Chapter 31: The Resistance - 6
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 31: The Resistance - 6
The half-destroyed control room was dark. The only illumination came from the daytime lights filtering through a gap in the half-collapsed roof. But even that light grew faint, lost amidst the mountain of debris, the overturned floor, and the crumbled walls.
It was a place dark and shadowed enough to conceal anyone determined to hide, yet where a chance encounter with a sliver of light would reveal them like a phantom. Such was this control room.
I hid in the shadows, clutching the gun I’d looted from the corpse.
I would only get one chance. I had to use the darkness to sneak in and plant an armor-piercing round in one of Kanysen’s vital spots while he was off guard.
If I didn't kill him in one shot, there would be no second chance.
Kanysen was once the squire of a renowned knight, from whom he learned a time-honored Qi Art. The very first technique knights master is Qi Deflection. When clad in it, the impact of an ordinary arrow or bullet is reduced to that of a stinging raindrop.
Even without Qi Deflection, his trained body was too tough for a bullet to easily pierce. Unless I hit a vital spot, he could easily shrug off a single round and come to hunt me down.
That’s why guns, despite their recognized utility, weren’t considered truly great weapons. They were only meaningful as a way to give ordinary people a minimal fighting chance.
I focused my mind as I carefully moved deeper inside. Thoughts drifted to me from beyond the debris. Kanysen was on one knee, staring into a passage leading underground. Gamma was suspended from a single rope, surveying the crumbling tunnel below.
I’ve figured it out! So this is how they built a floor in the Abyss! If I plant bombs in just two spots, I can bring this whole place down!
Hey, Regressor. Weren't you supposed to last for at least a year? It looks like these guys have figured something out. What now?
After mentally blaming the Regressor, I sighed. What else can I do? If I want to live, I have to get rid of them all.
Fortunately, Kanysen was still looking down the passage, his mind consumed by the desire to see this terrorist act through. Good. I shouldn't have to worry about being discovered. As soon as I get a clear shot, it'll be over. I carefully took another step.
Hm? A presence?
The downside of mind-reading is that it doesn't automatically give you the upper hand.
The upside is that you can at least sense their wariness before they act.
Reading his unease an instant before he turned his head, I scrambled back into the shadows. His attention then shifted toward the passage. He frowned, glaring down into it.
Was it just my imagination...? I want to investigate, but... too bad. As long as Gamma is down there, I can't leave this spot.
Right now, Gamma was the only one capable of bringing down Tantalus. Kanysen, lacking the technical knowledge, couldn't do it alone. Thus, his top priority was protecting Gamma.
Still, I set a simple trap in the passage. If someone steps on it, I'll know.
Ah, so meticulous. To think he'd set a trap even at a time like this.
But a trap that's been revealed is only one-tenth as dangerous.
As I carefully made my way through the debris, I spotted a shimmering thread near my ankle. It was unnaturally taut.
Is this the trap you're counting on? How amusing. I carefully lifted my foot and stealthily stepped over the thread trap.
Jingle, jingle.
A double trap?
It was a double trap.
Dammit. I read his thoughts too carelessly. Setting double traps is so routine for these people that they don't even consciously register it. That's how I missed it!
"Who's there!"
Kanysen reacted instantly to the bell. He was only a stone's throw away. If he charged, I’d be caught immediately.
I had no choice. I stuck the gun around the corner and fired.
Bang!
Kanysen shielded his face with his arms and squeezed his eyes shut—a textbook response to gunfire. As long as he deployed Qi Deflection across his body, he would be fine unless a bullet struck his face, particularly his eyes.
The knight's doctrine for facing a gun was to protect the body with Qi Deflection and charge straight ahead. Kanysen was about to follow that doctrine faithfully.
If my bullet hadn't hit the passage leading to the basement.
"Ugh!"
I sneered at Kanysen as he flinched and used the opening to disappear back into the debris.
There was no point shooting at his body; I knew it would be useless. Instead, I aimed for the passage to make him hesitate—specifically, at the rope hanging there. For him, Gamma’s life was more valuable than his own right now.
"Captain?! What's happening!"
"Stay put, Gamma. Don't come up."
"What?"
"It's an ambush. Stay hidden down there."
"Yes, sir!"
After giving his stern warning, Kanysen rose. He began gathering nearby debris, his eyes fixed on the area beyond.
The rope tied to the pillar is supporting Gamma's weight. If this rope is cut, Gamma, who squeezed through the cracked ground to get into the basement, will be isolated. I have to protect the rope.
Thanks for the explanation. So all I have to do is cut the rope. I'll shoot the rope with this gun and then run. Hitting a thin rope will be difficult, but if I fire about five shots at the part tied to the pillar, one of them is bound to hit.
I'll pile up debris to protect the rope. Then I'll go catch that bastard.
Hey, that's cheating.
Kanysen stacked broken steel frames and planks to shield the rope. It was a makeshift barrier, but it would probably stop two or three bullets. Dammit. So much for that plan.
