に晴れるだろう。それはケイン達には都合が悪い。地下街と仮設基地の通信を阻害している色無しの霧が晴れれば、ケイン達の存在が仮設基地にいる防衛隊に露見する。その前に撤収しなければならない。
「遅い。ネリアは何をしている? 彼女の実力なら何の問題もないはずだが......」
ケインはネリアの実力を高く評価している。特に接近戦でネリアに勝てる者はそうはいないと考えている。重装強化服が使用できない状況での近距離戦闘ならば、ネリア1人でケイン達を皆殺しすることも可能だろう。ネリアの実力ならば、すぐにアキラを殺して戻ってくるだろう。ケインはそう考えていた。
しかしそのネリアが狭いビル内の戦闘から帰ってこない。ケインにとって異常事態と呼んでも良い状況だ。
その内に連絡が来るだろう。戦闘中に連絡しても邪魔になる。ケインはそう判断して自分からネリアに連絡することは避けていた。しかしここに来て状況を不審に思い始め、その考えを取り下げた。
『ネリア! いつまで掛かってるんだ!』
機嫌の良さそうなネリアの声が戻ってくる。
『ケイン。今良いところなの。急ぎじゃないなら後にしてもらえる?』
『急ぎに決まってるだろうが! 色無しの霧が晴れ始めている! 施設の設備にも
『そっちでもないわ』
ケインがネリア側の状況を察して、それを信じられずに小さく声を出す。
『そういうことよ。こんな場所に近距離戦闘で私とほぼ互角にやり合えるやつがいるなんてね。道理でヤジマが殺される訳だわ。彼も私ほどじゃないけど結構強かったのに。だから地下街の担当になっていたのに。ヤジマもついてなかったわね。それじゃあ、気が散るからこれぐらいで切るわよ。じゃあね』
ケインがネリアとの会話で得た情報を精査する。
「......ヤジマが殺されただけでも計算違い。その上でこの状況。同志からの情報に誤りが? それとも不測の事態が重なり合った結果なのか? どちらにしろ、計画に修正が必要だ」
ケインの独り言を聞く者はいない。その口調は、ネリア達と話す時のものとはまるで違うものだった。
ケインとの通信を切ったネリアがアキラとの距離を素早く詰めて斬りかかる。
「お待たせ。ごめんなさい。ちょっと仲間から催促があって少し話をしていただけなの。待たせちゃった?」
ケインと話している間のネリアはアキラと距離を取っていた。動きも僅かだが鈍らせていた。
ネリアにも何らかの限界が近付いてきたので、距離を取って様子を見ようとしていたのではないか。この戦闘は割に合わないと考えて撤退を考えているのではないか。アキラはネリアの様子を見てそのような淡い期待を抱いていたのだが、その期待はあっさり打ち砕かれた。
アキラが必死の形相で応戦しながら答える。
「遠慮せずにいつまでも話していてくれ!」
ネリアが誘うような表情で話す。
「つれないわね。冷たいわ。そんな態度じゃモテないわよ?」
「恋人と殺し合う趣味を持ってるやつにモテたくはない!」
「私にそんな趣味はないわ。言ったでしょう? それは人生の彩りだって。無味乾燥な人生なんて詰まらないわよ?」
アキラの限界は近い。対してネリアにはまだ余裕が残っている。このまま同じ状況が推移すれば、アキラはほぼ確実に死ぬことになる。
その状況をアキラよりも先に限界を迎えたものが変えた。それはアキラ達が戦っているこの場所そのものだった。
天井は既にネリアによって何度も切り刻まれており、その上でアキラとネリアが同時に蹴りつけたことにより一部が破壊されている。床も2人が互い交戦中に何度も斬りつけており強度が大幅に下がっていた。
の上に横たわっている。クズスハラ街遺跡のマップから得た情報を視界に追加しているネリアはアルファの姿を視認できていた。
(あれは、恐らく彼の仲間、あの時に殺したやつね。高い遺物を潰して殺した
ネリアがアルファを注視する。ネリアの視界から一瞬だけアルファの姿が消え、再び元に戻った。視覚情報の入力元を一瞬だけ義体の機能のみに変更したためだ。
(私の義体の感覚器では彼女を知覚できないってことは、相当高度な迷彩機能を積んでいるわね。周囲の血も見えなくなっているわ。単純な光学迷彩とは異なる高度な迷彩機能。恐らく旧世界の技術。相手に探知されないって油断が私の攻撃を
