WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Cyberpunk Chivalry ◈
Chapter 14: RUN 2
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The passage was long, with no turnoffs.
Three Pathfinders raced down it in a panic.
Thousands of Grotesques chased after them, letting out eerie cries. They looked like a wave made of flesh.
As if responding to this unexpected chase, bright red emergency lights flashed throughout the ruins. A strange, ear-splitting siren wailed alongside them.
Perhaps the passage the REST-MANs had blasted apart with an antitank shell had itself been a vital part of Gamma-7.
Perhaps the heavy damage had triggered some kind of system.
But they had no time to worry about that.
The three of them had far more urgent problems as they ran for their lives.
"Hah, haaah!"
Akina, who had somehow ended up in front, gasped for breath. Her short legs already limited her stride, and the huge backpack made running pure misery.
"Aaah!"
She stepped on something and was about to fall flat on her face when a huge steel arm caught her around the waist.
Ash had quickly caught up.
"Give me that!"
He all but tore the backpack off Akina and slung it over his shoulder, then suddenly swung his blade upward.
A Grotesque that had crawled along the ceiling and dropped toward them split apart.
"Can you run?"
"I have to!"
Meanwhile...
Boom! Kaboom!
Ifrit's handgun fired without pause. The heads of two or three of the nearest Grotesques burst into bloody chunks.
"Reloading! Help!"
Her words were strangely abrupt, missing everything in between. But Ash understood perfectly. He leaped into action, swinging his steel blade.
He cut down a creature crawling along the left wall, then pierced the jaws of another lunging from the right.
It all happened in a single flash.
"Now!"
The three ran again, trying to maintain the small gap they had opened.
How long had they been running?
Far ahead, a familiar door came into view.
It was the same stone door Akina had opened through a deep dive earlier.
Beyond it, the passage split in quite a few directions. That should scatter at least some of the Grotesques chasing them.
Surely things would be better than they were now.
That was what they thought.
Whirr! Whirrrrr! Clack!
Ominous mechanical noises came from the walls around the stone door, the ceiling, and even the floor. Then something sprang out with a Clunk!
Automated turrets.
At the same time, an automated voice began speaking.
-Warning. Multiple unauthorized life-forms detected within the secure area. Unauthorized life-forms must immediately cease all vital activity and functions. Failure to comply will result in armed suppression.
It was clearly a different language from the one used in Sanctum.
But Ash had installed an integrated language pack, so he could understand it to some extent.
The problem was that the message wasn't exactly good news.
A dozen or so turrets swept red laser sights across the passage at once.
"Sentinels? Fucking hell, now we're getting screwed from both ends!"
Swearing, Ifrit threw herself forward. The outer armor on her thigh opened and ejected three or four small discs.
They bounced in different directions, releasing harsh flashes of light and clouds of whitish smoke.
Thick smoke filled the passage in an instant.
The turrets' laser sights scattered wildly through the smoke particles.
Grotesque cries and Sentinel machinery. The automated voice and the siren. It was utter chaos.
"I'll take low! My lady, high!"
This time, Ash's words were strangely abrupt. But just as he had understood her, Ifrit understood him perfectly.
"Okay!"
Boom!
Bloody Heart Mk.7 spat fire.
A turret protruding from the ceiling caved inward.
Without slowing his charge, Ash unleashed a flurry of sword strikes at the foremost turret. It was cut apart before it had even finished emerging.
Having dealt with the nearest turrets, they briefly hid in the smoke.
-Warning. Failure to comply with shutdown request confirmed. Initiating armed suppression.
The turrets went into action.
Rather than focus on the smoke scattering their targeting beams, they first aimed at the Grotesques still approaching with hideous screams.
-Cease functioning. Cease functioning.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Cracks opened in the wave of flesh.
Armor-piercing rounds from the Sentinel turrets struck the Grotesque horde, punching huge holes through its ranks.
The creatures screamed even louder.
Ifrit pulled another couple of discs from her thigh and threw them in the direction they needed to go.
"Now!"
She burst out of the smoke.
Ash followed, holding Akina in his arms.
Leaving the Grotesques' screams and the firing of the Sentinel turrets behind, the Pathfinders broke into another run.
It was their final sprint toward the stone door.
Now and then, a Sentinel turret turned toward them. Each time, Ash's blade flashed or Ifrit's gun spat fire.
At last, they reached the stone door.
"Damn it!"
The massive door was closing fast. Sentinel had probably begun sealing the area.
Still carrying Akina, Ash used the principles of Flying Dragon Shrinks the Earth (飛龍縮地) to surge forward with explosive speed.
Behind him, Ifrit threw herself into something like a slide and barely made it through.
Thud.
The heavy stone door closed completely, cutting everything off.
"Wow, I seriously thought I was gonna die!"
After checking that the door was shut, Ifrit dropped to the floor as though she couldn't take another step, breathing hard.
She caught her breath for a moment, then took hold of the drone attached to her right shoulder.
"...Hehe! Ta-da! Just checking in to let you know I'm alive! That gave you all a scare, right? Me too! Whew, I really thought I was done for this time..."
While Ifrit chatted with her viewers, Ash gently set Akina down.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
Her face was pale and both legs were trembling, but Akina nodded bravely.
