[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 729: Breakthrough (1)
As Eroom, the thirteen private soldiers, and Dots Salzeo passed through the portal one after another, the distinctive sound of teleportation rang out in succession.
Swaaaash……!
Sevio Fonta, who had been quietly watching the portal ripple, held out his tiny hand and spoke.
-Give me one too.
“…Give you what?”
-A weapon.
“What do you need a weapon for? You’re my prisoner.”
At that, Sevio’s expression immediately twisted.
-Does being a prisoner make my skin impervious to blades?
“No, I mean, you belong to the Council of Twelve Swords. So shouldn’t you be able to dodge around well enough even without a weapon?”
-You fool. What do you think will happen when the Salzeos appear in the middle of the Free Zone? Beyond that portal will become a battlefield in the truest sense of the word.
“Then that’s all the more reason for you to stick close behind me. Besides, how do I know what kind of disaster might happen if I give you a weapon again?”
-…….
Having ultimately failed in his negotiation, Sevio let his whiskers droop, and at this point, Yenta Varangkula politely gestured toward the portal.
-You must go now. Since the Salzeo side entered ahead of you, by now…….
He meant that some kind of problem must have arisen in the free-trade zone beyond the portal.
At that, Yeongwoo glanced toward ‘Obstruction of Official Duties.’
“Once we pass through there, it’ll be a real battle right away. You can fight properly on your own even if I don’t pay attention to you, right?”
The anti-government firearm in question wagged its index finger.
× Don’t worry. Unlike you, I don’t get scared, and I always aim accurately.
“Don’t shoot an ally, even by mistake. Once we cross over there, there’ll be a tremendous number of enemies.”
× Mistake? I do not make mistakes. I only take actions I intend to take.
“…Right. I’m sure you’ll handle yourself.”
In a way, it was fortunate that this insane pistol’s first real battle would take place in the Black Zone, which was overflowing with villains.
Through today’s battle, he would be able to learn not only the firearm’s capabilities, but also the combat tendencies of this nasty bastard.
× Let’s hurry, before those Salzeo bastards turn into beehives.
At last, Obstruction of Official Duties pointed toward the portal with a finger, and Yeongwoo nodded as he stepped toward it.
* * *
Swaaaash!
The distinctive sense of dissonance produced by the portal enveloped his entire body.
Then his vision immediately opened up, and he sensed an enormous number of presences.
At last, he had landed in the middle of the free-trade zone.
‘Why are there so many damn villains?’
It was even extremely noisy.
All kinds of voices were pouring in from every direction, to the point that it was actually difficult to make out a single sentence.
The only ones he could immediately recognize were the Salzeo family’s private soldiers maintaining a semicircular formation nearby.
“What the… Have you not managed to move even a single step yet?”
As Yeongwoo looked around and tilted his head, Eroom Salzeo, who had been guarding the rear, glanced back slightly.
-There are far more of them than I expected. The path is completely blocked.
“It certainly looks that way.”
Just as Eroom had said, the number of villains surrounding the Salzeo party appeared to easily exceed a thousand, and most of them were angrily shouting something.
“What the hell are those bastards saying? Their voices are all mixed together, so I can’t hear them properly.”
-Mostly, ‘You will not leave this place alive. This is bloody vengeance.’
“Bloody vengeance? Then why hasn’t the fighting started yet?”
-Because our numbers are also greater than they expected.
Indeed, Eroom Salzeo, whose presence looked formidable even to someone who did not know him, was standing there imposingly, and thirteen heavily armed Salzeo knights were with him.
Even in the middle of a main road in the lawless Black Zone, it was not easy for anyone to recklessly attack a force of this size.
Moreover, while most of the villains here were enemies of the Salzeo family, the thousand or so villains gathered here were also practically enemies of one another.
-That does not mean this standoff will last forever. The moment someone exerts even the slightest physical force, the war will begin immediately.
Sevio Fonta, who was familiar with situations like this, spoke while twitching his whiskers. Upon hearing him, ‘Obstruction of Official Duties’ spoke in its alien voice.
× Then let’s hurry up and start.
“…What?”
The instant Yeongwoo instinctively sensed danger after reflexively asking that.
× The Salzeos have a gun! Watch out!
Obstruction of Official Duties suddenly denounced the Salzeos and fired diagonally toward the ground.
Baaang!
Astonishingly, the bullet that should have buried itself in the ground ricocheted at an angle and pierced the forehead of one of the villains forming the encirclement.
Pik!
-Huh?
-Ugh!
-W-What was that just now?
-A g… gun!
The instant someone uttered the word ‘gun’ again, a brief silence fell, and at last, the atmosphere in the area blazed crimson.
-Kill them!
-It’s war……!
The thousand or so villains who had been hesitating to attack until now charged toward the Salzeos all at once.
“You crazy bastard… What the hell have you done?”
