Chapter 45: Bombardment
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At his command.
The muzzles of two bronze cannons went ablaze with flickering firelight.
Boom! Boom!
Two bombs were blasted and bombarded straight into the Moon Mask Club.
Suddenly, the earth shook.
The shockwaves produced as a result of the bombardment of bombs made the entire earth tremble.
But…
The Moon Mask Club, that was hit directly, was not the least damaged at all.
Not only was the entire building free of any damage, but even Kurtz and Kalina, who were standing at the entrance of the club, did not show any change. The two of them were still smiling and standing in the posture of a welcoming gesture.
Inside the club, it was still a scene of bright lights and melodious music. The laughter of joy and chatter of conversation from the dancing people were all the more apparent.
Everything was the same as before.
It seemed just like nothing had changed at all.
In the face of such a scene, Bondy and the others could not help trembling.
It was a scene of an occurrence that did not conform to common sense. It was enough to suffocate people.
But Jason’s expression remained unchanged. He looked coldly at the Moon Mask Club, that was just as before, and then, he waved his hand again and gave his command.
“Release!”
His loud voice awakened Bondy and Hall.
The two of them walked out with 10 young, strong men. The ignited bombs were seen flying out of the hands of these 12 men and into the Moon Mask Club.
Boom, boom, boom!
Amidst a series of blasts, two carriages made an about-turn at the end of the street.
Unlike the carriages meant for ferrying people, these two carriages and the number of carriages next to them were completely used for the purpose of transporting kerosene and explosives.
Therefore, they did not have any cabins. Instead, there were manger-like compartments on the carriages.
For the convenience of loading and unloading goods, the rear of the carriage was made of a wooden plank that could be opened and closed.
At this moment, the plank had been fully opened. Many wooden planks were piled into a tilted stack onto the wooden plank at the rear of the carriage. The constables who were standing within this compartment were laying these barrels of kerosene into a horizontal position. Then they pushed hard.
Roll-roll-roll!
The wood that was loaded with kerosene flew at high speed and crashed into the Moon Mask Club.
At the same time, Bondy and Hall, the two fully-qualified bombers, had picked up another round of explosives.
The two men aimed at the location where the barrels of kerosene hit and threw the explosives in their hairs.
Boom, boom!
Whoo!
After two explosions, several kerosene barrels were blasted directly into the sky.
And the kerosene within these barrels was completely ignited. It spurted out as though it had been subjected to the breath of a dragon and watered upon the building where the Moon Mask Club was located.
Bombardment, explosives, flames.
An attack that consisted of a series of three waves was launched. Yet, the Moon Mask Club still seemed to be perfectly intact.
Of course, this was just how it appeared to be when seen through the eyes of ordinary people.
In Jason’s extraordinary vision, he seemed to have seen a tad of contortion in ‘Moon Mask’ Club.
It was a very minute contortion. If one did not look intently, he would not have been able to see anything.
“It’s working!”
Jason felt a jolt of confidence. He signaled for Bondy to continue and then directed his gaze at Finch.
Finch, who was standing next to the cannon, was with another trained detective at the moment.
They were picking up buckets filled with cold water and pouring everything into the muzzle of the cannons.
Sizzle, sizzle-sizzle!
Hot water vapor, mixed with the smell of sulfur, rose.
Still, Finch and the other detective did not stop. Bucket after bucket of water was poured into the muzzle until the water vapor had completely dissipated. Then they used wooden clubs wrapped in cotton cloth to clear away all the gunpowder residue. After drying the inner bore of the cannon, which was nearly 1.7 meters long, they started on the second round of filling.
Full bags of black gunpowder were tamped down the inner bore of the cannon. And, thereafter, Finch and the other detective began to adjust the muzzle of the cannon.
Wanting to move a bronze cannon that would cost them the energy of a meal was certainly not easy at all.
Even if it had wheels, it was still the same.
Often enough, even wheels as wide as 1.45 meters could become another kind of obstacle at some point in time.
Fortunately, Bondy brought enough people this time.
Very quickly, under the concerted help of the crowd, the second aim was completed.
“Fire!”
Jason called the shots to open fire again, and the two bronze cannons roared into action again.
Boom, boom!
This time, the contortion of the Moon Mask Club was much bigger.
The degree of contortion was much greater than even ordinary people could easily discern the contorted areas that had appeared on the whole building.
It seemed as though the entire building was going to be bent.
And the more direct changes observable were Kurtz and Kalina.
