「ああ。そっちは大丈夫だ。少し血を吐いたが、これぐらいなら問題ない。回復薬もまだあるしな」
負傷はしたが問題はないのだろう。キャロルはアキラの無事を確認して安心するのと同時に、アキラの意識と態度のずれに少し戸惑いながら礼を言う。
「えっと、助けてくれてありがとう。おかげで死なずに済んだわ」
「ああ。依頼だからな。......あんなに苦労してビルの中に入ったっていうのに」
アキラがビルの側面を駆け下りてまで無人兵器を倒してビルの中に入った成果だ。それが無残な姿で床にばらまかれている。アキラが受けた衝撃は大きかった。
キャロルがそのアキラを見て笑いを堪えている。今のアキラはあの事態に速やかに反応して自分を
「笑い事じゃないぞ。俺が頑張ってここまで来た成果がなくなったんだぞ?」
キャロルがすまなそうに謝りながらも少し笑いながら話す。
った結果でこうなったわけだからね。お前の所為だ、なんて恨まれて見捨てられたら大変だもの」
「ほ、本当に良いのか?」
キャロルが笑って答える。
額の調整が必要なら後で交渉しましょう。でもそれぐらいだと思うわよ? 私は何度もここに旧世界の遺物を収集にきているから大体の買取り額が分かるの。アキラがもっと高いはずだって思っていたとしても、私もそう簡単には額を上げるとは思わないでね」
「い、いや、額は十分だ。えっと、助かる」
「気にしないで......って言うのは早いわね。支払ってほしかったら、ちゃんと
だ。依頼を受けた以上、その件とは無関係にしっかりやる」
キャロルが楽しげに
まった分だけモンスターの群れに追いつかれるのだ。アキラ達は先を急いだ。
40階の移動中にアキラがアルファに話す。
『アルファ。さっきは助かった』
先ほどの戦闘でのアキラの動きは、その
『気にしないで。アキラのサポートが私の役割よ。それより本当に大丈夫なの?』
『痛みがないのは本当だ。動く時に少し違和感があるけど、気にしている場合じゃない。そんなことより、さっきの被弾で強化服に影響が出たりしていないか? そっちの方が重要だろう?』
『大丈夫よ。強化服の残存エネルギーを少々多めに消費したけどね。強化服の操作に影響が出るような被害はないわ』
『ああ。でも、ビルの上階にある裏口って何だと思う?』
『それはちょっと私にも分からないわ。情報料として500万オーラム要求するのだから、裏口は実在しているのでしょうけれどね。今は彼女を信じて進みましょう』
『そうだな。どうせ下には戻れない以上、進む先は上しかないんだ。期待して進もう』
アルファの索敵能力の低下も同じフロア内ならばそこまで
キャロルが自分達の進行方向から現れた機械系モンスター達を銃撃しながら疑問を口にする。
同じく敵を銃撃しているアキラが答える。
「いるんだから仕方がない。素早く倒して先に進もう。少なくとも後ろから追いかけてくるやつらよりは少ないからな」
「それはそうだけど......」
アキラ達のすぐ近くにこの階のエレベーターの扉があった。巨大な高層ビルでの人や物資の運搬に対応するために、扉はかなり大きな造りになっている。使用許可のないものは、頑張って階段を上らなければならない。アキラ達が苦労してビルのフロア内を駆け回っている理由だ。
その扉が音もなく開いた。アキラが即座に反応して銃を構える。キャロルも僅かに遅れて銃を向ける。二人がほぼ同時に引き金を引き、扉の中の存在を銃撃して破壊した。
「先回りされた理由が分かったな。そういうことか」
扉の中にあるのはアキラ達の攻撃で粉砕された機械系モンスター達の残骸だ。敵はエレベーターを使用して上階に先回りしていたのだ。
「どういうこと!? ビルの管理人格がモンスターにエレベーターを使用させているの!?」
「らしいな」
「ビルの管理人格まで敵なんて......。いや、今更な話ね」
このビルにいるハンターは全て不法侵入者だ。確かに今更な話だ。
キャロルの険しい表情を見て、アキラが一応確認する。
「この状況、俺達が向かっている裏口と関わりがあるのか?」
「ないわ。強いて言えば、私達の移動先が敵に読まれていて、裏口にモンスター達が先回りしている可能性ができたけど、多分大丈夫よ」
「そうか。それなら急ごう。このままだと挟み撃ちにされる」
「そうね。急ぎましょう。全く次から次へと。本当についてないわね。今日は厄日だわ。......アキラ、どうかしたの? やっぱり傷が痛むの?」
キャロルがアキラの様子に気付いて声を掛けた。微妙な表情を浮かべていたアキラが表情を戻して答える。
キャロルはアキラの様子が少し気になったが、今はそれどころではない。すぐに先導を再開する。
アキラの考えを察したアルファが笑って話す。
仮にアキラの不運にキャロルが巻き込まれたのだとしても、2人とも無事に帰れば何の問題もないのだ。元々ハンター稼業に危険は付きものだ。無事に帰還さえできれば、この出来事もいずれ笑い話になるだろう。
