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Working abroad, you inevitably end up handling all sorts of firearms.

From famous brand handguns like Glock, Sig, and Colt to old Soviet models like Makarov and Tokarev. Usually, as you head to developing countries, Eastern Bloc firearms become more common, and there are often more illegal copies marked as originating from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe than genuine exports.

However, since smugglers will bring in anything that could make them money, those involved in the black market must often encounter firearms with names that sound completely foreign to them.

Just like right now.

“…….”

The rough body of the handgun drawn from my waist gleamed in the ceiling light.

The gun, which had no hammer to make it easy to carry, was small enough to not feel awkward in a pocket. Like a Tokarev or an M1908.

I pushed the button located at the back of the grip to check the magazine, then pulled back the slide and whispered softly.

“Through the back door.”

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Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

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The first moment I realized the lock had been tampered with was when I confirmed that the seal on the front door had been torn off.

Whether a safe house or a residence, any house that’s been unoccupied is no longer 100 percent safe. Thus, like seasoned operatives abroad, I always stuck a warning seal on the front door and windows whenever I had to leave somewhere.

– Squeak. Squeak.

Even in that brief moment of returning to the back door, I kept running simulations in my head. Who the intruder was, what their motives might be.

The first group that came to mind was the cultists “Abyssal Devourer,” who ruled over the Necropolis. I wondered if those who had identified Francesca had tracked me down as well, given that we had operated together in the city.

But probably not.

If the Abyssal Devourer had any suspicion about me, they would have come straight for me, not to a lodge.

Searching a lodge means you’re more interested in belongings than the person. Employees looking to snatch a guest’s luggage, thieves aiming to swipe expensive items, or spies raiding a hideout for intel, etc.

Since the lodge is property owned by the Palm Tree Trade Guild, I ruled out employees. This isn’t a hotel or motel. Likewise, I ruled out thieves as well. In a lawless city, possessing a lot of cash and property means you have the means to protect it.

Unless someone was a psychological case like Hong Gil-dong or Arsène Lupin, they wouldn’t be robbing a guild’s lodge.

So, there was only one candidate left.

“…….”

Whether my guess was right or wrong. I had no intention of letting the intruder who broke into the lodge just waltz back out.

Arriving at the backyard, I fiddled with the lock with my lockpick and murmured so only Camila could hear.

“I’m going to open the door.”

“Aren’t you going to unlock it with a key?”

I didn’t have the backdoor key. The guild’s manager had lost it a while ago.

After unlocking the door with my tools, I slipped into the building quietly. While fitting the suppressor, Camila carefully pulled a kitchen knife from where it was stuck.

The sounds that had been distinctly audible in the front gradually became clearer. The zipping of bags, rummaging through items. The moment I heard that blatant noise, I pictured the thug looking through our belongings.

The feeling of movement was coming from the second floor.

Before the intruder had a chance to shake off the dirt from his shoes, traces were left all over the hallway and stairs, making it easy to pinpoint where he was.

After signaling to each other, I climbed the stairs to the second floor. The Arab-style carpet muffled the sound of steps climbing the landing, concealing our presence.

With a hand on my shoulder, Camila whispered softly.

“…Be careful.”

I merely nodded slightly and stepped onto the second floor.

The view was just as I’d seen when I went out.

The room shrouded in darkness with not a hint of light, and the curtain ropes on either side were still intact. Leaving the corners of my vision behind, I swept the room with my loaded gun.

And then I saw it.

“…….”

At first, I doubted my eyes.

The upper half, covering a window spacious enough for two people to peek out simultaneously, was obstructing a round object I presumed to be a head, barely missing the ceiling.

Seeing a mound as large as a statue taking up the middle of the room, I even had the fleeting thought that maybe I hadn’t sobered up yet. It was a size that could surpass any human I’d ever met, or even an orc.

I didn’t even have time to wonder what such a bulk was doing here. Recognizing the intruder’s identity in the dark was easier than accepting it was someone playing a nasty prank; the sheer size of the thing was many times above cognitive expectations.

For a moment, I even mistook it. I wondered if someone had secretly placed a statue or if Joaquin had sent a golem to the lodge.

But then, the massive body began to move, and the messy contents of my bag were spotted beneath its feet. The realization hit me that I hadn’t misjudged anything.

The muzzle pointed at the unknown intruder belched fire next.

– ㅡ! ㅡ!

The muffled gunshot pierced my eardrums. The slide retracted, ejecting a brass casing.

Before the sound of the casing hitting the floor reached my ears, the hammer in the chamber struck another bullet, spitting out yet another casing.

I calmly squeezed the trigger in succession.

Even in this darkness, at this distance, I wasn’t so poor a shot as to miss a target, so I didn’t even need to align my sights.

– ㅡ! ㅡ! Click, tick!

As I pulled the trigger, I heard the last casing roll on the ground. Confirming the retracted slide with the fingertips, I replaced the magazine and glared at the thug.

As the massive figure, which had been facing away from us, moved, a brilliant spectrum of lights shattered the darkness.

Like the wind clearing dark clouds as the sun peeked through, the bright lights of the underground city revealed the hulking body of the intruder.

