Raid on Sector 41 Port -4-
Raid on Sector 41 Port -4-
"That guy using shooting magic. He fires up to three rounds quickly, so keep that in mind."
After passing the remaining information to Usagi, Max immediately circulated his magical power.
Usagi, sensing that Max was doing something, kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
An incredible speed based on the innate leg strength of a rabbit beastman.
The katana in his hand glittered in the moonlight. The blade's length was short for a longsword and long for a dagger.
Chaeng! Chaeaeng!
The swordsman and the ninja engaged in a dazzling swordfight.
The man with the languid expression, as Usagi said, was the type with very solid fundamentals. He barely moved from his spot and was defensive.
However, the intensity that caught Max's attention was not that.
Rather, it was Usagi's experience.
'He's maintaining a direction where the gun muzzle and the swordsman overlap.'
A good choice.
The opponent also realized that and tried to shake him off somehow, but Usagi held on with flexible movements.
'Shall I lend a hand quickly.'
Max exerted his focus.
While going through a series of actions: slowing down bullets aimed at him that had given up on Usagi with a shield and then evading.
After Poltergeist ended, he grabbed whatever objects were there: overturned vehicles, rebar that had been knocked about and scattered on the floor, and drums placed in corners.
Kugugugu──!
Under Max's magical power, the heavy objects rose into the air, shedding dust.
They blocked the moonlight, making the night's darkness even deeper.
'I'll break their standard formation first.'
A heavy mass of objects, with added speed, poured down on Steiger and the swordsman.
Usagi and Steiger quickly dodged out of the way. The swordsman, after a nonchalant attitude, gripped his sword with both hands.
"Wow, a 4th-rank telekinetic is a monster."
Starting with a voice that didn't feel any sense of crisis, he began to cut through the mountain of mass.
At the same time as splitting, he even emitted magical power to push away the fragments.
But that was also what Max wanted.
This is enough.
Like a car accident, even if you slam this much mass into a 4th-rank, you can't expect more than minor injuries.
He kept some of the cut fragments in the air with telekinesis.
Usagi, without needing to be told, began using them as footholds.
Pababak!
Max drove rebar into the ground around the swordsman at shin height, making them sprout like weeds.
It was enough to hinder his steps even a little.
"Whoa! Annoying...!"
The swordsman, thankfully, gave his honest impression.
Max simultaneously caught a killing intent and formed a shield.
Tang!
Steiger had taken position alone, having secured a considerable distance.
Max, having taken the bullet, frowned.
'He increased the output of Hornet.'
The shield was pierced as easily as paper. The method of slowing down and evading was getting increasingly difficult.
A declaration that he would finish this quickly without sparing magical power.
'Still, the fortunate thing is that a 4th-rank mage can't fire Hornet in rapid succession. I'll just keep the footholds in place here and finish that side first.'
Since Usagi, having gained footholds, had a slight advantage, Max allocated 90% of his attention to Steiger and 10% to Usagi's side.
Max dashed toward Steiger.
"Hey, that's a bit problematic. Can't you not go?"
The swordsman, who had been dealing with Usagi, looked at Max's back and requested in a languid voice.
That was true.
'He shouldn't have abandoned the shield that was the swordsman.'
Steiger did not run away even upon seeing Max's charge.
As if to protect his pride, he assumed a kneeling firing stance for the first time, with the determination to kill Max before he arrived.
Even so, Max had information about the magic.
'In the kneeling stance, the acceleration magic circle appears twice.'
It's too late to dodge after seeing it. You have to change direction when the magic circle appears.
The night sky strongly marked the flash in front of the gun muzzle.
'Now!'
Max, who had been charging, abruptly rolled to the side.
Tadadang!
Three bullets embedded in the spot where Max had been standing.
As expected, with the acceleration magic circle applied twice, it wasn't a speed that could be dodged by sight.
While he pulled the bolt and pushed it forward.
Max reached him. He attempted the fastest attack.
[Shock]
A kick infused with shock magic.
Steiger raised his gun to defend.
Paang!
Steiger was pushed back three steps.
As expected of a magic-infused firearm, it didn't break.
'I must not give him an opening. Only then will he use it.'
To create the situation he wanted, Max focused on speed rather than destructive power.
[Shock]
With fists and kicks that were hard to believe came from a mage, he increased Steiger's irritation.
Ppaak!
He hit his side with Shock, but it didn't seem to cause much impact.
Steiger, after a momentary stumble, tried to escape Max's attack range.
'His combat suit is ridiculously high-quality. Insanely durable.'
Max clung tenaciously without falling off.
And then Max felt the flow of magical power he had been waiting for.
