Chapter 53 - A Long-Awaited Encounter
Jin rose to his feet.
Wiping away the blood splattered across his faceguard with one hand, he caught sight of the two figures aiming their guns at him.
And between them, sitting stiffly, was Albus.
His eyes were wide, gripping something tightly in his hand—not with relief, but with wariness and alarm.
Only then did Jin realize he was still wearing his helmet.
Just as he was about to lift the faceguard—
"Khahh!!"
A beast lunged at him from behind.
The beastman with the head of a hyena.
Even in its death throes, its jaws gaped wide, aiming straight for Jin's nape.
Snap!!
Its dagger-like teeth clashed against empty air, the force so intense that sparks flew as if metal had struck metal.
But it had missed.
Jin had already dipped his upper body forward.
With his right foot firmly planted on the ground, he kicked his left foot backward.
His heel shot up and shattered the beastman's jaw.
With a sickening crack, its head snapped back, and its unbalanced body went skidding violently across the floor.
Right in the direction of the three resistance members.
Their gun barrels twitched, briefly tracking the mangled beastman's head before quickly re-aiming.
Jin removed his helmet.
"Whoo—"
Exhaling deeply, he shook out his sweat-drenched hair, glancing between the still-cautious duo and a now-dazed Albus.
"It's been a while."
"...Are you sure you called him?"
After receiving a rough three-line summary from Jin, the woman cast a sidelong glance at Albus.
"I did."
Only after hearing his confirmation did she slowly lower her gun.
The bearded man beside her did the same.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I wasn't sure he'd come. Didn't want to give you false hope."
At that, the two nodded in understanding, while Jin made a face that practically screamed,
You called me, didn't you?
Of course, I was going to come.
What, you didn't trust me?
Magpies never forget a favor.
And Jin never forgets a meal owed.
That wasn't the only reason, of course.
But hey, it's just Korean sentiment, isn't it?
With the tension easing, the two finally introduced themselves.
"I'm Ocia."
"Den."
The woman—Ocia.
The bearded man—Den.
Naturally, Jin had never met them before.
Spending ten days at a resistance base didn't mean he'd encountered everyone, especially since he'd been stuck in the infirmary.
"Jin."
Keeping it brief, he turned to Albus.
"You good?"
"Thanks… I didn't think you'd actually come—"
"Enough with that. Can you move?"
"My stomach's got a hole in it. I can't put strength into it."
Jin had already been eyeing the wound.
How long had it been since he was injured?
The blood-soaked bandages looked grimy, more of a risk now than the wound itself.
No matter how advanced this world was, sepsis was still a death sentence, wasn't it?
As Jin debated his options, Den stepped forward.
"I'll carry him."
The bearded man turned, offering his back.
With surprising ease, he hoisted Albus up.
A mechanical whir followed.
That's when Jin finally noticed—Den's legs were cybernetic.
"Where to? That same hideout?"
"No, that place—"
Jin had just secured his helmet back on when Albus started to answer—
"Stop talking. I'll explain."
Ocia cut in and turned to Jin.
"The hideout's gone. The moment some of our core fighters failed a mission, the enemy retaliated immediately. Things got chaotic, people scattered, and now we can't even reach them."
Jin frowned.
The hideout was gone?
That, he hadn't expected.
"What about other locations?"
"There's a safe house. It's a bit far from here, though."
"Then that's our answer. Let's get moving."
Jin jerked his chin toward the shattered wall.
Thus, the corridor.
Ocia and Den, following behind, flinched in surprise.
The entire passage was covered in corpses.
And every single one was in a gruesome state.
A simple piercing wound would have been considered merciful.
There were faces reduced to pulp, limbs bent beyond their natural range with bones jutting out.
The TB forces had been utterly crushed—like insects.
"..."
Three pairs of eyes swept over Jin's back as he led the way.
They had seen the rotation.
They knew what that meant, yet given the circumstances, they kept their mouths shut.
Especially because the blood-soaked corridor was not only littered with enemies.
Seeing their fallen comrades sprawled across the crimson-stained floor, eyes still open, made them grit their teeth instinctively.
Jin had also seen the dead resistance fighters.
People who might have survived if he had arrived just a little earlier.
But that was just hindsight.
He had done his best.
