Chapter 85: How To Return To Everyday Life (6)

“…”

“Hehe…”

A short silence flows.

A feeling of fear runs down my spine.

“Raise your head?”

“That…that…”

“Hurry.”

“Yes!”

I couldn’t even think of raising my head and meeting her eyes, so even when Nagisa told me to raise my head, I kept my head buried in the ground…

Sadly, due to Nagisa’s firm words, I eventually had to raise my head and face her.

“Hie…”

“Oh…Saori…? Why are you covering your eyes…?”

“Ahem…”

“Hehe…I’ll need you to properly explain how you came up with the idea of saying such a thing with that mouth… no, head.”

Reactions heard from around, Nagisa grabs my chin with her small hand and meets my eyes.

Is it because I’m sitting down… or is it because of my psychological factors… a slight shadow was cast on my sister’s face, and it began to create a sense of intimidation.

“Tha…t…”

“Hehe… explain…?”

Tha…t… Since there is no time for this…I take courage and continue the explanation.

I explain the reason why I had to.

I explain what might have happened if I hadn’t.

At least I thought so at the time… and according to common sense, and according to the situation, I thought it was right.

“Haa… this foolish person…”

“He…hehe….”

I don’t know if her anger subsided in the middle of the explanation, or if she didn’t know what to do with this idiot, but the grabbed chin was released.

However… by the time the explanation was over, her expression changed as if she was looking at a truly hopeless human…

-Flick!-

“Oof?!”

“Let’s end it with this for now…”

A flick, a light flick… but the small impact that came in between carelessness was enough to make me panic.

It’s a relief… I’m relieved that it can end with this in the current situation where every minute and second is precious, and I start to take the lead towards the bulkhead with a hole.

…I’m worried about the ‘for now’ part in the words ‘Let’s end it with this for now…’ …but right now, there’s something else that’s urgent…

Fortunately, or maybe it’s proof that something bad is happening, Sensei’s location was quickly found.

Since the destination was the central tower of Eridu anyway, I led Nagisa and the members of the Special Escort Unit to the central tower, and as we approached the central tower,

we began to hear explosions and numerous gunshots of different kinds.

“Oh my…”

“…It won’t be easy…”

From afar, I can see C&C, no, Neru, under Sensei’s command and with the support of the engineering club, continuing to engage a woman I’ve never seen before.

Maybe that woman is the one called Toki… but shockingly… the scene that came into our eyes was…

All C&C members except Neru were sprawled on the floor.

“Yahoo~! Bang bang!”

-Rat-tat-tat!-

“Ahaha! Everything explodes spectacularly!”

“This is already the 30th one we’ve destroyed… I think.”

All four members of C&C, according to a plan pre-arranged with Sensei, separately invaded Eridu from the front, and were continuing to engage against numerous Rio’s AMAS.

“Ha… annoying… hey! Rio! I know you’re listening?! Do you think you can stop us with just this?!”

“There are a lot more than I expected…”

Eridu, strategically speaking, it was like attacking the enemy’s main base head-on, so they were being delayed by numerous AMAS.

Considering the power of C&C including Neru… AMAS is not a particularly weak weapon, but since it is an item that aims for mass production, it was not enough to stop C&C.

But since it is an item that aims for ‘mass production’, its number was absurd, and the time to head to the central tower, which was designated as the rendezvous point, was getting delayed, and naturally, this quickly reached the limit of patience of C&C’s leader, Neru.

“Hey! Since it’s come to this… let’s break through to the center in one go!”

“Wow! The leader has entered serious mode! Alright!”

Naturally, this rapidly accelerated the advance speed of C&C… it was in line with the aim, but unfortunately, it made Rio show the hidden card she had turned over sooner.

-Rrrrrrrrr!!!!-

What slowed down C&C’s advance was one of the cards Rio had left, the sudden sound of a machine gun and the barrage spread by that machine gun.

“I’ve been waiting. Seniors.”

“Hmph, finally showing up…”

“C&C affiliation call sign Zero Four. Asuma Toki. I greet the seniors.”

Asuma Toki, she stood in front of C&C with a total of 16 drones.

As she stepped forward, the nearby AMAS retreated as if they didn’t want to disturb her, and bulkheads began to block the roads.

“Hey junior, isn’t the welcome colorful?”

