Black Badger

I drew my sword reflexively.

The instant the stimulus surged up my arm, I severed my left arm cleanly.

“Commander!”

“Ah!”

My subordinates shouted, and Yoow snapped irritably.

“You’ve developed the worst habit! Fuck, this is a seriously terrible habit!”

I was in no position to respond. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Someone shoved something repeatedly into my right hand. I absorbed it the moment it touched me, and before the absorption even finished, more was thrust into my palm—absorbed again, immediately.

Once I absorbed at my own pace, the severed arm regenerated.

Maybe it would have resolved if I had simply pulled my arm back. Like when Yun removes that machine from the back of my neck and the absorption halts instantly.

But in that moment, an unpleasant memory surged up, and my hand went to my sword before anything else.

The fear of uncontrolled absorption.

More precisely, I was terrified I might absorb the living people standing beside me.

Ha...

I leaned my back against the wall beside the gate and slowly slid down.

Only after curling up like a pill bug and retching several times did I regain my senses.

Fortunately, since I had already emptied my stomach earlier while treating the others, nothing came out.

Perhaps because I was more tense than usual with the mansion right before me, I recovered my clarity faster.

The moment I straightened my upper body to stand, pale-faced subordinates grabbed and hauled me upright.

“You didn’t have to cut off your arm.”

“You suddenly chopped off your own arm like a lizard—of course you’d throw up from the shock.”

That wasn’t it.

But since they were misunderstanding on their own, it was convenient.

“So what happened?”

“Grab her first.”

Yoow approached and asked.

I covered beneath my nose with my regenerated left hand and pointed at Rose with my right.

“She looks like she’s having strange ideas.”

Igor immediately scooped up Rose, who had been lingering near the gate, and tossed her backward.

She had probably been trying to pick up my... arm...

.......

Let’s not think about it.

Pressing hard between my brows, I explained.

“If you enter the field, an absorption reaction triggers.”

“Ah.”

Yoow’s expression hardened instantly.

Meanwhile, the subordinates I hadn’t seen in a while wore vacant looks.

That’s so like them it’s almost funny.

Seeing their idiotic, perfectly in-character expressions, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

They looked stunned that they had rejoined the field only to face something like this.

It would have been nice if three more were here.

One of them sent back.

I shoved the sudden thought aside and looked at the garden again.

It’s laid out across the entire ground.

Impressive, truly.

I rapidly assessed the situation. Things had gone too smoothly so far without complications. And now they place this in front of me. It stimulates my absorption speed and blocks approach—an extremely useful defensive measure.

Concealing our presence would have been tested through Jaeyeon’s experiments, with Yoow assisting along the way.

But how did they create an absorption accelerator?

Before the First War, humans didn’t even understand subjugation, let alone absorption.

They had been too busy researching ageless bodies and enhanced regeneration instead of invisible elements.

“Yekaterina.”

BOOOOM!

Behind us came the sound of engagement—whether Yekaterina’s side or Erhart’s.

I stared briefly at the mansion looming oppressively before calling her name.

“When was this absorption accelerator created?”

[We estimate research began after the First War.]

Lee Seunghyun had spoken through the connected line, but Yekaterina answered immediately.

[You will never understand how much shock that knight who rampaged on the battlefield delivered to humanity. We poured every method short of nuclear weapons onto a living calamity that appeared out of nowhere, yet we could not bring down a single young-looking man.]

“Do you have one of these accelerators?”

From inside the garden, a small insect flew upward.

Piiing!

Before it could flap more than a few times, a laser sliced it apart midair.

Yekaterina answered.

[No. I tried, but I failed to obtain one.]

“Is that an honest answer?”

[Shall I be more honest? Immediately after the First War, I lacked the power to gather the corpses of Titans—including those with golden eyes.]

I liked that answer much better.

I didn’t like the content, but I knew she was being sincere.

“Then you don’t know how it works.”

[I cannot even guess.]

“A way to remove the field itself?”

[You would likely need to enter the mansion and descend underground.]

Lee Seunghyun’s voice followed.

I blinked.

“We can’t enter the mansion because of that thing. And you’re saying we have to enter the mansion to remove it?”

[Fundamentally, yes.]

“Can’t ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) we just overturn the garden floor?”

[No.]

Lee Seunghyun replied.

[Beneath the garden is covered in explosives. If you overturn it, the entire nest will detonate.]

Of course.

I sighed but wasn’t surprised.

Colton Wiseman was that kind of man.

He could shoot reasonably well, but if left alone with Shashinsky, Shashinsky could take his life within three seconds.

But matters never unfolded that simply.

If he were that kind of man, he would have died to Jaeyeon long ago.

Of course, now even if you placed a gun in Jaeyeon’s hands, he had learned such helplessness that he could not even raise it toward Colton.

In any case, this man always survived my attacks in bizarre ways like this.

I had felt something similar when facing the Ice Empress.

Moreover, he undoubtedly understood that I would not send my subordinates ahead nor wait for him to starve to death.

I have no intention of defying his expectations.

[We could simply wait until their food supply runs out.]

Lee Seunghyun said.

[According to standard siege doctrine.]

“I don’t want to drag this out that long.”

“Can’t we just leave?”

Igor stepped closer.

“If we remove the laser devices, we’ll have no problem. They’re probably mounted on the walls, right, kid?”

“It looks like the same model my husband uses.”

Rose nodded, smiling.

“You’ll have to remove it properly before entering. It’s woven tightly like a net—you can’t slip through.”

