WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Cyberpunk Chivalry ◈
Chapter 13: RUN
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"Fire!"
At someone's shout, thunderous gunfire erupted. Dozens of bullets rushed toward Ifrit.
It was all expected.
She'd made such a flashy entrance right into the middle of an enemy ambush. Wasn't this the least she could expect by way of welcome?
Ifrit grinned fiercely and moved with quick, acrobatic motions, almost dancing as she dodged the incoming bullets.
Of course, she couldn't dodge them all.
Avoiding bullets traveling at or above the speed of sound through movement alone was only possible in fantasy.
But that wasn't a problem.
Ifrit was a high-grade Pathfinder with a body made entirely of cyberware. She wasn't the sort of person who would drop after taking a bullet or two.
Bullets tore through the air and struck her all over. Yet none pierced or damaged her. They simply flattened or ricocheted off.
"The head! Aim for her head!"
It wasn't a bad order.
Even Ifrit's steel body would be useless if her head exploded.
The REST-MANs took careful aim, but not one of them could hit her head.
How were they supposed to hit a target that sprang off walls, flipped through the air, and leaped around like a circus performer?
Even if a bullet came close, she only had to raise her arms to block it.
"Fucking hell..."
Just then.
Boom!
Ifrit fired her weapon, Bloody Heart Mk.7, while flying through the air in a backflip.
The devastating round was on an entirely different level from the REST-MANs' ammunition. It smashed through their cover and blew apart the head of the REST-MAN hiding behind it.
"Ahahahaha! Aim for the head? Okay!"
Laughing like a madwoman, Ifrit grabbed a drone floating around her and let out a cheerful squeal.
"Eeeek! OuterEnthusiast, thanks for the 50,000 credits! Oh, you really didn't have to!"
It was a horrifying sight.
She was killing people and taking money for making entertainment out of it. The REST-MANs felt goosebumps rise across their skin.
"Fuck! What the hell is Hanson doing...?"
A man turned around, calling for the one in charge of the heavy weapons. But he never finished.
He had met the eyes of an unknown humanoid standing beside the headless Hans.
The humanoid, Ash, swung his blade wide to shake off the blood, then spoke quietly.
"How do you do?"
"Eek! Behind us! There's an enemy behind us too!"
At their comrade's shout, the REST-MANs turned around.
A moment later, they were all horrified.
"Fuck, what the hell is that thing?"
"Shoot! Shoot it!"
As their fire converged on him, Ash moved swiftly. A barrage of attacks filled the passage, but not one touched him.
When necessary, he even raised his blade to deflect the bullets. Sparks flashed each time he did.
"What are you all looking at? You should be looking at me!"
There was no time to focus on their rear.
Did Ifrit dislike having their attention stolen? She attacked even more fiercely. Every time her large-caliber handgun spat fire, a terrible crack echoed through the passage.
In front. And behind.
Their formation fell apart in an instant.
A crazy idol was firing at them from the front, while an unknown humanoid threatened their lives from behind.
The REST-MANs sprayed bullets wildly, some forward, others backward.
Confusion spread in moments.
Two drones flew around, capturing every detail of the carnage. Cute donation alerts chimed throughout.
The REST-MANs had prepared their ambush here, believing the terrain ideal. Now they were being wiped out at terrifying speed.
'Where did it all go wrong?'
There had been seven REST-MANs in total. Since they had been sent to Outer, they were fairly well armed.
They'd even set an ambush, and there were only two enemies.
Yet this was the result.
Even now, REST-MANs were losing their lives. Unsure where to point their guns, they stumbled around in confusion before falling one by one onto the cold floor.
At last, the gunfire and the dance of blades stopped.
Only one remained alive.
It was the REST-MANs' leader, a man whose right arm had been replaced with machinery. Sitting against the wall and clutching his broken leg, he watched Ifrit approach.
"What are you glaring at? Got something to say?"
Ifrit sneered as she changed magazines. The heart-shaped lights in her eyes flashed briefly, and the drones drifting through the air came to her side.
"If you're gonna beg for your life or some shit, save it. That really doesn't suit a REST-MAN, does it?"
The man stared at the mocking Ifrit, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Heh heh... Hahahaha!"
"What the hell are you laughing at?"
The man laughed like a lunatic, then stopped abruptly. A strange heat burned in his eyes.
It was madness, a mixture of fear, despair, and emptiness.
"You're streaming, I take it?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Just thought that worked out nicely."
"What did?"
"I'm about to give them something to watch."
The man raised both arms.
"Ha! Don't tell me you're trying to surrender now..."
He wasn't.
Clank! Clack! Rrrrrattle!
His right arm began to transform with a series of strange noises. His forearm split open and unfolded, revealing a heavy metal barrel inside.
A portable antitank recoilless rifle.
That was the hidden purpose of his steel arm.
"You crazy fuck!"
Ifrit's handgun spat fire.
His torso burst open, and half his head was blown away.
But the man kept moving.
"You're dying too, you crazy bitch!!"
