Chapter 148

At the same time.

At the Academy, the [Showcase] between Stingray and Militech was in full swing. But unlike the bold challenge Militech had made at the start, they were struggling more than expected.

Tadadadadada—!

[Shit! When the hell is that gonna stop!]

[We’re getting pushed into a corner!]

Raina’s M134 Minigun spewed fire like crazy. With an overwhelming fire rate of up to 4,000 rounds per minute, it tore apart everything in sight, slowly choking Militech’s side.

Militech’s students fired back from cover in the corners, but each time, the terrifying rain of bullets forced them to tuck their tails and hide.

Even when they managed to shoot during Raina’s brief openings, Irie always blocked it as if she knew their timing like a ghost.

It was as if Irie had eyes all around her. She guarded Raina’s front line thoroughly, making sure the firepower never faltered and giving Militech no chance to counterattack.

The tide of battle gradually leaned toward Stingray’s side.

[Damn it, Donovan! Do something, fuck! Why do you keep moving alone! You said you got a new module, didn’t you!]

[…]

[Something’s wrong. That bastard’s acting weird!]

Right after the duel began, Donovan von Delay had ignored his teammates’ complaints and kept moving by himself. No, rather than “acting alone,” the term “acting out” suited him better.

Donovan only wandered around near the starting area, his shoulders slumped, staggering like a zombie. He mumbled nonsense to himself as a bonus.

Given his position and behavior, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had already been the first one eliminated. Yet, he was still alive, aimlessly roaming the battlefield.

Stingray’s leader, Irie, noticed his strange behavior and decided to avoid him for now, focusing on taking down the other members first.

Thanks to that, with the fight at 3 versus 2, Militech was being driven into a corner. And even after pouring out that many bullets, Raina’s huge bag still had plenty of spare magazines. It seemed Militech had no hope of winning.

And then…

Slash—!

Just as Militech’s two students were cornered, a flash of light shone. It swiftly and precisely severed both of their weapons.

By the time they realized it, the young man in the LED Mask, who they thought had disappeared somewhere, was pressing a dagger against their necks.

“[Surrender.]”

“Don’t fuck with us! If we surrender here, the Chairman will—!”

Slash!

Once again, Silence’s dagger gleamed.

This time, what he cut was their mechanical arms. He slipped the blade into the gaps of their thick skin armor, the weakest points of their defense, and severed them easily.

“[They said killing’s allowed in the Showcase.]”

“……!”

Silence’s warning.

Just as he said, the [Showcase] had one basic rule—there was no responsibility even if you took an opponent’s life.

If Silence truly tried to kill them here, no one could stop him.

“Shit…”

Left with no choice, the two Militech members raised their remaining hands to surrender. Having lost their weapons and an arm each, continuing the fight was meaningless.

But what terrified them was what would happen afterward. Would their sponsor, Chairman Vladimir, stay quiet after seeing such a disgrace?

Shaking in fear, they stole glances at their sponsor. Sure enough, from the spectator’s seats above, a man who resembled a weasel was silently watching them.

But strangely enough…

His expression wasn’t one of reproach or anger. Rather, he looked expectant, and his gaze wasn’t on them—it was directed elsewhere.

Most likely… toward Donovan.

‘No way… are you betting on Donovan?’

‘Fuck, we lost because of that bastard, so why…!’

They grumbled inwardly, but there was no one to hear their complaints.

Soon after, they were declared “unable to fight” and dragged out of the arena.

[Two down.]

[Thank you, senior.]

[Well done.]

The members of the Stingray Special Class, having secured a safe 3-to-1 situation, exchanged words over comms. Their plan had been working step by step so far, and the team’s mood was fairly good.

[Now the only one left is him…]

[Do you have his location?]

[Yeah. He’s heading toward the central square.]

Silence was playing the role of a hidden scout flawlessly. The big Gunner in his sights still trudged along, looking dazed as if his soul had drifted off somewhere.

Silence asked,

[He’s full of openings. Should I just jump in now?]

[No. Wait until we arrive.]

[Okay. You’ve got a bad feeling, huh?]

[Yes.]

Irie didn’t allow Silence to attack alone. Even though they had already eliminated two Militech students, the siren in her head was still blaring like mad.

A wild instinct.

Though she lacked a scanner module to detect enemy energy output, her nearly supernatural senses told her the fight wasn’t over yet.

[Let’s move to where Raina’s firepower can be maximized. Until then, stay hidden and move quietly.]

[Got it. I’ll regroup.]

Silence once again activated his Cloaking Module, vanishing from sight.

He darted like a squirrel, leaping onto the wall. Walking across the special polygon panels that made up the barrier, he kept his eyes on Donovan in the center of the arena.

‘Irie was right. Something’s off about him.’

He looked like someone high on drugs.

His empty eyes, his meaningless repetitive actions—it was exactly what you’d often see from Sector E’s poor.

‘There must be something behind this.’

There had to be a reason a normal human had become like that. Silence knew too well how cruel megacorps could be to people.

