荒野には旧世界時代の都市の名残が点在している。遺跡として名前が付くほどの規模ではない場所も多い。その手の場所にはハンターが遺物収集に向かう機会も少ないので、そこでモンスターが増殖すると間引きの機会も無くかなり増えていく。
その手の場所が通常の輸送経路から外れた場所にあっても、普通は大きく
くするとエレナが車載の索敵装置で無数のモンスターの反応を捉えた。少し遅れて遠方に砂煙のようなものが見え始め、地響きまで伝わってくる。
「アキラ。来たわよ」
「分かりました。エレナさん。敵にもう少し近付いてから、後は適当に距離を取ってください。細かいことはお任せします」
エレナが車をモンスターの群れの方向へ走らせる。アキラは車の後部で両手に銃を持ったまま敵との間合いを計っている。
「サラさん。俺は細かいやつを優先的に狙うので、サラさんはデカいやつをお願いします。それを基本に、後は適当に各自の判断でってことでお願いします」
「分かったわ。それじゃあ、同じ火力担当ってことで、一緒に頑張りましょうか」
機嫌良く笑うサラにアキラも笑って返した。そして銃をモンスターの群れに向けて引き金を引く。弾丸を浴びて粉
新装備一式でのアキラの戦闘が始まる。着用している新しい強化服は機領製のCA31R強化服、商品名サーベラス、黒のボディースーツに多彩な拡張部品を取り付けることで様々な状況に対応する多目的強化服だ。
付属の頭部装備は一見非常に簡素な構造に見えるが、頭部に
取り付けてはいないが、拡張部品の推進装置を使用すれば空も飛べる。代わりに強力な姿勢制御機能を取り付けており、柔らかな地面でも問題なく行動できる。エネルギー消費を気にしなければ水面の歩行も可能だ。
強化服の基本性能である身体能力も格段に高い。全体の
の乱射だが、弾丸は高度な即時の弾道計算により命中率が一定値以上の場合にのみ撃ち出されている。連射の1発1発がかなり高度な精密射撃であり、弾丸が続けて的確にモンスターに命中していく。更に情報収集機器が外れた弾丸の軌道を検出し、そのデータを基に照準計算の誤差を修正し続けて命中率を向上させていく。
加えてアキラは被弾したモンスターの負傷状態を確認すると、頭部装備を介して銃の設定を変更し、銃本体を介して弾丸に加えるエネルギーを調整する。それを繰り返して弾丸を敵が即死するのにちょうど良い威力に調整していく。
調整後の弾丸は甘い威力による反撃など許さず、過度な威力でエネルギーを無駄に消耗することも無い。その上、照準精度も乱射とは呼べないほどに高い。敵を効率的に殺すその弾丸が弾幕となってモンスターの群れに殺到した。そしてその効率に見合う
強化服も銃も弾丸も、アキラの装備はクガマヤマ都市を活動拠点とするハンターの基準から逸脱している高性能なものばかりだ。加えてエレナ達の装備も以前に比べて格段に向上している。
大規模遺跡探索では1オーラムも稼げなかったアキラとは異なり、エレナ達はしっかり稼いでいた。万一の場合に備えた待機要員の報酬、その後の事態の調査報酬に加え、ネリアを仮設基地まで送り届けた報酬もしっかり受け取っている。その後のネリアの誘いも無料で引き受けたわけではない。その報酬の合計はかなりの額になっていた。
それでも、優勢ではあるが楽勝とは呼べない戦況を維持するのがアキラ達の限界だ。大量の敵寄せ機に呼び寄せられて敵は次々と湧いてくる。そのどれもがクガマヤマ都市周辺に生息するモンスターとは質の異なる強力な個体ばかりだ。全ては倒しきれない。
アキラ達が倒しきれなかった分のモンスターの相手は、エリオ達やコルベ達の仕事だ。当然、彼らにとっては十分な強敵であり、必死になって戦っていた。
範囲の外側を通ってくるモンスター達に、エリオ達がトレーラーから各自の武装で弾幕を放ち続けている。
「とにかく撃ち続けろ! 目標の優先順位を間違えるなよ! アキラさん達が遠距離攻撃持ちを優先して潰してくれているからって限度はあるんだ! 総合支援システムが指示した目標を真っ先に潰せ!」
総合支援システムによる連携を活かして、機銃や大砲などを生やした個体に攻撃を集中させる。揺れる車体の上から遠距離の移動目標を狙うと
式の簡易防壁を無数に立てている。透明なプラスチックのような物質を強化しているので荒野の様子もよく見える。その隙間から敵に砲火を浴びせ続ける。
対処の遅れたモンスターから放たれた砲弾がその簡易防壁に直撃した。飛び散った衝撃変換光がエリオ達の視界を染める。負傷者は出なかったが、恐怖と驚きで皆の表情が大いに
「すぐに交換だ! 次食らったらもう持たねえ! 急げ!」
