Madness

"Scum!"

Devil stared fixedly at the black-haired young man appearing around the corner and raised the Crusher Kinetic Shotgun in her hands without hesitation.

"Pong!"

The deafening blast was accompanied by bullets striking the steel passageway, producing a shrill, piercing hum. Metal crashed against metal, making the entire structure tremble.

Iron was one of the best materials for transmitting sound. The vibrations carried an enormous distance, clearly audible in every corner of the factory—including to Carl, who had realized his pistol was useless and was already turning to run with the enemy close at hand.

"Fuck, was that gun she had a shotgun? If I'd known, I would've aimed for that thing."

After cursing, Carl felt the footsteps from the other side of the corner growing clearer and clearer, and could only hate that he was not running fast enough.

He had only wanted to finish someone off, but it had turned into a disaster. Facing a Maelstrom member head-on in a narrow passage, one armed with a shotgun and Subdermal Armor, Carl could already picture how he might die.

Oliver had set up traps earlier and used up all the grenades. If they had known, they should have saved one. At least then he would have had some way to fight back.

The place where Carl and the others had stopped was not far from the passageway. After only a few steps, Carl spotted Jack and Oliver, who was supporting him. They had clearly heard the metal impacts echoing through the passage and realized something might have gone wrong.

"Run!"

Carl slammed on the brakes, shoved the Lexington into its holster, then slid across the floor and scooped up the Copperhead he had left leaning against the wall. He had thought it was too long and awkward to use in the narrow passage.

I take back what I said about you. You're still the useful one.

An assault rifle might be hard to maneuver around a corner because of its length, but on a straight path, all he needed to do was fire straight behind him.

Hearing Carl, Jack and Oliver did not hesitate. One supported the other as they turned and fled, while Carl's assault rifle was already firing, wildly pouring bullets toward their pursuer.

Devil could ignore Lexington rounds with her Subdermal Armor, but she was not arrogant enough to do the same against a Copperhead.

She had nearly closed to a range where her shotgun could inflict real damage, only to be forced back behind the corner by the incoming bullets. Devil watched helplessly as the blond man who had killed her brother fled while supporting someone, while the bastard who had killed her subordinates kept firing without pause to suppress her. The humiliation made her grit her teeth hard enough to crack them.

"I don't fucking believe you have endless ammo, kid! You and that bastard Oliver can wait to die!"

Devil glanced back and picked up a Tamanooto pistol, now discontinued by Arasaka, from beside one of her underlings' corpses. With the pistol in one hand and the Crusher in the other, she prepared to rush out and tear the man blocking her apart the moment the Copperhead stopped firing.

"Oliver, why did she call your name? Does she know you?"

Jack listened to the furious, hate-filled shouting behind them and gave Oliver a puzzled look. He had not expected to run into one of Oliver's "acquaintances" on a job.

"Hell if I know. Yesterday was my first time in Watson District. Who knows what happened."

Oliver was just as innocent. The voice was completely unfamiliar to him, and he had no idea how he had offended her.

"You two, stop talking and run faster! Even firing in bursts, I'm almost out of ammo! Run!"

Hearing Carl's voice, Oliver and Jack fell silent and focused only on fleeing. They did not know exactly what was happening, but anyone who could make Carl this anxious had to be dangerous.

I should've known better than to start a fight in a place like this.

Carl silently etched the first lesson he had learned from this mercenary job into his heart and stopped firing.

Out of bullets?

That was Devil's first thought. Then half a body poked out from around the corner.

The gunfire that had stopped instantly rang out again. Three bullets struck that half of the body from top to bottom, ripping open three huge holes.

But as Carl watched the bullets tear that half of the body into four pieces, his heart sank. Even if Copperhead rounds could penetrate someone with Subdermal Armor, they could not inflict wounds that devastating. In other words, the reason his assault rifle had achieved that effect was because it had not been her body!

Second lesson.

Muttering to himself, Carl casually tossed the emptied Copperhead aside, drew the Lexington from his waist, and fired several more shots behind him as he ran.

Is this guy's ammo still not empty?

Devil had been about to rush out after seeing the corpse of the underling she had used to probe him get shredded, especially when the gunfire had stopped. But then the shots rang out again. Her body jerked to a halt, and she stopped moving.

He even knows how to trick me twice. I almost let him bait me out.

But the next moment, Devil sensed that something was wrong.

It was not as if she had never used a Copperhead before. Unless it had been specially modified, that much sustained firing should have pushed it close to its limit. Its ammunition should have run out no matter what. Besides, the gunshots she was hearing now were wrong.

After listening for another second, a nameless rage suddenly surged through Devil.

That sound... fuck, that sound!

That sound was far too familiar. Before she had joined Maelstrom, when Devil and her brother had depended on each other as true bottom-feeders, the only thing they could rely on was a gun that made that very sound. And just moments ago, that gun had left her head ringing.

"Damn it, a Lexington! He actually used a Lexington's gunshots to fool me!"

Devil charged around the corner with the Tamanooto and Crusher in hand, only to see a retreating figure vanish at the end of the passage.

"Bastard!"

Having been toyed with twice, Devil could no longer control her rage. Her cybernetic eye had turned completely blood-red beneath its glowing light, illuminating the dark passageway.

She had only wanted to avoid taking more injuries before dealing with Oliver, which was why she had not dared charge into the Copperhead's fire. But now, she wanted that black-haired bastard dead too!

Even if the Copperhead fired at her now, she would charge straight through it. At worst, she could rely on her Subdermal Armor to take two shots head-on!

Kill!

Consumed by the urge to kill, the operating system connected to her spine and the back of her head emitted the faint electrical whine of machinery running at its limit. Devil's speed actually increased severalfold.