He had run himself ragged, and because of that, he had saved at least three lives.
So Jin felt no guilt.
But he did not pass by the fallen resistance fighters without a glance.
That much, he could do.
As they moved through the corridor, Ocia spoke.
"They must have heard the gunshots by now. Reinforcements could be on their way. We need to hurry."
Naturally, their pace quickened.
Tat-tat-tat.
Descending the stairs at a brisk pace, they counted down the numbers marked on each landing.
Then, suddenly—
Jin, at the front, stretched out his left arm in a straight line and came to an abrupt stop.
Ocia and Den, noticing him bring a finger to his lips, quietly raised their guns.
Jin spread his palm toward them, signaling them to hold position, and then, silencing his footsteps, he cautiously descended the stairs one step at a time.
And then—
Just as he reached the landing, he struck forward with his fist.
The figure coming up from below leaned back to evade the attack.
Oh?
In an instant, the gap between them vanished, and the two silhouettes became entangled.
In the darkness, arms and legs clashed in rapid succession—papapak!
At a range close enough to feel each other's breath, a fierce exchange took place.
Jin caught a knee aimed at his stomach with his palm and retaliated with an axe-like downward elbow strike.
His opponent blocked with crossed arms but staggered under the force, and Jin didn't miss the opening—he rammed his shoulder forward, slamming the figure against the wall.
Boom!
At the same time, he drew Gravis with his other hand and pressed the barrel against the opponent's forehead at point-blank range—
"...Huh?"
His finger, about to squeeze the trigger, froze.
The face scowling at him in the dim light looked oddly familiar.
An oni mask?
Without realizing it, Jin slowly lowered the hand gripping Gravis.
"Fenrir?"
"This scent... Goddamn it. What the hell are you doing here?"
The husky voice confirmed it.
Yeah, it was definitely Fenrir.
Jin loosened his hold on his other arm as well.
With the pressure on his throat relieved, Fenrir let out a small cough and rubbed his neck.
His hands were covered in thick fur.
His claws were longer than usual—he must have partially transformed in the heat of battle.
Wait, beast transformation?
...A beastkin?
Jin flinched.
Then, without hesitation, he raised Gravis back at Fenrir.
"You traitorous bastard! You're working with TB, aren't you?!"
"The hell are you talking about? Why would I—"
"Then how'd you even get here?"
"I followed the coordinates... Wait, how the hell are you here?"
"I also followed the coordina—"
Jin trailed off mid-sentence.
Then, tilting his head slightly, he turned—
And saw the bearded man slowly descending the stairs, carrying Albus on his back.
"You called him too?"
"...So both of you showed up. Unbelievable."
Albus's expression turned complicated.
In a situation where all reinforcements were cut off, where there was nothing left but despair, he had made a last-ditch call for solo operatives, not expecting much.
And yet, both had come.
It was so absurd, he almost laughed.
Not that it was good for his injured abdomen.
Kkk—ugh!
Kuhaha—ngh!!
Laughing, wincing in pain, laughing, wincing again—it was a ridiculous sight.
Watching this, the two operatives quickly pieced together the situation.
Ah.
So he called them both.
Without wasting time on unnecessary chatter, they got straight to business.
After Jin briefed them on the current situation and objective,
Fenrir gave a nod.
"A safe house. Got it. Let's move."
With the wolf beastkin now joining them, the group left the ruined building.
And from the darkness beyond their sight—shouts echoed.
"That way?!"
"Bravo team is unresponsive!"
"Hurry!"
Looks like reinforcements have already arrived.
With an urgent hand gesture, Ocia moved in the opposite direction of the voices.
"Follow me!"
As the group hastily followed her—
"Huff, huff—"
Albus steadied his breathing and glanced back.
His blurred vision captured a group of soldiers entering the abandoned building.
After silently counting to ten, he firmly pressed the detonation button.
Boooom—!
A dull explosion rippled outward.
Jin turned around in shock as he felt the ground tremble beneath him.
What the—?
Anyone would react the same way upon witnessing a building collapse with the moonlight at its back.
Even Fenrir's eyes wavered slightly behind his mask, indicating his surprise.
At that moment, Den spoke.
"Albus set it off! We just have to hope it buys us some time!"
And it certainly did.
The collapsing structure was enough to divert their pursuers' attention, allowing the group to widen the gap.
