Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 008
Chapter Title: Second Deployment (1)
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“What?!”
At that exact moment, a dark crimson curse surged up from the pattern as if it had been waiting.
The cement floor it touched eroded away and literally died.
“Crazy!”
The prisoners scrambled to flee from the stairs crumbling into dust, but it was already too late.
“No!”
“Aaaagh!”
We lost our footing and plummeted into pitch-black darkness.
*
“Ow, my head.”
How much time had passed?
When I came to, I was buried under a pile of rubble.
“Where the hell am I now?”
I tried to move, but I quickly grimaced.
I'd noticed too late—there was no sensation in my lower body.
Nerves severed?
The impact must have been severe; my terminal and communicator were fried.
At least the bodycam on my chest only had a slight crack in the lens.
Just in case, I covered the bodycam's mic, drew my thigh holster pistol, and shot myself in the head.
Bang-!
Sensation flooded back into my legs in an instant.
Having to shoot myself every damn time is getting old...
Honestly, doing this in every fight was a hassle.
It looked insane to anyone watching. Great for catching enemies off guard, but awkward if another prisoner was around.
Guy takes a bullet to the head and just gets back up like nothing happened.
Looks immortal as hell, right?
Isn't there some easy, quick, discreet kill switch?
Something like that, and I could pass it off as that urban legend super-regeneration.
I shoved aside the rocks above me and crawled out, spotting dead prisoners in the darkness.
Unfortunately, a few must have died on impact.
I reached out and closed the staring eyes of the skinhead impaled on rebar.
“Where'd the old man and the others go?”
Counting them—one, two, three—some were missing.
There were supposed to be eight prisoners deployed, including me.
But only about three were here.
And excluding me, they were all mangled corpses.
Did they go ahead without finding me?
It was dark, and I was under rubble, so maybe.
“Mind if I borrow this?”
I took the relatively intact skinhead's carbine and decided to push forward.
Something would turn up eventually.
“Looks like an underground mall or something...”
Following the dark corridor, I spotted multiple bloodstains in each shop.
“Gangs massacring indiscriminately?”
That didn't add up.
This felt more like terrorists than gang work.
Oddly, there weren't many bodies.
That was when it happened.
“Sob, h-hic, s-someone, please...”
A sobbing voice came from a nearby clothing store.
What the...?
The voice sounded incredibly fragile.
Gripping my rifle out front, I entered the shop.
I couldn't just ignore it, and if she was a citizen, it might mean a sentence reduction.
Saving civilians had to count for something.
I flicked on the rifle's light, shining it toward the sobs. There was a girl huddled up.
“Hey?”
“Eek!”
She flinched in terror, looking up at me with tear-filled chickpea eyes.
“P-please, just spare me...!”
I swallowed hard without thinking.
She had an astonishingly beautiful face.
What is she, an elf?
Her ears weren't pointy, though.
Anyway, I'd never seen a girl this doll-like pretty in my life.
“Uh, got citizenship?”
Business first.
“C-citizenship?”
“Yeah. ID card or whatever. No?”
“N-no, I don't...”
“Too bad.”
“...Huh?”
“Nothing.”
Now what?
If she were a citizen, I'd just protect her.
But non-citizen? Complicated.
Can't just leave a scared person here, though.
Still needed results for a reduction.
As I pondered, she spoke up, reading my vibe.
“A-are you, um, p-police, big bro?”
“Police?”
I blinked.
“Well... depending on how you look at it.”
“...?”
“Yeah, police.”
Chasing crooks was the same, right?
Her face lit up at my answer.
“I-I saw where they took everyone! Police bro, please help! My mom and dad got dragged off too... sob!”
“You saw where?”
“Y-yes, yes!”
“Nice.”
Perfect timing. My terminal was smashed anyway.
“Can you point the direction? Gotta catch those bastards.”
“O-of course! Follow me!”
“...”
She wiped her tears and stood bravely. I said,
“Just to the area.”
“Y-yes, that way!”
Gutsy kid.
“Thank you so much. I was left alone and didn't know what to do...”
Her blue eyes looked up at me with a soft smile, brightening everything.
Pure healing vibe.
I replied smoothly.
“I see.”
“My parents basically got taken instead of me. They drew the gangs' attention so I could live... sob.”
“That's rough.”
She wiped her tears again.
“Y-yeah, so I'm so grateful you're here, police bro...”
“Mm-hm.”
Silently, I switched my rifle to burst fire.
“This way. In that hall ahead, they put the people... Kyaaah!”
The startled girl threw herself into my arms.
“L-look...!”
“Whoa.”
Where she pointed: a heap of corpses in the hall.
Oddly, all were shriveled to skin and bones.
From their outfits, probably local mercenaries hired by the building owner before police arrived.
