BCST 39

Inside the abandoned subway station of District 56.

This place, which once served like veins keeping a massive city alive, had become abandoned and forgotten due to repeated development.

That wide neglected concourse was now being used as the hideout of the city gang that dominated District 56 — the “Blue Plain.”

“Kk, kkaaaah!”

“Please! Just kill me already!”

A variety of grotesque tools.

The citizens bound there had all been kidnapped while innocent and were being sacrificed to these people’s twisted torture experiments.

For example: a citizen who had been about to eat ramen by the convenience store window made eye contact with a gang member and was struck over the head with a glass bottle, beaten until unconscious, and dragged away.

Or someone who made eye contact in an alley late at night was surrounded by several people, slashed with knives, and hauled off.

All of them ordinary people living ordinary lives, irrationally tortured just because they caught these gang members’ eyes.

Brog, the underboss of Blue Plain, sat in a chair watching them while talking to someone on the phone.

“Ah, yes. We’re collecting the data smoothly. Yes? You want tighter control conditions? No — we’re not idiots who inked ourselves; how would we do a real experiment….”

Even as blood splattered before him, Brog wore a pained expression as if the call itself were bothersome.

He excused himself briefly to the person on the line, then shouted to one of the gang members working in front of him.

“Hey! You! Do—do that more delicately! Don’t just crank that screw two or three times at once — check it every single turn, got it?”

“Yes.”

The gang member who received Brog’s order turned the tightening knob on the mask one full rotation.

The screw rotated into the hole of the mask and slowly advanced.

Brrr…

The citizen bound there convulsed, unable even to scream because of the mask.

At the same time, numbers on a display changed.

“…Playback shows no issues.”

When the gang member watching recorded the values, Brog finally gave a satisfied thumbs-up and resumed the call.

“Yes, yes. As you heard, we’ll be more delicate with the work. So… when’s the next drug supply scheduled? Yes? Yes. We’ve nearly used up the batch we had. Yes, unfortunately….”

After talking for a while, Brog finished the call with a bright expression.

“Ah, yes! Then we’ll rendezvous there like always! Yes. Alright!”

But the moment the call ended, his smiling face changed in an instant.

The pleasant expression gone, replaced by a cold, icy face that made him seem like a different person.

Tsk.

He fixed his expression, put a cigarette in his mouth, and swore.

“Shit. This shit’s a pain; I can’t do this much longer, seriously. Hey, handle the shift changes yourselves. I’m heading in now. Okay?”

The gang members around him answered loudly in unison.

“Yes! Good work, boss!”

Hearing that satisfying reply, Brog turned to leave—then—

“Uh, under! Intruder!”

“What?”

At the urgent report from one of his men, Brog’s expression grew fierce—he’d been about to clock out.

“Another gang? Did those guys we beat last time come back together as an alliance?”

The man who brought the news shook his head frantically.

“No, sir! It’s just one person—he came alone!”

“Ha… fuck.”

Brog exhaled, ground the cigarette under his shoe to extinguish it, then grabbed his head.

Just one?

If you spend long enough in this world you eventually learn something:

How many monsters like that actually exist.

Look at the recent news about the District 58 collapse.

Is that something a human could possibly cause?

Those giant acts you read about in the news feel like someone else’s problem—unreal—but now that street gangs were growing into city-level gangs, you realize.

Even if it’s not a headline-making case, there are solitary monsters in this city who are beyond what gangs can handle.

Idiots would scoff that someone came alone.

If you’d earned some scars in this city, you’d know how nightmarish that sounds.

Monsters whose single-person strength goes beyond that of groups.

From their point of view, they wipe out gangs for reasons that might seem trivial to us.

Isn’t it infuriating?

Being trampled on just because you don’t have strength.

To survive the unfair storms of this world, you have to build up at least some means to protect yourself.

Just like our boss.

“Sigh… of all days, of course some asshole attacks while the boss is away. Hit the boss up right away, send men to buy time, prep high-powered explosives. And… do we have any stashed drugs left?”

As he gave various orders and splashed water on his face, Brog’s words trailed off as if an idea struck him.

“…And do we have any hidden drugs stored?”

[Arcane Blast]
[3-chain]

Kra-ka-gwang—!

With a roar, three gang members’ heads were blasted like watermelons and scattered.

This is it.

Crimson light flashed wildly as I watched the bodies of the charging gang members tear apart.

Ah.

I’ve gotten stronger.

When I first fell into this world—

Even at the time of my first kill, I definitely faced guys like these.

Back then I learned combat by using magic in a rough, crude way and killing one by one.

Comparing that me and now, the difference is huge.

You can see it even now.

Kwa-kwa-gwang—!

“Kkyaaaah—!”

“Aaaaah!”

Before, I used to kill one very carefully with Plain Arcane Blast, but now?