-Bang!!-

The basics of a standoff, attract attention and launch a surprise attack. Kakudate Karin’s ‘Big Eye’ voice anti-tank rifle fires along with Neru’s casual remark.

It’s quite old-fashioned equipment for Millennium’s special forces to use, but it has been improved in various ways with Millennium’s technology,

and even the basic model before the modification, the original, is a large-caliber sniper rifle, so its power far surpasses that of a conventional sniper rifle.

Although the students of Kivotos don’t take much damage unless a large-caliber bullet is shot directly into their forehead. Even so, Toki’s response was beyond common sense.

-Whoosh!-

“…Tch…”

“Huh, you’re not even dodging…hey…”

“Yes, Chairman Rio ordered me to stop the seniors of C&C with all my might…”

The response Toki took from such a ‘Big Eye’ sniper was ‘do nothing.’

As soon as ‘Big Eye”s gunshot rang out, the drones moved in perfect order, and six of the 16 drones aligned in front of Toki, creating an energy barrier.

It’s not a reaction speed that a simple drone can produce.

However, these 16 drones were able to do this because they were drawing a considerable amount of Eridu’s computing power and were machines that had all their resources allocated to computing and combat support, removing their attack capabilities.

“Further resistance is meaningless… I was going to ask for surrender… but you don’t seem to have any intention of doing so…”

“Ha? I don’t want to hear that from a rude junior who started by firing heavy weapons from the beginning?”

“Oh my, to surrender peacefully… hehe… I know you’re Chairman Rio’s bodyguard…. but… even after a preemptive strike… hehe… what do you think C&C is?”

-Boom boom boom!-

Surrender… Toki said so.

Even after a preemptive strike, even before a proper engagement.

If an unknown enemy had said that, the girls of C&C would have just dismissed it as nonsense and continued the engagement… but a junior, a junior they didn’t even know well, said those words.

That seemed to cause some irritation to Akane and Neru.

At the end of Akane’s words, a number of explosives were thrown from her hand, and those numerous explosives exploded with a loud noise in close proximity to Toki.

“…Engagement, begin.”

“Haha! I’m sorry, junior, but I came here today to repay what I received? I don’t have any bad feelings for you… but Rio… that girl is a different story?”

She escapes from the smoke of the explosion at a speed that makes you wonder if it can come from human legs and changes weapons.

Toki’s skill is certainly excellent. Her skill alone may be equal to Neru’s, but her physical abilities are not as good as Asuna’s or Akane’s, but the drone borrowing Eridu’s calculations and the weapons designed by Rio herself made this possible.

Unfortunately, the girl who escaped from the explosion with the help of drones and weapons faced Neru at close range.

She has been caught in close combat with the one who is called the strongest in close combat in Kivotos, both by herself and by others.

Judgment must be quick. Toki, who had already begun to change weapons, throws the machine gun, MG4, into the air as if giving it up, and drone 1 retrieves it, and soon another drone ejects two KAC PDWs towards Toki’s hand.

“Hmph! You have good stuff, don’t you!”

If it were Toki’s original combat power, a fight between Neru and Toki in close combat would not be established. However, the support of weapons and drones brought about an unimaginable effect, making the close combat with Neru equal.

If you aim at Neru’s forehead with the PDW that is quickly held in your hand, Neru is already not there.

The steps taken as if it were a martial art rather than a gunfight, the small physique, and the mobility that comes from the physical strengthening by the mystique that is unconsciously used and efficiently operated were not something that could be reacted to at a normal level.

Yes, it was not something that could be reacted to at a ‘normal level’.

“Huh? Look at this?”

“Already grasped.”

The insufficient reaction speed is raised with the assistance of the weapon.

The pursuit of a sudden movement is followed by borrowing the sight of a drone floating in the air.

The support of the drones, which are one of the two unique geniuses in Millennium, a collection of geniuses,

Rio made dedicated weapons for her and the drones that provide the best response fully automatically to the right place by borrowing the computing power of Eridu, was not something to be ignored.

-Rat-tat!-

-Rattle!-

So Neru and Toki, who followed the movement, hit each other without sparing any of their weapons’ bullets.

“You have quite a bit of guts… junior? No… should I say you have good stuff? Huh?”

“…Kuh…”

Neru, who took the full auto fire of the PDW with her body, endured it with her unique guts and toughness, and is standing as if it were nothing.