ネリアはアルファがそこに実在していると判断している。自分の攻撃を受けて両断された姿を見たからだ。流れ出た血の跡も自然で、視覚だけならば疑う余地はなかった。
状況の確認を終えたネリアが最優先項目の対象に視線を向ける。アキラだ。アキラは
の崩落を受けて、ネリアの義体にも大きな負荷が発生していた。
「......まあ、いろいろ考えるのは後にしましょう。まずは......」
ネリアが薄笑いを浮かべる。アキラは剣を持っていなかった。代わりにCWH対物突撃銃を
とさっきの攻撃で、強化服の機能の一部と制御装置の一部が破壊されたわ。その所為で強化服が私の操作を完全には受け付けないのよ』
アキラの強化服に対するアルファのサポートが大幅に失われている。つまり、アキラの戦闘能力は激減している。それを理解したアキラが苦笑して歯を食いしばる。
『こんな時にか。動かないわけじゃないんだよな?』
『アキラが動かすのは可能なはずよ。私の操作とは操作の入力系統が異なるからね。強化服のエネルギーもまだ残っているわ。動こうとする意思さえあれば動くはずよ』
『そうなのか? 倒れたのは動こうとする俺のやる気が足りないだけか?』
『いろいろなダメージの所為で強化服を動かしにくくなったことは事実よ。私の方でも強化服を操作できないかいろいろやってみるわ。反撃の
代わりにして、アキラが何とか立ち上がる。全身に走る激痛がアキラの動きを阻害し続けている。その激痛に歯を食いしばって耐えながら、近付いてくる敵を凝視する。
ネリアの義体は大幅に出力を落としていた。しかしそれでも常人を超えた速度でアキラとの距離を詰めてくる。
アキラがCWH対物突撃銃を構えて引き金を引く。しかし激痛に耐えながらアルファのサポート無しで銃を構えるその動きは、ネリアのブレードを回避していた時に比べて余りにも遅い。
き込む。アキラはそれを辛うじて防ぎ続けていた。アルファとの訓練でアキラの格闘技術はかなり向上していた。しかしネリアに反撃できるほど高い練度ではない。アキラは必死になって防御を続けていた。
ネリアの攻撃を防ぐたびにアキラの骨が
先ほどの戦闘時と比べると別人と思えるほどに動きの精細を欠いているアキラを見て、ネリアはアキラの負傷の度合いを過剰に見積もった。
単にアルファのサポートを失ったためであり、今の動きがアキラの本来の実力なのだが、そこまではネリアには分からない。ネリアが薄笑いを浮かべる。
ぎ続けている。その場から逃げ出せないのは、単にネリアに背後から襲われるのを警戒しているためだけではなく、CWH対物突撃銃が近くに転がっているからだ。
アキラがその場から逃げ出せば、ネリアにCWH対物突撃銃を奪われる。その時点で有効な攻撃手段を失ったアキラの勝機は完全に消えてなくなる。ビルの外にはCWH対物突撃銃の攻撃に耐える重装強化服を装備したケインがいるのだ。AAH突撃銃で戦える相手ではない。アキラに有効な攻撃手段がないと知れば、ケインは被弾を気にせずにアキラを殺しに来るだろう。
身体と強化服のどちらかが限界を迎えた時、アキラはネリアにあっさり殺されるだろう。
『チャンスはそう何度もあるわけではないの。もう少しよ。彼女の背後を見なさい』
ネリアがアキラの視線から自分の背後に誰かがいると判断する。しかし義体の感覚器はその場に誰もいないことを示している。だがネリアはアルファを斬ったことから、義体の感覚器では捉えられない高度な迷彩機能を持つ誰かがいると判断してしまった。
ネリアはクズスハラ街遺跡のマップから背後にいるアルファの動きを取得した。更にアルファの動きから、相手は自分の存在をネリアに気付かれたことに気付いていない、と一瞬で判断した。
ネリアが一瞬で身を反転させ、同時に回し蹴りを放つ。背後から自分に襲いかかる相手の不意を突いた完全なカウンター。ネリアはそう思っていた。
発射されたCWH対物突撃銃の専用弾がネリアの胴体に直撃する。ネリアの腹部が吹き飛ばされて機械部品が周囲に飛び散る。ネリアの分断された上半身と下半身が着弾の衝撃で吹き飛ばされて別々に床に転がった。
