Nyx Intervenes
While Jinho was conquering Iguazu Falls, several figures bearing sun tattoos on their left shoulders approached Enrique's village.
From a distance, Enrique, who had been monitoring them with his [Mechanic] ability, narrowed his eyes.
“They’re here, those damned bastards!”
“Little one. What is the matter?”
“The gang I mentioned earlier has arrived. There’s no time to rest.”
Enrique sprang to his feet and immediately climbed onto the wall.
Tat-tat-tat!
Flames and pale smoke erupted from multiple gun barrels.
A hail of bullets rained down.
The Santa Fe gang members activated defensive skills and pushed forward with difficulty.
“Enrique, stop being stubborn and cooperate with us.”
“I don’t use my weapons on people!”
“Look at this brat talking back to his elders.”
“How long do you think you can hold out in that cramped little spot?”
The gang-affiliated players only growled and refused to advance aggressively.
Enrique’s talent ranked among the very best of Mechanic-class players worldwide.
His enhanced bullets possessed power that even Silver-rank players could not ignore.
The gang had already experienced bloodshed several times before.
Normally they circled the perimeter to deplete Enrique’s mana, but today their momentum was different.
Bang! Bang!
They advanced while piercing through the curtain of bullets.
One by one, they destroyed the guns positioned on either side of the road and pressed onward.
“Kugh!”
“Gack!”
Some gang players fell after being hit by bullets, yet—
“As long as they’re not dead, it’s fine.”
“Keep advancing.”
The Santa Fe gang slowly closed in on Enrique.
“Hmph. Come on then, you bastards!”
Enrique shouted confidently.
A few hours earlier, after allowing Jinho’s intrusion, he had repaired all the damaged equipment.
That was not all.
He had even deployed the spare firearms he had kept in reserve, greatly increasing his firepower.
‘They won’t be able to break through this.’
Enrique was certain of victory.
While his attention remained fixed on the players in front, the scenery behind the wall rippled slightly, distorting into shapes resembling human figures.
[Stealth]
A concealment skill that blended with the surrounding landscape.
Several players bearing sun tattoos on their shoulders used [Stealth] and scaled the wall.
It was the Santa Fe gang’s trump card prepared to recruit Enrique.
‘We deliberately saved the Stealth skill for this. He never would have expected it.’
‘He seems to have detection-type skills too, but with his focus on the front, he won’t notice.’
Five gang members had infiltrated.
Enrique, still staring straight ahead, remained unaware of the uninvited guests.
“Secure the hostages first.”
Maintaining Stealth, the infiltrators searched the village.
The residents had long since fled due to the Santa Fe gang’s tyranny.
While combing through the empty village—
“There’s a rat here.”
A chilling voice echoed in a member’s ear.
The moment the member turned his head, sensing something amiss—
A black wave surged forth, coiling around his arms, legs, and neck.
“Aagh! Aaaaaagh!”
“Night embraces all things, yet cowards like you are the exception.”
A woman clad in a black dress.
Nyx regarded the Santa Fe member with cold eyes.
[Critical Throwing Dagger]
Even while wrapped in Polar Night, the Santa Fe member hurled his dagger.
The blade left his hand at more than three times its usual speed.
The instant the tip neared her neck—
The Polar Night composing her dress rose upward and deflected the dagger.
“W-what?!”
“If you wish to face me, come to the royal capital. Such petty tricks will not work.”
Crack, crack-crack.
The Polar Night that had seeped into the member’s body began to writhe.
His arms and legs bent in the opposite direction against his will.
The member tried to scream, but Polar Night sealed his throat, preventing any sound from escaping.
He could only open and close his mouth.
“You dare bark like a beast while facing me?”
This time, the member’s knees were forced to the ground.
With his limbs twisted out of place, he prostrated himself like a broken doll.
“The only thing permitted to you is to look up at me.”
The member’s head was forcibly lifted by the power of Polar Night, not his own will.
Nyx could have killed him instantly without lifting a finger if she so desired.
Though the member realized this dimly and turned deathly pale—
Nyx shook her head.
“Do not worry. Judging you is not my role.”
The other members who had infiltrated the village were soon dragged before Enrique’s parents in the same broken state.
“T-these people……”
“They are insects that sought to harm you.”
A winter wind seemed to seep into Nyx’s voice.
Her tone alone was enough to freeze the heart.
“It seems I cannot simply watch any longer.”
“Pardon?”
“I must help your child. Otherwise, there may be complications in fulfilling my contractor’s request.”
Nyx concentrated Polar Night into her feet.
With explosive force, she kicked off the ground and soared onto the wall.
Her black dress billowed in the wind, and her hair rippled like waves.
It was an impossibly beautiful sight.
Yet her expression was colder than ever.
‘I nearly failed to keep my contractor’s request.’
Beyond the wall, the group of players lurked in hiding.
Had Nyx’s senses been even slightly duller, disaster would have struck.
‘I was careless.’
She was furious at the thought that she might have been unable to fulfill Jinho’s request.
The woman’s figure floated more than twenty meters in the air.
The Santa Fe gang players advancing below stared in a daze.
“Ah, she’s beautiful.”
“Where did someone like that come from?”
