Deep within the snowfield, an underground bunker.
A harsh cracking sound echoed from within.
'…!'
The Client's pupils dilated.
There was no need to wonder where that cracking sound had come from.
Because the person in his field of view had vanished cleanly.
Brigade Commander Vasilov, who had been lively just moments ago.
Cold sweat trickled down the Client's back.
Brigade Commander Vasilov was a coward with wild mood swings.
But he was no weakling.
He was strong.
Russia, which didn't hand out stars to just anyone, hadn't given him the brigade commander position for nothing.
Yet, amidst all those attacks, he hadn't landed a single hit.
On the other hand, the Runner's attack struck without a single miss, shattering Vasilov's face.
"Huh… hoo… huh…"
Thud.
The irregular breathing ceased, and the head of Brigade Commander Vasilov, who had long led the Spetsotrad, fell.
Swoosh!
Meanwhile, Alexei, having regained his senses, pushed off the ground.
Though he had stepped back to serve as the brigade commander's direct adjutant, he was a veteran who had once swept through the field.
Alexei's kukri knife cut through the air.
Knife fighting enhanced by an awakening ability specialized in defense.
Within Spetsotrad, Alexei's knife fighting was described this way:
A technique that had reached such a level that, from the opponent's perspective, it felt inherently unfair.
True to his reputation, Alexei's knife thrust out relentlessly at tremendous speed.
An attack that constricted the throat just by watching.
But why was it?
The Runner, receiving that attack, seemed infinitely relaxed.
'Why can't you hit him?'
The Client, biting his lip, glared at Alexei.
Alexei's kukri seemed to touch but fell short by the slimmest of margins.
It was frustrating, as if just a little more focus would land the hit.
And at that moment, Alexei's body, swinging the kukri, was drenched in cold sweat.
Someone watching this fight might say,
You're pressing the enemy so hard they can't even breathe, why are you sweating?
I guarantee that's something only a clueless rookie would say.
The Runner was evading every attack with minimal movement.
Being face-to-face with him, Alexei could tell.
His eyes were tracking every single one of his attacks from start to finish.
'How is he reacting?'
He swung the kukri from a blind spot, avoiding his line of sight, but it was useless again.
It was as if he had eyes on all 360 degrees, dodging everything.
"Huff, huff…"
Alexei's breathing grew increasingly irregular.
It wasn't due to lack of stamina.
Even after leaving the field, he had consistently trained and maintained his body.
The problem was his mind.
The things that had been supporting Alexei began to waver, and his spirit started to crumble.
The Runner hadn't attacked even once so far.
Was it because he had no opportunity? No.
He simply wasn't doing it.
As if to say, "I'll watch your little show," he was taking it easy, as if to say, "Go ahead, give it your all."
Grit!!!
"Waaaaaah!!"
He let out a roar to hold onto his crumbling sanity.
Thwack!
At the same time, his knife was caught.
It didn't budge an inch.
"I guess this is it."
Jinhyuk smiled.
It was the first time he had seen a Russian soldier's knife fighting.
The tempo was incredibly fast and unorthodox, so he had watched to commit it to memory.
-I hope you don't think I'm overworking you. Experience accumulates. Accumulated experience shines in life-or-death crises. That's why I make you fight whenever there's an opportunity.
He hadn't said a word, let alone complained.
Maybe it bothered Seira that he silently watched every time he fought, so she had spoken up first.
Anyway, following his teacher's advice, he had accumulated enough. Now it was time to let go.
"Well then."
Clang!!
A translucent shield spread out the moment he extended his attack.
He quietly looked down at his fist, blocked by the shield.
It hurt.
The tingling sensation from his fist, from how thick the shield was, echoed through his brain.
He must have been using his fists too recklessly lately, thinking they were tougher.
He withdrew his precious fist and instead pulled out Yerga's axe, swinging it.
Boom! Boom!! Boom!!
It was a good thing no one was watching.
They would have called it disgustingly brutish.
Crunch!
Before long, the axe broke through the shield and reached Alexei.
Just then, the probability-based unique skill Ice Wave activated, swallowing Alexei in a pile of ice.
He roughly shook off the blood and turned to finish things off.
At that moment, an unknown energy enveloped his body.
Ding!
[Unique Trait 'All Status Resistance SSS+' activates! Immune to status effect 'Suggestion'!]
Look at this sneaky little rat.
He had planned to take his time and beat him down, but the bastard couldn't control himself and had been preparing this sneaky trick.
Just as Jinhyuk was about to say something.
"Ha!"
The Client burst into laughter.
Activating Suggestion required a considerable amount of preparation time.
He had been nervous that Alexei would fall too quickly, but fortunately, it wasn't too late.
"Immediately take that axe and cut off his life!"
Normally, he would have tried to maintain the Suggestion to get his hands on the powerful weapon that was the Runner.
But he didn't have that luxury now.
He didn't know how many times he could use it, so he had to eliminate him first.
"Arrogant bastard."
He smirked as the Runner slowly raised the axe.
The Client, who hadn't allowed even a small physical contact, let alone an attack from the Runner.