アキラが舌打ちする。ネリアが義体であることぐらいは見れば分かる。ならば最低でも頭部を破壊しなければ安心などできない。
アキラがネリアに蹴りを入れた時、アキラの体を動かしたのはアルファだった。その時既にアルファはアキラの強化服の操作を取り戻していた。
アルファがすぐにアキラのサポートを開始しなかったのは、ネリアの油断を誘うためだ。たとえアルファのサポートがあっても、ネリアの油断がなければ、あの状況でアキラが勝つことは不可能だった。
そしてアルファの予想以上にアキラがネリアに食い下がったため、アルファは限界までネリアの
『......当たらない! どうなってるんだ!?』
アルファの説明を聞きながらアキラが弾倉を交換する。
『もっと近付いて撃つしかないわ。放置はお勧めしないわ。あの状態でも外で着ていた重装強化服をまた着れば、まだまだ十分戦えるはずよ』
ケインがビルの外で周囲の警戒を続けている。既に色無しの霧の濃度は通常値まで低下している。
既に仮設基地と地下街の通信は回復しているだろう。ネリアから追加の連絡は来ていない。それらの状況から、ケインが結論を出した。
「潮時だな」
ケインの重装強化服の背中が開いていく。重装強化服を着用するというより、制御装置として組み込まれているような状態のケインがそこから飛び出てくる。両手足が折り畳まれていた状態だったが、空中で手足を伸ばしてしっかり着地した。
重装強化服の外見とは対照的に、ケインの姿は非常に細身だった。細い手足は昆虫のようで、胴体も同様に細長い。髪や肌など人間的なものがない頭部は、人型警備ロボットのような機械的な外見だ。外見を生身の人に似せた義体ではなく、明確な戦闘用サイボーグであることが分かる。最も生身の人間に近い箇所は五本指の両手だが、それもむき出しの金属骨格だ。
ケインの重装強化服の後部から重機関銃と狙撃銃が飛び出てくる。両方とも生身での使用を前提としていない大型の銃だ。ケインは飛んできた銃を細身の腕で1
ネリアの重装強化服が独りでに歩き出す。それを見たケインはネリアがビル内から操作しているのだと判断して、自分の予想が正しいことを確信した。
ケインが重装強化服を遠隔操作する。ケインの重装強化服が握っている巨大な銃の銃口が、ネリアの重装強化服に向けられる。巨大な銃から放たれた無数の弾丸がネリアの強化服を僅かな時間で粉砕した。
「悪いな。念のためだ。跡をつけられては困るんだ」
ケインは自分の重装強化服をその場に残して1人でビルから離れていった。
ネリアは胴から下と両腕を失いながらも生きていた。ネリアの義体は頭部のみになっても数日は持つ種類の義体だ。この程度で死ぬことはない。
しかしこの場を生き残れるかという意味では、ネリアの生存は絶望的だった。なぜならCWH対物突撃銃を持ったアキラがネリアに近付いてきているからだ。
アキラはネリアに銃を向けて、恐らくネリアの頭部を狙って引き金を引き、外して表情を険しくさせて、警戒しながらネリアに近付く。アキラはそれを繰り返している。
アキラがネリアまで一気に近付いて、ネリアの額に銃口を密着させて引き金を引けば、それでネリアは終わりだ。そうしない理由は、単純にネリアを
されていたこと。アキラにはネリアがこの状態でも戦闘能力を確実に失ったとは断言できないこと。それらがネリアの死を遅らせていた。
ネリアはこの状態でも笑っている。アキラにはそれがこの状態でもまだ勝ち目を残しているが故の余裕に見えた。アキラは更に警戒を高め、ネリアに近付く歩みを鈍らせた。
ネリアは別に勝機があるから笑っている訳ではない。ネリアの笑みはどちらかと言えば、自身の死を別段特別なものとは考えていないためのものだ。死んだらそれまで。たかがその程度のこと。その認識から生まれる余裕だった。
しかしネリアも死にたいわけではない。取りあえず最善を尽くすつもりだ。だからネリアは一応ビルの外に置いてきた重装強化服を、間に合うとは思っていないが呼び寄せていた。
(......私の強化服が破壊された? 外で何が?)