アキラ達がキャロルの言う裏口を目指してセランタルビルを進んでいく。既に敵は進行方向にも存在していると知っているため、不意を
アキラがその原因を見ながらその原因を口に出す。
「多い!」
「切りがないわね。この様子だと、下は全滅か......」
アキラ達の背後から迫ってきている機械系モンスターの数が、通路を塞ぎかねないほどに増加していた。恐らく階下のハンター達を殺し終えた機械系モンスター達が、まだ生き残っているアキラ達に殺到しているのだ。小部屋に籠城しているハンター達もいるだろうが、それは少数派だろう。
アキラが後方の敵をCWH対物突撃銃とDVTSミニガンの火力で押し切り、キャロルが前方の敵を対処している。通路を塞ぐ敵の残骸が、その後ろの敵の盾となってしまっていた。後方の敵が通路を埋める残骸を押しながらじわじわと近付いてきている。
アキラ達は何とか45階、目的の階まで
「キャロル。目的地まであとどれぐらいだ? 45階ってことは、この階のどこかなんだろう?」
「右手奥の通路の先を、左に曲がった奥の扉の先よ」
アキラがその方向を見る。通路には既に無視できない数の機械系モンスターが待ち構えていた。ちょうどその時、その先にあるエレベーターが開いて追加の分まで出てきた。アキラとキャロルがげんなりした表情を浮かべる。
め息を吐いた後、真剣な表情で告げる。
「仕方ない。突撃しよう」
キャロルが驚く。キャロルの判断では困難を超えて無謀に近い敵の数だ。
「......突撃って、あそこを? あの数の中を!?」
「ゆっくり倒して進むなんて悠長なことをしていると、この階の全ての通路が敵で詰まりそうだ。弾薬だってそろそろ厳しい。急いで対処しないと敵の数がどんどん増えて......、ああもう、また増えたぞ」
エレベーターの扉がまた開いて新手のモンスターが通路に加わっていく。この分だと切りがなさそうだ。
キャロルもそれを見て覚悟を決めた。
「俺が先行する。援護を頼む」
気負う様子もなく、嫌がる様子もなく、当たり前のようにそう言ったアキラを見て、キャロルが少し
「......そうだったわね。頼んだわ」
アキラは事前に回復薬を飲み込む。更に予備を口に含んでおく。両手に弾倉の交換を済ませたCWH対物突撃銃とDVTSミニガンをそれぞれ持って通路に立つ。準備は整った。
『いつでも良いわ』
いつものように笑って答えるアルファに、アキラがふと思ったことを尋ねる。
アキラは意図的に不敵に笑った後、多数の機械系モンスターが待ち構えている通路に真剣な表情で飛び込んだ。意識を集中して、濃密な体感時間の歪みの中で、通路を塞ぐ機械系モンスター達に両手の銃を向けて、覚悟を決めて引き金を引いた。
CWH対物突撃銃から発射された専用弾が、機械系モンスターの装甲を貫いて内部の機械部品を
アルファは情報収集機器から得た情報を分析し、計算し、活用し、全ての敵の位置、全ての敵の射線を把握する。同じフロアで敵との距離も近いため、多少精度が低下している情報収集機器から得た情報でも、敵の僅かな動きでさえ察知することができた。
アルファがアキラの強化服を操作して、視界を拡張して、照準を補正して、アキラに致命傷を与える可能性が最も高い敵から順に撃破していく。同時に敵の攻撃の効率を最悪にし続けるように計算して銃弾をばらまいていく。敵の火器の誘爆が他の敵を巻き込むように、破壊した敵の残骸が敵の動きを阻害するように、敵の射線にアキラとキャロルが入らないように、アルファは一瞬ごとに別物に変化する状況を常に把握し続け、最善の行動を演算し実行し続ける。
一手間違えれば敵の集中攻撃を受けて殺される状況をアキラが駆け抜けていく。装備している強化服が着用者の影響を死なない程度まで無視した無理な挙動を強いている。骨と筋肉がその多大な負荷に耐えきれず悲鳴を上げ続けている。事前に服用している回復薬の効能がその悲鳴を黙殺して動ける程度に負荷を治した瞬間に、強化服が更なる負荷を強いてくる。
んだ音を聞きながら、銃弾が押しのけた空気の波を肌で感じながら動き続ける。可能な限りアルファの操作を阻害しないように、可能な限り動きを補えるように、自身の身体を強化服の動きに合わせて酷使して動かし続ける。
アルファのサポートにより、アキラの拡張された視界にはアキラの次の移動位置、次の行動内容、次の撃破対象が表示されている。膨大な情報と膨大な演算能力から計算されたアルファの予知に近い指示に従って、アキラは必死に動き続ける。
アキラの拡張された視界には、敵の射線も表示されている。アルファから確実に被弾する位置への移動を指示されることさえある。アキラはそれを理解した上で構わず
アキラはアルファのサポートにより、最大の効率で敵を撃破し続け、最悪の効率を敵に押しつけ続けた。
キャロルはアキラの後方で可能な限りアキラを援護しながら後に続いていた。
キャロルはアキラがここまで強いとは思っていなかったのだ。
(......強い! 1人でセランタルビルの警備を突破する実力があるのは知っていたけど、ここまで強いなんて!
