262 積み上がる賭け金
リオンズテイル社の施設に戻ってきたパメラが、先に戻っていたクロエの前で顔色を悪くしている。
クロエはパメラの報告を静かに聞いていた。失態を責める訳でもなく、かといって気遣う訳でもないクロエの態度が、パメラの顔色を一層悪くさせていた。
すらせずに聞き終えたクロエが、不機嫌ですらない態度で口を開く。
「彼の実力を見誤っていたということだけど、それを受けて、自分達なら彼を十分に殺せるという
ミハゾノ街遺跡でのクロエが取った行動の判断基準には、アキラを問題無く殺せるというパメラの進言の影響も大きかった。仮にパメラが逆に返り討ちに遭うと言っていれば、クロエはそもそもアキラに会おうとはしなかった。クロエの行動には、側近の言葉を信じた故の部分もあったのだ。
パメラをじっと見るクロエの視線に叱責は無い。だがパメラにはそれが逆にこたえた。無能と判断し、叱る価値すら無いほどに自身への興味を失っているのであれば、後は切り捨てられるだけだからだ。
「いいえ。勝負を急がず時間を掛けて殺そうとしたこと。そしてバイクで逃走可能であれば既に逃げていたはずという判断。その
隙
クロエはただそれだけ答えて再び黙った。
パメラが緊張で顔を硬くする。許されたのか、見切られたのか、パメラにはその判断が付かず、主の判断を胸中の
まりました」
最低でも自分の進退は保留扱いにはなったはずだと、パメラは小さく
「殺せなかったか......」
殺せていたのならそれで良し。だが失敗したのであれば、それを奇貨として賭け金に積み上げる。クロエはその方向で思考を深めていく。
単に賭けに勝ったでは駄目なのだ。クロエには大勝が必要だった。全ての失態を後の布石に書き換えて、それで賭けの倍率を可能な限り引き上げて、何もかも巻き込んだ大きな勝負の場に作り替えて、その上で勝たなければならない。
その時、クロエの情報端末に通知が届いた。確認するとリオンズテイル社の保安部からであり、部外者がクロエの居場所を突き止めようとしている動きが見受けられるという注意喚起だった。
クロエはその情報から更に思考を進めると、求めていたものを見付けたように
ラティスが施設の中を進みながらパメラに険しい顔で問う。
「それで、さっきの話はどこまで真に受けて良いんだ?」
パメラがきつい態度をラティスに向ける。
「あのハンターを殺せるという判断を撤回するつもりは全く無いと言った。次は殺せると、大丈夫だとお嬢様に示した。だがその大丈夫は、次は余裕で殺せるからなのか、次は刺し違えてでも殺すからなのか、その辺の感覚については何も話していない。お嬢様は細かく追及はされなかったが、お前が意図的に話さなかったことぐらいは把握していらっしゃる。その上で聞くぞ。話を真に受ければ、次は余裕で殺せるから大丈夫、になるんだが、どうなんだ?」
「そ、それは......」
パメラはそこで言葉を止めてしまった。そのある意味で雄弁な返答に、ラティスが
で道連れだという嫌味にも聞こえるが、ラティスの態度はパメラを気遣うもので、自分も同じ立場なのだから余り気負うなという意図であることはパメラにもすぐに分かった。それでパメラも少し落ち着きを取り戻す。
「良いさ。そういうこともある。それにお互い部下を殺されてるんだ。
「60!? そこまでか!」
同僚が出した予想外の数字に、ラティスは驚きを
しているなど、もう異常と呼ぶしかない。それだけにラティスの驚きは大きかった。ラティスが無意識に真偽を問う視線を向けてしまうと、パメラが真面目な顔で答える。
「私達の部下は無能ではないの。死力を尽くして戦ってくれたはず。それを私が到着する前に撃退した上で、私のミスがあったとしても逃走に成功した。ランク60相当は十分に妥当よ」
「......確かにそうだな。そして次はこちらが包囲してから戦闘開始とはいかないか。お嬢様に使用制限武装の使用許可を取って頂いたのは正解だった」
施設の倉庫に到着したラティス達の前で、その扉が開いていく。そこにはハンターランク60の者を殺すに足る強力な武装が
荒野の道無き道をバイクで駆けたアキラが元ヒガラカ住宅街遺跡の近くまで到着した。初めて来た時とは様変わりしている光景を見て少し驚きながらも、すぐにリオンズテイル社の施設を目指そうとしたが、それをアルファに止められる。
『アキラ。これから乗り込む場所は企業の施設なの。荒野に建っている以上、防衛兵器ぐらい配備されているはずよ。だから正面から乗り込むのは
『分かった。でもどうするんだ? 遠距離からAF対物砲を撃ちまくるのか? あの弾は高いからそんなに残弾も無いし、施設に向けて適当に撃ってクロエが偶然死ぬのを願うってのは無理があると思うぞ?』
ヴィオラから得た情報はクロエが施設にいる可能性が高いというだけであり、それなりに広い施設のどこにいるのかも、そもそも本当にいるのかも不明だ。そしてクロエを殺しても金が入る訳ではないので、アキラの貯蓄は弾薬費の分だけ減り続ける。アルファとの接続が戻ったことで一応の冷静さを取り戻したアキラは、弾薬費を後先考えずに散財するのは避けたかった。
本来ならばリオンズテイル社の施設を襲撃するという暴挙に出ている時点で、既に弾薬費がどうこうという問題ではない。だがアキラはそちらは気にしていなかった。