少年が別の簡易防壁を急いで運んでくる。それを先ほど攻撃を受けた簡易防壁の後ろで稼働させて前に押す。古い簡易防壁はそのまま車外まで押し出され、落下して荒野を転がっていった。
その様子を見ていた別の少年が苦笑しながら戦闘の不安を紛らわせるように大きな声を出す。
えことしてるよな! それ、1台100万オーラムとかするんだろう!? 俺達がそれを使い捨ててるんだぞ!」
他の少年も笑いながら大声を出して意気を高める。
「この簡易防壁は機領からの支援で、大量発注したのを安く譲ってもらったんだってさ! お前が撃ってる弾丸だって、俺達が買うと1発100万とか200万とかするらしいぞ!」
だな! 札束撃ち出しているのと同じじゃねえか!」
「弾薬とかはアキラさん経由で買ってるから高ランクハンターの割引で安くなってるらしい! 1発500万オーラムの
「それをやったらアキラさんにぶっ殺されるってさ! それでもやるか?」
「やだね! 絶対殺されるじゃねえか!」
笑い話で済むのは初めから試す気が
「討伐数に応じた報酬も出るって言ってたし、俺達は大人しくモンスターを狩って稼ごうぜ! こんなに景気よくぶっ放せる機会なんてそうはねえ! 稼ぎ時だぞ!」
少年達は強力なモンスターの群れと戦っている恐怖に、戦闘の高揚に稼ぎの欲を加えて戦意を高めて
「そういえば、コルベさん達には機領の支援とか無いんだよな?」
「無いよ。機領が俺達を支援するのは、俺達が死ぬと総合支援システムの評価に傷が付くからだ」
「それでも撃破数はコルベさん達の方が上なんだよな。機領の支援を受けている俺達の方が人数だって上で、装備の質だってそこまで大きな差は無いって話なのに」
「そこは純粋な腕の差ってやつだろう。......俺達も強くなったはずだけど、アキラさんも含めて、上には上がいるんだよなー」
装備だけで何とかなるほどハンター稼業は甘くない。しかし、それでも
くペッパに、コルベも楽しげに軽口を返す。
「俺より撃破数が下のやつに言われてもな。ああ、気にしなくて良いぞ? お前の腕が落ちていても何とかしてやるって言ったのは俺だからな」
そこでボッシュが口を挟む。
「コルベ。あのレビンってやつだが、随分良い装備を用意したようだな。今のところ、こっち側の撃破数トップはあいつだ。確かあいつは結構な借金を抱えていたんだろう? どうやってあんな装備を
にペッパもこの挑発には乗れなかった。
「ごめんだね」
「だろうな。まあ、3億の負債って言っても、アキラ達ぐらい強ければ大したことはないんだろうけどな」
コルベは視線を索敵機器の反応に向けていた。無数のモンスターの反応が遠方から続々と現れている。だがそれらの大半はアキラ達の反応を中心とした円に入った途端に消えていく。
「これがハンターランク50と40台の実力か。大したもんだ」
エレナは索敵装置でモンスターの群れの位置を把握しながら運転し、敵の攻撃を避けつつ効果的な位置取りを続けている。その
でさえ扱いの難しい巨大な銃を構え、遠距離の大型モンスターを正確に狙っていた。発射された弾丸が射線上の個体を巻き込みながら目標を粉砕し、周囲に血肉と機械部品を飛び散らせている。装備の性能と使用者の実力。そのどちらが欠けても不可能だ。
そしてサラと同程度の実力者でも同じことは出来ない。この芸当の実現にはエレナとサラの
エレナ達はそれを理解しているからこそ、自分達の連携に問題なく適応しているアキラの実力に感嘆していた。サラが笑いながらアキラに感慨深い視線を向ける。
「アキラ。今更だけど、本当に強くなったわね」
アキラの強化服には強力な接地維持機能と自動平衡機能も備わっている。それが激しく揺れる車体の上での銃撃を容易にしている要因であることは間違いない。銃と弾丸の性能も以前より格段に上がっている。モンスターの群れを粉砕する弾幕はそこから生み出されている。だがそれらを十全に発揮する
には、使用者に十分な実力が必要だ。
い! とか少しぐらい思ったりしないの?」
れているって意味で、俺なんかまだまだ、と答えておきます」
サラはそのアキラの態度を少し意外に思いながらも、変な卑下など感じさせない様子を好ましく思い、同じく冗談交じりの笑顔を浮かべる。
「エレナ! アキラが私達には向上心が足りてないって!」
が無いわね! ランク50のハンターに御満足いただけるように、私達ももっとやる気を出しますか! サラ! もうちょっと踏み込むわよ!」