ケインからネリアに通信が入る。完全な内部通信なので外には聞こえない。
『ネリア。そっちはどうなった?』
『ケイン? 実はちょっと手こずってるの。悪いけどこっちに来て手伝ってくれない?』
ネリアが何でもないことのように答えた。状況を改善できる可能性は僅かでも上げなければならないからだ。
しかしケインがあっさり見抜いて答える。
現状を正確に伝えれば、ケインがネリアを助けに来ることはない。ネリアが何でもないことのように話す。
『手こずってるだけよ。急いでもらえると助かるけどね』
ネリアはごく普通にそう話し、ケインもごく普通にそう答えた。そこには他者どころか自らの命も軽んじるある種の異常が存在していた。
『まあ、お前の強化服を勝手に壊したのは悪かった。だから代わりに俺の強化服を送ってやろう』
『それは助かるわ。......送る?』
『そうだ。俺の重装強化服だけを送る。自動運転でな。俺は逃げる。接近戦でお前に勝つ相手と戦うのは御免だ。ついでに無差別に派手に暴れるように設定してある。色無しの霧はもう晴れた。連絡を受けた都市の防衛隊が近くまで来ているかもしれない。俺の強化服が派手に暴れれば、都市の防衛隊とかを
It was only a matter of time before the colourless mist waned, and that would be really bad for Kain and Nelia. If the colourless mist stopped preventing Akira from contacting the temporary base, the base would know about their existence and there was no doubt that it would send the city's defensive squad to that place. As such, they had to withdraw from that place before the base comes to know about them.
"She's taking too long. What the heck is Nelia doing? With her ability, she should be able to make a short work of that brat..."
Kain thought highly of Nelia. He even thought that no one would be able to win against Nelia in CQC. She might even be able to kill him and all of his companions by herself if they were not in their powered suits and were forced to fight her in close range. So, he thought that Nelia should be able to quickly kill Akira and come back by now.
But even so, she still had not come back from the fight in that building. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was really alarming.
At first, he thought that Nelia would eventually contact him anyway and he would only be a nuisance if he contacted her first. That was why he decided to hold himself back from doing so. But now that things had turned rather worrying, he decided to contact her.
"Nelia!! How long are you going to take?"
Nelia quickly replied back, she sounded happy.
"Kain, I'm having a good time right now. If it's not something urgent, can you put it for later?"
"Hey! This is something very urgent!! The colourless mist is getting thinner!! Depending on the relay device that they're using in the temporary base, they might be able to establish a connection by now!! Stop wasting time and get him already!! Or is it that you need more time since you're chopping the corpse to pieces?"
"That's not the problem either."
Kain guessed what was going on with Nelia, to be honest, he did not want to believe his guess as he mumbled.
