Bad Born Blood - Chapter 4



Only Noblemtl

004

My right prosthetic eye was worth the money. It expanded and absorbed visible light wavelengths, allowing me to perceive objects around me. The field of vision, with its amplified and corrected light, was as bright as day.

I saw two Corinthians standing on the cliff. They were wearing clothes with fluttering sleeves and hems. Their clothes, which were originally white, looked old and faded gray.

The two Coraines took out cigarettes and put them in their mouths one by one. The flames of the lighters flickered brightly and then disappeared.

I raised my hand, blinking to turn off the glare from the artificial eye.

‘I’m on the left, you’re on the right.’

We split up the roles by sending a short signal. I and I will attack the outposts from the left and right simultaneously.

Whoosh!

I was the first to climb up the cliff. I kicked the ground and grabbed the hilt of my sword.

Ding- Gung!

I passed between two men smoking cigarettes. The cigarette butts they dropped fell, catching the red light. And the heads of the two men rolled on the floor.

Taking my attack as a signal, the silent massacre began.

Whirl!

My cadets and I stormed the outpost and stabbed and killed everyone we saw.

Wheeeeeeing! Wheeeeeeing!

The alarm was belatedly spread throughout the outpost. The front of the base was in an uproar. The guards guarding the front were running towards us.

“Ah, Acre… … !”

They immediately recognized our identity by our stern appearance and uniform. And they were soon terrified. This was as good as losing before the fight.

Ta-Ang!

The enemy’s gunfire spread. They were shots fired in a panic. None of us were hit by it. Everyone dispersed on their own.

Doo doo doo doo!

The shots continued. I skillfully avoided the fire and moved around. Other cadets temporarily hid themselves or used corpses as shields.

I approached Corinne, who was firing the machine gun. He tried to turn the gun in a hurry, but when he realized it was too late, he tried to draw his pistol.

“Hey, yikes, devil!”

Coraine shouted at me. I just shrugged my shoulders and swung my sword.

S- Gung!

Coraine’s head was split into upper and lower parts centered on the temples. The red cross-sections of her philtrum and chin were revealed in an unrealistically smooth manner.

I kicked Coraine, whose head had been blown off, and knocked him over.

‘… … Easy.’

I thought that I and I could wipe out this outpost. Of course, that would be expected. We were the elite soldiers of the Empire.

I walked around the outpost, which was in disarray.

“Oh, mother, um, mother, mother… … .”

I heard a sound and turned my head. There was Coraine, my age, crawling on the ground. At first, I thought she had an injury to her leg.

‘I guess he’s just so scared that he can’t move properly.’

He couldn’t even use his good leg. It was pathetic.

“iced coffee…….”

The boy Corin, who had been desperately searching for his mother, raised his head upon sensing my presence. I hesitated for a moment and met his eyes.

‘The welfare of the subjects of the Empire and the glory of His Majesty the Emperor… … .’

I hummed without making a sound, just moving my mouth. I tried to calm my mind.

But I stopped my hand because I felt uneasy. If that boy had a knife or a gun in his hand, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I would have cut his throat with ease.

‘… …non-combatant without resistance.’

But the order I received was to kill all the Korines here.

Phew!

I swung my sword down. It passed over the boy’s neck and stuck in the ground.

“Lie down as if you were dead. Then you will live.”

I whispered as I pulled out my sword. My mind was filled with turmoil and anxiety. If the other cadets noticed my current actions, my life could be in danger.

But I took a risk impulsively. I was immediately overcome by a sense of guilt that had not even occurred with murder.

‘This can’t be done, Luca. The Empire’s orders are strict. They must not be disobeyed.’

I must cut that boy’s throat right now. I bit my lower lip and looked down at the boy fiercely. The imperial order was pushing my back and hands.

Right now my body is trying to move by the will of the Empire, not by my own. I don’t like that.

I am hesitating.

Ta-Ang!

The gunshot rang out. The bullet pierced the boy’s head. He would have died before he even realized it.

‘Ilay?’

I stared at the starting point of the gunshot. Ilay was standing on the roof of the building. Smoke was billowing out of his pistol.

Ilay looked at me and shook her head from side to side slightly. It meant that she saw everything. But it was Ilay, not anyone else. So I was relieved.

‘If it was another cadet, not Illei, who saw my actions just now… … .’

I would have had to shut that cadet’s mouth somehow. If persuasion and conversation didn’t work, then by any means necessary.

‘Illai won’t report my hesitation to his superiors. Anyway, I’m the one who’s in trouble today.’

My mind flashed. I realized what I had tried to do. I had almost put myself and my companions in danger by showing mercy to a nameless Corin boy.

I looked back at Ellie on the roof of the building to say thank you, even if only with a nod. But that was the moment.

Woohoo!

The air layer next to Ilay distorted.

I opened my eyes wide. Even my most advanced prosthetic eye couldn’t grasp the situation. This was a phenomenon beyond the laws of physics.

bang!

There was an explosion next to Ilay. It wasn’t some kind of explosive. The air around her was simply distorted and expanded.

“Hey, you piece of trash!!”

A rough voice resonated through the air. I hurriedly ran to where Ilay was.

Illei, caught in the explosion, fell from the three-story rooftop to the ground.

“… …Luka, there’s a Force user. I let my guard down. I’m so embarrassed.”

Ilay was barely standing, leaning against the wall. He seemed to have survived thanks to his arms and legs protecting his head and body from the blast. Parts and bundles of wires were sticking out from his shielded arms and legs.

“I’ll handle it. You rest.”