エレナが車を加速させる。そして今まではある程度エリオ達やコルベ達に任せていたモンスター達も、これからは自分達で撃破すると言わんばかりに、車の運転を切り替える。モンスターの群れを待ち構えるのではなく追い払うように距離を詰める。小物はアキラに任せていれば十分だと判断して抑えていた車載機銃の砲火を限界まで苛烈にする。サラも意気を上げて攻撃を更に激しくした。
『アキラ。軽くとはいえ体感時間の操作をずっと続けているけれど、大丈夫なの?』
『大丈夫だ。大規模遺跡探索の後から、その手の操作を続けても余り負担を感じなくなってるんだ。あの時は結構無理を続けていたから、その分だけ鍛えられたってことなのかな?』
『それもって、他にどんな理由があるんだ? アルファがこっそりサポートしている訳じゃないんだろう?』
『理由は複合的なものよ。単純な慣れや日々の鍛錬による熟練もあるし、何らかの切っ掛けでコツを
『分かってるよ。俺だって好き好んでアルファのサポート無しで戦っていたわけじゃないんだ。横にいてくれるだけでも助かる』
『そう? ありがとう。でも横にいるだけってのもなんだし、もうちょっと衣装に凝って、露出も増やして、華やかさでも追加しておく?』
戦闘中に雑談をする余裕さえ見せるアキラに、アルファは笑顔を返していた。
大規模遺跡探索後にアキラの体感時間操作の負荷が軽減した一番の理由は別にある。ツバキがアキラに飲ませた治療薬だ。アキラはその服用により、旧世界の基準で治療されていた。その範囲は脳にも及んでいた。
継続的な体感時間の操作は脳への負担も重く、無理をすれば損傷も
だが治療によるセキュリティーの強化と、アキラがアルファのサポート無しの状態でその実力を示したことにより、アルファから非常時の強権は失われた。これは偶然ではなく、半分はツバキがアキラとの取引を成功させた場合に、アキラに自身との回線を開けさせる目的でやったことだ。
もう半分はツバキのアルファへの嫌がらせだ。これによりアルファは計画の修正を余儀なくされ、再びアキラから一定の回線を得るまで、目的の遺跡の攻略を延期せざるを得なくなったのだ。
周辺のモンスターの間引きを終えた後、エリオ達とコルベ達は今回の役得に精を出していた。周辺の遺跡での遺物収集だ。
この辺りはそれなりに価値のある遺物が残っているが、その価値以上に強力なモンスターの住み
「今日はモンスターの間引きが仕事ですから、まあ、そっちは別に良いかなと思いまして。それに結構疲れてますし。あ、エレナさん達は行っても良いですよ? 索敵装置の反応を見るぐらいなら俺がやっておきます」
「うーん。アキラが気乗りしないのなら止めておくわ。今日はアキラに雇われているのだから、雇い主の意思を尊重しないとね」
アキラが僅かに驚いた顔を浮かべる。そして尋ねるように視線をサラに向けると、サラも軽く笑って答える。
「仕事ってことなら、私達の仕事はアキラのサポート。だから今はアキラの
雑談で暇を潰していると、車載の索敵装置が遠方の反応を捉える。エレナがその内容を確認して表情を少し険しくする。
「反応のパターンから考えて、多分モンスター。数は1体だけど、これは、かなり大型ね」
「敵寄せ機に今更釣られてきたんですかね?」
対処を話し合っているアキラ達にアルファが口を挟む。
『アキラ。これ以上近付かれると面倒だから、距離がある内に背中のやつを使ってでも倒しておいた方が良いわ』
『そうか? 分かった』
アキラはエレナ達にその旨を伝えると、少し車から離れる。そして折り畳んだ状態で背負っていた大型の砲を起動させた。砲が組み立てられながら背中から肩を通って前に出る。アキラはそれを両手でしっかり構えると、目標に砲口を合わせた。
一度アルファのサポートを受けて遠方の目標にしっかり照準を固定し、その後は砲と強化服の両方の制御に任せる。連携している情報収集機器が目標の姿を拡大表示してアキラの視界に表示する。距離と射線とロックオン済みの表示も一緒に現れる。
目標は巨大な機械系モンスターだ。体長は10メートルほどで、表面は強固な装甲に覆われており、大型の砲を備えた胴体部分から無数の足が生えている。分類上は自律型多脚戦車になるが、その形状はどこか軟体生物を思わせる外観をしており、ハンターが駆る戦車や遺跡の警備機械とは設計思想が根本的に異なっている。
『いや、そこまで高度な自動修復機能があるのなら、イカやらタコやらの形状を設計データから消せば良いだろう。まずはそこを直さないと』
『実現方法は修正できても、目的そのものを修正する権限は無い。その程度の権限しかないシステムなら、どれだけ高度な修正機能を持っていても、直したくても直せないわ。いえ、直そうとすら思えないわね』
