The dense fog shuddered violently, and Grain Rain streamed backward.
Beneath that chain of fire woven from bullets, everything was effortlessly torn apart. Then the gaunt figure in the rain and mist was swallowed by the blaze.
In an instant, it was riddled with holes.
A gust of wind swept it into the sky, scattering it through the rain. All that remained were strips of torn raincoat drifting down to the ground. There was no sign of a person.
As though that figure had truly been a phantom conjured by a ghost, vanishing after a single gust of wind.
"Where is he?"
The mercenary manning the machine gun had a cigarette clenched between his teeth as he stared around in astonishment.
In the passenger seat, the middle-aged sergeant who had just put down the phone adjusted his sunglasses. "Be careful. It may be some kind of invisibility-type soul projection. Everyone, put on infrared night-vision goggles. Keep your distance, surround him, and force him out."
Acknowledgments came through the radio.
Several burly soldiers wearing night-vision goggles immediately jumped down from behind the armored vehicle. Weapons in hand, they expertly spread out and slowly closed in.
Then, from behind the concrete barrier on the overpass, something dark was suddenly thrown out. It traced an arc through the air and fell toward the armored vehicle.
A fragmentation grenade!
A fucking fragmentation grenade!
Was the guy on the other side an Ascender or regular military?!
"Fire in the hole!"
The moment the warning rang out, the massive SUV began reversing at full speed, but it was already too late.
The grenade exploded in midair.
At the final moment, the entire SUV was forced sideways by the driver's frantic turn. Then fire and shockwaves erupted, and countless fragments slammed into the bulletproof armor along its