Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Experiment (2)
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It was like a beast that had lost its reason, left with only instinct. But it was that very instinct that heightened its survival capabilities.
It instinctively avoided fatal blows, seeking ways to trade flesh for bone.
Just like now.
As Kratos's hammer aimed for its flank, Peri Batoni's sword slashed horizontally at its neck.
The creature twisted its head, offering its shoulder to the blade instead. The deep gash writhed as it began to self-repair.
Of course, the process was noticeably slower than before. This meant its self-repairing demonic energy had its limits.
Either that, or it was a flawed specimen, hastily created due to the raid. Whatever the case, all we had to do was kill it.
“Its gaze!”
While Peri Batoni drew its attention with a feigned attack, Kratos closed in and blasted spiritual power into the creature's wound, tearing it open from the inside.
Spiritual power and demonic energy were absolute opposites. The wound's healing slowed considerably, and blood dripped to the floor.
It was like Heracles cauterizing the Hydra's necks with a torch after cutting off its heads. We focused on chipping away at its flesh, little by little, keeping its attention fixed on us.
A punch from the creature sent me flying into a wall.
“Kratos!”
“Ugh. Damn thing's a brute!”
My whole body ached, but the pain was fleeting. My own regeneration, rivaling the creature's, quickly dulled the agony.
“Ah, seriously. This is pissing me off.”
This wasn't a situation where I could fight with all my strength. What if I went all out, and the creature targeted the escaping survivors? What if it killed them and the remaining corps members?
Everything we'd done so far would be for nothing.
Fighting while protecting something is always harder. That must be why Peri Batoni couldn't unleash his full power either.
As the vice-captain of the mercenary corps, he had far more to protect and worry about than I did.
“Graaaaaah-!”
“Stop barking!”
It's not some mutt, so why is it barking like that? And it's not like I'm repeating myself.
“All survivors have been moved to the elevator!”
Seamus's report rang out from behind me. Thankfully, they had moved the survivors quickly. In that case, there was no need to fight so passively and defensively anymore.
“Then go up and fire the signal flare! We can't afford to lose another single life! We've already sacrificed too much.”
Peri Batoni muttered self-deprecatingly. He must have been thinking of his comrades who were already corpses, and those whose survival was uncertain.
By now, Peri Batoni's mind was surely filled with regret, wondering if they could have been saved if only his decision had been made a day sooner, just a little faster.
I knew the feeling well.
“What about you two...?”
“Don't worry about us! We'll handle things here!”
Seamus glanced at them, bit his lip, and ran for the elevator. He judged that this wasn't a fight where his presence would be of any help.
It was a battle between Sword Masters. Well, one of them wasn't a Sword Master, but Kratos was in a league of his own, wasn't he?
“Anyone else captured?”
I could no longer sense the presence of any other abductees in the lab. Only soldiers and researchers, all tainted by demonic energy.
Judging by their frantic movements, they seemed to be gathering something. Preparing to flee, perhaps. Or to defend.
“None. Only personnel involved.”
“That's a relief. Ahh. Now I can finally fight without holding back.”
“But...”
“But?”
“It's nothing.”
Peri Batoni took a deep breath and focused his aura into his sword. He had only begun to learn swordsmanship in earnest after joining the mercenary corps.
His master was Mike Hoare. He had generously taught swordsmanship to his corps, never hesitating to pass on his techniques and secret arts.
Of course, whether one learned them perfectly or adapted them to their own style was a personal choice, but Peri Batoni was one who had learned it all just as it was taught.
Thanks to that, he had even reached the level of Sword Master. Though, he had only just taken his first steps into that realm.
“Kratos. You go check deeper inside. Collect any data you can find and kill anyone who needs killing. I think this fight is mine.”
“Whoa-! That sword aura...”
A rough exclamation escaped Kratos's lips. No, anyone would have reacted the same. The aura gathering on that sword was unbelievably ferocious.
It wasn't for nothing that they called Mike Hoare "Mad Mike Hoare." It was a nickname he'd earned for swinging his sword like a true madman, like a berserker.
Of course, his swordsmanship and the aura of his blade were just as ferocious as his "Mad" moniker suggested, which only reinforced the name.
But to see the vice-captain using such a style... How could one not be amazed at the contrast with his impeccably neat personality?
“Understood.”
This was for the best. Taking that thing's head was important, but right now, there was something more pressing.
Besides, the vice-captain deserved some fun, didn't he? It seemed he was itching for a fight after being on a mission for the first time in a while.
I quickly turned and dashed down the corridor. Behind me, I heard the sound of swirling sword auras mercilessly smashing into the walls and the roar of the howling experiment.
***
In the past, this cave wasn't so deep. They had simply used the inner part as a laboratory. That meant they must have excavated this underground level for some purpose.
Furthermore, just as in the desert and the second ruin, there wasn't a single thing that could link this place to the Empire. No emblems, no documents, nothing.
It meant they were well aware of the repercussions should a connection be made.
“Where is it? Where is it...”
My top priority was to retrieve my research materials.