い威力だ。レーザー砲ってだけはあるな』
『正確には発光しながら粒子状に変化した弾頭の軌跡がそう見えるだけであって、レーザーと呼ぶには語弊があるのだけれどね。別に光速で飛んでいるわけでもないわ』
『ハンターなんだ。ちゃんと敵を倒せるならその辺の語弊は気にしない。気になるのは弾薬費を除けば、夜に撃ったら
アキラがAF対物砲から手を離すと、砲が再び背負いやすい形状に変形しながら背中に戻っていく。
『もっと東側だとこんなので普通に撃ち合ってるのか。戦車や人型兵器が基本装備並みの扱いになるわけだ。ランクが上がったからって、そんな場所に好き好んで行こうとするやつの気が知れないな』
『分かってるって。鋭意対応中だ。気長に待ってくれ』
更なる成長を笑って促すアルファに、アキラも苦笑気味に笑って返した。
そこでヒカルから通信が来る。
「ヒカルよ。アキラに間引きを頼んだエリアから3エリアほど東のエリアE1173から、オクパロスって大型モンスターがそっちに向かっているわ。そのエリアの間引きを担当していたハンターから連絡が来たの。モンスターの数が多すぎて、西側へ逃がしてしまったって話よ。その辺のモンスターに比べて格段に強力だから逃げた方が良いと思う。間のエリアの間引き担当達も退いたわ。アキラも急いで。必要なら撤退支援用に私の方で増援を手配するけど、いる?」
「1体だけ。でももっと東の個体だから、こっちのモンスターとは別格の強さ。下手な群れよりも強力だと思って」
「イカだったかタコだったか、そんな形状のやつならさっき倒したけど、そいつか?」
アキラが余りにもあっさりとそう答えた
アキラがデータを送信すると、ヒカルが更に少し間を空けてから驚いた様子で返事を返してくる。
「あー、うん。報告を受けたモンスターはそれだったわ。逃がしたのは1体だけだって、そこはしっかり確認を取ってあるから、もう大丈夫よ。向こうのハンターが討伐用の人員を送るって言ってたけど、私からもう倒したって伝えておくわね」
そこでヒカルの口調が戸惑いから少し申し訳なさそうなものに変わる。
めてた。ぶっちゃけると、大規模遺跡探索で金の代わりにハンターランクを一気に上げただけで、あれを倒せるほど強いハンターだとは思ってなかったわ」
「ああ。その認識も別に間違ってはいないし、気にしないでくれ。倒したって言っても、高い切り札を使って強引に倒しただけだからな。まあ、それでも悪いと思ってるのなら、俺がその弾薬費で赤字にならないように、報酬の方をちょっと頼むよ」
本当に全く気にしていない様子のアキラの声に、ヒカルが軽く弾ませた声を返す。
「分かったわ。頑張ってみるから期待しておいて。じゃあね」
ヒカルとの通信が切れた後で、アキラが僅かに顔を
『まあ、アキラならいつものことよ。備えあれば憂い無し。備えておいて良かったわね』
アキラが苦笑する。同意は出来るが、いつものことで片付けるのは
Old-world cities were spread across the wide wasteland. Most of them were not dilapidated enough to be called ruins, so Hunters tend not to visit those places when they hunt for relics. Thanks to that, monsters could freely multiply in those places.
Usually, even if they were not close to the transport route, people still take the safer approach. They would keep their distance away from these places in order to avoid getting detected by the monsters there. In the first place, the infrastructure for the transport routes was made to avoid them. However, issues arise during the transport season. The ruckus that the large transport vehicles made would attract swarms of monsters from these Old-world cities.