り抜けたアキラ達が目的の扉の前まで到着する。経過した時間は5分ほどだ。しかしアキラ達にとっては数時間にも匹敵するほどの濃密な時間だ。アキラの残弾も回復薬の効果も残り僅かだ。
アキラが扉を背にして通路の奥から迫ってくるモンスター達の相手をしている間に、キャロルが扉まで急いで走り、扉を開けてその先の確認を済ませる。
「大丈夫よ! 急いで!」
アキラは急いで扉の向こう側に行き、急いで扉を閉めた。扉の反対側に敵が放った無数の銃弾が激突した。分厚い扉越しにその衝撃がアキラに伝わってきた。間一髪だった。
危機的な状況から脱したアキラが僅かに気を緩める。
「......外?」
アキラはビルの外にいた。セランタルビルは段がある構造になっており、その段の上には離着陸場が整備されていたのだ。アキラがいる場所はその一つだ。
アキラが少し慌てながらキャロルに尋ねる。
「裏口って、ここなのか?」
「そうよ。驚いた?」
「待ってくれ。ここからどうやって脱出するんだ? 俺は空は飛べないし、
キャロルがアキラを案内する。
アキラはキャロルの後に続いて離着陸場を歩く。ビルの上にある離着陸場にしてはかなり広い。
実物を見たことはないが、飛行機などと呼ばれるものがここにあって、それで脱出するのではないか。アキラはそう考えて離着陸場を見渡す。しかしそれらしいものは見当たらない。
少しずつ不安になってきたアキラが、その不安を示す表情で尋ねる。
「キャロル。そろそろ教えてくれ。どこに向かっていて、どうやってこのビルから脱出するんだ?」
「もうすぐよ。見た方が早いわ。アキラが実物を見る前に説明すると、信じてもらえるかどうか微妙なのよね」
「どういうことだ?」
「見れば分かるわ。あった。あれよ」
キャロルが離着陸場の端を指差す。しかしアキラにはそこに何かあるようには見えなかった。離着陸場の路面しか見えなかった。
「曇っているから見えにくいか。よく見て。路面に
『ここまで近付かないと存在を認識できないなんて、相当な迷彩機能ね。アキラ。これは輸送機よ。恐らく旧世界製。見えないのは光学迷彩の所為ね。可視光以外の迷彩機能もしっかり備わっているわ。アキラの情報収集機器の探査でも、かなり近付かないと存在を探知できなかったわ』
そこにあるのは旧世界の輸送機だった。アキラには空中に輸送機の内部が浮かんでいるようにしか見えない。そこに輸送機が存在していると認識した上で、近付いて目を凝らすと輪郭らしきものが辛うじて見える程度である。
輸送機の扉が完全に開く。扉はそのまま貨物室に続く足場になった。
キャロルが足場を通って輸送機の貨物室に入りアキラを呼ぶ。
「アキラも早く乗って。置き去りにされるわよ」
我に返ったアキラは慌てて輸送機に乗り込んだ。輸送機の扉はアキラが入っても開いたままだったが、
輸送機の貨物室は結構広い。しかし荷物は全く積まれていない。キャロルが少し気を緩めるのを見て、アキラも警戒を緩めた。
休息の体勢に入っているキャロルにアキラが尋ねる。
「キャロル。いろいろ説明してくれ。まず、ここは安全なのか?」
「セランタルビルの中にモンスターが入ってきた時点で予想外なの。だから絶対大丈夫なんて言えない。ただ、これで駄目ならもうお手上げ。ビルの外壁を頑張って降りるしかないわ」
「......そうか。分かった。それで、この後どうなるんだ?」
「輸送機は出発時刻になったら勝手にここを出発するわ。......ちょっと待ってね」
キャロルは情報端末を取り出していろいろ確認する。
「後15分ぐらいよ。それまでは待つしかないわ。あ、扉に近付かないでね。開くかもしれないから」
「分かった。それで、裏口ってこの輸送機のことなんだよな?」
「そうよ。定期的にいろんな場所を巡回しているみたいね。この場所がその一つ。今まで通りなら、この後はミハゾノ街遺跡の工場区画にある離着陸場に向かうはずよ。そこで降りて......、そうね、ハンターオフィスの出張所まで送ってくれないかしら。そこまで護衛してくれると
みに僅かに引っかかるものを覚えた。しかし不穏な感覚を覚えたわけでもなく、ビルの中でキャロルと話していた時の彼女の笑顔とは僅かに違う感じがしただけだったので、アキラは特に気にしなかった。
アキラは待ち時間の間に銃の弾倉の交換を済ませておく。残弾はもう心
アキラはこれ以上何事も起こらないことを願いながら、追加の回復薬を飲み込んだ。アキラにできることは、その何かに対する準備と、それが起こらないことを祈ることだけだ。
