chapter_0205

204 – Assault

204 – Assault

Orem’s breath elongated.

Thinking that rebellion was not a good judgment, Orem’s lips quivered.

“…What command do you want me to hear?”

“It’s simple. Gather the squad members to the center of the lab via radio.”

Only then did Orem realize what Daniel was thinking.

‘Is he planning to take out the squad in one blow?’

Neural acceleration can provide an overwhelming advantage in an instant, but it does not last long.

According to the records so far, the maximum duration of neural acceleration was only 8.7 seconds.

So, Daniel was ordering the troops to concentrate in order to use the neural acceleration ability at maximum efficiency.

As Orem hesitated to respond, unable to betray his comrades, Daniel quietly opened his mouth.

“Where is your hometown?”

The sudden question caught Orem off guard, but he answered calmly.

“It’s a small village called Elmaha located on the eastern coast of the Kingdom of Edria.”

“Did you live with your family?”

“…Yes. I grew up under my father, who is a fisherman, and my mother, who runs a flower shop. I have two younger sisters.”

“I see. Your family must be worried about you.”

The gun barrel that had been resting against the back of his neck fell away.

“It would be wise to cooperate with me if you want to return to your family. So, follow my orders. I will keep my promise not to kill you.”

The suggestion to betray his comrades for his own life was less persuasive than the idea of betraying them for the sake of his family.

Though it was Daniel’s way of alleviating his guilt, Orem still hesitated.

“If I return alive, my family won’t be proud of me for betraying my comrades.”

“Do you think they would be proud of your corpse?”

Orem shut his mouth.

After a brief silence, a chilling voice came from behind.

“It would be wise to hurry your choice. This isn’t a situation where you can afford to ramble on.”

The meaning behind Daniel’s words was not a threat but the truth.

Dying here for his comrades or betraying them to return alive and see his family.

As Orem weighed the two on a scale, he picked up the radio with trembling hands.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed the transmission button, conscious of Daniel behind him.

“This is Squad Leader Orem. After the sacrifice of one member, I have secured the safety of Daniel Steiner…”

As he spoke, Orem realized.

“Everyone, gather at the center of the lab. Over.”

He understood that the plate containing his life was heavier than the plate containing his comrades’ lives.

–

The troops who heard Orem’s radio call gathered at the center of the lab.

Relief spread across their tense faces, replaced by smiles.

“Why were we worried? It’s just Daniel Steiner; it’s not a big deal!”

“He’s just a human like us. Even with neural acceleration, he wouldn’t be able to use it properly if caught off guard.”

“Still, considering he killed a Sevilat, we have to admit he’s impressive…”

The soldiers, who had been chatting among themselves, suddenly fell silent.

Orem was walking out from the area marked as the test subject zone.

Behind Orem, a man who appeared to be Daniel Steiner walked with his head bowed.

Seeing this, the soldiers erupted in cheers.

“Squad Leader! You did it!”

“Damn! We’re all getting medals! Look at that! We caught the Empire’s demon!”

“Quick, report it! We did it…?”

However, the soldiers’ cheers did not last long.

They belatedly noticed that Orem was unarmed.

“…Huh? Squad Leader?”

Orem bit his teeth and began to sob.

“I’m sorry.”

As Orem sought forgiveness, a grenade with its pin pulled flew toward the soldiers.

Someone among the stunned soldiers shouted.

“Get down!”

But it was too late.

Boom─!

With an explosion, a deafening sound echoed all around.

As soldiers hit by shrapnel screamed, dust and smoke billowed up thickly.

“Ah! Aah…!”

Daniel, who had pushed Orem aside in despair, drew his revolver and moved forward.

The soldiers who had been fortunate enough to be outside the grenade’s range quickly regained their senses and raised their rifles.

Among the soldiers caught in the explosion, those with intact limbs crawled out of the smoke and grabbed their rifles.

‘Are there five survivors?’

Before they could pull the triggers, Daniel accelerated his nerves.

The mana concentrated in his central nervous system made the world feel like it was in slow motion.

Daniel raised his revolver and pulled the trigger one by one at their heads.

Finally, as the neural acceleration wore off and the world regained its original speed.

Bang─

Five bullets flew almost simultaneously, bursting the soldiers’ heads.

The soldiers, who hadn’t even had time to pull the triggers, fell to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.

“…”

Thinking it was all over, Daniel lowered his arm holding the revolver.

As the dust slowly cleared, nine soldiers lay dead on the ground.

As the blood pooling from their bodies began to form a puddle, Orem, who was behind, retched.

Daniel, too, could not help but be shocked at the sight of the corpses.

‘…One is missing.’

According to Orem, twelve individuals, including the officers, had stormed in here.

So, it would have been normal to find ten corpses here.

Thinking that something was wrong, Daniel quickly moved.

Whoosh─

At that moment, a bullet whizzed past his ear.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Daniel hid behind a pillar in the lab.

As he turned to the side, he saw Orem’s terrified expression as he spotted someone.

“No! I didn’t betray the Allied Nations…!”

Unfortunately, the next words did not follow.

Bang!

With the gunshot, Orem’s head exploded.

‘So one survived after all.’

It seemed that Orem had not trusted the radio and had hidden elsewhere alone.