"I'm okay."
"What a relief."
"But what on earth happened? Weren't you going to deal with the REST-MANs?"
"...It is rather complicated to explain. First, we should..."
Boom!
Ash had been speaking.
Akina had been catching her breath.
Ifrit had been streaming.
All three froze and looked at the stone door.
A moment later...
Boom!
Another dull impact sounded.
The Grotesques were pounding on the door.
The blows grew more violent, making the stone vibrate faintly each time.
If only that had been all. But Ash could see fine cracks spreading across the massive door.
"...First, I suggest we leave this place."
"Agreed."
Ifrit rose to her feet.
"Weren't you two mapping this place? Then you know the way, right?"
Akina took out her data pad and checked the stored information. After studying the glowing hologram for a moment, the girl's eyes lit up.
"I found the shortest route."
Ash adjusted the backpack on his shoulder and nodded.
"Please lead the way."
With that, the three Pathfinders began their escape, leaving the crumbling stone door behind.
* * *
The fighting never stopped.
The siren and red warning lights seemed to have awakened every threat in Gamma-7.
Grotesques sprang out from all over the red-lit ruins. Occasionally, a Sentinel turret activated and showered them with armor-piercing rounds.
But the three made full use of their individual abilities to get past each threat.
Ash took the lead and cleared a path, while Ifrit covered their rear and flanks. Between them, Akina constantly compared the surrounding terrain with her map, guiding everyone along the best route.
Brief clashes alternated with breathless sprints. Then, at one point, all three Pathfinders stopped together.
"Th-this... This isn't supposed to be here...!"
It was a door.
More precisely, a metal door. To be even more precise, it was a blast door meant to seal off the passage.
The problem was that it stood squarely in the middle of the shortest route Akina had chosen.
Apparently, the stone door wasn't the only passage Sentinel had sealed.
Ifrit stared up at the blast door in dismay, then quickly shook her head.
She hurriedly turned around.
"We don't have time for this. Let's go back."
Ash stepped in her way.
"It is too late."
"Too late for what? We've still got plenty of time!"
Despite her protest, he only shook his head.
Ever since their escape began, Ash had been using every ability at his disposal to extend his qi sense as far as possible.
That was how he knew.
"The Grotesque horde has broken through the stone door and is close at hand. If we retrace our steps now, we will surely meet it head-on."
"So what? You're saying we should just die here?"
"Why would we die?"
Ash looked at Akina.
"Do we not have a technomancer?"
"...What?"
Ifrit looked from Akina to Ash and back again. Then she raised her voice in disbelief.
"Don't tell me you're talking about a deep dive."
Ash nodded silently.
"Indeed."
"No, wait. So you're saying the two of us should buy time while the kid opens that door with a deep dive?"
"That is precisely what I mean."
Ifrit started to shout something, then shut her mouth and rubbed her chin. Thinking it over, it did seem better than blindly searching for another route.
No, it was their only option.
There was no guarantee this was the only blast door that had come down. If all the nearby passages were sealed, they would have to get through one sooner or later.
Using Akina's abilities as a technomancer.
Ash stepped closer to her.
"Miss Akina."
He went down on one knee to meet her eyes.
"Can you do it?"
It was a calm question.
He might have been asking whether she'd eaten.
Akina bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. Perhaps that sharp pain served as a trigger, because the trembling in the girl's white eyes gradually settled.
A moment later, her eyes flashed more brightly than ever.
"Of course. I'm a genius!"
"...Wow. We're really doing this? Are we out of our minds?"
That was what Ifrit said.
Then she grinned, the heart-shaped lights in her eyes flashing.
"Sounds fun. Let's do it!"
Ifrit checked her remaining ammunition.
Ash set down the backpack.
Akina took a cable from inside her clothes and plugged it into the back of her neck, then glanced at Ash and Ifrit.
"Mister. Big Sis. I'm counting on you."
Ash nodded.
"They shall not touch a single hair on your head."
His answer was as calm as before. Akina gave him a small smile, then let out a deep breath and began her deep dive.
A blue haze gently wrapped around her, and her small body floated into the air.
Skreeee!
The timing was unbelievable.
Grotesques began emerging from the darkness at the far end of the passage, shrieking.
Ash stepped forward.
"I shall take the front. I leave the rear to you."
"So we just keep doing what we've been doing?"
"Indeed. Just as before."
"Great. Let's have some fun! Oh, you don't mind if I stream this, right?"
Skreeeeeeech!!
The hideous masses of flesh filled the passage and charged at once.
Strangely enough, the sight reminded him of a scene from his past. It had been just like this when he stormed the Demonic Cult's headquarters alone and faced hundreds of demonic martial artists.
'But today, there are three of us.'
A lunatic idol and a girl technomancer.
And a humanoid swordsman.
Had Ash possessed a mouth, he probably would have let out a quiet chuckle.
Then, at some point, his blue-green optical sensors began to shine with a chillingly cold light.
"Come."
The low electronic sound of his voice module rang out as though it could fill the entire ruins. Advancing toward the charging Grotesques, Ash brought his blade upright.
"Come!"
His seemingly leisurely steps suddenly became a streak of black light, surging toward the wave of death.
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