ロゲルトが搭乗している黒い機体が、チェーンソー型の近接攻撃装備でカツヤの車両を串刺しにして持ち上げている。回転している刃が車体から火花を飛び散らせていた。
カツヤはアキラを追って広場に車で飛び込んだ後、敵の攻撃を受けて車をかなり損傷させたものの脱出に成功していた。脱出後は広間からアキラを追うのを諦めて、損傷で大分動きの鈍くなった車で庭を移動してアルナを探していたのだが、敵の機体を粗方始末し終えたロゲルトに見つかってしまったのだ。
ロゲルトは機体の性能を生かしてカツヤの車両をあっさり破壊した。機体の機動力でカツヤの車両に接近して天井から串刺しにしたのだ。
カツヤは辛うじて車両から脱出していた。車両は失ったが、
ロゲルトがカツヤにも聞こえるように外部スピーカーを使用して勝ち誇る。
「クソガキが! ハーリアスの連中と組めば何とかなると思ったのか? それともドランカムの車両で来れば俺達がドランカムに
カツヤが状況の不利を悟りながらも威勢よく叫ぶ。
「アルナはどこだ!」
ロゲルトの嘲る声が響く。
「聞いてどうする? てめえはこれから死ぬんだ。生け捕るのも面倒だ。こいつを直撃させて派手に散らしてやるよ」
ロゲルトが機体の近接装備を見せつけるように軽く揺らした。戦闘車両を軽く両断する威力なのだ。生身で食らえば間違いなく千切れて四散する。
カツヤがその光景を想像して表情を
「アルナはどこだって言ってるんだよ!」
「しつけえな。命乞いも無駄でもう助からねえんだから、最後まで女の身を案じながら死んだっていうカッコイイ死に様でも演じたいのか? 第一、あの女は俺達を襲撃するための口実だろ? お前がハーリアスの連中とどんな取引をしたかは知らねえが、俺達の襲撃に加わるなんて馬鹿な
カツヤは死の恐怖よりも自分の行動を馬鹿にされた怒りが上回っていた。込み上げる怒りに身を任せて声を上げる。
「ハーリアスなんてやつらなんか知るか! ドランカムも関係ない! 俺は自分の意思でアルナを助けに来たんだ!」
振り下ろされようとしていた刃が止まる。ロゲルトが
「......知らない、だと? ヴィオラ辺りの仲介でハーリアスの連中と手を組んで、アキラと一緒に襲撃しに来たんじゃないのか?」
「ヴィオラってやつもハーリアスってやつも知らない! 第一あいつはアルナを殺そうとしてるんだぞ! 絶対に手なんか組むか!」
しむ。組織のボスの座に着いていることもあって、話の機微を探るのには慣れていた。話の真偽も結構高い精度で見抜けるとも思っていた。ヴィオラのような例外もいるが、目の前の子供はその例外ではない。
(......本当に知らないのか? ヴィオラもハーリアスも知らないし、アキラとも手を組んでいない?
しむ声を出す。その声には困惑が少々高めの比率で混ざっている。
「確認するぜ? そうするとお前は、ハーリアスのバックアップも無しに、アキラと手も組まずに、一人で正面から乗り込んできたってことになる。アルナを助けに来たっていうのに、こっそり忍び込む手段も取らずにだ。お前、それで何とかなると本気で思っていたのか? 本当に?」
「そ、それは......」
カツヤがたじろぎを見せた。ロゲルトはカツヤの態度を機体のカメラ越しに見て、その動揺が別の目的を隠すためのものではないことを察する。
ロゲルトの笑い声が機体の外部スピーカーを通して周囲に響く。
「お前、本当にただの馬鹿か! 考えなしに乗り込んでこのざまになっただけか! その手の馬鹿は大抵チンピラやっている間にその馬鹿さ加減で死ぬんだが、お前は運良く生き延びたって訳か!」
「俺だ。あのアルナってガキはどうなった? もう殺したか?」
アルナを人質として活用しろと指示されていた部下が答える。
「いや、まだ生きている。俺達と一緒だ。カツヤってガキへの連絡手段がないから近くまで連れていって脅すつもりなんだが、そのカツヤが見つからない。今はハーリアスの連中と戦いながらカツヤを探している最中だ」
「カツヤなら俺の前にいる。カツヤに
「カ、カツヤ!? そっちにいるの!?」
カツヤがアルナの声に大きく反応する。
「アルナ! 大丈夫か!? 無事なのか!?」
「本当に、助けに来てくれたんだ......。ありがとう......。わ、私は......」
そこでアルナの声が途切れ、ロゲルトが割り込んでカツヤに告げる。
「聞いた通りだ。あの女は生きている。そいつを助けに来たんだろう? 良かったな。じゃあ取引だ。お前にはこれから俺達の指示に従ってもらう。そうすればあの女の命は保証してやる。この場でお前を殺すのも止めてやる。お前もあの女も死なずに済むわけだ。
「......俺に、何をさせる気だ」
「まずはここに乗り込んできたハーリアスの連中を皆殺しにしてもらう」
「......俺にお前達とそいつらの見分けなんか付かねえよ」
「お前の情報端末の回線を俺達に開け。こっちから移動先や攻撃目標の指示を出す」
