Mercenary Black Mamba

It was ammunition that had been stored in the fuselage tank of the plane.

The two planes that had crashed into each other were burning furiously. The situation wasn't finished.

With a loud bang, a large fireball erupted. The main wing separated from the fuselage and fell like rain. Like a bomb, the flying wing sped toward the vehicle they were in.

The airplane's fuel tank was located inside it.

The principle of how a plane flew was simple. The plane's engine, which caused it to go at a high speed, caused a lower pressure on top than on the bottom. To reduce the effects of gravity, the fuel tank was placed specifically to combat it. For commercial planes, the fuel tank was usually in the shape of a box beam. For military planes, however, exposing the fuel tank was the worst possible thing one could do.

The large wing that had broken off hit the fuel tank like a knife.

Boom—

An explosion much more powerful than anything they'd ever experienced before erupted. Flames bursted upward and caused billowing fire and smoke. The sound of sirens, screams, continuing explosions, and sweeping winds filled the air. With the second explosion, the Paya Airport was in chaos.

Ocelot, who was parachuting down in a relaxed mood, had a smile on his face. He thought he could understand how Nerora, who had watched from atop a balcony after setting fire to Rome, had felt.

"This is the second most fun thing after hunting humans. I should continue making the most of it."

Ocelot was one to say such gruesome things with ease. After gaining such satisfaction from the Paya Airport, Ocelot would soon go on to cause more trouble.

Ocelot wasn't a human.

The people who celebrated the full moon on New Year's Day with fireworks were no different than burning rats or bugs in a fire. The dancing flames and shouts of humans were nothing more than an entertaining sight to watch.

Located 160 feet above ground, Ocelot waved his left hand.

His fingernails, as sharp as a knife blade, stuck out two inches from his fingertips. His joints twisted unrealistically so that his hand reached the back of his neck. The line of the parachute finally broke.

The canopy and the man were both freed.

The canopy flew out into the wind, and the man was pulled to the ground by gravity. With a thud, dust flew out. Even with such great force, his flexible latex-like joints absorbed the shock.

"The invention of humans inhibited evolution, but they are useful. Humans are full of contradictions. I am too, full of contradictions!" he mumbled as he headed to the warehouse area where there were many storage units. Paya was a city deep within Africa. He was lucky that it had an airport, because if it hadn't and he'd had to go by land, he would have seriously thought of giving up on the client's request. Ocelot treasured cleanliness and wouldn't have wanted to travel for several days in a jeep bombarded by dust and sand.

Even though it was late at night, the warehouse area still had several trucks ready for freight.

'That will do.'

He spotted a Dodge truck come out of the warehouse area. In the truck's cargo space, a black shadow flitted inside. Unaware of its stowaway's presence, the truck passed the airport and accelerated.

Creak—

The sharp sound of bending metal was heard.

"What's that?"

When the driver turned around, his eyes grew so wide, it looked like they would tear. The cargo area was being ripped apart. Two white hands were shredding through it as if it was paper.

"Reuhur, Reuhur!" yelled the driver intensely. The truck swayed.

"Human, look forward!"

The voice was so serene that it could have put him to sleep.

The driver immediately stopped screaming. The low voice penetrated straight into his brain without passing through his ears. Experiencing severe fear, his consciousness suddenly became immensely clear.

The man's words sounded like the command of a god from heaven. Ocelot had the skill to use the powerful resonance of his voice to penetrate the human mind. He didn't have the power to kill them with it, but he could make weak-minded humans his puppets.

"Where's the hotel?"

The driver replied without hesitation, "It's in the city of Sitonga."

"Are there hotels anywhere else?"

"The only hotel in Paya is Meren."

"Alright. Drive."

The fearful driver stepped on the accelerator without answering.

Since Hotel Le Meren wasn't too far from the airport, it didn't take more than ten minutes to reach it.

'So it's around here.'

In the darkness, a pair of eyes gleamed as it stared at Hotel Le Meren. It wasn't a reflective sort of light, but similar to the red glare of a predator.

Ocelot pulled out a pair of Raybans from his pocket and put them on. The dark lens covered his frightening eyes.

"You've done well."

The truck driver suddenly shuddered. It wasn't the sound of a god as he had heard before. This time, it was a murderous tone.

"Please let me live."

"You ask too much of me."

Ocelot's gaze locked onto the Misbaha hanging in front of the driver seat windshield.

"Is that a relic the weak humans rely on?! Ignorant fools!"

The Misbaha's string broke as it fell into Ocelot's hands.

"How pretty. If it was colored with blood, it would be even prettier."

Slam—

The Misbaha was thrust into the driver's forehead.

The Muslim Misbaha was similar to the Catholic rosary and had a Quran attached at its end instead of a cross. The hand made Quran imitation was dyed in red.

Ocelot was reminded of his client.

He was sure Tawar was just an alias. The top assassins always confirmed the identities of their clients. Ocelot didn't care who the client or target was. An identity check was only necessary for crafty and weak humans.

Murder was his hobby, and his sole source of pleasure.

To kill and the act of killing was what was important—he didn't care about the frivolous other purposes that surrounded it. He only needed the money received from the clients to live in the human world comfortably.

"You've received payment, so you must do your money's worth."

Ocelot stepped through the door of the hotel nonchalantly.

It was approaching midnight.

Ocelot stopped his hand that had reached out for the neck of the black man who was asleep with his nose buried in the desk. There were eight squirming humans here. He didn't want to waste his time spilling useless blood.

No, he had refrained because the man looked dirty. The sight of his sweaty neck made his urge to kill dissipate. Ocelot shuddered then wiped his hands on his white handkerchief, which was embroidered with a rose.

