Chapter 26

Chapter 26

“Shoot!”

The bounty hunters pulled the trigger before the order was given. In fact, many began firing even before the order was given.

It was the foot of fear. The scene unfolding in front of me was overwhelming.

“Shoot, shoot!”

“Stop cowering and get out of here!”

More Outlaws than I could count rained down on me. Pushing my comrades who were shot down, or using them as shields.

Of the bounty hunters in the room, very few had picked up a gun to defend the city.

Bounty hunters were always a ragtag bunch. Killing and protecting others for a price.

Today was no different.

Risky, but rewarding. Some people thought that if they messed up, the security forces would take care of it.

The madness of war surely consumed the unprepared. Bounty hunters screamed and fired their supplied guns.

In fact, that was their role, too.

“A good start.

Kim Yi-hyun watched the battle from a railing on the seventh floor of the basement. Nearby, he could hear gunfire and the sound of falling shells. It was White Fang’s covering fire.

He didn’t have to join right away. In the first place, Kim wasn’t as good a shot as the rest of the crew. The [Ivory] doesn’t have a long effective range.

“It’s not time to pull back just yet.

Common sense dictated that this was a no-win battle for the enemy. The battle was already won or lost by the time they came out of the single doorway.

Outlaws were just an easy target to hit.

“They brought very little explosives.

Fear of damaging the building. From the beginning, Kilikia’s concern wasn’t about winning or losing.

‘How much damage can be done’.

It was more of a manhunt than a battle.

‘That would be true if the only enemy was the Outlaws.’

Legion doesn’t fare so well.

Boom!

Iron barrels were thrown from inside the aisle where the outlaws continued to emerge. The opened barrels spewed black smoke.

“Is it a smokescreen? Annoying.”

Bryce clicked his tongue as he looked through the scope of his semi-automatic rifle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t your typical smoke bomb.

“From now on.

The greatest power a Legion has is its spells. It’s not just a group of people with a lot of power, but a group that studies and uses spells themselves.

“In a way, it’s a bit like a Celbrosics lab.

The identity as a research organization and an armed group is the same. The difference is direction. Compared to Labs, which use spells in a variety of industries, Legion has a much simpler purpose.

Military applications.

“Oops, that blackness. Yuck!”

The bounty hunters gagged as they inhaled the smoke, their eyes bloodshot and limbs shaking. The anomalies didn’t stop there.

“Ugh, ah, grrrr…!”

“아아아아악! 미친, 무슨 개짓거리야!”

Someone lost their cool and pounced on an ally. A bounty hunter shoved a teammate who lunged at him, forcing him back.

Then he could see.

Eyes pointing in different directions, like strabismus. Pupils twitching frantically, out of focus. The mouth was chewing on the flesh of the person it had bitten.

The same thing happened everywhere. A tearing scream rang out. The lowest levels of MetroCity were turned into abysses in a matter of hours.

“Disgusting bastards.”

Kim Yi-hyun cursed. It was a trademark Legion tactic.

Spells are closely tied to the nervous system of the wielder. When used, a special substance is secreted, and non-powers have no immunity to it.

Once it enters the body, it causes an extreme rejection reaction. Delirium is a typical symptom. It’s a biological weapon, so to speak.

“Okay, okay, push it!”

“Rummage, pigs!”

Outlaws with masks covering their respiratory tracts emerged from the smoke, spraying bullets as they searched for a way upstairs.

“Damn it. Stop it!”

The mercenary waiting on the escalator shouted.

The pre-positioned heavy machine guns opened fire. The Outlaws were swept away in droves as the long strings of ammunition dwindled.

Then.

Snowfield sprinted across the battlefield. Cutting through all the cover in her way, she reached the escalator and took a huge leap.

“Article……!”

In horror, the machine gunner’s head was severed and sent flying through the air. The mercenaries pointed their guns at Snowfield, who had just climbed another floor.

Snowfield stomped his foot lightly.

Tsk!

Before the rounds could be expended, the mercenaries’ bodies froze, along with their rifles. Clearing the area around him, Snowfield searched the eight underground levels with his eyes.

Mercenaries were stationed at regular intervals. Bang, bang! Bullets from the front and back ricocheted off the frost armor.

It’s a mess.

Snowfield hasn’t been paying attention to the enemies here. The sniper from earlier hasn’t been seen either.

Snowfield stepped onto the ledge and launched himself into the air.

The large-caliber rounds fired from above didn’t even graze Snowfield. She landed safely on the massive pillars that supported Metropolis.

Then I started running upside down on the pole. The frost left footprints wherever it touched.

After climbing for what seemed like an eternity, I leapt up, kicking the pillar again. Five floors underground. There was a group in blue hazmat suits.

It was the guard of Kilikia.

Thump!

Snowfield broke into the ranks of the Guard. Looking around at the men armed with gunlances and shields, she muttered, “I’m not going to let them get away with this.

“I do apologize for that.”

“……freakin’ creep.”

A deep voice cut through the din of the battlefield. A man with the symbol of four pairs of wings on his chest charged forward.

“There’s only one opponent, take him down, I don’t care if he’s alive or dead.”

* * *

It’s a strange war, Kim thought.

Battlefields are highly technologically advanced underground structures. Despite the advanced technology, the battlefield is still dominated by rifles.

The use of heavy weapons was extremely limited. The only explosives were grenades. Even then, they couldn’t be thrown indiscriminately.

Bounty hunters mixed up with Outlaws, huge amount of money to refurbish stations in the future…. By our calculations, the most effective weapon was bullets.