Even as the large-caliber rounds tore his body apart, he aimed the recoilless rifle at Ifrit and fired. A brilliant blue flash flared with a blast beyond anything that had come before.
Ifrit hurried to dodge, but he was far too close for her to escape completely.
You could never afford to let your guard down against a Pathfinder. Seeing him at death's door, however, she had relaxed for a moment. That had been her mistake. For one brief instant, Ifrit sensed her own death.
That was when it happened.
Ash shot forward like lightning and placed himself in front of her.
His optical sensors precisely calculated the trajectory and speed of the warhead streaking toward them. Following those calculations, he raised his steel blade at an angle.
Skrrrrrrch!
With a screech of metal, the warhead's straight path bent.
Meant for Ifrit, the warhead veered toward a spot on the ceiling and exploded.
The enormous blast shook the entire passage. Dust rose from every surface at once, forming a thick cloud.
"Cough, cough!"
Even as she coughed repeatedly, Ifrit quickly scanned her surroundings. The REST-MAN was her first priority.
"You..."
The man who had been struggling so desperately moments ago was dead. He hadn't even seen what had happened to his antitank shell.
Still, judging by the faint smile on his lips, he probably believed he'd blown Ifrit to pieces.
"You son of a bitch!"
Apparently displeased with that smile, Ifrit smashed her chrome arm into the remaining half of his head.
"You crazy fuck! Firing a shell underground in these ruins? Why? Trying to bury us alive?"
Yes.
That had clearly been his intention.
Ash's unexpected intervention had simply caused him to fail.
"Enough, my lady. Is he not already dead?"
At Ash's words, Ifrit stopped venting her anger on the corpse and looked up. For a moment, she stared at him standing tall amid the swirling dust.
"...How did you do that?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what the hell was that just now? How do you deflect an antitank round with nothing but that blade?"
Her voice held shock, admiration, and even a little awe.
Deflect a shell with a sword?
Anyone would be justified in calling that bullshit and dismissing it as a compulsive liar's story.
Ash watched Ifrit briefly, then activated his voice module.
"Should you not thank me first?"
"Thank you! You saved my life! You're the best!"
Her wholehearted burst of thanks left Ash feeling awkward instead.
Just then.
Grrrrr...!
Skreeee!
Strangely familiar cries rang out.
They came from beyond the ceiling, through the enormous hole the antitank shell had just blasted open.
Ash and Ifrit looked up together.
As the thick dust slowly settled, the view beyond the broken ceiling came into sight.
"...Those appear to be Grotesques."
"Yeah. They do."
"But do there not seem to be a few too many?"
"A few?"
Countless red eyes shone brightly in the darkness.
"...Looks like a whole fucking lot to me."
There seemed to be hundreds, if not thousands.
Skreeeeeeech!!
The creatures shrieked and looked around. Then they spotted Ash and Ifrit beneath the hole and began dropping straight down.
Ash and Ifrit looked at each other briefly. Then, at exactly the same moment, they broke into a run.
* * *
Akina was hiding in the darkness.
More precisely, she was inside a round duct that looked like an air vent.
Gunfire sounded in the distance, so the battle seemed to have just begun.
She was far away and should have been relatively safe, but she couldn't help feeling nervous.
The hand holding her pistol was slick with sweat.
Rrrrrumble...!
Then, at some point, she felt a faint tremor accompanied by a roar far louder than anything before it.
Wait, what on earth was that noise?
She desperately wanted to peek outside, but Akina knew this was exactly when she had to stay hidden, and she barely managed to suppress her curiosity.
"...What the heck is going on?"
It probably started after that sound.
Strange vibrations traveled through the floor, strong enough for even a girl with an undeveloped sense for energy to feel.
Her anxiety grew.
Had something happened to those two? What if there were actually hundreds of REST-MANs?
Akina chewed on her tiny lips. The darkness all around only made her more anxious.
At that moment, she heard hurried footsteps passing through the corridor. It wasn't a large group.
Perhaps two people?
Akina cautiously poked out just her head to see what was happening.
Two figures were running toward her through the dark passage. She craned her neck and narrowed her eyes. They were definitely Ash and Ifrit.
Delighted, Akina hopped out and waved both hands as she called to them.
"Mister! Big Sis! Did you kill them all? Is it all over now...?"
She never finished.
Ash and Ifrit shouted almost simultaneously, their voices full of utter panic.
"Run!"
"Run, Miss Akina! Hurry!"
Run?
Where?
What on earth was going on?
Just as Akina was about to shout a question, she happened to look behind them.
The girl couldn't believe her eyes.
It was a fairly wide passage.
At its far end, the creatures appeared.
Twisted bodies crushed one another as they filled the passage, with glittering red eyes shifting among them.
A wave of Grotesques that seemed to number well into the thousands. And that wave was surging toward her.
"Aaaaaaaaah!! What the hell is that?!"
Akina screamed without thinking and instinctively took off.
She ran as fast as her little body could possibly carry her.
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