カツヤの側にいたアイリが、冷たい視線をクロサワに向けながら話す。
「......用件はそれだけ?」
アイリを見たクロサワが表情を戻す。クロサワはアイリの目に
クロサワが僅かだがカツヤ達の評価を上げる。主にその要因となった人物に向けて答える。
「ああ。それだけだ。互いの安全の
最低限の注意は済ませたのだ。領域の侵犯を黙認する気はないという意思は伝わっただろう。本当ならばもう少し嫌みを交えていろいろ言うつもりだったのだが、クロサワはアイリに免じて話を切り上げることにした。
その場を離れようとしたクロサワの足が止まる。クロサワの視線の先には、セランタルビルの出入口から駆け足で出てくるハンターの少女の姿があった。
何らかの緊急事態が発生したのか。クロサワはそう考えて足を止めたのだが、少女の様子からその可能性は低いと考え直して再び戻ろうとする。その間にその少女、リリナはカツヤの前までやって来ると、カツヤに憤りをぶつけるように声を荒らげて話し始める。
「カツヤ! あいつらがまた私達を馬鹿にしてきたわ! カツヤからも何とか言ってやって!」
「リリナ。落ち着けって。話なら聞くから。何があったんだ?」
「一体何なのあいつら!? 一々偉そうに突っかかってきて! 私達だって賞金首討伐に成功したハンターなのよ!? もう少し態度ってものが......」
カツヤに事情を説明しようと、少なくとも本人はそう思いながら話していた途中で、リリナはその場から去ろうとしているクロサワに気付いた。別のハンター部隊の誰かとしか認識していなかったが、リリナにはそれで十分だった。
リリナがクロサワを引き留める。
「ちょっと待ちなさいよ! あんた達も賞金首を倒したハンターなんでしょうけど、私達だってそうなのよ! 私達が活躍しているからって、下手な嫉妬で私達の邪魔をしないでちょうだい!」
クロサワは立ち止まって面倒そうに
「そんなのセランタルビルの1階に決まっているでしょう? そんなことをわざわざ聞くなんて馬鹿じゃないの?」
「セランタルビルは階も多いが各階も広い。部屋も大小無数にある。1階のどこだ?」
めた場所は部屋じゃなくて通路よ。それがどうかしたの?」
「どこの通路だ?」
く意図的に吐いた。そして明確に馬鹿にしている目でカツヤを見ながら話す。
「セランタルビルは大勢のハンターが未帰還となった非常に危険な場所だ。大量の強力なモンスターに突然襲われても全く不思議のない場所だ。更にビルの中は原因不明の情報収集機器等の性能低下が発生していて、索敵の難易度が上昇している。通信状態も不調で、敵味方識別装置による味方の判別もままならない状態だ。ハンターの緊張は当然通常より高まる。そんな状態で友好的ではない他の部隊のハンター達が多数入り交じれば、相手を敵と誤認して不必要な戦闘が発生する確率は上昇する。不幸な事故を起こさないためにも、不用意な接触は避けるべきだ。そのために、お互いの安全の
「こちらが反射的に発砲しても不思議ではない場所を平然と通る馬鹿か、自分がいる場所も分からない馬鹿か知らんが、お前はそんな馬鹿をセランタルビルの中でうろちょろさせているのか? お前はそんなに俺達と交戦したいのか?」
「ちょっと通ろうとしただけじゃない! そこまで言わなくても良いでしょう!?」
も含まない表情で、交渉可能な敵対者へ向ける口調で、敵対している部隊を率いているカツヤへ話す。
クロサワはそれだけ言うと、返事を待たずに走って戻っていった。仲間から戻ってくるように催促する通信が入ったからだ。
なやつもいるようだが、連中の大半はあんな馬鹿か。あいつらとの交戦を避けながら、セランタルビルの制圧作業を進めるのか? 本隊が到着したら、あいつらと連携して作戦を進めるのか? ......もうこの際、ドランカムだけでやらせた方が良いんじゃないか?)
