Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 79 79: Scarlet’s First Kill

Scarlet could only watch helplessly as Charon darted out through the mansion doors with a movent technique so bizarre it completely defied her understanding.

It wasn't that she didn't want to follow him.

But just as Charon used those evasive movents, she heard voices outside. Although the language was unfamiliar to her, one thing was unmistakable–the voices belonged to male humans.

Scarlet could confirm with absolute certainty that the attackers were not Raptures, but ard humans using firearms.

First of all, Raptures couldn't speak.

Second, there were no male Nikkes.

As a Nikke equipped with NIMPH, Scarlet simply could not attack humans, no matter what. Worse still, she could already tell that more than one sniper rifle had locked onto her position. Combined with the strange instinctive sense warning her of danger, she couldn't even risk peeking out.

The previous sniper shot clearly hadn't been a suppression round used against Nikkes. Precisely because of that, if she hadn't instinctively obeyed Charon's command and lowered her head, the bullet would have destroyed her brain.

And once a Nikke's brain was destroyed, there was no saving them.

The enemy clearly intended to kill them.

To sit here doing nothing while a human lieutenant risked his life outside was sothing Scarlet could never accept–neither her pride nor her personality would allow it. Yet if the enemy truly were humans, she couldn't even throw a punch at them, much less cut them down.

Outside, the shouting, gunfire, and footsteps grew increasingly chaotic, and it sounded as though they were getting closer.

What happened to the lieutenant? How many enemies are out there? What am I supposed to do?

But enemies would never give her ti to think.

One of them–judging by the footsteps, a fully ard special forces soldier–was approaching her position with textbook tactical movents.

She had to escape.

Scarlet gritted her teeth and instantly shifted her gaze toward the kitchen entrance at the back of the first floor. There was a stretch without cover in between, but her sword wasn't rely decorative.

Cutting bullets apart wasn't impossible for her.

However, just as she prepared to move, the approaching footsteps suddenly accelerated. The enemy rolled forward and appeared beside her cover in an instant.

At the sa ti, a pitch-black gun barrel pointed directly at Scarlet's head.

The killing intent at that mont was so intense that even Scarlet's body stiffened for a split second.

Am I going to die?

A gunshot rang out–

BANG–

The special forces soldier before her collapsed.

Then, right before Scarlet's eyes, his body transford into particles and slowly dispersed into the air.

Scarlet froze.

What… is this?

A human disappeared? Right in front of ? Am I dreaming?

Yet the sll of gunpowder was painfully real, and the cold, decaying air around her snapped her back to reality.

This wasn't a dream.

That person had truly vanished.

"Scarlet, those things aren't human."

Charon's voice sounded out. Scarlet finally looked up and saw him leaning against the now-closed mansion doors.

"Don't worry. They're not very smart. Just the act of opening and closing a door is enough to confuse them for ten whole seconds."

"Lieutenant… what exactly is happening here?" Scarlet's face turned pale. Everything she had seen today had already gone far beyond the limits of her understanding. "Are we really still in reality?"

"It's normal for you to doubt that," Charon replied while listening carefully to the footsteps outside the door. "But if you really want answers, wait until after we survive this fight."

"I'll explain the basics first. There are five enemies total. I killed two just now. One sniper is still aiming at us, and there are two assault soldiers wandering around trying to locate us."

"And let repeat this again–those things are not human. They're humanoid monsters, sothing similar to Raptures. Once killed, they disappear imdiately. No corpses. No blood. Your weapon won't even have human tissue left on it."

His gaze dropped toward Scarlet's sword.

"I know your movent skills are excellent, so I'll leave the sniper to you. I'll handle the two assault soldiers."

"The only problem is that they always aim for the head. While moving, make sure to use cover properly."

Scarlet listened numbly to his explanation, her mind overflowing with confusion.

But despite everything, she understood one thing clearly:

The enemy was deadly serious.

If she didn't fight back, she might actually die here.

Those aren't humans… those aren't humans… those aren't humans…

Scarlet closed her eyes, repeating the words over and over in her head, while replaying the sight of that special forces soldier dissolving into particles.

"Ready?" Charon asked as he watched her open her eyes again.

Scarlet hesitated for a mont before nodding.

"Good. Then–three, two, one, move!"

The instant the countdown ended, Charon kicked the mansion doors open and rolled toward the cover on the left side of the entrance.

At that exact mont, the sniper rifle fired again, blasting straight through the spot where he had been only a heartbeat earlier.

And Scarlet gained a tiny window of ti before the next shot ca.

So she moved.

Close-combat Nikkes were a special class created specifically for rapidly closing distance and killing enemies at high speed. In terms of mobility, they far surpassed ordinary mass-produced Nikkes and normal humans alike.

Those artificial soldiers couldn't even keep up with Scarlet's movents.

She closed her eyes and dashed out of the mansion.

Inside a forest, visual information was limited.

For people like her, sound was the most accurate way to determine an enemy's location.

Another gunshot rang out.

But this ti, Scarlet had already hidden behind a tree.

The sniper's position had been concealed well, but that single shot completely exposed him.

Scarlet kicked a broken tree branch into the air while simultaneously dashing out in the opposite direction. The mont the sniper bullet shattered the branch, Scarlet appeared directly behind the sniper.

Without hesitation, she swung her sword downward.

Hyakujitsukou–that was the na of her blade.

Its quality honestly wasn't anything special.

But if the goal was rely to cut flesh apart, it was more than enough.

Her heartbeat thundered violently in her chest.

Her breathing nearly stopped.

For a brief instant, even NIMPH's emotional suppression effect activated automatically.

Panting heavily, Scarlet stared blankly at the "human" lying on the ground as his body dissolved beneath her sword into transparent particles that slowly drifted away into the air.

She had done it.

Only after seeing him disappear did Scarlet truly beco certain:

That thing absolutely had not been a real human.

Humans bled.

Humans left corpses behind.

Humans did not move like machines.

And humans certainly would not wander into territory crawling with Raptures just to attack their own allies.

Then what exactly had she just killed?

Unfortunately, before she could think deeper about it, new noises reached her ears.

The direction was–

The forest.

Those dense movent sounds–

Raptures!

"Scarlet!"

At nearly the sa mont, another Nikke with waist-length hair rushed out from the opposite side of the forest.

"I heard gunfire! What did you two do?!"

Rose's expression looked terrible. Clearly, she had already imagined several horrifying possibilities in her head.

"Wait–save the explanations for later," Rose said as she drew her sword, Flowers Bloom Less Than Ten Days. "The gunshots attracted nearby Raptures."

"Let's deal with them first."

"…Alright."