Chapter 17: Chapter 16
TL/ED: Hamsterminator
The warehouse was enormous.
Rows of gigantic shelves, three stories high and commonly referred to as racks, were lined up at regular intervals.
To Jin, it resembled the warehouse-style discount marts of the American C brand or the Swedish I brand known for their warehouse furniture stores.
It was understandable why the Resistance aimed to strike this place.
Destroying a facility capable of holding this much inventory would inflict significant damage on the TB side.
With that thought, Jin sprinted up to the second floor.
Since the basement and the ground floor were Fenrir's responsibility, there was no time to waste idly here.
Thus, Jin skipped the second floor entirely and headed straight to the third floor. This was to minimize movement by descending in reverse order.
Tatadat!
As he grabbed the railing and turned the curve at the landing, Jin caught sight of a man scratching his belly while descending the stairs.
"Huh?"
Perhaps the man hadn’t noticed the intruder at all. His reaction in drawing his gun from his waist was noticeably slower than Jin, who charged in.
Thud!
Struck in the abdomen, the man couldn’t even scream before collapsing headfirst onto the floor.
The sound of impact was not pleasant.
Leaving the now motionless man sprawled on the floor behind him, Jin reached the third floor and immediately kicked open a door labeled Multipurpose Room.
Behind various household items stood a large pillar.
Typically, warehouse-style buildings use lightweight materials like panels to secure internal space.
However, in cases like this one with a concrete outer wall and multi-layered structure, a core pillar running through the center is essential for structural stability.
That pillar in front of him was exactly that.
It was the ideal spot to install the explosives.
Ziiip-
Jin immediately set down his bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a large metallic cylinder.
Its crude, oversized appearance resembled an extended sardine can, but inside was an explosive more advanced than anything on Earth.
Hence the name: anti-structure explosive.
Of course, Jin didn’t know exactly how powerful this thing was.
He simply recalled what Albus had told him, that if it exploded properly, it could easily bring down an entire building.
Along with that, he remembered how to install the bomb.
Preferably, it had to be embedded.
Otherwise, the energy including the shockwave would just scatter into the air.
Jin clenched his fist.
Then he repeatedly pounded the pillar's outer wall. Bang bang bang!
He dug into the cracked concrete, widened the interior with repeated punches, and shoved the explosive into the gap.
Naturally, this wasn’t the standard way to embed.
Concrete?
It's not bare ground that can be dug with a shovel.
In fact, this was a method Albus came up with on the spot after watching the two Solos carry the ridiculously heavy bomb bags with ease.
He had a hopeful notion, something like, “With your strength, maybe it’ll work.”
Even Albus himself wasn’t fully convinced. It was more of a “worth trying if it works” kind of suggestion.
Whatever. Jin didn’t care.
He did it.
Because he was told to. Because he could.
Having completed the first round of bomb embedding, Jin was just about to move on when.
Weeeng weeeng weeeng weeeng-!!!
Red lights from the wall-mounted beacon began spinning wildly, and sirens echoed throughout the warehouse.
Dududududu!
Then came the sound of gunfire from a distance.
It was clear that TB had detected the intruder and begun their response.
Chances were, something had gone down on Fenrir’s end.
In the first place, stealth wasn’t the objective, so this was the natural course of events.
Still, Jin couldn’t help but comment.
"I told him not to hold me back...!"
With his much lighter bag now slung over his shoulder, Jin retraced his steps downward.
He had to hurry. Installing the first bomb had been easy enough, but now that the alarm was sounding, things would be very different.
Sure enough. Just as he thought the sound of footsteps on the stairs below was growing louder, armed troops swarmed in.
As Jin descended to the second floor and the enemy climbed up from below, their gazes met midair across the landing.
The next moment.
"Fire!"
At someone’s shout, two TB security guards at the front opened fire first.
The muzzles aiming at Jin’s heart and head flashed with fire.