That explains why the cops didn't mention it.
Made sense to send in the 141 first.
Her face pale as a sheet, she looked up.
“B-big bro, what do we do?”
“What do you mean? Same old sight.”
“Huh?”
I pulled the trigger on her pretty, confused face.
Bang-!!
Her head exploded.
The girl who'd been hugging me flopped to the floor like a marionette with cut strings.
But I wasn't done.
Shouldering my rifle properly, I unloaded bursts on purpose.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!
Her corpse shredded in seconds.
Only then could I see clearly.
Up close, it wasn't some frail girl.
Just a plain mannequin.
Yeah.
The 'girl' was just a puppet moved by threads of mana.
Knew it.
The sole survivor hiding? No, openly sobbing? Suspicious from the start.
A terrified kid suddenly volunteering to guide? Stank of trap.
The mannequin dissolved into black liquid, seeping into the floor.
“Heh heh heh.”
A low laugh echoed from deeper in the hall.
“First human to see through my hallucination curse despite being poisoned. Impressive.”
I looked up. In the shadows, a stunningly beautiful woman in a robe smiled seductively.
Like if the girl had grown up crooked.
I asked,
“Am I really the only one who saw through your little game?”
Everything felt off from the setup.
She brushed her perfect V-line jaw, chuckling.
“Who knows? This face covers any plot holes, don't you think?”
“...”
Damn looks bias.
She was pretty, though.
“Don't look at me like that. You're cute too. Tempted to stuff and mount you alive.”
“Pass.”
Especially the 'alive' part.
Hit too close for an immortal.
I asked,
“You're a curse mage, right? The worst kind, feeding on human blood.”
“Hee hee, why think that?”
“Why hide the withered corpses? Just pretend you don't know.”
“These might be hallucinations too.”
“Nah.”
Death can't fool me up close.
I've died more than anyone. This smell, this damp aura of death—no illusion mimics it.
“Aw. Such a shame.”
She eyed me with interest.
“With more time, I'd have preserved you nicely.”
Now what?
Hallucination curse or whatever, even she might not be real.
Self-kill with a bullet would break it, but...
If that's fake, problem.
Reveal my immortality to the real one watching.
Bad move.
If she fled, worst case.
Suddenly, a headache hit. I clutched my head.
“This is...”
Her lips curled.
“Ha ha, my curse brews as a deadly poison too. Starting to kick in?”
Nosebleed gushed.
The world spun.
“Cough! Cough, cough!”
Covering my mouth, black blood splattered my hand.
“Tch.”
She grinned at my staggering form.
“Watching you writhe in regret for falling for it would've been fun... but this works too.”
“Cough... where are... the others?”
“Others? Oh, your friends?”
Her lips curved.
“Hee hee, wonder if they've withered by now?”
She snapped her fingers. Two gang puppets emerged from the shadows.
Ex-gangers, now mindless.
They propped up my slumping body.
Turning, she said gleefully,
“Cops really use penal squads~ Criminals have so much life force. Great sacrifices.”
She ordered the puppets,
“Bring the body inside when he drops.”
As the curse mage walked off,
“Fun.”
“!!”
The voice behind her sent chills up her spine.
“You... not hallucination. Real deal.”
“What...?!”
She whipped around as my gunshot rang out.
Bang-!
“Aaaah!”
Bullet to her shoulder. She screamed.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“How...!”
I shoved the puppets aside and fired instead of answering.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!
“Aaaaaah!!”
Didn't think she was real.
Dying and reviving to the curse? Surprise.
Not fake.
No holding back.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!
Dozens of rounds shredded her instantly.
“Kiiiiiaaaah!!”
Yet she lived—thanks to 'sacrifices' or whatever.
Her body regenerated grotesquely.
Didn't matter.
“Just shoot till she drops.”
She wasn't immortal.
“Stop!! Stoooop!”
Reloaded fast, emptied another mag.
No hesitation.
Seize the chance, kill clean.
Rat-tat-tat!!
Her eyes flashed; a lethal curse pierced my heart.
But I kept firing. She screamed.
“Why...!! Why doesn't it work!!”
More curses flew. Useless.
Each death made me healthier.
Even felt lighter—Death Forging perk?
Bang!! Click.
Mag empty.
“Urk... uuurk...”
She twitched on the floor, silenced by the last shot.
Acrid gunpowder stench.
“Tough bitch.”
How much blood did she suck for that vitality?
“Vampire at this point. What's the difference?”
Both monsters in human skin.
I spoke to the bodycam.
“Hey? You there? Watching?”
*
In the nearby command center,
[Hey? Static... watching...?]
“...”
“...”
“...”
[Situation... repeat... static... over.]
The unbelievable scene streamed live via bodycam made their eyes tremble helplessly.