Fortune Cookie (14)

Clang—

The robot squad, now under Licorice's control, began to move with the heavy, interlocking sound of armor plates. At first, the multi-legged tank moved awkwardly, but whether it was learning in real time, it quickly began moving more naturally.

Boom-!

As the multi-legged tank stepped forward, flesh burst apart. The mimic underneath made a sticky squelching sound, like oozing fluid, letting out a silent scream.

A bluish light boiled and bubbled out between the torn flesh, but then was abruptly cut off. It seemed a chance event had shattered its core.

Wheeeen—. As the laser cannon mounted on the multi-legged tank began charging energy, a horde of ghouls, sensing the threat, finally snapped out of their daze and charged forward. The state of stalemate ended in an instant.

【 Kiiieeeek! 】【 Aaaaargh! 】

There was an immediate crash; the robots collided with the horde of ghouls in the blink of an eye. Now in kill mode, their shockwave emitters tore through the ruins, sending ghouls flying in every direction.

At maximum output, the shockwaves burst the air, flaying the ghouls alive. Chunks of skin were ripped off, sticking to the ground and filling the air with a terrible stench as bones—shaped nothing like ordinary human ones—were briefly revealed before vanishing again.

The ghouls, if not totally severed or destroyed, would regenerate in any way possible to grab at our ankles, desperately trying to turn the battle into close combat. Grappling was their specialty, and if it came to a direct fight, we would be at a significant disadvantage—especially since we were already outnumbered.

Just as I was about to help with my plasma cutter at full power, Licorice stopped me for a moment.

—I'm making real-time fine adjustments so that even if remote control is lost, they can still follow the programmed orders on their own.

That relieved a worry I'd had; communication had been shaky, and I was concerned about it. Having already experienced the comms dropping into silence due to the raw crystal's interference, Licorice was proactively taking measures against it.

—They'll clear the way ahead. You just run down the open path. The situation is urgent, so don't look back.

Licorice also noticed the signal flare that went up near the collapsed central tower. As she spoke, the Alpha Series security robots and the multi-legged tank began to open a path forward.

Shockwaves from their arms peeled the ground like leather, and the laser cannon, fully charged, blasted forth a blood-red beam. The laser split the space in two, cutting and burning everything in its path.

The ghouls, mouths wide and shrieking, were sliced in half, their two pieces flopping to either side. The exposed cross-sections sizzled and bubbled as they cooked.

The scent of blood and sight of their own kind dying drove the monsters into a berserk frenzy, launching themselves at us with suicidal abandon. The robots, their cores overheating, pushed their output beyond the limit for the fight.

Crunch! Crack-crack!

The sound of metal and flesh bursting echoed around me, mingled with the crash of snapping frames and breaking bones.

—Run!

Even before Licorice shouted, I was already sprinting. The blizzard seemed to push me forward, urging me onward. My nape went cold, even as my heart pounded heavily in my chest.

—This is a battle of momentum. It might look like the advantage is ours right now, but the reality is the opposite.

It didn't even look like we had the advantage. We were just barely holding the line.

【 Kiiieeeek! 】

A ghoul suddenly leapt out from the debris, lunging at me from a blind spot. My reaction was a bit slow, but not too late—I was about to swing my plasma cutter in a wide arc when a security robot running beside me reached out its arm.

With an unyielding, metallic hand, it grabbed the ghoul's head and shoved it away. The struggling robot and ghoul tumbled out of sight in an instant.

—I won't hesitate to use tools.

Just as she said, Licorice used the Alpha Series security robots without reservation. Even if they had to sacrifice their own arms, the robots jammed their shockwave-equipped arms into the ghouls' mouths to strike them from inside, or threw themselves into the path of any threat targeting the multi-legged tank or me.

It was as if she had forgotten the original plan to recover the security robots, treating them as consumables instead. All to maintain our momentum, to avoid being overrun in a single moment.

"Is this really okay?!"

—It's fine. I told you, you and I are in the same boat. So, Hyun-woo, you just keep running forward. I'll handle everything else.

When evolved mutant ghouls appeared—ones that were too dangerous to handle one-on-one—the security robots would even self-destruct to stop them. The robots fought even tougher than the ghouls themselves, obeying the commands of their controller and nothing else.

BOOOM—!

Another Alpha overloaded its core, exploding in a blue flash and scattering metal shrapnel. The carefully calculated burst sent shards toward the horde ahead.

The shrapnel wasn't large enough to inflict massive casualties, but they were more than enough to temporarily incapacitate the ghouls. Watching an Alpha burn itself out so valiantly, I couldn't help but mutter,

"Licorice, you're really crazy. Even more than me."

—Maybe I caught it from you! Now run instead of talking!

I was already running for my life! I swallowed the retort, not wanting to bother Licorice, who was busy controlling the robots.

I pushed myself with every last bit of strength. The surroundings were chaos. Even Titan's whims seemed to be startled by the ferocity of our charge—the blizzard had stopped before I was even aware of it.