その何かが起こるかどうかは、アキラにはどうしようもないのだ。
10分ほど経過した時、外の状況に変化が起こった。アキラ達を追ってきた機械系モンスター達が、扉と扉を塞いでいた機材を破壊して離着陸場に出てきたのだ。機械系モンスター達はわらわらと離着陸場に広がっていく。
アキラは輸送機の小窓から外の様子を見ていた。外の様子が気になることと、輸送機が飛び立った時の外の景色を見たかったからだ。
「......勘弁してくれ」
「......大丈夫。......外からは中は見えない。......そもそもこの輸送機自体が見えない。......それにそろそろ出発時刻。......大丈夫よ」
きが全て願望であることは、その表情からアキラにもよく分かった。キャロルは平静を保とうとしているが、苦笑いに混ざって浮かぶ冷や汗と僅かな震えが隠しきれない内心を表していた。
機械系モンスターが輸送機の近くまで来たら格納庫の扉が開くかもしれない。敵にはこの輸送機が見えているかもしれない。そもそも輸送機の周辺に邪魔な機械がある場合、予定の時刻になっても輸送機が発進しないかもしれない。確定している事項は何もないのだ。
アキラが意識と呼吸を整えるように息を深く吸い、深く吐いてからアルファに尋ねる。
『アルファ。もしモンスター達が輸送機の内まで入ってきたらどうする?』
アルファは変わらぬ
『その時は、アキラには覚悟を決めてもらって、人生二度目、本日二度目の経験をしてもらうわ』
アルファの予想通りの返事を聞いて、アキラは非常に嫌そうな表情を浮かべる。
『......だよなぁ。まあ、まだ生き残る手段が残っているだけましか』
場合によっては、アキラはもう一度、高層ビルの側面を駆け下りなければならない。飛び降り自殺との差異は、本人に死ぬ気がないことと、一応生き残る可能性があることだ。もう一度あんな
キャロルがアキラを見る。非常に嫌そうで、非常に面倒そうで、少々緊張しているアキラの表情を見る。キャロルはアキラの表情から、恐怖と諦めと絶望を感じ取ることはできなかった。
キャロルが自身でも分からない曖昧な呼びかけをした。
アキラが外へ続く扉に向けていた顔をキャロルの方に向けて、普通に受け答えを済ませる。
「何だ? ああ、もし敵が来たらこの場を離脱する。キャロルも一応準備はしておいてくれ」
「え、あ、うん。分かったわ」
もないみたいね」
余裕を取り戻したキャロルが不敵に笑って答える。
「当然よ」
アキラとキャロルは静かに立ち続ける。輸送機に近付く機械系モンスター達の音が少しずつ大きくなっていく。その音は次第に輸送機の周囲に広まっていく。
周囲を囲んでいる大量の機械系モンスターの動作音が聞こえてくる。聞く者の精神を削り取る音が響き続ける。並みのハンターなら恐怖から叫びだしそうなその音を聞き続けても、アキラとキャロルは静かに警戒を続けていた。
キャロルはかなり興奮気味に喜んでいた。二人の体格差もあって、キャロルは自身の胸にアキラの顔を埋もれさせるようにして抱き付いていた。
「分かった! 分かったから離してくれ!」
「良いじゃない! もっと一緒に喜びましょうよ!」
アキラは本気で痛がっていた。キャロルはサラと同じ身体強化拡張者で、機械系モンスターの装甲に対して有効な威力を持つ銃の反動に耐える身体能力の持ち主だった。そのキャロルが着用している防護服は外圧に反応して硬化する種類のものだ。豊満な胸の形をしている固い物体に顔面を押しつけられているようなもので、実際にかなり痛かった。
キャロルもアキラが本気で痛がっていることに気付き、すぐにアキラを離した。
苦痛から解放されたアキラが息を吐く。アキラはキャロルが落ち着きを取り戻したから自分を離したと思っていたが、その考えは外れていた。確かにキャロルは僅かに平静さを取り戻していたが、それでも通常の状態に比べればかなり高い興奮状態のままだった。
いて、キャロルが再びアキラを抱き締めた。アキラの顔がキャロルの柔らかで豊満な胸の谷間に埋もれた。
キャロルが上機嫌で笑いながら話す。
『うーん。やっぱり実体があるとアキラの態度も変わるのかしらね』
アキラがいつもより素っ気なく答える。
アキラとアルファの会話など分からないキャロルは上機嫌でアキラを抱き締め続けていた。
"Ahh, that, huh. No, I'm alright. I coughed out some blood, but this much is nothing and I still have enough medicines with me."
