"The first years retreated. The enemy should be deeper inside this defense shelter."
"How did they find out about this defense shelter? We didn't mark this place in the map of our data bracelets."
"I'm not sure."
Squad Zero continued to creep deeper into the shelter. They carefully moved forward. They were short on time, but they didn't dare rush.
They had already discovered two death traps. The enemy laid an invisible thread at the level of their knee, if they were to trip it, a grenade pin would be pulled. The slightest mistake would mean the end of the whole squad.
'I should have brought Kuro.'
Han belately regretted. Without Kuro's immediate foresight, his area of activity was drastically reduced. Although Kuro had poor attack strength, he could help to carry a heavy burden to influence a battle.
"AAAH!"
They heard screaming. It belonged to a child's who have yet gone through puberty. Han unknowingly quickened his steps.
"Welcome, MONSTERS!"
The moment he turned a corner, a soldier waited to ambush them with a grenade launcher.
Ping!
The grenade launcher made a light tink as the grenade was shot. The power of the explosion would be more than enough to kill everyone here.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Han could hear the sound of his own heart. He strengthened his focus to his maximum limit. He was now, at death's door. He could see the grenade flying this way.
Can I do this-? That wasn't the problem right now. He must do this-!
KKa du du duk! (t/n: hand muscle sound.)
Han spread out the palm of his hand. Han imaged himself catching the flying grenade with his telekinesis. Han briefly caught the grenade to change its flight direction.
Han's telekinesis control had an exceptional degree of focus, and this had only been possible because it had been Han.
BOOOM!
The grenade that had tangented off a different direction hit the opposite side of the room. Han's ears muffled, every breath in his body was sucked out.
"What happened just now?"
"Did he misfire?" The squad members mumbled.
Simon, who stood the closest to Han, witnessed every moment.
'He deflected the grenade away with his telekinesis.'
Simon was also capable of doing this… on the premise that he is made aware ahead of time.
However, Han had reacted the moment he turned the corner as soon as he saw the grenade launcher being shot. He himself, had no confidence to be able to react with such speed.
"M-monsters…."
The soldier who launched the grenade, ended up receiving all the damage. His left arm and lower body was burned black. He took a few painful breaths before he closed his eyes.
Keeee!
Han's ears started to ring. Simon supported him to stand.
"Let's go."
Han lead his squad forward once again. Fatigue ate his whole body. Han moved forward on sheer sense of duty alone.
Tu du du du du!
Soldiers were stationed on the last door of the defense shelter. This was a narrow space so they didn't use bombs, instead they used welding machines to melt the door. They vigilantly guarded against Squad Zero so that they could not approach this place.
'What do I do now?'
Han endured his aching head and continued to think. Squad Zero gravely lacked battle gear.
If he were to charge forward this straight passageway, everyone in the squad would become a beehive. There were not enough materials to use as a shield, and Simon didn't have enough energy to do it again.
'Han, think of something.'
Han mentally hissed to himself. The enemies were currently trying to weld through the door. The first years has already been greatly harmed. Further harm to them must be prevented.
'An air vent?'
The air vent was the only detour that allowed passage to the first years. There was enough room for him to crawl through. However, it would be impossible to prevent the sound from bleeding out. If he were to crawl through this air vent, it was inviting the enemy to freely shoot him.
'But the enemy will not be able to aim properly if I am in the air vent. A bullet which had pierced through a steel frame would also be greatly weakened. It might be possible as long as I protect my head.'
A second year's body was built stronger than a normal human's. Han made his decision and looked toward his squad members.
"I'm going to crawl through the air vent and attack them from the back. They will focus their shots at the air vent, take that moment to oppress them. Everyone, save your psychic powers."
"Are you sane? Han? Do you want to die?"
Simon said while shooting his gun from the corner. The steel frames which encased the air vent were not made strong enough to stop bullets.
Even if he successfully made it to the back, it was highly likely that he would die. However, this was a sacrifice he needed to risk for victory.
"There's no other way. We don't have enough time."
Step, step.
Footsteps sounded from behind Squad Zero. Han leered to the side and aimed his gun. Canute stood at the place Han aimed.
"Canute?"
Canute, who had suffered many gunshot wounds was walking, like he was perfectly fine. Canute reaffirmed the current situation.
