Taesung (2)
"Let's treat right now as your adjustment period for that new arm."
That was how Sapi put it.
"Might as well go find an inn while we're at it."
"Fine."
And with that, I saved my save point—because the last thing I wanted was to repeat this whole tedious process from scratch. Nodding along with Sapi's plan, I moved to follow him up ahead—
—until Sapi froze mid-step and seized my wrist.
"Stop."
One curt word from Sapi.
"Enemies."
"What?"
Sapi's senses were sharper than mine. No—maybe I should call it outstanding intuition. Either way, he always acted as if he knew everything before it happened.
"For now, just don't drift away from me—"
Then, abruptly, his face went rigid. A heartbeat later he shoved me hard and roared.
"GET AWAY!! NOW!"
And in that very instant—
— BOOM!!!!
A tremendous explosion tore through the spot where we'd been standing. Sapi had shoved me clear, but not far enough; one of my legs was blown clean off.
"CHARGE!! CHARGE!!"
Where the blast had gone off, a muscular man with a pompadour was whooping with delight, chanting nothing but charge over and over. Our eyes met.
"Judging by that airborne leg, the snipe was a success!!"
So saying, the musclebound man hurled a fist at my head—and the result was exactly what you'd expect: my skull burst open.
"Hah... hah..."
This was the point just after I'd handed my prosthetic arm off for repairs and stepped back outside. The muscleman had killed me in broad daylight, right in the middle of town.
Staying like this was dangerous. But if we ran, the enemy would only keep hunting us, and I'd be stuck in an endless game of cat and mouse with whoever was lying in wait. I hated that kind of life.
So they had to die for certain, right here in this town. And this time, I would be the one to speak first.
"Sapi. We've got enemies."
"What?"
Sapi faltered for a moment at my words, but within seconds his expression hardened into something grave.
"Then let's throw the first punch."
With that, Sapi drew a pistol from at his side.
"Can you even hit anything with a pistol?"
"Yep. This isn't some ordinary gun—it's a relic."
The pistol morphed into a sniper rifle, and Sapi's rifle swung toward one of the buildings.
— BANG!!
The gun roared. I set my checkpoint at this exact moment. A fight just beginning—and one where we'd landed the first blow and held the advantage, at that. Checking in here always made the fights easier.
"Sorry. Couldn't manage a headshot."
"But you did hit them?"
"Yeah. Got them in the shoulder."
"Then all I have to do is watch out for one wounded enemy. Easy win."
"Hm... it's not that simple. There are two assassins."
"What?"
The instant he said it, plant vines came whipping toward us.
"Ghhk—!"
I was caught off guard, but I shredded them with my prosthetic arm. I tried to look around and read the situation—and yet my gaze went to one place, and one place only.
The man with the sky-blue hair and the flower bouquet where his arm should have been.
"That's a part of my body, so kindly don't manhandle it, my lady."
"Sapi, is this guy an enemy too?"
"Yeah. He is."
At that, the sleazy man broke into a grin. And then Sapi suddenly shouted.
"GET AWAY FROM THERE!!"
"?!"
I knew that line. I'd heard it in the last round, after all.
— BOOM!!!
The ground burst apart with the blast. Thankfully, this time we got clear.
"Damn it!!! To think I'd botch the snipe.... I'm disqualified from Charging!!"
The musclebound man began to weep in the most theatrical fashion.
"Doljin, you bastard!!! Quit blubbering and kill the rabbit lady first!! I'll take the yellow-haired one!"
"Sniff... how cruel of you, Dadan... well, it's what Friend asked of us, so I suppose I'll comply for now."
And with that, the muscleman came charging straight at me. His feet never moved. And yet he came hurtling at me in a dead-straight line at an abnormal speed.
"?!"
I shifted sideways and evaded the attack.
"Sapi, you okay? Can you handle yours alone?"
"I'm fine. Beat that bastard down."
I decided to trust Sapi this time. Which meant it was time to analyze the opponent I'd be fighting.
The muscleman's ability was, I figured, some kind of straight-line charge. But the destructive force behind it was monstrous.
"Hey, hey, Lebetri girl!! No daydreaming mid-fight—eyes on me!"
"Tch."
The muscleman abandoned his charge and simply sprinted in, fist flying. I dodged it by a hair.
But the attacks kept coming in relentless succession. Normally I could've slipped past them with room to spare and struck back—
"Hey! Focus, girl!!"
"Ha... shit..."
For some reason, my attention kept getting dragged toward the sleazy man fighting Sapi, and the battle was turning against me. The unfamiliar prosthetic arm was a major hindrance, too.
The one mercy was that Sapi was handling his own fight beautifully.
"Lebetri! That man—Dadan! He's carrying a blessing!"
"?"
"A blessing that drags your eyes to him whether you want it or not."
So that was why my gaze kept sliding over to him on its own. If this was what was putting me at a disadvantage—
I compressed everything into a Linear Leap and fled beyond the reach of his gaze!