「......そいつらを倒せば、アルナに手を出さないんだな?」
「いいや、それだけじゃない。他にもいろいろやってもらう。聞くところによると、お前はたっぷり稼いでるんだろう? 金もたっぷり払ってもらう」
ロゲルトが大きな反感を示したカツヤを威圧する
「従うか、死ぬかだ! お前の選択肢はそれだけだ! 5秒以内に答えろ! 黙ったままなら殺す! 5、4、3、2......」
「......分かった」
カツヤが非常に悔しそうに答えた。ロゲルトが近接装備をカツヤから遠ざける。
「良い判断だ。ハーリアスの連中を殺しにとっとと
ロゲルトが部下に指示を出す。
「俺だ。聞いた通りだ。その女は殺すな。少なくともカツヤが死ぬまではな。
ロゲルトは回線を切ろうとして、もう片方のことを思い出した。
「......そういえば、シェリルの方はどうなった?」
「そっちの連中とは連絡が途絶えている。探させるか?」
「その余裕があるならな。ハーリアスの連中の対処を優先させろ。無理はするな。何か分かったら連絡しろ。俺は引き続き外の連中を殺す。お前らの手に負えないやつがいたら拠点の庭に誘導しろ。
「馬鹿どもが。ハーリアスの連中に幾らで雇われたか知らねえが、そんな数と装備で何とかなるとでも本気で思っていたのか? それとも全員あのガキと同じ考えなしなのか?」
アキラの方も案外ただの馬鹿かもしれない。ロゲルトはそう思いながら敵の駆除を続行した。
の中を移動しているアキラに、アルファが唐突な話をする。
『アキラって、結構チンピラで考えなしよね』
らした。自覚はあるのだ。こうしてエゾントファミリーの拠点に乗り込んだのも、ある意味で考えなしの行動だと頭のどこかで理解していた。
だが頭の別の部分が、それでも引き下がるなと訴えている。自分が踏み
アルファが黙っているアキラに軽い口調で話す。
『見つかったのか? よし。急ごう』
アキラが先導するアルファを見て少し不思議に思う。
『アルファ。何か急にやる気を出したように見えるんだけど、俺の気のせいか?』
『仕方ないわ。アキラは私が何を言ってもアルナを殺すまで帰らない気なのよね? それなら手早く済ませてここから脱出してもらう方が良いわ。......アキラが今すぐに撤退してくれるのなら、それが一番なのよ?』
アルファがアキラを威圧するように力強い笑みを浮かべる。アキラの顔が僅かに引き
『あ、はい。急ぎます』
用事を手早く済ませたいのはアキラも一緒だ。下手なことを言って
「あっちのシェリルって方ならまだ分かるんだけどな。あの女は服も容姿もスラム街のレベルじゃねえ。服はまあハンターに貢がせたのかもしれないが、容姿も含めてあそこまで上等なら入れ込むやつがいても不思議はねえよ。でもこっちはスラム街のガキだ。俺ならさっさと見捨てるな」
「まあ、女の趣味は人それぞれだ。
の屋上でCWH対物突撃銃を構えている。貫通性能に優れた弾丸を装填して、格納庫に、その中にいるアルナに照準を合わせている。アルファのサポートのおかげでアキラの視界には格納庫内の様子も透過表示されている。銃口から延びている弾道予測の線も表示されている。
アルファはアキラの
『周囲の警戒は私がするから、アキラは一撃で終わらせることだけに集中して』
『私のサポートの照準補正は期待しないで。前にも説明した通り、その強化服の制御プログラムの精度は低いの。その手のサポートはないものと思って自力で狙って。外せば敵に気付かれる。面倒な事になるわ』
アキラが集中して精神を研ぎ澄ます。全神経を照準合わせに割り当てて、ほんの僅かな振動ですら大きく揺れる照準の狂いを調整していく。引き金を引く一瞬に意識を集中する。
男達が険しい表情で状況の把握に努める。
男が情報収集機器の反応を慌てて確認する。
次弾が再びアルナの近くに着弾した。アルナが思わず悲鳴を上げる。更に続けて近い場所に合った設備に着弾して火花が飛び散った。
を散布したのよ。中に入れば普通に見えるけれど、壁越しにはもう無理ね』
『中に入るしかないか。やっぱり自力での射撃も、もっと訓練しないと駄目だな』
『それは後でたっぷり訓練するとして、まずは迎撃に来る者の対処が先よ』
格納庫の中から重装強化服を着用した男が出てくる。アキラが男に照準を合わせて引き金を引く。被弾した男が衝撃で格納庫に激突する。だが男は
の一部を破壊しながらアキラの周辺に撃ち込まれる。アキラはその場から慌てて離れて弾幕から逃れた。
『アルファ! あいつCWH対物突撃銃の徹甲弾に耐えたぞ!?』
『防御力にそれだけ自信が有るから狙撃手のいる場所に出てきたのよ。効果なしって訳ではないのだから、何度も撃ち込むしかないわ』
のおかげで無傷で済んだ。しかしコートの残存エネルギーを相応に削られてしまった。
アキラは周辺を見て、屋上にそれらしい小型の装置が貼り付いているのを見つけると、嫌そうに顔を
