Chapter 19

After tearing through the thick iron door like paper and seeing what lay beyond with his own eyes, Yuseong unconsciously muttered:

“An elf?”

A humanoid being with pointed ears and beauty so exquisite it could be mistaken for a work of art.

Even after checking several times with Eye of Truth, it was certain this elf contained massive energy.

Lost in thought and almost forgetting the current situation, Yuseong nodded with a look of comprehension.

‘Ah! This isn’t purely a world where humans developed science and technology, but a world where science advanced alongside different races and magic. Things like this plasma hatchet were possible because magic existed…’

-Gasp? W-what is that? How can human ears be so pointed? A monster? Or a mutant? How can someone like this exist?

“…I guess not. Then what exactly is this?”

“Damn it! What are you doing there?! We need to get out quickly!”

Though the incomprehensible situation made his head hurt, recalling his principle that truth wasn’t important, Yuseong removed the machines and needles attached to the elf’s body, hoisted her up, and came out.

“Who is that person? No, are they even human? Why are their ears like that?”

“Seems like they’re not an elf… but a victim of biological experiments. They’re escaping with us.”

“Are you joking? We’re not even sure if just the two of us can escape, and you want to bring this baggage along?”

“Not accepting objections. I’ll clear the path, you follow behind.”

“No, that’s not what I…”

Henry could only make a dumbfounded expression at the sight of someone ignoring his words and walking ahead.

His friend of 10 years felt utterly unfamiliar today.

Though he wanted to have a serious conversation to confirm if this was really him, given the situation, Henry had no choice but to hurry along carrying the person Philip had entrusted to him.

‘Need to disperse attention as much as possible.’

Though he didn’t know how many guards there were, they were all armed with guns, and the building’s complex structure meant once trapped, there’d be no way out.

To increase chances of escape, they needed to release decoys.

Clank!

“The rescue team is here! Everyone come out!”

Yuseong opened every door in the corridor, bringing out the people trapped inside.

Though some couldn’t move properly, seemingly drugged, or were too scared to come out, hiding in corners due to the continuous gunshots and screams, still quite a few people came out and began spreading throughout the research facility.

Though unarmed, the anger of people forcibly brought in for unwanted experiments was tremendous, and those infected with various viruses and bacteria for drug testing became obstacles themselves, their horrific appearances making guards hesitate to pull triggers for fear of infection.

And taking advantage of that chaos, Yuseong charged forward without hesitation.

“Kuk!”

A guard whose throat was cut by a dagger swung from around the corner collapsed with an unbelieving expression, and the guard behind him fell spewing blood without even a scream as bullets flew in succession.

Click!

Guards following from behind aimed their guns, but Yuseong closed several meters distance with explosive speed from an extremely low posture that seemed he might fall.

Flash Step had been deployed, displaying explosive acceleration to close distance with opponents in an instant.

Though it was an unbelievable sight, the well-trained guards didn’t panic and calmly adjusted their gun barrels to pull the triggers.

No matter what martial arts he used, Philip’s body was just within normal human limits, so dodging fired bullets was absolutely impossible and getting hit meant unavoidable death.

‘If I get hit, that is.’

Shadow Moon Style 16. Lightning Strike.

True to its name, his palm struck like lightning, hitting the gun barrel to redirect it, and the bullets fired right after turned another guard’s body into a beehive instead of hitting Yuseong.

“…Huh?”

He struck the knee of the guard who’d lost his mind after shooting his colleague dead, grabbed his collar and threw him sideways.

Though a simple action, it became the move that saved his life.

“Damn it!”

The guard who’d lost the perfect chance to kill the intruder due to his colleague suddenly flying into his line of fire ground his teeth and spat out curses.

And those curses became his last words.

Thunk!

Because the dagger that cunningly emerged from between the thrown guard’s armpits pierced his throat.

The dagger in his left hand pierced and cut vital points without missing while the gun in his right hand spewed fire at enemies beyond reach.

And when Yuseong stopped, no one remained alive in the corridor.

“This is insane…”

-A-as expected of a user. Truly amazing!

Not just Henry watching from behind, but even Philip sharing vision couldn’t help but be shocked at Yuseong’s godlike abilities.

No matter how well-trained an agent was, it was unimaginable to win against multiple armed opponents head-on without a scratch.

However, Yuseong was equally surprised.

‘…The efficiency with Shadow Moon Style 16 is incredible.’

The martial arts Hae Cheongyeong recommended to Yuseong weren’t proper martial arts.

In extreme situations where you had to survive against enemies trying to kill you immediately, martial arts that required time to learn forms and build internal energy through breathing exercises were useless.

These were martial arts pursuing combat rather than martial prowess.

Though they had no forms or stances and would be ineffective against martial artists who’d mastered high-level arts, they could be freely used with little or no internal energy and complemented any martial art.

