"Grab the ammo belt," Konrad barked. "Two more will come down that corridor soon."
"How would you even know that?!" Major Degtyarev demanded, blinking at the carnage the first three had left. "And what about those four?"
"Don't ask," Dmitry grunted at the first half.
And as for the second part—
Konrad finally had it all figured out.
Two voices, one source.
The loud one was a simple, machine-like copy of the parallel brain he already had. The other one was much quieter, so it slipped under their radar for a while, but—
That was the real threat, and he had a hunch they had been facing an actual Controller.
Those mutants didn't use words but messed with the sanity and emotions of their victims.
Did the Monolith manage to tame one? Or did it somehow stumble into the CNPP?
Neither seemed likely, but it didn't matter.
He had already located them, his mind calm enough to pick up the stronger traces of mana.
Finally. It had been some time since he could do that, but—
He'd celebrate later. There was still too much going on.
"I will take care of the source of the problem," Konrad announced. "After that, Yuri and your men should return to normal. If someone stays with them, I can—"
"Pretend that you didn't succumb to those voices a moment ago?"
Sigh. Yeah, the Major's complaint was legitimate, and he still carried its signs.
Konrad punched him in the face, and he punched him hard.
Not that he didn't deserve it, but it did not raise his trust level, for sure.
"I'm better now," Konrad claimed, opening his arms. "I'd understand if you didn't believe it, but as I said, someone would have had to stay behind anyway. If it's you, then—"
"Nah, the exact opposite," Degtyarev scoffed. "I won't take my eyes off you now."
Huh? Okay. He might have imagined it, but didn't that guy act like a tsundere?
"Either way," Konrad said, clearing his throat. "Those two are still coming, and we'll have to cut through. Someone stays to babysit our guys, and the rest helps me silence those voices."
"But how do you even—no, never mind," the Major grumbled, waving him off.
It's not like Konrad could have given him an explanation that worked in his worldview.
"Five seconds," he grunted instead. "Buckle up."
And that was all Dmitry needed to finish peeling the .50 cal bullets out of that belt.
"Ready when you are," he said, hefting his Gepard. "But damn. To think these Exoskeletons let that guy carry a weapon this size?!"
"Says the idiot with a .50 cal rifle," Sokolov noted, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah. But it's a rifle, not a machine gun," the Captain pointed out.
No sense of urgency whatsoever, and the next two had already entered the corridor.
BANG. BANG.
Okay. Nevermind.
Konrad might have suffered some hearing loss again, but Dmitry didn't mess around.
"Still does the job, though," he grinned.
What he actually said, Konrad could only guess.
"Fine," Sokolov yelled, his palms shielding his ears. "Guess I'll be the one who stays, then."
And that, even Konrad could hear, loud and clear.
The other four the Corporal had to babysit were still trying to run, but there was nowhere to go.
Too much debris, sealed doors, and the clumsiness of a man with his will overwritten—
They were stuck a mere fifty paces ahead of them.
Went on to show that the Monolith put no real thought behind that pre-recorded voice.
Its only purpose was to disrupt and confuse, while the Controller would deal the actual blow.
"Let's go, then," Konrad grunted, wiping his sword clean. "More of these Monolith guys will come soon, and I'd rather they return to normal by then."
He led the way, and the two active soldiers followed.
But they couldn't have been more different from each other.
One was a Captain, the Hero of Kyiv, always eager to act but a victim of his own fame, and—
Whoever this Alexandr Degtyarev even was.
The man who didn't want to, but still got things done. Ruthless, calculating, efficient.
And Konrad might have been his target, so he wasn't exactly a fan.
But despite their differences, they worked well as a team.
Turn a corner only to see three of these white-camo soldiers smoking a cigarette?
Before Konrad could even call them out, Dmitry and Alex had both taken one down. He had to hurry up and put himself there, too, slicing off the third one's hand, cigarette and all, then—
His head fell off next, rolling on the floor.
"Now I know where all those beheaded corpses come from," the Major grumbled, reloading his gun. "Who even walks around with a sword these days, for fucks' sake?"
"It'll never run out of ammo," Konrad shot back, trying to get his bearings.
The traces were still there, but they didn't paint him a path.
Their strange mana would flow wherever it could.
Where the leaded concrete walls didn't block them off.
But following that back in this maze, full of soldiers, was sure a pain in the ass. And if he also had to watch his six—well, no. He was sure that Dmitry and his Gepard had that covered.
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Degtyarev asked as soon as they stopped.
If only Konrad knew.
"Something like a transmitter," he guessed. "Stuff like you saw in the Brain Scorcher. You did say you were there, right? It should be the same thing to mess with our minds."
"Wait, but then," the Captain mumbled. "Wouldn't they have turned into zombies?"
He shook his head.
"The signal is not strong enough," he explained. "These walls are full of rebar and lead. The CNPP itself seems to be blocking the Monolith's final defenses."
Which was terrible planning and kinda hilarious.
But after spending a few minutes with Null—nothing could surprise him anymore.
"So the closer we are, the stronger it will be," the Major concluded. "And you sure you'll be fine?"
He was still rubbing his jaw, and Konrad got the reference, but—
He shrugged it all off.
"Worst-case scenario, I bruise you up a bit more," he said with a smirk, finally catching the traces again. "But you two have protection, so—you'll take care of everything then."
There was some grumbling as he set out once more, but with his ears still ringing—
Why wouldn't he ignore them?
The trace was weak, and he had to focus on the voices without actually dropping his defenses.
And turns out that was pretty difficult.
So he had no time to argue or entertain that spy. He had to clear his mind and move forward.
Another turn, and two more Monolith men were lazing around.
They were even easier to take out than the previous three, and beyond them—
"A staircase?" Dmitry muttered, having missed his opportunity to fire his gun earlier.
"The radiation is going crazy here," the Major grunted, holding up his measuring device. "Any idea where this leads? Because if there's a way around, I'd suggest we take that."
"Tough luck," Konrad said. "That's where the voices seem to come from."
And yes. Both of them did, actually.
"Stupid PDA is still dead," the Captain noted. "I have no idea what's up there, either."
"We're about to find out," he claimed, as if he didn't know already.
But wouldn't tell them. Not yet.
Otherwise, they'd never agree to enter the exploded reactor itself.