Damn bastards. I know this is a fantasy world with no copyright laws, but to just take and use someone else's research...
And for evil, no less.
I smashed the heads of every guard I saw. Those guys were useless. The one I needed was...
“You.”
“Eek-! Please spare me! I'll tell you everything! Everything!”
A researcher, clearly the scholar type, scared out of his wits.
“There must be research materials here from before you guys arrived. Where are they?”
The researcher's expression changed. It was the look of someone who never expected an outside attacker to ask about those research materials.
“How do you… No one is supposed to know about that.”
“Answer.”
When he hesitated, his reply delayed, I raised my hammer high.
“The secret archive! What's left is in the secret archive! Some of it has already been moved elsewhere.”
“Location?”
“The innermost archive, the one with the closed door. Then you'll spare me...?”
“The place they were moved to must be the Central Intelligence Bureau. They're the only ones who would do something like this.”
“The Central Intelligence Bureau? Who...”
Before he could finish his sentence, I brought my hammer down and crushed his skull. Why would I spare someone so thoroughly tainted by demonic energy?
I went to the innermost area and found a tightly shut door. It had everything from a notice prohibiting entry to unauthorized personnel to a pattern lock for identity verification.
I didn't need to know the pattern. Before brute force, all things are equal.
*CRASH-*
My hammer, swung with all my might, struck the door.
*CRASH-!*
On the second strike, the door cracked.
*KABOOM-*
The third blow shattered the door, leaving a hole. Normally, an alarm would have blared and guards would have come running, but there were no guards left to run here.
“Hmm. Still, quite a bit is left.”
The archive wasn't particularly large. Inside, it was filled with a considerable amount of paper and junk-like items.
Comparing it to my memory, about 30% remained. I scanned the papers once before putting them into my inventory.
For now, nothing had been altered from what I remembered, and I could just memorize any scribbled additions they'd made. Besides, I needed to check what was missing.
As for the remaining items, I smashed everything except what was useful with my hammer and put the debris into my inventory. I planned to throw it all into a fire later to destroy it completely.
And then, the last remaining box. A dark, inky box with no gaps or patterns. It was the most important one. The one I had hoped most to find here.
Its contents were so important that I had deliberately separated the key and the box, and stored it in this ridiculously sturdy container.
To be precise, it was a metal created by a failed experiment.
There were scattered scratches on it, likely from their countless attempts to open it, but the box remained perfectly intact.
A clean exterior without a single keyhole in sight.
When I took the key from my inventory, it reacted with the box, causing a small gap to open.
I inserted the key into the gap, and the box opened, revealing its contents.
“Thankfully, it's still here.”
A cylinder glowing with a blue light, like the handle of something, and a single, slime-like, writhing object.
This rod, in particular, would be a critical game-changer for my future activities.
***
“They're all back.”
Seamus had moved the rescued people to a place where they would be safe from the fighting.
A light he had never seen before sparkled in their eyes. He thought it might be the light of hope—the hope that they could live.
“Hoo. Adson. Break through. Seamus, get ready.”
At Reinhardt's command, Adson focused mana into his hands. Beyond that wall, an unknown number of guards were surely lying in wait.
With Adson's chant, a fireball shot from his fingertips.
“Aargh-! Dodge-!”
“Adson!”
The enemies' urgent shouts and pained screams could be heard. With another chant, a gust of wind blew away the dust and rubble.
“Seamus!”
Seamus dashed forward, staying low, and plunged his sword into the necks of the foremost enemies before the dust had even settled.
*'Carefully. One life for every strike.'*
There weren't as many soldiers as he'd expected. Perhaps many had been swept up in the initial assault, or maybe there was another reason.
“Hyaaaah-!”
Reinhardt also blocked the cave entrance, swinging his sword at the soldiers charging toward him.
No, Seamus couldn't tell. Was he swinging it to cut, or to use it like a club?
The brutally large greatsword, much like its wielder's physique, seemed better suited for tearing opponents apart than for slicing them.
It made one wonder why he didn't just use an axe or a hammer instead.
The surroundings were a chaotic mess. Researchers and soldiers ran around in confusion. Corpses littered the floor.
*Clang-*
When the dagger he'd thrust to end a life was blocked by a soldier's sword, Seamus threw a punch with his other hand.
The soldier clearly scoffed.
After all, there was nothing more absurd than throwing a punch at an armored soldier.
“Idiot.”
Seamus angled his fist slightly upward, creating a gap beneath his wrist.
A hidden blade shot out from under his wrist and plunged precisely into a gap in the soldier's armor.
“Gyaack-!”
He didn't just stab; he twisted the blade, slicing through flesh.
As the enemy blocking his path fell, he drove the hidden blade from his other hand into the man's eye and leaped toward the outer fence.
He had to fire the signal flare from a place free of disruption magic.
And so, leaving the area under the customary alarm magic, he fired the flare into the sky.
The flare soared high into the sky, emitting a brilliant light, but Seamus's attention was stolen by something else entirely.
“Ah… no.”
More prominent than the flare rising into the sky was the sight of Granoc, engulfed in a crimson aura and the flames of a great fire.