Thanks to that, he could have escaped to the Tower of Despair if he wanted to, but he didn't.
The great Client running away because of something like this? His pride wouldn't allow it.
And this judgment was correct.
No matter how good a Runner was, in the end… Thwack!!
The flat of the swung axe struck the Client's cheek.
The Client flew and crashed into the wall.
"Kughaa!!"
Shattered teeth and blood poured from his mouth.
The sensation in his struck cheek was completely gone.
'Ugh.'
Jinhyuk frowned at the half-crushed face.
He had tried to control his strength, but it seemed he had been a bit too strong.
Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke!!
Feeling a fluffiness behind his knees, he turned his head.
Kancho, in stealth, quickly climbed up his leg and onto his shoulder.
"Kancho, Yodel Ranger Vice-Captain! Recon report! Drones, tanks, and helicopters are swarming in from all directions!"
Well, Spetsotrad was said to be one of Russia's most important units.
With such a commotion happening in that unit, it was only natural for them to come rushing.
He immediately dismissed his friends.
He had come to catch the Client, not to fight Russia.
'I don't think I have time to use Soul Veritas.'
Instead, he decided to use an old, crude, but reliable negotiation technique.
He pressed the axe against the Client's neck and asked.
"Where's the gold?"
The Client's face, already twisted in pain, wrinkled even deeper.
His expression said, "What kind of crazy talk is this now?"
"You must have made a lot of money from Crown Jackpot."
Even in the midst of terrible pain, the Client's eyes sparkled.
He saw a way out.
And Jinhyuk, not missing that sparkle, continued.
"Start with what's in this unit. Consider it a down payment. If you tell me willingly, I won't beat you to death."
He held out a memo pad.
"Write down the coordinates."
The Client quickly calculated in his head and wrote down the coordinates.
Humans are inherently greedy creatures.
Once they taste sweetness, they inevitably want more.
When he went there, he would realize how valuable he was, so he wouldn't kill him carelessly.
Then he could wait for another chance for a reversal.
"Hmm! Good."
Jinhyuk picked up the note and stood up.
He put the axe away.
Instead, he reached his hand behind him.
"Ptui!"
A viscous substance landed on it.
"I always keep my promises."
So he wouldn't beat him to death.
Instead, he gave the Client a freshly produced, warm lump of clay.
From the way his eyes were rolling, reaching the wealth of Crown Jackpot would be no easy feat.
He decided to just take what was in the unit.
"Well, take care."
He didn't wave his hand friendly.
He gave him the middle finger and closed the thick bunker door.
Booooom!!!
A massive explosion from inside.
The presence was gone, but just in case.
Creak.
He opened the door, confirmed the shattered remains of what was once the Client, and closed it again.
Anyway, this bunker was built sturdy.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Rumble, rumble.
It seemed Russia's reinforcements were starting to enter the base.
The sound of helicopters and tanks from all directions.
Before things got tiring, he'd better grab what he needed and get out.
* * *
In the middle of the snowfield where Russia's secret special forces, Spetsotrad, were stationed—or rather, had been stationed—a man got off a helicopter and grimaced.
"What the hell."
Even seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't believe it.
The scene before him was so surreal.
Had a ballistic missile fallen or something?
The unit was literally obliterated.
It was incomprehensible.
Spetsotrad wasn't a platoon or company-sized unit.
It was a brigade-level unit built on the vast snowfield, with dispersed deployments to prevent annihilation even under bombardment.
It even had enough firepower to wipe out a decently sized small country.
And yet, that unit had vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Spread the search radius as wide as possible. All Spetsotrad units are scattered."
"Yes, sir!"
"Uchinsky, Vadrov. You two find the Client."
"Understood!"
Brigade Commander Vasilov wasn't important.
They could just replace him with another general.
But the Client was different.
A significant number of Russia's major projects relied on his funding.
The moment something happened to him, those projects would grind to a halt.
For Russia, that was a nightmare they didn't even want to imagine.
# Crackle… This is Lachid Search Squad. We've arrived at the underground bunker. Confirmed deaths of Brigade Commander Vasilov and Sergeant Alexei. The bodies are a mess, as if a large explosion occurred. They're beyond recovery.
"What about the Client?"
# Not seen yet. We'll collect the fragments and run a DNA test.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
They had placed him here, the most secure location for the most important person, and this happened.
He took a breath and organized his thoughts.
'Was he kidnapped?'
Maybe another country, aware of his existence, had coveted the Client and done this.
Reports came in from all over.
Units 783, 171, 999—all the notoriously vicious units within the Russian military were completely wiped out.
In other words, Spetsotrad had been cleanly annihilated.
The man gritted his teeth and picked up the radio.
"All units, listen up. Given the scale of the attack, the enemy is at least a company-sized force of 200 men. It's impossible for that many people to cross the border without being noticed. They couldn't have gotten far. Find them. Set up an airtight search net and bring those bastards in! Do you understand?!"
Loud affirmations came through the radio.
Those bastards who dared to pull this kind of stunt in Russia.
He would catch them no matter what.
----------
T/N:
Just for being a free member, you'll get 5 advanced chapters every week!
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon:[email protected]//towerup