The Western District Subjugation - Part 5
The five districts of Central City were roughly divided like this. The administrative district—Central District—where national administrative buildings such as the Supreme Court, City Council, and Presidential Office were clustered. The residential district—North District—where luxury goods were handled and only the wealthy lived amid splendid buildings. The development district—South District—currently undergoing rapid urban development yet still overflowing with the poor. The commercial district—East District—where transportation and commerce had flourished even further with the completion of the eastern continent’s highways. And the industrial district—West District—bordering the coastline and home to various corporations and factory complexes.
Among these five districts, Slain Biotech’s laboratory was located in the West District. To me, who knew its true nature, it seemed absurd that they had built it so brazenly in the heart of the city rather than in the relatively quiet South District. Still, with good access to the harbor and plenty of available land, it was a rational choice. After all, no matter how many people passed by, no one would imagine that the materials brought in from the harbor were human beings. And even if someone occasionally suspected it, there would be no hero brave enough to storm in with the certainty that human experiments were being conducted there.
Yet even so, I had to admit it was impressive. How could a mere insect have expanded his operation to this scale? How could something be this repulsive?
With that reluctant acknowledgment, I personally visited to demolish the bastard’s lair. The western annex of the laboratory where he conducted public research such as new drug development and human enhancement projects, and where the researcher Slain Pavlov himself stayed during the late hours.
I’ve come to kill you.
“Slain.”
It was a proper corporate facility, so security was heavy and resistance fierce. I had heard their military capabilities were weak, yet every guard was armed with a pistol. Still, I was no pushover either. I had the skintight suit the mage had gifted me.
I shook the blood from my hands and advanced. Gunshots rang out. I raised my arm and lightly deflected the bullets with the gauntlet on my forearm. I kept walking. Compared to a combat suit, its instantaneous power was lacking, but since it had been custom-made for vigilante activities, its durability matched that level. Its endurance was actually superior, and it was more than enough equipment for dismantling guards.
“Eek! You monster! Just die already! Die, damn it!!”
“Who are you calling a monster?”
You filthy insect.
Simply by turning a blind eye to human experimentation, every single one of these lab bastards was a clear villain and a pest that deserved extermination. I thrust my fist forward and smashed the back of a guard’s head. With a short death cry, brain matter and blood sprayed everywhere. Like his colleagues, the guard left only a headless corpse on the corridor floor and met his end.
I didn’t look back at the hallway stained with blood and flesh. There was no time for that. The research facility was still swarming with insects that deserved to be killed. I quickened my steps. To kill the most harmful and repulsive insect among them.
But of course, the world never flowed according to my wishes.
The office was empty. Only the on-duty lab staff were present. Since they too were nothing but insects, I eradicated them all without hesitation.
His private bedroom was also empty. Only unrecognizable chunks of flesh and blood floated across the floor. It was disgusting.
The bathroom was empty too. Spotlessly clean, as if brand new.
“Not here, huh.”
Bathory had told me that Slain Pavlov had a habit of going to bed as soon as night fell. I had been certain he would be in the western annex, but it seemed I had been toyed with.
“Damn demon.”
It was the opposite side. The bastard was in the eastern research building where all the human experiments took place. The moment I realized this and turned to leave, the wall directly in front of me collapsed.
A massive forearm burst through the neatly tiled bathroom wall. It looked like the guest had found me first. Soon the entire wall was smashed apart, revealing the test subject in full. It was a monster several times larger than me. Looking up at the giant mass of muscle with grotesquely bulging red and blue veins, I thought with fresh realization:
“……So this is how those guys felt when I beat them.”
It’s disgustingly huge.
With that refreshing insight, I met the charging giant’s fist with my own.
***
Even if one’s natural disposition was optimistic, there were times when one had to assume the worst. The only difference was one’s mindset afterward.
Ellyse Bertman steeled her heart so that even if the place she arrived at through the portal turned out to be a monster hatchery, she wouldn’t freeze in shock and slow down. Thanks to that resolve, unlike her first real battle, she was able to grasp her demon-forged weapon immediately.
But in the end, she couldn’t help but be horrified by the sight before her.
Ellyse gritted her teeth and gripped tightly the weapon that would become her lifeline. The monsters would come charging any second now.
The warning siren announcing an intruder blared endlessly, and red emergency lights dyed the laboratory crimson. Reflecting that red glow were countless glass tubes lining the lab, filled to the brim with solution. And within them, grotesque lifeforms.
The solution in the glass tubes began draining somewhere, and the shells sealing the creatures started opening one by one.
The sight of the monsters regaining their freedom was no different from a hatchery. Perhaps because they had been conceived by human hands, it evoked an even more horrifying impression.
The monsters came running. It was still utterly horrifying. Having landed in the exact center of the laboratory, they surged in from all directions. The only consolation was that the entire search team had not been scattered but remained clustered together.
Yes. She was here.
Inspector Ellyna, whom Thomas had described as seeming almost inhuman, swiftly sliced apart the fastest-charging monster with a single stroke and shouted to the entire team.