In that moment of slowed time,
Jin floored the accelerator called mana circuit with full power.
Dududududu!!
As bullets struck the walls and concrete debris rained down, a flash of blue light shot down to the ground, catching the eyes of the guard who had missed his target at point-blank range.
Crack!
Jin kicked one of them in the head midair and landed right between the guards.
Hot breath could be felt from all directions.
It took only an instant for the startled enemy eyes to turn to hostility.
In boxing, there is a term called Toe-To-Toe.
It refers to a head-on clash fought at such a close distance that their toes nearly touch.
If such a term could apply to a one-against-many fight, it would look exactly like this scene.
“Die!!!”
One of the guards drew a sword from his thigh and lunged.
Jin tilted his head back, narrowly dodging the blade, and delivered an uppercut to the wide-open face of the attacker.
Before the guard with the shattered jaw could even collapse,
someone suddenly grabbed Jin from behind in an embrace-like hold.
It was the biggest and burliest guard among them.
“Got him!”
Another guard facing Jin immediately drew a pistol.
Just as the muzzle aimed at his head began to flare without hesitation,
Jin raised both legs and kicked the man square in the chest.
With the recoil, the giant holding Jin was pushed back, and at the same time, Jin swung his head sharply backward.
Crunch!
As the guard’s nose caved in and his eyes rolled back, the strength in his powerful grip faded on its own.
Shrugging him off, Jin immediately threw a punch.
The reverse-gripped sword dropped from the hand of the guard struck in the jaw, and Jin snatched it from the air, spinning his upper body forcefully.
“......Guh!”
Beyond the outstretched hand, the final guard with a blade lodged in his throat collapsed.
He must have been planning to pull the trigger against Jin’s head, he still had a tight grip on a pistol in one hand.
“Damn. I was nervous it might blow up.”
Muttering to himself, Jin tightened the loosened bag strap securely downward.
It was an idle worry, fearing the explosive might go off during the intense movement, but in reality, the chance of that was virtually 0%.
Unlike black powder, which is extremely sensitive, modern improved explosives are very inert, and even when ignited, they just burn like normal solid fuel.
That’s why detonators are attached, to trigger a double or triple-layered explosion.
Still, even with that knowledge, the unease was something hard to shake mentally.
Just as Jin let out a breath of relief and resumed moving, he arrived on the second floor.
“So this racket was because a rat got in?”
As he turned his head at the unfamiliar voice, someone was approaching from the end of the hallway.
A man, dazzling to an excessive degree, with his face covered in piercings and Mohawk hair dyed in rainbow colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
Despite the over-the-top appearance, Jin’s eyes were fixed only on the tattoo engraved on the man’s right forearm.
Three claw-like slashes, as if gouged by a wild beast, said it all.
He was one of the original TB members.
In other words, a Beastkin.
“You're Resistance, right?”
The man didn’t seem to expect an answer, as he flicked his tongue and continued speaking.
“Figures. You rats are quick as hell to catch on. You already figured out what we’re storing here, didn’t you?”
At that, Jin narrowed his eyes.
He had only been told to destroy a logistics warehouse.
He hadn’t been told what the warehouse stored.
But there was no time to ponder it deeply.
“Whatever it is. It won’t go your way, you fucking bastard.”
The man, who had been steadily widening his stride as he approached, suddenly leapt high.
Whoosh!
As the flying kick sliced through the air, Jin crossed his arms into an X to block, when.
The man suddenly pulled his leg back and opened his mouth wide without warning.
Whirrrrrip!
From inside, a tongue shot out with elastic force and wrapped tightly around Jin’s unguarded neck.
Before he could react to the sudden situation, his feet lifted off the ground.
Bang!
Jin slammed into the wall.
Because the back of his head hit first, his vision went white for a moment.
As soon as his briefly cut-off consciousness returned, he was slammed into the opposite wall this time.
Boom!!