On the one hand, the enemy leader strode across the battlefield with a single sword. Kim felt as if several eras had blended together.

“I knew he was uncooperative, but I didn’t think he was that bad.

Kim looked up and clicked her tongue, not expecting to be stuck in the back, but she hadn’t expected to be jumping in short.

When I saw him running up the pole, I almost screamed. I was like, “What kind of crazy shit is that?

I also realized how dangerous it was to be alone with Snowfield. How dangerous it had been to be alone with Snowfield.

“But at least things are better.

The police, who had been watching from across the river, now had something to do. It would have been nice if they could have taken care of the snowfields, but an ankle grab was enough.

In the meantime, we need to organize the following as best we can

To avoid interrupting future battles.

“Finally crawled out.”

Kim dropped her gaze again. Out of the black smoke stepped enemies that looked distinctly different from the Outlaws.

A Legion combat unit wearing gas masks.

Now that they’re out of the way, it’s all downhill from here. Kim turned on his heel and walked into the cargo bay.

In the corner of the warehouse, Asterike squatted, her ears plugged against the endless gunfire and screams.

“Tongue, string.”

Asterike’s head snapped up as the Great Chuck approached. Pale complexion. Blue lips. She looked openly frightened.

Kim figured his face would be no different; he’d already accepted the Polaris world as a reality.

You’re on a real battlefield, not a game.

Fear clamped down on my legs, and the weight of the battle weighed down on my shoulders. Even though I’d gotten used to fighting, I couldn’t be complacent. The urge to flee was overwhelming.

I had to hold on.

“Asteriske.”

“Meh, I’m sorry, I can’t do this, I didn’t see this coming.”

Her voice was fragile. Her golden eyes lacked their usual innocence; she was still Asterike.

I never regretted it. It was even comforting on days when I was exhausted. But now was the time for Ast.

“…… Listen to what I’m saying.”

Kim pulled Asterike into his arms and held her close. The tremor in her body was palpable, he said quietly as he stroked her graying hair.

“I could run away now, or I could hide, do nothing, and wait until it’s all over.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s do that. There’s that many people. We can afford not to have any of them, right?”

“No, it’s not going to be okay.”

If only Mithril had come as she was supposed to, she would have been a force to be reckoned with. Mithril is a powerful force to be reckoned with.

But it’s not a monster that can single-handedly decide the outcome of a war. It should have been dealt with in the LW-3 stage in the first place.

Snowfields are different.

In game, she has single-handedly taken down the legions of the Shran Empire. She’s not up to the task of policing Kilikia.

“If Kilikia is taken from us, this will happen everywhere. It may look like hell here in your eyes… but that’s only now, because it will be the same everywhere. Where will you run, where will you hide then?”

“Me, I am…….”

“I know how you feel, it was sudden, and it’s partly because I dropped you in the basement on purpose.”

Even at this moment, the ground is bathed in colorful neon lights. People are drinking, eating, and watching the league play.

“Think of it this way: That’s a disaster.”

A catastrophe that wipes out a continent. With so much suffering and hatred in the world, why wouldn’t it be a man-made disaster?

“The only conscience I have is that I can deal with it. As long as the people who can do it do it right.”

With that, Kim unwrapped her arms from around Asterique and pulled the spell suppressor from her wrist.

“I’ll keep this one.”

I slipped the suppressor into my pocket. I shook off the white hand tugging at my sleeve as if it were dangling and pushed myself to my feet.

That was the end of the story.

“Do your thing when you’re ready.”

Kim turned and walked out of the cargo bay, the gasps from behind him swallowed up by the noise of the battlefield.

Bryce gave an update on the situation.

“Hyun, they’re coming up. Outlaws are outlaws, but those guys are annoying.”

The Legion’s combat units were uniquely equipped. Anchors were injection-molded into their bracers and driven into walls, and they used wire to climb floors in a single bound.

There was no shortage of talent among them. They hurled bottles of oil, threw fireballs, scattered mud, and simply shot and grinded.

The Outlaws advanced as the combat troops flanked them. By simply charging forward, the Outlaws were doing their job as soldiers well.

“Damn. What’s a bunch of security bastards doing?”

“I wasn’t expecting you to show up at all. I thought you were going to come out at the last minute and make a fool of yourself. Good thing you’re dealing with that monster, because I’m sure he was bored.”

“Can’t I just stay bored?”

“Why, wouldn’t it be nice to have a sob story to go with the drinks?”

“Make as many as you can.”

Jenna’s words were met with a grimace from Kim. It was a good thing they still had the presence of mind to make jokes at each other’s expense.

The margin was short-lived.

The Outlaws appeared at the bottom of the stairs. They didn’t bother to take all the floors. They were relentless in their pursuit of the ground.

Tududududu!

The hail of bullets pushed the Outlaws back. Kim gripped her shield and pistol, keeping her eyes on the railing, not the stairs.

“Coming.

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I thought I heard a wire pulling sound that shouldn’t have been audible because of the loud firing.

The timing was right.

There was a Legion coming over the railing on a wire. I could see his eyeballs peeking out of his gas mask.

“I never thought I’d see these clueless bastards in person.

Walkers are the Legion’s combat troops. They utilize all manner of inhumane means to enhance their physical abilities and raise their spirits when they go into battle.

A Walker army thus enhanced by leaps and bounds, each member will boast combat capabilities comparable to a three-star agent.

Newbie Crusher, in other words. This is the disease that has killed the most Newbies in Polaris.