“Stay focused. She’s a player.”
“So what? We just have to catch her.”
Their role was to keep Enrique’s attention fixed forward.
Those with lesser skill had been struck by bullets and fallen, but the rest conserved their strength and merely pretended to advance.
Nyx’s appearance was unexpected, yet their eyes gleamed not with confusion, but with greed.
“Whoever catches her first gets to……”
Crack!
A pitch-black mace descended upon the head of the player who had kicked off the ground and charged at Nyx.
The player was sent flying backward in the exact opposite direction from which he had come.
“How filthy.”
Nyx muttered with a voice laced with contempt.
“That woman is strong.”
“Surround her and capture……”
Tat-tat-tat!
While the Santa Fe members were distracted by Nyx, Enrique unleashed his full firepower.
“Miss! Leave the rear to me!”
“You fall short of my contractor, yet you are worthy of guarding my back.”
Nyx swept Orson through the air.
In response, Polar Night spread out in a wide area.
Tension flickered across the Santa Fe members’ faces.
A moment later.
Every Santa Fe member who had targeted Enrique was dragged into the village with limbs twisted, drooling.
* * *
“……That is what happened.”
Enrique explained the situation.
Yet—
Why was he glancing nervously at Nyx?
While alternating my gaze between Nyx and Enrique, an “Ah” escaped my lips.
So that was it.
Enrique kept stealing glances at the bound Santa Fe members.
Watching them drool with broken arms and legs, his eyes trembled slightly.
He was terrified of Nyx’s merciless methods?
“Thank you for protecting Enrique’s family while I was away.”
“It was your request. It is only natural.”
“Without the goddess, it would have been disastrous.”
“……I am truly grateful.”
Despite his fear of Nyx, Enrique bowed his head.
They had planned to draw aggro from the front while using Stealth to kidnap his parents.
The gang had been quite clever.
If they had succeeded in abducting Enrique’s parents as planned, he would have had no choice but to comply with their demands.
Thanks to that, they had also placed a burden of guilt on Enrique and prevented the incident that would have caused the Machine Monarch to go astray.
A single slice of cake wouldn’t be enough for this.
“Hehe, I am relieved to have kept my promise with you.”
“I always trust you, Goddess.”
“Do you truly mean that?”
“Yes.”
She was the only one with whom I had shared most of my secrets, save for the fact that I was a regressor.
Nyx probably knew more about me than even my grandfather, my only remaining family.
“Even if it is a lie, it feels pleasant.”
Nyx turned her head away sharply.
It worked out well, since I also had things to discuss with Enrique.
“What will you do with these guys?”
“The gang?”
“Yes. I’ll leave their fate to you.”
A chilling killing intent flickered in Enrique’s eyes.
He looked ready to control his guns and put holes in their heads at any moment.
However—
“I’ll let them go.”
“They threatened your family.”
“I’m leaving this country anyway. I won’t see them again.”
“If you wish, I can wipe out the Santa Fe gang for you.”
I spoke calmly.
“This is a foreign country. Are you sure?”
“As you said, it is a foreign country.”
Han Suchang’s lips twitched before he pressed them shut.
This was not Korea, where public order was guaranteed.
If law enforcement had been functional, Enrique would never have had to fight the gang with guns in the first place.
“As long as no traces are left behind.”
I possessed [Void Mirror].
If I assumed the form of a monster using its essence, it would be difficult to link me to the annihilation of the Santa Fe gang.
“Everything depends on your will.”
Whether to kill or spare them.
And how to deal with the gang that had tormented his family.
Now then—what choice would you make?
Enrique pondered for a long while before answering.
“Just leave them.”
It was an unexpected reply.
“Why?”
“Even if I get rid of these guys, the same kind of people will appear again.”
“Even so, that does not change the fact that they are the ones who tormented you.”
“I won’t see them again anyway. I don’t want to see blood spilled by my own weapons.”
Enrique’s hands trembled.
This kid—
He had never killed anyone before.
He was completely different from the Machine Monarch of my previous life.
It seemed the story that his parents’ deaths had changed his life was true.
I swallowed a laugh.
All the better.
Without needing to go through a rehabilitation process like Ping Lei, I had gained another powerful ally.
“You’re surprisingly kind for someone who opened fire on a stranger.”
When I patted Enrique’s head, he flared up.
“Can you stop treating me like a kid?”
“It’s because you’re so admirable.”
“Ugh.”
After pushing the fuming Enrique aside, I turned to his parents.
“You two should prepare as well.”
“We’ve already packed everything.”
A sudden trip abroad.
Enrique’s parents surprisingly held little attachment to their homeland.
That was how much the gang had tormented them.
“Team Leader.”
“I’ve already contacted the embassy and finalized the arrangements.”
It had taken less than half a day to clear the gate, yet he had already wrapped everything up.
“Then let’s go.”
“We’re short one seat, though.”
When Han Suchang asked, Nyx manifested her spiritual form.
—This should suffice.
“No matter how many times I see it, I can’t get used to it, haha.”
After shaking his head once, Han Suchang took the wheel.
Enrique’s family sat in the back seat.
It was a historic day—the day the Machine Monarch, who would one day become humanity’s betrayer, joined our side as an ally.