Didn’t they say the inner section had been sealed off?

Then how was gunfire coming from inside?

I drew my sword and sharpened my focus.

If the ones forcing their way in were the Elders’ hounds as expected, then they would be carrying Green Dream rounds. That made the situation far more dangerous.

But even if they were civilians, things would still become complicated. Black Badgers were never allowed to lay a hand on civilians.

The moment Yehyeon accidentally shot a civilian dead, everything would become hopelessly tangled.

Seunghyun must have thought the same, because he sprang forward and ran to Yehyeon.

At the same time, Yehyeon turned his head and looked back at him.

“Green Dream rounds.”

“Yehyeon. Get out.”

I ran toward him too.

“Fall back!”

RATATATAT!

The moment Yehyeon pulled back, Seunghyun slammed the back door shut.

Then, in one swift motion, he hoisted Yehyeon over his left shoulder. I quickly moved behind him and looked back at the firmly shut back door.

The door itself looked sturdy enough that bullets wouldn’t punch through it right away.

But they probably knew the password too.

Just as expected, I heard the keypad being pressed.

“Go to K-Zone.”

We had to get Kairos out anyway.

And now that things had turned out like this, we needed to find him even more.

Keeping my eyes fixed on the back door as it began to open with a click, I shouted,

“We grab Jack and force our way out!”

BOOOOM!

The intruders opened the back door, and the instant a gun barrel shoved through the gap, I unleashed a sword strike.

The strike shoved the door and the bullets back with crushing force.

I heard flesh being sliced.

“Back off.”

I tried saying it even though I knew there wouldn’t be many willing to listen.

“As long as you don’t point guns at us, I’ll let you live.”

BANG!

RATATATAT!

Yeah.

I hadn’t expected anything.

The smell of blood thickened in the air. I snorted and this time sent a sword strike toward the ceiling.

The ceiling crashed heavily down over the ones forcing their way in.

BANG!

Who was shooting at whom in there?

Even as I turned and followed after Seunghyun and Yehyeon, I regretted yet again not having released Kairos’s presence in advance.

If only I had done it this morning.

Biting my lip, I ran across the sample ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ area.

Seunghyun still had Yehyeon slung over his left shoulder.

With a pistol in his right hand, he fired into the depths of the room.

“Did Yehyeon get hit?”

I’d smelled blood when I passed him earlier.

Yehyeon seemed to answer something, but the gunfire drowned him out. Listening to the footsteps echoing through the area, I tried to gauge the enemy’s position.

“I’m shutting down K-Zone.”

As Seunghyun sprinted past the largest hall and down the corridor to the left, he spoke.

“They’ll release sleeping gas soon.”

“You can shut down the zone?”

“Yes.”

Please.

Kai. Stay still in K-Zone and don’t move.

Running after Seunghyun, I sent out several small sword strikes.

BOOOOM!

The strikes flew out and cleanly sheared the barrels off the rifles of those rushing in.

Bang!

Not realizing it, some of them must have pulled the trigger anyway, because their guns exploded loudly.

But these people—clearly enhanced bodies—didn’t panic. Wearing pitch-black gas masks, they kept pressing forward in a dense wave, from who knew where.

Just how lightly do they take me?

Using the structures for cover as I ran from the incoming fire, I thought bitterly.

They didn’t even send their closest hounds. They were really trying to win by throwing a large number of enhanced subordinates at us?

No matter how many humans there were, it made little difference to me.

Or were Yehyeon and Kairos the true targets?

If that was really the case, then I’d sink every last one of them along with this lab.

With that thought, I slid after Lee Seunghyun into a narrow room.

I had to slide, because a door was dropping down from above.

It seemed Seunghyun had hit a red button on the wall while running.

A button to isolate each zone?

BANG!

At least we could catch our breath for a moment.

Sliding into the room marked K-Zone, I saw the enemies’ feet through the narrowing gap of the closing door.

Tidi-didi-ding!

Bullets fired downward ricocheted everywhere with shrill metallic sounds.

Hissssss....

Then came the strange sound of gas being released into the hall.

Just as Seunghyun said, they’d deployed sleeping gas.

It seemed to be filling only the hall, and I was glad we got in before it spread.

Thunk.

I watched the door seal completely shut.

Only after confirming that all of us had made it safely into a space about the size of Yehyeon’s living room did I dare look around properly.

Not that we had much time. We couldn’t stay here forever. They were probably already outside preparing explosives to blow through the isolation door.

We had to reform and break out before they set them off.

I went over to Yehyeon, who was sitting down on the floor.

“You got hit?”

“It grazed me.”

Yehyeon answered immediately.

“Nothing worth worrying about.”

There was no need to ask where.

A strong scent of blood came from his left foot. I knelt on one knee and tore away the soaked hem of his pants, which had stuck wetly to the wound.

“That’s more than a graze.”

“It didn’t hit an artery.”

Yehyeon said it calmly while feeling around nearby.

He seemed to be looking for something to use as a tourniquet.

Still searching, he pushed at my shoulder.

“It poses absolutely no threat to my life. Find Black, Hilde. I’ll handle the bleeding myself.”

