Chapter 25
The clang of metal rang out, and I saw sparks fly. But it didn’t even pierce. It was just a regular bullet, yet it couldn’t even break the skin.
“Even so, the monster fled….”
Know-It-All (Lv 2) analyzed that it fled simply startled by the gunshot.
The thunderous noise was both a drawback and an advantage of firearms.
This time, I loaded a proper armor-piercing round instead of a regular one.
“What are you doing! Are you trying to kill me!”
Dr. Keren shouted furiously.
From between countless glass tubes, the monster revealed itself.
A werewolf’s legs that could race down cliffs, an orc’s upper body that could tear wild beasts apart with its hands, a wyvern’s head that could pierce armor with a single peck.
Each part was of a different size, creating extreme disharmony. But the worst of it was—
[Ah… Pa….]
A human soul.
Even I felt nausea rising. I’d imagined it, of course. I’m a novelist. How many worlds have I driven into the abyss of despair, you think?
But… but seeing it in reality, this was far more horrific than imagination.
Above all, Dr. Keren had turned his own daughter into a chimera! A detail that didn’t even exist in the original story!
“A chimera, huh.”
Before I finished speaking, someone behind me retched.
“Urgh!”
It was Mary, famously soft-hearted and timid.
“Lord Gilbert, please draw your sword.”
“Lina.”
“That child needs rest.”
“….”
After deep contemplation at Lina’s words, Gilbert drew his sword. As expected of a protagonist, even if flawed, he was quick to decide when it mattered.
From this point, my role became less significant.
Unlike a half-baked guy like me, there were real powerhouses who’d built their strength from the ground up.
Gilbert and Lina’s swords blocked the path, Elisha’s arrows pursued the chimera. Bord’s shield halted it. Mary and Teacher Hailey’s magic restrained its body.
Even an extra like me lent a hand, sniping to hinder its movements.
[Ah…! Pa…!]
As time passed, wounds accumulated on the chimera’s body. The battle dragged into a prolonged fight, and the exhausted chimera collapsed powerlessly to the ground.
[Ah… Pa… Play… with me….]
Even then, the chimera’s life didn’t end. In a situation where anyone could just stab its vital point, no one stepped forward.
Even Lina hesitated, unable to deliver the final blow.
What a bunch of flower-brained hypocrites. Oh, except Teacher Hailey.
‘Everyone, step back.’
A gunshot rang out. The armor-piercing round pierced the chimera’s head and burst out the other side. Its head exploded in the most gruesome way imaginable.
“Martin!”
Elisha gritted her teeth and shouted angrily.
“What have you done!”
“What, did you want to watch that child suffer more?”
“No! No! But how could you… like that…!”
“That hesitation was pain for that child. Or should I have noticed your emotional games and told the chimera, ‘You need to writhe in agony a bit longer’? Should I have said that?”
This is why I’m a villain. I can do what the protagonist’s party can’t.
“Painlessly, in one shot. It was the greatest mercy I could offer.”
“….”
Elisha couldn’t retort as she had at first. Because I wasn’t wrong. Even now, thinking back, the only path for that child was a merciful end, ‘painlessly, in one shot.’
‘But how can he be so cold?!’
Is he even the same kind of person? Surely, cold ice flows in his veins instead of hot blood and tears.
His calm demeanor while torturing Dr. Keren earlier wasn’t normal either.
I turned away from Elisha, who averted her gaze.
It felt like it was truly over now.
[Time limit exceeded. Experiment sequence emergency halt. No commands issued for a set period. Executing self-destruct sequence per pre-protocol.]
My heart sank.
[All test subjects awakened and released. Release complete.]
[Overloading laboratory core for detonation. 20 minutes until explosion.]
In less than 10 seconds, we were cornered.
From all directions in the lab, the roars of monsters and emergency evacuation alarms began to blare.
Crash!
Hundreds of glass tubes shattered, releasing the humanoid test subjects inside.
The moment they recognized us, the test subjects charged. We had no choice but to fight back.
I turned to look at Dr. Keren.
“Ha, haha, hahahahaha….”
Dr. Keren was laughing. Even as the test subjects he created tore into him. His expression, smug with the satisfaction of landing a blow, was utterly revolting.
‘Tch!’
The self-destruct sequence had already begun.
Ignoring the dying Dr. Keren, I ejected the empty casing from the chamber and loaded a shotgun shell.
Bang! Three test subjects charging from the front were battered by the shot, flung back like they’d been hit by a car.
But immediately, five more rushed in.
【Water Cannon!】
【Grow, Thorns of Adversity!】
From Mary’s outstretched hands, multiple water bombs shot out, blasting test subjects far away.
Around us, thorny brambles grown by Hailey’s nature magic hindered the test subjects’ movements.
Even so, it was overwhelming.
‘This isn’t good.’
Coldly assessing, I was ill-suited for one-against-many combat.
A hunting rifle was excellent for its power and ultra-long-range attacks.
But its clear weakness was being limited to a single target, requiring a reload after each shot.
Wild Instinct (Lv 1) detected enemies approaching from three directions.
In situations like this, with enemies charging from the front, left, and right, it was a nightmare.
