Chapter 79: The Mysterious Black Army
Seeing the open anticipation in Asagiri's eyes, Asuna shook her head first. Then, despite herself, her lips curved into a small smile. Her tone sounded helpless, but there was warmth in it.
"Seriously… you really are something. Players who genuinely treat this like a game, who actually look forward to danger because it's fun, have to be rare. But you're the Leader, so I guess I'm stuck with you. Fine. Let's see, together, who's really behind turning this city into a nightmare."
Asagiri shook his head.
"No. You leave first."
"Me? But…"
"Don't push yourself."
He pointed at her right hand, still gripping the Exorcist Longsword. His voice stayed calm, almost matter of fact.
"For hours now, you've been cutting down ordinary infected, and whenever a Special Infected showed up, you took that too. Your stamina hit its limit a long time ago."
"I…"
Before Asuna could force out a protest, Asagiri stepped closer. He reached up and gently brushed her long hair, smiling as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
"Relax. I have the Hourglass of Reversal. If things go sideways, I can still clear the Dungeon and get out. And honestly, your condition is bad right now. You won't be able to fight at your usual level, and I don't want you turning into dead weight because you refused to rest."
His smile softened, but his eyes didn't waver.
"Leave the information gathering to me. When we're out, I'll tell you everything. Okay?"
"…Alright."
Asuna hated admitting weakness. Pride practically lived in her bones. But she wasn't stupid, and she knew he was right. In her current state, she might not be help at all.
She lifted her head, lips pressed tight. Her eyes were full of worry as she looked at him.
"Then… you have to be careful. Please. Be extremely cautious, okay?"
Asagiri nodded, then answered without hesitation.
"Then give me a kiss."
Asuna's face went bright red.
"At a time like this, you're still thinking about taking advantage?"
She tried to sound fierce, but her voice wobbled. After a moment of hesitation, she still rose onto her tiptoes and lightly kissed his cheek. The moment she pulled back, she whispered, so softly it barely carried.
"After you come back safely… then you can kiss other places…"
Asagiri's expression turned solemn, almost reverent.
"So if I say 'kiss here,' you'll kiss here?"
"You…!"
Asuna wasn't naive. She understood instantly what kind of joke he was making. Embarrassed and furious, she clenched her fist and lightly punched his shoulder.
"Anyway, if you die, I… I won't be done with you!"
The next second, she tapped Confirm Submission on the app.
Her figure began to fade, dissolving into the air.
Asagiri chuckled.
"If I'm dead, how are you going to not be done with me? It's not like I can queue for a rematch."
But the smile vanished as quickly as it came.
He put the Ever changing Mask back on, turned toward the window, and stared into the pitch black sky beyond the hospital.
"The mastermind… is it really them, just like I suspected…"
…
Ten minutes later, at the main entrance of Mercy Hospital.
In the shadows of night, dots of blue light appeared one after another. Then came the figures behind them.
More than a dozen people moved in, all dressed in full black combat suits. Optical sights. Gas masks. Full finger tactical gloves. Black rifles held tight. Not a single inch of skin exposed.
They advanced in a standard squad formation, precise and cold, like special forces stepping into a kill box.
Among them, one person stood out.
Their tactical jacket and armor were black as well, but the lining beneath was white.
The commander raised his left arm. On the forearm guard was an LCD screen. Nearly twenty red dots glowed there, clustered inside the administrative office building.
"Fifty meters to target location. Continue advancing."
The squad didn't even glance at the infected corpses scattered across the hospital grounds. They pressed forward without hesitation, closing in on the administrative building.
Minutes later, they entered the first floor lobby.
The moment they stepped inside, they saw it.
A transparent plastic bag placed beside the elevators. Inside were nearly twenty implantable locators, exactly matching the red dots on the commander's screen.
"Hm?"
The squad approached slowly. One member moved ahead, checked the bag carefully, then reported.
"No visible trap. Someone collected the locators and placed them here on purpose."
