aggro and eliminate enemies while searching for research data related to the regeneration experiments.
“The training officer will primarily handle drawing aggro, while I focus on reducing their numbers.”
A nod.
“And.”
I turned to look at the man following behind us—organization member 42.
“42, please focus on locating the research data. You must also find the control room.”
“I will contact you immediately upon discovery.”
“Good.”
While running down the research facility’s corridor, we reached a three-way split.
“I’ll take the center path.”
“I-I’ll go left...”
“I will head right.”
The training officer, Maker, and 42. The three villains each sprinted down their chosen route.
“Damn it. What the hell is going on?”
A room filled with men sporting vicious expressions. The particularly large and intimidating man among them scowled deeply as he smoked a cigarette. His legs were visibly trembling, which seemed to amuse the man beside him. He let out a snickering laugh and spoke up.
“Come on, boss. You’re not some coward. Why are you so on edge? It’s ruining your image.”
“Shut up, you bastard! You know how long I’ve survived on my instincts alone?”
“Come on, it’s not even an ability-based instinct...”
The large man glared at the snickering subordinate, then crushed his cigarette with a grimace.
Instinct. Although he wasn’t a sensory-type ability user and its reliability was extremely low, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the man had survived this long thanks to that very instinct.
“Boss, you’re a B-class villain now. B-class. I busted my ass and finally reached C+ too.”
“......”
“We’ve come this far, haven’t we? And what’s so hard about this? The heroes showed up today, and we even borrowed some guys from other organizations.”
“......”
“All we have to do is head to our positions when those weaklings in the lab give the signal to deploy.”
“......”
“Once we start mass-producing that drug, we’ll be sitting on a pile of money! We’ll become heroes ourselves! So why is a big guy like you worrying so much...”
The words of his second-in-command trying to reassure him. The large man turned his head to look at his subordinates.
‘These pathetic bastards who’ve only ever followed me loyally.’
They were troublemakers who had done plenty of dirty work and indulged in drugs and alcohol whenever they could. Still, the man couldn’t bring himself to abandon them.
“...Yeah, you’re right, you bastard! We’ve come this far. There’s no way we can turn tail and run now! Isn’t that right, you lot?!”
““Yes, boss!!””
The man ruffled the hair of the second-in-command beside him for no particular reason.
‘Yeah, it must just be my imagination.’
There had been many times when this uneasy feeling had amounted to nothing. This time would be the same.
The man forced a smile.
“Hey boss, after we’re done today, wanna try this? This? A new girl just came in recently and she’s incredible...”
As if trying to shake off his anxiety, the man exchanged crude jokes with his second-in-command.
“Really? If you’re recommending her, maybe I should—”
BANG!
More precisely, he had been about to.
“...Huh?”
A red flower suddenly bloomed on the second-in-command’s forehead. A chilling sensation swept across the man’s entire body.
“Oops.”
“......”
A brief silence. Then the man who finally grasped the situation exploded in rage.
“What the— what the hell was that, you bastard!!!!”
“Hmm, should I say... villain entrance?”
BANG!
Crash!
With the relaxed shout of a single man and the loud gunshot that followed, the lights in the room went out.
“W-what the hell! Where are you?!”
“Hey! Don’t shoot the guy next to you, you idiots!”
“Did you just hit me, you son of a bitch?!”
The men panicked in the sudden darkness, swinging around blindly.
“Everyone get a grip, you morons!! Grab your guns and weapons and prepare! Don’t scatter or you’ll get picked off! Stay together!!”
Hearing their voices, the man quickly took command of his subordinates and tried to stabilize the situation.
“He’s alone! He can’t do anything! Shut up and stick together! If you stick together you’ll—”
“How exactly will sticking together help you survive?”
Ting— clatter...
Click.
“Because if a grenade goes off, it’s game over.”
“You crazy— everyone dodge—!!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM!!
The successive explosions swallowed every sound in an instant.
Beeeeeeee—
‘Fuuuuck...’