The problem was that this "gap" lasted only a few minutes at most.
"There they are!"
A booming shout erupted from somewhere.
It was the roar of a hunter who had spotted its prey.
The pursuers, who had been scanning the surroundings in vain, all turned their heads in unison.
"They're coming!"
Fenrir shouted.
At the same time, enemies skidded into view at the entrance of a narrow alley.
Ocia and Den pulled their triggers without hesitation.
Fenrir's warning had given them just enough time.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!
Gunfire roared.
It wasn't single shots but full auto—an overwhelming rate of fire that emptied magazines in just two seconds.
The enemies were torn to shreds in an instant, collapsing in pools of blood.
Just then, a shard of debris burst from the wall beside Ocia.
A sharp taang- followed immediately after.
The supersonic bullet had created a distinctive crack-thump sound.
The initial crack was the impact.
The delayed thump was the gunshot reaching them afterward.
A skilled soldier could estimate the sniper's location from the time gap between the sounds—
But Jin simply reacted on instinct, snapping his head upward.
At the edge of his vision, he saw a soldier on a rooftop aiming a rifle.
The bipod planted on the ledge signified a sniper's setup.
At the same moment, Jin's figure vanished like a mirage.
And then, flashes of light flickered in the empty space between his group and the sniper—like skipping stones across water.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
A split second later—
Jin, having closed the distance in an instant with consecutive blinks, delivered a midair kick to the back of the sniper's head.
Crack!
The soldier's face slammed into the rooftop, sending a spray of blood outward like the spokes of a wheel.
Jin landed right after, grabbing the sniper's rifle from where it had been mounted.
Without hesitation, he tore off the obstructive helmet and flung it aside.
Then, stepping onto the rooftop railing, he aimed at the soldiers closing in on his team from all directions and pulled the trigger.
Taang! Taang!
The recoil reverberated through his entire body.
The force, which should have been dispersed through the bipod, instead slammed directly into him.
But Jin didn't stop.
He emptied the entire magazine before blinking again, dropping from the sky like a missile.
There was only one reason he chose the sky as his final teleportation point—
It made executing powerful follow-up attacks much easier.
Whoosh!!
His descending heel crushed a helmet marked with the TB insignia, shattering the skull inside.
Jin swiftly snatched the rifle from the twitching enemy's hands.
Since the gun's sling was still looped around the soldier's neck, the lifeless body clung to him, drenching him in blood.
Ignoring it, he sprayed bullets in all directions.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!
In the rapidly shifting light and shadow, distorted faces crumpled and fell.
There were a few return shots, but they didn't change the outcome.
Click, click.
Feeling the resistance in his trigger finger, Jin discarded the rifle and its attached corpse onto the ground.
"Tsk."
He reached for his ear, which was tingling strangely.
Instead of the usual soft flesh, he felt warm droplets trickling down.
It seemed a bullet had grazed his ear amidst the chaos.
But Jin simply pulled his hand away, unconcerned.
As long as it didn't hit his head, it didn't matter.
With that thought, which would have shocked anyone else, he turned his gaze forward.
And what he saw was—
SCHLASH!
A fountain of blood spraying as another enemy crumpled—
And behind them, Fenrir rushing forward.
Both his hands were soaked in red, crossed in an X.
His claws, gleaming crimson, had sliced through flesh like paper.
"You finally here?"
Jin asked, grinning.
Fenrir's nose twitched.
"...Just what the hell have you been doing?"
A loaded remark.
Jin smirked.
You haven't seen the real show yet, kid.
As Ocia and Den reloaded their magazines, they spoke.
"The enemy's attack is letting up. We might be able to shake them off now."
"Albus really pulled it off. I can't believe we were up against elites like these."
Hope flickered in their battered expressions.
But only for a moment.
"...Ah."
Ocia's jaw dropped.
Beside her, Den's pupils darted frantically.
Jin didn't have to ask why.
Because the presence behind him spoke for itself.
"...…"
At the end of the street, someone stood tall.
A man with shoulder-length, snow-white hair.
His fluorescent eyes pierced through the darkness, sinking invisible fangs into their flesh.
A wild gaze that dominated the battlefield.
As a flickering streetlight cast his shadow against the wall—
It took the form of a massive lion.