He was running without making any sound while paying the greatest attention to the surroundings, yet his running speed was still top speed. The agent of a nonexistent organization――Allen, was chasing after the escaping Weiss with astounding speed.
It seemed that Weiss was heading toward the installation of this facility’s power generator, Allen could see various pipes and electronics, big and small, throughout the corridor.
But at that time, Allen’s gaze suddenly caught something that he ought to be careful against. It was a very fine wire that was set up in the corridor inconspicuously. A simple trap.
Allen’s face didn’t change, his running speed didn’t decrease, and he went to the wall and jumped. And then by kicking on the wall, he climbed until near the ceiling, his hands caught one of the pipes, and he flew over the wire like a pendulum.
That jump looked excessive just for jumping over a single wire, but actually, that wire was a bluff, there was an infrared-type trap set up ahead of that wire, so Allen’s action was correct looking at the result. It was an instantaneous judgment based on Allen’s experience of many years.
…
Weiss, who was hiding behind some cover, aimed at the moment Allen landed and fired. However, Allen also read that ahead of time and got down looking as though he was clinging to the floor the moment he landed, so the bullet futilely passed over above his head.
Still lying down on the floor, Allen pulled his gun trigger without any time lag. His bullet counterattacked Weiss. Weiss leaked out a「Uoh-!」voice, but even so, he managed to dodge by hiding his body with the agility that was on the level of a cockroach.
「Eat this too!」
「Are you an idiot, doing that in this kind of place!?」
Weiss threw a hand grenade while roaring angrily. It was a cramped place, and furthermore, the place was packed full of pipes that he was unaware of what their functions were. ‘Just what the hell he is thinking throwing explosives in here!’ Allen sprang to his feet even while cursing and aimed in a kneeling posture using both his hands.
The bullet he fired accurately shot through the midair grenade, and it exploded right in the middle of Weiss and Allen. Allen rolled to the passage’s wall at the same time as his firing, and then he covered his whole body with his coat that possessed the material to be bullet-proof, knife-proof, and some impact resistance. Even so, he grit his teeth from the impact that made him feel enough pain while trying to snipe Weiss. At that time,
「Ih!?」
「Light is with you, I guess?」
Allen’s cheeks twitched from looking at “that” rolling below him. Right after that, kat- intense light surged out.
Weiss, who in a sense believed in Allen’s skill, had predicted that Allen would shoot down the hand grenade, so he also threw a flashbang at almost the exact same time.
With this, he ran out of grenades and flashbangs. The double-layered trap and the hand grenade was a preparation to steal Allen’s sight at this moment.
At the same time, when the light was starting to settle down, Weiss sent machine gun bullets at the spot where Allen was. His tactics were flowing smoothly without any hesitation and mercy, brought about by his overwhelming battle experience. He became the target of the JD Agency because he was using this skill of his to accomplish immorality and turned the table on the many police and agents coming to capture him.
He was even able to escape once from an agent of that JD Agency; his skill was something authentic, in contrast with his frivolous attitude.
Although, if it was asked whether that skill could work that easily against the man who was positioned to work directly beside the chief of the state security bureau even from among the JD Agency,
tan- tan-
「Tsua!? Son of a bitch-」
Two gunshots echoed, and at the same time, Weiss’s machine gun was blown away. It was merely luck that his fingers didn’t get blown up too.
Weiss immediately drew out his handgun to fire back. But, he whispered「That just ain’t possible」with a displeased expression seeing what appeared at the space where the flash had settled down.
「It’s the standard for a spy to have seven gadgets, right? My organization is a nonexistent one, but the guys affiliated with it are all comparatively a believer of romance you know?」
Allen said so with his hand holding that――a coat that hardened like a shield and blocked the bullets. He waved it lightly. Inside his heart, he was going「That was dangerous just now!」while sweating coldly, but he was hiding it with his usual foolish smile.
…
Both of them were acting the funny man and the straight man like television performers while, at the same time, they pulled their gun triggers. They were trying to take each other’s life smoothly while talking jokingly. It was a black communication between a veteran mercenary and a first-class assassin.
As expected, it seemed they had predicted each other’s movement as the bullets grazed the cheek of the two who were in a half-body stance. (TN: This half-body stance is like karate stance, where you directed one side of your body toward diagonally behind, so to make your body a smaller target)
Allen made his coat a substitute for a shield and charged forward in a dash. The passage wasn’t that wide, so when the shield of the hardened coat that was spread widely launched a shield bash it was impossible to dodge.