Akira was saying that he was injured but it was nothing serious. Carol sighed in relief after confirming that he was alright. But at the same time, she was also a bit surprised by how he was taking in their situation as she thanked him.
"Uhhh, by the way, thank you for saving me. Thanks to you, I was able to get out alive from that."
"Don't mention it, I've accepted that request after all... But still, I worked super hard to be able to get in here, you know..."
Akira even had to run on a building's wall to be able to defeat the autonomous weapons guarding that building, and the result of that hard work was now scattered in pieces right in front of him. The shock was pretty devastating for him.
Seeing Akira like this, Carol could not help but smile. The current Akira did not look like a Hunter who could immediately react to that sudden turn of events and jump in front of her to protect her. That young boy, who ignored the fact that he just coughed out blood as he immediately swallowed medicines, appeared so meek and devastated now while looking at his relics that were shredded into pieces.
"This is not funny at all. All my hard work just to get in this building is now all in vain, you know?!!"
Carol apologized while still giggling.
"Of course, you lost those relics for protecting me after all. So it would be really bad if you blame that on me and abandon me."
"A-are you really sure you're okay with that?"
Carol smiled and replied.
"Yeah. If you're not satisfied with that number, we can negotiate after we get out from here. But I think those relics should be worth around that much. Since I've brought back relics from this building a few times before, I more or less know the worth of the relics in this building. So, even if you say that they should worth more, I won't easily offer you more money, you know."
"Ah, no, that's not it, I'm okay with that number. Uhhh, thank you."
"Don't mention it... Or at least that's what I wanted to say, but it's too soon for that. If you want me to pay you that money, make sure to protect me until we escape this building, okay?"
"Of course. Since I've accepted your request, I'll properly protect you regardless of that deal."
Carol smiled happily at Akira.
They could not afford to stay in that place for too long. The longer they stayed there, the closer the swarm would be. Akira and Carol immediately started running again.
While he was running through the 40th floor, Akira asked Alpha.
"Alpha, thank you back there."
Akira's move back then was mostly thanks to Alpha's control. He actually could not react in time, and even if he did, he was not sure if he could have protected Carol.
"Don't mention it. It's my job to provide you with my support. That aside, are you really okay?"
"It's true that I don't feel any pain. It still feels weird when I move my body though, but it's not the time to worry about that now. More importantly, is my augmented suit okay after taking that barrage? That's more important, right?"
"It's okay. Although it did temporarily boost the energy consumption, your augmented suit should be functioning normally right now."
"Yeah, but then again, what do you think about this back door on the upper floor?"
"I don't know the answer to that question. Since she asked for 5,000,000 Aurum, I bet there's really a backdoor. So for now, let's just place our trust in her."
"You're right. It's not like I can go downstairs anyway, the way upward is the only way forward. Let's just put our bet on her and continue."
Although Alpha's ability to detect enemies was reduced, it was not that bad in detecting enemies on the same floor as them. So, even though they encountered more monsters after that, Akira was able to detect them first and snipe them before they could attack the duo.
Carol was shooting at the monsters in front of her when she voiced out her question.
Akira who was shooting at the same targets then answered.
"They're here now, so it doesn't matter. Let's just kill them and move on. One thing for sure, we have quite a lot of monsters chasing us from behind."
"Well, you're right about that..."
There was an elevator door not too far from them. For the sake of moving people and stuff around that building, the elevator door there was pretty big. Except for those people with the right permission, no one could use the elevator. That was why Akira and Carol were forced to climb that building using stairs.
But then that elevator door suddenly opened without making any sounds. Akira quickly reacted to that by pointing his rifle in that direction. Carol also did the same although a bit late. Both of them pulled the trigger almost simultaneously and started shooting at the rifles peeking out from the inside of that elevator.
"Now we know how they got here first. So this is the reason, huh."
What was left behind that elevator door was nothing but the dead wreckages of the monsters that the duo just killed. These monsters were using elevators to get ahead of Akira and Carol.
"What's going on here!? So the manager of this building is letting these monsters use the elevator?!"
"That seems to be the case."
"To think that the manager of this building has also turned hostile... Nah, I guess it's too late to be surprised about that by now, huh?"
All the Hunters inside that building were basically intruders, so that was to be expected.
Akira saw Carol's grim expression, he then asked her a question.
"Does this have anything to do with the backdoor that we're heading to?"
"None. To be more precise, they might have predicted where we're heading and sending monsters ahead of us, but it should be still alright."
"Is that so? In that case, we should hurry up then, at this rate, they'll surround us."
"You're right, let's go. But seriously, from one thing to another, we're really unlucky today. Today is really a bad day... Akira, what's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
Carol noticed Akira's weird reaction and asked him if he was okay. Akira, who just slightly twitched, returned his face to normal.
Carol was a bit bothered by Akira's strange reaction, but it was not the time for that as she quickly returned back to guiding the way forward.
