24. Madman
[Incident]
Location: Kurzali District 45
Subject: Male in his 20s
April rode her black motorcycle toward the high-speed section called the 'Tube.' (The Tube is like a highway that vacuums certain areas within the city center, allowing acceleration without any friction.) When riding through the black tunnel at 500 km/h, driving becomes meaningless. You just surrender your body to the speed and direction designated by the control center. As she approached the Kurzali entrance, the gravity control device on the motorcycle gradually slowed her speed. When she exited, the wheels touched the ground and golden sparks flew.
"Elysia, where's the madman's location?"
"I've sent you the coordinates."
A green hologram was projected beyond the screen attached to her helmet. Her location was marked with a blue arrow, and a red dotted line followed toward where the madman was presumed to be.
"Obie, what's the situation on site?"
When connected to O'Brien's satellite, continuous crackling sounds could be heard, indicating the scene was urgently developing.
"Damn. Too fast. This bastard's a Furim (fast madman)."
O'Brien had arrived at the scene 30 minutes earlier. When he arrived, the madman wasn't clearly visible, and only screaming sounds came from here and there in the building. When he got off his motorcycle, held his 20mm manual shotgun, and entered the alley toward where the sound came from, a building's exterior wall exploded in the distance, cement powder flew, and through the hazy view, a thin, sharply edged black shadow looked at him fiercely. When he fired the shotgun, the black shadow became blurry and disappeared somewhere.
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A man in his mid-40s was running through alleys, fleeing. He couldn't understand why the man with a pale, haggard face who had been standing behind him at the convenience store suddenly attacked him. The man kept twisting his body as if in pain, finally groaning, and bones began to protrude from inside his body one by one. He instinctively thought if he stayed there, this madman would cut off his neck, so he fled without looking back. However, the madman kept chasing him, and the exterior walls of buildings in his path began to shatter.
Gunfire could be heard in the distance as if hunters had arrived. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the hunters would buy some time. And he worried about how to escape this place, but no cars were visible around. He took shelter inside a building. People had already heard about the madman and hidden themselves, so the building was quiet inside. He walked up the emergency stairs to the 5th floor, deciding to go outside when the situation progressed. But that was a miscalculation. From far away at the end of the corridor, the sound of doors breaking came, and with beast-like growling, the madman was approaching where he was.
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"Did the madman find the trigger?"
April said while riding the motorcycle with O'Brien toward the direction the red target indicated.
"Elysia, can you identify the man the madman is chasing?"
It seemed to take time to find information in the database, as a circle kept spinning in the center of the green hologram showing a loading sign. Soon a man appeared on screen—a stocky Latin American middle-aged man in his 40s with large eyes.
"Miu Alexandro. Age 45. Does transit trade in Puebla. Served 5 years for drug trafficking with Organization Gamma, currently confirmed to be on the run."
"How much does it match with the CCTV Kobe sent?"
"Comparing height, build, head circumference, etc., it shows about 65% possibility."
"This bastard's certain! Otherwise there's no way the madman would only chase this guy!"
"First let's quickly capture the madman. Over there!"
The two urgently stopped their motorcycles. O'Brien pulled and released the shotgun's loading handle once. April also drew her silver revolver from her thigh. The two entered the building and moved quietly toward where the target indicated. No sign of people could be felt in the dark building. They walked up to the 5th floor via emergency stairs, but only the emergency door was open with no one visible. They passed the emergency door toward the west corridor. Unfortunately entering a building that seemed closed long ago, quite an eerie atmosphere flowed. Just when they had circled the entire west store area, a black shadow quickly passed by a distant store. The two walked out slowly one step at a time in an even more tense state. When April activated the thermal detector, something red wriggling could be seen in a corner of the store. The two looked at each other's faces once, then April threw a trap (equipment that flows electricity within a 1m radius to temporarily paralyze the body) on the corridor floor leading to the opposite side. Then they carefully approached the object.
"McClain?"
When April removed the cloth piece covering the object, a middle-aged man in his 40s screamed and shouted to save him. O'Brien asked how he got here, and he appealed to please evacuate him to a safe place, saying he had nothing to do with the madman. They took the man down to the 1st floor through the emergency stairs.