Weiss had a future vision where he got pushed down――so he instead stepped forward. If he were to show his back, then he would undoubtedly get shot in the back and die. He judged that his path of survival only existed going forward.
Weiss slid the moment just before he came into contact with Allen. Perhaps he was trying to slip through between Allen’s legs, but there was no way Allen would allow that as he swung the shield down――Right before that, however, Weiss fired repeatedly toward the ceiling.
「-」
The fired bullets hit a pipe on the ceiling and came back toward the ground through a complicated ricochet. Allen immediately lifted his coat shield and blocked the ricochet. At that moment, Weiss was sliding on the floor while passing through……during that time he unsheathed a knife to slice Allen’s foot.
Allen blocked that knife using his shoe that had a metal plate inserted inside, and then he discarded his coat and, at the same time, used one hand as a fulcrum and kicked with a reversed foot. The shoe of that reversed foot had a mechanical knife flying out from its tip.
Weiss blocked that using his gun barrel while retreating from the kick’s range using the momentum of his sliding. He rotated once and then aimed toward Allen from a kneeling stance. Allen also aimed his gun from a kneeling stance.
「Just die quickly, dog of the state.」
「Please die quickly, mercenary.」
A beat.
tan- tan- tan-
Bullets showered each other from point-blank range. Although the firing line of Allen’s gun was slightly shifted by Weiss’s knife, Weiss’s gun also had its firing line shifted by a retractable baton that Allen took out unnoticed. It finished with only their cheeks being grazed.
jako- Their magazines ran out at the same time with that sound echoing. Weiss pretended to retract the knife in his left hand, and in the middle of that motion, he threw that knife to his right hand. His left hand caught Allen’s baton without pause while the knife landed in the right hand’s grip, as though it was attracted to there, as he approached to carve Allen’s throat.
Allen easily abandoned the baton and stepped in so low that he looked like he was crawling on the ground. He dodged Weiss’s murderous blade while he grasped his collar, and then he turned around. He threw up Weiss with his waist’s motion.
Weiss that was flung away with a so-called shoulder throw then had his back strike the floor.「Gahah」Air was driven out from his lung.
「Yep, the end.」
「Well, not yet actually.」
Allen pulled out his spare gun, and he pressed the gun muzzle on Weiss’s forehead. At the same time, Weiss also talked lightly even with his face grimacing, and he pressed a button on his wristwatch.
In the next instant, a thunderous roar and an explosion blast blew violently from behind Allen. Allen’s gun muzzle shifted slightly due to that, and because Weiss’s head swung aside, the bullet veered away.
Weiss jumped to his feet and dashed fiercely toward the nearest door. Allen immediately fired, but Weiss stepped on Allen’s coat while passing through and sent it flying to block the bullet. Even so, he couldn’t avoid all the bullets, and his shoulder got hit, but he didn’t pay it any attention and opened the door with a tackle and jumped inside.
…
Allen smiled bitterly while exchanging his magazine with the new one and put away the half-used magazine. And then, he pulled out a pin from his wristwatch and dropped it on the floor. Immediately, small legs like an insect’s flew out from the pin.
Allen rotated the rotatable bezel of the watch halfway round. Right after that, the windbreak part of the watch turned into a display that projected the image on the floor level.
「This is the prided article of a real-life Q. Just watch it thoroughly to your heart’s content.」
The small metallic bug moved its legs with a rattling sound and advanced toward the location of Weiss who was shooting his machine gun while talking provocatively. Allen was watching his watch’s display while controlling the small insect using the bezel’s rotation.
Like that, the feet of Weiss were visible inside the display. Allen grinned widely, but as expected, the one over there was Weiss, whose obstinacy was on the level of a cockroach. Just before Allen could press the button, Weiss suddenly noticed something below him. He discovered the metallic thing with strange legs crawling below him, and his cheeks twitched grandly.
The next instant, DOOON- an explosive sound echoed, and the gunshots stopped.