『敵に位置を捕捉されながらの戦闘訓練は前にエリオ達とやったはずよ。不必要に
せずに対処しなさい』
『泣き言を言うぐらいならすぐに帰れって言いたいんだろう! 分かってるよ!』
アキラが敵の攻撃から必死に逃げながら答えた。アルファは、そうだ、とは答えなかった。
互いに敵の位置を常時捕捉しながらの戦闘が続く。アキラはとにかく移動し続けて敵の照準を狂わせながら、直接敵のミニガンの射線に入らないようにA4WM自動擲弾銃で反撃する。足場にしている
は荒野に近い場所に建築する都合で、モンスターの襲撃に備えてかなり頑丈な造りになっている。通常の造りなら既にこの辺りは崩壊している。そして先にアキラのA4WM自動擲弾銃が弾切れになった。
アキラがA4WM自動擲弾銃用の大型弾倉を取り替えようとした途端、アルファの指示が飛ぶ。
同時にアルファの操作でアキラの強化服が僅かに動く。アキラはその動きに逆らわずにその場から大きく飛び
A4WM自動擲弾銃は弾切れ。DVTSミニガンで床を貫通するのは難しい。CWH対物突撃銃では銃身が床に当たる。足下の敵を放置もできない。アキラはCWH対物突撃銃で真下を狙うために軽く上に飛んで銃身の分の空間を確保しようとする。
アルファの指示が飛んだが手遅れだった。既にアキラは飛び上がっており、空中でA4WM自動擲弾銃からCWH対物突撃銃へ持ち替えようとしている最中だった。
屋根の端から別の敵が素早く身を乗り出して、空中のアキラへ向けて大型の銃を構えようとしている。館内の敵がアキラの着地を狙って刃を構えている。アキラは空中でその両方に気付いた。
端の敵を優先すれば下の敵に着地を狩られる。下の敵を優先すれば端の敵に銃撃される。それを理解したアキラが表情を
んだ体感時間の中で行動の取捨選択と覚悟を済ませた。だがアルファが強化服を操作してアキラの行動に割り込み、その対処方法を変更させる。
アキラは勝手に動く両腕と、同時に届いたアルファの指示に驚きながらも、その意図に合わせて全力で動く。宙に浮いたまま右手だけでCWH対物突撃銃を構えて銃口を下へ、館内の敵へ向ける。同時に左手を身に着けたままのDVTSミニガンの引き金に伸ばす。そして両方の引き金を引いた。
CWH対物突撃銃から放たれた弾丸が館内の敵をその場から飛び
非常に強力な弾丸がアキラのコートの端を千切り飛ばしながら駆け抜けていく。それは直撃していればアキラに致命傷を与えていたことを示していた。
そのままDVTSミニガンの引き金を引き続けながら、アキラはその銃口を強引に射線を端の敵に向ける。無数の銃弾を食らった敵が着弾の衝撃で吹き飛ばされて下に落ちていった。
アルファが真面目な表情で提案する。
『アキラ。敵が予想以上に強いわ。さっきの敵も落ちただけで倒したわけではないの。ここは一度引いて』
アキラは非常に険しい表情を浮かべている。命賭けと自殺は別だ。意地と覚悟がアキラに自殺手前の無謀を強いている。命賭けは許容範囲。自殺は範囲外。険しい状況がアキラの認識をその境界線のほんの手前まで移動させている。アルファがもう少しその認識を後押しすれば、アキラは諦めて引き下がったかもしれない。
だがアルファはそうしなかった。笑って答える。
『それはどうしても嫌なのでしょう? もう無理には言わないわ。だから次善の策を取るの。一度下がって強化服の制御をもう少しましなものに書き換えるわ。そのためにはこの状況下で強化服を一時的に使用不可能にする必要があるから、それはそれで命懸けなのだけれどね。それでもこのまま戦うよりは勝率が上がると判断したわ。撤退の指示ではないのだから、嫌とは言わせないわよ?』
少し楽しげに笑っているアルファを見て、アキラも軽く笑った。
『聞き分けが良くて助かるわ』
『その口で撤退を嫌がったりしなければ、もう少し説得力も増すのだけれどね。急ぎましょう』
アキラはアルファの皮肉に苦笑を返すと、全力でその場から離脱した。
Rogelt used the chainsaw equipped on his black powered suit to sever Katsuya's vehicle and raised it up. The spinning blade of the chainsaw spat fire sparks through Katsuya's vehicle.
After Katsuya chased Akira with his vehicle, it had sustained a considerable amount of damage from all the shootings. So he decided to retreat. He ran away from the war zone, then moved his badly damaged and slow-moving vehicle to the yard and went to look for Alna. But unfortunately, Rogelt found him first after he defeated the enemy's powered suits.
