Assault
Assault
Orem's breathing deepened.
Orem, thinking that resistance was not a good option, parted his lips.
"......What orders am I supposed to follow?"
"Simple. Gather the squad members at the center of the research facility via radio."
Only then could Orem grasp what Daniel was thinking.
'He intends to wipe out the squad in one blow.'
The neural acceleration ability could secure an overwhelming advantage in an instant, but its endurance was poor.
According to existing records, the longest manifestation time of the neural acceleration ability was a mere 8.7 seconds.
Therefore, Daniel was ordering the troops to concentrate so he could use his neural acceleration ability at maximum efficiency.
Orem, unable to bring himself to betray his allies, hesitated to answer, so Daniel spoke quietly.
"Where is your hometown?"
Though flustered by the sudden question, Orem answered calmly.
"It's a small village called Elmaeha, located on the eastern coast of the Kingdom of Edria."
"Did you live with your family?"
"......Yes. I grew up with a fisherman father and a mother who runs a flower shop. I also have two younger sisters."
"Is that so. Your family must be worried about you."
The gun barrel that had been touching the back of his neck fell away.
"Even for the sake of returning to your family's embrace, cooperating with me would be wise. So follow the order. I will keep my promise not to kill you."
The words 'betray your comrades for the sake of your family' were more persuasive than 'betray your comrades for your own life.'
It was Daniel's rhetoric meant to alleviate guilt, but Orem still hesitated.
"Even if I return alive, my family would not be proud of me for betraying my comrades."
"Would they be proud of your corpse?"
Orem shut his mouth.
After a brief silence, a chilling voice came from behind.
"You had better hurry your choice. This is not a situation relaxed enough for me to listen to your ramblings."
The meaning in Daniel's words was not a threat, but the truth.
Dying here for his comrades, or betraying his comrades to return alive and see his family.
Orem, who had been weighing the two on a scale, picked up the radio with trembling hands.
Orem, after taking a deep breath, pressed the transmit button, aware of Daniel behind him.
"This is Squad Leader Orem. At the cost of one squad member, we have secured Daniel Steiner......"
As he spoke, Orem realized.
"All personnel, converge on the center of the research facility. Over."
That the scale pan holding his own life was heavier than the pan holding the lives of his comrades.
*
The troops who heard Orem's radio communication assembled at the center of the research facility.
Relieved smiles were spreading across their faces as the tension faded.
"We were scared for nothing. We were worried because it was Daniel Steiner, but he was nothing special after all, right?"
"That bastard is just a human like us. Even if he has neural acceleration, he probably couldn't use it properly when ambushed."
"Seeing that he still killed Sebillat in that situation, you'd have to say he's impressive......"
The soldiers who had been chatting among themselves all shut their mouths at once.
It was because Orem was walking out from the place marked as the test subject area.
Behind Orem, a man who appeared to be Daniel Steiner was walking with his head bowed.
The soldiers who saw this let out cheers.
"Squad Leader! You really did it!"
"Fuck! We're all getting medals! Look at that! We caught the Devil of the Empire!"
"Report it quickly! That we did it...?"
However, the soldiers' cheers did not last long.
They had belatedly discovered that Orem's weapon had been taken away.
"......Huh? Squad Leader?"
Orem was sobbing, biting his lip hard.
"I'm sorry."
The moment Orem sought forgiveness, a hand grenade with its pin pulled flew toward the soldiers.
Among the soldiers staring blankly at the grenade, someone shouted.
"Get down!"
But it was too late.
Kwang─!
Along with the explosion, an ear-splitting roar echoed in all directions.
As soldiers hit by the grenade fragments screamed, dust and smoke rose thickly.
"Ah! Aaah......!"
Daniel, pushing the despairing Orem aside, drew his revolver and walked forward.
The soldiers who had luckily been outside the grenade's range hurriedly came to their senses and raised their rifles.
Even among the soldiers caught in the explosion, those whose limbs were intact crawled out of the smoke and grabbed their rifles.
'Five survivors with guns, then.'
Before they could place their fingers on the triggers, Daniel accelerated his nerves.
The mana concentrated into his central nervous system made the world slow like a slow-motion screen.
Daniel raised his revolver and pulled the trigger at their heads in order.
Soon, when the neural acceleration ceased and the world recovered its original speed.
Taang─
Five bullets flew almost simultaneously and burst the soldiers' heads.
The soldiers who hadn't even managed to pull their triggers crumpled to the floor, scattering blood.
"......"
Daniel, thinking it was all over, lowered his revolver.
As the dust gradually settled, nine soldiers lay dead on the floor.
As the blood flowing from their bodies began to form puddles, Orem, who was behind, retched dryly.
Daniel also could not help but be surprised upon seeing the corpses.
'......One is missing.'
From what he heard from Orem, twelve personnel including the executive had barged in here.
So, there should have been ten corpses here normally.
Thinking something was wrong, Daniel hurriedly moved his body.
Hwoong─
At that moment, a single bullet grazed past his ear.
Daniel, without a moment's hesitation, hid his body behind a pillar of the research facility.
As he did so and looked beside him, Orem had spotted someone and wore a frightened expression.
"No! I did not betray the Allied Nations......!"
Unfortunately, the next words did not follow.
Taang!
Because along with the gunshot, Orem's head burst.
'So one really did survive.'
It seemed he had not trusted Orem's radio message and had been hiding alone elsewhere.
As Daniel leaned his back against the wall and caught his breath, the sound of clacking military boots could be heard.
"Daniel Steiner! You bribed my subordinate and resorted to petty tricks! Seeing you find a way out even when cornered, you do indeed seem to be a great commander!"