"Hey, girl! Where do you think you're going? You're supposed to fight me!"
"Then catch up with that Charge you love so much!"
"Taunt me like that and I'll have to take you up on it!"
The musclebound man started after me using his charge ability. Thank goodness. It would've been a problem if he hadn't followed. I had to get out of the blessing's range as fast as I could.
And then—pain seized my heart.
"Ghk?!"
What? Why did my heart hurt? And why was Sapi's face flashing through my mind?
What the hell is this now.... whatever—keep running—
— Pop!
I heard something burst. Nothing in my field of view—but I felt it all the same, the sensation of something giving way.
My heart just exploded?!
— Thud.
Blood poured from my mouth, and this round, too, came down its curtain.
Back to today, once more.
"Sorry. Couldn't manage a headshot."
Sapi began to speak. Vines came flying at me—and this time, without getting snared, I ripped them apart with ease.
"How violent of you, rabbit lady."
"Sapi! This bastard has a blessing!"
"Hm, oh? Good to know—thanks."
"And..."
I let the moment hang.
"I can't be certain, but I think he has an ability that bursts hearts. No idea what the conditions are."
"How does this rabbit lady know my ability..."
"Thanks for the info. I'll dig up the conditions myself."
"FUCK!!! Doljin, you bastard, get over here and help, now!"
Instinct screamed that something was incoming from far away. But my eyes stayed locked on the sleazy man. Normally I'd have counterattacked while dodging the incoming strike—
—but with my gaze nailed in place, all I could do was begrudgingly evade.
— BOOM!!
"Ooh, ooh—dodging that beautifully? How very impressive."
"Sapi! You take the greasy bastard!"
"Got it, Lebetri."
"Why am I the greasy bastard, huh, you bitch!!"
Dadan's fury-laden bellow rang out across the city.
I'm Sapi.
Right now, I had to fight the man with the bouquet dangling from his arm.
This one kept his distance, attacking with the vines sprouting from the bouquet—almost certainly the result of monsterization, his original arm having rotted into a bunch of flowers.
For someone who could see the future like me, these attacks were laughably easy to evade.
In other words, this fight heavily favored me. As if to prove the point, my opponent did nothing but stumble backward, step after step. And for every step he retreated, all I had to do was press forward.
Besides, with him drifting farther and farther from his partner, calling for help wouldn't come easy either.
— Heh.
For just a moment—a very brief moment—the sleazy man smiled. The smile of a man who felt something going exactly according to plan.
'I can't be certain, but I think he has an ability that bursts hearts. No idea what the conditions are.'
For a split second, Lebetri's face flickered through my mind, along with the words she'd spoken back then. An ability that bursts hearts... I turned my focus to the sensations in my own chest.
It ached more than usual. No—the pain was intensifying.
If he truly had an ability like that, why hadn't he used it yet? Which meant there was a condition. What could it be? A time limit?
I looked into the future.
The man was riddled with bullet holes from taking shot after shot—mortally wounded. But before long, I was the one clutching my chest in agony. Then I fell. Then I died.
That was what the future held. So—time to reason it out with nothing but that.
Was there any reason to endure a losing fight and flee, at the cost of being cut off from his partner? The muscleman's ability looked to be a charge. With it, he could rush over in moments and catch us in a pincer. And yet Dadan hadn't called his partner over. He'd run.
Almost as if...
Almost as if he were trying to pry me and Lebetri apart.
"?!"
"What's with that face! Eyes on me, I said!!"
"Lebetri! Over here!!"
"!!"
Without pausing to question it, Lebetri leaped swiftly to my side.
"Damn it—grab them!! Doljin!!"
"Ooh, ooh—far too late to be catching anyone now, Dadan."
Lebetri made it to me.
"Listen up, you greasy piece of work. This bastard's ability bursts our hearts the moment we drift too far apart."
"How does this leeching parasite know my ability..."
"Ooh, ooh—what a shame. It would seem Plan A has failed."
The sleazy Dadan was gnashing his teeth, seething. The muscleman, meanwhile, was lamenting their misfortune in a playful tone.
I could hear a crowd converging. Among them appeared members of Taesung—the syndicate that kept order in this city.
I'd expected as much. Just how stupid were these enemies, attacking us in a city run by a criminal organization? Fighting here meant friction with the syndicate's own people...
Or—maybe that, too, was part of their plan.
"Everyone, hands up. Move and you die."
"Whoa, whoa—easy there, my violent lady. I'm on your side."
"What? Who even are you—"
I held up the ring on my finger.
"You can't be serious—that's..."
The Taesung enforcer's voice trembled.
"That's right. Bestowed upon me by Red Jade himself."
Gulp...
"I came here under orders from Red Jade to kill a woman called Lebetri. My lady."
"Even so, this is Taesung's territory—pulling something like this so brazenly..."
"You're telling me you'd defy Red Jade's will, right here in Taesung? Hmm?"
