Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Plague Doctor Assault
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A year and then some weeks had passed since he'd been dropped into this unfamiliar world.
Jin had faced a ton of crises in that time.
Gunshots, knife wounds, beatings that left him shattered.
Ten days of starvation, delirious agony from food poisoning.
Heatstroke in the summer, frostbite in the winter.
Moments where he clung to life because death wouldn't take him, and horrific days when he didn't even have the strength to die.
Yet nothing like this moment had ever happened before.
What the hell is this?
The old Jin would have spat at the status window blotting out his entire field of vision.
Don't tell me what to do, he'd mutter to himself in a rage.
But he couldn't this time.
He could feel it even without the status window.
A sinister presence prickling his skin like needles.
That was when it happened.
"...Hm, one more than I thought?"
A dry voice, like spotting a bug on the roadside.
Jin flinched. The instant he pulled back from the railing.
An invisible force struck him.
More precisely, the entire iron staircase under his feet.
BOOM!!
Before he could react, Jin was flung into the air, spinning wildly like a fish caught in a whirlpool.
The world tumbled in every direction, up down left right all mixed up.
A dull impact swept irregularly from head to toe.
Bouncing this way and that, Jin crashed to the ground and gulped for air.
No, it was more like forcibly sucking it in.
Screaming required some leeway.
In an unexpected, over-the-top shock like this, anyone would end up like Jin.
Pain flooded his nose and mouth like seawater, leaving him choking on dry land as if drowning.
If only he'd blacked out.
His abnormally tough body started recovering amid the agony.
Forcing him back to consciousness.
Blood streaming from a deep gash on his forehead obscured his vision, but Jin gritted his teeth and lifted his head from the ground, bracing for any follow-up attack.
And he saw it.
The figure climbing the stairs from the basement, step by step.
The怪人 wore a black leather longcoat with a subtle sheen and a bowler hat.
Hands in leather gloves, feet in boots—all hiding any bare skin.
All that black seemed to swallow every light in the world.
Which only made the dull silver beak mask stand out more.
The kind known back in Jin's hometown as plague doctor gear.
The mask evoked a crow's eerie form, exuding a bizarre aura as it turned toward the fallen Jin.
Then it tilted its head.
"Still alive?"
The mutter shifted its gaze from Jin to Fenrir, then back and forth.
"...Was I lacking? Or are you two just that tough?"
The figure, who'd been opening and closing its palm, suddenly clapped.
"No way I'm weak. You two are just sturdy."
What the fuck is this guy saying? Psycho.
Jin tried to stand, but a sharp pain twisted his nose in grimace.
Glancing down, his right ankle was completely snapped.
No running—or even walking—in this state.
And in the corner of his vision, the status window kept flashing escape warnings nonstop, stirring anger instead of helping.
"If you're not gonna help, then fuck off...!"
Jin snarled, grabbing his ankle and twisting it.
CRUNCH!!
Worsening a simple fracture into a compound one, he bit his lower lip until it bled.
It hurt like hell, and it was insane, but no choice.
From past experience, if you didn't align the bone first, recovery took forever.
"Shii...it!"
As Jin clenched his teeth.
ROOOAR!!
A beastly roar erupted out of nowhere, and Fenrir, who'd seemed dead, kicked off the ground and leaped up.
An insane jump. At the same time, he drew the sword hilt from his waist.
The massive curved blade over a meter long became a streak of light in the wolfman's hand—over two meters tall—and slammed down.
A strike mocking distance.
Exactly what Jin had imagined.
SHWIIIING!!
The怪人 turned its head.
That was all.
Yet Fenrir's sword halted dead in midair.
As if blocked by something invisible.
"Grrrrr!!"
A savage growl rumbled from Fenrir's maw.
His bulging arm muscles showed he was pouring everything into it, but the blade trembled uselessly in the air, beastman strength be damned.
"This doesn't make sense. You're a beastman—why fight here? Taha's a racist who worships beastman superiority. Joining TB makes more sense than opposing them."
Fenrir bared his fangs at the question.
"And you? Why's a Styx black mage sticking with TB? What's the dirty motive?"
"Sticking? You misunderstand. It's a strict business deal."
The怪人 murmured lowly.
In that instant, Jin pulled Gravis's trigger.
BANG—!!
The muzzle spat fire skyward.
Jin muscled the crazy recoil, his trigger finger snapping back relentlessly.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ear-shattering booms rang out nonstop.
The overlapping recoil toppled Jin backward from his seated position.