When fighting orcs he lacked proper form, physical ability to move as intended, and combat experience, so they weren’t very effective, but now was different.

When these martial arts met Philip’s body with its high-level combat skills, trained healthy physique, and experience accumulated through countless training and sparring sessions, they demonstrated unbelievable synergy.

“…Let’s go.”

“O-okay.”

Ignoring Philip’s[note]TLN: Philip? I think it should be Henry here.[/note] trembling voice, Yuseong moved forward.

Though they encountered more groups of guards on the way to the exit, they too fell without inflicting a single wound on Yuseong.

And the moment they climbed the stairs and emerged on basement level 5, Yuseong’s senses heightened to the extreme detected someone beside the door and reflexively swung his dagger.

Clang!

His attack was blocked for the first time.

As he was about to launch follow-up attacks, a familiar voice made Yuseong stop.

“Stop! It’s me!”

-It’s the commander! Stop!

After a brief standoff, spotting the commander and another agent behind him, Yuseong carefully withdrew his dagger and spoke.

“…How did you get here?”

“When the party suddenly stopped and security alert was issued, I figured something had happened. But what exactly occurred? What’s with all that blood?”

“Enemy blood. More importantly…”

“C-commander?!”

Seeing Henry who’d come up late, the commander let out a barely audible sigh and turned around.

“Getting out of here takes priority now. Follow me.”

“Is it possible? We’re underground. If guards start pouring down from above, there’s no way to break through with our current firepower.”

“Don’t worry. Other infiltrated agents are causing chaos to buy time. We need to hurry and escape while they’re buying us time.”

“Yes sir!”

Yuseong frowned at the sight of the commander striding confidently ahead and Henry following without hesitation.

‘Might need to use a retry right here.’

No matter how well the agents above were performing, Neptune’s security was no ordinary level.

Just the guards he’d seen while passing through the first floor would make escape impossible if they came down.

No matter how good the synergy between Philip’s body and martial arts, it would be impossible to face infantry freely firing guns in a wide warehouse rather than the narrow, complex research facility where anything could pop out.

However, soon after Yuseong realized his prediction was wrong.

‘…What exactly are they doing?’

The path up was so smooth it made him think that unconsciously.

Not a single enemy appeared, and the first floor had only red warning lights and alarms with no trace of people.

“Front and back doors are crowded. Philip, we’ll escape through your entry route.”

The group backtracked their path, removed their guard uniforms and changed back into their original clothes.

“Um, what about this woman?”

“…Just put something on her.”

Though her transcendent beauty couldn’t be hidden, they managed to somewhat disguise her as an unconscious drunk by putting on a worn, shabby coat and tucking her pointed ears into a beret.

Screech!

The door opened with a sharp metallic sound just like when they entered.

After confirming no one was around, the group carefully emerged outside.

“Stop! This is Neptune property!”

“Do we look like gangsters collecting protection money? We’re the police! Move aside!”

“Just a disturbance caused by some mentally ill people. Our guards are handling it, so police assistance isn’t needed.”

“What nonsense is that!”

“If you ignore the warning and enter, we’ll have no choice but to sue. Feel free to come in if you’re not afraid of Neptune’s lawyers.”

“This is ridiculous…”

Thanks to the police and what appeared to be Neptune employees drawing attention with their argument in front of the building, the group managed to slip through the crowd and escape outside.

Vroom!

They started the car parked a block away and sped through the streets.

After driving for quite a while, the car entered a gloomy abandoned factory on the city outskirts.

“Good work everyone.”

“Haah!”

“Phew, I was worried but things have a way of working out…”

-W-we succeeded! I succeeded in the mission! Now I can finally become a proper agent!

While others relaxed after releasing their built-up tension, Yuseong showed no reaction.

“What’s wrong? Are you injured?”

“Probably still shocked from his first kill. But commander, this guy we thought was just useless turns out to be incredible!”

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, it’s hard to explain in words, you had to see it…”

Ignoring the commander and Henry discussing him, Yuseong addressed Philip.

‘This completes the quest, right?’

-Of course! You were amazing! Though I might get some strange expectations now, but I’ll handle that somehow.

‘And I achieved the best results among the agents too, right?’

-Probably? Though I’m not sure how important that pointy-eared person is, we discovered an unauthorized research facility, illegal human experiments, and their victims, so unless colleagues who went elsewhere found an Out-of-Place Artifact, I achieved the best results.

Yuseong fell silent without saying anything.

He’d fulfilled both the clear condition and additional condition.

If he waited quietly now, the quest would clear and he could return to Earth.

‘What should I do.’

The doubt he’d had since leaving the lab.

He could ignore it since it had nothing to do with him, and trying something might just cause unnecessary trouble.

‘Staying still gets you halfway there. But…’

Click!

“…What are you doing?”

-…What are you doing?

Ignoring Henry and Philip’s words, Yuseong aimed his gun at the commander.