chapter 06
As expected of Mo—at critical moments, she always thought things through more carefully than I did.
When the silver-haired girl told her to head to the underground storage and grab medical supplies and equipment, Jin E’lis readily agreed. Instead of continuing toward the stairs, she ran straight for a window along the corridor.
Though perhaps it was just her own mind playing tricks on her. The moment she heard the long, foul name “Federal Government Committee for Political Purges—Bureau of Investigation and Statistics,” and the word purge behind it, nausea welled up in her throat. It dragged her back to those dark days of the past, stirring her emotions and clouding her thoughts, making her wish she could wipe the entire organization off the face of the Earth.
Calm down. Calm down. Not now. The war had only just ended. The peace treaty had only just been signed. No matter how little she cared about the world’s destruction, she couldn’t go and be the spark that reignited the powder keg of total war. Best to avoid a direct clash with them.
Shaking the cluttered thoughts from her head, the red-haired girl pushed open the window and leapt out gracefully. Behind her, a nurse gasped in shock as Jin E’lis descended to the first floor in mere seconds, drastically shortening her route to the basement.
What’s with the screaming? Making such a fuss—like you’ve never seen a magical girl before.
Dodging the headlights of an oncoming truck, she sprinted through the reception hall. At the stairwell she vaulted again, landing directly on the basement level, completely ignoring the existence of stairs.
Let’s see… cold storage, cold storage… ah, perfect.
Having found her target, she ignored the chains on the door and kicked it. The special high heel struck the heavy iron door like a hammer smashing tofu. With a thunderous crash, the door shattered into pieces, revealing rows upon rows of fully stocked medicine shelves inside.
The lunatics of Argo had only commissioned her to trade for daily necessities on the human black market—not pharmaceuticals. The prices were exorbitant, supplies scarce, often “in demand but out of stock.” So taking advantage of tonight’s purge to make a profit? Not a bad idea at all.
Too lazy to check what exactly was inside, she pulled a small sphere from her waist and tossed it forward. The spheres obeyed faithfully, flying about in all directions. Wherever they passed, both medicines and shelves vanished together—just like the cargo earlier that night.
Ahh, having storage-space abilities is so convenient. Emptying an entire city alone wouldn’t even be a problem.
Yawning, Jin E’lis unwrapped a lollipop and popped it into her mouth, smacking her lips contentedly as she waited for the spheres to finish collecting everything.
Until the dull thud of military boots broke her rhythm.
Looks like some free punching bags have delivered themselves to help me warm up.
The red-haired girl hid behind the doorframe. The soldiers outside had clearly noticed the cold storage’s missing door and rushed over, quickening their pace.
Bang.
As the first soldier reached the doorway, Jin E’lis sprang from the shadows and landed a punch squarely on his face.
His features caved inward like the surface of the moon struck by a meteor, forming a deep crater. His facial features twisted grotesquely together before he collapsed stiffly to the ground, unmoving.
Before the others could react, she stepped forward and threw another vicious punch—this time to the second soldier’s jaw. He was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the third soldier, splattering blood-mixed teeth across the latter’s face.
Though far inferior to a magical girl, a trained soldier still reacted faster than an ordinary human. Realizing the enemy was no civilian target, the third soldier ignored his fallen comrade and raised his exoskeleton-equipped right arm, striking back with his palm as Jin E’lis threw another punch.
Clang—
The metallic impact echoed through the basement. The state-of-the-art exoskeleton shattered in a single exchange under her fist, crumbling into irreparable fragments. The bones inside his arm splintered as well. Gasping sharply, he collapsed to the floor, howling in agony.
Witnessing the fate of the first three, the last soldier snapped. Heroically raising his shotgun, he opened fire.
No. 12 buckshot could turn a person into a honeycomb—king of close-range combat, eternal nightmare for anyone with trypophobia. But this time, when the pellets struck Jin E’lis’s completely unprotected face and trench coat, they shattered on impact like Rupert’s Tears snapped at the tail—leaving not even a mark.
She closed the distance instantly, grabbed the soldier’s gun arm, and executed a flawless shoulder throw. He slammed down onto the third soldier still writhing on the floor, knocking the latter completely unconscious.
Boom—
A single throw wasn’t enough to end his combat ability, especially with a human cushion beneath him. Enduring the pain, the soldier yanked a grenade from his belt, intending to take the monster before him down with him.
But before he could pull the pin, Jin E’lis kicked it away. The force was so great that his left hand—still gripping the grenade—was torn off along with it, rolling down the corridor like a football, forever out of reach.
At the same time, the small spheres inside the storage room finished looting and returned to her waist.
“Got some guts, I’ll give you that. Trying to take me down with you.”
Looking down coldly at the soldier glaring up at her through clenched teeth, she stepped down again. Her slender heel pierced straight through his hardened exoskeleton armor and into his abdomen, turning flesh and blood into a gruesome mess. His eyes rolled back as he fainted.
“Too bad. Too slow. Too weak.”
Leaving the battlefield, Jin E’lis attempted to contact her teammates through her earpiece—but no matter how she tried, it wouldn’t connect.
No signal? Probably jammed by those purge dogs. Hope those lunatics are fine.
Fully confident in her companions’ abilities, she grinned and ventured deeper into the basement. Following her earlier conversation with Dr. Zengman, she located the secret passage behind a bookshelf.
It was clear the passage hadn’t been used in years. There was no light whatsoever, and the heavy moldy smell made her cough repeatedly, regretting again that she hadn’t brought a gas mask.
Fortunately, it was a single straight path without forks. Moving quickly through the darkness, she had no trouble finding her way.
Fifteen minutes later, she reached the end and saw a manhole cover above. Climbing swiftly up the rusted ladder beside it, she finally emerged back into the open air.
“Ahh, the sea breeze feels amazing.”
After confirming there were no enemies nearby, she stretched lazily and popped another lollipop into her mouth.
Let’s see where this is—oh, the southern docks. If I head downstream along the river, I can exit the United Nations’ territory… but first I need to establish contact with Mo and regroup… Hm? Gunfire over there?
Catching the faint commotion from a nearby plaza, Jin E’lis crouched low and quietly made her way over.
What she saw was a group of soldiers in exoskeleton gear standing at one side of the square. In front of them lay a large number of people with black hoods over their heads. Blood flowed steadily from bullet-riddled bodies, staining the pristine white marble ground crimson.
So this is where those purge lunatics are “cleaning up” members of the Community Party.
More trucks pulled up beside the plaza. More hooded prisoners were forced down, herded like livestock into the center. The expressionless soldiers mechanically pulled their triggers, harvesting life after life.
Even from her hiding place behind a building, Jin E’lis could smell the thick stench of blood.
After each execution, soldiers wearing gas masks swarmed forward, searching the bodies one by one and stripping away valuables before loading the corpses onto trucks—likely headed for a crematorium or some such place.
Looks like tonight’s not going to be peaceful. Better keep an eye on tomorrow’s news.
With no interest whatsoever in human internal affairs, Jin E’lis watched for a few minutes before turning away, continuing her attempts to contact her companions.
After more than a dozen failed tries, the line finally connected.
“I’ve taken the medical supplies and equipment and left the hospital through the underground passage. Where are you?”
The red-haired girl drifted lightly across the rooftops like a graceful gymnast, putting even the best parkour athletes to shame.
“Osiris Bridge. We’re surrounded.”