In the chaos, Brof's words came to mind.
Special custom .666 R&D Magnum rounds.
Fired from Gravis's superior barrel, their power was limited to close range under 50 meters.
Outdid anti-materiel rifles, he'd said.
Jin had confirmed it wasn't hype when it blew a chameleon beastman's head clean off.
Jin propped up his torso, hoping.
For the damn怪人 to lie bleeding on the ground.
But no.
Greeted instead by the怪人 still facing off with Fenrir.
Clink—
Bullets that failed to pierce the rippling curtain of its longcoat rained down harmlessly.
Beyond the momentarily iridescent veil, the mask slowly turned.
What the—
Panic at Gravis failing lasted a second.
"Intriguing."
The怪人 lightly swung both hands.
Right toward Fenrir, left toward Jin.
Instantly, flames and lightning surged from its fingertips at blinding speed toward the two.
"Hup!"
Spotting the white-hot electric bolt incoming, Jin hurled his awkward-legged body aside.
But the lightning arced chain-like along the shelf's steel frame, tracing an unpredictable path to catch him anyway.
Just before the current coursed through him.
Jin hit the detonator in his pocket—not thought, pure instinct.
Then unprecedented agony engulfed him.
ZZZAP—!!
Muscles spasmed across his body, organs shredded cell by cell, skin blistering red.
"...Guh, ack."
Eyes rolled back, smoke billowing from his mouth, Jin slammed his head to the ground and flopped.
As he twitched on death's edge.
Soon, Fenrir rolled up beside him, charred black all over, and slumped.
Naturally, their eyes met at the world's lowest eye level.
No strength to twitch a finger, but Jin mustered a voice through moving lips.
"You... okay?"
A near-death reply came back.
"...Yeah."
Truth be told, Jin had questions piling up.
Who the fuck is this psycho?
Why's he guarding the warehouse?
Is he even with TB?
He wanted to shake Fenrir's shoulder and yell, but held back.
Won't change a thing.
Situation was already in motion, barreling toward the worst.
Just gonna die doing nothing?
Jin bulged his bloodshot eyes.
Fuck that. Think I endured that hell for this bullshit end?
Survival instinct bordering on obsession pumped adrenaline, letting him cling to sanity. He voiced the one way out.
"...Bomb's about to blow. 90 seconds left."
"You hit yours too?"
Astoundingly, Fenrir asked back.
He'd activated his before this mess too, apparently.
No prior agreement, but same outcome—both cracked bitter smiles.
Jin proposed first.
"Run now?"
"From that monster? Straight-up impossible."
"Fight then?"
"...One minute, maybe."
"Good. Deal."
A pathetically basic "plan" done, they pushed off the ground with hands and forearms.
Jin was no ordinary guy, but Fenrir crawling to his feet wasn't either.
Otherwise, the怪人 wouldn't be clapping.
"Up again. Impressive."
Not mocking anyone, praising the staggering foes, it suddenly pointed at Jin.
"Especially you. Not a beastman, but recovery tops theirs. No, not just recovery. More like... reconstruction..."
"Shut it, you plague doctor cosplay freak."
Legs still shaking from shock aftermath, Jin flipped it the bird.
Fenrir's muzzle twitched. Hard to read on a wolf face, but seemed more incredulous than angry.
"Don't grab my ankle."
Suddenly feral-faced, he charged straight ahead.
Dunno why, but way faster than before.
Had to be holding that ace up his sleeve.
Not to be outdone, Jin closed his eyes.
Not ignoring reality.
In that moment, Jin's mind floated amid a vast night sky.
The second star lit on the path.
Beyond it, countless dim stars branching out, clamoring to be lit next.
Jin had earned enough EXP defeating the chameleon beastman to continue the path.
This moment.
He scrapped his careful, deliberated plan of weighing options, asking questions, agonizing over choices.
Anything goes.
Just survive one minute...!
ZZZCRACKK!!!
Next instant, blue lightning surged from Jin's body as he snapped his eyes open.
The intense sparks vaporized the blood—
And the faint blue soon turned red, rampaging everywhere.
[Mana Rampage]
Jin surrendered to the self-destructive impulse etched in his mind.
Crack..!
Crushing the cracking ground, he charged, closing the gap to the怪人 in a flash.
Slipping beside Fenrir mid-swing, he unleashed a kick at full sprint speed.
52 seconds to warehouse explosion.
With fate sealed.
Beak-masked怪人, human, wolf beastman tangled together.