"Elysia, what's the manual for a Furim (fast madman)?"
"You must apply an illusion mask (localized hologram) to the entire area to confuse it, then paralyze it with a trap."
"Is it possible now?"
"First, approval for use has been requested from headquarters. Once the illusion mask is activated, it's difficult to distinguish with the naked eye and can cause confusion among citizens, so herding must be appropriately done within the time limit. It's most advantageous to initiate during combat with the madman."
"So we need to find the madman quickly."
"The madman seems to keep chasing only this guy. There's nothing better as bait. Right?"
When O'Brien smiled mischievously at the man, the man was horrified.
"We can't use a civilian in combat. First let's evacuate this person quickly. Supremer, where are you?"
"Almost there. Hey. Bright. Long time no see."
Around when Supremer arrived at Kurzali, other hunters who saw the placebo also began gathering one by one. Since the madman had no murder record yet, the reward was small and the number of hunters gathered wasn't many.
"Excuse me..."
The man spoke to the two as if sorry to break the silence in this situation.
"It's a bit awkward to say this in this situation... but I'm in a rush..."
The man glanced at the restroom sign visible 5m ahead.
"I'll be right back."
April shook her head, and O'Brien followed as if to watch the man's back. The man entered the dark restroom and shook his bulging top, causing bills to fall out.
"Hehe. You guys fight hard. I'll work hard on collecting."
He diligently gathered the bills scattered on the floor, collecting them and carefully putting them in his pocket. While he was busy collecting bills, a yellow liquid dripped on the back of his hand, and he looked at the ceiling, curious where it fell from.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
A scream came from the restroom, and the moment O'Brien outside threw open the door, something at tremendous speed struck him head-on and went outside. When April came hearing the sound, the man was already nowhere to be found, and O'Brien seemed to have lost consciousness from the earlier impact.
"Damn. Supremer! O'Brien got hit. Find the madman nearby!"
Supremer, who had been talking with another hunter, heard April's shout and carefully looked toward the building where she was. Outside the building, a spider-like shaped object was crawling up the wall with something in its mouth. The hunters all fired at the object in unison.
"No! There's a person! Damn. Is it too late."
April came outside and shouted, but outside was already noisy with gunfire. The madman had already climbed to the top of the building. In the night sky full of dark clouds, it seemed like it would rain any moment. The madman held the man's head in its mouth and began howling at the sky. Lightning struck and thunder roared. The madman's howl was like the roar of a beast. The hunters kept watching the madman while being drenched by pouring rain. The madman kept crying with an unpleasant crying sound. That howl penetrated all areas, all buildings, making people tremble with fear.
"That bastard. What's it trying to do?"
Supremer looked at the madman unpleasantly. When the situation didn't flow as expected, April who felt something strange began to tremble in her skin as if feeling a threat to life.
When the madman stopped crying, its figure soon disappeared like smoke. The hunters looked around wondering where the madman had gone. At that moment, a black object appeared in the middle of the hunters. The madman's eyes were already drenched in blood, with bones protruding in all directions. That thing shaped like a spider was already difficult to judge as having originated from a human. The madman crunched and chewed the man's head, then when it tore off limbs, blood began to splatter everywhere. Some hunters vomited at that disgusting sight. The madman, dripping blood from its mouth while chewing the corpse, looked at the hunters as if drawn by the taste of blood, seeking another murder.
"Damn. It's a complete form! Elysia. Is the illusion mask not ready yet?"
"Headquarters approval has come through. It will take about 2 minutes to activate."
"2 minutes..."
April knew. What it meant to last 2 minutes against a Furim that had become a complete form. It was like a random game where falling shells hit defenseless in trenches—some live, some die. Just as she was worrying about how to survive that time of suffering, the madman disappeared from view.
The game had begun.
"Ahhh"
Screams burst out from all directions. The hunters couldn't catch up with the madman moving at light speed, and bodies began to be torn one by one by the madman appearing from behind.