The moment I took my eyes off Yehyeon’s wound, Seunghyun came over.

He too pushed me back along with Yehyeon.

“I’ll take care of him, so go find your kin.”

“Please do.”

I needed to use emotional transfer.

As I looked around K-Zone, which was packed with all kinds of things, I prepared myself to release my emotions.

I knew very well it wasn’t proper, but there was no helping it.

Even if I concealed my presence, emotional transfer was still possible. When the target wasn’t visible like this, it was difficult to specify exactly who would receive it, but—

Beep.

A tiny cry rang out.

We all whipped our heads around at once.

“Milk?”

Yehyeon muttered as he looked deeper into K-Zone.

K-Zone was a little unusual.

I was surprised there seemed to be no visible living beings here. If it were Kairos, I’d expected him to be wherever there were iron cages and living creatures covered in hide and fur.

Instead, this place was slightly chilly, and rather than cages, it was full of things like drawer cabinets.

The cry of Milk came from beneath a desk lined with uniformly sized drawers.

A shadowed space under the desk.

“Sorry.”

The instant Milk sprang out of that shadow, Kairos revealed himself.

The red-haired man, suddenly appearing in my field of vision, straightened after crawling out from beneath the desk.

“I’ve made things worse.”

“Kai.”

It was a relief he didn’t seem hurt.

“Any injuries?”

“I’m fine. Adviser, the bleeding—”

“I already stopped it.”

Yehyeon answered quickly.

“This isn’t your fault. How could a situation this abnormal be your fault?”

“They seem to have planted bombs.”

Seunghyun, who was sitting near Yehyeon and staring at the sealed door, reported abruptly.

I looked between the doors in front and behind us.

Seunghyun must have realized it from the sounds near the door.

Yehyeon and Kairos both went still, their senses sharpened.

I closed my mouth for a moment to make a decision.

“Who do you think it is?”

I asked Seunghyun slowly.

“The Third?”

“Judging by the way they’re forcing their way in like idiots, it’s highly likely that brat.”

“How strong is the sleeping gas?”

“Enough to put a large Creature to sleep.”

“Where’s it venting from? The ceiling?”

“Yes.”

“Then we’ll have to cut our way out while sweeping it aside with sword strikes.”

Seunghyun turned his head and stared at me.

I gave him a faint smile.

“I’ll open the path, so follow behind me. If I push it back with sword strikes, it’ll create something like a channel of wind, so the gas will scatter for a moment.”

“You’re going through the back door.”

“It’s narrower there, so it’ll be easier to hit the enemy, won’t it?”

Whether it was the front or back entrance, attackers would be waiting either way.

But if there were many attackers, that just meant more nourishment to absorb.

The only ones I needed to be careful about were Seunghyun and Yehyeon, whose recovery was slowed by Green Dream—and who, being human, couldn’t receive transfer.

Milk would have to stay in Kairos’s arms to protect him from the gas.

And since we were underground, we also had to be careful not to get buried alive.

Judging by how many men had forced their way in, they’d clearly come prepared.

Ah.

“How annoying.”

The moment I muttered it, Kairos came over.

“Hilde.”

“I wasn’t talking about you. These bastards are definitely after me, so—”

“I’ve got one Creature that might be useful.”

I glanced at him.

When it came to Creatures, there was no need to doubt Kairos.

“You think it’s better than forcing our way out through the back door?”

“I can at least get rid of the bombs in front of the door. It’s only capable of that much.”

“Ah.”

That alone was more than enough help.

I hadn’t expected anything more to begin with.

I nodded, then shifted my gaze from Kairos to Yehyeon.

Kairos had never made a mistake in a situation like this, so I didn’t ask for details.

He’d handle it well.

I walked over to Yehyeon, who was pulling himself up using the desk.

“It’ll be hard to run, right?”

“I can do it just fine.”

“I’ll carry you.”

Seunghyun said firmly.

The moment he finished, Yehyeon immediately replied.

“I can run without a problem.”

He even emphasized it twice.

“From a combat standpoint, it’s also better than being carried like a sack of rice. Otherwise we’d lose one person who can respond.”

“Then shoot while being carried.”

Seunghyun said.

Yehyeon didn’t even look his way.

“You know Hilde wouldn’t slow down over an injury like this either.”

“I’ll carry you on my back.”

Seunghyun shot back without yielding.

His voice was stubborn.

“The speed—”

“Want Kairos to carry you instead?”

Seeing the man give a thumbs-up to signal that the bombs had been removed, I asked casually.

Now that the time limit was gone, I found myself a fair bit more relaxed.

“...What?”

“...Excuse me?”

Father and son answered at the same time.

BOOOOM!

From beyond the door came the sound of the bombs Kairos had removed detonating.

At the same time, screams burst out, becoming a fitting background track as I looked blankly at the father and son standing there frozen side by side.

And at Milk, who had suddenly climbed onto Yehyeon’s shoulder.

“No, I mean, Seunghyun—you’re a better shot than Kai, aren’t you?”

The father and son both stared at me in silence.