Justice of the Hero Killer: The Unyielding Reason of the One Called the Last Boss - The Informant's Sneer

Deep beneath the old city, the air in Hollow Base hung heavier than usual. From somewhere in the drainage pipes, a faint sound of water echoed. The dim glow of emergency lights cast pale blue rings against the damp concrete walls. Inami Rai sat at the workbench in his quarters, rewrapping the bandages around his abdomen. The cold sting of disinfectant seeped into his fingertips. The wound Kuze Kouya had driven through him during the battle with Sera still hadn't fully closed. Every movement sent a dull ache radiating from deep within. But none of that mattered right now. "So it's true, then." Rai's voice was low and quiet. On the workbench, the disassembled parts of a communication terminal lay in orderly rows. His yellow-green eyes stared sharply at the data on the monitor. Standing in the corner of the room was one of the Shade intelligence unit members—a petite woman in a black hood pulled low over her face. She answered Rai's question in a hoarse voice. "Yes. There are traces of classified information leaking from within Vice to the Apex side. The encrypted transmissions included coordinate data for Hollow Base." Rai narrowed his eyes. When anger rose in him, a smile crept onto his lips. It was a bad habit of his. Even now, the corners of his mouth were faintly lifted. "Were you able to identify the source?" "Near the ventilation shaft. A transmitter had been planted there. Additionally, several hours ago, there are records of B-rank hero Kukuchi Rei making off-record contact with intelligence unit member Haitani Yuri." Rai's fingers stopped dead. "Rei, with Yuri." "Yes. Rei has had prior contact with Vice's intelligence unit, but this particular meeting isn't in the records. There are signs the logs were deliberately erased." Rai slowly rose to his feet. The wound in his abdomen throbbed, but he kept it from his expression. "Where is Rei?" "In the maintenance room on sublevel two. He's repairing his drone." Rai left the room. His footsteps echoed through the sterile corridor. Hollow Base was a vast facility converted from abandoned subway lines and drainage infrastructure after the Breakdawn. It spanned three underground levels with a total area of 2,800 square meters. Forty members were stationed there on rotating shifts. The electronic jamming devices Rai had designed constantly disrupted Apex's detection. Or so it should have been. When he opened the maintenance room door, the smell of oil and metal hit his nose. Kukuchi Rei sat at the workbench, removing the wing from a small drone and fiddling with its circuit board. His black bob cut hung diagonally across his forehead, the white inner color on the left side standing out in the emergency lighting. His pale blue eyes were half-lidded and sleepy-looking as always. Noticing Rai's entrance, Rei looked up. "Oh? The leader himself, coming down to the maintenance room? That's rare." Rai approached wordlessly and placed a data sheet on Rei's workbench. Printed on it was the log of communication history with Haitani Yuri. Rei's fingers stopped. "I'd like an explanation." Rei stared at the log for several seconds. Even his gum-chewing had stopped. Finally, he slowly set down the screwdriver. "...Haitani Yuri is an Apex spy." Rai's eyes narrowed slightly. "You knew." "Knew, or rather... I suspected. That she was an operative for Apex's intelligence division, selling Vice's equipment deployment data. But I couldn't be certain. So I tried to confirm it myself." "So you made contact with her. To verify her true intentions. And the result?" Rei bit his lip. He stopped chewing his gum and flicked his fingers against the air—his nervous habit. "...I was naive. I tried to extract data from her without being noticed, but she'd already read my movements. She knew everything. She was letting me run loose on purpose." Rei's voice trembled. It was clear the nineteen-year-old was painfully aware of his own immaturity. Rai exhaled deeply. It wasn't that he felt no anger. But more than that, seeing Rei confess through tears, he saw his own past self. "What did you get out of it?" Rei pulled a memory chip from beneath the workbench. "A copied data dump from her communication terminal. It contains evidence that Apex has assembled a unit with the objective of completely destroying Hollow Base." Rai took the chip and inserted it into a nearby terminal. Data streamed across the screen. In that instant, Rai's expression changed. "...Deadline." The screen displayed organizational data for "Deadline"—a waste disposal unit operating under the Clearance Division's orders. An assassination squad led by a former A-rank hero. A plan to storm Hollow Base. Simultaneous invasion from three directions. "Is this real?" "Yeah. It's the Clearance Division's encryption format. No mistake." Rai immediately activated his communicator. "Notice to all members. Begin evacuation preparations immediately. Hollow Base has been identified by Apex. Enemy attack is imminent." He could feel tension ripple through the base. Footsteps, shouts, the sound of supplies being moved—all echoed from the distance. Rai turned back to Rei. "Where is Haitani Yuri?" "She was near the warehouse on sublevel three a little while ago. But she might already know we're onto her." "Let's go. You're coming too." Rai bolted out of the maintenance room. Rei followed behind. The two ran through the dim corridors. Rai's Machina Link probed the surrounding machinery—pipes, lights, surveillance cameras. They spread through his consciousness like a single web. "...Found it." Rai stopped. His Machina Link had caught a small transmitter connected to a ventilation shaft. From there, Hollow Base's coordinates were being transmitted externally. "This way." The two headed toward the warehouse sector on sublevel three. Standing at the warehouse entrance was a woman. Haitani Yuri. A woman who had joined Vice as a member of the Shade intelligence unit. Her black hair was cut short, and she wore thin-framed glasses. At