Draped in ragged cloth resembling a mere sack, it gave off a decidedly inhuman vibe at first glance. An unrealistic giant was wrapped in tattered cloth.

– Ugh…

The projectiles that had been spinning ceased mid-air as if obstructed by some unseen force.

I brought my gun down with a resigned expression.

“…Oh, come on.”

Now a street rat without even a bulletproof vest is blocking bullets.

A mysterious thug that can’t be shot at was truly the worst variable possible. Especially if you were a loser like me who relied solely on guns.

In the same vein, when the thug threw me with some invisible force, it wasn’t surprising that I, not even a magician, was hit and sent flying.

“Ugh!”

“Mom…!”

Camila’s scream quickly brushed past my ears. Floating in mid-air, I was helplessly crunched against the wall.

“John, I’m in pain, damn…!”

“Are you okay?!”

While clutching my belly and sputtering, I desperately shook my head.

No, I was definitely not okay…

As I struggled to catch my breath rolling on the floor, thud! The thug began to approach.

What on earth did he eat to bulk up like that, making the ground tremble with every step? He was pushing aside spent rounds and shells with every stride.

“Don’t come here!”

-Fwoosh!

Camila shot flames at the thug. He hastily retreated upon seeing the fire approach but swung his thick forearm to swat it away.

-Whoosh—!

The sight of the giant swatting at flames was like a dancer moving through the fire. With a showy gesture that seemed rigid yet striking, the flames were deflected from his forearms, igniting the ceiling and walls instead.

Tiny sparks flew up, drifting through the air like beautiful stars scattered across the night sky. As dust and embers swirled through the air, the outline of the thug began to emerge from under a wave of crimson light.

His forearms were made of bulging muscles, resembling rocks more than human limbs, with an unclear black shadow etched on them that might have been a tattoo or lettering. The figure wrapped around his fingers coiled all the way to his ragged shoulders.

He looked like a shining figure even in the flames.

Just then, realizing the thug was male, he started slowly advancing, pushing aside the flames that had splashed around the floor.

Camila, witnessing him swat away the fire with his bare arms, opened her eyes wide and dropped her jaw.

“What is that!”

“How should I know… Ugh…”

As I barely propped myself up to respond, Camila began to summon more flames, ready to strike again. The hulking figure noticed the brewing attack and lowered his stance to brace for it just then.

“Hey!”

With both hands full of fire, Camila quickly set fire to the surroundings.

-Whoosh!

-Flames burst!

The floor, ceiling, walls—everything caught fire, blazing both above and below. The rug exhaled a musty smell as it coughed up the dust it had absorbed, and the scorched wallpaper began to streak black as it spread.

“…!”

The hulking figure, suddenly trapped in flames, looked around in panic. Meanwhile, Camila had supported my armpit and was straining to pull me up as she shouted,

“Let’s hurry up and get out of here! We might burn to death!”

“Ah’ma!”

At that moment, an incomprehensible language pierced my eardrum. The thug was shouting something at us across the flames.

“Makuna-ba’kta!”

It was a language I had never heard before. It seemed like a regional dialect from the Mauritania Continent, but I couldn’t even guess which tribe or dialect it came from.

What the hell is he babbling about? As I glanced sideways with that question, Camila hesitantly opened her mouth with a confused look.

“He’s asking where we are…?”

“…What?”

“He’s asking where we are. He says he wants something back…”

What kind of nonsense is this?

I stared at Camila in disbelief. She had interpreted it, but it didn’t seem like she believed what the thug was saying either.

Suddenly, wooden structures engulfed in flames began to crash down. With the sound of impact, we finally regained our senses. I pulled my clothes up to cover my nose and mouth, while Camila covered her face with a handkerchief and pulled me forcefully.

Then—

-Whoosh~!

We were flung out into the yard, transformed into flames.

“Whoa!”

“Gyaaah!”

Due to not fully mastering teleportation magic, Camila, who sprang out of mid-air, had no choice but to tumble on the ground. Naturally, I, who she desperately clung to, fell along with her.

She rattled her head and shook herself back into reality.

“Quick! We need to run to the upper floor…”

-Kuhhh!

Looking up, I was met with an unbelievable sight.

The outer wall of our lodging was being flung out as if it had been hit by a cannonball.

Even though we couldn’t hear an explosion, one wall was crumbling and scattering everywhere like a scene from a monster movie.

Flying debris mercilessly battered the fence, flower beds, and streetlights, breaking some rubble through neighboring windows.

Screams from people caught in the unexpected attack melted into the darkness.

Suddenly, the hulking figure that had escaped the collapsing building fell heavily in front of us.

“Da’la-kur!”

The thug, veins bulging in his neck, babbled something in an unknown language again.

I had no idea what that foreign language was.

He definitely seemed really mad.

“Damn….”

Gripping the knife from inside my jacket, I steadied myself just as Camila, who had drawn near, pressed her back against mine.

With beads of sweat trickling down her jaw, she nervously asked,

“It’d be hard to escape like this, wouldn’t it…?”

“…That’s obvious.”

I replied as I readied my knife.

Thunderous shouts followed, and the boulder of a body charged toward us.

The red tide and sharp blade collided with the black shadow.

 

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