The voice was dripping with amusement, yet it turned the air ice-cold. Of course, this ring had actually come from that white-haired woman—but she'd handed it over for moments exactly like this one, hadn't she?
"That lady over there—Lebetri—terrorized a drug factory."
"Is that so?"
"Ha... so that's how it was."
Lebetri's companion, the yellow-haired man, let out a sigh and began readying something.
"Lebetri! Carry me and run! We absolutely cannot let ourselves get separated!!"
And just like that, the insufferable yellow-head who'd shouted it went bounding off into the distance in great hops, hanging off the rabbit lady's back the whole way.
"Hey... hurry up and catch them. Are you planning to defy Red Jade's will?"
"N-no, ma'am! We'll take them into custody at once!"
"Sapi. Let's run for outside the town."
"What?"
"Got a problem with that?"
"Hm... no. Coming from you, I think it might actually work. Let's go."
Sapi mulled it over for a moment, then agreed with my plan to flee beyond the town.
The passage leading out. The tunnel. And the instant we leaped toward it—
"CHARGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
—with the muscleman's roar, the two of us were crushed to death beneath him.
Back to today. Again.
"Sorry. Couldn't manage a headshot."
Sapi began to speak. Vines flew at me—and I ignored them entirely, leaping in a straight line.
Straight at Dadan, and no one else.
"What the—?!"
Then I drew out the artifact hammer and brought it smashing down onto Dadan's chest.
"KRAAGH!!"
"Ghhk...."
Dadan doubled over, clutching his chest and writhing in pain that would never fade. And then my own heart began to ache.
At the same instant, Sapi's smiling face flashed through my mind. So Dadan's ability had kicked in. Before I drifted any farther from Sapi... before my heart gave out—I was taking this bastard down!!
"HELP ME!!!"
Dadan's scream. With it came the sensation of the muscleman hurtling toward us.
— KRA-BOOM!!
An explosion went off. And there, at its center, stood the muscleman. Thankfully, I moved fast enough to get clear.
But my heart had reached its limit.
I crumpled to the ground, clutching my chest and nothing more. But the muscleman walked past me—straight toward Dadan.
"Ooh, ooh. You holding up all right there, Dadan?"
"Does this look 'all right' to you, ghhk..."
The man called Dadan had lost both his legs to that blast.
"Ooh, ooh. Would that count as combat-incapacitated, then?"
"Yes!! So carry me somewhere safe already—"
"Ooh, ooh. And why, pray tell, would I do that?"
"What?"
The muscleman's face went dead serious.
"Sorry, but I have no use for a worthless comrade who can't even Charge anymore."
"Wh... what..."
"I'll just have to ask This to find me a partner better suited to Charging, then."
With that, the muscleman charged off into the far distance.
"Ghhk.. ha... ha..... AHAHAHAHAHAHA"
Perhaps he couldn't believe what was happening, because the man called Dadan began laughing like a madman.
"No use for useless comrades, is it? Well, neither do I!! I've just reworked my Love Line to run straight to you, muscleman—and to Lebetri! I'll complete my mission AND kill the traitor!!"
Hearing that, I tried to leap at the muscleman at once. But—
my prosthetic arm had glitched out and started moving on its own, throwing off my Linear Leap. And just like that, I figured this round was done for, too.
And yet, the madly cackling Dadan didn't stay amused for long.
— BANG!!
A gunshot rang out. The musclebound man toppled over.
"Phew... nice shot."
"Sapi!!"
Sapi had blown the muscleman's head clean off with his sniper rifle.
"Eh? Eh? Eh?"
Dadan babbled inanely, his brain unable to keep pace with events.
— BANG!!
Before long, Dadan's head went flying as well.
From Dadan's corpse, I took exactly one thing.
The gunfire drew Taesung's enforcers in a rush.
"Who the hell are you people? If you don't want to die, don't move a muscle."
"..."
Instead of answering, I simply held up the ring I'd picked off Dadan's corpse moments ago.
"That's... Red Jade's ring..."
"Yeah. The ring that Red Jade bastard was so gracious as to bestow."
"But from what I know, Red Jade only grants his rings to men who've proven their loyalty...."
The Taesung enforcers began slowly drawing their weapons. And at that moment, Sapi cut in.
"Ah, that would be because I lent it to her for a time. The world is in quite a state of turmoil these days, you see. So I lent it to her briefly—in case her companion ever found herself in danger."
"Even so, something about this feels off..."
"Tell me—does casting doubt on me, a man Red Jade has personally acknowledged, not mean casting doubt on Red Jade himself?"
"?!"
It was the first time I'd ever heard a voice so saturated with killing intent come out of Sapi.
"No, sir."
"These two? I killed them for putting Red Jade in a foul mood."
"Understood, sir."
And then, gripping my shoulder, Sapi whispered, "You've gotten a lot better at lying."
I figure all that time spent alongside Sapi had sharpened my knack for this kind of improvisation. Though when it came down to it, it was Sapi's helping hand that sealed the deal.
Which was exactly why Sapi was an exceedingly useful companion to have.