…
「This guy, how harsh……. But see, if you, get this close……that’s enough, yeah?」
Both of Weiss’s hands sprang up right after that. He caught both of Allen’s wrists instantly with a speed that was unthinkable coming from a half-dead man. Although Allen was calm, he was slightly late in his reaction because he was mostly cautious against a gun or knife, but it wasn’t any problem at all getting caught like this.
Allen made the knife inside his shoe to jump out, and he kicked Weiss’s stomach. Weiss vomited out blood with his body lifted in the air.
But, here an unexpected situation occurred. Weiss should have no more physical strength with his dying body, and he should be blown away from Allen’s finishing blow; but instead, his grip strength was increasing further. He didn’t let go of Allen’s hands like a magnet.
「-, so this is what they call the great strength when at death’s door!」
「Hihih, this is a desperate grab for a fellow traveler to hell.」
Allen kicked repeatedly. He broke Weiss’s ribcage, his mechanical knife hacked Weiss’s stomach into shreds, and furthermore, he also stabbed Weiss’s heart. But, Weiss didn’t die. The pressure on his captured wrists was increasing!
「Don’t tell me-, the cigarette just now-」
「Spot on-! I’m not gonna let you aim at the head y’knoww」
With both his hands caught, Allen had no way to destroy the head. Being too close like this sealed his legs from destroying the head.
Allen twirled his gun using his fingertip, like a sleight of hand. His pinky held the trigger, and he aimed at Weiss’s head with the gun in a reversed position, but Weiss’s arm strength that was increasing further didn’t allow Allen to aim accurately. Allen was continuously landing strong knife-attached kicks, but the created wounds were smoking white and gradually began to regenerate.
…
As expected, Allen was losing patience while he unleashed kicks like a storm at Weiss that was starting to rapidly change before his eyes. However, Weiss’s regeneration ability was also gathering speed, and the first stab wound was already completely healed.
「Guh-」
「Then, let’s meet on the other side yeah, doggy.」
Weiss’s insane words stabbed at Allen who groaned from the feeling that both of his arms were being gripped so hard that they were on the verge of snapping from the pressure. Right after that, a roar rose from Weiss. His muscles enlarged and his wound closed in tremendous speed.
「DON’T UNDERESTIMATE MEEEEE-」
Allen pulled up both his arms together with a loud yell that was rarely heard coming from him while he struck Weiss’s stomach with a fierce kick. Weiss’s body was lifted up before it fell down right away, but before that, Allen made his body slide to the floor and put Weiss’s body on his lifted leg. And then he pulled both his hands while his leg struck up with all his strength.
The body of Weiss that was in the middle of the transformation got turned over with an overhead throw. He was sent flying face up to the opposite side. Even so, Weiss’s hands didn’t let go of Allen, but Weiss that was turned over was in Allen’s line of fire.
Allen twirled his gun once more with just his fingertip and pulled the trigger repeatedly. He didn’t manage to aim at the head, but it was enough to strike the shoulder. Perhaps the bullet hit a good spot because one of Allen’s hands was released.
Allen quickly got up and aimed at the other hand that was growing like a log while holding his hand and fired. The moment his hand was released, he rolled away to take some distance while firing toward Weiss’s head.
But here there was a further unexpected situation occurring.
「Wha!? He dodged!?」
「AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!」
Yes, he dodged. A berserker dodged. It detected the approaching bullet and leapt aside.
A berserker was a lump of instinct. It would at least cover its weakness the head with its arms, but fundamentally, a berserker would only charge forward like a boar. It could do nothing but charge forward relying on its body and super regeneration. Until now, there wasn’t a single berserker that had ever taken “evasive actions”.
「Chih, a troublesome guy even after becoming a berserker huuh!」
Allen took out a throwing knife and threw it toward Weiss’s eye. Allen thought to fire at the head the moment Weiss dodged. But, as expected, this berserker――Berserker Weiss, didn’t seem like a normal one.
The throwing knife was struck down this time without dodging. Furthermore, it didn’t keep charging without pause, but it dipped its waist deeply like a beast while groaning「uUUUUU-」and glared at Allen.
Yes, as though it was observing Allen’s move.
「Wa, wa wa wait……this is different from what I heard! A berserker that can “fight” is not a joke-」
Allen was complaining greatly but fired at the same time. The moment Allen aimed his gun, the berserker charged forward with a terrific step. Although that charge wasn’t a bull rush like every berserker before this, it was a counter rush that was accompanied with the evasion of the bullet by lowering its stance instantly.