Rogelt's powered suit was able to make short work of Katsuya's vehicle. He went straight for Katsuya's vehicle and cleaved it open through its ceiling.
Katsuya was barely able to get out of his vehicle in time. Although he lost his vehicle, he still had all of his equipment while he was lying on the ground, glaring at the black powered suit.
Rogelt used the external speaker to let Katsuya hear him.
"You damn brat!! Did you really think that you can do something by working together with Haurias? Or did you think that by coming in a Drankam vehicle we would be scared of you?! Hah, that's so unfortunate for you."
Although Katsuya was absolutely at disadvantage, he still managed to speak back.
"Where's Alna?!!"
Rogelt mockingly replied.
"What's the point even if I tell you? You'll die here. It's too much trouble capturing you alive. I'll crush you with this powered suit."
Rogelt showed off his melee weapons. It had enough power to easily rip Katsuya's vehicle into two. If Katsuya got hit by it, there was no questioning that he would be squashed.
Katsuya imagined that scene and twitched, then yelled back.
"I'm asking where's Alna?!!"
"Goddammit, just shut up! I won't spare you even if you beg, or do you think that it's cool to die while thinking about the girl you love? In the first place, that girl is just an excuse for you to attack us, isn't it? I don't know what kind of deal you made with Haurias, but it's stupid for you to come and join this battle too. You can go ahead and regret your foolishness when I squash you into minced meat."
Rather than fearing for his own death, Katsuya was more reeled up for being mocked. He let his emotion take over as he loudly yelled.
"Like hell if I know about Haurias!! And this has nothing to do with Drankam!! I want to save Alna and that's why I'm here!!"
Rogelt stopped the chainsaw that he was swinging downward. He sounded rather surprised as he asked.