アルファとしてはその辺りも気にして欲しいところだったが、それを指摘するとアキラとの関係が破綻する恐れがあると考えているので、次善の手段として協力していた。
『バイクを降りて徒歩で迷彩機能を使用して侵入しましょう。それでクロエを見付けたら殺して脱出よ』
『迷彩か。見破られたりしないかな?』
そういえばそういう機能があったという感想と一緒に、自分も戦闘中に相手の迷彩を見破ったのだから相手も可能なのではないかという疑問がアキラに浮かんだ。そしてどうせ見付かるのならばバイクで乗り込んだ方が良いのではないかという考えも浮かんだ。
それをアルファが自信満々の笑顔で払拭する。
えずクロエを殺せればそれで良く、リオンズテイル社そのものを敵視してはいないはずだ。それならば迷彩を見破られたとしても侵入者がアキラであると露見さえしなければ良い。自分のサポートさえあればその程度の迷彩の維持には全く問題ない。そしてクロエを暗殺した後は、アキラに知らぬ存ぜぬを押し通してもらえば良い。そうすれば施設に正面から乗り込んだ場合に比べてましな事態になるだろう。そう考えての提案だった。
だがその提案は無駄になった。
リオンズテイル社の施設から大型の装甲車両が勢い良く走り出す。そしてそのまま元遺跡の地帯を駆け抜けて荒野に出ようとする。その車両から発信されていた広域汎用通信を受信したアキラは、素早くバイクに乗ると全速力で車両を追い始めた。
企業の幹部などの要人を乗せた車両が荒野を走る際、そのことを広域汎用通信で周囲に伝えながら走ることがある。下手をするとモンスターを呼び寄せる恐れがあるが、当然ながらモンスター程度は問題なく粉砕できる武装車両での話だ。
発信は荒野にいるハンター達など人間に向けてのもので、基本的に警告だ。要人を襲う不審者として扱われたくなければ、車両から距離を取れと忠告しているのだ。そして事前通知は済ませたのだからと、不審者を無警告で攻撃する
そして車両から発せられていた通知は、リオンズテイル東部三区支店所属のクロエが乗車しているという内容だった。
これにより、正面からのごり押しではなく暗殺でクロエを殺し、余計な騒ぎを抑えようとしたアルファの考えは台無しとなった。バイクに乗っての高速移動中では迷彩の効果も薄れてしまい、暗殺者がアキラだということは確実に露見する。加えて相手から隠れながら殺す意志など、もうアキラから吹き飛んでいるのは間違い無かった。
『アキラ! 今度こそ落ち着いてね!』
『分かってる! ......!?』
む。大型装甲車両の後部扉が開き、クロエが姿を現したのだ。クロエの方もアキラを認識しており、余裕の笑顔を浮かべながらアキラに軽く手まで振っていた。
アキラの顔が一気に殺意に満ちる。ドス黒い内心が漏れ出た両目で敵を凝視する。その感情のままにバイクのAF対物砲を起動させ、照準を合わせ、バイクのエネルギータンクから砲にエネルギーを充填させる。
『アルファ! 照準補正と出力調整を頼む!』
『落ち着いてって言っているでしょう!? 全くもう、分かったわ!』
エネルギーを最大まで充填し、威力を限界まで上げ終えた瞬間、アルファの照準補正を乗せた精密
それにより乱反射した光線は光波となって車両の周囲を飲み込んだ。だが広がった分だけ威力は激減していた。
バイクは出力を砲に回した影響で一時的に加速が止まり、姿勢維持機能も弱まった
だがクロエはパメラの進言を全く気にしていなかった。
「ちゃんと意味はあるわよ? 彼に私の姿をしっかりと見せて、この車に私が確実に乗っていると思ってもらわないと、広域汎用通信の通知だけでは内容を疑って施設の方に向かう恐れがあるでしょう? その防止よ」
単にアキラを迎え撃つのであれば施設に残った方が良い。安全を求めてクガマヤマ都市の防壁内に移動するのであれば、自身の居場所をアキラに知らせる必要など無い。そう考えたパメラはクロエの意図が分からずに困惑していた。しかし今は更なる失点を避けたいので、無能と断じられない
ラティスが卓越した技量で執事服を素早く脱ぐ。その下には重装強化服用の強化インナーを着ていた。そして周囲の機械が動き出し、複数のアームでラティスに重装強化服を取り付けていく。一度分解した小型の人型兵器の各部位を再度組み立てるように、ラティスの体が覆われていく。
更に追加の武装が付けられていく。飛行装置、ミサイルポッド、サーベル、大型弾倉と弾倉ベルトで
人型兵器に乗り込むではなく、着用する。その設計思想を具現化した重装強化服は、着用の手間さえ度外視すれば、強力な人型兵器に比類する戦闘能力を備えていた。
車両の天井が開いていく。重装強化服の飛行装置が車外に飛び立つ
「では、行って参ります。ご満足頂ける結果を、お嬢様に必ずやお届け致します」
「派手に、ですか?」
「そうよ。彼を殺すのも大切だけど、その
「お嬢様。それはどういう......」
クロエの意図が分からず、思わず聞き返したラティスが言葉を止めた。クロエが笑顔を消し、相手の心の底まで
