Bad Born Blood Chapter 104

Chapter 104

I felt wronged—no, I felt extrely wronged.

The one who massacred the nobles in the torture facility was Iskan. The only person I killed was Bao Zakanan.

But even if they knew that, the nobles blinded by vengeance wouldn’t differentiate between and Iskan.

Thud-woong!

The machine gun of the ard helicopter spat its first burst of fire. The large-caliber rounds were powerful enough to shatter even my prosthetic arm and leg.

Bang!

At first, it might have sounded like a joke, but it was the sound of a human head exploding. Pieces of brain, no larger than a fingernail, scattered in all directions.

Before the screams of the people could even be heard, a relentless barrage followed. The helicopter’s gunfire swept across the entire banquet hall in its pursuit of .

Tududududu!

The bullets shattered the glass walls, sending tables and dishes flying. The nobles standing near the glass were sucked outside due to the sudden pressure difference.

‘Just how powerful does a noble have to be to pull off sothing like this?’

I narrowed my eyes.

The ard helicopter unleashed its attack without a care for innocent casualties. Anyone standing in a straight line with was being torn apart by the hail of bullets.

‘Ilay, take care of Giselle.’

I glanced at Giselle and Ilay. Ilay was already leading people to safety, including Giselle. Most of the fools in the hall were still frozen, unable to grasp the reality of the situation.

"This way!"

Ilay shouted. He had imdiately realized that I was the helicopter’s target and was guiding the crowd in the opposite direction.

‘Right in the middle of the upper district, and at a noble family’s gathering, no less...’

Even I found it hard to believe.

Most of the people in the banquet hall were nobles. None of them had ever imagined they could die in a place like this. They had always lived believing that death was sothing that happened to others.

...But it wasn’t strange at all. Their perception was shallow, their thoughts short-sighted.

The empire’s noble society was riddled with conspiracies. Exceptional monsters wore friendly smiles as they pointed knives at each other and pulled the trigger. This was rely a mont where that distant malice had surfaced.

Creak, creak.

The machine gun followed my movents.

I maneuvered to draw fire toward an empty area. My mobility was faster than the gun’s rotation, so as long as I secured enough space, dodging wouldn’t be difficult.

“Hoo.”

I exhaled and sharpened my focus. Thanks to Ivan’s advice, I had been prepared for battle, and my nervous system was now at just the right level of activation.

My only weapons were the dagger Graken Vuth and a standard-issue pistol. Crucis and Ruina were left behind. I already miss them.

If I had my personal weapons, I could have easily taken down that ard helicopter. But wishing for sothing I didn’t have wouldn’t make it fall from the sky.

‘This is a bad situation in many ways.’

I was sick and tired of unfavorable conditions and hostile environnts. Complaining about my circumstances wouldn’t change anything. I had to make do with what I had.

My tactical thinking mapped out a route. By moving between the walls and ceiling while considering the rotation radius of the machine gun, I could advance without ever aligning directly with its muzzle. A perfectly safe route.

But soone was in my path.

‘Enrico Lagan!’

I frowned.

Enrico was up ahead, crouched down in panic, unable to figure out what to do.

His position was dangerously overlapping with my planned route. If I moved as intended, his body would be shredded by bullets. He would die for sure.

I quickly devised an alternative route.

I had two choices.

Take the safe and certain path, leaving Enrico to die.

Or take a risk to save him.

I had to decide imdiately.

Screeeech!

I dragged my right foot against the floor, braking hard. As I slowed down, I shifted in the opposite direction. This way, I wouldn’t cross paths with Enrico.

‘I’ll save Enrico.’

This wasn’t weakness. I owed Enrico. And no matter what, this situation was ultimately my fault. If I let him die here, it would bother for years.

The helicopter’s gun trained on . Now it was ti to face the consequences of abandoning the safe option.

The worst situation for a ballistic control user was unpredictable suppressive fire—exactly what was happening now.

Dodging bullets wasn’t about reflexes. It was about high-speed thought processing and calculation-based prediction. The more erratic the fire, the harder the prediction.

‘Think of it as a circular area rather than a linear trajectory.’

There would be errors, but if I limited the machine gun’s fire range to a circular zone, I could move accordingly. Even if I made a mistake, only my extremities would be damaged.

Theory and words were always easy. Action and execution were the hard parts.

Whoosh!

I leaped high and flipped midair. My body barely escaped the line of fire.

A storm of bullets shattered the spot where I had just been.

As I soared upward, gravity pulled down.

There was no ti to adjust my posture for a proper landing.

Bang!

I slamd my fingertips against the floor, accelerating once more. The fingers on my left hand twisted and shattered from the impact.

Thanks to that, I swiftly retreated and completely escaped the machine gun’s range.

‘Secured a safe zone.’

My lips twitched into a fierce grin. Once again, I had seized life from the brink of death. My brain flooded with hormones as if I had taken a drug.

Fear beca numb. I wanted to pull off another acrobatic maneuver like before.

Yeah, a fight to the death was sothing only lunatics engaged in. No sane person would do this.

The ard helicopter’s gun would need considerable movent to track . I had bought ti before it could line up another direct shot.

Ta-at!

I kicked off the ground and sprinted forward. The scenery blurred past . The air was thick with the stench of fuel and blood.

‘Debt repaid, Enrico.’

Enrico, having finally snapped out of his daze, was now stumbling away in a frantic escape. I no longer owed him anything. If a similar situation arose in the future, I would leave him to die.

Click!

I drew my standard-issue pistol and took aim. The distance between and the helicopter had shortened, and my stance was stable. I had a brief mont for precise shooting.

Bang! Taang!