"Yep, you guessed it right. To think that there's someone who can fight me evenly in close combat. No wonder Yajima got himself killed. Although he's not as strong as me, he had his strengths, that's why we left him to take care of the underground side of the operation. I guess he was really unlucky to meet this boy. Well then, you're disturbing my focus, so let's stop here."
Kain carefully analyzed the new information that he just got from her.
"...Having Yajima killed is a pretty bad turn of events already. And now this, huh? Is it because there were discrepancies between the information that we shared? Or is it just bad luck piling up on one another by pure coincidence? No matter whichever it is, I need to make a change in the plan."
There was no one listening to him. But he sounded completely different compared to when he spoke to Nelia and the others.
After ending the call, Nelia quickly closed in and threw a slash at Akira.
"Sorry for the wait. I got a call from my friend that I had to take. Did you wait long?"
When Nelia was talking with Kain, she was keeping her distance with Akira and her movements were dulled.
When Akira saw Nelia keeping her distance from him. He thought that she did that to take a breather as she was close to her limit in their CQC fight. He even hoped that she was thinking of retreating. But it turned out that he was sadly mistaken.
Akira was trying hard to fight back as he said.
"Don't mind me, you can take your time talking with your friend."
Nelia answered back provokingly.
"Don't be so cold. Girls won't like you if you say something like that, you know?"
"I have no plans on getting liked by a girl who loves to kill her lover."
"Oh my, it's not like I do it because I like it. As I said, it just adds a little spice to life. It's boring to have a dull life, don't you think?"
Akira was close to his limit. While on the other hand, Nelia had a lot of leeway during their fight. If things kept going at this rate, there was no mistaking that he would end up dead.
But there was something else that had hit its limit before Akira. It was the very place where Nelia and Akira were having their fight.
Nelia had sliced and diced the ceiling of that room, after that, they both released a powerful kick to the ceiling at the same time. The floor of that room was also sliced so many times during their fight that it was significantly weakened.
After scanning the area, she could see Alpha's body. It was still sliced into two as it was lying on a pile of rubble. She could see Alpha's location with the map of the Kuzusuhara ruin that she was connected to.
[That is... his friend, right? The one who I killed earlier. I'm glad I killed her despite the fact that I had to sacrifice an expensive relic. If she's as strong as him, this would be 2 against 1 and I would be the one losing.]
The image of Alpha in her vision vanished for a split second before returning back. It was because Nelia set her vision to only show information coming from her cyborg body.
[Since my cyborg body can't see her, it means that she's using some kind of advanced camouflage. I can't even see the blood around her too, so it must be something more than just an optical camouflage. It might be some kind of old-world technology. Was it because she thought I couldn't see her that she was caught by surprise back then?]
Nelia judged that Alpha was really there. It was because she was seeing Alpha's sliced body in front of her. That body was bleeding out and leaving traces just like a real body should, thus, judging solely on what she was seeing, there was no doubt that Alpha was really dead.
After confirming her surroundings, Nelia turned her attention to the most important thing in that location, Akira. Akira popped out and stood up from a pile of rubbles, he wobbled for a short moment before falling over.
Nelia approached him, she was also all wobbly. The fall had dealt quite a lot of damage to her cyborg body too.
[...Well, let's put everything aside for now. First things,first...]
Nelia smiled in relief as Akira was not carrying his blade too. Instead, he was using his CWH anti-material rifle to help him stand on his feet.
"Unfortunately, I can't do that right now. A part of the augmented suit and one of its control units were broken after that fall. Because of that, I can't completely control your augmented suit anymore."
Akira smiled bitterly and gritted his teeth. Losing Alpha's support because of his broken augmented suit meant that his fighting ability was greatly reduced.
"Why now of all times? But it's not like it's completely broken, right?"
"You should still be able to move it. After all, the input signal should be much more stable when you use it compared to when I control it. It still has some energy left too. You should still be able to move it if you try."
"Is that so? So I keep stumbling because I'm not trying hard enough, huh?"
