Chapter 289: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 289: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (7)
“Fuck… Fuck…!”
Jack Spencer gritted his teeth. He instinctively twisted his blade to defend himself, but his machine was still pushed back.
—CRASH!
The impact rocked the cockpit.
What the hell is this bastard… What the hell is he…
At first, he’d thought the guy was just a rookie with some skill.
Good hand-eye coordination, quick reflexes, that sort of thing.
But the man’s movements now were on a completely different level.
First, it was a simple thrust. Then, a blade that curved in from the side. And now… he was perfectly mirroring Jack’s own patterns.
…Is this crazy son of a bitch copying my exact movements?!
A moment ago, he had used his signature spinning strike.
That same trajectory, that same timing—it had come back at him, but even sharper than his own.
Even the timing of the machine’s recoil absorption, the adjustment of the joint rotation axis… he was already a step ahead of Jack’s own technique.
This bastard… he’s getting stronger as we fight.
Jack’s eyes trembled.
His breath caught in his throat. This was no trainee.
He was a monster.
“Dammit…!”
He reflexively pulled his machine back. His left arm’s response time was already lagging. He was at his limit just parrying the blade.
And in that instant, the man came at him again. This time, from the opposite trajectory.
It was a completely different flow from what he’d been using. Jack had expected a frontal slash, but a diagonal strike came rising from below.
Jack barely managed to cross his blades.
—CRASH!!
A direct hit.
His entire machine was thrown back.
Warning alarms blared, and sweat streamed down his back inside the cockpit.
“Shit…!”
In a twisted posture, Jack rolled to the right to evade. His machine skidded across the sand, but the man was on him again.
Instantly. Tightly.
He read me… completely.
Fear.
Panic.
And humiliation.
Without thinking, Jack slammed his hand against the right side of the cockpit.
—Click.
A built-in weapon popped out.
A rifle.
This wasn’t a training unit. Jack’s machine was a combat-ready model, equipped for potential ambushes.
—Fwish!
The rifle took aim.
[Jack, no! Stop! Right now!]
A voice crackled over the comms, but he couldn’t hear a thing.
Rage. Panic. Humiliation.
His pride was being torn to shreds. Jack Spencer’s eyes were bloodshot.
And then.
He roared.
“I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!!”
In that moment, the rifle’s muzzle aimed squarely at Jin Seo-yoon’s machine. At point-blank range, it was a shot impossible to dodge.
—BANG!
A round was fired. With a blinding flash, a straight beam of light shot forward.
But Jin Seo-yoon’s machine merely tilted its head slightly to the side. As if it had known all along.
The shot grazed past him, and at the same time, Jin Seo-yoon’s machine moved.
The blade was raised.
Then, it plunged straight down toward the cockpit.
Death.
It felt like it was approaching slowly through the screen, swallowing all sound.
“H-Hiiiek…!”
*
Sheryl Mortimer let out a long breath.
When Jin Seo-yoon’s blade flew toward Jack Spencer’s cockpit, she had unconsciously clenched her fists.
However, the blade stopped, a paper’s width away.
Precisely in front of the cockpit.
A timing difference of 0.1 seconds.
A distance of 0.1 meters.
…If he had stabbed him,
Jack Spencer would be dead for sure.
Sheryl sighed in relief and picked up the comms microphone.
“—End of training.”
The command echoed throughout the hangar and the entire battlefield. Even after the communication cut off, Sheryl couldn’t take her eyes off the screen for a long time.
A single Cradle stood alone atop the wreckage.
The man sitting inside it.
Number 15, Jin Seo-yoon.
His machine was stopped in a kneeling position, and a chilling silence enveloped the battlefield.
Without looking away from the monitor, Sheryl Mortimer spoke quietly.
“……He’s too good to be tied down to a simple escort position.”
She let out a soft breath and took out a private, black-covered terminal from her pocket.
Two touch authentications, followed by one more fingerprint scan. It took only a few seconds for the connection to go through.