Alpha, who had a good guess of what Akira was thinking, just smiled at him.
Even if it was true that Carol was roped into Akira's bad luck, there should not be any problems as long as they could return back alive. They knew that being a Hunter was a dangerous occupation. Once they returned back alive from that place, everything that happened that day would be an amusing story that they could laugh off in the future.
Akira and Carol continued running inside the Seranthal building, heading to the backdoor that Carol told Akira about. Now that they knew there were monsters ahead, they did not get caught off guard again as they carved their way forward through the monsters blocking their way. It was all good and fine up until that point, but the further they went forward, the grimmer their expression became.
Akira looked at the cause of that and said.
"There's just too many of them!!"
"There's no end to these monsters. Looking at this situation, I guess the Hunters downstairs are all dead, huh..."
The mechanical monsters that were chasing Akira and Carol from behind had increased in number, enough to even fully block the whole hallway. These monsters must have passed through the Hunters downstairs, and now they came upstairs to kill Carol and Akira, who were still alive inside the building. There might be some Hunters making their stand in some small rooms, but they were the minority among all the Hunters who came inside that building.
Akira was holding back the monsters behind them using his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun while Carol was clearing the way forward. As the wreckages of the dead monsters in the front of the swarms blocked the hallway, all the monsters behind them slowly pushed their way through those wreckages and crept closer and closer to Akira and Carol.
Akira and Carol somehow reached the 45th floor, they finally reached their destination. The stairs that they took to get there were already filled with wreckages, there was no way to go downstairs now.
"Carol, how far until we reach the backdoor? This is already the 45th floor, so it should be somewhere on this floor, right?"
"Go right and then left. There, we'll find a big door."
Akira peeked toward that direction. Countless monsters were already waiting inside that hallway. And right when Akira peeked at them, the elevator door near those monsters opened and delivered extra reinforcements. The duo looked totally disheartened.
Akira sighed and said with a serious face.
"It can't be helped, we need to break through them."
Carol was so surprised. She thought that it was impossible to break through that blockade.
"...Breakthrough them? Right there? With that many monsters?"
"If we take too long shaving their number, this floor will be flooded with monsters before we can move forward. Not to mention, I don't have much ammo left. If we don't break through them in one go, our fates would be sealed as the time passes... Look there, they got even more reinforcement."
The elevator door opened again and delivered even more monsters inside that hallway. Akira believed that they would not stop sending monsters there anytime soon.
Carol looked at that and made her resolve.
"I'll go in first then you help me from behind."
Looking at Akira, who said that so flatly as if he was only stating a fact without a trace of anger or hatred, Carol smiled happily and said.
"...You're right, I'll be counting on you."
Akira swallowed some medicines beforehand and put some ready inside his mouth, he then reloaded new magazines into his rifles. He stood in the middle of the hallway with his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun ready on his hands. He was ready to go.
"Ready when you are."
Seeing Alpha who was smiling like usual, a question popped out inside Akira's head.
Akira forced himself to make a confident smile. Right after that, he jumped out into the hallway where those monsters were waiting for him. He gathered his focus and compressed his time perception, inside that slow-motion world, Akira made his resolve, aimed the rifles on both of his hands toward the monsters in front of him, and pulled the trigger.
The special ammo of his CWH anti-material rifle easily pierced through the monsters' thick armours and blew the inside of their bodies, it then went further and pierced right through the monsters behind them too. While the shower of bullets coming out from Akira's DVTS minigun only had enough power to dent their armours, it was strong enough to destroy their limbs and guns. The monsters that were thrown back blocked the other monsters from aiming at Akira, the dead monsters blocked their way forward, and the destroyed guns blew up and took out the monsters near their vicinity.
Alpha used all the information that she got from Akira's information-gathering device, she then analyzed it, processed it, and used it to confirm the position of all the enemies and their lines of sight. Since they were on the same floor as Akira and pretty close to him, even with the reduced sensitivity, Alpha was able to detect even the slightest move that these monsters made.
Alpha took control of Akira's augmented suit, enhanced his vision, and corrected his aim to take out the first monsters with the highest possibility of inflicting serious injury to Akira. While at the same time, she maximized the effectiveness of the DVTS barrage to lower the monsters' firepower. As the explosions of their guns took out the monsters around where those explosions happened, the dead monsters turned into obstacles that slowed down the other monsters' movements. Alpha fully grasped the situation of every single second of that battle as she kept Akira and Carol from the monsters aim and guided Akira to make the best possible sequence of action.
Akira was running forward in that situation where even the smallest slip up could cause the enemies' shots to concentrate on him and immediately kill him. His augmented suit forced his body to move to its utmost limit to the point that it was almost enough to kill him. His muscles and bones could not take the burden as they were screaming in pain. The moment the medicines that he had taken in beforehand healed those injuries, the augmented suit would place even more burden on his body again.
