Convict Unit: Black Parade-Chapter 142 : Mission 10: The Hunters of Old (15)

December 11, 2050, 8:00 AM.
Cheongnyangni Gate, Sewers.
Splosh, splosh…
Jae-hee and the Black Parade’s Deck 1 team trudged through the pitch-black sewers.
Parting the ankle-deep current, Razor studied a map at the head of the group.
He said, “According to this, it’s about three hundred meters from our entry point to the main Gate building. We’ve got about that far to go, then we head up.”
Jae-hee, lighting the way for him with a flashlight, sounded impressed.
“You’re good with maps, Razor bro? I have no idea where the heck we are.”
“You gotta know how to read a map to survive in this world. You should learn sometime…”
Razor trailed off, then stopped. He’d sensed a faint presence far down the tunnel.
He gestured forward with his eyes. Jae-hee nodded and slowly lowered his stance.
Click!
The next instant, the sound of a gun being chambered echoed from the other end of the tunnel.
Jae-hee shot forward like a thunderbolt, closing the distance and kicking the barrel of the gun aimed at them toward the ceiling.
“Gah?!”
“Drop the gun and stay… huh?”
“Oh?”
The scuffle was brief. When the flashlight beam finally settled on their faces, both sides froze.
“Romeo? Juliet?”
“What the… it’s Boy.”
The two hiding in the sewer were Romeo and Juliet of Deck 4. Relieved, both parties lowered their weapons.
“What happened to the rest of your team? Why are you two here alone?”
“We made it in yesterday, but The Knights ambushed us while we were setting up a safe house. The team got scattered. We’ve been hiding here ever since.”
Status Window rushed forward. “What happened to old man Shylock desu?”
“We lost contact, but you think that old geezer would actually die?”
In any case, they were the first allies Jae-hee had encountered since the infiltration began. The two teams exchanged intel, and he learned a startling fact.
“The teams from the fifth to eighth decks have been wiped out.”
“What?!”
“Looks like they got hit during infiltration. We confirmed it yesterday while comms were still live. Only the lower-deck teams are left.”
Just then…
CRASH! CLANG!
A loud clatter echoed from a sewer pipe overhead. Something came tumbling out and landed in front of them with a wet
splat
.
“Whoa! What the hell is that?!” Razor yelped.
The flashlight beam revealed a writhing mass of tentacles. As everyone screamed and drew their weapons, Jae-hee threw up a hand.
“Wait! Hold on, she’s not an enemy!”
“What?”
“Look closer! It’s Bookworm!”
“Huh?”
They looked again.
He was right. It was Bookworm, Deck 3’s vice-deck leader. Long tentacles were sprouting from half her body and squirming violently, but it was a familiar face nonetheless.
“Are you kidding? It looks like a monster!”
“She’s a monster, but she’s still Bookworm, isn’t she?”
“What’s with all the tentacles?!”
“Well, she always summoned tentacles, so maybe they can just… sprout from her body now?”
Jae-hee, ever open-minded about the weirdest things.
Just then, the fallen Bookworm regained her senses and recognized the person standing before her.
“Huh…? Boy? It’s you, Boy!”
“Are you okay, Bookworm? What happened?”
“Ugh, well…”
With a miserable expression, Bookworm explained what had happened just moments before.
***
Thirty minutes earlier, at the junkyard.
The battle was nearing its end.
The Flying Tentacle God, commanded by the Cultist, was powerful, but it was still just a monster. And to The Knights, who had been hunting monsters for thirty years, it was an easier foe to handle than any villain or convict.
“Gyaaaargh!”
Chevalier charged, dicing dozens of tentacles to bits. The Flying Tentacle God could only shriek in pain. Even a Lord-level monster didn’t have an infinite arsenal.
The Flying Tentacle God had reached its limit.
“I just wanted to shake haaaands!”
“…So that’s its weak point.”
The Flying Tentacle God’s true form: a leather-bound book with a single, glaring yellow eye.
Spotting it, Chevalier lunged, sword first.
Fwish!
But before the blade could pierce it, a hand snatched the book back.
It was the Cultist.
“Cult Leader!”
The Tentacle God brightened, but the Cultist couldn’t manage a smile.
The situation was deteriorating rapidly. Under the relentless assault of The Knights, the Deck 2 team was either dead or had surrendered.
With the Flying Tentacle God routed, the Deck 3 team had no hope left.
“Great Flying Tentacle God, listen to me. You must escape from here and find a new Cult Leader.”
“Huh? But you’re my Cult Leader.”
“I think this is the end of the line for me.” The Cultist pressed a hand to his bullet-riddled abdomen.
The Knights were veterans. They’d correctly identified who was controlling the monster and had taken the shot the moment an opening appeared.
Realizing he wouldn’t make it out alive, the Cultist whispered gently to the evil god he served.
“Someone is out there… I know it. A true Cult Leader, who will understand you more deeply than I ever could.”
“What does that…”
“Now, escape through here.” He lifted a manhole cover and pointed down. “Go!”
“But, Cult Leader…!”
Ignoring its protests, the Cultist grabbed the leather book and hurled it down the open manhole.
“Aaaaaah…!”
The rest of its tentacles vanished as the Flying Tentacle God, now just a leather book, was swallowed by the sewer below.
The Cultist slammed the manhole cover shut, and the remaining members of the Glasses Society used their abilities to melt the edges, sealing it tight.
