Chapter 96
Chapter 96
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Just Going Back (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BOOM!
The grenade flew toward the helicopter's propeller.
“You’re insane!”
As Aiden covered his face in horror, Kanghyeok slammed his foot on the accelerator.
VROOOOOM!
The engine roared as if it would burst, and the car shot forward as if snatched away. Moments later, the grenade reached the propeller and erupted in a massive explosion.
KRA-KOOM!
The blast engulfed the propeller, creating a pillar of fire.
CRUUUNCH!
The helicopter, hovering about three meters off the ground, tilted and clawed at the earth with its propeller.
The car only stopped after it was a safe distance from the helicopter, which thrashed like a beast in its final throes.
A dusky gloom rolled in from the west, a time of day when it was impossible to tell if a distant shape was a dog or a wolf.
Clack, clatter! Grrrind!
The helicopter's broken propeller continued to turn, albeit slowly.
From inside the car, Kanghyeok stared at the helicopter.
He couldn't look away.
“What is that?”
Aiden, sitting beside him, muttered the question, but neither Kanghyeok nor Leila answered.
The men emerging from the helicopter.
They commanded all attention, swallowing every gaze.
*Are they robots?*
The thought crossed his mind because their gear was so extreme.
Their heads, chests, and entire bodies were encased in jet-black body armor.
“That’s no ordinary body armor.”
Leila murmured, wary of them.
He couldn't agree more.
Their armor looked much thicker than standard issue, as if equipped with shock absorbers.
The men crawled out of the crashed helicopter as if nothing had happened.
Special body armor with the appearance and performance to match a grizzly bear.
The first thought that came to mind upon seeing it?
*Iron Mask.*
As far as Kanghyeok knew, he was the only one who could field equipment like that.
Click-clack.
The men checked their weapons and began to approach Kanghyeok's car.
*How many grenades left?*
Two ready to use.
The situation was dire.
He had to make a decision.
Flee and leave them behind.
Or eliminate them.
“What are you doing? Go!”
Aiden, sensing instinctively that these were no ordinary men, raised his voice, but Kanghyeok kept his eyes fixed on them.
Would it be okay, though?
Even if he left them be?
The fact that they followed him this far meant they might know his destination.
If he fled, he might run into them and their reinforcements while trying to rescue Jeff.
Thud, thud.
Seven of them, their backs to the darkness, approached and raised their muzzles.
Kanghyeok bit his lower lip and made his decision.
Clack!
Raising his shotgun, Kanghyeok fired a grenade into their midst.
THWUMP!
The grenade flew and landed right in front of them. Then, as if waiting for it, one of the men dove on top of it.
KA-BOOM!
What insane armor.
The man who had covered the grenade with his body only had his arms and legs blown off.
Normally, dealing with a grenade like that would send body parts flying into the sky.
Anyone nearby would be injured too.
The fact that this didn't happen showed just how incredible their armor was.
*Is he trying to get revenge on me?*
On the cruise ship, Kanghyeok had fought Iron Mask's subordinates.
They had shown that they didn't die even when shot.
All the survivors had been eliminated, but if Iron Mask had gathered information about Kanghyeok before killing them, it made sense why he would arm his men like this.
But there was one thing he didn't understand.
How did he know Kanghyeok was here and manage to follow him?
“Who cares.”
Kanghyeok muttered as if spitting out his anger and fired another grenade.
This time, however, he didn't fire it at them.
Between them and the car.
KA-BOOM!
The grenade exploded, creating a deafening roar and a thick cloud of dust.
“Get out!”
Kanghyeok was the first to jump out, followed by Leila and Aiden.
Immediately after, their bullets slammed into the car.
Th-th-th-th-thud! PING! PING!
Bullets from their rifles and pistols riddled the driver's and back seats.
Kanghyeok took a stance and raised his pistol toward them through the dissipating cloud of sandy dust.
BANG! BANG!
He saw it clearly.
Sparks flying from their chests and heads.
And yet, they continued to walk toward him like immortals. Kanghyeok licked his lips and curled them into a smile, baring his canines.
He glanced at Leila.
“Your orders.”
Leila was also looking at him, and their eyes met.
“Covering fire.”
“Understood.”
There was nowhere to hide.
Nowhere to take cover, nothing to use as a shield.
So, Kanghyeok rose to his feet, pistol in hand.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Leila, who had thrown herself behind the car, unleashed a hail of bullets from her rifle, and Aiden, after wrapping the gun sling around his arm, also laid down covering fire.
Rat-a-tat-tat! P-p-p-pow!
As their bullets converged on the car, Kanghyeok sprinted toward them with all his might.
One of them turned his muzzle toward Kanghyeok.
BANG! BANG!
The moment the man saw Kanghyeok, pistol rounds struck his helmet. He'd aimed for the eyes, but the full-face helmet perfectly deflected the bullets.
Still, there were instincts.
The instinct to blink or flinch when a punch flies toward your eyes.
The man turned his head, and Kanghyeok, now close enough, shot him in the knee, shoulder, and neck in succession.
Thwack!
There was a reaction.
Only when he shot the neck.
“Urgh!”
As an irrepressible groan escaped from within the man's helmet, Kanghyeok gripped his shotgun.
BOOM!
The close-range shotgun blast lifted the man off his feet and sent him sprawling backward.
BOOM!
Kanghyeok fired another blast at the man's head before turning the shotgun on the others.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Rat-a-tat-tat!
The relentless shotgun blasts aimed at their heads, combined with Leila and Aiden's covering fire, made the men falter.
Just then, the man who had been knocked down pushed himself off the ground and started to get up.
BOOM!
Kanghyeok shot him in the face again, knocking him back down, then pulled the trigger of his pistol to find the armor's weakest point.
