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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Signs (5), Atascadero
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Jeffrey's squad approached without a clue. From Winter's side, he could watch them through the convex mirror at the corner. Jeffrey and his men were on guard in their own way, but it wasn't enough—especially regarding the path they'd already passed. They'd checked the locked door, so it was natural to let their guard down.
Winter borrowed a six-round grenade launcher from one of the soldiers.
In the meantime, Jeffrey had walked right into the heart of the trap. From the darkness behind them, a faint shape descended along the wall. Every movement was silent. It was the motion of a beast stalking its prey, slow and deliberate, approaching the door leading to the auditorium.
"Jeffrey! Get down!"
Winter leaned half his upper body out from the corner. Jeffrey's soldiers flinched in surprise. A few bullets flew in. Two grazed past. Winter bellowed.
"Get down!"
His aim was beyond the auditorium windows. He swept the barrel to the right while pulling the trigger repeatedly. Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud! The moment Jeffrey's side dropped low, a chain of explosions erupted.
The dark hallway filled with blasts and flashes. Shredded iron bars and glass shards rained down like a storm. Hellish sounds poured from the auditorium.
Winter tossed the grenade launcher back to the soldier and charged out, unleashing rifle fire. The soldiers joined in. Fierce gunfire. The shape in the darkness blocked with one arm while grabbing the door handle with the other. Sparks flew. The door opened as if it had never been locked.
Only then did they spot the monster in the rear. Jeffrey's side fired back from half-prone or prone positions. Metal sparked, blood sprayed. The flesh-torn monster fled in haste. The variants pouring from the auditorium filled the gap. Even six grenade blasts hadn't killed them all.
"My God! What the hell is this!"
Jeffrey's scream.
"Over here! Hurry!"
Winter lobbed a grenade. It exploded inside the auditorium entrance, toppling a cluster of the surging creatures. While suppressing the writhing ones with gunfire, the squad members followed Winter's lead. Grenades flew one after another. Then one bounced off an iron bar and ricocheted back. Amid the chaos of Jeffrey's squad firing backward and scrambling forward, it arced toward their heads.
Ping! Winter's bullet struck the grenade. He'd hit it at an angle to prevent detonation. The grenade finally sailed over the window. It exploded the moment it passed. Winter slapped the cheek of a dazed soldier.
"Snap out of it!"
Not in anger, but literally to snap him out of it. The man had frozen in shock from his mistake, finger off the trigger. They couldn't spare the firepower.
Finally, Winter joined Jeffrey's squad. Kneeling beside them, he suppressed the variant horde.
"You okay?!"
Jeffrey took the same kneeling position beside him while Winter kept his aim.
"I don't know what's going on!"
Rat-tat-tat!
"But I'm fine!"
A bottleneck was forming. Piling into the narrow space, the variants couldn't bring their strength to bear. The stacked corpses became obstacles. Centered on the auditorium door, they filled over half the hallway height. It was an obstacle for Winter too. The special variant that had fled beyond was out of sight.
"I'll chase the prey! Cover me!"
"Hey, wait!"
Winter started running. Variants emerging to add more bodies targeted him. Cover fire was cautious—they might hit him. Three broke through the thin bullet curtain. His magazine was empty. He drew his pistol and fired three precise shots. One survived the hasty fire. He smashed its grip with the pistol butt as he passed.
Reloading while vaulting the wall. A wall of dead and dying bodies they'd piled themselves. One brick twitched in its death throes. Winter's ankle was grabbed. He rolled down the opposite slope with his whole body. Thud-thud-thud. In his tumbling vision, savage teeth flashed by.
Winter regained his footing and bolted. He spotted the special variant fleeing beyond the iron bars, lining up the sight in a single breath.
Bullets rained down, and it sought the nearest exit. A side door. Beyond was a small courtyard. Surrounded by special wards, open only to the sky.
The boy slid to change direction. The monster awaited him.
"Urk!"
