Chapter 69: The Temptation of Paradise (3)
[No idea what you’re doing, but keep focusing!]
Tududududu……!
The flashes spewing from the muzzle sared across my vision.
Matafil stood firmly in place to protect Diesel, firing at the guards who had breached through the southern gate.
“This way!”
The first few had their heads blown apart the mont they set foot in the Mana Reaction Chamber, but there were far too many enemies pouring in to keep dealing with them like that.
“A cyborg gunner! Take cover properly!”
“Damn it……. What the hell is this…… kuhk……!”
Before long, the bastards hiding behind pillars and walls began returning fire at Matafil.
“Keep spraying them down!”
Ting, ting, ting……!
To him, outfitted with high-performance subdermal armor, the bullets were nothing more than an itch.
But that kind of sturdy armor didn’t cover his entire body.
“The eyes! Aim for the eyes!”
‘Damn it…….’
Gunfire concentrated on his face, the part that was inevitably weaker.
The goggles he was wearing had so ballistic protection, but there was clearly a limit.
‘They’re tougher than I thought.’
Seeing how they didn’t even flinch as their comrades dropped dead, they weren’t so ragtag mob but guards who had received proper combat training.
In response, Matafil pulled out a new weapon.
Tuk, tuk.
He dipped his waist slightly, as if in greeting.
Then the skin on the cyborg’s back parted, and small missiles pushed out their warheads.
‘Three behind the pillar, five behind the machinery, two beyond the wall.’
The instant the targets were locked by the aim-correction system.
Pushushushuk……!
Several missiles tore through the air.
“Get down……!”
As if getting down would save them.
Perfectly guided projectiles spewed smoke as they headed straight for the targets’ foreheads.
And then.
Pubeobeong……!
Kkeuaaaak……!
With explosions mixed with screams, the interior was swept clean in a single wave.
“Don’t rush—advance slowly!”
The next group that surged in was more seasoned than the first.
Realizing how dangerous their opponent was, they blanketed the entrance with smoke grenades before advancing.
‘Annoying smoke.’
Judging by how even goggles with special vision couldn’t see through it, this wasn’t an ordinary smoke grenade.
From within, the sound of military boots echoed, thud, thud.
‘At least eight.’
[Gre— throw—!]
At that mont, the crackling voices of the bastards rang through Matafil’s comms.
He didn’t know how he’d managed to tap into the enemy’s closed channel, but there was no ti to worry about that.
He knew all too well how dangerous the word “grenade” he’d just heard was.
‘Are these lunatics seriously popping grenades in their own reaction chamber……?’
Right behind where Matafil was standing, Diesel was seated.
If a grenade went off here, not only Diesel but even Pinkbit, who was still gasping for breath, would be in danger.
[Thrown— kuhk……!]
The mont the bastard poked his head out from cover, Matafil—who had been waiting—shot him squarely between the eyes.
Kwaaang……!
At the sa ti, a thunderous blast erupted behind the pillar.
‘They could try again.’
This ti he’d managed to stop it before the throw, but if they tossed one from a blind spot beyond cover, there’d be no answer.
To prevent that, he had to press the attack relentlessly.
So they wouldn’t even dare to think about it.
As the cyborg thrust his left arm diagonally forward, his skin split open and the entire arm transford into a grenade launcher.
Then, with a pong, a blunt grenade arced through the air.
Kwagwaang……!
Once again, a thunderous explosion shook the Mana Reaction Chamber.
Several more blasts followed, rattling the building.
Even so, he couldn’t finish them all off that way.
‘Persistent bastards…….’
The grenades had long since run out.
He even used another volley of small missiles to hold them back.
The automatic feeder mounted on his shoulder resupplied the rifle with ammunition.
Even the rifle rounds he’d brought in abundance were running low.
Matafil took stock of the situation.
Out of forty guards, only five remained alive.
They, too, seed to realize that Matafil was no easy opponent, as they no longer moved rashly.
Instead, they carefully laid down smoke and struck precisely at his weak points.
As a result, his goggles were nearly shattered, and blood was flowing from near his collarbone.
Even so, he couldn’t take cover.
The spot where he stood was the only chokepoint shielding Pinkbit and Diesel.