Not too long after, Elena's radar detected uncountable monster signals. It was then followed by a large trail of dust and shaking that even the Hunters from afar could feel.
"Akira, here they come."
"Alright. Elena-san. Get closer first and try to keep your distance from them. As for the rest, I'll leave the smaller details to you."
Elena pushed the gas and turned the vehicle toward the direction of the incoming monsters. Akira in the back seat had both of his hands armed with rifles as he measured the distance between them.
"Sara-san. I'll focus on the smaller ones, so please focus on the bigger ones. But that's only for the opening, as for the rest, you're free to move at your own discretion."
"Okay. Now then, since we both are the main firepower here, let's do our best."
Sara smiled excitedly at Akira and he responded with the same smile. They then aimed their rifles toward the monsters and pulled the trigger. Explosions rang out from the raining warheads. This signalled the start of the battle as well as a slaughterfest of monsters, turned into minced meat.
It was Akira's debut fight with his new equipment. This time. he was using a CA31R augmented suit made by Kiryou. Its official name was Cerberus. It had many extension ports over its jet black body due to the multi-purpose function of its design.
Although the headpiece of the augmented suit seems flimsy, it was actually equipped with forcefield armour, thus as a defensive piece of equipment, it was stronger than the usual full-face helmet. It was even further equipped with many other functions such as displays and other extensions as well. It could also be connected to particular types of gun so that both armor and weapon could work together when Akira took his aim. Meanwhile, there was display technology in place which could display information in 3D if needed.
It even allows Akira to float in the air. Though, he did not have it on at the moment. Instead, Akira had a balance-support device installed to help him move around even on soft ground. And if he wanted to, it could even help him move above water surfaces in exchange for exorbitant amounts of energy.
Even as a pure augmented suit whose main objective was to augment the physical power of its user, it performs extremely well. With the powerful full-body forcefield armour, he could even flip over a powered suit if he pushed the output of the augmented suit. To top it off, it was also equipped with a camouflage function.
He kept the trigger pulled down as he made a sweeping motion as if to sweep through the swarm. Although it looked like an indiscriminate shooting from the outside, the bullets were actually only released when the hit probability was above a certain threshold. With each shot guaranteed to a certain level of accuracy, they accurately ploughed through the incoming monsters. Moreover, any missed shot was quickly accounted for. The data was then used to readjust the aim for the next shot, thus slowly increasing or maintaining Akira's accuracy.
Moreover, Akira actively checked the dead monsters. He would readjust the output power of the bullets using his headgear to get it barely strong enough to kill the monsters.
This way, his shots would guarantee a kill while making sure that he was not wasting any unnecessary energy. Coupled with the high accuracy shots, the bullets tore through the swarm like ravenous locusts, leaving only a field of dead monsters behind.
Both his augmented suit and rifles were already well past what was considered normal for Hunters in Kugamayama city. Elena and Sara too had updated their arsenals compared to before.
Unlike Akira, who did not earn a single Aurum from the large-scale expedition, Elena and Sara were properly paid. They were paid as emergency reinforcement, the data that they gathered afterwards during the chaos, plus the reward for escorting Nelia back to the base. And of course, they did not go with Nelia afterwards to look for Akira for free. The combinations of all these rewards resulted in a good sum of money.
Although they had the upper hand, Akira's team still could not call it an easy fight. The decoys lured in a continuous flow of monsters leagues above those that they were used to fighting against around Kugamayama city. As expected, they could not face all of them on their own.
The monsters that Akira's team missed fell to Erio's team and Colbert's team to deal with. Of course, these monsters were extremely powerful from their point of view. They were desperately trying their best to fight back.
The monsters, which took a detour from the annihilation circle with Akira's team at the centre, were rained down with explosives by Erio's team from the trailer.
"Don't stop shooting!! And don't mistake your target! Keep following the order of priority! Just because Akira-san's team prioritizes taking out monsters with a long-range weapon, that doesn't mean that we can take it easy!! Focus first on the monsters indicated in the coordination support system!!"
The coordination support system focused the firepower on the monsters with guns and cannons. Although shooting from a moving vehicle lowered their accuracy, they dealt with that by praying over the whole monsters instead of aiming for their individual cannons or rifles.
The trailer was protected by portable walls equipped with forcefield armour, the portable wall was made of plastic-like transparent material which did not impede vision. Erio's team were shooting through the gap of these forcefield walls.
Some of the monsters that slipped through the barrage shot back at the trailer. The bullets hit the forcefield armour, their kinetic energy was converted to a blinding light that soaked the area. Although no one was injured, the forcefield provided no defence against the terror and the shock they felt.
