A Dark Fantasy Spy

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“Manager, just a moment.”

Before meeting Martinez.

Pippin, who was guarding the security terminal, called out to me.

“What will you do if Martinez senses something amiss during our contact and attacks?”

“I’ll shoot first.”

I casually spat it out while securing my pistol in its holster.

“But he’s a magician! A wanted and dangerous magician.”

“Magicians don’t have bullets in their heads, right?”

“Still, you should take precautions.”

“Pippin is right. You must be prepared.”

Just then, Jake, freshly returned, pulled out a folded talisman from his bag.

“This is a talisman with a grand magic protection spell on it. Take it with you.”

“Isn’t that a bit insufficient?”

“I have a good idea.”

Thud. I threw the security phone onto the desk. I pointed to a rugged mobile phone and continued.

“Everyone, take out your phones.”

“What for?”

“I’ll call you on this mobile phone. You’ll record all the sounds captured during the communication, and if something seems off, immediately come to my support.”

“Isn’t that too dangerous?”

“When has anything not been dangerous?”

I lit my cigarette, exhaling smoke as I addressed my subordinates.

“This operation absolutely must succeed. If we fail, not only I but also you, Francesca, Lucia, and Camila will be in deep trouble.”

“…”

“Let’s finish this in one go.”

Thus, I connected the security mobile phone to my subordinates’ security phones.

It was a wise choice.

—

Episode 13 – A Country for No Magicians

The first to react was Martinez.

He kicked off the asphalt and turned to run.

“Kill him!”

At that signal, a flash erupted from the second floor of the building across the street.

A yellow projectile splashed against the ground and columns, followed by a chilling sound as bricks shattered.

Barely escaping the magic, I gripped my pistol handle and shouted.

“Open fire!”

Tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat! The suppressed gunfire cut across the street.

The source of the chaos was two men who had snatched up rifles, disguised as local soldiers wearing military uniforms.

“Run!”

Before the cry of the quasi-military operatives ended, gunfire erupted again. The barrels were spewing flames aimed at the second-floor window.

Tat-tat! The thunderous gunfire momentarily illuminated the darkness of the intersection. Bullets ricocheted from the second-floor window, sending stone dust showering down. At the same time, a brief scream echoed from inside the building. It seemed the magician who had cast the spell had been hit.

While the Royal Intelligence Department’s quasi-military operatives kept the second-floor magician from retaliating with suppressive fire, another operative yelled at me, aiming at the fleeing Martinez.

Three shots rang out in succession.

Yet, no one fell.

“Damn it…!”

As the smoke escaped the suppressor, a quasi-military operative raised his gun skyward and spat out an expletive.

“What happened?”

“He went into an alley.”

Unfortunately, Martinez had slipped away into the alley to evade gunfire.

There were two targets. One had already been lost, but one remained. I kicked the door of the building open.

Inside, we came across a magician groaning on the floor. The information officer, who had just tackled the man dragging himself out of a room with the door wide open, shone a light on his face.

In the meantime, I pulled out my mobile phone and compared the saved photo with the magician’s identity.

Fortunately, it was someone I knew.

“Karim Boumediene.”

No further words were necessary.

As soon as the identity was confirmed, the information officer blew Karim Boumediene’s head off with his rifle. The suppressed gunfire shook the hallway, and a gasp escaped from behind the firmly closed door.

I signaled for everyone to head outside. The quasi-military operatives nodded without carelessly responding in Abas and quickly exited the building.

Moments after escaping the scene, I immediately took out my mobile phone and contacted Pippin. I didn’t even need to press the call button, having connected the call an hour prior.

“Hey, it’s me. That bastard just slipped into the alley heading north.”

-‘Adult male fleeing north. I will locate him immediately.’

A pigeon sitting on a utility pole began flapping its wings vigorously.

Soaring into the night sky, the pigeon flew high, with the crystal mounted on its body sending a clear view of the landscape below even from hundreds of meters up.

-‘I found him…!’

It took less than three minutes after the pigeon took off before Charnoy’s voice came through.

-‘800 meters to the north…! He’s moving into an alley…!’

“Damn, he’s really fast….”

He had already covered 800 meters through the maze-like alleyways. I couldn’t comprehend how he could run so well at his age.

I paused the call for a moment and reached out to Jake. Holding the phone, he quickly answered.

-‘Yes.’

“I’m changing the operation. Martinez has escaped.”

-‘We’ll pursue him.’

After telling them to relay Martinez’s location to Pippin, I hung up.