パメラにもクロエの指示の意図は分からない。だが指示そのものの理解に問題は無く、疑問を棚上げしてすぐに指示通りに動き出す。車内の両脇に並んで立っているメイド服を着たもの達が、パメラの指示に従って各自の武器を手に取り、機敏な動きで屋上から車外に出て警戒と迎撃の配置に付いた。
クロエが備え付けの椅子に座り、笑みを浮かべる。その様子はまるで自分の想定通りに進む事態を楽しんでいるようでもあった。
バイクを加速させてクロエの車両を追うアキラが、車両から飛び出してきたラティスに気付く。
『人型兵器? いや、違う。重装強化服か。随分ごついな』
『細かい照準は私に任せて、アキラは脳の負担を抑えておきなさい。私のサポートがあったとしても、体感時間圧縮や現実解像度操作の連続使用は負荷が大きいからね。必要に応じて、ここぞという時に使う感覚を磨いておきなさい。始めるわ!』
アキラがLEO複合銃をラティスに向ける。即座に照準補正が入り、異常な精度の精密射撃となった射線で、最大威力の
ラティスは車両から飛び出た時点でアキラの位置を捕捉していた。車両の索敵機器と連携した上で、自身の情報収集機器でも高速で移動するアキラの姿を捉えており、高度な照準制御システムによるロックオンの前段階を済ませていた。
「お嬢様のご指示だ。派手に散れ」
重装強化服のミサイルポッドから小型ミサイルが一斉に射出される。それらのミサイルはそれぞれ別の軌道で宙を駆けた後、アキラに全方向から襲いかかるように軌道を曲げた。そして目標から一定の距離まで到達すると弾頭の表面が割れ砕ける。次の瞬間、その内部から大量の小型ミサイルが飛び出した。
拡張弾倉の技術を応用して製造されたクラスターミサイルが内蔵する子ミサイルの数は常軌を逸しており、外観から推察できる数とは著しい差があった。弾頭が子ミサイルに分裂、分割したのではなく、そのまま増殖したかのように空中に広がり、宙を埋め尽くしてアキラに全方向から殺到する。
次の瞬間、ミサイルが一斉に爆発した。それぞれの爆発が融合し、目標どころか周辺の空間に存在する全てを消し飛ばしかねないほどの大爆発となる。爆風で押し出された大気が暴風となり、地面に転がる
けるだけ優秀だ。ハンターランク60相当の実力というのも納得だ」
後は膜が消えて中身の煙が四散した後に、一応バイクの破片でも探してからクロエに報告すれば良い。見付からなければアキラは
から切り離し、残った少量の液体金属で刃を作製すると、色無しの霧の膜を切り裂いた。そしてバイクで膜の外へ一気に加速する。
噴出する爆炎を背に受けて更に加速しながら、アキラは勢い良く膜の外へ飛び出した。一瞬遅れて膜が崩壊し消え
『かなり強力な重装強化服を使用しているようね。都市間輸送車両の護衛依頼なら、先頭車両付近に配置されるぐらいには強いわ』
『そこまでか! ......いや、確かにそれぐらい強そうだな。なんであの場では使っていなかったのかが気になるけど......、ああ、あの時は一応交渉の体裁を保ってたからか』
に武装は抑えていた。初めから殺す気ならば使っていた。アキラはそう考えて納得すると、ある意味で敵の不手際のお陰で生き残ったようなものだったと自嘲する。
『アキラ。その残り少ない運を私との接続回復に使っていればもっと
『分かってる。悪かったって。反省してます』
その間にもバイクは加速していた。アキラが気を切り替えて表情を引き締める。
『まずはあれを無視して車両を破壊できるか確認するわ。近距離でのAF対物砲か、至近距離でのブレードを試したいわね。車両に接近していれば、車両を巻き込むような攻撃をするのは難しくなるでしょう。行くわよ』
Ch 262
Pamela returned to the Lion Steel company's facility and went to face Chloe with a pained expression.
Chloe was only listening to Pamela's after-report without saying a word. She was not blaming Pamela for the failure nor trying to cheer her up. This caused Pamela to knit her brows.
After Chloe listened to her report without a change in expression, she then spoke, without a bit of displeasure in her tone.
"That just means we have underestimated his fighting capability. Because of that, you were not able to kill him like you stated."
The reason why Chloe did what she did back in Mihazono ruin was because she believed Pamela's words. That Pamela could kill Akira. Had Pamela said that Akira would only slaughter them, Chloe would not have even thought of meeting him. Her actions were influenced by the words of the people around her.