The most likely scenario was that they had shoved something strange into Donovan’s body to win this [Showcase]. It probably wasn’t working properly, so the only choice was to stay on guard—

“…!?”

That was when it happened.

In the brief instant he blinked, Donovan’s staggering figure at the central square disappeared.

‘W-what the…?’

Where did he go?

Confusion surged through Silence’s mind.

‘Did he use a Cloaking Module like me? Or did he move somewhere else in that moment…?’

As he quickly tried to organize his thoughts, Silence switched comms back on. It was time to report the situation to his leader, Irie.

He froze—.

In that instant, he realized.

Donovan, who had vanished, was now behind him.

“[You crazy son of a bi—]”

Before he could even finish swearing, a massive shadow engulfed him.

KWAaaaaaaang—!

An explosive roar rang out of nowhere.

The entire duel arena shook to its foundations, and suddenly a cloud of dust rose into the air. At the sight, Irie and Raina, who were on their way to the designated point, hurriedly called over comms.

[Senior! What happened!?]

There was no answer.

And then another roar followed.

Kugugugugugu—!

Something from the central square came hurtling toward them at terrifying speed. Irie hadn’t even grasped the situation yet, but her instincts kicked in and she dodged reflexively. By the barest margin, she avoided whatever smashed through the wall.

‘An attack? A shell?’

She quickly raised her shield and confirmed the identity of the “something” that had smashed through the polygon wall, thinking it must have been an attack Donovan had launched at them.

But she was wrong.

What had been flung was none other than Silence. His limbs were bent at odd angles, and even his signature LED Mask had been half torn off.

So battered that it was hard to recognize him as human, Silence rolled helplessly across the floor.

“S-Senior!”

“No, Raina!”

Just as Raina dropped her weapon and rushed toward him, Irie’s instincts flared again.

She reflexively grabbed Raina by the scruff of her neck. At that very moment, something huge swept past Raina’s face.

Standing before them now was Donovan. His hollow eyes stared down at the two of them.

“Uh…?”

He sluggishly looked at his hand. In his grip was something like a tangled wad of thread—Raina’s hair.

And in the next instant.

Donovan’s gaze met theirs again—

“Shit! Weapons up! Now!”

At Irie’s shout, Raina’s M134 Minigun and Irie’s shotgun unleashed fire.

Drrrrrrrrrrrk!

Hundreds of rounds flew at Donovan. But not a single one managed to wound him.

Clatter, clink.

7.62mm machine gun rounds and 12-gauge shotgun shells fell weakly to the floor, unable to penetrate his skin armor.

Irie was shocked.

She knew his armor could stop pistol rounds, but never thought it could withstand machine gun fire. Had he installed a higher-grade armor module than before?

“Fall back!”

Irie and Raina retreated, firing nonstop. Fortunately, unlike Irie had feared, Raina’s bullets dug deep into his weaker joints. He wasn’t completely invincible.

But that was as far as the good news went.

Donovan closed the distance, undeterred by their suppressive fire. To make matters worse, Raina’s ammo bag ran dry first. Despite taking thousands of bullets, Donovan’s body bore almost no damage.

With ammunition running low, Raina urgently activated a new module.

“Module Online, [Ink Bottle]!”

At once, a new drum magazine emerged at her waist, round like an ink bottle. She yanked it free, attached it to her Minigun, and pulled the trigger again.

Drrrrrrrrrrrk!

This time, black liquid-like rounds sprayed toward Donovan. It was a Lv.4 Arcane Module crafted from the essence of the Outer God, designed to solve the chronic shortage of ammunition.

But the power of [Ink Bottle] was weaker than ordinary machine gun rounds. If Donovan could shrug off 7.62mm bullets, such ammunition had no chance.

“This can’t be…!”

“Fall back further!”

With Raina’s firepower useless, Irie rushed forward with her shield.

Thud!

She rammed him with her full weight.

“Urgh!”

But as expected, his massive build didn’t budge. Yet Irie hadn’t aimed for that.

In the same instant, she dropped her shield and climbed onto Donovan’s back.

“Module Online, [Thorn Armor]!”

Claws sprouted from her fists like spikes. Remembering the weak spot where Raina’s bullets had lodged earlier, Irie drove her spiked fist deep into a gap in his skin armor.

“I-I got him…!”

Bzzzzzzzt.

As her stinger pierced him, Donovan froze like a machine whose power had just been cut.

Only then did Irie relax, letting out a sigh of relief.

“F-finally… we won…”

“[Real-time data received. Negotiations with Aaron Stingray failed. Simulation No. 5812582 revised to Simulation No. 5812600. Protocol commencing.]”

“…What?”

Donovan muttered incomprehensible words, his voice suddenly sounding eerily close to that of a woman.

And then—

“Module Online, [Incinerator Cannon].”

His wrist transformed, reshaping into a massive gun barrel. A blazing heat gathered within, and it was aimed squarely at Raina.

‘N-no…!’

Irie’s instincts screamed.

This was an attack she could never block.

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