"...You're saying that you don't know them? You didn't come here with Akira after Viola introduced you to Haurias?"
"I don't even know who is this Viola you're talking about?! You're trying to kill Alna and that's enough of a reason for me to come here!!"
Rogelt reeled back. As the boss of the gang, he was used to reading between the lines. He was confident that he could see through lies. Of course, there were exceptions like Viola, but the little boy in front of him was not a part of that exception.
[...This boy really doesn't know about them, huh? He doesn't know Viola nor Haurias, does that mean that he's not working together with Akira either? And it doesn't seem he's lying...]
Rogelt then continued, he obviously sounded slightly confused and troubled.
"Let me get this straight. So basically you have nothing to do with those Haurias, you have nothing to do with that Akira, and you came here all on your own decision, correct? Although you came here in order to save Alna, you did not even try to sneak in. Did you really think that you can save her by doing something like this? Are you sane?"
"T-that is..."
Katsuya wavered. Rogelt was clearly able to see that through the camera on his powered suit and confirmed that it was not a fake reaction and that he was not trying to hide something.
Rogelt's laugh could be heard through the speakers of his powered suit.
"You're really stupid. So you came here without even giving it a proper thought first, huh! Stupid people like you are usually just small fries who die after doing something equally stupid. So basically you're just lucky to stay alive until now, huh!"
"It's me. How's that Alna? Is she alive?"
The men that he told to keep Alna hostage replied.
"She's with me right now and she's still alive. At first, we were planning to take her near Katsuya and use her to threaten him, but since we can't contact him, we don't know where he is right now. At the moment, we're in the middle of fighting Haurias while looking for that Katsuya."
"If it's about Katsuya, he's right here with me. Tell her that this call is connected to Katsuya and make her scream for help and make sure it could be heard from this call."
"K-Katsuya? Are you there?"
Katsuya immediately reacted to Alna's voice.
"Alna! Are you alright?!"
"You... Really came to save me... Thank you... I... I..."
Alna's voice was cut short by Rogelt.
"Just like you heard, that girl is alive. You came here to save that girl, right? Aren't you glad? So, here's a deal. You follow my orders from here and on, and I'll guarantee the safety of this girl. I also won't kill you here. This way, you and that girl will survive, isn't that great?"
"...What do you want me to do?"
"First of all, I'll have you kill those Haurias guys."
"...Like hell I can tell which one of them is which!"
"Set your information terminal to catch the signal from our broadcast frequency. We'll tell you where to go and what's your target from there."
"...If I kill them, you'll return Alna back to me, right?"
"No, that's not everything yet. I'll have you do other things too. From what I heard about you, you're earning a lot of money, right? So I'll have you pay me a lot of money too."
Rogelt added more intimidation in his voice when he saw Katsuya reel back.
"Either you obey me, or die here! You have 5 seconds! If you don't give me any answer, I'll kill you here! 5... 4... 3... 2..."
"...Alright!"
Katsuya had an extremely pained look, Rogelt pulled his chainsaw away from Katsuya.
"You've made the right choice. Go back to the mansion and kill those Haurias. Don't forget to open your channel for our signals too. Now go, make sure to work hard out there. Otherwise, consider that girl dead."
Rogelt then said to his men.
"It's me, as you just heard, don't kill that girl. Or at least, make sure that she's alive as long as Katsuya is still alive. Don't try anything funny, it would be bad if you kill her by mistake. Treat her like a guest. And send some people to accompany Katsuya to make sure that he fights Haurias."
When Rogelt was about to disconnect, he remembered something and asked.
"...By the way, I wonder how about that Sheryl?"
"My call was cut off midway. Should we try to look for her?"
"Only if you have the leeway to do so. Taking out the Haurias comes first. There's no need to go out of your way to look for her. I'll continue killing the Haurias outside. If you can't handle any of them, just bait them to the courtyard or any other places where my powered suit can reach you like outside the mansion or just outside the hangar. Pass this on to the other men outside the base too."
"Idiots. I don't know if they're here because Haurias paid them or something, but do they really think that they can fight quality with quantity alone? Or these people are basically like that stupid boy, coming here without giving it any thoughts first?"
Rogelt continued killing his enemies there while thinking if Akira was also one of those stupid people.
Akira was running through the mansion when Alpha suddenly said to him.
