Book 9: Chapter 39: The Push

“This direction… seems to lead to HELLSING’s headquarters, right?” Grant recalled the trio’s path after a brief moment of thought, his voice filled with doubt. “Would they still be there?”

Grant’s skepticism wasn’t unfounded. HELLSING’s headquarters was a nobleman’s manor disguised as a holiday villa. Its architecture was dignified yet elegant, but as an older building, the main structure lacked the towering height of modern constructions.

From their position, they could now see the entire scene clearly. The lawn before the manor was pitted with craters, littered with the bodies of guards and Crusaders. Freshly turned soil mixed with blood and torn grass clumps.

The manor’s outer walls were shattered, fractured rebar jutting from the concrete in places. The fountain topped with an Angel statue that once stood before the estate was completely gone, replaced only by a massive bomb crater. Likely blown apart by helicopter rockets, the sight was horrifying.

Part of the main building’s right side had also vanished, exposing broken furniture and decorations within. Walls were riddled top to bottom with bullet holes, like moldy cheese or a flower ravaged by a storm.

“Hmm, when I was on the Berlin airship, Major Montana mentioned HELLSING’s leader countless times,” Qin Lun said with a faint smile. “He seemed quite impressed by that woman named Integra. He said even though she’s just a woman and her methods immature, she possesses her ancestors’ spirit – both ruthless and stubborn.

Since she gambled everything by releasing Alucard, she’s betting everything on this war. Someone like that wouldn’t abandon her command post before the fighting ends. Grant, look at the guard bodies at the manor’s front. Do they look like beaten dogs fleeing for their lives, slaughtered from behind by the Crusaders?”

“Indeed…” Grant grinned wide, a flicker of red light in his eyes as he licked his lips menacingly. “You’ve actually got me excited now, Qin Lun. You did that on purpose, didn’t you!”

“Wait, I didn’t know your tastes were this… unique,” Qin Lun replied, arching an eyebrow in surprise at the Joker’s bloodthirsty excitement. “I thought you liked beautiful creatures? By any measure, that Integra seems more like a mannish woman?”

“Haha, you don’t understand true beauty!” Grant cast a glance at Monica floating nearby, giving Qin Lun a meaningful smirk. “In that regard, I feel like I’d share more common ground with… another part inside you!”

Qin Lun’s eyelid twitched violently. He closed his mouth, speechless.

The three moved quickly. After disembarking from the helicopter, they soon arrived near HELLSING’s headquarters.

The fighting here seemed to have just paused. Perhaps Alucard’s release had drawn the Crusaders’ full attention, causing them to withdraw their forces besieging the manor. The entire area held the eerie silence left in the wake of heavy combat.

“Gerthard, I’ll scout inside the building!” Monica frowned, surveying their surroundings. “This place gives me a terrible feeling.”

“No, Monica!” Qin Lun reached out to stop the Queen of Sandstorm, his tone grave. “Please respect Captain Kluge and me. We aren’t recruits who need babysitting.”

“Well… alright,” Madame Monica paused, then covered her mouth with a light laugh seeing Qin Lun’s serious expression. “I’ll keep watch for you. If any strong enemies approach, I’ll alert you.”

“That’s truly enviable,” Grant chuckled, watching as Monica dissolved into sand and ascended. “Hey, Qin Lun, the Queen of Sandstorm doesn’t seem deeply tied to this world’s history. Why not offer her a place in the Star Void?”

Qin Lun’s eyes flashed silently. He shook his head once. Though surprised, Grant didn’t press further.

The Joker probably doesn’t know that taking a Servant Apostle shares your Soul Life Limit, Qin Lun thought. The Queen of Sandstorm’s bloodline is too unique. Even if she isn’t quite High Rank, her power can’t be far off. After making Didi a Servant Apostle, my Soul Life Limit is only 97 points. Absolutely insufficient to take her with me.

Putting this aside, the two men refocused on the manor ahead. Though the main building was shattered and seemed ready to collapse, strangely, lights still flickered in a few relatively intact rooms.

Those feeble lights, looking like they might die out any second, were like hopeful beacons in the graveyard-like darkness. Or moths dancing defiantly near the flame, mocking their enemies with haughty disdain.

Even Qin Lun and Grant felt a jolting current stir in their hearts, leaving a trail of heat in its wake as they watched the wavering glimmers.

Grant tore open the front of his military uniform, revealing his muscular chest. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Qin Lun on an earthen embankment – one of the Crusaders’ makeshift defenses erected before the manor.

“Qin Lun, you weren’t wrong!” The Joker snarled, his gaze fixed on the manor as a bloody red tint slowly seeped into his eyes. “That woman Integra really is something special. I like it!”

“Be careful, Grant. There aren’t any overwhelmingly strong auras inside the manor,” Qin Lun bared his teeth in a cold grin, his white fangs glinting sharply in the dark. “But my gut says things won’t go smoothly!”

