Manuke FPS - Chapter 236

I climbed onto the roof of Yamigasa Company’s trading house, where I controlled the summoned ultra-compact reconnaissance drone “Black Hornet” with only my thoughts. Under the cover of darkness I began reconnaissance of the warehouse behind the trading house. The two silent rotors made only a very faint driving noise, and the guards patrolling the warehouse didn’t notice the black hornet flying around in the dark night.

“These guys…aren’t mercenaries.”

The images sent from the Black Hornet are displayed on my field of vision, and I could see them as if I were actually there. The guards were excessively equipped to protect warehouses or trading posts. I also noticed some mages wielding large shields that are supposed to be anti-monsters and anti-humans, along with a robe that seems out of place to be worn by mere guards.

The clan members of the “Rafflesia” huh… As expected, what’s in the warehouse isn’t a decent thing.

The Black Hornet’s operating time limit is 10 minutes. While looking at the time limit counter displayed in my field of vision, I switched to reconnaissance inside the warehouse as top priority and searched for an approach to the interior.

――This is it.

There were several wooden lattice doors without glass on the upper side of the warehouse. It is a small door that is impossible for a human to get through even if the lattice is removed, but the Black Hornet was able to enter without breaking the lattice. The inside of the warehouse, which was the size of a school gymnasium, was dimly lit. There were few moving figures. On the contrary――there were countless unmoving silhouettes lined up.

Lined up enough to fill the warehouse, was an army of Demonic Steel Soldiers. They were standing quietly like a silent doll, with a six-foot stick sticking out.

Too many――and if this number of Demon Steel Soldiers self-destructed, the Royal Capital could be wiped out. The Black Hornet flew between the unmoving Demon Steel Soldiers, slowly proceeding in stealth flight to the only place in the warehouse that emit light.

Two moving figures could be seen beyond the Demon Steel Soldiers. They seemed to be talking about something, but the Black Hornet only has a camera. There is no choice but to try to eavesdrop with a sound collection sensor from the roof of the trading house. But considering the distance, it would be difficult to hear the sound clearly.

In that case――limit the sound collection range of the sound collection sensor, give it a direction, and have it focus on capturing sounds from farther away.

“With this, we have handed over all the non-attribute magic stones that we can prepare.”

“With this many Demon Steel Soldiers, it should be no problem to take down the Royal Castle and control the area around the Royal Capital――the rest.”

“Oh, I know! Princess Cyril has already been secured, all that’s left now is to get Yuki Zephanel from Flyhigh!”

“It’s already past the scheduled time, isn’t it? If only you lend out any more of the Demon Steel Soldiers, their custody will surely be a foregone conclusion――”

The person was the chairman of Yamigasa Company, the slender rat-type beastkin, and a man who was also a beastkin but still unknown to me. I wonder what line that is, a blue-haired dog—no, a wolf-type beastkin. While listening to the story of the two, I captured the source of the light enshrined behind them with my camera.

This is…….

A gigantic group crystal cluster shines there――but the arrangement is regular and looks like something designed.

No, rather, these are not naturally occurring crystal clusters, but can only be seen as objects created by the game system.

While listening to the conversation between Yamigasa Company and the blue-haired wolf beastkin, I controlled the Black Hornet to bypass them and observed the crystal clusters a little more closely. Inside the six crystals extending from the hexagonal pedestal was a skeleton humanoid doll. And at the center of the largest and thickest crystal that extends from the center of the hexagon, it’s emitting a richly colored light――The labyrinth core.

“I see… there’s a limit to your boldness.”

The conversation between the two, the crystal clusters reflected in front of them, and the countless Demonic Steel Soldiers――the answer was too simple and fearless.

“So, you’re producing Demon Steel Soldiers in the Royal Capital, and what’s more, the cost is a non-attribute magic stone and a large magic stone.”

I couldn’t help but let out a voice, but the question was who was the one who created this crystal group, was it a <Bloodline Skill>, or was that blue hair a [Trespasser]?

At the moment there’s not enough information――should I capture that blue hair alive? No, more important than that is to do something about the “Rafflesia” coup d’état. For that reason, what is the right thing to do here?――But as aTrespasser coming from a game like VMB, I know what to do. My knowledge, my experience, my heart is appealing that it is the correct answer.

Walking on the roof of the trading house while looking at the image inside the warehouse――I resummoned the Mag-Fed 20mm in both hands, put the barrel and one foot on the edge of the warehouse and looked through the scope.

What you can see is only the roof of the warehouse, but if you judge comprehensively from the live image sent from the Black Hornet, the shape that can be read from the map, and the voice of the conversation captured by the sound collection sensor–.

――here.

Even if I couldn’t see it directly on the scope, I can still tell everything beyond it.

When the trigger was pulled, an explosive flame and an explosive sound were released from the muzzle of Mag-Fed――the last shot that was loaded made a large hole in the roof of the warehouse and landed where it was aimed.

“Uwaaa!”

In Black Hornet’s camera, the blue hair’s head was blown off right in front of the chairman. That scream belonged to the chairman of the company, who got blood splashed all over his body. And then――Mag-Fed’s 20mm caliber bullet destroyed the central part of the crystal cluster that had been enshrined at the back, the crystal pillar where the brilliant magic stone was floating.

“What was that explosion just now?!”

“The roof of the trading house is on fire!”

