Chapter 256
Team Leader Hank’s words, “Pierce the weakest side,” had a simple meaning.
It meant attacking the one that collapsed first among the three terrorist groups.
From the very beginning, Team Leader Hank had been waiting for Iron Dog Invincible Maximus to move first, picturing a scenario where we would strike right behind him and shrewdly use the path the A-rank Ronin carved out!
If this were the Ronin’s World, it might be considered a dirty and cheap trick.
However, for a Security Team Leader who had to do anything for the safety of the Escort Target, there couldn’t have been a better choice.
Placing Ms. Kali at the vanguard was also an excellent decision.
It was impossible to completely shatter the formation with overwhelming destruction like Iron Dog Invincible Maximus.
But that wasn’t because Ms. Kali lacked skill; it was because her style was different.
If Maximus was absolute strength, Ms. Kali was the opposite - fast and stealthy.
She could never beat Maximus when it came to smashing and tearing apart a clustered Terrorist Gang, but when it came to hunting down the already scattered Luddite Organization, Ms. Kali might actually be superior.
She lunged at a Luddite member moving to fill the gap Maximus had left behind, shattering their leg with a single low kick whipped out as if she were collapsing to the ground.
With a plasma cutter aimed, another Luddite rushing in to help their colleague was giggling as they aimed and were about to pull the trigger, only to drop their jaw in shock when the weapon vanished from their hands in the blink of an eye.
Trickle-
And just like that, they died, pouring blood from their necks.
The wire shot from Ms. Kali’s fingers had managed to disarm the Luddite henchman and slice his artery without anyone noticing!
It was truly a ghost-like skill. A brutal combat style that made me wonder if she was better suited to be an assassin or a ninja rather than a bodyguard.
Thinking of her as an enemy was terrifying, but as an ally, she was more reassuring than anything else.
She didn’t stop there; without even looking back, she aimed her custom tech pistol and with a no-look shot, planted a bullet right into the forehead of a Luddite Gang member aiming at her back, drawing sheer admiration from me.
When Ms. Kali, having fiercely finished the initial sweep, flicked her hand with her red hair fluttering, the remaining group following behind - I, Young Lady Alexandra, and Team Leader Hank - picked up our pace.
Stray bullets occasionally flew our way, but we managed to dodge most of them by hiding behind cover thanks to Team Leader Hank’s timely instructions, and I took a few with my body, trusting my nano-Technique Suit.
Sometimes enemies would cut between Ms. Kali and the main force, but Team Leader Hank lightly smashed them to pieces.
Using a nail gun looted from a dead Luddite and his existing modified pistol, he showcased a refined Gun Kata, lightly punching holes in the heads of three or four members of the Luddite Gang organization.
He wasn’t the Team Leader for nothing.
I… honestly didn’t have much to do.
Perhaps because neither Ms. Kali nor Team Leader Hank had high expectations of me in the first place, they didn’t give me any particular instructions, seemingly just wanting me to stick close to Alexandra and faithfully play the role of a meat shield.
And in that regard, I was definitely an elite Talented Person.
The bullets I had taken with the suit already seemed to amount to a whole pile. Aside from getting a few bruises on my body, there were no problems.
It was a near-perfect distribution of roles! At this rate, it felt like we could escape the banquet Hall safely without any issues.
I was thinking how fortunate it was that things were working out much better than expected.
An anomaly occurred.
Vwoooooom - - .
Dead Cell’s optical weapon shook unsteadily and emitted light as if it were about to explode. The emitted wavelength sharply pricked my skin.
Dead Cell’s technology, which lacked nothing in firepower compared to military weapons but fell far behind in stability, had caused a problem right at this moment of all times.
At the ominous sign, Team Leader Hank stopped running and looked back.
“Those retarded Machine fetishists, those bastards! Get Down!”
At the same time, a deafening roar tore through my ears, and once again, a deep red flash streaked across the air.
Only this time, the destination was not the ground, but the ceiling!
Rumble-!
I desperately wished it wasn’t reality, but the ceiling was collapsing. The upper surface made of crystal cracked and splintered, pouring down like hail.
The difference from hail was that these were massive, super-sized pieces heavy enough to turn a person into absolute mush!
To survive, I had to act with the right timing. Simply getting down and leaving the rest to luck wasn’t enough!
Click-
In response to the sense of crisis, the switch activated.
As I looked up at the sky, an overwhelming flood of information flowed through my pupils.
