Mercenary Black Mamba

Mosquitoes and horse flies tried their best to shove their blood-sucking straws in, and ants struggled to bite out his flesh. But his skin was the kind of shell that even Ituri's most poisonous darts and teeth couldn't dig into.

"Hehehe, my shell's better than my master's."

Samedi smiled, swept up the army ants and horse flies that had gathered in a black swarm into his hand, and shook them into his mouth. His master trembled at the sight, but it was just snacks to him.

Special snipers have an ability to control their sleeping cycles. Black Mamba's eyes flashed open. It was two in the morning, and a sliver of moonlight was hanging in the sky. He recalled his mother's bright face on the moon.

"What a pitiful life," he mumbled to himself.

While other humans in the world were sleeping soundly, he was the only person getting awake to prepare for a carnival, which meant that he wasn't normal. How sad would his mother be when she gets to know her son's profession.

Clack! A loud metal noise returned him from his thoughts. It was time for the god of death to descend. Samedi's shadow looked eerie as he had thrown a MAG with a magazine strip around his shoulder. The giant with a horn seemed to nearly jump out of its storybook. Black Mamba jumped down like a feather.

"Wear it."

He threw him the AN/PVS-5 and showed him how to use it.

"Oh, it's weird," Samedi exclaimed.

The dark world turned bright green. The operational AN/PVS-5-night goggles could provide up to 800 meters of sight. Not even Black Mamba's night sight reached that far. Man's aggressive nature overcomes darkness, which is the source of fear.

Black Mamba headed out wordlessly. Samedi was born with battle capabilities. He knew when to stand out, and when not to, and was ruthless when he moved. His use of fire weaponries had also grown smoother. He was a trustworthy support; no words needed. If he'd brought Sun Woo Hyun along, he'd have been busy taking care of that newbie.

Black shadows flew around the wide river and swamp regions like ocelots in heat (ocelot, a cat native to South America that runs around like mad during full moon). The shadows were Black Mamba and Samedi looking for an infiltration point.

The point where the Eflu River from the Great Rift Valley and the Ituri River from the Rwenzori Mountain Range met was Apadombe. The river, which increased in size the more ground it covered, stopped at Apadombe. The great forest created a swamp across hundreds of square kilometers. The lower rift that entered the swamp was Kadangka.

The river around Kadangka was around 200-300m long. It was an almost impregnable fortress that had the best moat. Those bastards made a wise choice choosing this place as their headquarters.

Ituri Jungle's swamps were always dangerous. The mud and trash gathered meters-high for a long time. Sticking one's foot in just because the water was low would end up with one sucked into the swamp. And once swallowed into the swamp, one would be nothing but a body filled with trash.

The river starts to overflow with deadly creatures once the water stops flowing. Giant spiders, alligators, and poisonous snakes gather, and it starts bubbling with Kandirus, swamp spiders, Midge Ures, Medina, poisonous insects, and parasites. The reason that big snakes like anacondas and silk snakes lived in waters was because of their heavy weight.

The creatures' body weight increases by a third. When a two-meter long Salmosa's weight is at three kilograms, the silk snake's weight becomes 81 kg and an eight meters anaconda becomes 192kg. This was why big snakes gathered at the swamp.

What wouldn't exist in Ituri where Terror birds, Dinofelis, and Sarcosaurus existed? There might even be the monster called Mukelleum Baeumbera. A local who had spotted the Sarcosaurus could have more than possibly made up the legend of the Mukelleum Baeumbera.

He'd run its large region for a whole hour, but had failed to find a landing point. The region he'd seen from afar and the terrain he was seeing now was too different. He couldn't even find a way to invade from a Kadangka (shallow waters).

"Wakil, it's a landing point."

The point that Samedi was pointing at was the narrow point of a gourd at its waist in the Ituri River. Two mokors (boats made of dug-out pine trees) on the other side of the river were stationed on the bank. It was the only exit which seemed to connect Kadangka and the outside, as long as one signaled from the other side of the river.

"There's an infiltration group."

He couldn't see a boma, but he could hear their breaths like lightning.

"Shall I shatter them?"

Black Mamba contemplated for a while. As long as he could erase those hiding in the boma, it was the perfect place to land. Kamuge wasn't an idiot. There was another boma 50 meters from the one ahead of them, at each side. It was impossible to avoid the guards' eyes, cross the river, and suppress three bomas without making a single sound. Black Mamba shook his head. His goal wasn't to get rid of the hostages but to save them. For now, he had to slip in without a sound and secure those hostages.