Karim Boumediene, who had cast the spell, was dead, but Martinez had fled far away. Yet, there was still a chance.

Before moving with the disguised quasi-military operatives,

I glanced at a shadowy figure darting across the rooftops.

—

Under the moonlit night, the chase began.

“Gunfire has erupted. The local residents must be awake, and the Imperial Military Police and Internal Troops have probably caught on. You may freely use personal firearms, so if you encounter the target, you can kill him immediately.”

“Understood, Team Leader.”

Operation team leader Matthew lifted his finger off the button.

Seated in the passenger seat, the sub-team leader spoke.

“Obstacle ahead. Turn left.”

“Got it.”

The vehicle smoothly glided across the icy surface and turned left. The following vehicle also swiftly shifted direction at the intersection.

In the back seat, Jake tapped the radio, placing his rifle between his legs while peering out the window.

“Location?”

Matthew asked, and Jake answered.

“300 meters left.”

“Which way?”

“Turn right in 15 meters, and if you keep going straight, you’ll reach an alley where a car is parked. We should encounter him there.”

“Did you hear that, Steve?”

The sub-team leader in the passenger seat shook his head.

“I’m still not used to that name.”

Just after we made the right turn, two vehicles barreled down a long, straight road.

The black asphalt was caked in mud and litter, marred by thick smoke. The cars sped down the open road.

At that moment, suddenly, a man sprinted out of the alley.

I couldn’t identify him from a distance, but there was only one person who would be wandering the curfewed city alone.

The judgement was swift.

The information officer at the wheel shifted gears and slammed the accelerator, charging at the man.

“Damn it…!”

Barely avoiding him, Martinez darted onto the road, his eyes widened in horror at the vehicle charging like a ferocious beast.

With thick tires and a hefty body, the bulletproof glass wasn’t the sort of car you’d see on the road every day. It was more like a military armored vehicle with the turret removed.

The engine roared as the previously off headlights flashed to life.

Momentarily blinded by the intense light, Martinez quickly unfurled a green barrier.

Then came the incredible impact.

Boom! It felt like a hit to the chest as the vehicles collided.

Martinez, who had hurriedly protected himself with the barrier, was thrown into the mud as the car slammed into him.

—

After colliding with the vehicle, Martinez was tossed onto the road like a roadkill deer.

He avoided severe injury, but the scrapes from rolling on the ground were unavoidable.

Groaning from the asphalt scraping his skin and the ice and snow seeping into his clothes, he stood up and waved his arms to cast a protective spell.

Green magic barreled towards where the bullets were flying.

The Royal Intelligence Department’s quasi-military operative, who had slammed the vehicle into Martinez, saw he was still alive and opened the car door to start shooting.

Tat-tat-tat-tat! With his foot pushing the door, the quasi-military operative pointed his gun through the front and side windows, firing at the protected magician.

Following suit, operation team leader Matthew and sub-team leader Steven, half-exiting the vehicle, supported their teammates as Jake crouched behind the tire and pulled the trigger.

“Grrr…!”

With every round shot, ripples formed in the barrier.

The hastily conjured protective spell cracked, and the green magic flickered like a candle in the wind, dancing precariously.

Martinez grimaced as the ugly sounds slipped through his clenched teeth. The flickering color of the protective magic lingered on his face, filled with rage aimed at the quasi-military operatives as it faded in and out.

It was impossible to hold on any longer.

At that moment of realization, Martinez raised his voice and shouted into the air.

“Ahmad!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the green barrier shattered into pieces.

And between the incoming bullets and Martinez, a deep well-like black space opened wide.

From within that ominous void emerged a pack of hounds, spilling black liquid and glowing with crimson eyes.

“Grhrhl…!”

“Kang! Kang!”

The suddenly appeared pack of hounds caused operation team leader Matthew to shout in Kien.

“Undead!”

With their bodies low to the ground, the dogs charged towards the information officers.

As the hounds, oblivious to their innards spilling out, jumped through the muck, a shadow raced down from the icy rooftop.

Illuminated by the faint moonlight on the rooftop.

Black fur swayed in the wind, and a curly tail whipped around. Cat ears, barely hidden by a pulled-down beanie, perked up.

Soaring from the rooftop, Kair aimed her gun down.

Her finger gently pulled the trigger.

—

-Creak!

As if time froze, everything flowed slowly like a panorama.

A strange ‘pung’ sound, unlike any gunfire, struck the eardrums of everyone present.

The fired bullet sliced through the eerie night sky.

It was a grenade.