「Seriously, spare me-」
This time Allen jumped to the side. Berserker Weiss rushed through the place he was in just now and created a crater on the concrete floor.
Allen jumped to the side while doing a handstand with one hand and fired further. The bullet approached the head with terrifying accuracy, but Berserker Weiss lifted its hand as though it had predicted it from the start, and the bullet was blocked by that hand.
Berserker Weiss raised a war cry while grabbing the nearby broken pipe. He tore it off with brute strength and threw it toward Allen.
「HiIIH」
Allen screamed pathetically while clinging to the floor and rolling away. He somehow managed to dodge it. However, the fact that the berserker was using a tool caused Allen’s expression to shudder with fear.
But, at that time, a light machine gun on the floor was reflected in the corner of Allen’s sight. Most likely, it was the weapon that Weiss used before which probably got sent flying due to the explosive of the insect gadget. Allen leapt so close to the floor that he was hugging the ground and pulled the trigger toward Berserker Weiss that was bending down in preparation for a charge.
dadadadadada- A rhythmical sound resounded, and a swarm of bullets assaulted Berserker Weiss.
「GAaH」
「He dodged as expected! Aa, geez-」
Berserker Weiss dashed to the side at the same time as when Allen pulled the trigger. And then, it sometimes used obstacles for cover while running in a circle around Allen.
gachin- That sound echoed showing that the light machine gun ran out of bullets. Allen’s face paled.
With a timing as though it had aimed for the moment the bullets ran out, Berserker Weiss turned on the offensive. Its step made a DON- sound as though a cannon had fired, and it approached Allen.
「Shi, shit-」
Allen took out a small cylinder from his belt’s buckle and fired it at the pillar of the second floor. A wire stretched out, and its tip then clung tightly and fixed itself on the pillar. Allen pushed his belt’s buckler at the same time, and the wire reeled in quickly pulling Allen to the air.
Below him, Berserker Weiss passed through just within a hair’s breadth while smashing some kind of machinery into pieces overenthusiastically.
「This isn’t a joke. Just what part of it is a lump of instinct! A berserker that is this used to battle is just……」
Allen was drenched in cold sweat while taking refuge in the air, and suddenly a conjecture welled up inside from his own words. The berserkers that he faced until now were basically just civilians or fellows that more or less used to some scuffle. That was why charging like a bull was only natural for them if they followed their instincts.
But, if it was a first-class fighter whose body moved on a subconscious level to predict the chance to attack and took the optimum evasive action when in battle, then what would happen if that kind of person was turned into a berserker? A person with a combat skill on the level that it was engraved into their subconscious, would they become a monster that only charged forward like a civilian in the end?
By any chance, the answer to that might be this Berserker Weiss before his eyes. A skilled mercenary that could battle a top-ranking agent equally was transformed into a berserker resulted in this. Of course, it was nothing more than a conjecture; perhaps there was another factor contributing to this.
「Hahah, perhaps this will be seriously bad if this is turned into a weapon.」
Allen reflexively muttered such a thing, but his face tensed right away. Berserker Weiss was tearing apart the fixing implement of a machine that was almost as big as a car so that it could lift it up.
It was obvious what its reason for doing that was.
「Crap crap crap crap-」
Allen manipulated his buckle to cut the wire and fell to the ground. After that, the car-sized machine came flying. The pillar Allen fixed his wire on was pulverized with a thunderous sound, and then the second floor’s path was also destroyed by the machine.
Allen landed with an ukemi technique, but naturally, Berserker Weiss didn’t overlook that opening. The rock-like fist was already approaching by the time Allen was recovering his stance.
「Gahah」
Allen could only guard by crossing his arms while taking a back-step with all his strength to lower the impact as much as possible. He was blown away horizontally above the ground, and his back crashed on a machine behind him. He couldn’t even scream with how intense the impact was, and then his body slipped down slowly to sit on the floor.
‘Kahah’ Blood was mixed in the breath that he finally could spit out. It seemed that his internal organs were injured. Both his arms limply hung down with their direction facing to strange angles.
But even so, he was alive. What’s more, he was conscious, and he was able to watch the Berserker Weiss slowly approaching him. Surely, that was thanks to his miraculous impact neutralization and ukemi technique. Chapter 218.
