Chapter 74

[Dammit! We’ve been discovered!]

[There’s no choice! We’re going in!]

It was a disadvantageous situation.

Even if the ambush had succeeded, there was no guarantee that they could have completed the operation, and being spotted by Aaron Stingray first was a painful mistake.

No—was it really a mistake? Was it simply because they had failed to sufficiently erase their presence?

Impossible.

Aaron must have known.

He had likely grasped the entire situation beforehand and was toying with them as if they were ants in the palm of his hand. Choosing this particular place as the battlefield was probably part of his calculation as well.

But now, there was no turning back.

Aaron had surely already figured out their entire identity, and even if they tried to escape now, there was no way they could survive.

There was only one thing left to do.

[Everyone, charge!]

Dozens of high-ranking Adaptees and augmented soldiers leapt up at once. The rocket propulsion systems of their Lv.4 Powered Armor pushed their mobility to the limit.

In an instant, they covered hundreds of meters through air and ground alike. They surrounded the ruins where Aaron was and aimed the barrels of their S-201 large-caliber rifles.

Click, click, click!

Through mechanical scopes and ocular cameras, they locked onto the target. Now that the distance had closed enough, the [Wall Vision Module] equipped on the scouts began operating normally.

Aaron’s figure beyond the walls started to appear in the scouts’ vision.

The neural images they saw were shared in real time through the Internal Comms Network, allowing the other soldiers to clearly identify Aaron as well.

And in the next moment—

[Fire!]

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The muzzles of the soldiers erupted in unison.

8mm depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds, moving far beyond the speed of sound, poured down like a torrential rain.

These were monstrous bullets that could chew through even thick steel plates like paper. Against such ammunition—capable of ripping apart even an elephant’s thick skin and muscles—ordinary concrete debris could never serve as cover.

KWAaaaaa—!

The hailstorm of bullets tore apart the entire building Aaron had been in. The thick cloud of dust from shattered concrete obscured their vision.

But they did not stop firing.

The scouts’ scanners still showed Aaron’s vital signs. From the start, they hadn’t expected to take him down with just this.

[Reload!]

[Reload!]

[Reload!]

This was an opponent to whom they could not afford to give even the slightest breathing room.

They varied the rate of ammunition consumption by squad to minimize gaps in firepower.

While one squad replaced empty magazines, the others poured bullets in sequence, continuing suppressive fire to keep Aaron from moving.

And then—

[Virus ready.]

[Commencing virus injection.]

A report came from the Wizard team: the computer virus to neutralize Aaron’s modules was ready.

It was designed to dig into security vulnerabilities and wreck every circuit in his body. Without waiting for further orders, they immediately began forcibly downloading the virus into Aaron’s body.

All the while, the firing continued.

Empty a magazine with continuous fire—reload.

Fire again—reload.

How many 100-round magazines had dozens of soldiers emptied? In less than five minutes, they had likely spent tens of thousands of rounds.

And yet…

“Are you kidding me…!”

Aaron’s shape on the scanner was still moving. Beside him lay the corpse of a sniper, motionless, without any sign of life.

A sudden question arose.

Aaron’s survival was one thing—but why was the corpse also perfectly intact? These were rounds that turned concrete into dust. How many had they poured in there?

[Dammit, cease fire! Cease fire!]

Any further ammo expenditure would be inefficient.

No—beyond inefficient. Meaningless.

If even suppressive fire didn’t work, what was the point of wasting such expensive bullets?

Besides, the virus injection would be finished soon.

They needed to halt the attack, at least temporarily, to prepare for the next move.

The gunfire ceased.

The thick dust settled, revealing the entrance of the building, now completely honeycombed from the gunfire. And when the soldiers saw what stood there, they were struck with shock.

[W-what the hell is this…!]

He was far too unscathed.

Aaron wore Black Gloves, and he stared at them without the slightest sign of injury.

Eyes like those of a raptor.

He glared at them with a piercing gaze, as if asking, “Is that all you’ve got?” Yet the faint curl of his lips suggested that he was actually enjoying the situation.

And around him—there was something strange.

How should one describe that shape?

A hemisphere made of threads.

That was perhaps the closest description.

Centered around Aaron and the corpse of the sniper beside him, a hemispherical shape of about two meters in radius had formed. The grid formed by intersecting threads was just barely wide enough for a fist to pass through.

At first, one might wonder—how could that stop bullets? But the question was quickly answered. Looking closely, thin threads were rapidly shuttling back and forth across the gaps in the grid.

All around the thread-made hemisphere lay heaps of neatly severed 8mm depleted uranium bullet tips.

[It—it doesn’t work at all…]

It wasn’t entirely unexpected.

No matter how much firepower they poured in, expecting such standard weaponry to meaningfully damage the strongest man in New Valhalla City—the ultimate weapon of the Stingray Group—was nothing short of wishful thinking.

But still—

[This is too much…!]

They had at least hoped.

After pouring so much into it, maybe they wouldn’t kill him, but could they at least injure him? Maybe land just one hit?