As Daniel leaned against the wall, catching his breath, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Daniel Steiner! You’ve bribed my subordinate and played tricks! Even in a desperate situation, you’re looking for a way to survive; you truly are a master tactician!”

His tone was relaxed.

“But just because you wiped out one squad doesn’t mean you’ll find a way to survive. An assault unit will soon occupy the city and storm in here.”

Listening to Hamelton’s words, Daniel spoke up.

“…Assault unit?”

“Yes. Count Caledra has launched a large-scale assault using Etherium. The pretext is the recapture of Penbarch, but the real goal is to kill you here and bury the truth.”

“You’re quite confident. If you can’t kill me here, you won’t be able to bury the truth.”

“Hm. I thought you were smart, but it seems you’re not grasping the situation properly. Even as we speak, the assault unit is surrounding this place.”

A sneer followed.

“Surely you don’t think you can escape through the encirclement? If you truly believe that, you might be in for a big disappointment.”

It wasn’t an incorrect statement.

If Count Caledra had launched a large-scale assault using Etherium, he wouldn’t have done so half-heartedly.

Since no one knew that the Allied Nations had accumulated enough Etherium to conduct a large-scale assault, there was no way to prepare, making it a clear disaster.

As Daniel steadied his breath, Hamelton continued.

“By the way, how did you find out that Lady Lucy is a former test subject? The fact that you found this place means you knew some secrets about her.”

Perhaps due to the side effects of neural acceleration, the trembling in Daniel’s hands showed no signs of stopping.

Thinking he had to buy time somehow, Daniel answered Hamelton’s question.

“I knew that from the beginning.”

“You knew that from the beginning? I don’t know how you found out, but does that mean you kept quiet about her identity to use her?”

“Think whatever you want.”

Hamelton chuckled as he heard Daniel’s response.

“Ah. Our poor Lady! To be used like an object by both the Allied Nations and the Empire! What a pitiful life…”

As Hamelton spoke, Daniel accelerated his nerves and stepped out from behind the pillar.

Seeing that he could maintain his composure even in front of the corpses, Daniel judged that he had considerable combat experience and accelerated his nerves once more to ensure he could handle the situation.

Daniel steadied his trembling hand by gripping his wrist and aimed at Hamelton.

Hamelton was also aiming at Daniel, but it didn’t matter.

Daniel had the temporal advantage.

However, the problem was that the neural acceleration cut off faster than expected.

“…Thinking?”

Hamelton’s eyes trembled as he saw Daniel appear in the blink of an eye.

Though he couldn’t aim properly, Daniel pulled the trigger without delay.

Flames erupted from the muzzle as a bullet flew.

However, due to a miscalculation in aiming, the bullet struck Hamelton’s gun instead of his head.

Clang!

The gun hit by the bullet flew backward.

In that moment, Hamelton regained his senses and dove to the ground.

Thud!

The speed was unbelievable for a human leap.

Closing the distance in an instant, Hamelton grabbed Daniel’s body and toppled him.

Both fell to the ground almost simultaneously, but Hamelton was the first to rise.

Quickly mounting Daniel, Hamelton pressed down on his chest with his knee.

Breathless, Daniel found himself pinned beneath Hamelton.

“I’m surprised. I didn’t expect you to use neural acceleration twice in a row. The strain on your body must be severe; what were you thinking?”

It was hard to breathe as his chest was crushed.

“Just…”

Even facing death, the will in Daniel’s eyes did not wane.

“Because you… are talking like a dog…”

Hamelton’s expression darkened at that.

“It seems you don’t want to die easily.”

Hamelton raised his right hand to beat Daniel to death but did not bring it down.

From the entrance of the lab, someone was running toward them.

Turning his head naturally, Hamelton spotted Lucy Emilia, dressed in Imperial military uniform.

As Lucy rushed in, she drew her revolver the moment she saw Daniel and Hamelton.

Seeing this, Hamelton lowered his hand and smiled.

“Ah, Miss Lucy! It’s been a while! Do you remember me?”

Gasping for breath, Lucy looked at Hamelton’s face and seemed a bit surprised.

“…Hamelton?”

“Yes, it’s me. Count Caledra sent me to bring the lady, so I came out on a special assignment. So, please kill this guy and come back with me to the Allied Nations. If you feel any pangs of conscience, I want to assure you that there’s no need for that.”

Hamelton tugged at Daniel’s tie.

“This guy, you see, claims he knew about the lady’s abilities from the start. So he intended to use the lady… Lady?”

Hamelton was taken aback.

The person Lucy was aiming at was not Daniel, but him.

Before he could ask why, Lucy pulled the trigger.

Bang! The bullet pierced through Hamelton’s head.

As Hamelton’s body staggered for a moment, it fell heavily on top of Daniel.

Confirming that Hamelton was dead, Lucy lowered her revolver and looked down at Daniel.

“…Are you alright, Brigade Commander?”

Pushing Hamelton’s corpse aside, Daniel propped himself up on the floor.

As he looked up at Lucy, he couldn’t help but smile.

Lucy was wearing the necklace adorned with amber.

It was the necklace Daniel had given her as a birthday present today.

‘I didn’t realize that today was the day to repay the favor for remembering my birthday…’

“It suits you well.”

As Lucy looked puzzled, Daniel, leaning against the pillar, chuckled again.

“About that necklace.”