It was a relaxed voice.
"However, just because you annihilated a squad does not mean a way out for you has appeared. Soon, the assault unit will occupy the city and storm this place."
Daniel, who had been listening to Hamilton, opened his mouth.
"......Assault unit?"
"That's right. His Excellency the Count has carried out a large-scale assault using Ethelium. The stated cause is the recapture of Penbark, but the true purpose is to kill you here and bury the truth."
"You're full of confidence. If you fail to kill me here, you won't be able to bury the truth."
"Hmm. I thought you were smart, but it seems you can't grasp the situation. Even as we are having this conversation right now, the assault unit will be surrounding this place."
A sneer could be heard.
"Surely you don't think you can break through the encirclement and run away? If you truly think so, I expect great disappointment."
He wasn't wrong.
If Count Kaledra had carried out a large-scale assault using Ethelium, he wouldn't have prepared it poorly.
It was an obvious setback; no one had known that the Allied Nations had stockpiled enough Ethelium to execute a large-scale assault, so there had been no way to prepare.
As Daniel caught his breath, Hamilton continued speaking.
"By the way, how did you find out that Miss Lucy was from the test subject program? The fact that you found this place implies you already knew some secrets about the young lady."
Perhaps due to the aftereffects of neural acceleration, the trembling in his hands showed no sign of subsiding.
Daniel, thinking he had to buy time somehow, answered Hamilton's question.
"I knew something like that from the beginning."
"Knew from the beginning, you say. I don't know how you found out, but can I interpret that as meaning you kept quiet despite knowing her true identity in order to use the young lady?"
"Think whatever you want."
Hearing Daniel's answer, Hamilton let out a laugh as if amused.
"Ahh. Our pitiful young lady! To be used like an object in both the Allied Nations and the Empire! A truly wretched life, I say......"
In the middle of Hamilton's speech, Daniel accelerated his nerves and came out from behind the pillar.
Judging that he had a lot of combat experience since he could remain composed even before the corpses, Daniel accelerated his nerves once more to ensure he dealt with him thoroughly.
Daniel grasped his wrist to steady his trembling hand and aimed at Hamilton.
Hamilton was also aiming at Daniel, but it did not matter.
The temporal advantage was with Daniel.
However, the problem was that the neural acceleration cut off sooner than expected.
"......Thinki—?"
Hamilton's pupils trembled as he saw Daniel reveal himself in the blink of an eye.
He could not aim properly, but Daniel pulled the trigger because he could not afford to delay.
A spark burst from the muzzle and a single bullet flew.
However, due to the aiming error, the bullet struck not Hamilton's head but his pistol.
Kaang!
The pistol hit by the bullet flew to the rear.
At that moment, Hamilton came to his senses and kicked off the floor.
Kung!
It was a speed unbelievable for a human leap.
Having closed the distance in an instant, Hamilton grabbed Daniel's body and broke his center of gravity.
The two collapsed to the floor almost simultaneously, but Hamilton was the first to rise from his spot.
Hamilton, quickly climbing onto Daniel's body, used his knee to press down on his chest.
Above Daniel, who was subdued in an instant, Hamilton exhaled roughly.
"I'm bewildered. I never imagined you would use neural acceleration twice in succession. The strain on your body must be severe; what were you thinking?"
His chest was being crushed, making it difficult even to breathe.
"Just......"
Even with death before his eyes, the resolve in Daniel's eyes did not diminish.
"Because you...... were talking bullshit......"
Hamilton, who had not liked that, had his expression turn cold.
"It seems you don't want to die easily."
Hamilton raised his right hand to beat Daniel to death, but did not strike down.
It was because the sound of someone running from the entrance of the research facility could be heard.
Hamilton, naturally turning his head, discovered Lucy Emilia wearing an Imperial Army uniform.
Lucy, who had been running quickly, drew a revolver from her coat the moment she saw Daniel and Hamilton.
Seeing that, Hamilton lowered his hand and formed a smile.
"Ahh. Miss Lucy! It's been a while! Do you happen to remember me?"
Lucy, who had been breathing roughly, looked at Hamilton's face and her expression showed slight surprise.
"......Hamilton?"
"Yes. It's me. His Excellency the Count ordered me to bring the young lady back, so I came out on a special business trip, you see. So please, kill this bastard right here and return to the Allied Nations with me. If by any chance you feel a pang of conscience, I'd like to tell you there's no need."
Hamilton grabbed Daniel's necktie and pulled it.
"It's about this bastard. He said he knew about the young lady's ability from the very beginning. So, in order to use the young lady...... Young lady?"
Hamilton was flustered.
It was because the one Lucy was aiming at was not Daniel, but himself.
Before he could even ask why she was doing this, Lucy pulled the trigger.
Bang! The flying bullet pierced through Hamilton's head.
Hamilton's body, which had been staggering for a moment, collapsed limply onto Daniel.
Having confirmed Hamilton was dead, Lucy put away the revolver and looked down at Daniel.
"......Are you alright, Brigade Commander?"
Daniel, who had shoved Hamilton's corpse aside, propped his arms on the floor and raised his upper body.
As he did so, Daniel looked up at Lucy and could not help but laugh unconsciously.
Because Lucy was currently wearing the necklace set with amber.
It was the necklace Daniel had given her as a birthday present today.
'She said she would repay the favor of celebrating her birthday......'
He hadn't expected that day to be today.
"It suits you well."
As Lucy looked puzzled, Daniel, sitting with his back against the pillar, let out the rest of his laugh.
"That necklace, I mean."