A Gamble With Everything on the Line
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
Crow immediately contacted his subordinate. A Connecting… indicator blinked into view alongside the man's name.
"Boss, it's the doll! We tried to pull the data out of its head, and it suddenly exploded!"
“What? Exploded? What the…….”
Wolya was a full-body prosthesis — a bomb hidden somewhere on her wouldn't have been strange at all. But even for a full-body prosthesis, the head was the one part that couldn't be swapped out. If self-destruction blew the head off, even a full-body prosthesis meant death.
“You're telling me she killed herself? Wolya, of all people?”
Among the denizens of the entertainment district's underworld, Wolya was a legend. Would that Wolya really throw everything away and choose death this easily? Not a chance. Crow became certain the woman had pulled some kind of trick.
“She must have pulled something. Don't panic and…….”
──Disconnect.
The line went dead.
“What?”
Crow tried calling again, but all he got was the same disconnect notice, over and over. Half out of desperation, he reached out to his other subordinates — the result was identical.
“Don't tell me they've been jammed?!”
Net connections, contact with his men — nothing worked. Crow left the room to descend into the basement himself.
The members of Iron Blood, thrown into chaos by the sudden explosion, were running around in utter confusion.
“Quit your panicking!” Crow barked at them. “Get your weapons ready. We're going underground!”
Striding forward with heavy steps, Crow ground his teeth. He didn't know what the woman had done, but anyone who defied Iron Blood would be shown a personal hell. Absolutely.
Crow took up the weapons his men had gathered and headed down into the basement. Smoke hung thick in the air — it seemed the explosion had started a fire.
“Stop standing around gawking and put out that fire! Protect the goods down here. If there's so much as a scratch on any of it, you're all dead men!”
At his shout, the members scrambled into frantic motion. And then — something appeared before them.
A small spherical machine, less than ten centimeters in diameter, floated serenely in midair.
“And what in the world is this…….”
"My, my. Is everyone doing well? Heh heh heh."
Wolya's voice drifted out of the spherical machine.
“You little—so you were alive after all.”
"Blew my body to bits, but I'm alive and kicking, don't you worry. My body is a full-body prosthesis, you see — with a bit of willpower, I can detach the most important part, the 'brain' itself, and move it elsewhere."
For a moment, Crow found himself at a loss for words. The brain — detached from the body and moved elsewhere, all on its own? Could that thing truly still be called human?
"There are several drones hidden in my prosthesis. I tucked my brain inside one of them, then — whoomph! — blew the empty shell sky-high."
“You absolute monster!”
"A monster? Over something this trivial? There are far worse creatures than me out there, you know. Haven't you been living inside your little well for far too long, Master Crow?"
Crow drew the weapon he'd brought with him — a longsword etched with a snowflake-crystal ornament along the hilt.
"So you were carrying a Yggdrasil item after all. I spotted a few things down here that look awfully similar."
Wolya had seen through it at a glance — that weapon was a genuine Yggdrasil item.
“You're the one who cut this building's communications, aren't you? Hiding your brain in a drone, was it? The only ways in or out of this basement are that staircase and the elevator. You're still hiding somewhere down here — and I'm going to find you and blow you to pieces.”
"Find me, and by all means, go right ahead. But let me offer you a word of advice: the time you have left is not long. You've made a true monster your enemy, after all."
In that instant, Crow swung his sword and cleaved the drone in two. It shattered midair where it floated.
“Put out that fire, now! You there — go grab the detection-type items! The moment you confirm a drone's position, blast it to dust.”
The necklace known as the Hunter's Eye could designate a target within a fixed range and track it. The basement held more than forty objects that fit the criteria. With communications jammed, real-time tracking was impossible, so after a rough sweep of their positions, the men scattered in every direction.
“Move it!”
The basement's fire-suppression systems kept cycling, but the flames refused to die. The men fought their way through the blaze, hunting for drones.
“There! Fire!”
A Bubble Gun — a Yggdrasil item that fired soap bubbles instead of bullets, trapping whatever they touched. A drone skulking around a corner was swallowed whole inside a shimmering sphere. Sensing something amiss, the drone drew its built-in firearm and opened fire, but it couldn't pierce the bubble. Apparently deciding it had run out of options, the drone detonated itself on the spot — yet even its internal bomb failed to leave a scratch on the soap bubble.
“One drone down!”
“Find the others! One of them has to have the brain inside it!”
The fire was gradually beaten back, and the drones were picked off one by one. Wolya was now nothing more than a rat in a cage.
This is getting dangerous.
Wolya had been watching the entire situation unfold. It wouldn't be long before the small cube robot carrying her head was discovered as well. This particular prosthesis body had been prepared for the sole purpose of throwing a surprise party to startle Ryu Hwi — it had absolutely nothing in the way of defenses for a situation like this.
This was genuinely dangerous. Even now, her drones were being destroyed one after another. She had backup weapons and self-destruct bombs on hand as contingencies, but they were of no help whatsoever.
Still, even a cornered rat deserves one last scramble, doesn't it?
Kiiiik.
Then, a door opened, and someone stepped inside.
“That was an utterly adorable — and utterly infuriating — little resistance act.”
Crow stood there, sword in hand, flanked by several of his men.
“I know you're hiding in here, so you'd best come out quickly.”
"My, you located me rather quickly, didn't you."
Wolya emerged from her hiding place in the corner.
“Of all the readings picked up by the Hunter's Eye, this spot had the least movement. Unlike drones that run on commands and remote operation, even the great Wolya would have to be careful with a main body carrying an actual human head.”