"Uwahhh"
"Ahhh"
Hunters kept being torn apart. April could only stay there in cold sweat. Someone's neck was cut off the moment they tried to ride a motorcycle right next to them and escape.
Slash
Slash
Hunters' bodies were cut by the madman's blade. The madman's hellish struggle continued.
"Elysia, how much longer?"
"30 seconds."
"Damn"
Not many hunters remained in the plaza. Luckily, Supremer and April still had their limbs attached. Already about 30 hunters had their bodies torn in two. On the ground, red blood mixed with rainwater flowed like a flood.
'Please... please...'
April trembled with fear. At that moment, she had to feel her powerlessness acutely. If they stayed like this, it would operate meaninglessly only after everyone was destroyed. She had to live. Somehow.
At that moment, Supremer shouted toward April. April looked at Supremer, and instantly wind blew with a slash as a blade crossed her back.
"Illusion mask activated. Illusion mask activated."
A blue light flashed from the sky, then light like a blue waterfall poured down over the entire Kurzali area. Instantly, numerous human forms began to be created in the plaza.
"April!!!"
Supremer ran toward fallen April. His pupils shook. With trembling heart, he felt her fallen body. His hands became red, covered in blood.
"...Hey... you pervert... where are you touching..."
April coughed up blood and spoke to Supremer. Supremer breathed a sigh of relief. Her slightly twisting her body at Supremer's call had helped her dodge the madman's attack slightly. But on her back was a quite long and deep laceration, and blood kept flowing out.
"First let's give emergency treatment! Satellite!"
The satellite sprayed rapid coolant across her back. April, whose eyes had glazed from losing too much blood, trembled, and Supremer carried her and ran to the building where O'Brien was. The madman began relentlessly slashing at numerous phantom bodies, but phantom bodies kept appearing.
"Supremer, there's not much illusion mask operation time left. Now you have to drive it into a corner."
"Damn! How do I drive in a bastard I can't even see!"
Supremer was at a loss. Two colleagues were already unconscious, and all around, hunters' corpses had turned into graves covered in blood. If even the illusion mask disappeared, his body would soon be revealed and he would become the last victim of the madman's blade.
"Yeah... damn. Let's try it once!"
Supremer took out traps from April's top pocket and ran to a corner. He who laid traps widely in all directions stood behind the traps and took out a shotgun. The madman was busy cutting phantom bodies. He aimed the gun at where the madman was visible. Just one shot. He decided to entrust his body to the shotgun's gunfire.
[Gunshot]
The madman disappeared. Supremer threw the gun and quickly threw his body to the side. It was the moment when the madman appearing like lightning behind him tried to strike his body down with blade-like bones.
[Sound of electricity flowing]
The trap detected the madman's movement and began flowing electricity everywhere. Before the madman could fully swing its arm, its entire body was wrapped in electricity and began howling painfully. Supremer jumped out of the trap and rolled on the ground.
"Illusion mask operation ended. Illusion mask operation ended."
In an instant, the phantom bodies in the plaza all disappeared at once, leaving only quiet silence. The madman was conscious and still had strength left, beginning to struggle. The current from the trap held its body but trembled uneasily.
"Serves you right. You monster bastard. You're a dead life now."
Supremer approached the suffering madman and began mocking him. But suddenly the madman's right hand broke through the electric barrier and grabbed Supremer's neck. Supremer made a choking sound and struggled desperately to remove the madman's hand. But the madman's strength grew stronger, breaking through the electric barrier and escaping part by part. When the madman pulled its face out of the electric barrier and was about to open its mouth toward Supremer's head while revealing white fangs.
[Explosion]
Something like a bomb that flew from somewhere exploded and hit the madman's body. The electric barrier was shattered and Supremer was also blown away by the explosion and lost consciousness. The madman clutched its chest and groaned in anger. From afar, another shell flew in a curve and this time exploded around the madman's left leg. The madman bled from just two shots and trembled with fear. Then in the distance, the shadow of a man in a long coat slowly appeared through the fog. A silver revolver gun glittered under his coat sleeve, which seemed somehow familiar. The madman looked at the man, then turned around and fled.