To Ocelot, the urge to kill was at the same level of sexual lust. As sexual attraction was needed for lust, he only killed when he felt a certain charm about the kill. Ignorance was bliss. The deskman who had one foot near death's door was left to sleep in peace.

His sensitive hearing that was greater than that of a hunting dog picked up the breathing of eight men. The count was perfect.

'Oh, were there already guests here before me?'

The inside of the building was filled with the smell of fresh blood. The smell of blood was always refreshing. Once he smelled blood, the sleeping predatory instinct within him arose. Blood, he wanted to see blood.

Like a woman, he licked his red lips and looked back at the black man at the desk.

All he had to do was swipe his fingernail across his artery. His contemplation was short. He wanted to see blood in a hurry, but he refused the dirty man.

In a relaxed manner, Ocelot went up to the second floor, then stopped to listen. A human's hearing could register 20 to 20,000 hertz. Ocelot could hear 20 to 400,000 hertz, six or seven times better than normal. When he couldn't sense any noise, he went up another flight of stairs.

The captain was the first to realize something was wrong.

After experiencing many wars, his body was sending him warning bells. The heavy sensation that seemed to be pushing down on his body was like the time he had been targeted by a homing missile in Algeria. It was a situation in which he couldn't escape the inevitable.

His war experience was setting off an alarm in his head. They needed Black Mamba. He prayed that Black Mamba was wearing his headset.

– Black Mamba, Black Mamba.

He had requested help from him several times but there was no answer. It had been a farfetched hope. Black Mamba, who had entered the city, had no need to be listening to his headset.

However, the captain's desperate hope had not been for nothing.

Black Mamba's spatial awareness picked up on Ocelot. His spatial awareness skill worked like a submarine sonar and made it possible to decipher the exact location of a person's presence. It was different from his ability to sense human presence.

'How could this be?! How could something so impossible happen?'

The entity that he registered with his spacial awareness skill was himself.

'There are two of me?'

If it wasn't a doppelganger, then his spatial awareness wasn't working properly. Neither option made sense.

'There's no rule to say there couldn't be another human like me.'

He suddenly got goosebumps. Just thinking of another person with skill similar to his wreaking havoc at the hotel was a gruesome thought.

"Please! Please!"

Crack—

The brick started to split, and his hearing was elevated to its maximum potential. The dark shadow sped through the night like lightning to reach Paya.

"Everyone, get ready to attack."

The mercenaries pulled out each of their guns, locked and loaded. No one expressed their doubt. Bell Man and Jang Shin pushed Burimer under the bed.

"Damn, what can we do with these flimsy guns?" Mike muttered as he ran into the shower. Bell Man and Jang Shin hid behind the sofa. The captain hid behind the door.

The silent room was suddenly filled with tension.

Click—

It was the sound of a lock turning on the door.

"He's here!"

"Quiet!"

Bell Man stopped Jang Shin from talking.

The locked door rattled angrily. The mercenaries held their breath and concentrated their attention on the door.

"How, how could this be?!"

From behind the sofa, Bell Man let out a scream without realizing it.

Crack—

The metal door bent inwards as it was slowly pushed open. The eyes of all the mercenaries grew wider.

Crack— Unable to resist the force, the hinges broke off. The door that should have opened outwards was pushed inward. It had lost its upper hinge, now dangling on just its lower one.

Lit up by the dim light of the hallway, a long dark silhouette stretched out toward them. He was an enormously tall man with hair that came down to his shoulders.

Puh puh puh— Puh puh puh—

The Glock and Berreta exploded with fire. They were mercenaries trained well by Black Mamba. Their surprise soon changed to attacking.

The man who had been standing in front of the door suddenly disappeared. As if he hadn't been there from the beginning, there was no trace of him. All the mercenaries could do was blink. Thinking they had seen a joint hallucination, they rubbed their eyes. The only reason they knew this was reality was due to the broken door.

"Stay alert!"

At the captain's command, the mercenaries all headed toward the wall. Having to stay alert inside a room was ridiculous, but this was no normal human they were dealing with.

Bang—

The wall that connected them to room 319 exploded. Something dark swooped through the dust and cement and ambushed them. Upon hearing gunshots, the captain reacted instinctively. He shot with the Glock continually.

The human shape flitted in and out like a flag waving in the wind. The captain couldn't believe his eyes. Only after five of his bullets missed the figure did he realize his dire situation. Was a human able to maneuver around bullets even possible?!

Puh puh puh—

The special sniper was noticeably different. He shot in between the intermittent breaks of Mike's shots and showered him in bullets.

Swish—

Ocelot lightly maneuvered through them and attacked the captain.

"Ack!" Mike jumped in surprise and rolled out of the way.

Crash—

With immense speed, an unknown entity crashed into the shower wall.

Mike's eyes went dark.

The object that the man had thrown at the captain without even looking was a pen. The pen shot through the concrete wall and stayed nailed in place. Cold sweat ran down his back. One wrong move, and he would have died from a flying pen.

When Ocelot's godlike powers came into play, the mercenaries couldn't establish a proper target, since the surface area of the target had become a hundred times smaller in an instant.

The bullets that Mike had shot only sent dust flying from the walls. Even Bell Man and Jang Shin were unable to find the opportunity to shoot. His movements were impossible to decipher without Black Mamba's quick and consecutive shots.

The captain shuddered at the sudden realization. This opponent couldn't be human. His murderous intent that sent chills down his spine and the merciless evil that seemed to shake the captain's very core caused him to become paralyzed.

They couldn't avoid it or prepare for it—he was too powerful for them. They had the sudden realization of how it felt for a human to go up against Black Mamba.

Anticipating his death, the captain closed his eyes.