Chapter 293: Each Person's Short Story.
Chapter 293: Each Person's Short Story.
Snip.
With a sound like scissors cutting through fabric, the heads of the guards patrolling the corridor vanished.
In an instant, everything above their shoulders evaporated, leaving behind perfectly flat cross-sections without a single irregularity.
Naturally, the bodies of the two men, having lost the brains that governed their every function in a heartbeat, should have lost their balance and collapsed.
But that didn't happen.
The only thing that had changed from a moment ago was that their heads were gone.
Other than that, nothing was different.
Just before their heads vanished, the two men had been talking to endure the boredom of the night watch, as most people do.
And that conversation continued even now, with their heads gone.
Though no voices could be heard.
Their chests, where their lungs resided, rose and fell slightly as they tried to speak with non-existent mouths.
Their severed necks throbbed.
And then, as if the words were a joke or something quite funny, the man on the opposite side trembled, expressing laughter.
That laughter, too, would never echo in the world.
Thus, even though the two men's heads were gone, the world continued on, unchanged.
Through this bizarre scene, a being walked past the two men with utter normalcy.
Even though such an incredibly strange sight was unfolding before his eyes, he paid it no mind.
This was only natural.
He was the one who had made the two men that way.
The glowing entity who had severed their heads, Seini, strode boldly through the space where their gaze should have been.
Since the faceless beings had no eyes, they did not know Seini was crossing in front of them.
As Seini turned the corner of the corridor with his radiance, their heads returned to their original places after one last brief flash.
The two men remained completely unaware that their necks had ever been severed.
Once the principle was understood, it wasn't actually that remarkable.
It was merely precise spatial manipulation—moving only their heads to a different space that was identical to reality, while maintaining the connection points so the heads wouldn't be truly detached.
By doing so, because their heads were located in a world where Seini did not exist, they failed to perceive that a Mutant of immense power had passed right in front of them.
By repeating this, Seini neutralized the entire security system with ease.
Mechanical, magical, supernatural, or simple manpower—though the security systems used various foundations, they were all rendered useless before Seini’s power of spatial manipulation.
Even the extremely rare security devices that Seini failed to perceive and address were affected by the Spatial Discrepancy Barrier he always wore. They recognized Seini’s presence as being within a pre-set margin of error.
The reason for this phenomenon was quite simple.
All that could be felt was light.
A being that emitted only a faint glow, without weight, heat, presence, physical force, or power.
Of course, he wasn't without a physical form.
If struck directly, he would certainly be hit, and Seini could lift objects normally.
It was just that since Seini’s Main Body existed in another dimension, it would be more accurate to say that he couldn't be felt by normal five senses, except for a slight visual stimulus.
This being, specialized for stealth operations, reached the target point faster than anyone else involved in the plan.
It was the target point with the heaviest security and the furthest distance among the four locations, but that posed no problem for Seini.
Standing before the target, the Alliance Leader's office, Seini took a moment to compose himself.
‘The one inside is a powerhouse on the same level as Ha-ram.’
That was the thought that surfaced in Seini’s mind.
He had boldly told the others not to worry just before starting the operation, but in truth, he didn't have a foolproof countermeasure.
Elder Li’s talisman, the shock-transferring accessory made by The Society's leader, the Life Link technique from another Society executive, and numerous other safety measures that didn't quite reach that level.
Seini had prepared various ways to postpone death, but none of them could absolutely guarantee his safety.
‘If things go wrong, I might die.’
With that thought, Seini checked the accessories on his body.
After simulating the situation that would unfold the moment he entered the room as many times as possible, he acted.
Slicing.
He cut through The Wall and entered the room.
However, The Wall hadn't actually been sliced.
What Seini had cut was The Wall in the same location but in a different dimension.
By cutting that, Seini, who existed in the same phase as the severed wall, passed through The Wall that existed in a state of being both severed and intact.
He immediately scattered countless spatial distortions randomly around him to prepare for an attack.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Time passed, but there was no reaction.