If he moved even a little, his defenseless teammates would be targeted imdiately.
So he had no choice but to grit his teeth and take every attack head-on.
[Diesel……! Is it still far……?]
Unable to endure it any longer, he finally called out his na, but there was no reply.
The man who, just monts ago, had been chewing and swallowing spirit cores like a madman now had his eyes closed, struggling to control sothing.
What on earth was he thinking?
By Matafil’s common sense, he had no idea what the man was doing, but his instincts were screaming sothing at him.
That if he didn’t save that man sohow, there was no hope of escaping this place.
Ting, ting……!
Bullets flying out of the smoke slamd precisely into Matafil’s subdermal armor.
“Kuh……!”
At last, the collarbone area they’d been persistently targeting burst open with a deep wound.
Blood gushed out heavily—serious enough to be dangerous if he didn’t act imdiately.
[I’m almost at my limit…….]
Then.
The one thing he most didn’t want to imagine happened.
The bastards finally threw a grenade.
“……!”
He hurriedly sprayed rifle fire into the air.
One round hit, but for so reason, it didn’t trigger a detonation.
The mont Matafil saw the shape of the grenade suspended midair, he realized what kind of weapon it was.
‘Damn those bastards…….’
「Eraser Mk. 2」
A plasma grenade that had been displayed at the exhibition hall in the Artist District.
That explained why it remained intact even after being hit by rifle fire.
During its throw, it was surrounded by a small protective shield.
Moreover, it was equipped with a sensor that caused it to explode the instant it reached the user’s desired radius, making any attempt to kick it away or grab and throw it back completely impossible.
With a kill radius of 20 ters, it was a model designed for anti-personnel use, and upon detonation, its horrific flas would literally erase everything within that radius.
The point where that monstrous weapon was expected to land was less than three ters away from where his teammates were.
In other words, if it went off, everyone would die.
‘So this is how it ends.’
Having made his decision, the man took action imdiately, without the slightest hesitation.
He threw his own body over the grenade.
“Don’t……!”
A voice he was hearing for the first ti rang out from behind.
Glancing back, he saw Pinkbit—who had just regained consciousness—screaming at him at the top of her lungs.
As if she’d realized what he was about to do.
She desperately unleashed turquoise mana in an attempt to block the grenade sohow, but she couldn’t overco the performance of the jamrs densely filling the surrounding space.
“First ti I’ve heard your voice.”
It was a cute voice that matched her appearance well.
I thought I understood why she hadn’t spoken until now.
‘She really hated being called cute.’
After hearing that, how could anyone possibly hold back from calling her cute?
It felt like I’d finally uncovered one of the secrets Pinkbit had been keeping tightly hidden, and a small chuckle slipped out.
[I’m fine, Pinkbit.]
I reassured her like that as I threw my body forward.
It was also sothing I was saying to myself.
A barbarian-style cyborg wouldn’t die from sothing like th—
The words that followed never made it out of my mouth.
Instead, a trendous explosion swallowed his body whole.
“——Ma……! No……. No…….”
I opened my eyes.
With the newly acquired mana coursing through .
Pajijijijik……!
Reflexively, I unleashed chaining lightning toward the distant enemies.
A high-powered Lightning-type spell that automatically jumped to other targets within its radius.
“Kkeuaaaak……!”
Judging by the screams coming from behind cover, it hit properly.
‘…….’
It was over now.
With this power, I could break through the crisis we were facing.
At least, I should have been able to.
‘What is this…….’
Hazy dust drifted across my vision.
Within it, Pinkbit was clutching Matafil’s body, which looked like a torn rag, utterly at a loss.
I quickly assessed the situation.
The traces where the cyborg’s steel-like skin had lted away.
The surrounding signs of an explosion.
‘Did he throw himself over the grenade.’
We had to move him to a safe place first.
Where he’d fallen was a completely open space without a shred of cover.
I dragged the cyborg’s body and hid behind a pillar.
The condition I saw was even more horrific than I’d expected.
Below the waist and both arms were gone without a trace, and his chest—skin and even bone entirely lted away—left his organs fully exposed.
