Chapter 100
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Are They Strong?
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The stone tiles crushed by that intense impact shattered all at once, flying upward.
At its center, shining fiercely, were none other than Kyle's piercing blue eyes.
The Brahman Sector's security network plunged into chaos amid the utterly bewildering situation.
[Emergency confirmed in Brahman Sector. All defense forces, enter Level 4 alert status immediately. Level 4 alert status.]
"Shit, what the hell is going on?!"
"Level 4!? Does that mean the Brahman Sector's under attack?!"
"What are you standing around for! Move!"
Those who rushed out of their posts, hastily arming themselves, could only freeze in shock.
"No way..."
Beyond the pristine white walls stretched a long, massive shadow extending from the Kshatriya Sector all the way to Brahman.
The defense force members' eyes trembled as they stared at it.
"Shit, what the hell is that?!"
"No way, this is actually working?"
Walter looked up at the massive glacier in disbelief.
He hadn't believed it at first—creating a huge glacier and using it to vault straight into the Brahman Sector.
"What the hell has this guy been up to all this time...?"
Mickey shared his astonishment at the scene before her eyes.
Honestly, when she'd first heard the plan, she'd doubted it could work.
'But he actually pulled it off.'
Even she, a complete novice when it came to magic, could instinctively sense the enormous mana required to conjure a glacier that size.
'How much mana does he even have...?'
And they'd only just begun the infiltration.
There would be fight after fight ahead.
Yet he'd pushed ahead with this method anyway.
'...This level of mana consumption is nothing to Kyle.'
Mickey swallowed hard without realizing it.
So just how much mana did this man possess?
'Has Kyle ever even seemed tired?'
Thinking back, she couldn't recall a single time.
Even after back-to-back battles in the darkness, he'd always held the party's center with a calm expression.
It was nothing short of freakish mana and stamina.
As Mickey quietly clicked her tongue in awe, a familiar voice rang through her in-ear comms.
[Mickey. Infiltration successful.]
"Ah, yeah!!"
Focusing on her retinal display, she soon saw the pristine, luxurious vista of the Brahman Sector amid the shattered tiles.
This was the feed from the camera implanted in Kyle's left ear.
Running a simulation based on the buildings and scenery, Mickey quickly shouted.
"Head 1 o'clock from there—you'll hit an uphill path. Climb those stairs, and at the end, you'll see a massive dome building. That's the Conventus Hall."
[Roger.]
At that instant, the camera view suddenly accelerated at breakneck speed.
"Ugh!"
Dizzy from the motion, she paused the feed for a moment.
Then, ding! A text message popped up.
Reading it, Mickey turned to Walter.
"Mister. That place we went to yesterday—they say they can reissue the certificate."
"Oh, really?"
They'd applied early for a Lantern Keeper certificate reissue so they could leave Zone 20 anytime today.
"They're being quicker than expected."
"Well, I borrowed a bit of George's connections."
Walter shook his head at Mickey's sly little chuckle as he grabbed the doorknob.
"I'll be back as fast as I can. Remember that."
He pointed to the pistol on the sofa.
"No matter who shows up or how much they sound like me, if they don't know the passphrase, don't open the door. If things go south, just shoot."
"Got it."
"...Just to be sure, you do know how to shoot, right?"
"Excuse me?"
Mickey picked up the pistol, deftly ejected the magazine, reinserted it, and racked the slide with a click!
"I've lived in the 8th Special District long enough, you know?"
"A tough girl like you, scared of a little gun?"
"What's that got to do with it? I might just shoot you right now."
"Oh no, scary. Better go before you put a hole in me~."
Walter smirked, slammed the door shut, and left. Mickey pouted as she set the pistol down.
"Annoying."
Vowing to make him regret it someday, she switched back to Kyle's camera feed.
"Kyle, you there?"
Racing down the street as per Mickey's directions, Kyle glanced up at the sky bright as midday and thought.
'This really feels like the surface.'
With sunlight simulated too, it went beyond mere holograms—some kind of magitech fusion.
[Kyle, you there?]
Kyle grabbed his comms.
"Yeah, go ahead."
The moment he appeared, servants and officials screamed and fled.
But no defense forces yet.
They were still scrambling from the glacier's sudden arrival.
Most eyes fixed on it, delaying any intruder response.
'Different from the Magic Tower.'
Those guys had known he was coming, allowing a swift reaction.
[But by now, the defense forces have sized up the situation.]
[They'll likely dispatch a rapid response team first to pin you down.]
Mickey's voice came through the comms.
"Rapid response team, huh."
Kyle glanced back while running.
"That them?"