Akira was pushing forward inside that slow-motion world, bullets were flying from behind and in front of him, he could hear the sounds of those flying bullets and he could feel the wind pressure grazing his skin as those bullets flew past near him. In the middle of that, Akira focused to feel the movement of his augmented suit and tried his best to match his body movement with his augmented suit, so as not to slow down Alpha's control over his augmented suit.
Thanks to his enhanced vision, Akira could see the next location he needed to position himself, the next action he needed to take, and the next target that he needed to take out first. He tried his best to follow Alpha's guidance that was produced through processing a huge amount of information and after a huge amount of complex calculations.
Inside his enhanced vision, Akira also could see the predicted trajectory line of the monsters' aims. Alpha sometimes gave him order to pass through positions where he would get hit by bullets. But even after knowing that, Akira would still push forward and take that route without hesitating. Then, as expected, he would grit his teeth and take in the bullet while making sure that it would not break his balance as he focused himself to follow the next order.
Thanks to Alpha's support, Akira kept on shooting at the monsters in front of him with the utmost efficiency while at the same time reducing the efficiency of the monsters in front of him with his barrage.
Carol, was following behind Akira while giving as much support as she could, she kept telling her body to keep moving since it kept stopping out of astonishment from the scene happening in front of her.
Carol did not expect that Akira was that strong.
[...So strong!! I knew all along that he's strong enough to kill the monsters guarding this building alone, but I never thought that he's this strong!! Amazing!! Really amazing!!]
After pushing through that fierce fight, Akira and Carol stood in front of the door that they were aiming for. Although the battle only lasted for 5 minutes, for both of them, it felt like forever. Akira himself was already low on ammo and medicines.
Akira faced his back toward that door and fought the monster chasing him while Carol rushed toward that door and opened it. After she checked everything, she shouted at Akira.
"It's all green!! Hurry up!!"
Akira quickly went inside that door and the door almost immediately shut. The monsters on the other side of that door released a barrage of bullets, Akira could hear those bullets hitting the thick door from the other side. It was a close call.
After escaping that dangerous situation, Akira finally had the leeway to relax and reassess his situation. As he scanned his surroundings, he was taken aback and said.
"We're outside?"
Akira was already outside. Some of the floors in the Seranthal building had platforms and those platforms were actually landing platforms, Akira was standing on one of those platforms.
Akira flusteredly asked Carol a question.
"Is this the backdoor?"
"Yes, did that surprise you?"
"Wait for a sec, how exactly are we going to escape from this place? I can't fly, and of course, I don't want to jump down from this height."
Carol then said to Akira.
Akira followed Carol into the landing platform. It was pretty huge for a landing platform on top of a building.
Although Akira never saw it for himself, he was wondering if there was this so-called airplane in that place and that Carol was planning to escape from that building using it. But as he scanned the platform, he did not see anything that might be that so-called airplane.
As Akira started to feel uneasy, he then asked Carol with a worried face.
"Carol, can you tell me now where are we heading to? And how are you planning to escape from this building?"
"We'll be there soon. It's faster if you see it for yourself. Even if I explain it to you now, I don't think that you would believe me anyway."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You'll get it when you see it. Ah, there it is, it's that thing over there."
Carol then pointed her finger. But Akira could not see anything in the direction she was pointing, there was nothing but the runway there.
"It's foggy so it's hard to see. Look closely, don't you see a shadow in the middle of that runway?"
"To think that you wouldn't be able to see it unless you get this close, this is a pretty high-grade optical camouflage. Akira, this is a delivery drone. I bet this is from the old-world. The reason why you can't see it is because of its optical camouflage. It's also equipped with other camouflaging devices, even your information-gathering device would not be able to detect it unless you get close enough to it."
It was an old-world delivery drone. From Akira's point of view, it looked like the interior of that delivery drone was floating in the air. But when he approached it while already knowing that there was a delivery drone there, Akira started to recognize the outline of that delivery drone.
The door of that delivery drone was completely open and it led into a platform, connected to a storage room inside of it.
Carol stepped into that storage room and called Akira.
"Akira, come on, get in here or you'll get left behind."
Akira snapped back to reality and followed Carol into that storage room. The door was still open even after he went in, but not too long after that, it closed on its own.
The storage room inside the delivery drone was pretty spacious, but there was nothing other than Akira and Carol inside it. Seeing Carol relaxed there, Akira also lowered his guard.
He then asked Carol who was already resting.
"Carol, explain to me what's going on here. First of all, is this thing safe?"
"The fact there are monsters inside the Seranthal building alone is not normal. That's why I can't say for sure if this thing is safe or not. But if this won't work, then nothing will and we'll have no other choice but to climb down the building's wall."
"...I see, I understand. So then, what will happen next?"
"Once the time comes, this thing will start flying on its own... Just wait for a bit."
Carol then opened her information terminal and checked something.
"15 minutes. We have no other choice but to wait for 15 more minutes. Ah, and also, don't get too close to the door, it might open the door if you do that."