The room was silent.
Feeling suspicious, Seini scanned the entire surrounding space, but there was no one in the room.
‘Surely, Kong Jianping, the Alliance Leader of the Martial Alliance, should be sleeping in his office?’
That was why Seini, who had the highest chance of survival, had infiltrated the office.
Contrary to The Society's expectations, no one was present in the office.
‘Is he somewhere else? It would be fine if he just stepped out for business, but what if… he already noticed the intrusion?’
Faced with an unexpected situation, Seini’s thoughts raced.
Even so, Seini’s body did not stop.
As if every second were precious, Seini grabbed the target Martial Arts Manual and prepared to flee while contacting the others.
“Li. Do you hear me? The Alliance Leader is not in the expected location. What about your side?”
* * *
‘Mice dig holes.’
Elder Li thought so.
He felt that his race and the mice of this world were truly similar.
That was why, after arriving in this world, he had reacted with disgust when he first heard the term "Rat Beastman."
If humans were called "Monkey Beastmen," they would surely have a violent reaction as well.
However, after observing mice, he had no choice but to change his mind.
He realized that they shared similar instinctive traits with mice.
He didn't know why their instinctive nature was so similar to animals from a distant world.
But they were so alike that he had no choice but to accept the name.
Following that thought, Elder Li followed their habits.
Thus was born Elder Li’s technique: Short-range Spatial Teleportation – Rat Hole.
It was similar to Spatial Teleportation using magic, superpowers, or other methods, but this technique had a distinct difference.
If there were obstacles between the starting point and the destination, other short-range teleports would require information about the destination's location and situation through methods like Clairvoyance.
This technique ignored all of that.
In fact, unlike general teleportation, it was more effective when there were obstacles.
If there were obstacles, he could travel further by using them as conduits.
Depending on the distance traveled, there was a period of being briefly removed from the world, so it lacked instantaneity.
However, while moving, Elder Li shifted to a different phase, so he wouldn't suffer any harm unless it was an attack that dealt spatial-level damage.
During that time of phase shifting, he could gather all the information about the destination. If that place was dangerous, he could designate another location connected by obstacles as the destination.
Just as a mouse digs numerous holes in a wall to protect its life.
Because of this, Elder Li came to prefer places with many obstacles, such as buildings or underground areas.
In this operation as well, unlike his other comrades, he delved into a place located beneath the ground.
No, strictly speaking, it wasn't underground.
Since the Martial Alliance Headquarters was on a mountain, it would be more accurate to say he was digging into the interior of the mountain.
Demonstrating a technique that showed overwhelmingly superior efficiency in places filled with obstacles, Elder Li passed through walls and iron doors.
Without being noticed by security devices, he reached the target location.
A place filled with cold air and a humming high-frequency sound.
The main server of the Martial Alliance.
Of course, even reaching this place didn't mean he could obtain a massive amount of information or paralyze the communication network.
This server was, after all, a subordinate data center of the Management Bureau’s server.
To put it bluntly, it was a place of even lower importance than the data relay center of the Martial Alliance branch in the same city.
Information recorded in the Martial Alliance was already backed up within the Management Bureau’s server network.
High-level secrets were not stored on this server but went directly to the Management Bureau’s main server.
Then, could he at least obtain low-level information? Not necessarily.
Even if someone physically infiltrated the center like Elder Li, the security of the main console wouldn't be breached so easily.
Even if one physically seized the storage devices, there were only a few beings on Earth who could break the encryption placed on them.
Therefore, while Elder Li’s infiltration technique was impressive, the security wasn't that high, which was why he could reach it so easily.
However, there was one blind spot.
The beings belonging to that "few." The Mutant Society could break that encryption.
In the first place, it was The Society—Arejes Security Service—that had provided some of the foundational technology for the Management Bureau’s server network and its completely zero-latency, lossless communication.
‘Of course, I can't crack high-level secret codes, though.’