"What's the point of killing those bastards? The hostages will become more endangered."

He gave up the landing dock entirely and turned four kilometers away to the other side. It was the widest river point and a place where no guard points were stationed. Deng Ai managed to cross the rough mountain range and fell Chok, while Napoleon had crossed the Alps and shattered the Italian military. There was no greater weakness than letting one's defense down.

The sound of bubbles shooting up from the river's bottom could be heard. If methane gas was coming up from the riverbed, it meant that a lot of decomposable waste had been piled up. Or a magma vein was flowing from Kiv Lake.

The greenish swamp that was reflected on his night goggles seemed like a scene straight out of a horror movie. There were floating piles of aquatic plants, tangled air roots, dead trees with their white bark exposed, some unknown creatures gliding across the water surface, meandering vipers, and landscapes that would easily resolve a writer's block for a scenery.

"Samedi, Kamuge is a Houngan. You don't know what kind of spice he'd spread. Shove that MAG back in and grab your Squeaker. We can't make a sound."

"Alright. The machine gun doesn't feel right anyway."

The two wore waterproof shoes over their military shoes. Their movements would be hindered if their shoes were wet. Fast movement is the first condition to a captives' rescue. He wore special goggles, closed his nostrils and ears with silicones, and even blocked his penis hole with a condom.

It would be a lie if he didn't find the dark, sticky swamp unwelcoming. This was Ituri Jungle, after all, where all kinds of monsters and special creatures jumped around.

"Ksitigarbha, Ksitigarbha!" Black Mamba chanted as he slid into the swamp.

Gurgle. Bubbles floated up. The swamp came up to his knees, and the stinky water splashed on his chin. He didn't know how deep it would get, but it was fortunate that the swamp wasn't as deep as he thought it would be.

He didn't believe in the effects of Ksitigarbha himself. He'd sent thousands of lives into hell. It didn't seem like the King of Hell, or the Ksitigarbha would let him go. It would be fortunate if countless ghosts didn't drag him into the swamp to die together.

Two green glass eyes floated around. They were alligator eyes. Without his goggles, their eyes would be red. Any other human wouldn't have dared to cross the river in an act of madness. That Kamuge bastard had chosen a perfect location for headquarters.

Black Mamba moved slowly so that no ripples would be seen. Samedi followed carefully. He had absolutely no information on what kind or how many creatures lived in the river. It would be annoying if those bastards who had their territory invaded attacked at the same time.

Samedi's eyes flashed. Something was approaching quickly from the right. It sliced the water widely. It was a Boidae reaching 7-8 meters in length. Keeee! The Boidae raised its one-meter long upper body and aimed for Black Mamba. Its eyes were green.

"Clear!"

Whoosh! The Squeaker flashed in the moonlight. The snake, now without a head, trembled. Whoosh! Samedi and Black Mamba rushed to leave. Tsss! The alligator herd rushed in. The sounds of flesh getting ripped off could be heard.

"Leave that red-eyed one to me."

"Understood."

Just like what he saw in Kran, creatures whose minds were connected to the Houngan had red eyes as though their irises were flooded with blood. Killing the tamer would make the Houngan notice the invader.

Tssss! A large snake that could swallow small poisonous snakes and humans continued to rush in. Whoosh! Whoosh! The Squeaker struck the water surface rapidly. Blood and water splashed every time. The poisonous water was unable to fool Samedi's keen senses and was unable to withstand the Squeaker either. Whoosh! The water's surface rippled greatly.

"Wakil, its eyes are red."

Its head was larger than Samedi's. Imagine a large snake rushing at you as it slices the black water underneath the crescent moonlight. It was a scene one wouldn't want to see even in their nightmares.

The alligators and snakes that had gathered fled like mad. The predator, like the greatest predator in the cycle, didn't even bother as it ran in. The snake's head banged the moment Black Mamba pulled out his Rakshasa. The impact had occurred at the moment he was calculating the minutes and seconds.

Bang! Keeeh! The snake that was beaten up by the Rakshasa twisted its body around. Whoosh! The Rakshasa wrapped around its neck. The snake that had been wandering the swamp as though it would turn it over stopped moving. It was no different from a calf without a rope. Black Mamba examined the snake with his water goggles. Crack! Hundreds of teeth broke. Its mouth turned red with blood, but the snake didn't move as though it wanted itself dead.