[Security Level 5-A Access Confirmed]
“…This is Sheryl Mortimer. Requesting an emergency priority call.”
A few seconds later, a calm male voice responded.
[Caller authenticated. You may speak.]
“Confirmed combat talent of Type S or higher. Without a doubt, he needs to be assigned to a combat unit. He’s currently a trainee, but I’m requesting priority assignment.”
[Identification code and subject number?]
“Codename Jin Seo-yoon. 6974.”
A brief silence on the other end of the line. Soon, a firm voice returned.
[Request denied.]
The voice on the other end was resolute. Sheryl’s brow furrowed deeply.
“…Denied?”
She paused for a moment. Staring at the connection log on the terminal’s screen, she asked in a quiet, firm tone.
“Is this a political decision?”
[……This communication is now terminated.]
—Click.
The call was forcibly disconnected. Sheryl quietly put down the terminal.
“…Something’s going on.”
She shook her head, and just as she was about to put the terminal away, a message arrived on the screen.
『Urgent Link: External News Spreading』
“…News?”
She clicked the link, and a video filled the screen.
A wasteland scattered with debris. At its center, two Cradles were exchanging blows.
“……This is.”
Sheryl’s eyes narrowed. It was clearly the training session from just moments ago between Jin Seo-yoon and Jack Spencer. No, it was a duel at the level of actual combat, disguised as training.
She immediately traced the video’s source. An internal report was soon appended to the bottom of the screen.
“One reporter from a civilian media company conducted close-range filming of the military training ground via an unauthorized drone. Footage of Jin Seo-yoon and Jack Spencer was leaked to the external network in real-time.
The reporter is currently in custody, and an investigation into their backers and the motive for their coverage is underway.”
Her expression soured.
“…Invading a military zone wasn’t enough, they had to film it too?”
Sheryl let out a disbelieving chuckle.
I’ve seen plenty of crazies, but this is the first time I’ve seen one risk his life to get a shot.
Just then, a second message arrived.
『New Operation Assignment: Jin Seo-yoon (6974) VVIP Escort Target Information Access Authorized』
Sheryl took a quiet breath and opened the file. When she saw the photo of the person on the screen, her lips tightened into a thin line.
Vivid pink hair. Pink eyes. And a familiar name.
“…Adele Licencia.”
She murmured the name quietly.
The VVIP escort target is the eldest daughter of the Licencia Group… So that’s what all this was about.
Now all the pieces fit together. Why the higher-ups had intervened directly. Why Jin Seo-yoon, despite his skills, was tied to an escort role instead of being a pilot.
“…Can’t be helped.”
Sheryl quietly closed the terminal.
*
After parking the Cradle in its designated spot, I slowly opened the cockpit hatch. As I stepped into the hangar, dozens of eyes fell on me.
……This look, it’s all too familiar.
One step, two steps.
The air grew heavier with each footfall on the ground. They all watched me in silence until finally, someone started clapping.
—Clap, clap, clap!
Following that, the entire hangar filled with the sound of applause.
“Whoa… Amazing! That was Jack Spencer you were up against!”
“Yeah! That was insane. A pilot from Zeros Code came at you for real!”
The cadets approached me one by one. Their expressions were a mix of excitement and awe. But I was not oblivious to what was hidden beneath.
“Sorry for looking down on you all this time. I mean it.”
“Yeah… Let’s get along from now on!”
Change is so simple and swift.
Well, it’s not like I’ll ever see these guys again anyway.
Even the instructors came over.
“Good work. Today’s training record will be sent up for official evaluation soon.”
I gave a quiet nod.
“I didn’t do much.”
I replied dryly, turning my eyes away.
At that moment, I looked up and noticed a commotion in one corner of the hangar.
“Why won’t the hatch open?!”
“It’s the machine Captain Jack Spencer was in!”
“What about the life signs inside?!”
“They’re normal!”
“Just force it open!”
At the command, engineers hurried to activate the machine’s emergency hatch release.
