Picus – Part 05
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Translator: Kell
At her signal, the swarm of rats rushed toward the armed men. The men raced back down the corridor screaming. Unable to escape, however, they cried as rats bit them.
When all the rats disappeared from the basement, the men were gone too. I let out a gasp of astonishment. I even shuddered in fear.
“Terrifying… Rats are absolutely terrifying…”
“I don’t want to push them too much… They’ll get hurt.”
Even though she just got rid of the bad guys, Lily was still feeling down.
I guessed she meant the rats. If she sicked the rats to the men, a couple of them would get killed, and she didn’t want that.
After thinking about it for a bit, I pulled out Theo’s knife and presented it to Lily.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“You can borrow it. It belonged to a close friend. He was a kid, no older than ten, but he fought for his family with everything he had. It’s the knife of a man who was much stronger and braver than me. You protect this people, and this will protect you in turn.”
Of all the weapons I had, it was the only one that Lily could handle with her size. Even if she didn’t actually use it, it would at least give her some mental support that she could protect herself without having to sacrifice a rat.
Lily reluctantly took the knife and grasped it tight.
“I’ll be back for that knife,” I said. “So make sure you make it home safe and sound. Now, go!”
Lily gave a firm nod. “Everyone, follow me! I know a secret path.”
“Oh, by the way.” I stopped her as she started to run. Lily turned around. “I’ll be getting my reward then. Don’t forget about the secret ingredient, okay?!”
“Okay! If mom doesn’t tell you, I will!”
Lily grabbed and pulled her mother’s hand. Liza seemed like she had no idea what was going on.
After making sure that everyone had all gone to the pantry, I roused myself up.
“Now where is that witch?”
According to the priest, there should be another staircase that led down underground somewhere.
I trudged down the corridor, clinging to the wall, and soon found what seemed like the right door. Unlike the other rooms, this was the only one with a solid stone door. The murals on the wall on the way down suggested it was a treasury.
There were iron bars at the bottom of the stairs. As I approached and peered inside, my eyes met with the mystic violet eyes of a beautiful witch sitting in the middle of the cell.
“Hey,” I called. “You look terrible, witch.”
Zero’s arms and legs were bound with solid iron shackles, with chains firmly attached to the floor. The chains were so short that Zero couldn’t even stand up.
She was playing around idly with one of my arms. I didn’t know whether I should laugh or get mad.
“You too,” Zero said, smiling at my current state. “You were too careless. That Corruption fellow should not have been able to push you this far. She took one of your arms and even injured the other.”
“Like anyone could’ve expected a gunpowder-powered shovel. All the Church’s toys are absurd, okay?”
I briefly examined the iron bars, and sighed when I verified that I couldn’t destroy in my current state. I had gunpowder, but there was no point it using it if I couldn’t break the chains that bound Zero to the floor.
“Just to double-check,” I said, “you can’t get yourself out, right?”
“I double-checked, but I cannot. A key is needed.” She jangled the chains.
Okay. Guess I’ll have to get her out, then.
“I’ll get the key. Just wait here. I’ll be right back.”
“I will be waiting. Even if it takes a decade.”
The trail that the priest left behind was littered with the bodies of thugs. All of their corpses had been cut to pieces, suggesting he was wary of Sanare.
Running up the stairs through the corridor, I came to a vast hall. In the center of the hall was a huge, shattered basin, spraying water. There was a staircase to the second floor and a large door leading out of the temple. The upper half of the door had also been destroyed.
Right next to the door, the priest was crouching by the wall, hiding from something.
“Is he dead?” I murmured.
He clicked his tongue. Apparently he was still alive and kicking.
I strolled towards the door, and as I drew nearer, the priest suddenly shouted.
“Get back, you idiot! Get away from the door!”
I lifted my head, wondering what he was on about, and got a good view of the outside through the destroyed door. There was a plain cart with a cannon-like thing on it, its barrel too thin for an actual artillery.
The barrel spewed fire, followed by a series of ear-shattering explosions. I immediately rolled behind the door.
Something was bouncing off the cobblestones, scattering in all directions. It sounded like a torrential downpour beating down on thin steel plate.
Smoke billowed, and the smell of stone spread throughout the hall. The cobblestones had been smashed to smithereens with a long-range attack.
“What the hell’s going on?!”
“It’s the same weapon they used on us on the road! We can’t get out of here!”
Oh, the one from when we were escorting Zero to Lutra. It was so ridiculous, I thought it was some kind of Magic.
When the sound stopped, I cautiously looked up. Through the smoke I could see the hollowed cobblestones and metal pieces the size of my pinky scattered everywhere. They must have been round, but they were deformed from being smashed against the stones.
Balls of lead, perhaps?
“She was firing those things at us? All that, at this distance, at that speed? What kind of a weapon is that?!”
“It’s a prototype of the “Divine Annihilation Machine” developed by the Church for the eradication of witches. It’s called the Picus, a small-caliber, rapid-fire gun.”
“What the hell kinda name is that?! Doesn’t roll off the tongue well, if you ask me. Hell, it doesn’t even feel real to me.”
“It’s not that long ago that firearms was invented. The larger ones are called cannons, but there are many other forms of firearms that have been experimented with and developed in the Church. You’ve seen Corruption’s weapon, haven’t you?”
“You mean this?” I tossed the shovel to the floor.
“Why do you have that?”
“I stomped on the chain, so she couldn’t take it with her when she ran away. I picked it up and brought it with me just in case it would be of any use, but I don’t think I can reach that Picus thing from here.”
The priest looked distressed. “How could she abandon a sacred artifact given by the Church so easily?” he mumbled. “She should consider the dangers of leaking the Church’s secrets.”
“I’m surprised you could come up with such a ridiculous idea of firing the tip of a shovel using gunpowder,” I said.
“Countless ridiculous ideas resulted in more safe and stable firearms. Now the idea of rapid-fire firearms came up.”
“And that’s the result?” I pointed at the priest’s scythe. Reflected on the glinting blade was Corruption, holding her weapon like a monster.
A grip rotated the thin barrels bound together. It seemed that when the grip was turned, an endless series of shells were sucked into the barrel, allowing the weapon to fire continuously without having to reload each time.
I picked up a piece of the shattered door and threw it outside. Before it hit the ground, the Picus reduced it to smaller pieces. There was not even a trace of it left. Charging straight on would be suicide.
Leaning against the wall, I sank down and looked to the ceiling. “Even in a battle of attrition, we’ll still be at a disadvantage. Fire will spread slower in this stone temple, but eventually we’ll get flushed out. Then she’ll put holes in us.”
“I won’t be able to see once the sun comes up. We have to settle this while it’s still night out.”
“Does that thing run out of ammo?”
“Their carriage is filled with ammunition. She could keep firing all night if she wanted to.” Then suddenly he lifted his head. “You didn’t hurt your leg, did you?”
“What?”
“It’s important. How long can you run in your current condition?”
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