The man who had barely survived the blast lifted his head and looked at the scene before him. Some had been far enough to only faint. Others clutched injured limbs and screamed at the top of their lungs. And some had already been reduced to lumps of meat that could no longer speak.
The man had taken a direct hit from the grenade at close range, but thanks to his ability that enhanced his physical capabilities, he had survived with only moderate injuries.
“You fucking bastard! Where are you, you son of a bitch!! Where the hell are you!!!”
The man, seething with rage, picked up a fallen assault rifle and aimed it at every shadow that looked even remotely human.
Tremble...
To hide his shaking hands, the man only grew angrier.
Clatter... roll...
Hisssss—
“W-what the— smoke grenade?”
“......”
“Y-you cowardly bastard! Are you that scared to fight us alone?!”
“......”
“Are you scared or not!!”
The man gripped the assault rifle tightly, waiting for a response.
One minute. No, three minutes passed. The other party gave no answer.
The thick smoke obscuring his vision gradually fed his growing terror.
Swish—
“U-ugh! Uwaaaaa!!”
RATATATATAT!
Finally, startled by the silhouette that appeared before him, the man opened fire. But...
“...Huh?”
“B-boss... w-why... why...”
It wasn’t the enemy he had been aiming for.
“My, my. How could you shoot your own precious subordinate?”
“Uwaaaaaagh!!”
Thud!
At the sudden voice from behind, the man jumped in fright and fell over in a ridiculous manner.
“D-don’t come near me!”
“Treating a person like that is going to hurt my feelings, you know.”
“S-stay back!!”
The man pointed his gun at the enemy before him. The barrel shook violently.
“Uwaaaaaah!!!”
Click. Click.
The man pulled the trigger at the smiling figure. But no bullets came out.
“Have you finished struggling?”
“H-hic.”
“Hmm... so you are a villain, correct?”
“......”
“It would be a bit troublesome if you were a hero.”
“......”
“Hmm.”
Click.
Feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, Maker created a new gun and pressed the barrel against the man’s head.
“You are a villain, right?”
...Nod. Nod.
“Good. Your face did give off strong villain vibes.”
Maker pulled the gun away from the man’s forehead and smiled with satisfaction.
“Excellent. Then I have a few questions I’d like to ask...”
After cleaning up every last villain, I wiped the blood from my hands and face as I stepped back into the corridor.
‘All the villains were conveniently gathered in one spot. What luck.’
I wasn’t sure if they had been on standby since the terror had only just begun, or if they were simply slacking off together. Either way, they had been chatting away amicably, making the ambush ridiculously easy.
Taking advantage of their confusion, I tossed in a few grenades and that was the end of it.
I had expected a bit more from a villain group working with the research facility, but they were only C-class at best. It was almost disappointing.
Or perhaps the ones I had taken out were all just grunts...
‘Anyway, I ended up learning the location of the research data and the control room. That should be enough, right?’
Unintentionally, I had completed the task I was supposed to leave to 42 as well. I let out a small chuckle, then pressed the communicator to share the information with the training officer and 42.
Crackle.
“Training officer, 42. Do you copy?”
— Y-yes! This is the training officer! I-I’m currently in combat so I’m busy!
— 42. Message received.
Soon after, the training officer’s voice came through mixed with static, while 42’s voice remained as calm as ever.
“I have located the research data on the target. I’ll share the coordinates, so please both proceed to the location.”
— Y-yeeesss!!
— Understood.
The call ended with a click.
‘Alright, time for me to head to the target location as well—’
“Excuse me! You there!”
Just as I was about to move, a voice from behind made me freeze in place.
‘...What the?’
“Who are you? The lights are out so I can’t see. Could you come over here for a moment?”
When I turned my head, I saw a familiar woman’s face.
Light blue hair that looked even more mystical under the unusually bright moonlight. Cold eyes that contrasted with it. A beauty so stunning it could stop a heart.
‘Ice Queen.’
Why the hell was she here?