With a thud and the sound of depressurization, the heavy metal door slowly opened.
And from inside… a man was dragged out.
“Ugh……”
It was Jack Spencer, his hair a mess. His face was drenched in sweat, his body limp.
But what drew more attention was the state of his pants below the waist.
An engineer grimaced and stepped back. A murmur mixed with laughter and contempt rippled through the surrounding cadets.
“Did he really piss himself…?”
“Jack Spencer…?”
“Wow, that’s crazy… What a total disgrace.”
As the jeers and whispers spread, his gaze locked onto me.
His barely open eyes instantly transformed, blazing with a burning hatred.
The dying light in his eyes flared back to life, like a beast cornered in the mud baring its fangs one last time.
“……Y-You…!!”
His eyes were red. His fists trembled, and he looked ready to charge at me.
—Halt.
“Captain Jack Spencer.”
A low, but sharp voice. A brief silence. And the entire space grew cold.
“Return to your post. Captain Jack Spencer.”
It was her.
Sheryl Mortimer.
Her eyes were like steel, her tone like ice.
Jack’s body froze.
A silence so profound you couldn’t even hear breathing.
His lips pressed into a tight line, he glared at me, then slowly lowered his head and turned away.
…He exited the hangar, dragging his shattered pride behind him as if kicking away his own machine.
She approached me and spoke.
“First, I would like to formally apologize for my subordinate’s disrespectful actions.”
The moment she said that, the hangar fell deathly quiet. Cadets and instructors alike held their breath, watching the space between her and me.
I tilted my head slightly and answered calmly.
“…It’s fine. I won, after all.”
“I appreciate your understanding. You will be compensated for today’s incident.”
“Compensation?”
“Yes. And Jack Spencer will be formally punished.”
Her tone was decisive.
“He clearly violated regulations.”
I nodded indifferently. She glanced around once, then continued in a low voice.
“Your movements. They were impressive on video, but seeing them in person, I’m convinced.”
Taking a slow step forward, she said.
“Jin Seo-yoon. Have you ever considered coming to Zeros Code?”
I let out a small smirk.
“As if… that’s up to me.”
At my words, Sheryl’s lips curved up ever so slightly as she replied.
“True, there is that. But if fate allows, the day may come when we stand under the same banner.”
And with that, she turned away.
Her red hair, tied back neatly, flowed over her military uniform, sweeping through the tense air of the hangar.
Watching her leave, I slowly exhaled.
Zeros Code.
The Earth Federation’s most elite special forces unit.
Somehow, I get the feeling they were a major part of the original story…
But as I was now, I couldn’t recall the detailed plot or developments of that original story.
My memory was a thick fog. All that remained were fragmented sensations.
…It’s a little frustrating.
*
“Oh my…”
Adele Licencia murmured quietly, her elegantly manicured fingertips swiping through the hologram.
“The escort assigned to me this time is…”
One page. Two pages.
Combat data compiled under the name Jin Seo-yoon scrolled by.
Video captures, machine damage assessment records, combat efficiency ratings, and physical specs.
The last page included a few photos taken at the training facility.
“…Quite the skilled individual, I see.”
Her secretary, standing silently beside her, nodded.
“Indeed, my lady. Based on his combat record alone, he has registered a higher efficiency rating than even the elite members of the Zeros Code tactical special forces.”
“Higher than Zeros Code?”
She smiled faintly, a laugh that barely brushed past her nose.
“Well, that certainly sounds entertaining.”
Then, her scrolling finger stopped. In the middle of the screen was a close-up of Jin Seo-yoon’s face, drenched in sweat in his training uniform.
A casual expression, but his eyes were cold.
“And his face… he’s quite handsome, isn’t he?”
The corners of her lips curled up gently. She pressed down on the screen and whispered softly.
“With someone like this, I think I can have some fun for a while.”
The secretary said nothing. But the nuance in her words was clear. The young lady’s boring days had just gained a new toy.
Adele Licencia