“Glasses Society, all of you!” the Cultist roared, mustering his last ounce of strength. “Buy time with your lives! For the Flying Tentacle God!”
“For the Flying Tentacle God!”
Then came the sounds of gunfire and a greatsword slicing through the air.
As the manhole was sealed shut, the Flying Tentacle God cried out in anguish as it fell.
“Cult Leadeeeeer!”
The Black Parade’s joint team of Deck 2 and 3.
Killed, captured, or scattered.
Shattered.
***
Back to the present. The sewers.
“Waaaaah. And that’s how I ended up escaping all alone…”
After hearing the full on the joint team from Bookworm (or rather, the Flying Tentacle God impersonating her), Jae-hee groaned.
“So, to recap… decks 5 through 8 are completely wiped out.”
“…”
“The fourth is scattered, Bookworm is the only one left from the third, and the second has survivors, but they’ve all surrendered.”
“…”
“So… we’re all that’s left?”
Jae-hee looked around. Five from the Deck 1, Bookworm from Deck 3, and Romeo and Juliet from Deck 4. This was all that remained of the Black Parade that could still function as a team.
“What’s the play, Boy?” Razor asked with a jut of his chin. “What do you want to do?”
“Me?”
“I’m just the leader of Deck 1. You’re the rising star aiming to be Deck Commander for the whole damn ship.”
Razor was formally acknowledging Jae-hee as his superior. He might have led Deck 1, but now that members of other decks had joined them, Razor deferred command to Jae-hee.
“I’ll follow your lead. What’s the call?”
“I…”
“We can hole up here and wait it out. Plenty of places to hide. It’s not ideal, but we could survive for a while.”
“…”
“Or we can keep going. Push on to the main building, which is crawling with rebels. It’s risky, but we could earn some serious Credits.”
“…”
“What’s it gonna be?”
The smart move would be to stand down.
Most of the teams from decks 2 through 8 had been annihilated in less than a day. There had always been a massive gap between The Knights, South Korea’s oldest guild, and the Black Parade, a motley crew of convicts.
Who would blame them for backing down now? They hadn’t signed up for some grand cause. They were here with the mindset of mercenaries: kill the enemy, earn Credits.
“…We go,” Jae-hee said, choosing to press on. “I know it’s dangerous… but we can’t just let a Gate explode in the middle of Seoul.”
If he hadn’t known the other teams were gone, it might have been different. But now that he did, he felt an even greater need to push forward.
If things went south, someone had to be there to close the Gate.
And that someone might have to be him.
Not that we’re the only ones left…
There was one other team still in the fight: the Deck 0 team, led by Ghost.
Even so, I can’t let my master carry the entire burden.
If every other team pulled out, the pressure on Deck 0 would only increase. He had to go, if only to support his master.
And more than anything… his heart was stirring.
Something big was happening at the heart of the Gate. He didn’t know what he could possibly do, but he had to go.
Jae-hee nodded to the remnants of the Black Parade gathered in the sewer.
“Let’s go. To the main building!”
The remaining convicts exchanged glances, then nodded as one.
And so, the Black Parade—or as Razor dubbed them, the Deck 1’s Leftovers Team—began their advance into the heart of enemy territory.
***
They had only been sloshing through the filth for a few more minutes when Bookworm (the Tentacle God) spoke to Jae-hee, fidgeting with her fingers as the tentacles on her back writhed.
“Um… Boy. You’re… not scared of me?”
“Huh?”
“Everyone else is disgusted, but you seem okay…”
Any sane person would be terrified of someone sprouting writhing tentacles and emitting a sickly yellow glow in the dark.
Jae-hee tilted his head, wondering to himself: was it really that bad? There were plenty of convicts on Deck 0 with similar vibes.
“Well, you’re a bit of a pervert, Bookworm… but honestly? You’re not scary.”
“…!”
For some reason, Bookworm’s eyes lit up, and a shimmering, unidentifiable color began to glow around her face.
“You’re the second person who isn’t afraid of me…”
The first, of course, had been the Cultist. That was why it had been able to stay with him.
Bookworm hesitated again before asking cautiously,
“Um… in that case… would you be… my new Cult Leader?”
“Cult Leader?” Jae-hee tilted his head. “What’s that?”
“It’s a relationship where we play together, eat yummy food, shake hands, praise each other, worship each other, and just… dote on each other!”
“Oh, so it’s like being friends?”
He’d been ready to refuse if it was something perverted. But based on that description, it sounded harmless enough.
Jae-hee beamed, flashing his signature max-charisma smile.
“Sure, I’ll do it! I’ll be your Cult Leader!”
Bookworm (and the yellow-eyed leather book floating beside her) beamed and clung to Jae-hee in something like a hug.
“Thank you, Cult Leader! It’s a promise! A contract! We’ll be together forever now!”
Watching Jae-hee instantly befriend the tentacle monster, Razor broke out in a cold sweat.
“…Doesn’t that seem, I don’t know, fucking ominous?”
And just like that, Jae-hee was crowned the new Cult Leader of the Flying Tentacle God!
Ruuuumble…!
The entire area began to shake. The stagnant water in the sewer rippled in unison.
In the darkness, it would have been easy to lose their bearings, but the epicenter of the tremor was unmistakable. Everyone turned toward it and began to walk again.
Toward the heart of enemy territory, toward a destination unknown, their own hearts stirring with anticipation.