“I’ll go in.”

I answered.

“No—should I say I’ll go in first?”

“What?”

Yoow’s face twisted.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

I know how to stop a rampage.

And I can control it to some degree. It isn’t easy, but when I first explained the concept of rampage to my seniors at the Round Tower, I said it then too: once you reach the level of Swordmaster, you can endure a rampage state for up to a week.

Provided you don’t take too many hits.

Which means Rei likely intended to endure for a week.

To endure as long as possible, inflict heavy damage on the human side, and then fall. That had been the turning point for both sides. He must have intended to withstand any attack thrown at him, advance, and deliver a catastrophic blow before leading the war to victory.

Until Yehyeon appeared holding my sword.

Now I understand that it was the point when his arm had begun to fail to regenerate from excessive damage. But if asked whether he had been moments from turning to ash and vanishing, I cannot answer definitively.

Even now, Yehyeon could not defeat me with only one arm.

[If you can maintain rationality while rampaging like that knight during the First War, then you entering personally is not the worst option.]

“Hildebert!”

Yoow exploded.

“Do you know what you did when you rampaged with damaged leaf veins?!”

I turned my head slightly to look at him.

I ignored the horrified expressions of the subordinates who didn’t know the story. We were pressed for time; I had no intention of explaining what happened.

Even if we had time, I wouldn’t.

“You controlling a rampage? Bullshit! We nearly died by your sword!”

“That time, I wasn’t rampaging with sanity.”

I refuted calmly.

The memory isn’t entirely clear...

But that was different from now.

“And if you really lose control this time? What then?”

Yoow pressed.

“Are we all just supposed to die together? You nearly slit a Badger’s throat that day!”

“Who? Yun?”

“The one you kept calling Ricardon or Ricado or whatever!”

Ric?

When Yun explained rampage to me, he hadn’t gone into detail about Ricardo. He had only said he shot me while I was attacking Ricardo and paid dearly for it.

So I had nearly killed Ricardo with my own hands?

Perhaps my expression darkened, because Yoow seized the momentum.

“If your senior hadn’t attacked you from behind back then, that Badger would’ve been dead.”

“I didn’t know I’d done something that severe.”

“You wouldn’t have known! You had no reason left!”

“I’ll ask him next time we meet.”

“Oh, so you’re confident there will be a next time? Is that your declaration that you’ll control it no matter what?”

“You can’t stop a rampage in the first place.”

Subordinate Erben spoke up.

“That’s why it’s called a rampage, isn’t it? Even the Imperial Palace couldn’t find a way to stop it...”

“I’ve stopped one before.”

I said slowly.

“Twice.”

Shock spread across the faces around me.

I didn’t care. The fragmented memories surfaced, unsettling my stomach slightly, but not enough to trigger an episode.

And those outside the Core already knew my past anyway.

I lifted my chin and looked at the garden.

What had Colton prepared inside this time?

I was certain Luke Lyle was inside.

If possible, I wanted to rescue that junior safely. Among those inside the Eagle’s Nest, that boy alone had no stake in this fight.

A truly innocent life...

“Do you not trust us that much?”

Igor frowned.

“Why do you have to go first? Why bother with this unnecessary act of rampaging and then stopping it later?”

“I trust your skills. I don’t trust your healing.”

“Then you should have come alone.”

Yoow shot back sharply.

“If you’re going to treat us like mannequins.”

“I’ll assign you to guard the flanks.”

I pressed down on my unbearably itching left arm.

“The moment the devices are fully deactivated, we move. My subordinates will handle the deactivation. Once I step inside the mansion, Yoow, Igor, Rose—you three follow.”

“Wow! Playing favorites again?”

“Ishus, consider your swordsmanship.”

It had taken everything in me not to scold them on the way here.

Of course, I was grateful—truly grateful and moved and worried—that they came.

But that’s separate from the fact that the swords they’re swinging right now...

It’s proof they lived happily, at least.

Still, if they loved swords that much, couldn’t they have practiced enough during peaceful days to prevent rust?

Must I always stand beside them nagging before they train?

Have they never heard of voluntary learning?

I didn’t say it aloud, but Ishus and the others understood perfectly.

They sighed and stepped back.

Now only Yoow, Igor, and Rose remained unconvinced.

I smiled faintly as I watched the others disperse to take positions, still retaining long-ingrained discipline, and turned to my strategist.

“I don’t want to drag it out.”

Yoow looked at me, face rigid.

“And I didn’t mention this because of time, but I found someone suspected of being Kyle’s spy. Fairly well-known information broker in the back alleys. I left her neatly at her house due to time constraints. If she truly is the spy, Kyle already has all this information.”

“Ha...”

“I stopped before too, didn’t I?”

I smiled at him.

“Don’t worry. If it looks like something’s about to go wrong, I’ll retreat beyond the field.”

Silence lingered.

But Yoow eventually relented. When Yekaterina’s and Erhart’s subordinates arrived, he shook his head and stepped back.

I gave a small smile and waited for them to finish deactivating the laser devices.

***

Dismantling complete.

All that remained was to walk.

As if reading my intent, guard forces began appearing sluggishly before the mansion.

They were ready to unleash firepower the moment I stepped through the main gate.

I lifted both hands.

Pazzzzzzt!

And shoved them forward as if pushing against the field.

Nerves activating.

Static bursting. Smoke rising from my body.

Let’s go.

I bared my teeth in a grin.