"I know it's kind of awkward to say this now, but I think I just obtained my unique skill."
Canute pointed to his leg. All his gunshot wounds were gone.
"Healing factor. What a fitting unique skill for you."
Simon mumbled. Canute was famous for frequenting the hospital the most amongst the second years.
Canute's unique skill, healing factor, had inhumanely fast regeneration abilities and had already been classed. The regeneration speed varied, but penetrating wounds healed almost instantaneously.
"If my judgement is correct, you guys need me right now."
Canute said. He was going to take Han's place and crawl through the air vent. He had a healing skill, and something like a gunshot wound was nothing to fear. He would feel the pain just the same, but he could endure that much. Anyway, this method would be better than seeing Han die.
"I'll leave it to you, Canute."
Canute quickly reconfirmed the battle plan and opened the air vent cover. He placed his foot into the vent, ducked down, and crawled. The gun on his hips shook and clattered.
'I wonder if I obtained this unique skill because I wished for it so earnestly.'
Canute thought while crawling through the stuffy air vent. When he was left behind due to his injuries, he wished to rejoint them.
He had always been injured the quickest before the end of the battle. He didn't wish to be left behind any longer.
He didn't care about how many injuries he would suffer, he just needed a skill which would give him the power to go on. His psychic powers seemed to have listened to his desire and evolved.
'On the other hand, my telekinesis skills became drastically weaker.'
When unique skills awaken, it's common to lose control of any existing telekinetic skills. It seems the psychic energy circuit becomes split into two. If one's telekinesis was at one hundred percent power, then after awakening one's unique skills, their telekinesis would fall to around 70-80%.
Kuro's psychic power level is so great that even if his telekinesis strength fell to 80%, he could still easily overpower others. Canute, on the other hand, didn't have a particularly outstanding level of psychic power.
Bam!
The air vent shook. The soldiers who noticed the sound perked up their ears. They shot their guns toward the air vent that made noise.
Da-Da-Da!
The air vent became riddled with bullet holes. Canute muffled his mouth with his hand. A bullet shot through his side. He felt the stinging pain, at the same time, his healing factor reacted immediately. His eyes glowed green light. This was proof that his body was undergoing rapid regeneration.
"Hey, stop shooting in weird places and shoot at those other guys!"
"They don't want to jump out from their hiding spot."
"Then buy us some time. We'll be able to open the door soon. They'll come out once we kill all the children!"
The soldiers chatted amongst themselves. The soldier with the welding machine hastened to open the door upon his superior's command.
"Huu."
Canute continued forward. The air vent shook more noticeably as he crawled forward. The soldiers all peered over to the shaking air vent.
"They're in the air vent! He's trying to reach the other side!"
Squad Zero did their best to keep the guards at the security door occupied to distract them from Canute. They shot their gun until they used all their bullets.
"Run! Canute!
Han radioed. Canute straightened his bent knee and increased his speed. The air vent moved in huge waves.
"Blow it up!"
One of the soldiers readied his automatic shotgun. The shotgun shot to break apart the air vent.
One of the soldiers readied his automatic shotgun. The shotgun shot to break apart the air vent.
The shotgun blasted in succession causing the air vent to sink lower. Canute faltered forward at a place where the enemies immediately noticed.
"Die, monster!"
Canute's eyes grew wide. All the guns were pointed at himself. It seemed like fireworks in his eyes. Dozens of bullets pierced through his body. The bullets ripped his body's flesh and muscles that the bones inside his body protruded out. His blood pooled on the floor.
"Canute-!!"
Han peered outside and shouted. Simon grabbed Han's neck and pulled him back. A bullet flew past his nose.
Clack!
The last door opened. The enemy soldiers continued shooting toward Squad Zero as they backed into the room.
Twitch.
Canute, whose body was shredded and horrid, struggled to move his fingers. It was gradual, but the flesh of his fingers started to regenerate. His eyes glowed as it reconstructed itself. Canute lifted his arm like a zombie and twitched his mouth with what muscles he could move. He could only mutter hoarsely in this incomplete state.
"Where are you going? Trash."
Tududududu!
Canute blindly fired with one hand. They were nearby that he could easily shoot his enemies by wildly firing his gun. Canute emptied his magazine, and reloaded another from his belt. Blood spurted from his mouth, but he didn't stop shooting.