Lizardman (1)
Midas Girl had dispatched to my exact location, but that was a trivial matter. I just needed to do my job. Wipe out Lizardman and all his goons.
After walking a short way down the dark passage, the silhouettes of guarding villains came into view. The guy on the left was armed with a nail-studded baseball bat, while the one on the right wielded a modified submachine gun with an extended barrel.
Could they just be civilians packing a bat and a gun? Given the slum conditions, it wasn't an unreasonable question. But no, these were definitely villains. Their matching uniforms gave it away. Leather jackets like those worn by biker gangs, paired with studded leather pants—identical down to the size difference. In one corner of the jacket was a vivid emblem of a horned lizard. The symbol of the villain Lizardman. Both were members of his organization.
Since they were standing right in front, blocking the way forward, I had to take them out first. I picked up a small stone from the floor and hurled it far ahead.
Clack.
The stone made a loud noise, and the guards whipped their heads toward the sound. That was my opening—the instant their eyes turned away. Gripping my jungle knife tight, I closed the distance in a flash.
Without hesitation, I brought the blade down on the neck of the submachine gun guy. I'd already experimented plenty with combining blades and shockwaves. Early on, I'd shatter the edge by overdoing the shockwave output, but dialing it back let me use it more cleverly. Weaken the shockwave's raw power around the blade, crank up the vibration speed, and it cut like an SF hyper-vibration cutter. Maximize cutting power while minimizing stress on the blade.
Kiiiiiing!!!
The jungle knife cleaved the submachine gun thug clean in half from shoulder to hip. It sliced so smoothly, it felt like a lightsaber.
"Guh...!!!"
The other guy's face hardened as he spotted the blade. I shoved him back with my elbow to create space, then swung the jungle knife with all my strength at his waist, carving deep.
Spluuurt!!!
The bisected corpse flopped at my feet, split along the waistline.
"Neatly done... As expected of Blank!"
The drone buzzed excitedly. Rinrang seemed thrilled.
"To film Blank in action up close like this—it's a true honor. I'm probably the happiest person in the world right now."
"Nah, it's not that big a deal?"
Wasn't her happiness threshold a bit low?
"I'll replay today's fight every night..."
"Whoa, hold up—that'd give you nightmares."
Watching footage of me dismembering people before bed? Yeah, she's a villain at heart.
Her sensibilities were a bit twisted, sure. But Rinrang was undeniably helpful just by existing. She'd neutralized all the security systems fortifying this underground mall—evidence of their defenses. Shine a light from the drone, and bam, hacked. It was practically magic. I couldn't even guess the principles behind it; it felt like straight-up wizardry.
"All the turrets here are under my control now."
The drone approached, humming as it spun in place.
"Nice. That's a huge help."
Rinrang really made this a breeze. Alone, I might not have even found this service area, let alone smashed through all those defenses barehanded. The thought alone was nightmare fuel.
"Blank with a jungle knife looks cool and all... but deep down, it's the steel pipe, right?"
Rinrang suddenly gushed her opinion as Blank's ultimate fan. Honestly, I preferred blunt weapons for their easy maintenance too, but Lizardman's powers demanded a blade this time.
"This is better for taking down Lizardman."
I kept it brief. Weapons were all about matching the situation.
———
Neutralizing security one by one, picking off lurking villains at chokepoints, I pressed toward the heart of the underground mall. I had a good guess where Lizardman would be. Amid all this gloom, one spot screamed with flashy lights. The brighter it got, the more shadows of people I spotted.
They'd converted the passages into a circular track for motorcycles. There sat Lizardman and his crew, all decked in worn rider jackets. They looked like post-apocalyptic raiders from an American flick. And their actions weren't far off either.
Vroooooom!!!
The roar of a bike's rear wheel jacked up on a mechanic's lever echoed through the vast underground corridors.
"Got any last words before I kiss my baby? Mood's pretty romantic right now!!"
Lizardman gripped a civilian's head, forcing it toward the spinning tire. One touch, and the face would shred.
"F-fuck you!! Screw you!!!!"
The civilian spat at Lizardman, glaring daggers.
"Right, that's your final line?"
Lizardman started slamming the head into the tire—then stopped short.
"Gyaaah?!"
The civilian twisted in agony, screaming, only to go slack-jawed in confusion. He'd jumped the gun on relief, thinking his face was safe.
Whoosh!!!
Flames erupted from the exhaust, engulfing him.
"Aaaargh!!"
Writhing on the ground, the man burned. That was Lizardman in action. The ruthless villain who'd traumatized Ida-in showed no mercy here either. He was a villain Ida-in could beat handily, but his wanton massacres of civilians made him insanely dangerous. After failing to save people at Starfield—and now here—original Ida-in would end up on antidepressants post-Lizardman. I had to prevent that.
"Hurts, huh? Guess I'll put you out of your misery myself!!"
Lizardman advanced on the burning man, claws raised. Murderous intent flickered in his reptilian eyes.
"That's far enough!!!! Surrender peacefully, all of you!!!"
A voice echoed from the passage. Way down there, Midas Girl made her entrance. She'd arrived. But her being here changed nothing. Time to do my job.
Boom!!!
I kicked off the ground, unleashing a shockwave to rocket forward. Closing in on Lizardman mid-torture, I slashed down with the jungle knife.
Kiiiiiing!!!
His armored scales resisted, but my shockwave-infused strike cut through easy enough. I leaned my weight into the hilt, dragging the blade—and his arm sheared off clean.
"Gaaargh!!!"
Lizardman stared dumbstruck at his severed arm on the ground, howling.
"B-boss... Your arm..."
"B-Blank!! Fuck!! It's Blank!!!"
"Blank!"
His goons, who'd been chuckling at the execution show, spotted me and backpedaled.
"That's far enough!! Rotten villains!!! The golden chains that bind sin—Midas Girl has arrived!!!"
Midas Girl burst in, assessed me and the one-armed Lizardman, struck a pose, and delivered her clearly rehearsed line.
"Blank!!!! B-Blank!!! We got no beef with you!! No ties to Crusher either!! What the hell are you doing in our house!!"
"Wh-what about the security?!"
"What the fuck were the lookouts doing?!!"
"I-is that really Blank?!!"
But Midas Girl's timing was off. Who could top the impact of some thug lopping off Lizardman's arm right as she showed? Even Seo Ha-yoon in her place would've been overshadowed.
"Hey!! You fucking idiots!! Quit panicking and grab your weapons!!!"
His goons snapped to at Lizardman's bark, aiming at me in unison.
"That's far enough...!! Rotten villains...!! The golden chains that bind sin—Midas Girl has arrived."
From behind, Midas Girl repeated her line. Same words, but her voice was sinking.
"Blank!!! You're on a hot streak lately, acting all high and mighty—where'd you sell your fucking manners!!! Starting shit in my own home!!!"
Lizardman ignored his stump, raising his good arm threateningly with a growl. Tough bastard.
"That's... far enough. Villains. Midas Girl is here."
Thoroughly deflated, Midas trimmed her line heavily. I saw it—tears welling in her eyes.
Even I felt a pang of sympathy at the sight.
"S-rank hero Midas Girl, huh. We meet again. After the same prey?"
Couldn't be helped. Time to hype her up.
"M-Midas Girl too?!!"
"Shit. Midas Girl now!! We're fucked!!"
"How the hell did heroes find this place..."
Only then did Lizardman and his crew clock her presence.
"That's right!! I'm here!! Surrender, and no one gets hurt!!"
Tears forgotten, Midas Girl regained her fire. Yeah, that spunky side felt right. Now, time to finish carving up Lizardman.