"Okay. So basically, this delivery drone is that backdoor, right?"
"Yep. It seems that it regularly visits multiple buildings, and this Seranthal building is just one of them. If it follows the usual schedule, the next stop will be a landing platform in the Mihazono ruin factory district. So we'll get off there and... Well, will you escort me back all the way to the Hunter Office? I would be really happy if you would do that for me."
Carol smiled at Akira, he felt there was something else bothering him in that smile. But it was not anything ominous, it simply felt different compared to the smile that she had when they spoke to each other inside the Seranthal building, that was all there was to it. So he just decided to ignore it.
While waiting for that 15 minutes to pass by, Akira reloaded new magazines into his rifles. He no longer had that much ammo left. He still had some reserve ammo left in his vehicle, but he left his vehicle in the parking lot not too far from the Hunter Office. He could not replenish his ammo until he could get back to his vehicle, so until then, there was no way he could face another swarm of monsters like before.
Akira hoped that nothing bad would happen from here on out as he swallowed more medicines. The only thing that he could do right now was to get himself well prepared in case anything bad happened while hoping that it would be unnecessary.
After all, whether something bad would happen or not, was something Akira had no control over.
After 10 minutes, there was another turn of events. The monsters that were chasing Akira and Carol broke through the door and the wreckage blocking the door. They were quickly flooding the landing platform.
Akira was looking outside through a small window in that storage room. It was because he was keeping eyes on the situation outside and he wanted to see the view outside when the delivery drone took off.
"...Give me a break."
"...It's alright... They shouldn't be able to see us from the outside... Moreover, this delivery drone is using an optical camouflage in the first place... And it's time to take off soon... It should be alright..."
All the words that Carol mumbled were all her wishes, Akira could understand that after seeing her expression. Although she was trying to stay calm there, her smile was crooked and cold sweat was running down her face, she was also slightly shaking, showing what she was actually feeling uneasy.
If the mechanical monsters got close enough to the delivery drone, its door might open. They might even be able to see the delivery drone too. Moreover, in the first place, the delivery drone might not take off if there was something blocking it. There were so many uncertainties.
Akira tried to reorganize his mind, he took a deep breath and let out a long sigh before asking Alpha.
"Alpha, what will happen if those monsters get into this storage room?"
Alpha kept smiling like usual.
"When that happens, I'll have you ready to re-experience what you did today."
After hearing the answer that he had completely expected, Akira's face distorted. It seemed that he really hated that idea.
"...Thought so. Well, I guess I should be thankful that I, at least, still have a way to get out from this place alive."
Depending on the situation, Akira might have to run down a building's wall again. The only difference between riding off and just simply jumping down the wall was that the former had a better chance of survival. After all, he had no wish to get himself killed. Of course, he did not want to do that again if it could be helped, but the monsters chasing him did not care about that.
Carol looked at Akira. He seemed to be very annoyed and exasperated as well as a little nervous. From what she could see, Akira did not seem to have given up, he did not even seem scared at all.
Carol herself had no idea why she called Akira's name.
Akira, who was watching the door that was leading outside, turned to Carol and casually replied.
"Yes? Ah, if the monsters come here, we'll have to get out of here. So you get yourself ready in case that happens."
"Eh, ah, okay, sure."
"It's nothing. It seems that you haven't given up at all."
Carol who already regained her composure confidently smiled and replied.
"Obviously."
Akira and Carol just stood there in silence. The sound of the monsters outside the delivery drone was starting to get louder and louder as they approached and surrounded that delivery drone.
Akira and Carol could clearly hear the sounds that those mechanical monsters were making outside the delivery drone. Normally, hearing those sounds would shave the spirit of the people who were listening to them. A normal Hunter might start screaming right about now. But even so, Carol and Akira just stood there in silence while listening to those sounds.
Carol seemed to be delighted. Because of their height difference, Akira's head was pushed right into Carol's chest.
"Okay okay!! I got it already!! So just let me go!!"
"It's fine, right? Let's celebrate together!!"
Akira was really in pain. Just like Sara, Carol also had an augmented body, thanks to that, she was able to handle the kickback of a powerful gun without any trouble. While the armour that she was using was a reactive armour that would harden in response to an external force. So having those hard layers in the shape of breast pushed against his face, caused Akira to feel pain.
Carol realized that Akira was really in pain and quickly let him go.
Akira coughed after getting released from that pain. He thought that Carol let him go since she had regained her composure, but that was not the case. It was true that Carol regained some of her composure, but compared to her usual state, she was still in a high mood.
Carol quickly pulled down the fastener in front of her down to her stomach. She then used that opening when Akira was surprised to hug him again. But this time, Akira's face was buried into her well-endowed breasts.
Carol smiled happily as she said.
"Hmmm, as I thought, you react differently when it's something that you can actually touch."
Akira casually replied to Alpha just like usual.
Carol, who did not know about that short exchange between Akira and Alpha, kept on hugging Akira happily.
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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