"Yeaap!"

Black Mamba's vein protruded on his forehead as he used his strength to lift the snake with Rakshasa. The snake, which had the Rakshasa wound around its neck, flew through the air. Whoosh! The large snake weighing over 500kg landed right in the middle of the alligators' feast. Flap! The alligators that had been feasting on the corpses that died at Samedi's hands swam away like mad. Even the snake fled the other way.

"What is happening?" Samedi's mouth hung open.

"I tried sending it away so it can hang around with the others but it seems like its size doesn't fit." Black Mamba, who was retrieving Rakshasa, acted as though he did nothing.

"Wakil, why was the large snake unable to move? Did you become a voodoo priest?"

"The Rakshasa is made of the strongest dinosaur, the Bosssaurus', tendon. An animal that has an evolved spirituality can recognize its ancestors' remains. So, I used it, just to see if it works."

"Really?" Samedi tilted his head. It seemed possible, but he couldn't believe him completely.

They had managed to cross the 300 meters swamp halfway. The swamp grew deeper. The swamp, which reached up to his knee earlier, was now swallowing his thighs. Black Mamba made his body float with resonance, and Samedi pushed on using his pure strength.

"Ugh!" Samedi, who was ahead, shouted before getting dragged underneath the surface. It was a swamp inside a swamp created from unstable water flow.

It was a situation he'd already expected. Plonk! The Rakshasa dug into the riverbed. Whoosh! Rakshasa wrapped itself around Samedi's body.

"Hmph!" Black Mamba swallowed his scream. Instead of dragging Samedi out, he was being dragged in. The water that had been lapping around his chest, now lapped around his chin. Then, his body started to descend little by little. He tried resisting using his resonance, but he was still dragged down. He felt as though two hundred wrestlers were dragging him down from the riverbed.

The dark water lapped around his chin. Even Mu Ssang grew frantic. If he let go of the Rakshasa, Samedi would disappear underneath the swamp, and if he continued to resist, he would be buried in the swamp. With nowhere to go, Black Mamba began to suspect the situation. This kind of suction power couldn't be normal. This could be Kamuge's spell.

Even the great Black Mamba had no solution in a situation where his feet were being dragged down. For now, he needed a footing to use his strength. He rushed to reach the other side of the swamp. An abinisia tree over two tree barks wide came into his sight.

He took out the army rope in his left pocket. 150 meters wasn't much of a distance, but it wasn't an easy distance since Samedi was dragging him in.

"Huuuh!" He breathed in enough air that his lower stomach grew bloated. Clear air poured out of his brain and seeped into his right arm. There would be no second chance if he failed. He threw the dart attached to the rope at his target the best he could.

Whoosh! Bang! The dart flew through the ground and dug into the tree bark. His body started to get dragged down once he was distracted. He spewed resonance below his feet and grabbed the army rope the best he could until it felt like his arm was going to fall off.

Twang! The rope was stretched so tightly that it looked like it would break. He could feel the tree twitching from the rope. He begged for the army rope to hold the pressure. His body slowly started to float. In his left hand was Samedi, and in his right hand, the army rope. All kinds of things rushed at him while both of his hands were tied. A salmusa bit him and refused to let go, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Samedi was slowly being dragged out of the water. After ten or so minutes of fighting, Samedi's face resurfaced with a pop. Both of his arms trembled as though he was going through tremors.

"Damn, it's hard to earn money," Black Mamba mumbled to himself.

"Ugh, what's happening? Damn it," Samedi complained as he spat out the mud in his mouth.

It was truly like Samedi to do so.

"Brat, be careful! You almost became a Samedi Lucy! (a female ancient fossil found 35 million years ago in the Hadid desert of Ethiopia. It was preserved underneath a swamp)," Black Mamba scolded and gave the army rope to Samedi.

He grabbed both sides of the swamp salmusa's mouth and tore it in half, then flung it away. Not even a Botulinum toxin could harm his body. A salmusa's poison wasn't much, but it still felt horribly disgusting.

Crossing the river was easy as long as they were free of the swamp. Samedi grabbed the army rope. Splash! The two crossed the swamp as one lump. Black Mamba, angered to the extreme, sliced the alligator and snake heads off ruthlessly.