「Combat Sense」 warned with a rapid dodge. The whip grazed past. It was a malformed arm of muscle without bone. Winter, thrown backward, aimed with one hand.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Several hits sent the monster fleeing again. Springing up with the recoil, Winter entered the courtyard.
The monster's full form revealed at last. The special variant clinging to the wall slammed its arm toward the rain-soaked bushes.
Sparks erupted. Electricity coursed through the ground and water. Wide range, low efficiency, but enough to make Winter hesitate.
Combat boots were insulated, but rainwater was the issue. A momentary paralysis. Aiming was hard. Seizing the gap, the monster climbed the remaining wall. The spot it climbed was smeared with bloodstains. Winter's belated shots. Concrete-cracking trajectories chased it. Another hit on the variant's calf.
It had fled after taking a full magazine in their first encounter. It reached the roof anyway.
"If I climb up, toss me a magazine!"
Ammo might run low. Winter shouted to the following soldiers, then sprinted toward the wall. With 「Movement」 correction, he bounded off window frames and drainpipes, conquering eight meters vertically.
"Catch!"
A magazine flew. He snatched it as he crested the roof, then pursued the monster again. It was already under fire. Sentries on the watchtower hadn't landed hits, but they'd slowed it drastically. The variant used the jumbled rooftop ventilation as cover.
The ventilation was filthy complex to prevent inmate escapes. Winter vaulted it multiple times. Clearing the obstacles, the monster was twenty meters away. Low exhaust pipes between them, facing off directly. He aimed instinctively, but something was off. The variant's upper body glowed red-hot between its ribs.
Whoosh—!
A blast of heat surged. Too fast to fully evade. He was momentarily exposed. Rolling on the ground, Winter panicked at the steam rising from his body.
'I see. It handles electricity and radio waves.'
「Insight」 affirmed the guess. Microwave principle.
First time seeing this variant, first time seeing this pattern. No choice but to clash.
Winter pulled the pin on a flashbang and released the safety. Two seconds later, he sprang up, tossed it, then plugged his ears, shut his eyes, and crouched.
The pitch-black world flashed white for an instant. The following boom reverberated through his body. Winter shifted position and stood. The special variant clutched its eyes, staggering. Even then, its upper body heated up. He could see the trajectory of the emitted microwaves. Falling raindrops vaporized slightly, forming a faint misty veil.
But its aim was more accurate than expected. It missed due to staggering, but reacted properly to Winter's movements. Like a bat using echolocation, maybe radio waves were its secondary sense. So Winter thought.
He'd confirmed the ranged pattern's distance and range. Now for the cycle. Winter hurled another flashbang.
Boom!
Variants recovered faster than humans, but consecutive flashbangs left it helpless. The heat wave missed again.
Confirmed. Preheat about one to two seconds. Irradiation about five seconds.
Winter targeted its knee. He fired until one knee joint shattered. It was the leg he'd emptied a magazine into first encounter. He meant to ruin it completely.
Whipping uselessly around, the special variant clutched the wound with its free hand. Sparks flew, smoke rose. Cauterizing to stop the bleeding.
The whipping arm stretched elastically. Electricity coursed through it too.
'Getting grabbed would be dangerous.'
Its vision restored, the monster glared at Winter. Rage palpable. But its action was flight. Even with one leg wrecked, it escaped in a bizarre way.
It flung the whip-like arm, grasping a distant fixture. Muscles contracted. Its body yanked forward. Faster than a full sprint for most men. The other arm substituted for the leg. Dragging the ruined limb made for a grotesque sight.
Winter threw a grenade. Timed to burst high in the sky. The blast slammed the monster down. Sprawled on the roof, it was dyed in blood rain couldn't wash away. The malformed flesh writhed like a worm. Desperate flight reduced to sloth speed.
"Lieutenant Han! You there? Alive? Respond!"
Interference dropped dramatically. Proof the special variant was spent. Winter steadied his ragged breath and closed in with quick steps.
"Yes, I'm fine. Go ahead."
A sigh of relief from the receiver. Lieutenant Jeffrey asked.
"Whew. Good. Where are you? We're still heading to the roof."
