040
My close combat skills were among the best among the cadets. I had some pride in that.
But the attacker mercilessly crushed my pride. He was clearly superior to me. Every time he lightly extended his hand and palm, my sword deflected to the side as if it were a lie. He was blocking my sword strikes with his bare hands.
Ka-Ang!
I managed to pull up the dislocated sword and aim for the attacker’s neck again. The attacker bent his upper body diagonally and aimed for my chest with his palm.
Crunch!
I parried the attacker’s attack with the bottom of the sword handle. I felt the impact as if my fingers were going to break and flew backwards.
‘He’s giving me a good break. If not, I’d be dead long ago.’
It had not even been five seconds since the fight began. In extreme situations, time is distorted. A second that normally seemed so short now felt like a minute.
The raider was excellent. His martial arts skills were so excellent that I was impressed. If it weren’t for the enemy, I would have wanted to learn it.
“Back off, kid. I don’t want to kill you. If your superiors knew I was the one who was going to kill you, they wouldn’t blame you. I won’t teach you to waste your life in the Royal Guard.”
The raider took his time and exposed his information.
I thought I knew who my opponent was. Even if the Empire thoroughly controlled information, it couldn’t stop the rumors that spread through word of mouth.
‘Anti-imperialist terrorist group.’
The ‘enemy of the empire’, of which there were many rumors, was before me.
The whole situation made sense. The guards were moving to draw out the terrorists. They were probably careful because if the higher-level units moved rashly, the terrorists would disappear, but the same low-level units were part of a larger plan.
Well, whatever. The son of a bitch in front of me is making fun of me. How dare he treat me like a traitor to the Empire?
“after…….”
My breath rose past my lips and dissipated. This could have been my last breath.
‘From now on, ignore my injuries.’
I straightened the sword and brought it up to my eyes.
From now on, I become a sword. There are two outcomes. Either I break, or I cut down my enemies before that.
The enemy is stronger than me. In order to make up for my lack of ability and increase my chances of winning even a little, I have to meet one condition.
‘I believe he doesn’t want to kill me.’
Then I can ignore survival and defense and only attack. It’s a stopgap measure to make up for the lack of ability.
Kwajik!
I kicked the ground and jumped. I had turned up the output of my body to the max, so the shock of my jump reached the top of my head.
Peach.
Blood was gushing from the gunshot wound in my side. It didn’t matter, as long as the fight was over before I bled to death.
Kaang!
I grabbed the hilt of my sword with both hands and struck with all my might. The attacker cleverly tilted his upper body to the side to avoid my sword strike.
Boom!
I took a big step forward with my front paw, spun my body around, and swung my sword. My sword swung quickly as if chasing an attacker.
Ugh!
My back twisted as the unbearable acceleration continued. There was a loud tearing sound from the gunshot wound in my side.
Since the attack was focused on one thing, my weak points were completely exposed to the attackers. I felt a chill down my spine. It felt like the enemy’s counterattack would break my heart and head.
But I didn’t shrink. I didn’t avoid or defend.
Attack only.
My strategy shook the enemy. It was only for a moment, but he was at a loss.
‘If you’re going to kill me, then kill me.’
For some reason, he was reluctant to kill the user of the Archies combat technique. I have to believe that and move forward.
Whirl!
The attacker dug into me. I didn’t defend or back away. I tried to stab him in the head with the sword I had raised straight up.
Ouch!
The attacker took a step back, slamming on the brakes. He clicked his tongue, clearly irritated.
“At your age and with all this training, you are willing to risk your life for the Empire? Do you really think I can’t kill you?”
If you were planning to kill me right away, you wouldn’t be blabbering.
Blood was seeping out of the gunshot wound in my side, soaking down to my feet. I didn’t bother to check the bleeding with my eyes. I knew it was serious just by the fact that my body was getting cold.
Even the sharpest concentration will soon be disrupted.
“It’s an empire, but… … your speech is so unlucky that it was hard to tolerate.”
To be honest, this is probably the essence of why I’m fighting now.
I don’t like him. I wanted to prove that arrogant guy wrong when he says I’m not even a threat. I guess that’s just my nature.
