Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 018
Chapter Title: First Outing (1)
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Sudden bolts of lightning shot up around me, and I could hear the flustered voices of the presences encircling me.
"Ma, magic!"
I whipped around right away and unleashed [Internal Force Fist Punch] at the enemy right beside me.
My foot slammed forward in a swift step, and the punch rocketed out, smashing into the armed thug's solar plexus.
"!!"
[Internal Force Fist Punch]
Strong shockwave erupts!
A bone-crunching crack echoed as my mana drained from my body, followed by an explosive shockwave.
BOOM!!
In the middle of the bar that had turned into a slaughterhouse in an instant, I sensed it.
'These guys...'
Their bodies were packed with implants—a ridiculously high ratio.
Proof of that: the eyes of the guy who'd just eaten my [Internal Force Fist Punch] were still alive with fight.
"Cough... you bastard...!"
Maybe he'd clocked my super-regeneration, but he raised his gun to my head and fired. The bullet ricocheted off my heightened toughness.
"!!"
I casually unleashed [Lowest Bolt] on him without a second thought.
[Lowest Bolt]
Lightning courses through the target!
Kraaaackle!
"Gaaahhh!!"
Sparks erupted in a flash, and the man's eyes rolled back in his head.
His hood fell away soon after, revealing long, pointed ears.
I narrowed my eyes at the sight.
'Elf...!'
They were one of the implant-addicted gangs notorious even in the 8th Special District.
'They hired these guys thinking they couldn't kill me easily.'
Compared to your run-of-the-mill mafia grunts, these were far more seasoned killers, no doubt.
The elves quickly put distance between us when they saw their comrade twitching on the floor in front of me.
"...Of all things, a lightning mage."
"Tough body too. Skin's been modded. SMG rounds aren't getting through."
"Guess we'll have to carve him up one by one with plasma cutters."
"This just got a headache."
I felt the exact same way.
I'd suspected as much, but deploying even pointy-ears?
They must've been desperate to put me in the ground.
'Good thing I invested in lightning magic just in case.'
Then the elf who seemed like the leader spoke up.
"Gear up, everyone."
A strange mechanical whine—whirr—came from them at his command.
"Formation A."
In that instant, every elf in the bar vanished from sight.
"...!"
Residual images flashed past my eyes at the same moment.
The second I instinctively triggered [Baal's Minor Curse], a bullet from who-knows-where slammed into my left chest.
BANG!!
My boosted endurance held for a moment. But then sharp killing intent sliced toward the back of my skull, and I ducked on reflex.
A plasma blade whistled past my hair by a hair's breadth.
I fired off [Lowest Bolt] from that spot immediately.
Kraaaackle!
The lightning shot out in a blink.
But it pierced only an afterimage.
The elves had already widened the gap and vanished again.
'As expected. They're planning to whittle me down like this.'
Skills and magic alike required stamina in the end.
No matter the super-regeneration, stamina and mana weren't infinite.
They'd wear me out, wait for me to slow, then finish it in one go.
'...If I really had super-regeneration.'
Tough luck for them—my stamina fully recharged every death via [Baal's Minor Curse].
In other words, I could tango with them forever if I wanted.
'But better to play along to a point.'
These guys were no pushovers even with their top-shelf implants.
Stealth plus insane speed. Even curses wouldn't make rounding them up easy at my current level.
'In that case...'
They already thought I was super-regen.
'Time to lean into the misunderstanding.'
A few more attacks came. I deliberately acted drained.
[Lowest Bolt] missed every shot, and I ate a few hits clean.
"Guh!"
A blade gashed deep into my side. I feigned agony and triggered [Baal's Minor Curse] on cue.
The wound knit shut in seconds.
That'd solidify their belief in my super-regen.
But they'd also notice something off.
Sure, I used lightning magic, but I wasn't some powerhouse mage.
And that was exactly what I wanted them thinking.
Their vibe shifted right on cue, like they'd been waiting.
Afterimages circled me fast. I staggered like my stamina was toast.
Someone yelled.
"Now! Finish him!"
Killing intents swarmed me from all sides.
I smirked and burned a 'Skill Enhancement Point' right then.
The moment they stepped into range on their own...
"Wha...!?"
I detonated the freshly acquired [Bolt Pulse].
BOOM!!
Lightning blasted out in the blink of an eye, hurling the charging elves backward.
Chain shocks and paralysis rippled through them, arcing to the ones behind.
Kraaaackle!
"Aaaahhh!!!"
"Gaaahhh!!"
The secondary blast shattered the bar's windows and door.
BOOM!!
The bar was utterly devastated.
At that moment, massive mana drain hit me like the recoil from [Internal Force Fist Punch], agonizing.
It was only natural.
Mages didn't have bottomless mana by birth—most built it up over a lifetime, innate gifts or not.
I hadn't trained mana much, nor was I blessed with heaps of it.
So what got consumed instead? Vitality, obviously.
If not for immortality, that spell would've shaved years off my life—a mad gamble.
...If not for immortality.
Revived clean via [Baal's Minor Curse], I turned on my heel.
The sparking, charred elves were no longer my problem.
I kicked through debris and approached the old man trembling in the kitchen depths.