“Then this trip wasn’t a mistake! I delight in hunting tenacious prey!” Grant lifted his head, took a deep breath, his shoulders trembling slightly like an addict savoring a hit. “The despair on their faces when hope shatters is the most exquisite!”

“Careful!” Qin Lun started to speak calmly, then abruptly frowned. He shoved Grant hard aside while diving sideways himself, rolling down off the embankment.

BOOM! A thin, dark shadow slammed into the spot they had just occupied. An intense explosion followed. The piled-earth defense shattered instantly. Rocks exploded outward as half the embankment vanished.

“A crossbow? No… the bolt was… a modern alloy arrow!” Qin Lun frowned, recalling the object his Perception just registered. “HELLSING’s Apostles and Reincarnators protecting Integra should all be gone. So… that attack must have come from a Superhuman? Someone using a bow and arrow on a modern battlefield? Hah! Interesting. Then I’ll play too!” He took out the Ayala Weapon Casket. With a quick twist of his hands, he grasped the finely crafted Ayala Longbow, its curves resembling a phoenix spreading its wings.

Boom-boom-boom… Just as Qin Lun and Grant regained their footing to counter-attack, a rapid, drumming sound echoed from deep within the manor. The noise was muffled, yet insistent, like a series of rapid, heavy explosions.

“That sound… that cadence… Anti-aircraft autocannon?!” Grant’s pupils dilated instantly. Without thinking, he roared, raised his arms, thick triceps bulging, and slammed his palms down onto the earthen Crusader defenses just ahead of the manor.

THUMP! The ground shuddered violently. A large chunk of specially made Crusader armor plating – easily as big as a round table – jumped up under the force, slamming down like a wall in front of them both.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Unbelievably, the dense plating failed to stop the incoming shells. Thick, five-centimeter steel armor cracked and ruptured under the impacts. Qin Lun, standing behind, dodged just in time. Grant wasn’t so lucky. A thirty-millimeter shell tore into his waist, instantly ripping his body in half. Shattered organs spilled onto the earth.

“Autocannons lack that kind of penetration,” Qin Lun muttered, eyeing the saucer-sized holes blasted through the armor plate, his lip curling slightly. “That’s a light cannon firing armor-piercing steel-core shells! What a generous ‘welcome’ present before we even start the assault. Awkward.”

The cannon fire didn’t cease after tearing through the plate. Instead, it intensified, sweeping over their ruined cover with pinpoint accuracy. It roared with the relentless fury of a machine gun with endless ammunition rather than the measured cadence of a heavy cannon.

“Earthen Wall!” Qin Lun scrambled through several desperate rolls. Finally, his face hardened. He slammed his right palm – clad in the Glove of Sacrifice – onto the ground. A thick, meter-high wall of solid earth erupted, finally stopping the murderous stream of shells.

Whoosh-whoosh! Two long, thin, black metal arrows thumped into the newly risen wall even as its top solidified.

The concentrated explosives on the arrows detonated violently. The Sixth Tier Earthen Wall spell crumbled under the combined assault of explosive shells and concussive arrows within mere seconds. The sheer destructive power made Qin Lun frown inwardly.

“Qin Lun! Cover me!” Grant’s low voice growled near his shoulder. Qin Lun glanced back to see the Joker’s mangled torso. Countless thin, wriggling tendrils like pale worms sprouted from the separated halves, pulling and knotting themselves as they reconnected his body.

The Joker was clearly infuriated by the cannon fire. The Human Skin Mask had appeared on his face unnoticed. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“Got it!” Qin Lun acknowledged with a sharp nod, his expression focused.

Cannons have severe recoil – even thirty-millimeters. Achieving that machine-gun-like, rapid-fire, shell-by-shell accuracy implied only two possibilities: advanced automated fire control systems, or a gunner strong enough to simply man-handle the recoil.

The first option was impossible here. HELLSING’s headquarters had already suffered multiple waves of Crusader fire. No sophisticated targeting equipment could have survived. That meant the second option: a Superhuman operating the cannon – likely strong, monstrously tough, and unnervingly precise. Qin Lun was more than happy to let the Joker handle such a problematic foe.

“Hey Grant,” Qin Lun called out, eyeing the Human Skin Mask covering the Joker’s face. “Keep control of yourself. The battle’s just starting; I don’t want to drag dead weight later.”

“I know it!” Grant growled back. With explosive force, he launched himself up and over the crumbling Earthen Wall. He hit the ground sprinting, his body kept impossibly low as he charged the manor like a shadow.

The moment he broke cover, HELLSING’s two Superhumans reacted. Small-caliber cannon shells streaked across the distance on tracer light, whipping towards Grant like glowing scourges. Meanwhile, the silent, deadly black arrow shafts – potent with concentrated explosives – hid amidst the blazing streams of light like venomous vipers poised to strike.

“Now we see it clearly,” Qin Lun murmured. He took a deep breath, rose gracefully from his cover, deliberately positioning himself exposed to the incoming fire. He pivoted his head slightly, lifted the Ayala Longbow with elegant poise, and began to draw the string.