On the other hand, Toki? Although it is not that she lacks experience in combat, it was not a familiar experience for Toki, who has been fighting mainly by avoiding with the help of weapons.

The drone that jumped into the narrow gap, which could be called close combat, invalidated the damage… but one drone was disabled and flew far away, emitting black smoke.

Something that shouldn’t happen if Eridu’s computing power is brought up, this was achieved by the intervention of an irregular, the strongest being, Neru.

Clearly, the drone that intervened between Neru and Toki was wearing its own barrier, but due to the mystique unconsciously operated by Neru, the bullet containing the mystique pierced the barrier and smashed the drone.

“Target acquired…!”

-Bang!!!-

The power of the barrage spewed from Neru’s MPX, which temporarily jumped out of the calculation range, intervened in Eridu’s calculation, creating a really fleeting, short gap.

By chance, Karin’s sniper followed as Neru and Toki’s distance widened, but fortunately for Toki, the barrier deployed by Eridu’s drones, which are always within the calculation range, nullifies the sniper again.

“Alright!”

“Hehe…”

-Rat-tat! Rat-tat-tat!, Boom!-

Akane throws a bomb at the deployed drone barrier and the drones that are in position to deploy the barrier. Under normal circumstances, drones that borrow Eridu’s calculations will not be caught up in that bomb.

Since they know that much from Karin’s previous sniper, they improvised a strategy, Asuna shoots the bomb that floated in the air to explode it, nullifying the calculation, and shooting down two more drones.

Normally, that wouldn’t happen, but Asuna, who had a low priority due to the limit of the power that the weapon could exert, and Akane, who had a high priority due to handling explosives, so the calculation went wrong due to the high priority.

A fleeting moment that is cut in half and cut again, so even this would have been well calculated and avoided by the drones, but Neru’s MPX produced more power than expected, pushing the calculation, making this possible.

“…Even this ‘weapon’ surpasses the speed… as if we’ve matched hundreds, thousands of times… the best breath that fits like moving one body… it’s amazing…”

Toki is also embarrassed.

She has never experienced defeat in a battle while receiving support from both this drone and weapon.

In the simulations conducted dozens, hundreds of times, her defeat has never been recorded.

But now, in that short period of time, three drones were smashed and the situation slowly but surely began to tilt.

“…Requesting Eridu Central Management System to change the response method… approved… from now on… entering annihilation mode.”

“Ha! Annihilation? Try it! Junior!!!”

Two PDWs are released from Toki’s hand, and an XM1014 shotgun and a G11 automatic rifle painted in white are held in both hands.

Although she suffered quite a big loss from the beginning, Toki changes her posture, judging that she can still respond.

Using the drone’s barrier as a foothold, she leaps and expands the battlefield from the ground’s 2D to the air’s 3D.

Neru also responds to this, stepping on the outer wall of Eridu’s building and leaping, sticking to Toki, who started aerial maneuvers.

-Bang! Bang!, Rat-tat!-

-Rattle!-

Toki’s return fire… ridiculously, with the help of the weapon, showed accurate aiming even in such movements in the air.

But…

-Clang!-

“Ugh!? A chain?!”

“Why? You’ve never seen something like this before?!”

Neru uses the chain connecting the two MPXs to grab the drone and use it as a shield.

Out of calculation, Neru’s combat data exists in Eridu, but since there has never been anyone who has led close combat against Neru to this extent, the combat using chains,

a means of response that was not included in the calculation, succeeded in making even Eridu’s calculation go wrong.

If there was only one drone, it would have avoided even this, but the calculation divided into 13 drones was quite fatal.

-Bang!!!-

-Whoosh! Boom!-

The members of C&C slowly reducing the drones one by one, Neru, who is difficult to deal with even with the power of weapons, was enough to embarrass Toki.

As C&C gradually tightens Toki’s breath, the number of remaining drones is 5. As the number of drones decreases, the computing power of Eridu used by each drone becomes stronger, and the rate of destruction decreases,

but it is clearly steadily decreasing, and when the number of drones has already fallen below 7, damage began to enter Toki herself.

-Pop!-

When the number of remaining drones finally became 4…

“Ha! You were talking like annihilation mode or something. Were you just all talk in the end?”