I pulled the trigger in quick succession. The bullets struck the joint between the machine gun and the helicopter. The rounds wedged into the narrow gap, jamming the side-to-side motion of the turret. Only a strained creaking sound remained.

“What... w-what was that just now? What the hell did you do?”

Soone exclaid in astonishnt. I flicked my gaze in their direction.

It was Garcia Carthica. True to his soldier’s nature, he hadn’t run away but had instead prepared to fight. He was hiding behind a pillar, preheating an energy rifle he had acquired from sowhere.

Without turning my head toward him, I simply gave a hand signal requesting cover fire. He seed like a competent soldier, so he would be useful.

However, instead of advancing, I moved toward cover. The helicopter’s movents were unusual.

Kwa-dududuk!

With its machine gun disabled, the helicopter lunged forward, ramming its body into the banquet hall. Its rotor blades scraped against the ceiling and floor, producing an unbearable screech.

Kwaaaaaa!

I ducked behind a pillar, shielding myself from the flying debris and shrapnel.

As the half-destroyed helicopter forcefully entered the hall, its door swung open.

From inside, five combat androids stepped out. They were unauthorized units with no identifiable owner or affiliation.

—Surrender, and you will not be killed, Lukaus Custoria.

The android’s monotonous voice rang out.

“Goddamn it, are these bastards after you?”

Garcia shouted at , as if blaming for the situation.

“Shut up and cover .”

I snapped irritably. There was plenty of ti to point fingers after the battle was over.

‘They want to capture and torture to their heart’s content. That would be a far more satisfying revenge than killing outright.’

That was why they weren’t using explosive weapons.

By now, all civilians had evacuated the banquet hall, thanks to Ilay’s quick action. Only Garcia and I remained, facing off against the androids.

Crunch!

Suddenly, one of the androids’ heads was blown clean off. The sheer force of the impact made it seem as if a bomb had detonated. A lingering red heat sizzled at the stump where its head had been.

The gunshot had co from the entrance of the banquet hall. It wasn’t hard to guess who fired it.

Ilay, who had just finished evacuating the people.

“Well, Luka, I didn’t expect you to still have all your limbs intact.”

Ilay smirked as he readied his pistol for another shot.

Though he called it a pistol, the barrel was as long as a forearm. At a glance, its forward-heavy design made it look unbalanced and unnatural.

‘Ilay’s personal weapon.’

It wasn’t made in an imperial workshop. The pistol bore the crest of the Carthica family. I didn’t know the exact chanics, but it was undoubtedly designed to maximize Ilay’s combat abilities.

“If you’re going to help, hurry up. I’m about to drop dead here.”

I exhaled in relief, pressing my back tightly against the pillar.

Drip.

Blood trickled from my nostrils. My nervous system was overloading. The battle had been short, but it was an exceptionally grueling one. Especially since I had pulled off a death-defying stunt just to save Enrico.

“You took on a helicopter with a machine gun using just a standard-issue pistol? Haha, you’ve turned into a monster yourself.”

Ilay spoke between consecutive shots. His pistol’s firepower far exceeded that of a typical personal firearm. It wasn’t quite on the level of my shock pistol, but every shot detonated on impact, likely using explosive rounds.

Ssshhhh.

Thick smoke and steam billowed from Ilay’s pistol. Despite lacking any visible cooling system, the weapon endured the extre heat, proving its remarkable durability.

Chiiiiik!

Ilay’s hand was lting against the pistol’s heat. His synthetic skin peeled away, revealing the chanical structure of his cybernetic prosthetic.

Boom!

With each of Ilay’s shots, an android was blown apart.

Even though they were built for combat and capable of so degree of ballistic calculation, they couldn’t keep up. The pistol’s absurd muzzle velocity and firepower were beyond what its caliber should have allowed.

Ilay took down all five androids. He then checked the inside of the helicopter to ensure there were no remaining threats.

“This ss is because of you, isn’t it? Answer , Lukaus Custoria. It wasn’t just one or two people who died. And those people were from the Carthica family.”

The mont the situation was over, Garcia pressed for answers.

I didn’t even look at him. Instead, my gaze was fixed on Ilay, who was handling one of the androids’ firearms.

Click.

The sound of a round being chambered reached my ears. My eyes must have widened.

“Ilay, wait—”

Before I could finish speaking, Ilay had already taken aim.

The mont he pulled the trigger, a bullet hole appeared in Garcia’s temple.

Thud.

Garcia collapsed before , his death abrupt and aningless. I frowned openly, making no effort to hide my displeasure.

“I didn’t kill him to cover for you. It was simply the perfect mont to eliminate a competitor. Now, it’ll look like he got caught up in the incident and died.”

Ilay spoke calmly as he tossed the android’s firearm beyond the shattered glass.

“He wasn’t a threat significant enough to kill.”

At my remark, Ilay gave a complicated smile.

“...You’ve gone soft since joining the Custoria family, Luka. That’ll get you killed. The noble society isn’t as forgiving as you think.”

I twisted one side of my lips and stared at him.

“I might not know much about how things work in this world—I co from the bottom, after all. But there’s one thing I do know. What you just did was cowardly, Ilay Carthica.”

“Then you can keep your honor. I’ll take what’s practical.”

We fell silent, both staring outside.

Late as ever, the Security Forces’ aerial vehicles were approaching.

Grit.

I clenched my teeth.

Frustration surged within , boiling up from deep inside.

I was angry at Ilay. But when I thought about it, his actions made sense.

No, the real reason for my anger lay elsewhere.

‘Ilay was right. I...’

Since becoming part of the Custoria family, I had been rusting. Dulling.

The blade that was Luka was losing its edge.