"Akira, you sometimes act like a foolish small fry, don't you?"
Akira looked away. He knew that Alpha was correct. He himself understood that it was not an exaggeration to call him a fool for raiding Ezont Family's base by himself like this.
But another side of him was urging him not to accept it. If he retreated now, he felt like he would be pushed back to the state when he was still living in the slum alley. That fear and feeling of insecurity pushed him to come to this place.
Alpha silently stared at Akira before saying.
"Oh, you found her? Alright then, let's go."
Akira thought something was a bit strange as he followed Alpha's guide.
"Alpha, for some reason, I feel like you're suddenly rather supportive, or is it only my imagination?"
"You won't return back home unless you kill Alna, right? So I guess I have no other choice but to get you to finish her and get away from this place as soon as possible... Of course, if you decide to retreat here, that would be for the best though."
Alpha was smiling at Akira as if she was pressuring him. Akira's frowned a bit.
"I-I see, I'll hurry up too."
Just like Alpha, Akira also wanted to finish his business there as fast as possible. Since he felt like it would only get him in more trouble if he said something there, Akira just shut up and started running.
"I can understand it in Sheryl's case. That girl's dress and outward appearance are not on the same level as those girls that you can find in the slum city. That dress, although she might have gotten that from a Hunter, with that outward appearance, it would not be strange for some people to get so invested in her. But this one here is just a slum girl. If it was me, I would have just abandoned her, no question about it."
"Well, different people have different tastes for women. That Katsuya might be just a very earnest person and something happened in the past that made him owe something big to this girl here."
Akira was aiming through his CWH anti-material rifle from the rooftop of the mansion. He loaded a special bullet with high piercing power beforehand as he aimed straight at one of the hangars, or to be more precise, at Alna who was inside that particular hangar. Thanks to Alpha's support, he could see the interior of the hangar together with the predicted trajectory line of his bullet.
Alpha was right beside Akira, she then said with a serious face.
"I'll watch out for enemies, so you can focus on finishing your job here."
"Don't expect too much from my aiming correction support, okay? Like I've explained before, the control software in your augmented suit is still a crude one. Just aim carefully with your own skill as if you don't have my support at all. If you miss your shot, the enemies would discover your position and it would be a huge pain in the neck."
Akira gathered his focus and used all of his senses for aiming as he was slowly adjusting his aim that swayed greatly with a slight move. The moment before he pulled the trigger, he compressed his time perception to its limit, extending and distorting the banging sound coming from his CWH anti-material rifle.
The guards immediately reconfirmed their current situation.
Another guy checked his information-gathering device for any signal.
Another bullet flew right past Alna. Alna inadvertently shrieked. Then another bullet flew by, hit one of the equipment, and left a fire spark.
"It's the effect from the jamming smoke inside that hangar. You should be able to have a clear vision inside, but it's impossible to check the interior of the hangar from outside."
"Then there's no other choice but to storm the hangar, huh. As I thought, I need more training to be able to shoot relying only on my own skill."
"You can train as much as you want later, but first, we need to welcome the incoming guests."
A guy suddenly jumped out of the hangar, he was using a heavy augmented suit. Akira immediately sniped that guy. The force of the bullet threw that guy straight back into the hangar wall. But that guy, with his back still stuck on the big crater in the hangar's wall, aimed his minigun at Akira and started shooting back.
Bullets showered the mansion and destroyed a part of the mansion, especially around Akira. Akira flusteredly got away from the barrage.
"Alpha!! That guy survived CWH anti-material rifle, you know!?"
"He knew that he could take that shot, that's why he came out in full view. It's not like it didn't damage him at all, so don't stop shooting."
Some of the grenades exploded close to him. But thanks to his force-field armour equipped coat, he was able to get away uninjured. But of course, his energy reserve quickly whittled down with every explosion.
Akira looked around, it was true that there were small devices sticking on the rooftop. He could not help but frown when he saw that.
"You've gone through a fight where your enemy can clearly see you during the training with Erio and the other children, remember? There's no need to panic and just handle it calmly."
"It's still better than having me as their commander, no? So stop complaining and get to work."
"Basically you want to say if I'm going to complain I should just go back home, right? I got it already, geez!!"