"H-Hiiik!"
His face reeked of burnt flesh. He fell on his ass and scrambled backward at the sight of me.
"D-don't come closer!"
He yanked out a pistol and fired in panic. Useless.
Boosted by the curse, my stats shrugged off handgun rounds now.
As the elves said, it'd take plasma cutter sharpness to cut me.
"You... what the hell are...!"
I kicked the gun away and grabbed the Hawk-nosed Old Man by the collar.
"Who sent you?"
"Guh! Urk!"
"I'm asking. Who?"
"The Rorione Family's done for, but remnants linger. They see wiping you out as vendetta...!"
Vendetta.
Mafia lingo for payback you had to deliver, no matter what.
"So you scoured even the Gulag to kill little old me?"
He nodded frantically.
"Funny. They don't know you're the broker who sold me my guns and bombs, huh?"
"......"
A real rat.
"Name and address."
"Ro, Roberto Greggio. Luger 1st Street, No. 342."
Still in the neighborhood, at least.
I tossed him aside and asked one last thing.
"Why?"
Sis and I thought him a trustworthy business partner.
Worked with him for years, ate dinners at his bar, swapped jokes.
Yet.
"Pay that good? A broker selling out trust for coin?"
"W-wait. Sp-spare me."
The hawk-nosed bastard raised his hands in haste.
"You know what killing a broker means! To keep taking jobs in this biz...!"
What a joke.
"Not something a trust-breaking broker should say."
"S-sorry! My bad, I fucked up! Just spare my life!"
As he clung to my leg, I spoke coldly.
"Don't look at me like that."
"...!!"
"Your words."
I pried him off and gripped his face.
"You said it—this biz is full of shit like this."
"Ah, aaah, nooo!!"
Blue lightning crackled from my hand.
...What a shitty world.
A rookie cop who'd just pinned on his badge gulped hard behind the wheel.
His eyes were fixed on Luger 1st Street, alive with screams and explosions.
Dusk settled as usual gunfire racketed through the 8th Special District.
He asked,
"...Lieutenant. Wh-what do we do?"
Lieutenant Roden, lounging with his seat reclined and feet on the dash, peeked from under his newspaper.
"Huh?"
The rookie repeated himself, unsure he'd been heard.
"Prisoner 43471. He's... right now..."
He pointed out the window.
"Fighting mafia guys... I think."
"Oh? Yeah."
Roden hid behind his paper again.
"Leave him be."
"Pardon?"
"Why not? He's cleaning street trash for us."
"But, uh. Hm."
The lieutenant yawned softly.
"Everyone's got their reasons."
The rookie muttered anxiously.
"This okay...?"
"Fine, fine. This is the 8th District."
Another yawn.
"Guy steps out for drinks, bumps into mafia. Happens."
"Ah..."
"If he's at it, might as well wipe 'em out. Mafia's got lobbyists in Central Admin everywhere—can't touch 'em openly."
"Y-yeah... sure."
"Good's good, right?"
'Shouldn't turn a blind eye, really...'
But Lieutenant Roden played dumb.
Kyle Clark got his buddy's body home safe.
Without him, it'd be chimera fodder, dead and dishonored.
'Whatever it is, just don't hurt civilians.'
The lieutenant figured he'd keep that line.
"......"
Luger 1st Street, after it all ended.
I slipped out of the mafia hideout's ruins with a small sigh.
Wished for a smoke right about then.
'Some outing this turned out to be...'
Left a foul aftertaste.
'Damn. Nape still tingles.'
Never saw that betrayal coming.
Maybe why my chest still ached faintly.
Then the usual message popped up.
+ All Stats boosted further by high rank!
+Skill Enhancement Point awarded
'Sub-mission, huh.'
They even gamified this.
'...Good's good.'
As I resolved to let it be and stepped off—
The cryptic message halted me mid-stride.
'Lena Clark's Truth?'
What the hell?
'More hidden truth about Sis?'
But the message went silent, like it had nothing more to say.
"What is this...?"
Then—
"Truly astonishing."
"...!"
A clear feminine voice from behind. I spun, startled.
A hooded woman stood there now.
'No presence at all...!?'
She ignored my reaction, rambling on.
"How did you manifest magic like that? It looked like plain bolt magic, but no chant, no process—no weave at all. To invoke natural phenomena with mana, you need to bind elements and compute via formulas... yet."
Then it hit me.
'This woman...'
The hooded patron quietly nursing her drink in the corner when I first entered.
'Fight broke out so fast, forgot about her.'
...She followed me here?
"Every time I see it, it's a marvel. Fine, bolt's basic—maybe you skipped the steps. But Bolt Pulse needs a 3D formula weave. I didn't observe any chant formation, and activation was way too fast... Oh."
She snapped out of it with a small cough.
"Ahem. Rude of me, chattering at a stranger. Introductions first."
She doffed her hood. Lush golden hair cascaded down, framing jewel-blue eyes.
"Mary Fleetwood."
She gracefully lifted her robe's skirt with both hands and curtsied.
"In your terms... well."
She beamed brightly.
"A human from the Magic Tower, shall we say?"
"...!!"