Elder Li thought this and chuckled, then pulled out the storage device he had identified beforehand and tucked it into his robe.
Since the data would be stored in fragments, he would only be able to obtain a small portion of the content even after decrypting it.
But The Society's plan could be carried out even with damaged data.
Just as Elder Li finished his mission, his body stiffened for a moment, and his short ears twitched.
As if he had heard something.
To answer that voiceless call, he placed a hand to his ear and responded to the voice he heard.
“…Is that you, Seini? There’s no one here either. I haven't heard from Liger, but it seems he's still alive.”
At that moment, silence fell over the telepathic network.
The same thought crossed the minds of both Mutants.
The Alliance Leader was neither with Seini nor with Elder Li.
Liger’s situation was unknown, but if the Alliance Leader had gone there, everything would have been over by now.
Then, what remained was…
Though her combat ability might be similar, in terms of escape and infiltration, she was incomparable to Elder Li or Seini…
* * *
‘Black Marauder, do you hear me? The Alliance Leader's location has not been identified. Since the target has already been secured, prioritize escape…’
Such sentences echoed in Yumil’s head, but she couldn't show any reaction.
The magic inscribed to connect to the telepathic network.
Even the simple act of raising a hand to her ear was a luxury she couldn't afford right now.
So, she could only swallow hard and think to herself.
‘Your advice is a bit too late…’
If it had been a minute ago, she might have managed.
Yumil thought so as she looked at the man blocking her path.
He was leaning against The Wall, cradling a Hwando in his arms.
At a glance, he looked almost foolish.
But Yumil felt something entirely different from him.
‘A monster.’
Yumil’s thoughts continued.
I'd rather fight my father in pure close-quarters combat…
To be honest, that hammer technique has its flaws, but it's a technique for fighting those stronger than oneself, making up for it with power and thoroughly crushing The Enemy…
But that man is on a completely different level.
In terms of pure destructive power, my father is far superior.
But if it comes down to a single-strike showdown…
Unlike monsters or beasts, in a fight between humanoids where physical limits exist and one aims for a lethal blow…
He is overwhelming.
An image formed in Yumil’s mind.
If she were to fight The Hammer, she could at least charge in and trade blows.
Even if she were crushed and killed by The Hammer in the first exchange, trading blows was possible.
But if she were to fight that being, she could only see a future where she was defeated without being able to move a single step.
That was how specialized his technique was for fighting humanoid beings.
Yumil had read that technique.
That was why Yumil looked at the Alliance Leader without being able to move.
The Alliance Leader remained leaning against The Wall with his eyes closed, not taking any action.
That bizarre moment stretched on for quite a while.
Clink.
The confrontation ended as the Alliance Leader pushed off The Wall and made his sword ring.
However, the actions the two took at the end of that confrontation were completely different.
While the Alliance Leader pushed off The Wall and rang his sword, Yumil reacted excessively, leaping backward and clinging to The Wall.
Yumil knew there was no need to go that far.
It was just that due to excessive stress, her body had reacted more violently than she intended.
The gaze the Alliance Leader directed at Yumil held no emotion.
Just as the confrontation was about to resume.
“…The residual thoughts flying around are noisy. I shall give you time to receive them.”
The Alliance Leader said very calmly.
However, Yumil could only breathe heavily, unable to understand the meaning of his words.
“I mean for you to take your communication. With my level of cultivation, I cannot understand the content, only that it is being sent and received. Do not worry about your privacy.”
The Alliance Leader continued his explanation with great kindness.
To someone with a strong ego, it was something to be angry about.
But Yumil wasn't someone with that much pride.
She took his advice. While still clinging to The Wall, she raised a hand to her ear.
‘…Alliance Leader's location. Confirmed. He is in the Restricted Area of the Public Archives. Currently in a standoff.’
For a moment, Yumil gasped for breath.
Since it was a telepathic network, there was no need to move her mouth, but her lips felt so parched they stung.
‘Yes. The Heavenly Sword… is right in front of me.’