Seeing the formation begin to heave, Yeongwoo turned toward his shoulder and demanded an answer, at which Obstruction of Official Duties spread its hand wide and spoke.
× Hurry up and move. For a while, no one will know that you were the one who fired the gun.
“What?”
But then Yeongwoo realized it as well.
No matter how one looked at Obstruction of Official Duties in its current form, it did not look like a ‘gun.’
× If I hadn’t done this, how were you planning to get through that tightly packed encirclement?
Yeongwoo could not refute the anti-government pistol’s words.
It was true that the commotion had broken both sides’ formations and created openings.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
× I’ll get you out of here without you having to swing your sword even once. Just move for now.
When Obstruction of Official Duties pointed out an opening in the encirclement with the tip of its middle finger, Yeongwoo urgently spoke to Eroom.
“I’m leaving now. If you want to get out alive too, push forward somehow.”
At the same time, he recalled the regeneration-type equipment he had lent Eroom back into the Catalog.
“I’ll take the sword back once I reach the hangar.”
Eroom glanced at the sword in his hand, then looked beyond the encirclement that was heaving violently.
-There are too many of them for us to push through on our own. But it will be resolved soon.
“…How?”
-When the enraged Mohir appears, he’ll slaughter these bastards on his own. Then the path will naturally open.
It was boldness befitting the young heir of a great house.
-In any case, as promised, I will stop Mohir as well. So go where you must go.
With those words, Eroom turned his back once more, and Yeongwoo asked Yenta Varangkula, who was trembling uncontrollably, one last question.
“It’s time for us to part ways too. Stay here, then run away at an appropriate time when Mohir and Eroom start fighting.”
-P-Part ways…? Then what do you intend to do, sir?
“I have to run without looking back, of course. Just tell me which way the hangar is one last time. You’ve worked hard.”
As Yeongwoo lightly patted Yenta’s shoulder with those words, Yenta pointed toward the opposite side of the encirclement with a faintly trembling finger.
-It is not far in a straight line. But…….
“Ah, I’ll break through that encirclement myself.”
Now that he had sent Yenta away, there were only two companions left to take care of.
All he had to do was keep Mushio Tare, the top-class navigator, and Sevio Fonta, the walking weapon catalog, alive and take them with him.
“You’ve both been through all kinds of hardships, so I won’t waste time trying to coax or reassure you. Just follow behind me. If something goes wrong, shout as loudly as you can.”
At Yeongwoo’s words, Mushio Tare quietly nodded, while Sevio once again asked for a weapon in a pitiful voice.
-I won’t run away, so please give me any weapon at all. I’ll watch your back.
“Having you behind me while holding a weapon would be the most dangerous thing of all.”
Sevio’s plea was once again ignored.
Then Yeongwoo pushed his way toward the half-collapsed encirclement.
“Hurry and follow me! If we wait any longer, the path will close again!”
This was something he had learned during his previous visit to the Black Zone.
Fights in the free-trade zone did not die down as time passed.
Instead, they grew even larger.
That was because when word spread that a fight had broken out somewhere, even villains from other districts crossed over to join the battle.
That was the Black Zone.
As Yeongwoo hurriedly squeezed between the villains and pressed forward, the first obstacle appeared.
Thump.
-Hey, what are you? The Salzeos are over there.
A massive masked man had blocked Yeongwoo’s party’s path and picked a fight with them.
However, he was not able to remain standing there for long.
Piiing!
That was because Obstruction of Official Duties immediately put a hole through the man’s head.
Then it quickly spread all its fingers and covered Yeongwoo’s shoulder, pretending not to be a gun.
× What are you doing? The path is open again, so hurry up and move!
“Was this really the method you mentioned for opening the way? You want us to keep inching forward by making sure no one knows who fired the gun?”
When Yeongwoo spoke in disbelief, Obstruction of Official Duties wiggled its fingers.
× If you have a better method, please tell me.
However, Obstruction of Official Duties’ scheme did not continue succeeding without issue.
The villains of the Black Zone were not fools either, and after they advanced while carrying out several assassinations, they were finally discovered.
-Huh? This bastard… He has a gun attached to his shoulder!
-This bastard fired just now!
-I saw it too! That mechanical arm is a gun!
Before they had even covered half the distance to the hangar, every villain in the area had focused their attention on Yeongwoo’s party.
Now, a full-scale battle truly was the only answer.
“Damn it. Now we have no choice but to break through with pure skill.”
Just as Yeongwoo, sensing that the ‘difficult path’ had begun as expected, was about to draw the Bastard, something unbelievable happened.
Tatatatatang!
Five bullets were fired at tremendous speed from near his shoulder.
What Yeongwoo saw afterward was five villains collapsing backward in succession before he could even draw his sword.
× Did everyone see that? Only those confident they can react faster than my shots should stand before me.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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