"It's true that the damage also makes it more difficult to move the augmented suit. I'll keep trying to take control of your augmented suit while also finding an opening to strike back. Just try to buy as much time as possible until I get that chance."
Akira was somehow able to keep himself standing using his CWH anti-material rifle to support his body. Extreme pain ran through his whole body. He gritted his teeth to endure that pain as he kept his eyes on Nelia who was coming towards him.
Nelia's cyborg body was sustaining significant damage. But even so, it still had enough power to close the distance between her and Akira faster than a normal human.
Akira raised his CWH anti-material rifle and pulled the trigger. But because of the pain and lack of support from Alpha, he was moving way slower compared to when he was evading Nelia's blade.
After that, she continued launching consecutive strikes toward Akira. Akira's CQC ability had gotten way better because of Alpha's training, thanks to that, he was barely able to defend himself. But with that being said, he was not skilled enough to be able to counterattack. Akira could only desperately defend himself from Nelia's flurry of attacks.
Every time Akira blocked Nelia's strike, he could feel his bones cracking and his muscles tearing. Looking at how he was being pushed to only defend himself, Nelia increased the intensity of her attacks.
Since Akira was moving very badly compared to before as if he was a different person, Nelia overestimated his injuries.
Although it actually was his real ability since he had lost his support from Alpha, there was no way for Nelia to know that. So, she started to smile faintly.
Akira kept facing Nelia's attack head-on. The reason why he did not run away from that place was because he simply did not want to get attacked from behind. Not to mention, his CWH anti-material rifle was lying on the ground not too far from them.
If he turned his back and ran away, Nelia would take his CWH anti-material rifle which was his only weapon that could inflict damage on her cyborg body. So if he lost that rifle, his winning chance would plummet to zero. Not to mention that Kain, who was able to take CWH special ammo head-on, was monitoring the situation outside that building. There was no way he could fight Kain using only an AAH assault rifle. If Kain found out that he had no way of fighting back, there was no doubt that Kain would come to kill him.
The moment either his body or his augmented suit finally gave out, Nelia would be able to quickly kill him.
"It's not like I can easily make one. Hang on a little bit longer. Look behind her."
From the way Akira glanced behind her, Nelia noticed that someone was behind her. But her cyborg body could not identify who it was. From her experience in cutting Alpha down, she knew that there were people using some kind of advanced camouflage that prevented her cyborg information-gathering organs from identifying them.
So, Nelia quickly checked the Kuzusuhara map network that she was connected with, from it, she was able to ascertain Alpha's movements behind her. Judging from how Alpha was moving, she thought that Alpha did not know that she could track her location.
She quickly turned around and sent a roundhouse kick. She set that up so that it would be a perfect counter that would catch Alpha, who was coming at her, off guard.
The CWH special ammo hit Nelia on her torso. The impact ripped her cyborg body into two, mechanical parts were sent flying into the air and scattered on the ground. Her upper body and lower body then landed at two different places.
Akira clicked his tongue. It was obvious that Nelia was using a cyborg body. So he needed to at least destroy her head to make sure that she would not pose any more danger.
When he kicked Nelia, it was actually Alpha controlling his augmented suit. Alpha was already able to control his augmented suit at that time.
The reason why Alpha did not immediately give her support to Akira was to catch Nelia off-guard. She knew that even with her support, Akira would not be able to win if they did not somehow catch Nelia unprepared.
Nelia took that bait more than Alpha thought, thanks to that, she was able to take full advantage of that opening. All of that hard work turned her plan into a big success and Akira was able to turn the table around.
"...I can't hit her at all!! What's going on here?!!"
Akira loaded a new magazine while listening to Alpha's explanation.
"You'll have to get closer before shooting at her. I don't recommend leaving her alone. Even in that condition, she might still be able to control the powered suit which she left outside."
Kain was still monitoring the situation outside the building. The colourless mist had already thinned out.
He was pretty sure that Akira should be able to contact the temporary base by now, but Nelia had not contacted him yet. As such, he concluded what to do.