In the beginning, Kurtz and Kalina were all smiles. But now, they were no longer smiling. Both their faces were filled with anger and ferocity, and they were growling in deep and low voices.
Everyone standing out there on the street found themselves trembling from within.
Influenced by basic instincts, they wanted to turn about and run away as fast as they could.
But their inner responsibilities and the tenacity they honed from past training endowed them with an instinctive endurance. However, the resulting offensive was a meal.
“Continue!”
Jason gave a loud shout, and everyone in the surrounding subconsciously turned to look at him.
Then…
Everyone saw Jason taking a step forward.
He stood before everyone.
Holding the Winchester shotgun in his hands, he took aim at Kurtz and Kalina. Then he pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Click, click!
Bang!
Click, click!
The sound of the shotgun awoke Bondy instantly.
“By my orders, continue to attack!”
The sheriff said as he ignited the bomb in his hand and tossed it out.
Boom!
Then it was Hall’s turn.
Boom!
After the loud explosions of two bombs, almost everyone present was awakened. And right away–
Boom, boom, boom!
One after the other, bombs were crashing upon the Moon Mask Club, as though they were falling raindrops. Barrel after barrel of kerosene was hitting down onto the club as well.
Explosions!
Flames!
These were alternating turns to take center stage.
Then, finally, the two merged as one.
Kurtz and Kalina’s cries were getting more and more resounding.
Yet, ultimately, these were still covered up by the explosion.
The lever shotgun that Jason held in his hands did not stop. It was shooting bullets, one after
another, that hit the two “people”. Though his shots did not manage to kill these two “people”,
every shot would at least strike the two “people” and send them flying a distance back.
And at this point in time, those dancing people inside the Moon Mask Club also stopped their activity at the same time.
They looked at Jason with expressionless faces.
What a scene!
It instantly reminded Jason of an earlier scene, where he found a neat lineup of corpses inside that were all looking straight at him.
There was even…
In a sense, some overlapping of events taking place.
The corpses that were lying down and the people who were dancing about were overlapping.
What was even scarier was that Jason felt an inexplicable attraction appearing to exert its pull on him.
That was a hair-raising, spine-chilling, eerily cold kind of attraction.
Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!
There was a whistling wind in Jason’s ear.
That wind was trying to envelop it within its embrace and whisk him away.
To lay him down amongst the other corpses.
To get him to dance in the crowd.
Enjoy a sound sleep!
Feel the happiness!
There were low whisperings mingling with the wind as they echoed in Jason’s ear.
Without hesitation–
“s IoT Yn!”
The handprint of the protection from evil was completed in a flash.
When it was only applied to one’s own body without a specific goal, the ‘i’ was not to be used.
When a special force field appeared, the sound of the wind and the low whisperings disappeared instantly.
What was left to be seen were the gazes of those people.
Jason bit open the kraft paper bag with an expressionless face. Then he poured the holy water into his mouth and swallowed without stopping.
When the weakness in his body had slightly abated, he turned around straight away and took out an explosive from the entire box behind him. After lighting the fuze, he simply tossed it out.
With a strength that was more than half the power of an average human, Jason threw the bomb he held in his hands easily, as though it was an arrow that was simply released from a bow. And the bomb flew right into the Moon Mask Club, then fell and landed at the feet of these “people”.
Boom!
Firelight flickered.
The human figures first squirmed about. And then, once again, they stood upright.
But the sparks that the explosion brought with it were uncontrollably leaping and rising.
One of these little balls of sparks should have died off with the passing wind.
But, just as it was about to be smothered, it drifted away and landed on the fuze of an explosive—this location used to be a sentry post of the club, but now, it was simply void of human presence.
Only a box and a carbine were left.
The next moment–
Boom, boom, boom!
An unprecedented violent explosion appeared in the Moon Mask Club.
The shockwaves brought about by the impact of the explosion bombarded the Moon Mask, causing the entire club to crumble and collapse!
This included Kurtz and Kalina, who had been standing at the main doors of the club, as well as the people who used to be dancing inside the club.
They were all torn apart within an instant.
Bondy, Hall, Finch, and the others were first momentarily shocked.
It was completely beyond their imagination that a single explosive that Jason had so casually tossed out could actually be so powerful.
Then, cheers erupted!
“We won!”
“We’ve rid ourselves of those guys!”
As though they were soldiers who had just taken down the victory, they were all cheering at the top of their voices.
Only Jason was frowning as he looked at the collapsed Moon Mask Club. His eyes were full of doubt and thought.
How could he have created such a powerful might?
Jason pondered, speculated, then suddenly…
His nose started twitching.