0.5 Seconds of Overkill
Inside the Zone 17 Bunker control room.
"Hmm, nothing beats mixed coffee after a meal." I slurped down the Maxim Mocha Gold from its paper cup, leaning back leisurely in my camping chair. The sweet, thick cream flavor coursed through my veins, caressing my brain cells. The ultimate legal drug for modern folks, instantly erasing the exhaustion of an impending apocalypse.
I'd been monitoring the bunker's outer sensors on the screen when—
Zone B-2 (Corridor Exterior): Unidentified heat source detected.
"Huh? What's this now?"
My gaze, about to gloss over it, locked onto one corner of the screen. The regular visible-light CCTV showed only Ayla pitifully shoving spoonfuls into her mouth, nose buried in the tub. But switching to thermal imaging revealed something different.
Behind Ayla's back. A faint heartbeat heat source around 100 degrees Fahrenheit was creeping closer, pulsing steadily.
I could guess. Fantasy-world assassination tech that concealed mana and presence. Not human by the look of it—probably some mana beast bred for killing. But unfortunately for it, it couldn't fool the universal physical laws of mass and temperature.
In front of military infrared motion sensors and thermal cams, it was just a "big four-legged animal failing at thermoregulation."
"Ah, fuck, some stray mutt shows up during teatime."
I clicked my tongue and tapped the [Defense System Control] app on my tablet.
My brow furrowed slightly. The bunker’s barriers and infinite-magazine turrets needed a massive main power source that we didn’t have yet. Meaning the defense systems ran on strictly limited power and ammo.
Waste power and ammo on one mangy dog? Nah, too pricey...
I did the math in my head. Converting tungsten AP rounds to SP hurt my gut. Battery reserves weren’t great either. Maybe pop the blast door and blast its head off with the M870 myself?
But the mutt on-screen was almost on Ayla. It’d rip out Employee #1’s throat before I could open the heavy door.
I quickly tapped Ayla’s heat signature on-screen.
Bunker Employee #1 "Ayla Erzen" identified.
Friendly entity designated. Permanently excluded from intercept targets.
Friendly-fire lock secured, I set down my mixed coffee.
"Paid top dollar for this baby—might as well test its performance."
I casually tapped the [Outer Wall CIWS Auto-Intercept Mode] button.
---
Same time, outside the bunker.
Ayla was lost in total bliss. Oblivious to the jaws of death yawning behind her, she’d sold her soul to the salty rice grains stuck to the tub’s bottom.
Swoosh—
Pop! The Shadow Fang launched its perfect silent pounce. Its beastly jet-black forepaw was inches from Ayla’s slender nape.
Weeeeenng—!Clank!
Two six-barrel Gatling barrels gleaming cold silver whirred to life with a chilling mechanical growl. The Shadow Fang’s mana-sensing instincts detected zero mana waves from those silver hunks of metal.
It ignored them.
That was the fatally stupid miscalculation of a fantasy beast facing modern humanity’s overwhelming physics for the first time.
Commencing fire.
Beep—!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat————!!!
The entire corridor flashed crimson. A brutal roar like a massive chainsaw ripping space itself apart. 3,000 rounds per minute. In just 0.5 seconds, dozens of 20mm tungsten AP tracer rounds poured into the air.
The horrific kinetic energy that pierced tank armor slammed straight into the airborne Shadow Fang’s body.
"KYAAAAGH—?!"
Stealth? Magic barriers? Shadow assimilation? All that flimsy, arrogant fantasy bullshit shredded like wet tissue before overwhelming physical force.
Bones and tough flesh exploded with every bullet impact. Its mana core vaporized the instant it touched the AP round’s blistering heat.
Pummeled head-on by dozens of rounds, the Shadow Fang was literally mulched beyond recognition.
Splat-splatter-splat!Crunch!
Dark red blood and meat chunks exploded everywhere. The empire’s priciest assassination beast—10 billion gold—reduced to ground meat in 0.5 seconds by gunfire. A grand yet utterly pathetic end.
"……!"
Kasian, watching via sight-sharing mana stone for Ayla’s gruesome demise, sucked in a sharp breath.
What filled his vision: bizarre silver metal contraptions. No mana waves at all. But as they spun, his sight burned white with blinding red flash.
"GRAAAGH!"
Crack—shatter!
The 10-billion-gold mana stone in his hand screamed and exploded into shards. Dark red blood gushed out like a fountain, drenching his refined, noble face.
"H-Huhk… haaah…!"
Clink! His wine glass tumbled off the table.
Bloody-handed, Kasian collapsed to the tent floor. His mind blanked white.
Not aura blade or archmage bombardment. His invincible Shadow Fang evaporated without a fight.
Steel… a steel monster? Cursed power spewing light without mana…!
"The ancient demon king from legends… has opened its eyes!"
"N-Not… a lie…."
Kasian’s pupils shook wildly. The arrogant crown prince who’d always controlled truth had his pride pulverized by that instant of overwhelming violence.
A real demon king lurked underground in Zone 17. Ayla Erzen had sold her soul to that disaster.
More than the 10 billion gold loss, primal terror gripped him—he’d nearly stuck his foot in that maw.
What if it absorbs mana, tears the barrier, and comes out?!
Trembling in horror, Kasian realized he’d touched what he shouldn’t have.
---
Back outside the underground bunker.
Rat-tat-tat-tat! Right after the eardrum-shattering roar swept through—
"……?"
Ayla, licking the tub furiously, froze with spoon in mouth. Piercing tinnitus like her eardrums might burst. Bizarre heat on her back. Sticky hot liquid trickled down her cheek.
Like a broken wind-up doll, she creaked her head around.
"H-Hiiiik…!"
Ayla’s pupils tore wide. The corridor choked with blood mist. Concrete floor and walls splattered with black fur scraps and ground meat.
Overwhelming stench of blood and acrid gunpowder. The truth sank into her rigid brain: the mystery beast about to strike her had disintegrated mid-air with that mystery roar.
I… almost died?
No mana warning at all. Probably an "assassin" beast from ghost stories. She didn’t know what nearly killed her—or how the bunker’s "demon king" saved her.
Legs giving out, Ayla collapsed, trembling like a leaf. As fear and awe blazed her mind white, deep submission to the bunker sprouted unconsciously.
Right then—
Hiss—thunk!
The massive main blast door rumbled upward.
Before the blood fog cleared, Zeke stepped through. Cheap plastic mop in one hand, other on hip, he peeked out.
"……."
Zeke’s gaze skipped shivering Ayla and 10-billion-gold remains. His hollow eyes fixed on the blood-splattered silver titanium barrier.
His brow twitched irritably.
"Ah, fuck, blood all over the titanium barrier."
His utterly annoyed, indifferent voice shattered the corridor’s silence.
"This shit sticks if grease and blood clots—fucking nightmare to clean. Who’s gonna handle this mess?"
No dignity of the absolute who’d butchered the beast. Just a pissed-off cheapskate boss mad at wasted ammo and extra cleanup.
Brain-dead Ayla stared blankly up at mop-wielding Zeke. This insane bunker’s "common sense" was slowly flipping her worldview upside down.