"I guess this is time for goodbye, huh."
Kain's powered suit opened up from behind. It looked more like the powered suit used him as its control unit rather than him using it as a powered suit. He then stepped out from his powered suit. Although his limbs were folded-in when he got out, he extended his limbs in midair and landed smoothly.
In contrast to his bulky powered suit, Kain himself was a slender man. His limbs were thin, so was his torso. His hair and skin did not look like a human, he looked more like a robot with a human appearance. From the outside, it was obvious that he was not a cyborg that resembled a human, but more of a humanoid battle cyborg. The only part of his body that resembled a human was his 10 fingers, and even that part was fully mechanical.
A heavy machine gun and a sniper rifle popped out from behind his powered suit. Both of them were huge rifles that a normal human would not be able to use. But he caught them both with his thin arms and carried each rifle on either arm.
Nelia's powered suit suddenly started moving on its own. Kain, who saw that, understood Nelia was remotely controlling her powered suit from inside that building. So, it confirmed his suspicion.
He remotely controlled his powered suit to aim the big guns in its arms at Nelia's powered suit and showered it with countless warheads. It blew Nelia's powered suit to smithereens almost instantly.
"I'm sorry, it's just to be safe. It would be problematic if you're tailing me after all."
Kain then abandoned his powered suit behind and left that place alone.
Even after losing half of her body and her limbs, Nelia was still alive. As a cyborg, she would be able to stay alive for a few days with just her head.
But that did not mean that she could survive her present situation which was simply hopeless. Akira was walking towards her with a loaded CWH anti-material rifle.
Akira took another aim at Nelia's head and pulled the trigger. He frowned as his shot missed again. He then carefully walked closer to her while still watching his surroundings and took another shot. He repeated that action since he kept missing his shot.
He could immediately kill Nelia if he walked right next to her, thrust his rifle to her neck, and pulled the trigger. The only reason he did not do that was because he was still very cautious of her.
He knew that Nelia was obviously stronger than him. Even though he had the upper hand right now, he did not think that he had rendered her fully harmless. And that was exactly what delayed her death.
Nelia was still smiling even in that situation. To Akira, it looked like she still had an inkling on how to win that fight. So he became more cautious of her and it slowed him down from approaching her.
Nelia actually was not smiling thinking that she could still win that fight. She was actually smiling in order to numb her feelings from death. If she died here, then that would be the end for her. That was all there was to it. She was only smiling because she understood that fact.
But it was not like she wanted to die either. So she still tried everything that she could think of. That was why, although she thought that it would not make it, she still called her powered suit which was outside the building to come to where she was.
[...Did my powered suit get destroyed? What the heck happened outside?]
Right as she was wondering what happened outside, Kain called Nelia. Since they were talking through their internal organs, no one could hear their conversation.
"Nelia, how are you over there?"
"Kain? I'm actually having a hard time here. I'm sorry, but can you please help me out?"
Nelia answered back as if there was nothing special happening. It was because she wanted to increase her odds no matter how small it was.
But Kain answered back casually.
If she told him the truth, it was unlikely that Kain would help her. So Nelia answered back as if she was doing fine.
"As I said, I'm just having a hard time here. Although, it would be a big help if you could hurry up."
Nelia sounded as if it was completely normal. And Kain also replied back as if they were just having an everyday banter. Both of them were abnormal people. Forget about other people's lives, they did not even worry about their own.
"Well, I do apologize for destroying your powered suit. But as an exchange, I'm sending my powered suit to you."
"Thank you so much... Wait, sending?"
"Yep. I'm sending only my powered suit. It's on autopilot as I'm running away from here. I have no wish to fight someone who can beat you in CQC. By the way, I also set it to go on a rampage regardless of friends or enemies. The colourless mist is already gone. So he might have contacted the city and the city defense squad might already be somewhere near. If my powered suit goes on a rampage, it would at least be able to divert their attention. Well then, take care."
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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