There was no trace of fault in Chloe's gaze toward Pamela. That was the reason why Pamela was so worried. If Chloe believes that she had lost her ability to judge, and had lost her value, then it was only a matter of time before she got laid off.
"Not at all. It was because we were trying to take our time to carefully finish him. Unbeknown to us, during that time, he was thinking of escaping. He still had his bike, which was still functional. We were caught off guard because of that. Of course, this does not change the fact that we failed. But I will not take back my words that we can kill him."
"I see..."
Chloe only said as much and returned to silence.
Pamela stood there, frozen, with a stern look on her face. Pamela was not sure whether Chloe forgave her or not. She was trying to calm the raging anxiety in her chest.
"Understood."
Pamela sighed in relief, at least, she had not been abandoned. She then gracefully bowed and left the room with Latis.
"So, we failed in trying to kill him, huh..."
If they successfully killed Akira, then that would be great. But, if they failed, then it only meant that she would need to throw more into the pot she bet on. As Chloe thought so, her smile deepened.
Winning this bet was not enough. Chloe needed a jackpot. She had to make it such that all her past mistakes became a bridge towards success. She had to raise the stakes as high as she could, make the odds be in her favour and bet everything she had. Finally, all she needed to do was win. She had to completely throw the word 'caution' out the window. What she sought was a victory that granted her everything.
Suddenly, a call reached Chloe's information terminal. When she checked it, it was from the Lion Steel company's security department. They detected someone was trying to pin down her location.
Chloe thought of a plan with new information at hand. She smiled bewitchingly as if she had found what she was looking for.
Latis walked through the facility's hallway with Pamela by his side. He suddenly threw a question to her with a stern expression.
