Chapter 1248 – 1248. Dark Moon
“Terrorism! Some crazy bastards committed terrorism!! This is a scoop! What are you doing, announcer! Get ready to move right now!”
The camera director shouted. His voice was filled with a mad glee.
“Yes! Director!”
The cameramen, including the director, left the battlefield without looking back. Even amidst all this, the announcer was explaining the terrorist attack to the viewers.
Number 31 and I awkwardly stared at each other.
I touched my mask and spoke into the comm.
“Instructor Venus, do you hear me?”
-…A terrorist attack has occurred. Terrorists hidden in the VIP and general seating areas targeted His Majesty the King.
I frowned.
It wasn’t because the King was attacked. Whether the King lived or died was none of my concern. What bothered me was that this terrorist attack was not in the original story.
“Is His Majesty the King safe?”
-It was fortunate that the Guardian Saint was nearby. Thanks to her power, His Majesty and the VIPs are safe. There were casualties among the general public, but it’s not a major issue.
There was a subtle anger in Instructor Venus’s voice. It was only natural. Instructor Venus was a patriot.
“What’s the situation now?”
-The terrorists scattered and fled as soon as the attack failed. There are about 80 terrorists, and they are presumed to be the Resistance Echoes. The headquarters has issued a pursuit order to all units. We are no exception.
“So, you’re saying we have to chase the terrorists.”
-That’s right. We’re already moving. This is a matter of pride for the Freesel military. We must catch those terrorists.
The situation was being broadcast live. A terrorist attack had already occurred, and now they were going to let the terrorists get away? It was bound to be an international disgrace. They had to catch the terrorists to resolve this situation. Especially the higher-ups, who must be sweating bullets.
-Some of the terrorists are fleeing in your direction. You must catch them. You can kill them. Just don’t let them escape.
“I’ll move immediately.”
-Number 211, I trust you. Number 31, you stay put.
A dissatisfied voice came from the usually quiet Number 31.
“I’ll move too. It’s more likely to succeed if I go with Number 211 than if he goes alone.”
-Number 31, I won’t say it twice. You stay put.
Instructor Venus, who usually accommodated Number 31, was unusually firm. In this state, Instructor Venus wouldn’t listen to anything.
“…Understood.”
Number 31 replied. He wouldn’t disobey. Number 31 and I knew very well that the price of disobedience was terribly harsh.
I checked my gear and confirmed the location of the terrorists that Instructor Venus had sent.
Just before leaving, Number 31 spoke to me.
“Number 211, be careful. Those guys targeted His Majesty. They won’t be ordinary.”
“I know that much.”
I replied simply and started running.
•••
I found three terrorists running frantically. A helicopter in the sky was tracking them.
Tudududududu!
The helicopter fired a machine gun. The three fleeing terrorists stopped and activated a barrier. But the machine gun bullets were magic bullets. The barrier was easily pierced, and one of the terrorists died. The other two terrorists gritted their teeth and used black magic. Black flames formed in their hands and hit the helicopter.
The helicopter crashed to the ground and exploded. Unfortunately, the pilot couldn’t escape and met his fate with the helicopter.
The two surviving terrorists started running again.
“Instructor Venus, I’ve found the enemy. One is dead, and two are fleeing. I’ll pursue them. …Instructor Venus?”
I tried the comm several times, but there was no response.
It wasn’t likely that he was intentionally ignoring me. Either the comm was broken, or he didn’t have the time to respond. Judging by the current situation, it was probably the latter.
Just as I was about to chase after the fleeing terrorists, a strong impulse hit me. The thought that I could escape this life of slavery if I ignored catching the terrorists and ran away came to mind.
Slave seal? I had been researching the slave seal whenever I had the chance over the past few months. And the problem wasn’t just the slave seal. I also had to deal with the tracker implanted in my neck six months ago.
‘…I can disable the tracker with magic for a few days. During that time, I can find a black market doctor or any expert to remove the tracker. If I can just escape, I can use magic to get money….’
I quickly came up with a way and a plan to escape, but I couldn’t put it into action.
It wasn’t because I was afraid of Instructor Venus’s pursuit.
It was because I thought of Lexi and Number 212, and the other female colleagues I had shared a bed with. Was it right for me to abandon them and run away alone? Could I do that?
I gritted my teeth.
‘I’m not ready to use this opportunity… not yet.’
The opponent was a national army. There were too many risks to act impulsively without a prepared plan.
I shook off the impulse and focused. The terrorists were getting into a car they had prepared on the outskirts of the city.
[Using Momentary Flash. Remaining stacks: 6]
I calculated the magic formula in the slowed-down world.
[Shock Wave]
A shockwave hit the car the terrorists had just gotten into. The car was lifted into the air by the shockwave and rolled on the ground.
Bang!
An explosion occurred from the car’s hood, and black smoke billowed out. A little bit of blood was seeping out from underneath.
[Barrier]
The entire car hadn’t exploded, so I approached cautiously.