"Who are you? Show yourself."
Having finished his assembly, Kanysen took a step forward, scanning his surroundings.
Well, I was screwed. That was the conclusion I reached after careful deliberation.
He was maintaining his Qi Deflection at full strength. I doubted an armor-piercing round would even reach his skin, and even if it did, it couldn't possibly penetrate a surface protected by Qi.
At this point, the gun was nothing more than a distraction. The bullets couldn't touch him.
That left only one option.
"Hello, comrade. Is the escape plan going smoothly?"
I murmured, sinking deeper into the debris. Kanysen flinched, recognizing the voice he’d heard just minutes before, one he still wasn't used to.
Belatedly realizing my identity, Kanysen's voice grew low.
"...So it's you, the laborer. What did you do to Delta?"
"I just helped him meet his inevitable fate a little sooner. This gun is a keepsake from him. I fired it once—it has such a clean report, don't you think? He must have taken meticulous care of it. Just like his personality."
"You bastard!"
Trembling with rage, Kanysen grabbed a nearby steel pipe and swung it violently. A powerful blow. I heard something crash down on the other side of the debris. If that had hit me, it would have snapped my spine.
However, for all his skill, he could only smash through some of the debris, not obliterate it like the Regressor. His senses were sharp, but compared to the Dog King, he was practically deaf. And unlike the vampire who could dominate space itself, he couldn't harm me unless he physically swung his weapon.
He was stronger than me, but not transcendent. Just an ordinary knight, a relic of a bygone era.
Just ordinarily strong.
If that's all he was.
I moved, sneering at him. I didn't need to hide perfectly, just stay out of his line of sight, somewhere he couldn't pinpoint.
"You didn't come to rescue anyone, and you didn't prepare an escape route. You planned to bring this whole place down from the very beginning, didn't you?"
"You saw through it from the start."
"Honestly, it was obvious with just a little thought. Everyone knows the Resistance are like moths drawn to a flame. And everyone knows this is the Abyss, a place you can enter but never leave. With two well-known facts like that, wouldn't there be something wrong with me if I didn't figure it out?"
"So it was all an act. From the moment you saw me, you fooled me completely."
Fury laced his voice. Kanysen started forward, intent on tearing me limb from limb.
Not so fast. I fired again. He flinched instinctively—not out of fear of being hit, but because he knew my real target was Gamma and was guarding that direction.
Good. The bait was set.
While he was distracted, I moved behind a section of the collapsed roof. The darkness and abundant obstacles made my voice echo, making it impossible for him to pinpoint my exact location unless I spoke.
So Kanysen, too, gritted his teeth and spoke to me.
"Sending Alpha and Beta was your trap, wasn't it?"
Answer me. Answer and reveal your location. That will be your end.
It was a transparent ploy, but I was happy to play along. After all, I needed to talk, too.
"What are you talking about? It wasn't my trap. Alpha, Beta, and Delta are dead, and even Gamma will die soon, but is that really because of me?"
The moment he heard my voice, Kanysen strode toward the sound. Reading his intent, I circled wide, putting more distance between us.
The tactic was the same as in any gun-versus-sword fight: I had to wear him down before he could close the distance by tracking my voice.
The gun? It was no longer a weapon, but a tool. A prop, like a magician’s, meant only to draw his eyes and divert his attention.
"The one who sent them to their deaths was you, Kanysen, wasn't it?"
My target was Kanysen's mind. It was hard, like a stone, but a stone that was beginning to show cracks after years of weathering harsh storms.
If my bullets couldn't pierce his body, I would just have to punch a hole in his mind instead. That was a mind-reader’s way of fighting, after all.
"Don't you dare say my name with that filthy mouth. They gave their lives, and they nearly succeeded. If it weren't for you, they would have completed their mission."
"You're the one who shouldn't be talking about their lives with a filthy mouth. They would have died even without me. Destroying Tantalus is a mission doomed to fail, not worth the sacrifice. If it weren't for you, they could have spent their lives on a more worthy and honorable cause."
"You know nothing! How dare you speak so presumptuously!"
I read his line of sight—he was heading this way. I held my breath and crawled under an overturned table. In the darkness, his gaze swept just past me. Once out of danger, I scrambled underneath a collapsed cabinet.
Right. I had to take Kanysen down. There was no escaping this place otherwise. The only question was how.
Just then, my eyes fell on the cabinet I’d knocked over when I was here with Azzy—the one used for storing Clothing Packets, where I’d found the warden’s uniform.
I knew 'that thing' was still in there. It was useless against the Regressor, the vampire, or Azzy, but against Kanysen, it would work.
I carefully reached into the cabinet, pulled out a uniquely shaped Clothing Packet, and concealed it in my palm. The hard, gray, rectangular packet felt as heavy as a mahjong tile forged from steel.
Good. With this, I had all the pieces.
It was time to use it, for the first time in a long while. A skill I had sealed away after finding legitimate work in gambling.
Pickpocketing.