Now I fire off a sloppy three-chain Arcane Blast.

Even firing twice leisurely per second kills six people.

Even with power reduced to 25% for a three-chain, the force already feels excessive.

Just in a short time, the number of gang members I’d slaughtered was nearing triple digits.

There’s leftover power—should I try a four-chain?

“Goddamn it! Shoot if you don’t wanna die!”

“Throw the grenades!”

Of course they were pouring bullets and bombs at me with desperate resistance.

But—

T-di-di-di-ding—!

Bang!

Those who hadn’t even gotten their initial shield up were already hit.

From behind my shield, I was casually carving them down with Arcane Blast as if I were taking a walk.

This is incomparable with first-rank levels—an absolute catastrophe for ordinary people.

This is the power of a third-rank black mage.

Then—

Boom!

Boom!

“Oh.”

Exoskeleton-equipped gang members appeared.

The heavy machine guns mounted on their mechanical arms pointed at me.

Previously, with bullets of that power, they’d shredded a picky vampire I’d fought.

At that time the force was overwhelming.

Other gang members, knowing how powerful those weapons were, brightened when those in exoskeletons showed up.

“Fuck! Tear him apart! That bastard killed my boyfriend James—!”

“I was gonna do that anyway!”

At the same time, their guns spat fire.

Kudadadadadada—!

Dense 20mm rounds—nearly a hundred rounds—poured in a heartbeat.

Rounds that could bring down tanks or planes.

And they were being fired at a single person—me.

Indeed, both the speed and power were strong.

I felt my shield’s durability being shaved down and inwardly marveled.

Luckily their weapons were mounted on moving exoskeletons, so rate of fire was slow and ammo limited.

Chang-gang—!

“It’s, it’s gone!”

“The monster’s shield broke!”

Eventually, the shield couldn’t hold and shattered within seconds.

But those few seconds—

For me, it gave time to fire more than ten Arcane Blasts and more than enough time to prepare another spell.

And I used that time to finally unleash the spell I’d been preparing.

[Shield]

The moment the shield broke, I redeployed it.

Seeing that, the faces of the other gang members sank into despair at once.

“Ah….”

“This, this fucking… goddamn….”

I had let those bullets hit me on purpose because I was curious about the shield’s durability.

Honestly, I wanted to test it.

Thanks, experiment successful.

[Arcane Blast]
[3-chain]

Without waiting further, I fired Arcane Blast and destroyed the exoskeletons that were spewing fire.

Kwa-ang—!

“Huh?”

Drip, drip…

Seeing their exoskeletons destroyed at once left them stunned.

Was it because the chain reduced power?

Only the exoskeletons shattered; some riders survived.

I fired a chain of Arcane Blasts and finished them off.

Easy.

“Ugh, aaah—.”

“It’s—monster. We—can’t—handle it!”

“Boss…! Of all times the boss’s away! Damn it!”

To them, I was despair itself.

An overwhelming calamity that couldn’t be harmed even by a hair, no matter what they tried.

“Hmm.”

I confirmed that the volume of attackers had subsided, then stopped and looked around.

In an instant the platform area had turned into ruins.

Acrid smoke rose from many places and mangled corpses lay scattered.

It was an amazing scene—one I had caused.

Maybe this was overkill?

The thought flickered, but I shoved it away immediately.

Let me be clear: in this COC universe, people who call themselves “gangs” are just trash that needs to be cleaned out.

In reality they only cause discomfort among civilians and wield violence; they’re nuisances who do nothing but harm society.

Not worth a second thought.

Then—

Boom!

A heavy sound rolled through the concourse.

Boom!

A rhythmic thud—heavy enough to make the lights mounted on the ceiling sway.

The atmosphere in the hall shifted.

Where there had been faces full of fear, hope bloomed in the gang members’ expressions.

“I-it’s the boss!”

“We’re saved! Damn! You’re dead now, you son of a—!”

[Arcane Blast]

Kwang—!

“…….”

When I blew the head off the one cursing me, they fell silent immediately.

Yes. My fist is still closer to you than your boss.

You fools.

But separate from that—

Boom!

Steps of someone called the “boss” approached and raised tension.

“…….”

A brief silence.

Then—

Kwaaaaang!!

Something massive and heavy flew through the air and landed before me.

Thud—thud.

The landing’s force alone made craters and cracked the floor.

Through the dust that rose, a silhouette appeared.

Nearly three meters tall.

A muscular silhouette so huge the height seemed small in comparison.

One of the gang members shouted upon seeing it.

“Boss Durdin!”

Is the author introducing the Blue Plain boss, Durdin, here?

From the still-smoky air, Durdin’s gaze glowed red and he spoke in a rough voice.

“Well, you little tidy-up fixer… enjoyed looting the empty house while I was gone?”