"Replace the wall quickly!! They won't be able to take another shot! Hurry up!"
They quickly went to grab another portable wall, placed them behind the hit wall and pushed them forward. The old portable wall slid over and fell off the trailer.
Seeing that, another boy bitterly smiled and shouted to hide his fear.
"We're doing something crazy, aren't we? This thing costs 1 million Aurum each, right!? And we're just throwing them out like this, you know!!"
The other boy shouted back excitedly.
"I heard that these are from Kiryou and it was cheaper since we bought them in bulk! But if you say so, even the bullets that we're using actually cost 1 or 2 million Aurum per shot if we buy them ourselves, you know!?"
"That's wicked! It's as if we're throwing away money."
"The bullets are cheaper since Akira-san has a special discount only for high ranking Hunters, or so I heard! Even that 5 million Aurum per shot anti-forcefield armour bullet only costs 500 Aurum for him!"
"Pretty sure Akira-san would slaughter you if you do that! Do you seriously still want to do that?"
"Like hell if I would! That's basically a death sentence you know!"
The reason they could just laugh it off was because both of them were just joking and had no wish to try that at all. It was not about being an honest person. Stealing anything would mean mocking Akira and Sheryl. One thing for sure, it would not end pretty. That was why none of them even thought of trying to do that.
"They said that we'll get paid based on how many monsters that we kill, so let's just focus on them and earn more! It's not like we can get an opportunity like this every day! Let's earn as much as we can while we still have the chance!!"
They were fighting the fear of the incoming swarm through their fighting spirit and greed. That was the only way they could let go of their anxiety.
"By the way, Colbert-san and the others don't have this support system too, right?"
"Yep. The reason why Kiryou is sponsoring us is simply because it would leave a bad track record if we get killed here."
"But still, they have killed more monsters than us, right? Although we have more people here and our equipment are not that different in term of quality."
"Well, I bet it's a matter of skill... It's true that we're stronger than before but just look at Akira-san. There's always a bigger fish."
The Hunter world was not that naive, equipment would not be able to compensate for everything. But at least it would give them enough of a chance to fight back and survive. The children were reminded of the harsh world of Hunters, the gap between them and the other proper Hunters as they fought desperately.
Colbert replied to that light jab from Peppa with another light jab.
"That doesn't sound convincing at all coming from someone with a lesser kill count than me. Ah, don't worry, as I said, I will do something about it even if your skills get rusty, yeah?"
That was when Bosshu interjected.
"By the way, Colbert. Levin has quite a powerful rifle. At the moment, he has killed the most. If I'm not mistaken, he has a huge debt, right? So how did he get that weapon? I'm seriously getting interested in all your connections, you know..."
Colbert smiled provokingly. But as expected, Peppa would never dare take up that challenge.
"Uhh, no thanks."
"Thought so. Well, although I said 300 million, I'm sure someone as strong as Akira would not have any trouble paying that back."
Colbert glanced at the radar. Although monsters were flowing endlessly from the edge of the radar, half of them vanished the moment they entered Akira's range of fire, creating a circle sterile of any monsters with Akira's team in the centre.
"This is the power of Rank 50 and 40 Hunters, huh. They are no joke at all."
Elena continuously scanned for the location of the monsters while driving. Thanks to that, she was able to reposition the vehicle to advantageous locations while evading barrages from the enemies. Explosions shook the ground and threw the vehicle off-balance. The shaking was too intense even for the advanced balancer attached to a wasteland vehicle. Forget shooting back, normally, it would have been impossible to stand in that kind of situation.
But even so, Sara was accurately shooting back with long-range weapons using her large and heavy gun. The bullets pierced through rows of monsters as they sought their main target, leaving behind carcasses that were blasted to small pieces. It was a feat that would have been impossible without adequate skill and equipment.
Of course, it was not something that someone as strong as Sara alone could do, it was thanks to the perfect synchronized teamwork between her and Elena. Elena's skilled driving always put Sara in an advantageous position while Sara always kept the route that Elena would take clean of any monsters. This made it easier for Elena to reposition the vehicle. They did not even need to exchange words, the experience that they had from working together for years allowed them to understand each other without saying anything, allowing them to work efficiently as if a single cohesive unit.
Elena and Sara understood that very well, that was why they were amazed that Akira could adapt to their teamwork with no problem at all. Sara smiled as she glanced at Akira and complimented.
"Akira, as I thought, you've really become strong."