Ping!
Not the chest.
Ping!
Not the groin either.
Ping!
“Aaargh!”
The man screamed when he shot his fingers.
Kanghyeok broke the fingers on both his hands with pistol rounds so he could never pull a trigger again.
BANG!
Just then, one of the men fired his pistol at Kanghyeok.
(Kanghyeok!)
Leila's voice came through the comms, but it couldn't stop the bullet. Kanghyeok reflexively covered his head, but the round struck his shoulder.
“Kuh!”
A grunt escaped him, along with a question.
*What is this?*
The impact isn't as strong as I expected.
He wondered if men so focused on armor would bring small-caliber weapons, but that wasn't it.
The moment he saw his wounded shoulder, he knew the answer.
The fabric was damaged in a flower-like pattern, as if stamped with a toy.
*R.I.P. rounds.*
Rounds shaped like a closed flower bud.
Less powerful than standard rounds, but a gruesome piece of work.
Optimized solely for killing people, these rounds split into multiple fragments upon entering the human body, spreading out like a blooming flower.
Something like that would tear up your insides.
A shot to the stomach would leave a hollow cavity as if gnawed by a beast, and a hit to a muscle would damage all the tendons and ligaments.
These guys had brought those rounds.
It felt like they had brought them for Kanghyeok, who didn't die from normal bullets, as if to say, 'How about this?'
BOOM! BOOM!
Kanghyeok blasted the man's head with the shotgun, then gave another dose to the one who was faltering as he tried to stand.
BANG!
“Spread out! Spread out!”
The five standing men moved toward Leila and Aiden.
BOOM!
Kanghyeok knocked down one who dared to face him alone and then shot at the ankles of the retreating men with his pistol.
Ping! Ping!
Two of them stumbled, but didn't scream, as if their boots were reinforced with steel plates.
“Leila! Two coming your way!”
(Understood!)
“Their armor is tough. Aim for the fingers!”
(...I'll try.)
Her voice lacked a bit of confidence.
But he had no time to offer encouragement.
BOOM!
He kept the men trying to get up at bay with his shotgun, but they were desperate. Despite being heavily armed, he could sense their anxiety as the fight dragged on longer than expected.
BOOM!
When one fell, another tried to rise.
He'd knock that one down, and another would get up.
Just as he felt like he was playing a meaningless game of whack-a-mole, the shotgun ran out of ammo.
Only one magazine left.
“Grrr.”
Three were getting up.
In his urgency, Kanghyeok lowered the shotgun and drew his pistol. He grabbed the wrist of a standing man and spun his body wide.
CRACK!
The man's body armor couldn't prevent his joint from being broken.
“Aaaaargh!”
Kanghyeok pulled him into a chokehold from behind.
The others boldly fired at their captured comrade, and Kanghyeok used him as a shield as he backed away.
Rat-a-tat! Rat-a-tat!
The men fired relentlessly, trying to land even a single shot on Kanghyeok.
Click.
Kanghyeok held the pistol in his teeth and reloaded with one hand.
Then he examined the hostage's gear at close range.
Figuring out the structure of this body armor came first.
“Eeeek!”
The man tried to turn, so Kanghyeok shot him in the ankle.
“Aaaah!”
It was a difficult situation to remain calm in, with the rain of enemy bullets and the screams right in front of him.
But Kanghyeok maintained his composure as best he could and found the armor's fastening points.
Click.
As he unfastened a buckle on the side of the armor, the man's movements momentarily ceased.
He could feel the man's body stiffen with bewilderment.
However, the complex armor didn't come off easily just by undoing one buckle.
Still, it created an opening.
An opening big enough to shove the muzzle of his pistol into.
Kanghyeok pushed the pistol inside the armor, aiming for the man's spine.
“W-wait!”
BANG!
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
As his vertebrae shattered and nerves were severed, the man's legs gave out.
“Aaargh! Aaaaaaaargh!”
The other men hesitated at the sound of his screams, muffled and unable to escape the full-face helmet.
BANG! BANG!
Kanghyeok pulled the trigger repeatedly, determined to completely shatter the man's spine.
Then he noticed the helmet's fastening mechanism.
To be precise, a small port for inserting a drinking tube caught his eye, and Kanghyeok moved his muzzle to it.
BANG!
It was a black-coated helmet.
Even so, he could see the blood that erupted from within drenching the inside of the helmet.
The man who had fallen with broken fingers, and the two who were standing off against Kanghyeok, all froze.
Did they really not expect to die?
When you shoot at others, you have to be prepared to be shot yourself.
Kanghyeok always fought with that resolve.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
That's why he could remain calm even when they unleashed a desperate hail of bullets, and he could wait for the moment to strike back.
PING-PING-PING!
Using the armored corpse to block the bullets, Kanghyeok reloaded his shotgun.
It was a bulky drum magazine, so he had only brought one.
Still, he felt no regret, as he had now figured out how to stop them.
Clack!
After inserting the magazine into the shotgun, Kanghyeok let go of the corpse.
And raised the shotgun.
BOOM! BOOM!
With the first shots, he aimed for their chests and knees.
“Nngh!”
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
As the two men fell, Kanghyeok pinned one of them to the ground with his foot on his chest.
Then, he perfectly covered the small hole in the man's helmet with the muzzle of his shotgun.
He pressed the stock against his shoulder to brace for the recoil.
He gripped the handguard with his left hand to keep the weapon steady.
He didn't align his sights with his line of vision.
Instead, he stared at the man's face, hidden behind the coated helmet.
And,
BOOOOM!
He pulled the trigger.
Blood spread inside the helmet, and the man's arms and legs went limp.