Rescue Fantasy (1)
'... Lobelia's arrangement? By whom? By me?'
I was thrown into confusion by what Cystus had shouted. Who the hell was Lobelia, and why was I referred to as her arrangement?
It wasn't all that surprising that the pureblood supremacists knew I had killed the Blue Eye. They were likely the ones who had created that monster in the first place, so figuring out who killed it couldn't have been that difficult.
The problem was the name, Lobelia. Ever since I heard it, I'd felt strangely nauseous. My breathing felt heavy despite not moving much. It was as if my head was about to burst.
I repeated the name in my mind.
'Lobelia.'
Based on various clues, I guessed she was someone who knew my past—perhaps even the one responsible for turning me into what I was.
Until now, I'd thought the reason I couldn't remember my past and possessed this powerful body was the pureblood supremacist organization. But the supremacists seemed wary of this Lobelia.
So was Lobelia not one of them? Was she someone on the opposing side? Was she more of an ally to me, or an enemy?
I didn't know her personality, her face, or anything else. But the name Lobelia did not give me a good feeling.
Cystus ground all the falling ceiling debris into nothing with that black smoke. Not even dust remained in that bizarre scene as he spoke.
"My mind's changed. We deal with those impurities here. They're a hindrance to the grand plan. Kill them all."
Weapons of the pureblood supremacists were aimed at us. Sensing something was wrong with me, Nadia yanked me back with a sharp shout.
"Everyone, close your eyes!"
A flashbang flew high. I hadn't even noticed Nadia pulling out the bundle, but in a split second, she'd drawn the attention of the pureblood supremacists.
Tatata-tang!
At the same time as the blinding flash filled the space, an endless barrage of gunfire broke out. Their aim, which had been pin-pointed, scattered in an instant, so the bullets didn't hit us.
"Hyun-woo, snap out of it!"
Nadia pulled me behind some debris for cover. I could feel her urgency.
Thud. The impact ran down my back. With a flashbang going off so close, my mind had been clouded, but the sharp pain jarred me back to my senses. I scanned the area in a panic.
Thankfully, nobody had been hit by bullets. Though their fire had concentrated on me, Nadia's flashbang had thrown off their aim, and Alpha had shielded us from the shots we couldn't dodge.
Celestia and Eric were hiding at a bit of a distance. Only after confirming we were all safe did we feel a sense of relief—but it was too soon to relax. We scrambled for a plan to get out of this.
Tata-tang!
A hail of bullets kicked up thick dust, obscuring my vision. The rounds tore through the haze without stopping; sometimes, a stray bullet would graze my suit, sending jarring sensations through me.
- Lee Hyun-woo, hang in there! Security robots, built with security protocols, are on their way!
"How long will it take?!"
- Five minutes!
"How are we supposed to last five minutes in this?!"
I grimaced at the voice. Instead, I pulled Nadia into a hug and rolled forward.
Wuuuuung—!
Kagagak!
With a sound like a swarm of bees, the black smoke erased the area where we'd been just a moment before. It had merely passed, yet the landscape vanished as if erased by an eraser.
I could see Cystus in the distance, staring—in fact, glaring—at me. At his gesture, the black smoke rushed at me. I rolled to dodge, but couldn't get far; if I left the dust cloud, we'd be riddled with bullets.
- There are so many monsters crowding where you are, it's slowing us down! I'm not telling you to survive it all! Roxy, fire!
- Friend, commencing second attack.
With those cautious words, Roxy fired a red laser beam, blasting through the ceiling with even greater force than the first strike. The pureblood supremacists bore the brunt of this enhanced assault.
Some of the black smoke that had targeted my life returned to shield Cystus against the laser. Was that a blessing? Because the black smoke had scattered, its coverage had narrowed.
Those supremacists left outside the protection zone were incinerated by the laser. Just before the heat could turn them to charcoal, the bombs strapped to their suits exploded in a violent cascade.
Boom! Bang—!
The firefight from the supremacists ceased amid those massive explosions. There were no more screams, but this time, it was clear that several had met their end.
'The power of the laser cannons upgraded with the shuttle armament is this much...?'
The increased firepower was even more than I'd expected. Maybe with another round, we could really thin out the pureblood supremacists' numbers. At least, that's what I believed until Roxy came over the comm.
- Can't fire the laser cannons anymore. Well, maybe we could push it one more time, but then the shuttle core will totally stop.