“…”

“Toki. For now, retreat from there.”

Rio’s retreat order, it is clear that Toki will reach her limit soon, but since she still has the power, and Toki hesitates for a moment, doubting whether she did not meet Rio’s expectations…

“Rio, I…”

“I’m not trying to blame you. Even Avant-Garde-kun was defeated by that Yumetsubasa and the new forces that intervened. It’s entirely a failure due to my lack of prediction… first, we need to regroup.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I understand. I will leave the scene.”

“What?! Where are you going…”

-Whoosh!-

“Ugh?! This damn thing is annoying!!”

“Ugh… my eyes…”

-Rat-tat!-

Rio’s cool-headed analysis and persuasion, and Toki, who believes that Rio’s judgments have never been wrong, finally retreated.

The last four remaining drones create a gap by generating a strong flash to stop Neru and C&C, who are trying to chase her.

As drones converted to discarded pieces, they were quickly shot down by C&C and Neru, but they were able to buy enough time for Toki to retreat,

and eventually the battle between C&C and Toki seemed to end temporarily with Toki’s retreat.

[…Hoo… this is Eridu’s central tower…]

“Aris is here….”

A sudden attack by a giant robot, probably one of Rio’s trump cards, I left that robot to Sora and ran to Eridu’s central tower.

There were also AMAS attacks in the middle, but from some point on, neither the moving bulkheads nor the AMAS interfered with us, and we were able to reach Eridu’s central tower quickly.

“Ah! Master and everyone! Hello hello!”

“You’re finally here.”

“Seniors!”

For some reason, C&C, which was supposed to be dedicated to marking or suppressing Toki, was waiting for us in the distance.

But that was a question to me. I thought that those girls would definitely be able to stop that child called Toki, no matter how strong she was, so I left that child called Toki to them.

Therefore, the fact that they are here now came to me as a question.

[Neru and everyone are here… what about Toki?]

“Call sign Zero Four, Asuma Toki, I’m here again.”

I’m sorry for that child called Toki, but I hoped that all of C&C would subdue Toki and join us here….

Unfortunately, that question was resolved in a direction I didn’t want.

“I was waiting. Seniors. And Sensei.”

[So Toki was the gatekeeper…]

Yes, if she wasn’t subdued, it was clear that the last one to stop us would be Toki, so it’s within the expected range.

“Huh? What, you ran away with your tail between your legs just before, but you appeared again… what are you thinking?”

“The pre-arranged plan was changed, not just for you.”

“Rio…”

As soon as I entered the central tower, Toki welcomes us, and Rio’s voice coming from several speakers installed in the tower informs us that this is the last gateway for us.

Judging from Neru’s words, it would have been enough for C&C alone to defeat Toki, so this time, I raised the Shittim Chest at the moment to subdue her and meet Aris and Rio, Rio’s broadcast continued.

“Pre-prepared schemes, pre-calculated calculations, foresight and prepared strategies. You managed to avoid, break, and overcome the defenses of the fortress city I prepared one by one. Even so quickly…”

A voice full of anxiety, but paradoxically, with a voice full of conviction, she begins to speak again.

“Acting as a variable, causing miscalculations, and making all this possible is… is this the power of Schale’s Sensei. Your power? If so, good. If you show me a power outside the standard, I will respond with something outside the standard.”

She declares. She declares judgment to us in the name of the 8th king of Babylon.

“Toki, I’ll allow the use of Aby-Eshuh from now on.”

“….Rio… that…”

“Yes. Originally, it was prepared to deal with the princess of the nameless gods, but it can’t be helped. If we can’t stop them here, all the premises will be meaningless in the first place.”

“Yes. Ma’am. From now on, I will switch to the powered suit system Aby-Eshuh.”

[Aby…Eshuh…?]

Rio after the broadcast, Toki after finishing speaking…

“This sound…”

“…! In the sky!”

“Call signal confirmed.”

-Boom!-

With a roar, something huge crashed behind Toki.

As the smoke caused by the huge weight crashing on the floor, which created a crater to some extent, slowly cleared, Toki, who seemed to be familiar with it, is seen boarding it.

“Powered suit system, Aby-Eshuh activated. Battle, begin.”

[…Here it comes!]

Powered suit, Rio’s last card, the 8th king of Babylon, cheat player, the impossible boss, it stood in our way.