Bad Born Blood Chapter 277

277
I consider Ilay Kartika a friend.

There’s not just one person I can call a friend.

However, the closest thing to the essence of a ‘friend’ is Ille.

Ilay is not my subordinate or subordinate. But she is not my superior either.

Ilay and I have been equals since long ago. We’ve had our share of petty fights, but we’ve never once overwhelmed each other.

That doesn’t mean we were comrades with the same goal. We sometimes joined hands, but our goals were always different.

They are not in a superior-subordinate relationship, nor are they comrades whose dreams and goals align.

Even if there is no gain or loss, and even if we take different paths, we can sacrifice ourselves for each other.

It’s a relationship that’s easy to say, but extremely difficult to establish.

‘Ilay came here to save me.’

I saw the confrontation between Mushir Al-Kashra and Ilay. Both were wearing armored suits. They wore mechanical suits that took away their humanity, and drew their swords of the mind.

Ilay was alone, facing Mushir Al-Kashra. There seemed to be no other support or subordinates.

“Not only did you find my hiding place, but you waited for me so faithfully. For the sake of my friend, who may or may not be alive.”

-Whether Luca is dead or alive, it doesn’t change the fact that you will die by my hand. If Luca is dead, I will seek revenge, and if he is alive, I will only rescue him.

Illei’s voice was more mechanical than Kashura’s. The Legion’s vocal function was far from a real human voice.

“I would like to commend your efforts in getting here. I am sure it came at a considerable cost. So let me tell you. Lucius Custoria is still alive. He is in the spaceship behind me. He is watching us on the monitor right now.”

Illei lifted her fox-shaped head and looked at the spaceship. Her slitted eyes sparkled, and it seemed as if they were meeting my eyes.

-This hideout is quite unstable. I won’t use any firearms. You don’t want this place to be torn to pieces, do you?

“Of course. I could easily lose Luca. So I propose a classic duel. I’m sure that’s what you want.”

Mushir al-Kashra disarmed his high-powered weapons. The small, heavy weapons attached to his armored body fell to the ground.

Clang, bang, boom.

A heavy sound spread.

Illei also threw aside the gun he had prepared.

If Illei’s Legion and Kashura had engaged in a firefight here, there was a high chance of mutual destruction.

The two chose a strategy to avoid mutual destruction in order to achieve their own goals.

‘The reason we can trust each other despite being enemies is because there is someone called me.’

Neither Kashura nor Ilaya want me to get hurt.

“You were one of the candidates for unification. But I have no interest in a brain that is defeated by a machine. I know that. You are being eaten by the Legion.”

Kashura raised her index finger and pointed at Iley.

OMG.

Illei’s eyes wavered ominously, then focused and shone from the center.

– It’s fortunate that you have the heart to be eaten by a machine. Monsters like you think that your mind is stronger than others, but in reality, you were born without a human heart. You are just a strange monster born with a human shell, and yet you imitate people and make fun of others for being weak.

Illai put his hand on my back, grabbed the stored sword handle, and lifted it up.

Kkieeeeee.

Illei’s blade was of ordinary width, but extremely long. It was a single-edged longsword as tall as Legion.

The deformed longsword was the exclusive weapon of Illei’s legion.

“Catastrophe? That’s quite a grand name.”

Kashura said, reading the words engraved on Iley’s blade.

Kashura and Ilay approached each other. Kashura pulled out two auxiliary arms from her back and held four melee weapons.

Clang, thud.

Part of Kashura’s outer armor fell off. He seemed to be trying to lighten his weight before a close combat.

‘Illei’s Legion is lightweight, based on Achilles. Kashura wouldn’t want to fall behind in speed either.’

Does Ilay know about Kashura’s condition?

Kashura doesn’t have Zveli’s brain. He can’t display the same transcendent fighting power as before.

‘But the last time’s battle power was ridiculous, and even without Zveli’s brain, Kashura is strong enough.’

Illei will not know that Kashura’s fighting power has decreased. Even if he expected it, he would not be sure. It is our way to assume the worst. Illei will fight assuming that Kashura’s fighting power is similar to before.

‘Limiting firepower in a narrow space and setting conditions must have been a tactic to somehow increase the odds of victory.’

Kashura’s eyes are also focused on Illei. He must also recognize Illei as a strong opponent. He will use all of the brain power in the metal box to fight him.

Kashura swung the axe in his right arm with a great swing. It was a savage blow that made the metal shaft bend.

Illei did not dodge the spear axe, but instead took it with his sharp longsword.

Ka-aaaaaaang!

There was a real roar all the way to the spaceship I was on.

The battle between the armored men was fierce and heavy. The weapons they wielded were as destructive as the armor they wore.

‘Illei’s specialty is mid-range combat using firearms. It will be the same in Legion form.’

The firearms that could damage the armored personnel carrier were incredibly powerful. If they fired here, the hideout could be destroyed.

‘Illei must fight with his special ability sealed.’

Illei desperately swung the longsword called ‘Catastrophe’ back and forth, alternating between attack and defense. It was a straightforward, head-on fight without any sense of tactics.

‘You don’t usually fight like this. More cunningly and cleverly… … .’

It’s not for nothing that Kartika is nicknamed the Fox.

Kwajik!

The moorings were a mess as high-powered armored vehicles collided with each other. Even the metal tiles were easily split and splintered like hard rock.

It was around the time when Ilay was turning from defensive to offensive.

Woof!

Gravity inside the shelter temporarily disappeared.

‘Kashura turned the gravity controller off and on.’

The facilities of the hideout would be interconnected. Gravity control would be at will, and if necessary, the outer gate of the anchorage could be opened to create a pressure difference.