"That's it? Only two shots?!"
- Actually, I'm crashing right now.
"What?!"
How could he say that so calmly? I thought I'd misheard. There were too many words bubbling up in my chest after Roxy's overly gracious explanation—I just couldn't get them out.
- Don't be so surprised. We're saving core energy on purpose. If we want to really give them a final gift, busting a hole in the ceiling isn't enough.
He was asking us to stall for time while he finished his preparations. He said he'd covered two minutes out of the five; now it was up to us, then cut the comms.
Seems like things were just as complicated on Roxy's end. Here, we'd have to handle it ourselves.
"You all heard that, right?! Three minutes! We just need to hold out three minutes!"
"Hyun-woo!"
Eric called me. He'd just finished off a fallen pureblood supremacist, shoving the lifeless body aside and pointing back toward the entrance we'd come through.
Through the cracks of a deliberately closed bulkhead, I spotted bloody claws. The thing was trying to force its way in, claws scraping at the gap. A ghastly wail sent chills down my spine.
【Screeeee!】
Supremacists were raining gunfire from the front, and monsters would soon break through from behind. Three minutes? Even thirty seconds seemed impossible to hold out.
Tatata-tang! Tang!
"Kyah!"
"Ghk...!"
I ducked down, shielding Nadia as best I could. Long-range was disadvantageous; our gear was made for close-quarters combat. But it was too risky to rush in, either.
That was because of the black smoke Cystus wielded. Its defensive capabilities were high enough to block laser cannon fire, and its offensive power looked even more extreme.
"Nadia, how many flashbangs left?!"
"Eight!"
"On my signal, toss three at a time! Throw them as high as you can!"
"What's the plan?!"
"We're going to break through one side!"
Nadia glanced at me with questions in her eyes, but then she nodded, pulling out the flashbangs on her belt.
She knew, too, that if we stayed put, we'd be devoured.
"Carry, let's go—let's help Hyun-woo!"
【⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾】
Carry swapped out the flamethrower nozzle, declaring he wouldn't come back until all the fuel cans were empty. It was a nozzle designed to turn the place into a sea of fire in one burst.
Honestly, I wasn't thrilled Nadia was jumping in—but I knew why. What I was about to do was dangerous. Part of me wanted to tell her to stay back—but I forced myself to remember that Nadia was not merely someone to protect, but my partner.
I had no right to stop her. She wouldn't listen anyway.
Then, two flashbangs burst through the dust. There was a momentary break in the gunfire—it was the supremacists' response, already wary of flashbangs after the first time, turning away or covering their eyes, creating a gap.
At that instant, I sprang out. Using the debris as footholds, I vaulted right into the midst of the pureblood supremacists.
Meanwhile, Nadia and Carry rose to where pipes lined the ceiling, reducing their exposure. Seemed they were up to something.
I grabbed onto a pipe protruding from the facility wall and hoisted myself up. My heart pounded so furiously I could feel my blood rushing. All my muscles tensed and primed themselves, giving me phenomenal strength.
No point in holding back. One miscalculation could mean death. I quickly moved up to the top floor and readied the plasma cutter slung across my back.
Tsk! I heard the sound of muzzles being aimed my way. I drew a deep breath and kicked the floor hard. The recoil sent me flying.
Skagagak!
I blasted through the center of the supremacist formation. The blue blade of the plasma cutter sliced through their suits, mowing down foes left and right.
Heads, arms, their weapons, ejected shells and debris—all manner of things danced before my eyes.
Some even tried to tackle me head-on, but their suits all had bombs strapped to them. The countdown was ticking; a red light blinked on each square-shaped explosive.
If one went off, my mindset was to tank it at least once with my suit's armor. But that didn't mean I intended to just stand there and take it.
That was just backup. For suicide bombers, I had a trump card that worked wonders.
I pointed my left hand at them and flicked my thumb. The suppression wave emitter at maximum output went off simultaneously.
Phwoosh!
The energy, no longer just a line but a plane, blasted all the suicide bombers away. It even sent them crashing down below. Soon after, there was a beep and a series of blasts shook the floor.
While such a move wouldn't do much to ghouls or mimics, for these supremacists—whose bodies were still basically human—it worked perfectly.
Satisfied with the effect, I locked eyes with our deadliest enemy—Cystus—then kicked off the floor.