Of course, that had been a futile wish.

Aaron stood there, perfectly unharmed.

Maintaining a lofty, graceful dignity.

That fact crushed the soldiers’ morale.

[…]

With shock and fear, the battlefield fell into silence.

However, they could not give up like this.

There was still another hope left for them.

[Virus injection complete.]

The virus to neutralize Aaron Stingray’s modules had completely taken hold in his body.

It was over now.

No matter how physically invincible Aaron Stingray was, the moment he showed a gap to a Wizard, it would be the end.

Through the virus, the Wizards would now rummage through his internal circuits as if it were their own home, tearing everything apart.

Bzzzt

Sparks leapt from Aaron’s body.

Dark smoke rose from the back of his neck, and Aaron swayed slightly. Soon after, he reached to the back of his neck and pulled out a module, charred black like charcoal.

[Lv.3 Cell Generator – removal successful.]

It was a success!

The soldiers quietly rejoiced.

The virus had successfully destroyed one of Aaron’s modules. Now, they would proceed to neutralize his most vulnerable modules one by one.

Hope seemed to be in sight.

At that moment—

Aaron muttered as if amused.

“…Ah, I see.”

An overly relaxed attitude.

As though he had expected this.

“I had deliberately downgraded the Anti-Wizard Vaccine. I must have forgotten about that.”

What was he talking about?

The moment the soldiers began to wonder, an urgent transmission came from the Wizard team.

[We have a report!]

[What is it?]

[The target’s moduling status is abnormal!]

The virus scan of Aaron’s moduling state had revealed something strange. When this data was shared, Benedict’s soldiers could not help but be stunned once again.

Serial Number: AST-000

Operating System: PANDORA v.1.0

User: Aaron Stingray

Replacement Rate: 7.8%

Installed Combat Modules

【Arcane】

[Cloud Spider Lv.5] – Active

[βσξλłĦĦŁŊ Lv.5] – Inactive

[Corpse Eater Lv.5] – Active

[T-that’s impossible…]

It was unbelievable.

Three Arcane Modules?

It was shocking enough to have three Game Changer-class modules equipped simultaneously, but what was even more astonishing was that these were the only modules equipped.

Why?

Where had all the numerous military-grade modules he supposedly possessed gone? Even if they added the recently destroyed [Cell Generator Lv.3], the total output level would only be 18.

‘What is going on here…?’

Even with Game Changer-class modules, equipping only those would not allow one to fully utilize their power.

How had Aaron managed to spot the sniper 2 km away with eyesight that wasn’t even augmented by mechanical eyes?

And how had he pinpointed their location and responded to their attack so precisely?

‘With pure specs alone, his physical ability is at Lv.40? No, at least Lv.60.’

While they were still baffled—

“A virus, huh. This is troublesome.”

Aaron muttered, then stepped on the corpse of the sniper beside him.

He forcibly tore the socket HUB cyberware from the corpse, then began removing the combat modules installed inside.

‘What is he trying to do?’

Was he going to equip them?

The compatibility shouldn’t match.

Normally, Adaptees carried spare modules with various functions for different situations, but those were always matched to their own compatibility.

Taking modules from someone else and using them?

A few might be usable if the compatibility happened to match by luck, but most would be useless. Worse, the excessively high overload rate could harm the body.

Or so it should have been.

Aaron ignored that and began inserting the modules taken from the corpse into his own socket HUB one by one. After examining them as if savoring their taste, he discarded the ones he deemed incompatible.

“This one’s useless.”

Out of a total of 20 modules, only 2 were discarded.

This meant that the remaining 18 modules were compatible with him.

[Crazy…!]

Aaron’s moduling data, updated through the virus, now showed that most of those modules were functioning normally.

His overload rate had increased significantly, but it was still within a level where he could continue fighting without issue.

‘He’s even stronger than before…?!’

This was insane.

They had barely managed to disable one module, and now he had taken 18 combat modules from a corpse and made them his own…!

Of course, the virus was still active.

It would continue to disable Aaron’s modules one by one, but if he kept equipping new ones each time, the effort would be pointless.

[Dammit! Disable the Game Changer modules first!]

[I-it’s difficult! Arcane Modules alone have massive data volume and airtight security…!]

[Hah…!]

They were screwed.

It felt like every plan they had built in their heads had become worthless. A monster who was already strong had now become a monster that grew stronger by consuming corpses.

How could they possibly win against such a terrifying being?

This wouldn’t work.

Continuing to fight would not work.

They would all die meaninglessly.

The commander decided to give the order.

[W-withdraw…]

But then—

[And where exactly do you all think you’re going?]

Aaron’s voice came.

They flinched instinctively, but then felt something was off about the voice. It didn’t belong to the target they were facing—it was someone else.

It was very similar to Aaron’s.

But it sounded… younger.

And then—

[C-commander, look…!]

Before anyone noticed—

A figure appeared in the middle of the battlefield, sending shockwaves through its atmosphere once again.

Another Aaron Stingray.

To be exact, Aaron in his teenage years.

Was standing there.

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