Akira's augmented suit was equipped with extensions to keep his feet on the ground as well as to keep his balance. These two extensions were no doubt helping him tremendously in taking aim, even when the vehicle was shaking intensely. Not to mention, both his rifles and the ammo that he was using were stronger than before. All of these factors helped him annihilate the monsters in front of him. Naturally, it still required a skilled user to pull off what he did.
"It's already amazing enough that you've mastered using your new equipment, you know. Since you're that strong, it's okay to say that you're amazing yourself from time to time, you know?"
"Eh!? No no no! I didn't mean that at all!?"
"Considering that I still want to get stronger, I would have to say that I still have a long way to go."
Although Sara did not expect him to reply in such a manner, she thought that it was a good change and countered with her banter.
"Elena! Akira is saying that we lack ambition to get stronger!"
"He said that? Well, it can't be helped then! I guess we should work harder to satisfy this Rank 50 Hunter! Sara! I'll go faster!!"
Elena accelerated the vehicle even more. She started aiming to take down the monsters that she originally planned to leave to the other teams. Their position changed from holding back the incoming swarm to actively chasing after the swarm. She dialled up the machine gun that she was set to be on low, believing that they could just leave the small fries to Akira. Sara also responded accordingly by increasing her firing rate.
"Akira. Although you are only doing it slightly, you're basically maintaining your time compression at all times, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. For some reason, I don't feel much burden from doing time compressions ever since that expedition. I wonder if I got used to it after I forced myself to use it for an extended period of time back then."
"One of the reasons? Are there other reasons as well? It's not like you're doing something with your support to lighten my burden without me knowing, right?"
"Yep, there are multiple reasons for that. Of course, your body is getting used to it after using it so many times both for real fights and in training, you might have figured out the ropes. But with that being said, it's not okay to think that you can get even stronger by doing reckless things when you lose my support, okay?"
"I know. It's not like I want to go into a fight without your support. Having you around is a huge help, you know?"
"Is that so? Thanks. But still, since you have me around, how about I change my outfit to something more extravagant, with more exposure that will make a more refreshing impression."
Alpha then smiled at him, who even had the leeway to indulge her in silly banter even when he was in the middle of a battle.
In reality, the main reason why Akira's time compression did not place much burden on him ever since the large-scale expedition laid elsewhere. It was the drug that Tsubaki gave him. Akira, who took that drug, was healed back under the old-world standard, which meant that it also fixed something in his brain.
The prolonged use of time compression would strain Akira's brain, which eventually resulted in damages. The drug that he took healed that damage as well as assimilated into the damaged part and strengthened it so that it would be able to withstand more strain.
But with the repaired security feature and how Akira was able to perform extremely well even without her support, Alpha no longer had those rights anymore. This was not a complete coincidence. Half of it was due to Tsubaki's scheme. She originally planned to prepare Akira, such that she could connect to him if he had accepted her offer back then.
While the other half was simply Tsubaki harassing Alpha. With this, Alpha had to readjust her plan. She had to wait until she recovered her monopoly on Akira's bandwidth before she could bring him to a certain ruin.
Once they finished pruning the monsters around the area, Erio's team and Colbert's team moved on to their other job. They scourged the ruin for relics.
Although there were still some valuable relics left in that ruin, most Hunters thought that it was not worth the trouble gathering them due to the powerful monsters living in the area. But after the pruning, the monster density in the area was greatly reduced though only for a short time. With more than half of the monsters in the area dead, they were free to gather relics left in the ruin. It was ingrained in the Hunter's blood to monopolize such a sweet opportunity. Thanks to that, Erio's team and Colbert's team were in high spirits.
"I'm here to prune monsters, so I have no plan to hunt for relics. I'm also already spent too. Ah, it's okay if Elena-san and Sara-san want to go hunting for relics, you know? I can watch the radar for enemies while you two go look for relics."
"Hmmm, if you're not going, then I won't go too. We're here as your hires today after all, so we have to respect your opinion."
Akira looked a bit surprised and sent a questioning glance to Sara. Which, she responded with a light smile.
"If we're talking about duties, our job here is to be your support. That's why our job at the moment is to stay near you. I don't think it's a good thing to criticize someone when they're taking their job seriously, you know?"
As they were wasting time talking to each other, the radar suddenly picked up some signals. When Elena checked it, she frowned.
"Judging from the signal, it's a monster, although it's alone, it seems to be a rather big one."
"Is it here because of the decoy device?"
When they were discussing how to handle that monster, Alpha suddenly interjected.
