I turned towards Todd and Rick with a smile. The bastards stood frozen like statues in the sudden situation. Rick, who grasped the situation first, slowly approached me while pointing his Heavy Kitchen Knife.
While keeping an eye on Rick's movements, I checked Sras's condition. Sras's body had been shredded by the minigun but was regenerating at Terrifying Speed.
This was where things got truly important.
With a genuinely curious expression, I asked Rick and Todd a question.
"Why are you listening to a bastard like him?"
Rick didn't react to my words, but Todd tilted his head. Then he spoke in his usual stupid voice.
"Sras has scary tentacles. If we mess up, we get punished."
"Tentacles? Ah, you mean these?"
I kicked Sras's severed tentacle with a 'thud' to send it sliding before Todd. Todd stared at the tentacle before him, then suddenly burst into laughter with an enlightened expression and clapped his hands.
"Kuh, kuhik! Now Sras has no scary tentacles."
Pointing at Sras who was still regenerating, I told Todd:
"Right, look at that pathetic sight. Tentacles gone, one arm severed too. Truth is, that bastard's incredibly weak. Without his tentacles, you're way stronger than him now."
"Huhihihihi, really? That bastard's weak? I'm stronger?"
Rick made a flustered expression seeing Todd being swayed by my words. He scowled and glared at me.
"What the hell are you playing at, bitch."
Todd stomped on Sras's tentacle, bursting it open.
Kwasak-!
Flesh and blood splattered everywhere.
"Kuhik kuhik! Sras without scary tentacles isn't scary. Now I'll punish Sras."
A massive Heavy Kitchen Knife blocked Todd's path towards Sras. Rick warned Todd in a sharp voice.
"Stop this. We've had something important stolen right now. This isn't the time for infighting."
Todd paused momentarily at Rick's intervention. He looked hesitantly at Rick who was blocking him.
I needed to push them harder into fighting each other.
I spoke to Todd in an exaggeratedly sympathetic tone.
"That bastard's on Sras's side. He's been secretly laughing and enjoying watching you get punished by Sras."
Todd's eyes and mouth flew open in shock as if stabbed. He urgently asked me:
"Kuh, kuhik, is, is that true?"
"Why else would he stop you?"
"Shut your mouth!"
Rick finally lost his patience and charged at me. I met his massive Heavy Kitchen Knife swing with the Hardcore Saw. Blocking an excited opponent's attack wasn't difficult. Moreover, the attack never even connected. Rick's knife stopped 10cm before reaching me - because Todd had grabbed his wrist from behind.
Rick turned his head, glaring at Todd with terrifying eyes.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Kruk, kruk. Now I get it. You've been tormenting me for fun. Was that so amusing?"
Todd's aura changed. Instantly, the blood vessels in his right arm bulged as if about to burst, muscles swelling to nearly twice their size. The space around his fist seemed to distort.
"You... you fucking idiot!!"
Rick desperately tried to dodge by twisting his body, but Todd's fist struck his back at sonic boom-inducing speed.
KWAANG!!
The 2-meter giant Rick seemed to vanish instantly. Following the 'Kwa-gwagwagwang!' sound from the opposite wall, I turned and saw Rick embedded in the collapsed wall.
When Rick roughly pulled himself free, the wall couldn't withstand further damage and crumbled completely.
Rumble... Kugung! Kwangkwang!
As the dust settled, Rick appeared with his spine bent grotesquely. With 'Crack! Snap!' sounds, his back straightened. Though he looked fine externally, blood streamed continuously from his eyes and nose. He seemed to have taken significant damage.
Wiping blood from his mouth, Rick coldly told Todd:
"Severe punishment awaits traitors."
"Krrruk, who'll know what I did after I kill you all here?"
As Rick and Todd glared at each other in a standoff, I unleashed the minigun at the regenerating Sras.
Tudududududu!!! Tudududu!!! Tududududududududududududududu!!!!!!!
Rick couldn't stop me because of Todd, only glaring murderously. Knowing he couldn't attack me anyway, I continued firing at Sras.
Tough bastard. Oist, was it? Their regeneration is incomparable to Ghouls.
I reduced Sras's body - which had regenerated over 80% except for his arm and tentacles - to an unrecognizable state again. But once the barrage stopped, his flesh began squirming and regenerating anew.
I needed to make them fight each other. Right now, I couldn't think of any way to kill these bastards.
I activated Stealth and hid. Then I easily slipped out of the room without resistance. Rick and Todd were too busy confronting each other to spare any attention for me.
Hah, now to find Karin. No time left.
Checking the Quest window showed less than 30 minutes remaining for the "Find Karin" Quest.
Searching the building using the Search Function while ransacking rooms only led to encounters with Sras's underlings. A few minigun rounds easily finished them off. Though they were Oists with strong regeneration, their basic defenses were weak. The minigun left no flesh chunks for them to regenerate from.
15 minutes remaining.
I'd searched most factory rooms but found no trace of Karin.
Kwarururung! Kwa-kwang kwangkwangkwang!!!
"KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE------!!!!"
A horrific sound of collapsing buildings and death screams echoed from afar.
Was their fight already concluding?
I needed to find Karin fast. If Sras recovered enough to make it 2 vs 1, Todd wouldn't last long.
I raised the Hardcore Saw and charged vertically through the ceiling. Piercing straight through the factory, I emerged outside.
"X! Find Karin for me!! No time left!!"
[Searching for Quest target's location.]
A green laser beam shot from X's forehead, sweeping across the factory area. A schematic of the factory structure appeared on the screen, but locating Karin wasn't straightforward.
"Find a blonde woman in her early twenties separated from others!!"
Giving specific traits proved more effective than saying "Quest target." Fortunately, my hunch was correct.
[Target located. Displaying position on screen.]
A small warehouse beside the main building glowed green on the schematic. Without delay, I flew there, smashing through the roof to enter.
The 30-pyeong (≈100m²) warehouse contained only tightly stacked Human Canned Food that Sras consumed. Thanks to my earlier rampage, no guarding Oists remained.
"Where's Karin?"
The warehouse only held piles of Human Canned Food. This was their storage facility.
As I searched between the canned food stacks, a notification appeared before me.
[Congratulations. Quest succeeded. Obtained Uncommon Capsule as reward.]
The Quest... succeeded?
Though I didn't want to, looking at the stacked Human Canned Food piles forced an unavoidable realization.
Memories flashed of them skinning women and removing organs. Belatedly, I noticed the warehouse reeked of human blood and fat. The same stench I'd smelled when first meeting Karin and Rosa.
Had Karin been turned into canned food?
"Urk!"
Unbearable nausea surged. As I hunched forward, X's face guard opened.
"Urk!! Uurk!! Uuuweeeeeeek-!!"
Squelch, splat, splat, squelch.
"Uurg! Uuuuurrggh!! Uwek!! Uwekueeeeeeek!!! Keek!! Kuuek! Kueeeek!! Uurg!!"
Even after emptying my stomach, the mingled human stench kept me retching. Tears welled until my vision blurred. More than vomit, guilt over failing to save Karin's sister made pearly tears fall drop by drop.
"Ugh... ughuhuhuk... ugh... ughuhuk... ugh... huuuuk... kruuk... kruuuuk... I'm sorry. Sorry, Rosa. I was too late. I couldn't save your sister. Ughuhuk! Huuuk!!"
As I sobbed uncontrollably, forgetting this was enemy territory, a can falling interrupted me.
Thunk. Thud-thud.
A single can rolled to my feet.
Was some small animal here?
Through tear-blurred vision, I looked towards where the can came from. Something moved between the canned food stacks.
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