[Strength]
I used a level 2 support magic to temporarily enhance my strength. I grabbed the passenger door and forcefully ripped it off. I pulled out the man sitting in the passenger seat with his eyes closed. The man was still alive. He was just unconscious.
‘Where’s the other one….’
Clang!
A man in black clothes jumped out of the back seat, breaking the window. The man shouted, emitting killing intent.
“Dark Flame!!”
Black flames engulfed me. The barrier surrounding my body melted away quickly. Instead of layering barriers to defend, I chose to attack. I activated telekinesis. The broken fragments floated up and flew towards the black mage.
“Kuh, aaaaack…!”
The black mage screamed. The black flames that were melting the barrier disappeared.
[Electric Spark]
An electric sphere gently landed on the black mage’s head. Dozens of lightning bolts struck, electrocuting the black mage to death.
I dragged the two corpses a little further away. I didn’t know when the car might explode again.
‘One of them is still alive. The other one died by my hand, and the one hit by the helicopter is somewhere else.’
I examined the living man. Looking closely, I could tell. This guy was also a black mage. The one hit by the helicopter was probably a black mage too.
“Instructor Venus, this is Number 211. Instructor Venus?”
The comm was still dead.
I sighed and sat down on the ground. I cast my gaze into the distance. Bang! Boom! Bang! Black smoke was rising everywhere with the sounds of explosions.
There were probably less than ten terrorists who had a chance of escaping from here.
“Resting in a place like this? Well, I understand. The rest you taste while others are working is as sweet as honey.”
A blonde man in a black suit appeared. He was over 2 meters tall, but his body was slender. He was wearing a black mask on his face.
I reflexively pointed my gun at him.
“Who are you?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not a terrorist. I want to have a conversation with you.”
“…Speak.”
“Before that, I’d like to get rid of the listening ears.”
His gaze turned to the terrorist who was still alive.
“Suddenly, I’m losing interest in you.”
“Battle Mage Project. Mana Essence. Unit 667. I can help you.”
“…Be precise. What do you want?”
“I want the data from the Battle Mage Project and the Mana Essence. In the process, I’ll help you reveal the Battle Mage Project to the world. The Freesel military won’t be able to permanently abolish the project, but they won’t be able to proceed with it for at least ten years.”
“…The Hapeil Republic or the Heist Empire. Which one is it?”
“You’ve already figured that out? Impressive.”
“Answer me.”
“Is my affiliation that important?”
“It is.”
“It’s the Heist Empire.”
The hand holding the gun moved. The muzzle was pointed not at the blonde man in front of me, but at the fallen black mage. I pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced the black mage’s forehead.
“A bold decision. Thank you. But would you have killed him even if I had said I was from the Hapeil Republic?”
“No, the bullet would have been aimed at your head.”
“Why don’t you trust the Hapeil Republic?”
“I know that the upper echelons of the Hapeil Republic and the Freesel Kingdom are secretly working together. They both want a truce right now. They don’t want a big commotion.”
“I see. But aren’t you suspicious of me?”
“I have a rough idea of your identity.”
“Oh? I haven’t given you any information about my identity, though?”
“……”
I couldn’t say that I had deduced his identity based on the information from the original story, so I kept my mouth shut. When I was silent, he quietly shook his head.
“It seems you don’t want to talk about it. Understood. I respect that.”
“What’s the specific proposal?”
“Will you accept my proposal?”
“I’m not in a position to be picky.”
“As I said before, there are two things I want. The data from the Battle Mage Project and the Mana Essence.”
“The Mana Essence can only be obtained by raiding the research lab next to the unit.”
“I know. Preparations for that are underway. The plan is almost perfect. If you cooperate, it will be even more perfect.”
“…Why me?”
“Actually, contacting you was quite a gamble. Of course, it seems that gamble has been a great success. The reason I chose you… it’s nothing special. It’s because you’re the strongest, except for Number 31. Above all, if we only look at mission success rates, you’re better than Number 31. A 92% mission success rate…. It’s thrilling.”
“…Do you know Number 31’s identity?”
“Yes. She’s the illegitimate child of Duke Reltius, one of the three dukes of the Freesel Kingdom. A half-breed of a witch. Duke Reltius will name her as his successor.”
“Why?”
“Because Reltius’s current heir is too stupid.”
“…I see.”
I knew that Number 31’s status was unusual, but I never imagined she would be the daughter of a duke. I was quite surprised.
‘Duke Reltius… He’s only mentioned in passing in the original story, so I don’t know much about him.’
There was a reason why Instructor Venus was so deferential to Number 31.
“The plan will start in two months.”
“Three months.”
“Excuse me?”
“It starts in three months. It won’t happen if it’s not in three months.”
“…That’s difficult. We’ve already set the D-day for two months from now.”
“In three months, I can kill Instructor Venus with my own hands. If I can kill Instructor Venus… your plan will proceed more smoothly, right?”
“Certainly… if we can kill Instructor Venus for sure… the success rate will increase by more than 10%. Okay. I’ll postpone the D-day by one month.”