Due to the loss of gravity, Illei lost the flow of the offensive.

“Are you going to call me a coward?”

Kashura activated the thrusters on her chest to gain distance and floated through the weightless space.

Kkiing!

Gravity was restored with an unpleasant noise. Kashura and Ilay, who had regained their sense of weight, placed their feet on the floor.

-No way, I would have done the same. You have to use everything you can.

Illai lowered his sword, bending his knees and waist.

‘Illeido will be confused. He’ll be confused as to whether Kashura is watching him or whether his fighting power is not at its full potential.’

I wanted to go outside and shout that Kashura was in a flawed state and that there was hope.

But the spaceship’s doors were firmly shut. I had to helplessly watch the situation through the monitor.

Chiik, chijijik, chik, chik.

There was a noise so loud it hurt my ears. The monitor that was showing Kashura and Ilay also turned off.

-Lou, loo, loo… … .

Another person’s voice was heard through the speaker.

Chijik, Chik.

The monitor came back on, and a girl with fluffy orange hair was moving around on it.

‘Barbara?’

Barbara’s avatar was moving in the virtual space. She looked at me through the monitor.

-Ah, ah, ah, do you hear that? Hee, hee, looking at you, you’re really funny, funny. Who would have thought that the world’s Luca would become a human earthworm.

Barbara smiled awkwardly, a smile that was almost too much. The girl’s mouth was wrinkled in an eerie way.

“You can be sarcastic later. If you came to help me, get to the point first.”

It felt like blood was rushing to my head, which had been frozen in place.

‘Barbara is here.’

Ilay and Barbara are joining hands. Is this Ilay’s plan?

‘Kashura is fighting a formidable enemy called Ile. In addition, her brain is linked to the hideout system. Even if she has multiple brains, she can’t pay attention to the spaceship right now. Barbara took advantage of that gap to hack here. Barbara’s main body must be not far away.’

Barbara on the monitor snapped her fingers. Soon her orange hair grew endlessly long. Before she knew it, it was long enough to fill the entire monitor.

Chiik, chik.

Other monitors in the control room lit up as well, and Barbara’s hair twitched as it passed by, seemingly representing a visual representation of her taking control of the ship.

– It’s a little tricky, but it’s okay. The dummy installation is complete, and control is coming over to me. Luca, you and I are going to leave here. No matter how great Kashura’s body is, it probably can’t handle space flight.

“What about Ilay?”

-You can tell just by looking at it. Ilay Kartika has no intention of leaving here alive. She will become a speck of dust in the universe along with Kashura.

There was no need to think too deeply. Illei’s plan was completely clear.

‘Illei thinks that Kashura’s fighting power far surpasses his own. He came here just to buy time.’

The monitors in the control room were bathed in Barbara’s orange.

-Luka, you have no choice. The situation is perfect. You are now under my control. Even you can’t stand it without arms and legs. Thanks to you, I can keep my promise to Giselle. Today is a good day, a very beautiful day.

Barbara hummed.

“Connect me to Ilay.”

-Illai told me to take you away and not listen to anything you say.

“Kashura is weakened. The situation is still quite possible.”

-Whether I have a chance or not, it doesn’t matter to me?

I pursed my lips and glared at the monitor.

“I heard about your birth from Kashura. Aren’t you curious?”

Barbara was still smiling, but the corners of her mouth were not moving as if the screen had stopped.

-That’s quite an interesting statement. My birthplace? I was born in the lower sector of Akbaran…

“You can suppress your rejection of other people’s bodies and bodies. While maintaining your ego. Have you ever seen anyone else in the world who can do that? I’m a pretty unique Irregular, but there are many others like me in the world. But you are truly special. The word Irregular doesn’t explain it.”

The monitors in the control room blinked in unison. It was as if Barbara had closed and opened her eyes.

-Keep talking.

“My body and weapons will be inside the spaceship. Use a drone, robot, or whatever and get them to me right now. If not, any limbs will do. Just make sure I can move.”

-Don’t talk nonsense.

“If you can’t move, I’ll give up right away. Or do you want to keep wasting your time and opportunities by talking like this?”

Barbara on the monitor moved from one monitor to another. Each monitor she passed by left behind only static before turning off.

Stop.

All the monitors in the control room went out. Barbara’s consciousness seemed to have left the control room and gone to another area.

‘Damn it, Ilay, please, hold on.’

The monitor was off, so I couldn’t see what was going on outside. I could only tell that Ilay and Kashura were fighting from the occasional loud noise.

The short time passed felt like an eternity.

Cheeeeek.

The door to the control room opened.

Rattle, rattle.

An android covered in dust was walking unsteadily inside. It seemed to have been locked up in the spaceship storage for a long time. The optical lenses on its face were also dim, as if they were nearing the end of their lifespan.

Squeak, squeak.

The android was staggering and dragging a wheeled box that contained my equipment and my prosthesis.

-If the move fails, you’re out.

“Barbara, the android inside me,” she said, placing her prosthetic hand on the cybernetic contact point on my shoulder.

“Let’s get started.”

Android’s index finger folded and a drill appeared.

Profit.

The android removed the screws from his legs one by one to obtain the parts for the body connection.

Beep, beep, beep.

Android looked at the missing screw and then stared at the contact point on my shoulder.

-The screws, the size, the specifications don’t quite match. The thickness is right, but the length is different. There’s no time to prepare new ones.

I knew what that meant.

‘Sigh, shit.’

I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut. Soon, I heard the sound of a screw digging into its groove. And the screw that had gone beyond the width of the contact point… … .

Thud thud!

… … dug into my flesh and bones.

Well, that hurts.