“I like your rebellious nature, kid. You’re definitely more of this type.”
The raider shrugged and laughed. He opened the mouth of his helmet. A faint smile played on the exposed corners of his mouth. He continued speaking calmly.
“My name is Rick Kaiser, and I’m a Republican.”
“Aha, a terrorist?”
“If possible, I would like you to call us the Resistance.”
“How do you call you the name of you?”
The attacker closed the mouth of his helmet without answering. The lens of his eyes was also crimson. He seemed a little heated, or maybe a lot.
Boom!
The attacker jumped lightly in place. There was a squeaking sound of power output increasing. Soon, the man who had been jumping around disappeared from my sight and appeared right in front of my nose.
His crimson eyes stared at me fiercely. He clenched his fist and thrust it toward my face.
A direct hit to the head. You were planning to kill me. Looks like you’ve changed your mind.
It was too late to dodge. I crossed my arms and took a defensive stance, holding the knife. This was not a defense for survival. It was a defense to buy a little time.
Kwa- Support!
My crossed arms were broken. Amidst the flying parts and debris, I could see a fist like an awl.
Everything was flowing like a slow-motion video.
I was pulling up my feet. I was going to kick the guy in the jaw with my toes. Even if my head breaks first, my legs would carry out the orders my brain gave them.
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Yeah, break my head off. I’ll blow your jaw off too. If I’m lucky, we’ll die together.
Kwajik!
There was a collision.
The reality that had been flowing slowly returned to its original speed. I blinked. I am not dead yet.
Kwuk!
The attacker had his hands on the back of my neck. He must have been able to control his fist, which was extended at incredible speed. I bet he could catch a flying bullet with his hands.
Thud, thud.
My conversion kick turned into scrap metal and fell to the ground. The attacker blocked my kick with his other hand and crushed his right foot.
‘I lost.’
It was a different level. He even destroyed the number of my conversions.
He’s using a better body than me. But this defeat isn’t due to the body’s performance. Even if I had used a body with the same output, I would have lost. This is a fact that I have no choice but to admit.
Both my arms were shattered below the elbows, and my right foot was crushed in the bastard’s handprint.
“You have provoked me. This is your last chance. Beg for my life. Then I will spare your life.”
The attacker spoke while holding the back of my neck. I forced my lips to lift into a smile.
Bang!
I kicked the attacker in the groin with my left foot, which was still good. There was a crackling sound as if he was wearing his protective gear properly.
“… … Haha, okay. Let’s test whether you have the universe’s protection. If you survive, tell Kinuan I said hello. I’m fine.”
With those words, the attacker tightened his arm.
Woohoo!
The last thing I heard today was the sound of my neck breaking. This is a rare experience.
* * *
Most organic humans die when their necks are broken.
… … Most of them are like that.
I stared at the iron pin stuck in the back of my neck, a traction device to support my broken cervical vertebrae.
I felt the back of my neck and felt cold metal at my fingertips. The external spine, which temporarily replaced my severed central nervous system, was cold and extended from my neck to my tailbone.
Thanks to the external spine, I was able to move my arms and legs. Other than not being able to move my neck freely, I was doing pretty well.
“Hey, Felix. Can you talk?”
I turned my upper body to the side and looked at Felix lying on the sickbed.
“Uh, uh, roo, Luca? Ah, it hurts.”
“You idiot. Of course it hurts when you try to move your neck.”
Felix was lying there with a sullen face. The confident, cheerful man was nowhere to be found. The drool dripping from the corner of his mouth soaked his pillow.
I looked at Felix and smiled bitterly. He was hopeless. Felix’s brain damage was severe. He had been left with a broken neck for a long time.
On the other hand, I was lucky. I heard that four guardsmen showed up with Giselle right after I was attacked by the attackers. Thanks to the quick emergency treatment, I didn’t suffer any brain damage.
The image of the terrorist breaking my neck was deeply etched in my mind. It was vivid even when I closed my eyes. It was a kind of trauma.
‘Rick Kaiser.’
That’s the name of the terrorist who appeared before me. I opened my eyes two weeks after being attacked by him.