"So, how much of what you said should I take seriously?"
Pamela threw a sharp glance at Latis.
"You said you won't take back your statement, that you can kill that Hunter. You told Milady that there's nothing to worry about, you can kill him. But you didn't specify how you will do so the next time. Will you be able to do so with room to spare? Or will you be able to kill him only after a close shave from death? You didn't give a more detailed explanation to Milady, but I think I already understand without you saying anything. Now that you've heard what I'm talking about, let me ask you this. If I take your words seriously, then we should be able to easily kill that Hunter next time, right?"
"W-well, about that..."
Pamela stopped midway. Such a response was already an answer. Latis sighed and spoke.
Depending on how Pamela took it, it sounded as if Latis was complaining. That she was also pulling him down with her because of her failure. Though Latis was speaking with a considerate tone, Pamela understood that he was saying that purely as a reassurance since he was also in the same situation as her. Thus, she managed to calm down.
"Don't worry about it. Things like this sometimes happen. He also killed my men, it's only natural to be angry."
"60!? That high!?"
Latis was extremely surprised. He did not expect that she would rate Akira that highly.
With that in consideration, a 5-rank deviation was completely abnormal. That was why Latis was flabergasted. As Latis unconsciously looked at Pamela with doubt in his eyes, she turned at him with a serious expression and stated.
"Our men are not weak. They had fought to their very end. But he essentially killed all of them even before I arrived. Although it was due to my blunder, he still got away from me. It's well under reason to say that he is around Rank 60."
"...You have a good point. And, next time, we wouldn't even have the chance to surround him first before starting a fight, huh? It was a good thing that we had asked Milady for permission to use the emergency equipment."
As Latis and Pamela arrived in front of the warehouse's door, it opened. That warehouse housed a powerful weapon, one enough to kill a Rank 60 Hunter.
Akira paced his bike through the roadless wasteland into Higaraka residence ruin. He was surprised to see something that was not there the last time he visited that ruin when he arrived. He stopped and looked around the ruin. As he was about to head straight to the Lion Steel facility, Alpha suddenly stopped him
"Akira, you're going to raid a facility owned by a company this time. Since it is built in the middle of a ruin, it's only to be expected that it's armed. So, let's not break-in from the front door."
"Alright, so, what's the plan? Shoot the AF anti-material cannon from afar? I don't have much ammo left for that cannon, and it's not like we can kill Chloe by randomly shooting at that building, you know?"
What he knew from Viola was only that there was a good chance Chloe was in this building. Viola did not specify where exactly she was. She might not even be there in the first place. Since it was not like he would get paid by killing her, every shot was Akira throwing away money. Now that he had substantially calmed down after reconnecting with Alpha, he was calm enough to consider the ammo expense. He did not wish to take on any more unnecessary expenses for his objective.
Normally, the moment he showed hostility toward the Lion Steel company, he would be facing trouble more worrisome than mere ammo expense. But Akira did not care about that at all.
Alpha hoped that Akira would be more worried about that part as well, but since she did not want her relationship with Akira to sour, she focused on her second-best option, which was to help him.
"Let's leave the bike behind and sneak in using the camouflaging cloak. Then, we can find her, kill her, and escape."
"Optical camouflage, huh? I'm pretty sure they'll be able to find us though."
Although Alpha's words reminded him that he had that option as well, he thought about how he saw through their camouflage. Thus, it was likely that they would be able to see through his camouflage as well. If that was indeed the case, then it was better to raid the facility on his bike.
But Alpha expressed her confidence.
Seeing Akira obediently step off his bike, Alpha released a sigh of relief. For Akira, he did not care as long as he got to kill Chloe. He did not see the whole Lion Steel company as his enemy. Even if he got discovered trying to sneak in, it would be fine as long as no one could prove that it was him. And with enough support from Alpha, there should be no problem sneaking in with Akira's current camouflaging equipment. As such, sneaking in should be a much better choice rather than barging from the front door. That was why Alpha made that suggestion to him.
But that plan turned out completely useless.
A huge armoured APC suddenly jumped out from the Lion Steel facility. It quickly went past the ruin and out to the wasteland. Akira, who had received the notification about the passing vehicle, quickly jumped right back on his bike and immediately chased after that APC.