At least his breath was barely clinging on; I could see his heart beating weakly with my own eyes.
‘If I heal him now with a water spirit…….’
Could soone who was practically a corpse even be saved?
I pushed the thought aside and hurriedly drew a summoning circle in midair.
At that mont, Matafil grabbed my hand.
“Di……sel…….”
“……!”
Pinkbit, who was beside us, flinched and shook her head rapidly.
It was probably a sign telling him not to speak anymore.
“Did it…… work……?”
Even so, the man asked with a faint smile on his lips.
I nodded at him.
“Yeah. I took care of the remaining guards too.”
“That’s…… a relief…….”
“Shut your mouth and conserve your strength. I’ll summon a water spirit and heal you.”
“No……. I’m…… already…….”
As he kept forcing the words out, Pinkbit puffed her cheeks angrily.
Her eyes were brimming with tears.
Soon, a water spirit, Nereid, appeared in midair.
〈Ah, mage. What is it today? Don’t tell you’re asking for that again…….〉
〈Please heal this man.〉
The spirit looked down at the gasping Matafil and frowned slightly.
〈A human made of steel, huh.〉
〈Can you do it?〉
〈I can’t guarantee it. I don’t know how to handle such violent techniques.〉
Muttering in a grumbling tone, she imdiately began treatnt, releasing gentle streams of water.
I stood up and spoke to Pinkbit.
“If we destroy the jamrs, can you open a portal right away?”
The Baekto Tribe Beastman wiped her tears and nodded.
“I won’t be able to worry about things here anymore. As soon as you can open a portal, move to the place we planned earlier.”
After saying that, I turned my body around.
That was when.
Pinkbit’s small hand grabbed .
“……?”
When I turned back, she spoke with a face full of rage.
“Kill…… them all…….”
A cute voice recited words that were anything but cute.
Kill them all.
If necessary, that’s what I’d have to do.
I nodded to her and started walking.
It was ti to put an end to this wretched job.
〈I was able to partially intercept their internal closed communications through hacking.〉
Ar hurriedly fed information from within my arms.
It seed he hadn’t just been sitting around doing nothing while I absorbed the power of the spirit cores.
〈I obtained two pieces of information, and both are bad news.〉
〈Tell .〉
〈First, the call for gacorp agents has been changed to an ergency order, so there’s less than ten minutes until they arrive here. It could be even faster.〉
That was tighter than expected.
If I didn’t deal with Heavyskull before then, our chances of making it out alive would drop even further.
〈The other is about the phenonon happening right in front of your eyes right now, Master.〉
I looked at the sparks wildly flashing at the center of the Mana Reaction Chamber.
〈A spirit.〉
〈Yes. Heavyskull even temporarily stopped implenting magic in order to summon a spirit.〉
Its form hadn’t fully manifested yet, but just the signs were enough to tell what kind of spirit it was.
‘A lightning spirit……. Did he summon it using another core to be inserted into the heart?’
More important than that was how strong it was.
〈What’s the rank?〉
〈It’s estimated to be Type-15.〉
Type-15.
A high-grade spirit that would normally only be used on the front lines of corporate warfare.
〈It’s already too late to stop the summoning. It’s reached the stage where it’s forming a body.〉
‘A last-ditch struggle.’
It would take roughly two more minutes for the Electric Field Heavyskull was deploying to be completed.
The fact that he summoned a spirit the mont he sensed my new power suggested he judged his own magic alone wouldn’t be enough.
〈Any reaction from Kang Da-hee’s side?〉
〈Not yet.〉
The most critical variable was still uncertain.
‘Let’s deal with what’s right in front of us first.’
I pushed aside the many worries surfacing and focused my thoughts.
‘A lightning spirit, huh…….’
I looked at the crackling electric arcs.
‘Looks like he didn’t know what kind of power I obtained.’
If he had, he wouldn’t have summoned a lightning spirit.
Of course, since you can only summon a lightning spirit with a lightning spirit core, that might’ve been the reason.
‘Can’t wait to see the look on that skull bastard’s face.’
Soon, a form began to erge from the blue sparks.
The figure of a spirit bearing the trendous rank of Type-15.
And I knew exactly how to turn it against him.
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