"Hooo."
“You've pieced together the basement's layout from the drones' data by now, haven't you? And you know this is the safest spot in the whole place.”
This room was where Iron Blood stored its most valuable assets. Naturally, it had been built sturdier than any other location in the basement.
“I'll give you this — I'm impressed. Truly……. You've made quite the mess of things.”
"Did you honestly think I'd just sit still and behave? Isn't that the funny part?"
“Oh, I figured as much. And as payment for that, you're going to beg me — on your knees — to spare your life. We have ways of inflicting exquisite agony on anyone with a full-body prosthesis.”
Crow's fury blazed openly at Wolya. He looked ready to tear her limb from limb on the spot. But the cube robot holding Wolya's head let his killing intent wash over it like a gentle spring breeze.
"Well, I suppose that's fair. You do keep that gloomy little Yggdrasil item around — the Soul Breaker, was it?"
At Wolya's casually dropped remark, Crow flinched.
“What did you say?”
"The Bubble Gun, the Hunter's Eye, the Frost Ice Sword, the Air Shot, the Lightning Spear… my, what an impressive collection of items you have. Wherever did you manage to procure so many?"
Wolya recited the list of Iron Blood's Yggdrasil items, one by one — including some that hadn't even been brought down to the basement.
"And those data drugs you're peddling — I thought the form was something I'd never seen before, but it turns out you were using Yggdrasil items to make them. The Truecadia Virus Chip, was it? You're even carrying something phenomenally dangerous."
“You…….”
She knew secrets that should never have seen the light of day. Crow held his breath.
"Setting everything else aside, isn't this one far too dangerous to sit on? Even the rotten cops of the entertainment district would have to move on it — and the other syndicates won't simply stand by and watch, either."
The Truecadia Virus Chip. An item that had appeared in a sci-fi game labyrinth — a terrifying virus that invaded the minds of humans wired to computers and remodeled them however it pleased. Since real-world humans carried SEED implants of their own, they were not immune to the Truecadia Virus Chip either.
"Thank your lucky stars the technology is still so crude that it's stuck at the level of a mere 'disc drug.' That very chip caused a major incident ten years ago — the regulations on it should be quite strict by now, shouldn't they?"
“You hacked us?”
"Naturally. It's hard to peek from the outside, but from within? Child's play. You really ought to take your security more seriously, shouldn't you?"
“I see. So that's how it is.”
Crow's entire atmosphere changed. Until now he had been consumed by burning rage — now, only a cold, glacial bloodlust wrapped around him.
Crack.
A gunshot rang out, and the cube robot went flying. Crow had pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation. Extracting Wolya's knowledge, inflicting pain — he wasn't thinking of any of that. His focus narrowed to a single point: kill her.
The cube robot staggered from the bullet's impact. It had been built tough to protect the 'head' it carried, but withstanding sustained gunfire was another matter entirely.
"Gah — shooting without so much as a by-your-leave?"
“You were planning to walk away with our secrets and strike a deal, weren't you? You underestimated me badly. I can't afford to leave a loose end lying around.”
Bang! Crack!
Crow kept squeezing the trigger. With every barrage, the cube robot crumbled further. At this rate, even the head-protection functions would give out. Crow advanced on the cube robot, firing again and again.
"Khh……."
“No pain? What a shame. I'd love to make you feel every last ounce of it, but I won't be granting you even a single moment of opening ever again. Just die where you are.”
Inside the cube robot, Wolya stood at death's very edge. One more hit could be fatal. Even now, system error messages scrolled endlessly across her vision. She had cheated death more times than she could count, but this time, she might truly die.
And yet Wolya did not panic.
"All this talk of negotiation, is it?"
“Hm?”
"I never had the slightest intention of negotiating with filth that deals in Truecadia. I feel sorry for the life Gabriel Darius ruined out of you — but the man you've become is nothing more than a parasite gnawing on other human beings."
“Either you've failed to grasp your situation, or the prospect of death has finally driven you mad.”
Having closed to within arm's reach of the cube robot, Crow tucked the gun against his body. In its place, he pressed a blade steeped in killing frost against the cube. The cold crept inward, slowly freezing the robot solid.
"Tell me — do you enjoy gambling?"
“What?”
"I don't take pleasure in it, but when the need arises, I'll gamble as much as anyone — even staking every last thing I am. The bet is placed, so now all that's left is to wait. And……."
Life is always a gamble — a Random Box whose outcome no one can foresee. And that outcome was…….
KWAAAAAAAANG!!
A thunderous roar split the air, and the entire building shuddered. Caught completely off guard, Crow lost his balance and staggered.
“What now?!”
"I've just restored your internal lines — go on, check them. See for yourself what's happened."
Glaring at the cube robot, Crow contacted his men at once. Just as Wolya had said, the internal lines had been restored — the call connected immediately.
“What's going on!!”
"Th-there's an intruder!!"
“An intruder? What……. Don't tell me another syndicate hit us. How many?”
"Haah……!"
The subordinate's voice trembled violently — a sound drenched in terror, as if he were staring at something beyond belief.
"One man! There's only one!"
Had the cube robot been equipped with a function to render facial expressions, there was no doubt it would have been grinning from ear to ear at that very moment.
"Didn't you say it yourself? That you wouldn't grant me even a single moment of opening — that I should just die where I am."
Wolya had won her gamble.
"Why ever did you let your guard down? Because of that greed you couldn't quite swallow, you've become 'yet another' loser, haven't you."