"Lieutenant Water. You really okay?"
Sergeant Riberman overlapped. Sudden comms recovery caused the pile-up. Not incomprehensible. Winter replied.
"Take it slow. I've almost got it pinned."
The special variant could flee no more. It twitched in place. The tentacle-like arm glistened like an earthworm in the rain.
Even that soon stopped. Aside from faint chest heaves, it was effectively dead.
Winter didn't approach too closely. Sly bastard—could be playing possum.
That was when the other two squads finally reached the roof. The special variant flared up in ambush.
Kreeee—!
The muscular whip lashed out. Mid-swing, it veered wildly like a living thing. Winter leaped clear. It had been a razor-close distance from the start. Burning its last strength, it flailed limbs grotesquely and charged. But its broken body couldn't catch Winter.
For a brief moment, static burst from the radio. Crossfire poured from Jeffrey and Riberman's directions. The variant's flesh shredded like rags. Winter abandoned comms to shout.
"Don't shoot! Cease fire! Cease fire!"
He signaled the watchtower with big arm crosses in an X. They stopped firing upon seeing it.
But it had taken too many hits already. Holes in its body too numerous to count. The roof pooled with blood. Winter stepped on the tentacle tip, dragging it as he approached.
No reaction. If it had strength left, electrocution pattern next. Winter bayoneted a wound. Still no response.
"What happened?!"
Lieutenant Jeffrey came panting, skidding to a halt a few steps away. Scared of the monster. "Oh, shit." A short curse. Winter kicked the body a few times, then pressed the nape for a pulse.
"It's dead. Unfortunately."
"Huh? Unfortunately?!"
"You said capture it. That doctor."
"...You were seriously gonna try? You're insane."
Practically a compliment.
Lieutenant Jeffrey, on comms with HQ, relayed new info.
"Gentlemen, rejoice. That doctor's getting disciplined. Feels good."
"Disciplined? Why?"
"Mishandled response. Handler's changed."
Details would come later.
Anyway, the helicopter arrived as promised. Transport crew brought new intel. Like the 「Grumble」 shock, this new strain emerged simultaneously across a wide area. Large-scale ops underway.
"We're not the first?"
Winter asked the Health Service Unit officer. Major rank, but scholarly vibe over military. Two similar variant corpses already strapped inside the chopper. In terrible shape—exposed to insane firepower. The major nodded.
"Significant casualties, but better than 「Grumble」. Air Force did a lot."
"Air Force involved?"
Jeffrey's new question. Major confirmed.
"Thought it was foreign EW at first. Dumped tracking missiles."
"Missiles? Must've been epic."
"Anyway, pity. Your specimen's the most intact. Could've gotten a live one."
The major seemed genuinely regretful. He asked if Winter wanted a ride back, but they couldn't abandon the vehicle. Before leaving, the major offered a handshake.
"Meeting a celeb like you without shaking hands? I'd regret it later."
With a smile and salute, he boarded.
Watching the departing chopper formation, Sergeant Riberman suggested.
"Mission continuation's moot now. Let's pull out."
He meant searching for the missing. But soldiers were exhausted, ammo low, time short till sunset.
As senior officer, Jeffrey approved.
"Yeah. We've done enough. Head back. You agree?"
Winter nodded.
============================ Author's Notes ============================
1. Heard opinions that moving from Noblesse to Premium raises ethical issues. Sounds plausible, so the author will think more on it. Reader convenience first anyway.
// Added at 1:06 AM. If defamation targets someone specific on this, I'll first ask for edits, then delete if not. Worried about offending by removing comments, but unavoidable—appreciate understanding.
2. Thanks for the reviews! Two in one day! Thanks to the first two too. Yes, author loves reviews. How much? ...Um...Nutella?
3. Typos or inappropriate wording pointed out get fixed ASAP usually. Hope you don't feel ignored if no direct reply.
4.
Special Variant: Scary, right?
'Murica: Yeah, too scary. Call the Air Force.
Special Variant: ?!
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