first glance, she looked like an unremarkable woman who could be anywhere. But now, an eerie smile played at her lips. "Oh my, Leader. You've already found me." Rai stopped and faced Yuri head-on. "So you're the Apex spy." Yuri giggled. Her laughter was thin and carried a hint of madness. "Yes, that's right. Apex Intelligence Division. Directly under Himeno Kanna. I was sent from the very beginning to crush you all." "Himeno Kanna." Rai's voice grew even colder. "That's right. She's been leaking information to destroy Vice from the start. The timing of your return to Hollow Base—all calculated. Oh, and let me tell you one more thing." Yuri narrowed her eyes behind her glasses. "There's another one inside Shade. A double agent that Himeno-sama personally brought into her fold. Who do you think it is?" Rai's expression hardened for just a moment. "...Do you think I'd tell you?" "I won't say. You'll have to find out yourself, won't you? But you might not have the time for that." Yuri pulled something from her pocket. It was a small silver ring. A restraint ring made with prana engineering, designed to inhibit Geas activation. A special binding device Apex used to restrain dangerous Geas awakeners. Rai reflexively pulled back. But Yuri was fast. She closed the distance in an instant and pressed the ring against his right arm. A metallic click. The ring locked onto Rai's right arm, and simultaneously his Geas violently destabilized. His Machina Link control was completely severed from his right arm. Half of his ability to manipulate machinery was gone. "...What did you do?" "A prana lock. It temporarily seals your Geas. Your right arm's Machina Link won't work anymore." Rai gritted his teeth. His right arm felt heavy as lead. Even trying to put strength into his fingertips, it wouldn't move properly. But he had noticed something. The fingertips of his left hand were barely touching the wall's wiring. "...You're naive." Rai activated his Machina Link using only the fingertips of his left hand. He sent a surge of high-voltage current through the thin wires he had laid around Yuri's feet. With a sharp crack, Yuri's body convulsed. "Gyah—!" Yuri collapsed on the spot, spasming. She couldn't move. Rai looked down at her, breathing heavily. "You lose." But Yuri was laughing. Even while convulsing, she kept laughing. "...Lose? What are you talking about. It's already begun." In that instant, a roar shook the entirety of Hollow Base. A vibration like the rumbling of the earth. Dust fell from the ceiling. "Leader! The south gate has been breached!" Rei's shout came through the communicator. "The east side too! And the center! The enemy is invading from three directions simultaneously!" Rai clicked his tongue. "Deadline. Too fast." He glanced at Yuri and left the spot. There was no time to restrain her. He ran through the corridors. The wound in his abdomen must have torn open—blood was beginning to seep through the bandages. As he approached Hollow Base's central sector, the sounds of battle grew louder. Explosions, metal shattering, screams. When Rai burst into the central command room, it was already a scene of carnage. A massive hole gaped in the wall. The iron door had been smashed to pieces from the outside in. Beyond that hole stood a man. Former A-rank hero, Psion. He stood nearly two meters tall. His massive, trained body was clad in a black combat suit. His head was shaved, and an old burn scar marked his right cheek. He was a man who had once served on missions alongside Rai—an elite of Apex. Now, as a dog of the Clearance Division, he had fallen into the pleasure of legally killing people. "Yo, Inami. It's been a while." Psion's voice was low, as if rumbling from the depths of the earth. "Psion... are you seriously doing this?" "Serious or not, this is my job. Waste disposal. Cleaning up trash like you from this world." Psion raised his right arm. His Geas, "Sonic Hammer," activated. The air trembled, and an invisible shockwave was unleashed. With a thunderous boom, the command room's wall was blown away. Rai rolled across the floor and hid behind the rubble. His right arm wouldn't move. Machina Link was limited to his left hand only. "...Damn it." Using his left hand, Rai remotely operated an old-model mechanical soldier. A combat drone from a previous generation, dormant in the warehouse. Through the residual synchronization of his Machina Link, he could barely move it. The mechanical soldier charged toward Psion. "Small fry." Psion unleashed a shockwave. The mechanical soldier shattered into pieces. But that was exactly what Rai wanted. "...Self-destruct." The next instant, another mechanical soldier that had approached Psion's feet exploded. A roar. A flash. Psion staggered back several steps, pushed by the blast. "...Clever little tricks." In that opening, Rai shouted into his communicator. "Zenitsu! Get everyone to the underground waterway! You take point and go!" "B-but, Leader...!" The young member's voice trembled with fear. "Forget about me! Go! That's an order!" Zenitsu obeyed Rai's voice. But that was when it happened. Psion unleashed another shockwave. This time, toward the command room's ceiling. With a roar, the ceiling collapsed. Massive chunks of concrete rained down on the members who hadn't escaped in time. Screams. Blood spray. The sound of bones shattering. "Uwaaaah!" "H-help...!" Rai crawled out from under the rubble and, using only his left hand, pushed aside the collapsed materials. Before his eyes, a colleague from the intelligence unit lay bleeding. A young man, still in his early twenties. He had joined Vice because heroes had killed his family. His eyes had already lost their light. "...Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Rai punched the floor. Blood seeped from the fist of his left hand. Anger, grief, and self-recrimination. H

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Episode 4

Name: Justice of the Hero Killer: The Unyielding Reason of the One Called the Last Boss
Author: Novelia

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