Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Sudden Encounter with the Abyss
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As long as we weren't one step away from death right this instant, I had no intention of following any more orders from here on out.
"So you're saying the Abyss is the mastermind behind this whole incident?"
The Commander asked, and Black Purple shook her head.
"Th-that... Th-they're n-not th-that sm-smart, y'know..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Th-the data cl-clearly p-points to the Ab-Abyss, b-but it's w-weird."
"What's weird about it?"
"The Ab-Abyss aren't int-intelligent l-lifeforms! Th-they're j-just instinct-driven m-monsters! Th-they eat when h-hungry! Sleep when th-there's n-nothing! Th-that's it!"
Black Purple seemed to have developed a speech impediment since the last time I'd seen her. She was trembling so badly it was genuinely worrying.
Well, given the situation, it wasn't exactly incomprehensible.
She swallowed hard, then flailed her hands around as if deeply wronged.
"O-octopus suckers have br-brains so they can th-think and m-move, r-right?! N-no, th-they just st-stick to anything th-they touch!"
Octopus suckers. A cheap analogy, but I got the point immediately.
The priest asked,
"Then is there no possibility that someone has tamed or is using the Abyss?"
I shook my head.
"That's unlikely."
"Why are you so sure?"
"They're not pets that wag their tails for food. They devour anything in sight indiscriminately. How do you even control that? Put a leash on them?"
The priest shut his mouth, unable to argue. The very idea of using them didn't hold water.
The puzzle pieces weren't fitting together.
"...To begin with, Blood Cells and the Abyss have no connection whatsoever, do they?"
The Commander muttered in confusion.
Right.
Blood Cells amplified mana.
The Abyss, on the other hand, were predators that devoured everything in their path.
Were these two actually related?
Was the Abyss after the power of the Blood Cell too?
BOOM!
At that moment, a massive tremor hit, and dirt rained down like a storm.
It was perfectly timed to remind us this wasn't some leisurely debate hall.
"Damn, our chat's gone on too long."
The Commander clicked his tongue and scanned the surroundings. Far off, an explosion rang out, and presences surged toward us.
I yanked Esira toward me.
No matter how I thought about it, I never should have brought her into this hellhole.
"We need to get out of here first. Thinking can wait."
"Agreed."
The Commander nodded, then turned to the Batiuus priest.
"Priest. We have plenty of questions, but we need to survive first to find any answers, don't we?"
"..."
"This is a temporary truce—no, a cooperation proposal."
The priest glanced back and forth between my face and my greatsword.
He let out a deep, bitter sigh.
"No choice. Getting isolated in this chaos would be suicide."
"Wise decision."
He must have figured antagonizing me right now was impossible. Excellent judgment. He deserved praise for it.
In the distance, a wild-eyed woman plunged a dagger into a fallen man's gut.
Blood sprayed like a fountain, soaking her face, but she rifled through his entrails with a filthy grin.
The priest shot the man dead, as if he couldn't stand to watch anymore.
"Crazy bastard, lost his mind."
Limbs severed from corpses littered the ground, getting trampled, while more bodies piled atop crushed skulls.
"No matter how great Blood Cells are, isn't this going too far?"
The Commander's face was one of utter disbelief.
"Do you know what Blood Cells are made from?"
"...Blood, I heard."
"Exactly. Look at them. They're spilling even more blood, more cruelly on purpose."
"Does it really take that much to make them?"
"Who knows."
I clicked my tongue.
"They just needed an excuse to vent their hatred for the world. Lunatics dying to burn it all down."
In Earth terms, terrorists.
Though maybe the Blood Cells themselves had some hypnotic pull on people.
Ordinary folks without resistance exposed to high concentrations of mana lost their reason and turned beastly.
I seemed to recall that description in the original story.
'Anyway, not important right now.'
I checked the Batiuus priests. They looked scared, but no other symptoms.
The fact that the Batiuus sect allowed them to carry guns meant they'd passed rigorous screening—elites.
Coming to a dangerous place like this guaranteed their skill.
Ping!
My body reacted before my mind.
I raised my greatsword and swatted away the incoming projectile.
The deflected arrow thudded weakly into the ground.
"Well, if it isn't you. You fucking bitch."
A man with bloodshot eyes leveled a crossbow at me.
Ah, several of them.
Roughly twenty?
Normally, I'd charge and cleave them apart, but they seemed to know me, so I hesitated.
"...Who?"
"Forgot about last year already? My big bro you killed!"
The man ground his teeth and bellowed.
"Even after he said he was with Exim, you still murdered him!"
Last year, huh.
Let me think—yeah, there were those punks impersonating Exim back then.
I thought I'd wiped them all out, but some weeds survived.