The residential area I'd known, blanketed in silence, was gone. Between the Alpha Series, the multi-legged tank, and the rampaging ghouls, everything was thrown into upheaval.

Even the wind had died down; the noise traveled so far, it drew in monsters from the outskirts of the residential area. I couldn't see them, but I could feel it—the numbers gathering here were only increasing.

Like a single small fish turning clear water to mud, that was our situation. We were the small fish.

As we hurried toward the central tower, another signal flare erupted in the sky. It shot up, exploding with a burst of light for all to see, illuminating the silhouette of the central tower with its snapped-in-half spire.

That blazing light was a cry for help—a signal that someone was alive and in need. I checked my bracelet as I ran, but communication was still dead. Since my connection with Licorice remained intact, it meant Nadia's comm set must have failed.

I had feared Nadia's side might be put at risk by the commotion we caused. Had my worry become reality? Still, the only silver lining was that the location of the flare was now much closer.

Howls from the ghouls rose from where we were headed. I clenched my teeth against the piercing screams and pushed my legs harder. The wind brushing past me seemed to speed me up. My vision narrowed until I could see only a single point ahead.

It wasn't much longer before—

—This... Hyun-woo, the connection... again... bzzt......

Licorice's voice came through intermittently, then the link failed again. At almost the same time, the robot squad began moving in fits and starts. The blue crystal zone had reappeared.

Creak— The robot squad forced their locked frames to move, cores blinking rapidly as if taking deep breaths to loosen seized-up bodies. Immediately after, their eyes glowed, and they resumed advancing.

Even with the connection to their controller cut, the robots pressed forward to the central tower, carrying out the orders to escort their charge and neutralize all hostiles.

Soon, I spotted Nadia, Carry, and Eric cornered in a nook. Flashlights swept across us, and once we recognized each other, everyone's faces showed intense relief.

But it didn't last long. In fact, it barely lasted a moment, because the situation was obviously dire.

One of Eric's arms hung limp, white foam crusted around it, likely from a hemostatic spray.

Nadia bore claw marks on her shoulder. Luckily, only her suit was damaged thanks to a small armored panel—the injury hadn't pierced her flesh.

Carry's metal cargo case was badly battered. Only then did I realize it was because Carry had shielded Nadia with his own body.

There was so much I wanted to say and ask, but I put everything aside for now. What mattered was not words, but action. I could gather enough from simply looking at the situation.

As I arrived with the robot squad, Nadia's tail shot straight up. Carry bounced with excitement at our reunion. Eric sighed in relief.

"Hyun-woo!"

"Get behind the robots and catch your breath!"

I moved to shield Nadia and Carry, sending them behind me. The Alpha Series robots and the multi-legged tank formed an armored barrier, holding back the tide of ghouls. The constant sound of denting metal filled the air.

Eric, chewing a top-grade painkiller, shouted,

"You have to go! I'll guard the basement entrance with the robots—retrieve the cube before this place collapses!"

His combat ability had plummeted with his arm injury, and now he'd only slow us down if he came along. Rapid action was needed. That was the situation Eric described.

We were the only ones who could move properly, and going alone into the unknown basement was out of the question. For that reason, the three of us had to go together.

We were the sort who always worked best as three against one. With a sinking feeling, I turned to Nadia and Carry. As Eric said, it was a race against time.

If our formation shifted from attack to defense, the enemy would focus their malice on one spot. We had to recover the core part of the shield generator before all the robots were destroyed.

"Just hold on a little longer! Nadia, let's go!"

"Okay...!"

As we headed to the central tower's basement, a ghoul in a child's shape leapt out to block our path.

【 Kiiiiiieek! 】

The ghoul didn't attack or retreat. Its suit was mere rags.

Behind it, pressed against the wall, another ghoul was being fused into the structure. Its age and features were impossible to recognize, but by the contours of the body, I could barely tell it had once been a woman.

Were they refugees who failed to escape the central tower? Most likely. These were people abandoned and left to turn into ghouls without rescue.

Female ghoul. Child ghoul. The way the small one stood guard for the other let me immediately grasp their relationship.

'... What is that attitude? Acting like a monster, yet...'

—A ghoul is still a living creature.

Carrot's words suddenly came to mind. Not something dead, but something alive. Most of them hadn't chosen to become ghouls. They'd had no real choice, and either path would've led to the same end—just in a different manner.

Life is a continuous string of choices. Even now, I was at a crossroads: hesitate in sentimentality, or act resolutely as I always had?

My hesitation was brief. My action was swift.

As I stepped forward, the child—no, the ghoul—charged at me. I didn't want to know why.

Fine, if you're a monster, then act like one—just don't make us monsters, too.

Without pause, I swung the plasma cutter. I heard the slicing sound and then something thudding softly to the ground. Blue flowers trembled. An ear-splitting scream echoed in my ears.

It was only a repetition of everything I had done before. Yet for some reason, my hands shook slightly. But only for a moment. We steeled ourselves and pressed forward.

There was no time to wallow in cheap sentiment.

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