When an APC with an important officer from a large company went out to the wasteland, it often ran while broadcasting a notice through the general communication frequency. Although it might lure monsters, they were normally well guarded and had no need to worry about monsters.
The broadcast was for the Hunters around the area. It was basically a warning. To prevent any unnecessary fights, they were advised to keep their distance from the APC. Otherwise, they would be treated as suspicious individuals. The message broadcasted included 'we will not hesitate to fire at anyone we find suspicious without warning'.
The content of that notice this time was from an officer affiliated with Lion Steel Eastern District Third Branch, Chloe. She was on the APC.
With this, Alpha's plan to sneak in and assassinate Chloe instead of breaking through the front door to avoid unnecessary battle was all in vain. Riding a high-speed bike would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the optical camouflage. There was no doubt that they would be able to notice Akira. In the first place, at this point, Akira no longer had any wish to quietly assassinate Chloe.
"Akira! Don't lose your cool this time!"
"I know!! Hm?"
Akira frowned. While his gaze was locked on the APC. The back door of the APC opened, showing Chloe standing inside. She also already noticed that Akira was chasing after her as she smiled and lightly waved at him.
Akira's expression was immediately filled with killing intent. His gaze was leaking his ominous emotion as it was locked onto his target. As if only obeying his emotion, Akira moved the AF anti-material cannon on his bike. He aimed at his target and rerouted the energy from his bike to that cannon.
"Alpha! I'll leave the finer aim and power adjustment to you!"
"Geez, didn't I tell you to keep your cool just now? Good grief, alright!"
The moment the anti-material cannon was pumped full of energy, it released a lance of light with otherworldly accuracy. Thanks to Alpha's aim and adjustment, its spread was reduced to be as narrow as possible. It turned into an intense lance of light that melted everything in its way, which raced straight toward its target.
Thanks to that, the beam turned into waves of light which enveloped the whole area. With its spread increased, its intensity rapidly reduced.
Because Akira temporarily rerouted all the bike's energy output to the cannon, its acceleration was temporarily stopped. Since the balancer also lost its effect for a moment, Akira was almost thrown off the bike.
But Chloe did not care about Pamela's warning at all.
"Oh, it wasn't meaningless though? We need to make sure that he had a good look at me to let him know that I am indeed in this APC. Otherwise, there's a good chance that he would raid the facility instead, right? So that was just for precaution."
If it was to kill Akira, staying in the facility was the better choice. Even if she decided to take shelter inside the wall of Kugamayama city, there was still no need to let Akira know of her position during the process. Pamela, who thought so, seemed confused. She did not understand what Chloe's true intention was. However, since she wanted to avoid making any more mistakes, Pamela decided not to pursue that subject any further. She did not want to be abandoned because of incompetency,
Latis gracefully took off his butler uniform, under it, he was already using a heavy augmented suit's inner. The machines around him started to move as they fixed multiple arms to Latis' heavy augmented suit. Parts that looked like pieces of small parts slowly gathered around Latis' heavy augmented suit.
He was also equipped with extra equipment. A flying device, missile pods, sabres, huge rifles loaded to an extremely long magazine belt, and many other things as well.
The heavy augmented suit was similar to a powered suit. Appearance-wise, it seemed closer to a powered suit rather than an augmented suit. However, Latis had to put it on instead of getting onto a machine. Also, ignoring the time needed to put it on, it was more or less a powerful powered suit.
The ceiling of the APC opened up. A loud sound was produced. It came from the flying device of the heavy powered suit that had taken off. Latis used a forcefield shield to protect the area around him before take-off. Due to the sheer amount of energy that was pumped into it, the forcefield shield created solidified air, which was like a glowing wall of glass. Beyond it, Latis bowed to Chloe.
"Well then, I shall now go. I shall bring back good news for Milady when I return."
"Grandly, huh?"
"Yep. It's important to kill him. But you must do it elegantly, prioritize more on making it grand. If you end up unable to kill him because of that, don't worry. That's fine as well."