“Hey, look. There’s someone over there!”

“Check inside the warehouse, you guys get him! Kill him, don’t let him escape!”

After hearing Mag-Fed’s gunshots, my location was immediately known to the adventurers around the warehouse. The muzzle flash when firing is also considerable, so there is no reason not to find it. As I continued to look inside through the Black Hornet’s camera and the scope through the large hole opened in the warehouse, as expected, the crystal cluster pedestal vibrated and turned red.

In the same change as the self-destruction that I saw many times when I killed the Demon Steel Soldier, I manipulated the black hornet to escape from near the pedestal.

The chairman of Yamigasa Company must have sensed the danger. I can see him running to the exit of the warehouse on all fours without being able to get up. Right after that――the crystal cluster pedestal was swallowed by the fireball, and exploded into a swirling pillar of fire that pierced the ceiling of the warehouse.

When I involuntarily took my eyes off the scope due to the amount of light that exploded through the scope, I saw the figure of the adventurer who should have been in front of the warehouse in the midair in front of me.

“Die!”

The adventurer kicked into the empty space, and the long sword in his hand swung sideways to cut my neck in two.

“Kuh――!”

Involuntarily, I lifted the Mag-Fed to defend myself, using it to block the cut in on the side-slash――however, this adventurer’s swordsmanship must have been of a high level. The Mag-Fed was bisected by its characteristic long barrel and disappeared from my hand as particles of light.

Oi, this is extremely expensive stuff here!

Using the moment that I bought with Mag-Fed as a shield, I did a backward slide jump on the rooftop to gain distance. At the same time, summoning Smith & Wesson E&E Tomahawks in both hands to face the adventurer.

“Who are you?”

The adventurer was clad in light armor, and the long sword he held in his hand had a special decoration and brilliance compared to mass-produced products. This man must be quite skilled even in the “Rafflesia”. Without answering the man’s question, I reconfirmed the map in my field of vision and the Black Hornet’s camera image.

The dots were moving around the trading house, and I could hear many footsteps running up the stairs. And then, the inside of the warehouse in question progressed as expected—the Demon Steel Soldiers one after another turned into particles of light and disappeared from the warehouse.

With only a few seconds remaining on Black Hornet’s camera, the image cut off when the chairman of Yamigasa Company desperately tried to collect the particles of light.

Ten minutes of the operating limit time had passed.

But, as expected――if the crystal cluster pedestal is destroyed, the Demon Steel Soldiers that were created from it will also disappear. Considering the game system, this is a very likely chain reaction.

I don’t know if the game system that created the Demon Steel Soldiers was an MMORPG series, a MOBA series, or an action online game, but it was clearly a control unit――an objective that needs to be destroyed.

If this were a game, destroying the crystal clusters would have cleared the stage or won the match, but this is the real world.

The battle is still going on――first, how to close this place.

“That man is ‘Black Mask Shaft’.”

Suddenly, I heard a voice coming from a different direction than the man facing me. At the same time, a single dot appeared on the map――.

“‘Schuldtiana’ huh…I see, this man is the black mask that has been hindering us.”

A disappearing <Skill> huh…

Just in case, I changed my field of view to FLIR mode and looked around the roof, but it seemed that there was no one but the black clothes that had newly appeared.

“He came out from the direction of Flyhigh, but I didn’t think he would come here when I chased after him. Thanks to that, it seems that this has also become quite troublesome.”

“From Flyhigh? What happened over there, are things going according to plan?”

“No, the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and even that fox Zephanel have escaped, the forces of “Cactus” have been almost wiped out, and even Reiner has been captured.”

“Schuldtiana”—–I believe it was the name of the intelligence clan affiliated with the dark guild that Remy-san had informed me.

“Captured? That stupid bastard still messed up, huh… In that case, it seems that you have to pay back the many debts you have accumulated, black mask!”

The adventurer never took his eyes off me. Even while he was talking to the man in black, if I showed him a chance, he would have attacked me instantly.

I could feel the bloodlust, and my grip on the tomahawks involuntarily tightened――Then, the door connecting the roof and the inside of the building was opened with great force, and a large number of adventurers rushed in.

This is bad――I often fought while outnumbered nowadays, but the opponent this time was the largest and strongest clan in the Kingdom of Kurtmerga, the “Rafflesia”. This rooftop is too small to deal with those clan members at once…

“Oops, I won’t let you escape. I don’t want you to get in the way of our supremacy any more. Your life will end tonight.”

Perhaps sensing my movements, the glaring adventurer man took a step forward――at the same time, the clan members who came up to the rooftop spread out to surround me, each with their own weapons ready for battle.

“What is the purpose of you, ‘Rafflesia’? Is it to take over this Kingdom? Or do you intend to become a vassal state of the Viceburn Empire and obtain even just the right to control it?”

In order to buy a little time, I tried probing into their still unclear purpose――but,

“――Pu! Ahahahahah! Kingdom? Empire? Did you really think that we would rise up for something like that? ‘Country’ is nothing more than a convenient way to bind people to our hegemony. What lies ahead of the supremacy is not that small!”

Their goal is not to control the country? Then what are these guys intended to…

“You’re a man I’d hate to kill—but since you’re going to get in the way of the supremacy, I’ll get rid of you right here!”

With those words, the elites of the “Rafflesia” attacked all at once.

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