The Scoundrel Itself +++ Code Coordinates A-1
Code Coordinates A-1. Incheon’s largest drug factory on an island near Yeonpyeongdo, the heart of everything Jang Kyung-su owned, was burning.
Normally, this place should’ve been crawling with guards and troops without a single gap, but unfortunately, the timing was shit. Jang Kyung-su had pulled out a massive chunk of his forces to steal back the new drug, leaving this site critically underdefended. He figured that was plenty. After all, anyone in Incheon’s underworld knew his turf—who the hell would dare touch it? Plus, Jang Kyung-su wasn’t some average joe. He was Incheon’s drug kingpin from the shadows and the chief of the Incheon Autonomous Police from the front. To anyone with even basic intel, he looked like the de facto ruler mastering both the light and dark sides of Incheon. Just the first letter of his name had people pissing themselves and running. A raid on his drug factory? On an island, no less? Unthinkable.
That’s why he’d pulled his forces without a second thought.
“Th-this isn’t about the numbers—,”
Pfshk—!
Of course, even if A-1 had been at full strength, it wouldn’t have changed a damn thing.
“—at all…”
Thud. The headless corpse dropped, proving the point. Eyes bulging in disbelief, it hadn’t even registered in death.
Whoosh, whoosh. Levi casually swung her blade through the air a couple times to shake off the blood, then sheathed it.
“Next?”
“…!”
She scanned for the next target. Spot it, and she glided forward like skating on ice, slicing with her falchion.
Splatter! A guy in a military helmet split clean in half.
Then the next. She ghosted an implant-boosted bastard you couldn’t even see, tore him apart, and severed the wrist of a guy about to pull his trigger. In slowed time perception, as hand, gun, and blood sprayed one way, she spun and slashed multiple times. In about 0.3 seconds, the guy was thickly diced and rolling across the ground.
Meanwhile, enemies repositioned and opened fire. Machine guns spitting a thousand rounds a minute, some lobbing grenades or pricey mini-railguns.
Levi neutralized it all. Dancing her blade gracefully, she deflected bullets off their sides, shattered grenade fragments mid-air, and pirouetted past railgun shots like a ballerina.
BOOM—!
A railgun barely grazed her side, slamming into the ground far behind and exploding. Massive flames lit the dark sky for a moment.
“K-Knight…! A knight’s here…!!”
Unbelievable. No human could pull that off. Only a knight could manage such feats. Just graduating knight training got you quasi-general treatment; land a spot in the Defense Ministry, and you were a general on the spot—an unprecedented human weapon!! Why the hell was one here?!
“Knight…?”
Levi tilted her head at the demoralized foes.
“I’m human, though?”
She charged, carving through them. Not a single one dodged her strikes.
Meanwhile, the ‘real knight,’ Baekseol. Entering from the opposite side of Levi, she opted for ‘experiments’ over mindless rampaging. Her custom weapon cost over a trillion—a vicious thing that activated her unique genes with just a flow of qi, unleashing transcendent power. She’d never tested it in real combat. To master it going forward, she figured a lax(?) easy(?) newbie zone(?) like today was perfect for trials.
First stage.
Shhh. From the plain hilt, eerie plasma danced, converging into a blindingly intense blade about a meter long. The humming vibration and scorching heat were intensely threatening.
Suppress qi hard to shorten it. Release control… and it extends.
Intuition said pump in tons of qi for a longer blade, but reality was opposite. Default was infinite projection; compress with qi to shape it. Longer blade meant weaker intensity.
How much weaker?
She eyed ahead. Enemies scurried around a semiconductor-factory-wide building. Distance to it: about 20 meters.
“Haaah!”
Whoosh. She swung wide toward the building, releasing plasma control. The rigid blade whipped out endlessly, cleaving the structure in two.
“!!”
Shock incarnate. The massive building crumpled entirely. A heavy roar drowned screams, earthquake shaking as black smoke billowed.
Shhh. Baekseol reined it in. It snapped back to sword form.
“…”
Even knight Baekseol stared blankly at the devastating power. And that was just stage one.
Then stage two?
“Sh-she’s there!! That bitch!!”
“Kill her!!”
Stage two: railgun mode. Perfect moving targets swarming in.
Side button for stage two, right.
Click. Plasma vanished; cracks formed in the hilt as internals sprouted like cell division, transforming.
“Ah…!”
About two seconds. The 20cm weapon became a hefty 1.2-meter rifle.
Rat-tat-tat!! An implant grunt closed in, swinging an electrified baton—aiming to capture, apparently. Daring to try capturing a knight.
Splat. She aimed at the idiots and pulled the trigger.
KABOOM—!
Louder than the building collapse. Baekseol recoiled 3cm from the kick; the rushers vaporized. A straight-line devastation followed: gouged earth aflame, punching a deep tunnel into the island’s mountain before stopping. White smoke wafted, inspiring awe at the firepower.
This output was battleship- or mech-class railgun territory—insanely oversized, crammed compact. What the hell was Militaris…!
D-do I even need stage three???
Even for experiments, she seriously questioned it. Factory half-gone, remnants blasted—why go to three? Plenty left, sure, but proper testing felt iffy.
Hmm… next time? Focus on mastering one and two today…
+++
“Wh-what the… what is that…!”
Jang Kyung-su gaped at the vista outside the AV. The whole island ablaze, turning to ash—unbelievable.
Contact cut mid-report. Already fallen?!
Even undermanned, hundreds strong. Just twenty minutes since the raid alert—impossible to process.
“B-Boss…!”
“Those bastards…!!”
But fear lost to rage. Ten-minute fall? Possible with mass drop or standoff bombardment.
“How…! How DARE they!!”
Unbearable fury. All that value… rebuilding would cost a fortune!
BAM—!
Jang Kyung-su kicked open the AV door. The craft lurched; some goons tumbled into the sky.
“Aaaahhh—!”
Fading screams. He ignored them, seeking a vent.
“You bitch!”
First spotted: a woman in the flames, swinging an anachronistic sword, butchering his men.
“This is my turf!!!”
Thud! He launched from the AV into the air. Such force unbalanced it, crashing into a follow-up craft loaded with troops—boom.
“I’ll kill you—!!”
Whatever. He ignited the jet engines on his cyborg half—meant for ground speed and punch power, but workable.
His body plummeted at dozens of times normal speed, diving at Levi’s head.
“?”
Levi clocked him.
“DIE—!!”
Shing. She drew.
Gracefully spinning, blade tip up, she thrust into his groin as he plunged. Already outside his strike path.
Squish.
“Guhk—,”
Full speed impalement. Her sword pierced from balls up, spraying crimson as she swung—cleaving him in two. Dead.
His corpse hit the ground with pathetic futility, no scream afforded.
Thud.
Crackle.
“Mm.”
Levi switched sword to her other hand, rotating her wrist. Even she took damage from such a brute hit. Not just wrist—right side ached and creaked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh.”
“…”