Know-It-All (Lv 2) devised the optimal response.
Movement (Lv 2) assisted my actions!
I quickly shot the test subject in front, then spun my body. I struck the right-side test subject’s temple with the rifle’s stock and kicked the left-side one with a back kick.
Stepping back while reloading, I fired relentlessly at the endless wave of enemies.
“Ready! Everyone, fall back!”
At the awaited signal, I fired the last shotgun shell in the chamber and swiftly retreated.
“Frontkeeper!”
In the paradoxical situation where the dealer protected the tank, the ultimate barrier was cast.
Immense mana erupted from Bord’s entire body, forming a giant’s shape that began sweeping away the charging test subjects.
Protected within, we could attack with much more ease.
But it wasn’t all good news.
Wild Instinct (Lv 1) detected new enemy reinforcements.
Turning my head, I saw a wall in one corner of the lab collapse as a fresh swarm of chimeras stormed in.
The protagonist’s party, engrossed in the battle before them, likely hadn’t noticed, so for my own safety, I shared the information.
“Northwest wall breached! New enemy reinforcements!”
At my warning, the protagonist’s party turned to confirm.
Animals, monsters, humans. With the chimera legion’s arrival, the protagonist’s party each raised their intensity.
No immediate disaster struck.
Thanks to Bord’s Frontkeeper. True to the secret technique of a family among the Four Great Ducal Families, Frontkeeper was the ultimate defensive skill.
But Bord, the caster, wasn’t yet a fully seasoned warrior. The longer the battle dragged, the more his mana would deplete, making it obviously disadvantageous.
The problem was time. We needed breathing room to escape the lab, but the wave of test subjects showed no sign of stopping. As time passed, it was clear our formation would start to creak.
Wild Instinct (Lv 1) detected new enemy reinforcements.
“East lab glass window breached! New enemy reinforcements!”
As the situation shifted, the protagonist’s party scrambled to block the new flood of test subjects pouring in.
I couldn’t just stand idle either.
‘That’s it!’
Loading a round, I raised the muzzle upward. I fired at several bolts on the ceiling. They were tiny, but—
Firearm Comprehension (Lv 8) delivered a perfect shot.
[Locking bolts supporting the emergency bulkhead destroyed by physical force.]
As the lab’s announcement blared, a massive bulkhead descended, bisecting the lab. The eastern test subjects were blocked by the bulkhead.
“Ha! Now we can catch a breather!”
“Nice!”
The protagonist’s party rallied, wiping out the remaining test subjects and the chimera swarm from the northwest.
Focusing firepower on one side, the test subjects visibly dwindled.
But soon after, the bulkhead blocking the east glowed red-hot and melted away in a burst.
“What?!”
Among the test subjects… there was one with a bizarre tumor sack.
Know-It-All (Lv 2) identified an explosive tumor. It detonates upon impact or the subject’s death.
“Suicide bombers! Take them out from a distance!”
It was a bit late. With the sudden bulkhead explosion, one suicide subject got dangerously close.
“Everyone, brace for impact!”
Elisha hit the approaching suicide subject with an arrow. Simultaneously, an explosion erupted, and a heatwave swept through.
“Arghhhh!”
Bord roared. Frontkeeper raised its arms, blocking the explosion. It succeeded, but the giant’s arm was blown off in the aftermath. Bord immediately supplied mana to regenerate it, but—
“Huff! Huff!”
Bord’s mana reserves looked precarious.
‘Damn it.’
Even the thorny brambles Hailey had set up were completely burned away, allowing test subjects to flood through the gap.
Know-It-All (Lv 2) analyzed the situation and devised a plan to crush the enemy by exploiting the explosive tumor suicide subjects.
I immediately took position and sniped the tumor clumps charging from a distance.
Gunshots rang out, and the explosive tumors of the suicide subjects charging toward us detonated, sweeping nearby test subjects in the heatwave.
Repeating this several times opened gaps in the test subject horde, making it easier to hold them back. Just when I thought we could catch a breath—
‘Damn it, what’s that now!’
A massive test subject emerged through the explosions. If the previous ones were child test subjects, this was an adult one.
Faster, stronger.
Everyone resisted desperately.
“Hoo! Ha!”
“Huff! Huff!”
The protagonist’s party was gradually wearing down.
‘Damn.’
I was exhausted too.
It was an endless battle. No idea how many more test subjects there were. No guarantee reinforcements were coming.
Escape was a pipe dream.
[5 minutes until core overload.]
I thought 50 minutes had passed, but only 15 had gone by. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Then, hope vibrated in my uniform’s inner pocket.
‘…Hm?’
Pausing my sniping, I checked my Cadet Handbook. A message had just arrived.
‘This place should be communication-dead due to detection-immunity equipment.’
[Matthew von Yulha Animas: Cadet Martin! We’ve heard the situation! Sebastian found a new entrance to the underground! Reinforcements are heading that way! Hold on a little longer!]
A thrill ran through me. A message in a detection-immune underground lab?
‘That means reinforcements are already inside the underground lab!’
But as they say, comedy always comes with tragedy.
Suddenly, a dark red beam swept through the lab.