I stared at the empty space at the center of the outpost. There was a commotion there.

‘Force.’

This is my first time encountering it in person. I only knew about it through knowledge.

‘… … A kind of superpower.’

Force users could cause phenomena that defied the laws of physics. The explosion that struck Illei was one such phenomenon.

‘Did the captain of the guard know there was a force user here?’

If only they had given me a warning in advance, Illei would have been injured… … .

I shook my head as I ran into the empty lot. That was stupid. We should have been prepared for every situation.

Ilay got hurt because she was careless. And Ilay’s carelessness was also my fault.

‘Because of my hesitation, Ilay got injured.’

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt disillusioned with myself. Don’t do this again, Luca.

In the empty lot, a battle between Force users and cadets was already in full swing.

“This isn’t a military base! This is a settlement! The people you killed were just… … trying to survive somehow… …!”

The Force user let out a cry of indignation. He looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, but his skin had a bluish aura. His characteristically baggy clothes flapped as if defying gravity.

bang!

An explosion occurred in the direction the Force user gestured. The cadets were blown around in the angry attack.

bang!

One of the fallen cadets fired a shot. The Force user was covered in a thin membrane, and the weak pistol bullet did not penetrate it.

‘We don’t get along well.’

With our current weapons, it was a difficult enemy to deal with.

‘Don’t panic.’

This is my first time fighting a Force user. But I’ve already learned how to deal with them. Today is a practice day.

‘Practice doesn’t always go as planned in theory… … .’

I ran out, grabbing a knife and a pistol.

Bang! Bang!

I fired my gun, even though I knew it was useless. I did it to get his attention.

‘I’ll take care of this guy.’

I sent a signal to the other cadets. We have not yet completely taken over this outpost. The cadets who received my instructions dispersed to take over the rest of the outpost.

“Hey, where are you going! You little shits! Come at me! Come at me!”

As the cadets dispersed, the Force users became more confused.

‘This guy was trying to act as bait all by himself. There’s no need to fall for him.’

I focused on the Force user’s arm.

‘Force abilities have a necessary catalyst and action. You just have to see it and react to it.’

The Force user’s ability was explosive. And there was a clear causal relationship between the trigger and the bullet.

The Force user gestured to direct the blast. And just before the explosion, the necklace wrapped around his hand like a chain glowed blue. That necklace was the catalyst for his Force abilities.

‘A gesture, a photocatalytic reaction, and an explosion.’

There was a series of events. Now that I knew the principle, I had enough time to dodge if I was careful. It was actually harder to dodge the bullets. It was just that the other cadets were easily hit because they were unfamiliar and unfamiliar attacks.

bang!

An explosion occurred next to me. I moved, increasing my speed only just before the explosion.

The Force user frowned at my erratic acceleration and movements.

bang!

The explosion happened again. It was wider than I expected, and I was shocked. I staggered and jumped sideways, hitting the ground.

Kwa- Ang!

The place I was in exploded. The area was getting bigger, and the interval between explosions was faster than before. The thing also came up with a plan to counter my irregular movements.

“Eu …

The Force user was extremely overworked. His face was bloodshot.

But I also push myself to my limits and overdo it.

‘I want to go to Earthquake, but I can’t maintain high-speed maneuverability for long.’

Even with high-powered prosthetics, the rest of my body can’t hold out for long. My hip joints were screaming from the sudden braking and acceleration.

‘If this continues, I will fall first.’

You have to rush in when you can maintain maximum speed.

Whoosh!

I ran straight ahead, and at the end of it stood a force user.

‘Faster!’

I ignored the pain. If my body was damaged, the Empire would fix it anyway. As long as my head was okay, the rest would be taken care of somehow.

“Wheww!”

The Force user held his breath and stretched his arms out in front of him. I accelerated, expecting an explosion as I watched the light from the catalyst necklace. However, the explosion I expected did not occur.

My heart sank. The Grim Reaper’s scythe came close to the nape of my neck.

‘trickery!’

A beat later, the air layer in front of me distorted. The Force user was skilled in using his abilities. He was quick to improvise, perhaps because he had a lot of combat experience.

‘If I step back from here… … .’

My body was accelerating to the point where it was hard to control. If I brake here and back away, my hip joints would be shattered. Even if I hold on now, I won’t be able to avoid the next attack.

‘Rather, it goes forward at even faster speeds.’

Decisions are fleeting. This decision could kill me.

I didn’t back down even though I saw the signs of an explosion. I pierced through the distorted air layer with my body. My skin tore as if it had been touched by hot thorns.

Kwa- Ang!

An explosion went off behind me. A searing pain shot through my back. In an emergency, you have to ignore the pain.

I didn’t care about my own physical condition. I just stared at the Force user.

… … My sword finally reaches him.

I extended my arm and thrust the tip of the blade into the Force user’s chest. The blade tore through the Force shield, slicing through his skin and muscle, and digging deep into his chest.

“Ugh, ugh!”

The Force user staggered toward me. He coughed up blood and reached out his hand holding the catalyst necklace to me. The necklace glowed blue, a precursor to a Force explosion.

‘Is this the final attack?’

I had no chance to dodge his attack. I looked up and saw his face. He was looking at mine too.

“Hey, looking at it this way, you, you too… … are young… … .”

The Force user muttered and lowered his hand. My eyes opened wide.

Woohoo!

The force aura he had gathered in his hand dissipated, brushed past me, and evaporated. There was no explosion.

dump!

The light disappeared from the Force user’s eyes. His lifeless body collapsed limply.