The positions of the falling rocks, their falling speed, their drop points - phenomena impossible for a human brain to calculate - embedded themselves into my mind in the form of intuition rather than logic, and bloody water flowed from my nose.
The conclusion was that this spot was dangerous. It wasn’t a position for a direct hit, but it was within the impact’s area of effect.
The Floor/Ground was sturdy, so it wouldn’t break, but there was a high risk of getting hurt by the splintering, flying debris.
“We have to move! It’s dangerous to stay like this!”
I shouted reflexively, but there was no change in Team Leader Hank’s expression. He merely cast an indifferent glance this way.
Those frowning wrinkles, the faint corners of his mouth, and his taut, unchanging thigh muscles: He had absolutely no intention of listening to me.
In a way, it was natural. Staying still, getting down, and protecting one’s head was the proven manual in this kind of situation, and there was no guarantee that moving would definitely avoid the collapsing ceiling.
However, I knew what was going to happen.
So, if he wouldn’t listen to my words, I had no choice but to make him listen, even if I had to kick his ass.
It wasn’t just an empty threat.
There wasn’t enough time to persuade him step by step or move him in a nice way.
Wham!
I really did kick the thigh of the lowered Team Leader Hank, sending him rolling to the side!
It was fortunate that Team Leader Hank had taken an unstable stance so he could move at any moment; otherwise, it would have been nearly impossible to push him that far with my strength.
Because his entire lower body was a mechanical prosthetic, even though I was the one who kicked, my foot ended up hurting more.
“You should be thankful!”
I gave a cheeky smile, with a hint of personal satisfaction, toward Team Leader Hank, who was contorting his face and about to yell something at me, and then immediately hugged Alexandra and threw my body to the side.
Soon after.
CRASH-BOOM-BANG――――!
There was a tremendous vibration and noise as if the world were collapsing. My body bounced up and down like a rubber ball.
I knew in my head that the Floor/Ground couldn’t possibly collapse, but the sensation of tearing and breaking made me fear that we might just plummet like this.
The Enhanced Cognitive Ability that made a split second feel as long as eternity gradually faded away. The switch turned off, and when I came to my senses, I was lying face down in the darkness, hugging Alexandra.
In the pitch-black darkness, Alexandra’s starlight-like shining hair was visible, and her sparkling eyes blinked as she looked at me.
It was a situation prone to misunderstanding, but there was no room for embarrassment or wild imaginations to take hold.
The situation was far too serious for that.
“Excuse me.”
I spoke politely and helped Alexandra up.
I looked around, but… the situation wasn’t good.
Massive pieces of gray crystal, which had turned pitch-black and lost their light, were stuck into the Floor/Ground, creating a kind of barrier.
The biggest problem was that the physical barrier had been formed just about a meter ahead.
And the reason this was the biggest problem was that the rest of our companions were beyond this barrier.
Team Leader Hank and Ms. Kali were up ahead, separated from us, unable to cross over.
Here, only the two of us remained - the tomboy and me, the newcomer bodyguard.
It was truly the worst-case emergency.
Bang!
A dark human shape crashed against the other side of the dark crystal wall. For a moment, both Alexandra and I were so startled we almost had a seizure.
“Oh my, fuck, that scared me!”
The sight of the nobles losing their dignity and screaming, then startling themselves again and covering their own mouths. I deliberately pretended not to see it.
“Young Lady? Is that you, Young Lady?”
And the figure on the other side reacted to the voice and shouted this way. It sounded muffled, so I wasn’t certain, but it seemed to be Team Leader Hank’s voice.
“Yes, Team Leader-nim. I am with the Young Lady.”
When I hurriedly stepped forward and shouted, an answer returned from the other side.
“…Good job. Don’t move, stay right there. I’ll break through to your side. Right now - .”
BOOM!
At the same time, a red flame flashed on the other side, and the sound of an explosion was heard. It looked like something unusual was happening.
Startled, I backed away from the wall for a moment before approaching again.
“Team Leader-nim? Team Leader-nim! Are you there?”
No answer came back. Would it have been different if the microchip were in a state of activation?
All I could hear were the sounds of gunfire, continuous explosions, screams, mad laughter, and the groans of the dying…
“Hank? Hank Jameson! Are you there? Answer me!”
Alexandra shouted along with me, but it remained the same.
Team Leader Hank did not appear again.
Now, it was really just the two of us left. Truly.