‘That’s funny. The name of the person who is a republican is Kaiser.’
Kaiser means emperor. It was a sarcastic humor.
Outside Felix’s and my hospital room, there was a guard on duty. As the door opened, Captain Heilas came to see us. To be exact, he came to see me. Felix was unable to communicate.
Squeak.
The captain of the guard stood before me in his uniform. I couldn’t move my neck so I could only see his chest.
“You don’t have to stand. Just sit comfortably.”
The captain of the guard sat down on his chair, lowering his upper body to my level. He glanced over my shoulder at Felix. A momentary confusion flashed through his eyes.
“… …Felix played his part to the end.”
I mentioned Felix before reporting. I thought it was polite.
Then I reported the incident to the captain of the guard verbally. After hearing what I had to say, the captain of the guard said that there was no need to leave a written report on this incident.
“Rick Kaiser, real name Rick Silva Nunez. He’s the Empire’s most wanted fugitive.”
“This is my first time hearing about it.”
“Not all wanted criminals are publicly wanted. Those with ties to the Empire’s corruption are even more so.”
I flinched.
‘The Empire’s Corruption.’
The empire must be perfect and unblemished. The words “imperfection of the empire” may sound ominous. Such words came out of the mouth of the captain of the guard.
“Rick is a former member of the Royal Guard.”
“Did you say it with your own mouth?”
“He called Felix and me his juniors.”
The captain nodded. There was a reason why the terrorist was a secret wanted criminal, since he was from the guard.
“It would be polite to tell you the full story of this operation. I have no objections. You have the right to hear the story.”
I waited for the captain to speak. He seemed to be thinking about where to start.
“Operation Juliet is a plan that has been in preparation for five years. The goal is to approach the command center of the anti-imperialist terrorist group ‘Nemesis’.”
“Is it an approach rather than a sweep?”
The captain of the guard held the terminal forward. The terminal’s holographic lens glowed and a three-dimensional organizational chart appeared. It seemed to be the organizational chart of the terrorist group that had been investigated so far.
The organizational chart seemed very loose and disjointed.
“Nemesis is a group with a thorough swarm structure. It is impossible to eliminate them with normal methods. No matter how much you cut them off, they will continue to multiply somewhere. It is meaningless if you can’t cut off their heads.”
I thought of Rick Kaiser. He was probably a key figure in Nemesis. Was this operation aimed at capturing him?
“Since we failed to capture Rick, does that mean the operation was a failure?”
It means that Felix’s death was meaningless. I felt uncomfortable.
The wrinkles at the corners of the captain’s mouth deepened. He shook his head with a faint smile.
“We did a great job, Luca. We infiltrated our men into the heart of Nemesis.”
I didn’t quite understand what it meant. For the first time in a while, I felt like an idiot.
“What does that mean?”
“This operation must have been successful, since even you were confused.”
The captain of the guard pushed the hologram aside with his hand. My pupils dilated as I looked at the next screen. Barbara’s face was floating in the hologram.
“Barbara is one of our people. Nemesis recruited her as a hacker. They must have had Barbara in mind for a long time. We led them that way.”
My hands, which were holding onto the bed railing, naturally gained strength. It was fortunate that my original prosthesis was broken. If it hadn’t been for the standard prosthesis, the railing would have definitely broken.
How many people did the higher-ups deceive for this operation? Among them was the captain of the guard, Giselle.
“Does Giselle know?”
I couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked. My words clearly showed my feelings.
“That child doesn’t know anything. It would be better for him to not know anything in the future. Do you know why I’m telling you this?”
The captain of the guard narrowed his eyes. For a moment, my heart sank.
‘disposal.’
This is the first thought that came to mind. Even if I am excellent, I am still just a minor figure who can be cut off at any time. Especially since I have no background, it will be easier to dispose of me.
“… … Read it and sign.”
The captain of the guard held out an electronic document from his bosom. I was so nervous that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
It was an adoption paper signed by Captain Heilas Custoria. The only space left blank was for my name.
“Welcome to the Custoria family, Luca.”
Heilas stood up from her seat.