“I’ll break through the front! Ellyse, take the right! Aidan, the left! Thomas, cover the rear! Anyone who believes in me and follows will all get out of here alive, so get your heads together, you idiots!”
The creatures they had encountered in the underground waterway had been about the size of hunting dogs, but the ones they faced now were far larger than average adults. Monsters that looked like two or three humans fused together, even more repulsive in appearance, with increased strength and speed.
By now their magazines were empty and their breath was ragged; they thought they could no longer hold on. Yet they had endured solely thanks to Inspector Ellyna. Whenever any sector looked like it might collapse, she would rush over like lightning to block the breach. Even while carving a path alone through the monsters toward the wall, she somehow managed to protect her team.
Once freed from the glass tube, the grotesque creature swelled rapidly until it nearly touched the ceiling. It raised its limp, dangling arm. Its palm was larger than Ellyna’s entire height. The force of that falling hand would be immense. Any ordinary human would surely be crushed flat.
But the shepherd leading Ellyse was no ordinary human.
Ellyse Bertman suddenly caught a refreshing scent. It was the smell of magical power she had sensed during her training period—the very reason she had verified that ability and now wielded a weapon forged from a demon’s body.
The Special Affairs Division forged demon bodies into weapons not merely to mock them. Not just because they were hard. Not only because they mixed well with pure silver, the natural enemy of demons. Though still few in number, the hitmen who killed demons had gained the ability to use Mystery just like them.
“───Fly.”
Ellyna Bastard murmured. Light gathered on her weapon. And just as she commanded, the wind obeyed.
"───Fly."
⟨ WIND SLASH ⟩
The house-sized monster’s head was sliced clean in half and flew through the air. It happened in an instant. Inspector Ellyna didn’t even watch it to the end. She carved open a path forward, slicing endlessly charging monsters with the knife in her hand.
Ellyse stared blankly at the floating monster head before spotting, from the corner of her eye, a four-legged monster charging at her. She swung her blade and met its claws. Far more easily than the first time, she knocked it away and drove her knife into its brow. It was a skill she had learned purely to survive.
How many times had she repeated that process? Finally, Ellyse reached one wall of the laboratory. Though drenched in green monster blood with a haggard face, the entire search team had arrived alive. Now they only needed to guard three directions instead of four.
Hundreds of monsters still loomed before them, yet they had created a possibility.
I can survive.
Her lungs felt ready to burst, pounding violently. Her shoulders creaked as if they would be unusable tomorrow. Her head throbbed as though screaming it was about to die. Yet even so, Ellyse Bertman was still alive right now. She was still breathing. She was continuing her shabby life.
I can win.
If I just try a little harder, I can escape this hell. We can all return alive.
A brilliant hope welled up in her heart. Ellyse exhaled a ragged breath and gripped the blood-crusted hilt even tighter.
It was then that an unfamiliar voice reached her ears, which had grown accustomed to the monsters’ shrieks.
“This can’t be. Just how many of my lovely children have you killed?”
Ellyse hadn’t even known there was an entrance there. The researcher who appeared through the silently opened door frowned deeply. He scanned the laboratory filled with monster corpses and blood, then turned his head toward the search team. Still frowning, he slowly looked them over.
And Ellyse thought that nervous face looked familiar. From the Special Affairs Division database? The face of a recorded demon? No. She couldn’t recall exactly, but it seemed like a face she had seen while glancing at an economic newspaper.
In truth, realizing his identity now wouldn’t change anything. Since he was clearly an enemy, they could decide later—after wiping out all the monsters—whether to capture him alive or kill him.
“……It’s Slain Pavlov.”
“Oh, so there is someone who recognizes me. That’s rather pleasant news.”
It was simply unexpected. Ellyse found it strange that Inspector Thomas—who didn’t seem interested in economic matters—had recognized him instantly. At the same time, she felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Was it because Slain was the most authoritative scientist in academia? Or because this was a laboratory in the middle of the city and she thought artillery support must not be called in?
“Well, I suppose it’s only natural to recognize me. Tsk, the world really is a strange place, isn’t it?”
Ellyse Bertman didn’t know the exact reason, but her instincts screamed that something was dangerous. The sole thought of silencing that man’s mouth drove her to draw her gun. She loaded the single bullet she had saved for an emergency.
The moment she aimed at Slain, Ellyse thought she glimpsed something bizarre from the corner of her eye.
“To think the very man I bribed is mixed in with our lab’s special forces.”
It was the sight of Inspector Thomas raising his hammer to strike Inspector Ellyna standing in front of him.
“……Huh?”
Ellyse hurriedly swung her gun around. But as always, she was one step too late at the critical moment.
The hammer crushed down on the head. With unbelievable brutality.
For a fleeting second Ellyse hoped that Inspector Ellyna would be fine, but it had been an undefended blow. What Ellyse Bertman witnessed was her idol’s body tilting sideways.
With a heavy thud, the shepherd collapsed.
Ellyse stared with a dazed face at the spreading red blood.
“……Ah.”
The little lamb had lost her way.