Goodbye Again

Chapter 17 17. Goodbye

After Karl ran around the corner at the end of the passage, he saw a large warehouse filled with various mechanical devices, looking like a cannery production workshop. Oliver and Jack had already found a steel workbench in the distance to use as cover, and when they saw Karl, they frantically waved him over.

Oliver held his Nova, while Jack beside him held Oliver's Copperhead. Both of them aimed their guns at the corner behind Karl, waiting for the Maelstrom to poke its head out and give it a head-on blow. But even though they were prepared, Jack and Oliver still didn't know what Karl had just encountered.

"That Devil has Subdermal Armor; my Lexington is useless against her."

Still some distance away, Karl shouted to explain why he hadn't taken down the Maelstrom behind him. Hearing this, Jack replied with a full voice.

"I told you to get a different gun."

"Regretting it now!"

This time, not listening to advice had consequences right in front of him. The Copperhead had more power than the Lexington, but in some situations, a pistol was irreplaceable. Pure accuracy couldn't make up for the difference in power, and Karl learned that lesson today.

Karl had only taken a few steps towards Oliver and Jack when extremely loud footsteps came from the passage he had just run out of. The Maelstrom had caught up.

"Damn, does she have to be so fast? I ran two seconds earlier than her!"

Realizing that it would take some time to reach Oliver and Jack's location, Karl abandoned the idea of hiding behind the same cover as them. He looked around and quickly found something to hide behind.

It was a dumpster filled with scrap steel and machinery.

He really had a connection with trash!

The moment the Devil burst out of the passage, she saw Karl's back as he slipped behind the two-meter-high dumpster. Oliver and Jack, facing the entrance of the passage, opened fire simultaneously.

The dense network of firepower woven by the Copperhead and Nova couldn't make the Devil flinch even a bit. She charged straight towards Oliver, her nemesis, relying on her Subdermal Armor to take the brunt of the Copperhead and Nova's bullets head-on.

"Cabrón, this chick doesn't want to live! She's trying to take us down with her! That gun is a Crusher; our cover probably can't stop its bullets."

Watching the bullets hit the Devil, only managing to penetrate her flesh before being stopped by the Subdermal Armor, Jack cursed under his breath. He didn't dare stop pulling the trigger, hoping to kill her by accumulating damage before she got close enough with the shotgun to tear them apart.

"This Devil's Subdermal Armor is more exaggerated than I imagined! How much money did she spend? Is this some new model?"

Oliver also complained incessantly. It was one thing for this Maelstrom lunatic to be reckless, but she was also raising the pistol on her left hand and firing at him while charging forward. He didn't even know her; did she have to be so ruthless? He hadn't provoked her, had he?

The impact of the kinetic weapons landed on the Subdermal Armor, and most of the accompanying force was absorbed by the armor. Although a small portion of the impact still affected the Devil, this little bit of resistance couldn't slow her down. In less than a second, she had reached the optimal range for using a shotgun.

Discarding the Tamanooto pistol that had run out of bullets, the Devil raised the Crusher kinetic shotgun with both hands, aiming at Oliver and Jack. In one second, she would blast their bodies and the cover into smithereens.

But Karl wouldn't give her the chance.

He hadn't hidden behind the dumpster to escape, but only to disappear from the Devil's six cybernetic eyes for that instant. The range covered by those eyes was hard to avoid.

Now! At this moment, when the Devil's six cybernetic eyes were all focused forward, ready to watch her enemies be blown to pieces by the guns, Karl climbed up the dumpster and jumped down, lunging towards the Devil.

The Devil's ears caught the sound of the wind, but the weapon in her hands was difficult to reposition.

How much did an adult male body weigh? Karl estimated it to be about seventy kilograms. That weight, combined with the force of the impact from above, would knock the Devil down, even with the heavy Subdermal Cybernetics in her body.

But all Karl could do was knock her down.

Just as his hands and feet felt the impact of the ground from the body beneath him, a clenched fist met Karl's cheek. One punch was all it took; it was reinforced with Subdermal Armor. The fist, like an iron gauntlet, sent Karl flying backward, blood gushing from his broken nose.

"Get off!"

Because Karl's thigh was pinning down the Devil's other hand, she followed up the first punch with another from the same hand. Karl was already reaching his limit after taking the second punch. His head felt like it was inside a ringing bell, and his consciousness was fading. But at this last moment, he managed to find a chance to resist.

Oliver and Jack had rushed out from behind the cover. To avoid friendly fire, they had dropped their guns and wanted to physically help Karl restrain the Maelstrom Devil. But Karl had already grabbed his gun again.

He and the Maelstrom were in a close fight; he wasn't afraid of hitting anyone else.

The sound of the Lexington rang out again, and at the same time, Karl took another punch to the face. His face was almost caved in by the blow, but on that miserable face that Oliver and Jack barely recognized, Karl cracked a smile.

He had fired, and he had successfully hit a finger.

By enduring those punches, Karl had confirmed that the Subdermal Armor only covered the back of the Maelstrom's hand. Her fingers were not covered by Subdermal Armor. In other words, her fingers could be shattered by bullets.

What Karl shattered wasn't the fist that, even with a few missing fingers, would still be strong enough to beat him. He chose the other hand of the Maelstrom, the one that was pinned under his thigh and difficult to move. In that hand, she held the Crusher, refusing to let go even after falling to the ground.

The fingers shattered in the bullets, and the gun that could no longer be held welcomed a new owner in the next moment.

"Nice to meet you, lively lady."

Before the Devil could throw another punch, her six red-glowing cybernetic eyes locked onto something: the massive barrel of the Crusher.

"See you next time, maybe."

"Pong!"