Beyond the white plaza, atop a sleek fountain, figures in agile combat suits pursued him.
"Intruder spotted, intruder spotted. Location: Brahman 4th Street. Confirmed heading toward Conventus Hall."
[Confirmed. Alpha. Intercept the target.]
[Engagement rules?]
[Kill on sight.]
[Roger. Trouble, Fetal. Kill order given. No mercy.]
[Confirmed.]
[Will kill.]
"...!"
In that instant, two figures appeared before Kyle as if they'd been waiting.
'Sandwiching me?'
They wore sleek combat suits like their pursuers, with strange sword-daggers at their waists.
City defense rapid response team, no doubt.
They'd guessed his destination was the hall.
Then they spoke.
"High chance he's a mage. Stay sharp."
"Got it."
The two drew their sword-daggers.
At the same time, high-voltage current crackled along the blades with a krzzt!
As Kyle charged toward them, narrowing his eyes—
"...!"
Boom!
The two swordsmen crossed 10 meters in the blink of an eye.
Their spinal neural accelerators whirred furiously.
At max output.
[Neural Accelerator Synced]
[Cubed Acceleration: 1 Second Activation]
Whoosh!
Their perceived time accelerated several times over.
The blades thrust forward at unbelievable speed.
Kyle had been charging full speed toward them.
An accelerated attack like this would hit in an instant.
He braked and twisted aside, but too late.
Slash! The sharp sword stroke pierced his side and shoulder.
Feeling it, they smirked.
"It's over."
In that moment, massive high-voltage current surged through the blades into Kyle's body.
Krzzzzzt!!!
Enough to fry any human's brain and heart instantly.
But.
"Over?"
"?!"
His voice made their eyes widen in shock.
"Who decided that?"
"What...!"
His arms swung, shattering the blades impaling him.
"Son of a...!"
Sensing something wrong, they tried to retreat.
"Too late."
Lightning-fast hands seized their napes, slamming them into the stone floor with full force.
Thud, boom!!
"Gah...!"
"Urk?!"
The impact threatened to pulverize their cervical vertebrae.
But then, blue lightning sparked from his hands with a crackle!
[Bolt Pulse]
Ferocious chain lightning rained across their bodies.
"Aaaaagh!!"
Krzzzzzt!!
"What the...!"
The other response team members gasped in horror.
Those swordsmen's hearts had freakish capacitors implanted.
Their blades' current could drop giant monsters.
"He tanked that?!"
A seemingly normal human.
'And not one, but two hitting him at once...!'
And not just that—wounds healed in a blink.
'Super regeneration...!?'
Impossible to know.
One thing was clear.
'That guy's...!'
The team leader's face twisted.
'No ordinary bastard...!'
Pure instinctual dread.
Realizing it was no time for games, he halted the chase and yelled.
"Veil, Crust, Forge! Permission to use micro-thermal pressure rounds!"
[...! But in Brahman Sector, that's...!]
[Letting him loose is riskier!]
Meanwhile, Kyle shot straight toward the Conventus Hall.
"I'll take responsibility, hurry! We can't let him reach the hall!"
Jetpack users rocketed up, shouting.
"Damn it...! Load Type B!"
[Type B loaded!]
Their back-mounted launchers chambered rounds in unison.
"Fire all!"
[Fire all!]
[Firing!!]
A barrage of rockets mercilessly pelted Kyle as he climbed the stairs.
Boom! Boom boom boom boom!!
Micro-thermal pressure rounds.
Their power was fearsome, but worse were the micronized crystalline shards bursting from within on detonation.
Spreading wide like smoke or fog, but far deadlier.
Even slight inhalation shredded lungs and organs, triggering complications.
Bathed in it? Agonizing multi-organ failure and death.
Like lethal poison gas in small doses.
No exception, even for super regeneration.
It'd hurt exponentially more—regeneration couldn't purge the foreign particles.
Boom!!
The massive explosion blanketed Kyle's position in crystalline mist instantly.
Then it billowed outward.
"......"
They switched to infrared, wary of the haze—
"?!"
Crack!
A vicious whoosh, and their jetpacks exploded as if waiting.
"Wha...!?"
Boom boom boom!!
"Aaaagh!"
"Jetpack...!"
"Shit!! Falling... aaagh!"
The team leader on the ground muttered, staring up.
"...What?"
A massive greatsword had materialized from thin air to slice them.
"What kind of...?"
Unheard-of magic.
But it didn't end there.
Boom! A black silhouette burst through the shard fog.
Their eyes bulged.
"Insane...!"
"Covered in that and still fine...!"
"How?!"
Frantic voices flooded the comms.