"Milady, what do you mean by-"
Latis, who did not understand the intention behind her order, was about to ask another question. That was when Chloe's gaze suddenly stopped him. Chloe gazed deeply into Latis as if she was trying to look deep down inside him. Those pupils oozed out a level of authority, one fit for a family member of the original founder of the Lion Steel company. That stare allowed the insanity inside of her to take a peek inside Latis' soul. Meanwhile, it also allowed Latis to see the deep insanity within Chloe's eyes.
Pamela also did not fully understand the intention behind Chloe's order. But she had no trouble following her order. Just like Latis, she put her questions aside for now and simply obeyed. The maids that were standing lined up on both sides of the APC followed Pamela's order and went to collect their equipment. They went to the rooftop of the APC, to their respective positions and kept their eyes on the surroundings.
Chloe sat on an already prepared seat and smiled. It was as if she was enjoying the show that was going exactly as she had planned.
Akira, who was chasing her on his bike, noticed Latis launching out from the top of the APC.
"Powered suit? No, that is a heavy augmented suit, huh? Looks pretty strong."
"Leave the fine-tuned aiming to me, Akira. You just focus on facing that headache. Although you have my support, the drawback of using compressed time perception and reality manipulation at the same time is not meagre. If necessary, this will be a good opportunity to polish up your skill too. Let's go!"
Akira aimed his LEO multi rifles at Latis. The rifles were already in their ready-to-shoot state. They released fully charged C-bullets with pinpoint accuracy.
The moment Latis jumped out of the APC, he quickly confirmed Akira's location. With the help of the APC's scanners and his own information-gathering device, he was able to confirm and have his aiming system lock onto Akira, who was rapidly moving.
"It is due to Milady's order, now, let's see you die in a grand explosion."
Multiple missiles launched from the missile pods fixed to Latis' heavy augmented suit. All the missiles took different routes before they took sharp turns and converged straight toward Akira. When they got close enough to him, the tip of their warheads broke open, releasing smaller missiles inside them.
These were cluster missiles. They were filled with smaller missiles using the same technology to create extended magazines. They housed an abnormal number of missiles; way more than they seem. Instead of breaking from the main missile and flying independently, they rained down as if to comb the area targeted by the warhead, assaulting Akira from all directions.
The next moment, mini-missiles exploded. The explosions combined into one. It created a massive blast that destroyed everything in the area. It was no doubt overkill if it was only meant to destroy a single target. A second later, the blast was accompanied by a powerful gust of wind, blowing away wreckage and rubble up into the sky.
"A last gambit, huh? He's a good Hunter right to the very end. As expected of a Rank 60 Hunter."
Latis thought he only needed to wait for the colourless mist to disperse and for the explosion to die down before confirming and reporting back to Chloe. If he could not find anything, he could report that Akira had been blown to pieces. Either way, he was certain that he had already won.
He used half of the remaining liquid metal that survived the explosion to form a blade, which was used to cut open the thick layer of colourless mist. Using that opening, he accelerated his bike to jump out of it.
As he jumped out from that small opening, the explosive force contained behind him made him get pushed out even quicker. A moment later, the colourless mist layer broke and crumbled into pieces. The explosion that was compressed and held inside of it, spread out as if there was a second explosion.
"It seems that he's using a pretty powerful heavy augmented suit. It's strong enough to be posted in the front during the inter-city transport-escort request."
"That strong, huh...!? Well, it indeed looks to be that strong. Though, it makes me raise the question: why didn't he use it back then? Hmm... I guess they really just wanted to negotiate before, huh?"
To show the willingness to negotiate, it's important to hide one's weapons. If they were planning to kill Akira right from the start, they would have used this heavy augmented suit. Akira reflected on the situation. It was thanks to their blunder that he survived that battle. He could not help but smile with self-mockery.
"Akira, if you combine that small luck that you still have left with my support, you could've fought better, you know? Even that attack just now. You would have been dead if it was not because of my support. If you think that you have bad luck, make sure that you can compensate for it with my support. Make sure to prioritize recovering our connection."
"I get it already, sorry about that."
In the middle of their exchange, he was still moving forward with his bike. Akira then put that thought aside for a moment and focused on what was in front of him.
"First of all, let's check if we can chase the APC while ignoring him. If it's possible, I want to try a close-range AF anti-material cannon or zero-range slice. If we get closer to the APC, I'm sure that they will have to be careful so as to not shoot that APC as well. So, let's go with that."
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
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