Then the ceiling, and then the floor again.
Having crashed into every surface, up, down, left, right, in an instant, Jin let out a dry cough, “Kuhuk” but even that wasn’t easy.
The steel-cable-like tongue constricting his neck, as if to snap his cervical spine at any moment, left him unable to breathe.
So with bloodshot eyes, he glared at his opponent.
Somehow, the head of a chameleon, covered in colorful scales, tilted its head, its bulging eyes rolling.
“...Still alive? What the hell are you?”
Jin clenched his teeth.
A chameleon Beastkin?
You act just like you look.
He couldn’t speak, so he replaced his thoughts with a vicious glare.
At this point, no words were necessary.
He forced his fading consciousness to stay focused and roused his mana.
“...What?!”
The chameleon Beastkin flinched at the sight of Jin, surrounded in blue light.
“A Purist?”
Sensing danger instinctively, the bastard tried to whip his tongue like a lash again, but this time the situation had changed.
Jin, leaning his full weight backward, grabbed the stretched tongue with one hand and began to pull.
As the chameleon Beastkin’s body started to be dragged by the immense strength, his eyes wavered.
What the hell is this strength?
Why isn’t he passing out?
Should I let go and create distance?
But it was already too late.
Jin, whose face was flushed red and blue from effort, was seriously trying to drag the Beastkin right up to his face. With every inch closed, he twisted his wrist and wrapped the tongue around his forearm.
Now, simply letting go wouldn’t solve anything.
As the thought struck, the Beastkin’s pride flared.
“What are you gonna do once I’m up close!”
Choosing to go on the offensive instead, he swung both arms, slashing at Jin with razor-sharp claws.
“Die! Die! Die! Die!!”
Just as the reptilian head, ecstatic from the sight of his bleeding opponent, shouted like a madman.
Clack.
A silver muzzle pressed coldly against his forehead.
Bang──!!
Jin, blown back by the immense recoil, landed on the floor with a thud.
“Kehak! Khak! Kugh! Kuhek!”
He gasped desperately, pushing out the breath that had built up to the brink inside his flushed red face.
Only after quite some time did he manage to steady his erratic breathing and lift his head.
At the end of his gaze stood the chameleon Beastkin.
Now headless.
"...The performance is definitely reliable."
Jin muttered as he looked at the massive handgun in his right hand.
As expected, the Gravis 707.
Overall length: 32 cm. Weight: 10 kg.
Made specifically to combat Beastkin...
The Destroyer of Beastkin. The ultimate anti-Beastkin weapon?
Wait, something sounds off.
Jin rambled internally.
It was because the blood flow to his brain had been blocked for too long.
If it were an ordinary person, they would’ve passed out ten times over. So naturally, his condition was still a mess.
His judgment was severely impaired, too.
That was why he fired the Gravis point-blank instead of earlier when he had the chance.
Thanks to that, the enemy didn’t even get a chance to dodge, so in the end, it worked out.
“Hoo.”
After some time had passed.
Jin, barely managing to stand up, installed the bomb on the second floor just as he had done on the third.
Checking the device showed about five minutes left until the scheduled time. He judged that this would be enough for an escape, so he calmly tucked the detonator into his inner pocket.
Then, as he descended the stairs and checked the situation on the first floor.
Boom!!
With a thunderous crash, someone was hurled into a shelf.
At first, Jin casually assumed it was a guard taken down by Fenrir, but soon realized his assumption was wrong and furrowed his brow.
The one who had crashed to the floor with a heavy thud wasn’t a guard, but a massive werewolf.
“Fenrir?”
Before he could even grasp the situation.
“You’re pretty tough. I’m curious to see how much longer you’ll last.”
A voice crept into his ear, prickling the back of his neck.
At the same time, a Quest window appeared before his eyes.
「(Crisis!) ??? ???」──────────
An enemy beyond your ability.
Escape advised.
─────────────────
~~~
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