Chapter Twenty-Two: Encirclement

There was nothing unusual about the main hall—no bodies, not a sign of the assault squad that had entered earlier. It looked, for all the world, like an ordinary ruin.

“Lily, any results?”

Standing at the center of the hall, gazing at the shattered staircase and faded murals before him, Faelon asked without turning his head. Hearing his inquiry, Corona hesitated for a moment before finally replying.

“Ah… yes… Commander… but… there’s nothing here…”

“Nothing?”

Faelon raised an eyebrow at Corona’s answer. Yet it didn’t surprise him. Corona’s ability was only Level One; while its range was vast, its limitations were many. It could be suppressed by higher-level users or monsters, and at present, she could only sense moving things. On a battlefield, she could serve as a locator radar, but once faced with someone stronger, she would be completely helpless.

“I’m sorry…”

Corona hung her head as Faelon spoke, all too aware of her own weaknesses. She longed to improve her ability, but at her young age, such progress was far from easy.

“It’s fine. We’ll just keep searching.”

Faelon dismissed her apology with a casual remark, then strode toward the stairwell.

“Ding—”

Just as they reached the stairs, something unexpected happened. With a quiet chime, the elevator doors, previously shut tight, suddenly slid open. A flood of white light spilled from within, illuminating the dim corridor. The three sisters spun around, weapons raised, aiming at the elevator.

Inside, there was nothing.

“All right, let’s go.”

Faelon didn’t even glance at the elevator, simply heading downstairs. His order left the others momentarily stunned, but they quickly followed him. Delin lingered at the stairway, smiling at the three, and only when she saw them descend did she glance at the open elevator before following them down.

Soon the corridor was quiet once more, and after a moment, the elevator doors closed slowly, returning everything to darkness.

Searching through ruins was a dangerous affair. The sisters, born and raised on the wild plains, knew this all too well. Honestly, if they had any say in the matter, they would never have entered such a sealed building. The risk was far greater in these environments; if danger struck, escape was nearly impossible. Even if they managed to flee, they would have to worry about the ceiling or floor collapsing beneath them. These structures were decades old and had suffered massive destruction. A single misstep could bring the whole building down. Not to mention, there might be monsters lurking in the ruins…

What frustrated Eluka and the others was that Faelon seemed completely unconcerned. He hummed a tune no one could decipher as he wandered through the debris, pausing now and then to adjust his wide-brimmed hat.

It’s so dark here—even with a flashlight, you can barely see what’s around you. Why bother wearing a hat?

“Our commander seems a little odd, doesn’t he…” Eluka whispered to Chris as she sidled up beside her. Chris glanced at her, then at Faelon, and nodded slightly. It was hardly surprising. In such perilous ruins, with no protective gear or even a weapon in hand, he walked as if he owned the place. If he weren’t their commander, Eluka would have called him by two words.

Suicidal!

Faelon had no idea what Eluka was thinking, nor did he care. After descending the stairs, he had tried to contact the Emperor, but as expected, there was no response. No matter how many times he tapped the icon, it was as if there were no network connection at all. The sisters seemed to notice this too, stirring uneasily for a moment before calming down. Faelon had warned them beforehand that such things might happen, and after all, people used to living in the wild had seen plenty of strange occurrences.

How amusing…

Faelon spun his scalpel between his fingers, squinting ahead. So far, he hadn’t sensed any threat, which only made him more excited. He relished this kind of challenge—whether internal or external—the thirst for battle, and the desire… for slaughter.

With that thought, Faelon suddenly stretched his right hand to the side, then retracted it swiftly. A flash of cold steel, and in the next instant, a zombie in mid-leap was reduced to a mess of flesh, splattering onto the floor with wet, dull thuds.

What just happened?

Eluka and Corona stared wide-eyed at the carnage. Corona, especially, looked at Faelon in shock, unsure what to say. She had sensed the zombie’s movement, but before she could warn Faelon, a faint glimmer flashed through the dim hallway. By the time they raised their guns and aimed, all they saw was the corpse, cleaved apart.

“A Stalker…”

Faelon glanced at the body and looked away. Stalkers were a more advanced breed of zombie, unlike those sluggish creatures that seemed ripped from a biohazard movie. Normally, a Stalker appeared utterly lifeless. When no prey was nearby, it was indistinguishable from a corpse, but once it detected a target, it would spring up and attack. In the ruins, they were among the more dangerous monsters.

Still, that shouldn’t have been enough to wipe out the Ninth District’s guard squad without a single reaction. There had to be something more interesting at play…

“ROAR—!”

Just as Faelon pondered, a series of furious roars erupted from all sides. The Stalker’s death seemed to serve as a signal, turning the once silent space into chaos. Shadows burst forth from every room, hurling themselves at their prey.

“We’re under attack!”

The sudden assault threw the sisters into high alert. Corona darted between Eluka and Chris, while the other two raised their weapons and fired without hesitation at the approaching zombies.

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

A cascade of muzzle flashes lit the dim corridor, painting it red. Stalkers shrieked as they lunged for Faelon and the others, smashing doors aside and charging with the speed of hounds, desperate to tear their living flesh to shreds.

Faelon’s scalpel pierced a zombie’s forehead with ease, then swept in an arc like slicing a cake, cleaving another’s gaping mouth and skull in half, flicking upwards to scatter half a tongue and foul brain matter.

Meanwhile, Eluka and Chris were not idle. Stalkers were formidable, but these sisters had survived the wild for years; they were no easy targets.

In such cramped quarters, Eluka’s “Ferocious Firepower” was finally unleashed in full. Faelon hadn’t understood what her Level Two ability entailed until now, witnessing it firsthand. Suddenly, he realized Eluka was the mobile artillery of the team.

The laser rifle’s standard rate of fire was about 300 rounds per minute, but somehow, Eluka’s ability ramped it up tenfold, reaching a staggering 3,000 rounds per minute!

And she wasn’t wielding a Gatling or a Vulcan cannon.

“Boom boom boom boom boom boom!”

Continuous laser beams shot out like madness, sealing off the corridor entrance. The searing rays tore through the oncoming zombies, reducing them to pulp.

On the other side, Chris was equally relentless. Though she couldn’t employ her sniper skills, her shotgun roared like thunder, spewing fire and blasting the zombies to pieces. For warriors born in the wild, this was nothing the Black Dog Squad couldn’t handle.

Long, medium, and short-range firepower combined with all-weather radar, guaranteed hits, and optical camouflage… If not for their low levels, this squad could one day strike terror into the hearts of all who roamed the wastelands.

But alas, this world had no room for what-ifs.

“Delin! Nine o’clock! Large enemy inbound!”

Corona shouted just as the wall beside them exploded. Massive arms, like those of a black gorilla, lunged for the cat-eared maid who stood calmly to the side.