As the plasma cutter's blade aimed to cleave Cystus as well, black smoke intercepted me. The blue blade, enveloped by the smoke, destabilized instantly.
The output remained the same, but the energy was being absorbed. Black spots formed on the blade, as if it were being tainted or infected.
If I stayed in contact any longer, my weapon and myself would both be consumed. Clicking my tongue inwardly, I triggered every suppression wave emitter left at my disposal and retreated fast.
The shockwaves pushed the black smoke back, but only briefly—it dissolved moments later. I slid to a stop, swapping out the blaster cartridge in one swift motion.
Cystus, already interested in me, now looked even more intrigued.
"So there was another beast among you."
While I caught my breath in silence, he surveyed the carnage I had wrought. Half the supremacists who were on the upper level had now been eliminated.
It was largely thanks to Nadia and Carry pressuring them from the left while I pressed from the right. Nadia would set up a laser turret, and Carry would herd them in that direction with the flamethrower. Smoke lingered everywhere.
"Quick, but still insufficient. Show me how you silenced the Blue Eye."
Yet Cystus was calm—too calm. That was the problem. He acted as if this loss meant nothing to him.
'... A chemical smell.'
According to Celestia, the man before us was Cystus—the equivalent of a commander among the pureblood supremacists. Every time I encountered supremacists, I smelled something odd.
Now, that chemical odor was stronger than ever.
It was so strong that I couldn't smell anything else. It was nauseating. My head throbbed as if it might burst.
I watched Cystus with the utmost caution. I still hadn't found a way to counter his black smoke. I knew if I clashed with it directly, I'd lose.
"Lobelia's arrangement. You fight well, but you don't know how to use the core's power. Good for us, but disappointing as well. If this is the best your side's got, I am very disappointed."
"... I don't know who Lobelia is."
"Ha. Not an arrangement, then. Just a toy. A wretched life, perhaps. Ah, did you lose your past?"
"..."
I clamped my lips shut—it was awkward to say yes or no. Cystus watched me in silence.
"Lobelia's toy. I'll make you an offer. Join us. I'll restore your past."
Now I'd been demoted from arrangement to toy. I scoffed at the ridiculous wordplay.
Everything had been ruined by the supremacists. From old Mr. Robert in the residential area, whom I'd befriended, to my goal of reaching Earth—everything vaporized in their hands.
They were the types who didn't even honor their deals with Celestia. How could I trust them and join? There was a yawning divide between myself and the pureblood supremacist group—one that could never be bridged.
"My answer's the same. Get lost."
"Foolish. Soon, the era of purity will begin."
"... Bullshit."
I readied myself, gauging the time. It felt like three minutes had passed, but there was still no signal. Could it be less than three minutes? Anxiety grew.
While Nadia, Carry, and I fought the supremacists on the upper level, below, Eric, Celestia, and Alpha contended with monsters squeezing through the cracks in the bulkhead.
So far, we'd scattered their focus to dilute their firepower. But that was getting tougher; the black smoke now kept us from killing any other supremacists.
The black smoke began eroding the facility. It spread, devouring everything. Fearing it would rush in at any moment, I broke my stance and retreated a step.
Feeling a surge of intuition, I shouted,
"Licorice!"
- Don't worry! We're not late!
At Licorice's reply—
KKUGUUNG-!
The whole facility shook as if there were an explosion somewhere.
The ceiling shook the most. Powdered stone trickled down through holes punched by the laser cannon. A grinding sound and—
An armored multi-legged tank crashed through, bringing down the whole ceiling. Spreading its feet on impact to cut its momentum, the tank threw off countless red sparks of friction.
Kiiiiing—!
Bang—!
The massive tank, eyes glowing red, reared up on its forelimbs and slammed them down, drawing everyone's attention.
Something about its armor was familiar. Looking closer—I saw it. It was the Blue Eye's exoskeleton, hastily processed and slapped on as add-on armor.
On the tank's upper body were four laser cannons. The old battery had been yanked out, replaced by a huge slab of refined blue crystal. That must have been what took Roxy some time to recover.
The tank sucked up energy at an incredible rate, charging the laser cannons. What had been an empty indicator instantly filled to max.
At that moment, the tide turned.
【Enemy eradicated.】
"Let's finish this!"
We got ahead of the pureblood supremacists. At least for now, at this very moment—we were one step ahead of them.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【(⌐■_■)-︻╦╤─】