"Akira, it would be a pain in the neck if it gets any closer. So let's take it out while we have the chance using that thing on your back."
"Is that so? Alright then."
Akira then told Elena and Sara his plan and took some distance from the vehicle before expanding the fold-able large-sized gun that Akira was carrying on his back. As the cannon unfolded, it peeked out from Akira's back, past his shoulder. Akira used both of his hands to hold the cannon and aligned his aim with his target.
After Akira fixed his aim with the support of Alpha, he then let Alpha take control of both his cannon and augmented suit. Its aiming device worked together with Akira's information-gathering device, allowing Akira to zoom in on his target in his headgear's display which showed the range, trajectory, and lock-on notices.
The target was an abnormally huge mechanical monster, it was about 10 metres tall and its body was enveloped with resilient-looking armour. Countless legs were fixed on the huge cannon that grew out from its body. Although it was classified as a multi-legged tank, its shape was closer to that of a mollusc. Its outer appearance was far from the tanks that the Hunters used as well as the security drones of the old-world ruins.
"Wait, if their auto-repair is that advanced, then can't they just delete the unrelated data? That's the source of the problem after all."
"Although it can fix the method, it doesn't have the privilege to fix the goal. So a system with only that level of privilege would not be able to completely fix it no matter how advanced its auto-repair is. Or more like, it doesn't even consider fixing that part."
"As expected, it's really powerful. I guess that Laser Cannon name is not just for show, huh?"
"To be more precise, it just looks like a laser because of the leftover warhead turned into particles of light. So, it's technically not correct to call it a laser. After all, it's not like it is shooting out plasma."
"We're Hunters, after all, we don't really care about the details as long as it's strong enough to kill monsters. Aside from the price of the ammo, my only worry is probably how dazzling it will be if I use it during the night. Since it will also annihilate everything around me, I can't use it while I hide."
The moment Akira released his grip on the AF anti-material cannon, it retracted and returned to its folded state on Akira's back.
"So the Hunters in the far east shoot this kind of thing around as if it's normal, huh? No wonder they're treated like a walking powered suit or a tank. I can't understand how Hunters would want to go to such a place on their own volition just because they have a high enough Hunter Rank."
"Yeah, I know. I'm doing my best here to satisfy your expectation, so it would be great if you would wait patiently."
Alpha smiled at Akira because of his growth. In contrast, Akira returned back with a bitter smile.
That was when Hikaru suddenly called him.
"This is Hikaru. It seems that a large-sized Ocpalos monster is heading in your direction, it came from area E1173 which is 3 areas away from the area assigned to you. I just got a report from the Hunters responsible for that area. It seems that there were too many monsters for them to handle so some monsters ended up escaping to other areas. It's far stronger than the other monsters in that area, so I think it's better if you get away from there. The other Hunters responsible for the other areas also avoided that monster. Hurry up and retreat, I can send reinforcements to help you run away if you need assistance, do you need me to do that?"
"Just one. But it originated from the area further to the east, so it's abnormally stronger compared to the other monsters around your area. In the worst-case scenario, it might even be more formidable than a swarm of monsters in your area."
"I actually just shot down a monster that looks like an octopus, or a squid, Are you talking about that one?"
Akira replied so casually that Hikaru needed a few seconds to process what she just heard.
Akira proceeded to send the data, Hikaru went silent again for a while before replying in a rather surprised tone.
"Ah, yes. That is the monster from the report. They mentioned that only one got away and they have confirmed that as well, so it should be okay now. They actually sent a few Hunters to hunt for that monster, but I've already informed them that the monster has been slain."
There was another pause before Hikaru continued, this time, she sounded apologetic.
"...And also, uh, I'm sorry. I underestimated you. To be honest, after hearing that your payment for the large-scale expedition was all converted into Hunter Rank, I thought you were not that strong."
"Well, you're not mistaken, so don't worry about it. Although I did say I killed it, I had to use my expensive trump card to do that after all. Well, if you still feel sorry for that, I hope you'll help me to get a better reward so I don't end up in red after using that expensive trump card."
Since Akira sounded like he was not offended at all, Hikaru's voice returned back to her usual tone.
"Sure. I'll do my best, so you can look forward to it. Later then."
Hikaru then closed the call there. After that, Akira frowned and mumbled.
"Well, it's business as usual for you. So it's no problem at all as long as you're well prepared. Aren't you glad that you are?"
Akira chuckled. Although he could agree with that statement, he still felt conflicted to just brush that aside and accept it as his normal.
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/
非公開