Akira desperately evaded the explosions as he was conversing with Alpha. But Alpha did not reply to his remark there.
Akira and the soldiers from Ezont Family were engaging each other while constantly knowing each other's location. Akira prioritized to keep moving so as not to get shot by staying in the direct firing line of the enemy's minigun while shooting back with his A4WM automatic grenade launcher. If he could use the mansion as a cover, he could avoid getting shot by the minigun just fine. And of course, the enemies were also shooting back at him with their grenade launchers in the middle of that fight.
The more firepower they were using, the more money they spent in that battle. Since the mansion was built next to the dangerous wasteland where monsters were roaming freely, it was made with pretty strong material to withstand the attack from monsters. If it was made of common materials, the mansion would have been blown to smithereens by now. Eventually, Akira ran out of A4WM ammo first.
When Akira was about to reload a new magazine to his A4WM rifle, Alpha suddenly said to him.
Right at the same time, Alpha moved his augmented suit and Akira did not fight back at all as he let his body be thrown back. When that happened, he saw a dim blue blade fly past under him. If Alpha had not moved his body, his leg would have been severed.
His A4WM automatic grenade launcher was out of ammo while his DVTS minigun did not have enough piercing power to shoot through the walls. His CWH anti-material rifle was too long to aim directly below. But even so, it was not like he could just leave the enemy below him alone. So in order to open up some distance from the floor to be able to aim his CWH anti-material rifle straight below, Akira lightly jumped.
Alpha's was too late, Akira was already off the floor and was in the middle of swapping his A4WM automatic grenade launcher to his CWH anti-material rifle.
Another enemy suddenly appeared from the other side of the rooftop and aimed his huge gun at Akira who was in midair. While the enemy under him readied his blade to welcome Akira when he landed. Akira had no way to evade both of them.
If he prioritized the enemy on the rooftop, he would be welcomed by blades the moment he landed. If he prioritized the enemy below him, he would get shot by the other enemy. Akira understood that very well as he made a grim face.
In that deadly situation inside a slow-motion world, Akira immediately made his decision and gritted his teeth. But Alpha suddenly intervened, she controlled Akira's augmented suit and changed his course of action.
When Akira noticed both of his arms started moving on their own, he understood that it was Alpha and was surprised by that, but he immediately matched his movement with her. As he was still floating in the air, Akira had his left hand aiming his CWH anti-material rifle right at the enemy below him. While at the same time, his left hand reached for his DVTS minigun that was dangling on his body and immediately pulled down the triggers on his both hands.
The bullet from Akira's CWH anti-material rifle forced the enemy under him to move away from his position, while the kickback from Akira's DVTS minigun that he wasn't even aiming at anyone shifted his body midair, making the enemy that was aiming at him miss their shot.
A powerful shot ripped through Akira's coat. If Akira had got hit by that, he would have been fatally wounded.
Akira did not release the trigger of his DVTS minigun as he shifted its aim to the enemy who just released that shot. That particular enemy was riddled with bullets as he was blown back and fell down from the rooftop.
Alpha then made a suggestion to Akira with a serious face.
"Akira, the enemies are stronger than I expected. That one guy too, he must have only fallen down and not dead yet. Let's retreat for now."
Akira had a grim look on his face. Risking one's life was different from doing suicidal action. His resolve was leaning towards something so reckless that it was closer to suicide. If it was a worthy gamble, then it was still acceptable, but that was not the case if it was straight suicidal. And the extreme situation there pushed Akira slightly past that line. If Alpha gave another push, Akira might actually give up the idea of killing Alna there.
But Alpha did not do that, she smiled and replied to him.
"I know you don't want to do that no matter what, right? So I won't pursue it any further. That's why we'll take the next best choice. Retreat for now and I'll rewrite the control software to get a better control. But since your augmented suit would be rendered useless while rewriting the software, that would be a dangerous course of action. But I concluded that you will have a better winning chance that way rather than keep on fighting in this state. Since I'm not telling you to fully retreat, you won't say no to this, right?"
Looking at Alpha, who was smiling at him, Akira could not help but to lightly smile back.
"It's great that you would listen to me."
"I was planning to give you more reasons to convince you to retreat if you had said no there. Let's hurry up then."
Akira smiled wryly at Alpha and immediately left that place.
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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