Since shooting magic is a type where distance is most important, there is a magic to push the opponent away to secure distance.
Commonly classified as knockback.
Usually, it's a wide-range force shot from the muzzle or palm to push away, but Steiger, in order to climb the Mado Myeongga, had differentiated his knockback as well.
"Tch..."
Steiger clicked his tongue in annoyance and struck the ground with the butt of his rifle.
To someone who didn't know, it looked like a posture to back away using the gun as a staff, but it was the trigger for the knockback.
'It's here.'
This was the magic Max had been waiting for.
Steiger's knockback magic strongly pushes forward from the caster's front.
Meaning the diagonal was empty.
Max quickly moved to the left.
As the gun went down, an opening was fully exposed.
"...!"
Steiger's body stiffened at Max's response. He could roughly imagine the face inside the helmet.
It must be embarrassing that a mere mercenary had seen through the Steiger family's magic without any trial and error.
Max pointed his finger.
Above Steiger's combat suit, a red triangle made of magical power rose up.
4th-tier cutting magic.
[Lacerate Delta]
It's simple. It cuts along the triangle.
Since the output weakens as the triangle's size increases, it's a cutting magic where the sense of size adjustment is important.
'Even if he dies, it can't be helped. It'll be enough to just take off his helmet later.'
Because with Bibol's absence and the swordsman's presence, it wasn't a situation to take it easy, he fired it without mercy.
Puhwaak!
Blood gushed from Steiger's body.
"Keoheok...!"
If it weren't for the expensive combat suit, the 4th-rank mage's body would have been cut clean through.
'Damn equipment advantage.'
The very fact that he survived a 4th-tier cutting magic was beyond Max's expectations.
But Steiger's wound was not minor. He was shaking all over and even dropped his gun.
'I'll kill him like this.'
Max clicked his tongue and gathered magical power again.
Trying to use magical power without giving his circuits a rest caused a pain as if his head would split. It was accompanied by slight dizziness.
The moment he tried to forcibly activate the magic, a blade intervened, aiming for Max's neck.
Pieing!
Max quickly retreated, but a long cut from his collarbone to his abdomen remained.
"Oops, you dodged this?"
It was the swordsman.
Blood was gushing from the swordsman's back, perhaps because he had allowed an attack and broken away from Usagi. Throwing stars were even embedded in his thigh and shoulder.
'If it weren't for the special clothing, the blade would have reached the bone.'
Max, relieved that he hadn't died, checked on Usagi who had run over from the side.
As if he had been countered while cutting the back, his eyes twitched in pain and his breathing was ragged.
"Your condition?"
"...I'm fine. Sorry I let him get away."
"It's fine. That swordsman is abnormal."
Usagi assured that he could still fight.
Thus, the standoff was created again.
But the situation was overwhelmingly in Max's favor.
Because Steiger was now incapacitated.
"That's why you should have stayed behind me instead of going off alone. I've been telling you, you need to trust people a bit."
"Fuck, fuck... FUUUCK!!! Cough! Cough!"
Steiger, realizing he would have died if not for the swordsman, collapsed and expressed fiery rage.
After his outburst, he even vomited blood.
"You don't seem able to fight anymore. At this rate, we'll both die. May I run away?"
"...Use that."
"Huh? That's insubordination. I don't want to get scolded."
"I'll pay the price and take responsibility on this side."
While the swordsman sighed at Steiger's words and removed the throwing star embedded in his flesh.
Usagi, receiving Max's signal, quickly formed hand seals.
Around Usagi, pitch-black Chinese characters spread across the ground, forming a unique formation.
[Serpent Flame Bullet]
A serpent large enough to easily swallow an adult male appeared behind Usagi and swelled its body.
Then it opened its jaw wide and shot a massive fireball at the swordsman and Steiger.
Kuuung!!!
With the explosion, flames shot up.
The night port brightened for an instant.
'This is ninjutsu? Crazy.'
Max was in admiration.
It was stronger than most magic of the same rank.
"...Both are alive. Something's strange."
Usagi, frowning with a sense of incongruity, informed Max.
The serpent, having fulfilled its role, had already disappeared.
Chwajajak!
The blazing fire was scattered by a sword cut.
"After this job is over, I'll take a month off."
The swordsman's appearance, after dealing with the flames spat by the serpent, had changed.
His hair had turned blue, blue scales had grown on parts of his face and the back of his hands, water followed his sword, and even the bleeding from his wounds had stopped.
Max's eyes widened at the sight of the swordsman.
'...Blue Scale Family!?'
A family that one of the executives of Cheonmyeong Pharmaceutical employed as their underlings.
The swordsman's appearance clearly marked him as one of its members.