"A trap…"
The commander's voice was low, as if tasting the word.
He was just about to issue the next order when a faint sound of footsteps echoed through the silent lobby.
Instantly, every rifle swung toward the sound.
Through their night vision, the lobby turned bright as day.
And what stood there was…
"A little girl?" someone blurted. "Human? How could she be here?"
A blonde, blue eyed little girl walked toward them, clutching a teddy bear to her chest. She looked completely out of place in this dead city.
The commander didn't hesitate.
"Open fire. Shoot her."
No one questioned the order. Not even a flicker of doubt.
One soldier had already lined up the muzzle with the little girl's forehead.
Before his finger could squeeze the trigger, the girl spoke, her voice sweet and soft.
"Can you…"
She tilted her head, smiling innocently.
"Please die for me?"
The moment her words fell, four soldiers in black combat suits dropped straight to the floor.
Instant. Silent. Dead.
"Open fire!"
The remaining squad members reacted without panic. They raised their rifles and pulled the trigger.
Muzzle flashes tore through the darkness, briefly lighting the lobby in stuttering bursts.
But before the bullets could find her, the blonde girl vanished, as if she had never existed.
"She disappeared…" a soldier hissed. "A paranormal entity?"
The commander in the white lined suit remained steady. He lifted a hand, pressed the comms button, and spoke.
"Report. Team A encountered an anomalous incident. Requesting support deployment…"
He didn't finish.
Another voice echoed nearby, calm and familiar.
"Persona…"
A pause, like a blade being drawn.
"Human Asura."
A tall black shadow appeared in the lobby, just over two meters high.
It moved with terrifying speed.
In a blink, it seized one soldier in both hands and tore him in half at the waist.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Even with blood spraying across the floor, the squad didn't freeze. They immediately pivoted their rifles and unleashed fire on the black shadow.
Dense bullets shredded the figure, ripping it apart until it dissolved into the air.
The squad surged forward toward the direction the voice had come from. They rounded the corner.
There was no one.
The commander stared down the empty corridor, his voice dropping.
"That voice…"
His mind raced.
"This wasn't an anomaly. That was man made. Who the hell can slip past our monitored outer perimeter and infiltrate this city…"
…
[Congratulations, "Player" Utsunomiya Asagiri, you have cleared this Dungeon]
[Human Asura trait "Regeneration of the End" activated, bullet resistance increased]
[Special bonus actions in this Dungeon: deducing part of the truth behind the "disaster," killing Special Infected, encountering and engaging the mastermind behind the "disaster," successfully killing five of their members]
[Dungeon clear rating: S+]
[Please begin customizing the quantity and type of clear rewards you wish to obtain]
"Asagiri, you're back!"
Asagiri appeared on the sofa, and the room instantly turned chaotic.
Kotoko and Megumi, who had just woken up, rushed over. Asuna, who had only returned a short while ago and had been worried sick, was right behind them.
"Your… condition…" Asuna started, eyes scanning him.
Asagiri waved a hand. His face looked exhausted, but his tone stayed light, even amused.
"It's fine. Just mental and stamina drain from summoning Personas. I didn't get hurt."
"That's good."
Asuna finally exhaled, relief flooding her expression. Then she asked carefully, still tense.
"You said you summoned a Persona, so that means…"
"Yes."
Asagiri nodded. He looked at the three of them, then spoke slowly, deliberately.
"I met the ones behind the city's disaster, and I fought them. It was exactly as I suspected. The people in black Alice mentioned before, and the army that ghost doctor described, they're all part of the same military organization."
"The same organization…?"
Kotoko's brows tightened.
The people who had entered that strange hotel, yet never dealt with the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit's true body, and the people who injected survivors, planted locators in Special Infected, and used an entire city as a testing ground…
Could they really be one and the same?
"That's right."
Asagiri paused, then lowered his voice.
"The name of that organization is…"
He let the words hang for a heartbeat.
Then he finished, clearly.
"Black Watch."
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