Bang! Bang!
The Batiuus priest fired back immediately, already ducked behind cover using the terrain.
They couldn't waste Sacred Relic bullets recklessly, so they stuck to a few warning shots.
Conclusion: Useless.
"Die! Just die!"
He fired the crossbow again. This time aimed right at my forehead.
I blocked it flat with the broad side of my greatsword without moving an inch.
"Don't think any of you are walking away alive."
They were banking on numbers and ranged attacks.
A tactic that didn't work on me.
In an instant, I closed the distance.
No time for them to reload.
Before they could even aim, I'd plunged into their midst.
"Wh-what?! Don't shoot! I'll get hit!"
"Move! You're blocking my view!"
Fear of friendly fire left them tangled, unable to fire or lower their weapons, milling about in panic.
A buffet to me.
One by one, they hit the dirt. In seconds, twenty bodies piled up.
The last one standing was the guy who'd first opened his mouth.
My greatsword was already buried in his gut.
"M-monster..."
"...One thing before you die."
I intoned in a voice devoid of emotion.
"My name is Asrania. Exim Number 4."
"A-Asrania...?"
That's why your big bro died.
For daring to impersonate Exim.
That's why I killed him.
'If only you'd learned now. Next life, pick your fights better.'
Schluck, splurt—!
I yanked the greatsword out roughly. Flesh sprayed. The man collapsed without a scream.
"This side's cleared."
I shook the blood from my blade.
The Commander glanced at the heap of corpses and gave a wry smile tinged with unspoken emotion.
"No need for tactics at this level."
"Worry about your own men. I don't need commanding."
To be honest, the Commander's skills were top-notch.
His sense for reading the battlefield and positioning troops was chilling. Sometimes I wondered if it wasn't some mana-based superpower.
Not for nothing was he the protagonist of the original story.
Too kind for someone like me.
I could sweep them all solo; no need to borrow hands.
'Last time was just curiosity, playing along once.'
As long as we weren't one step from death, no more orders from me.
The war showed no signs of letting up. The hellscape I'd only seen in games unfolded in reality.
Watching the Commander actually command his forces made it feel even more unreal. He orchestrated amid the carnage.
I cleared my stray thoughts and swung my greatsword.
Keep slashing, piercing, advancing—eventually, it'd end.
"Hyaah!"
Esira wielded her Blackjack sword deftly. She'd gotten the hang of it, fighting with skilled strokes.
"Not bad."
"Told you I'm no baggage."
Back-to-back combat felt good. With her perfectly covering the rear, I focused fire forward.
How long had we run in that trance?
Suddenly, everything around us changed.
'...What?'
The moment I sensed something off.
It went dark, like someone yanked the plug on the whole server.
"Huh? Sis, this place..."
Marigold looked around.
Me, Marigold, the Commander, and Esira.
Just the four of us.
It happened so fast, I couldn't even grasp the situation.
"Mom, what's going on?"
"No idea. Looks like a cave, though. What do you think, Commander?"
"Same here."
A cave.
A massive natural cavern in the middle of the city?
We froze in place, as if entranced.
Felt like walking straight into a beast's belly.
Damp air, musty stench. Dread welled up from the depths.
"Commander. Contact your men. Let's assess first."
"...One moment."
He touched his in-ear. Silence flowed as radio chatter passed.
Moments later, he spoke with an incredulous look.
"Confirmed. Just the four of us vanished without a trace."
"Someone trapped us with magic?"
How, though?
Marigold shook her head immediately.
"Impossible. Maybe you or Esira, but not Sis or me getting caught this easily."
"..."
"Think about our mana reserves. Especially Sis—you can't beat her no matter how hard I try. No way someone drags us here without a fight."
Power comes with matching resistance.
Yet we were forcibly summoned. Meant the culprit wasn't ordinary.
"But there's some serious mana here. Kinda familiar? What is it? Felt it before, for sure."
"...Yeah. Marigold's right. Someone's here."
Then, something writhed in the darkness.
Like a massive bubble bursting deep in a swamp.
"...Ah."
Esira sighed. She'd figured it out instantly.
My breath caught too. Why was the Abyss here?
The darkness coating the walls and floor suddenly swelled on its own, wriggling like a living thing.
Slither, whoosh.
Tentacles. The Abyss surged forth.
Solid yet liquid, shadow yet tangible monster.
"Insane."
The Commander scowled in disbelief.
"...Sis, you know what that is?"
"Abyss."
"That ancient lifeform from the books?"
Marigold's eyes sharpened. She sensed the unavoidable doom.
Critical situation.
Golden threads erupted from my fingertips. Sharp enough to slice anything they touched.
"Hoo... Guess we fight for our lives."