クロサワは今後の対応を思案しながら仲間達の
リリナが今にも爆発しそうな態度で不満を口にする。
「......な、な、何なのよあいつは!」
ユミナがリリナを落ち着かせようと、冷静な口調でリリナを
「リリナ。黙って」
気持ちの治まらないリリナは更に何かを言おうとして、ユミナとアイリを見て口を閉ざした。ユミナは少し険しい真面目な表情でリリナを見ている。アイリは普段の感情の起伏に欠ける表情に若干の敵意を乗せてリリナを見ている。そして2人ともリリナを威圧するようにじっと見ている。
ユミナとアイリは、カツヤの周りにいる少女達からも一目置かれている。2人はカツヤとの付き合いも長く、カツヤとも仲が良く、ハンターランクもカツヤのチームではカツヤに次いで高い。その2人の態度はリリナを尻込みさせるのに十分なものだった。リリナを少し
2人は間違いなく怒っている。余計な口を開けば更に怒らせてしまいそうで、リリナは言い訳をすることもできずに意気消沈して口を閉ざし続けた。
カツヤは基本的に善人でお人
「えっと、ほら、取り決めで1階の制圧が終わるまで2階には上がらないことになっていたでしょう? エレベーターが勝手に動いたから、向こうのやつらが取り決めを破って上にあがって、もっと上の階から呼び出したのかなって思って、それなら私達も出し抜かれないように上の階に進んだ方が良いんじゃないかと思って、急いでカツヤに教えようと思って......」
リリナは多分に推測の混ざった報告を続けていた。
クロサワは仲間達の所へ戻った後、部下の報告を聞いて顔を
「間違いないんだな?」
「俺の指示を無視して勝手に上に行ったやつはいない。1階で待機状態だったエレベーターが勝手に動き出した。間違いないな?」
「乗場位置表示器の表示を信じる限りはな。1階のエレベーター乗り場で見張りをしていたやつが動作音を聞いたとも言っている。1階で停止していたエレベーターが俺達とは無関係に動いた。勝手に上に行ったやつもいない。間違いない」
(向こうの連中が勝手に上階に行ってエレベーターを呼び出したのか? いや、俺達より先にビルに入った部隊が呼び出したかもしれない。......違う。そもそもエレベーターは使用不可能だった。なぜ急に使用可能になった? ビルの機能に変化が? ......嫌な予感がする)
クロサワが真剣な表情で部下に指示を出す。
「ビル内の連中を急いで呼び戻せ。全員だ。設置した索敵機器等は放置したままで構わない。撤退を急がせろ。セランタルビルの包囲の外から追加の機材を運んでいる連中も、作業を中断させて戦力に加えろ。ビル内に設置する予定の簡易防壁も全部使用して、ビルの出入口に火力を集中できるように距離を取って陣を作れ。始めろ」
部下のハンターがクロサワの指示を聞いて驚く。クロサワがセランタルビル1階の制圧を諦めたような指示を出したからだ。強い戸惑いの表情でクロサワに尋ねる。
1階の制圧も俺達側の方は終わろうって頃なのに、台無しだぞ?」
「良いんだ。どちらにしろ指揮系統の異なる連携の取れていない敵対的とも呼べる部隊が存在している時点で、制圧が済んだとしても安全性は微妙なんだ。ガキどもが制圧した区域の安全性なんか俺は信じられない。それにこのまま敵が出てこないのなら、一度撤退したとしても再制圧はすぐに終わる」
「だが制圧領域に大幅な後れを取ることに違いはないだろう。エレベーターの件が、そこまで危険か?」
制圧領域の確保はクロサワ達の報酬にも大きく関わってくる。撤退を渋る部下にクロサワが軽い威圧を込めて答える。
「俺の勘、あるいは念のためだ。指揮権を俺に預けている以上、ごちゃごちゃ言わずに俺の指示に従え。弱気の指示だってことぐらいは俺も理解しているが、俺が臆病者だってことはそっちも理解して納得して了承済みのはずだ。俺の指揮の責任を問うのは終わってからにしろ」
クロサワは優秀なハンターで指揮能力も高いが、その判断基準から臆病者とも評価されることも多い。クロサワが指揮するチームは旧世界の遺跡で遺物を収集している時も状況を悲観的に捉えすぎて、もう少し探せば手に入れられたであろう多くの利益をあっさり捨てて帰還することも多い。
しかしその反面、クロサワが指揮をするチームの生還率は非常に高い。旧世界の遺跡で貴重な遺物を山ほど手に入れて荒稼ぎというようなハンターの
クロサワ達が多連装砲マイマイを撃破した時も、クロサワが率いるチームは死者も重傷者も出さなかった。
未調査の遺跡と同程度に危険な遺跡となったミハゾノ街遺跡、そこにあるセランタルビルに突入して生還するためにも、クロサワの慎重さは重要だ。彼の部下達はそれを再認識した。
部下が真剣な表情で返事をする。
「了解だ。すぐに始める」
アキラがアルファにそれについて尋ねる前に、アルファがまた急に聞き捨てならないことを言い始める。
アルファはそう言い残してアキラの視界から姿を消した。アキラの強化服の動きが再び僅かに鈍った。
アキラは表情をより険しくさせたが、平静は保っていた。一度経験済みであること。後は正面出入口付近の広間を抜けて外に出るだけだと思っていること。それらがアキラに余裕を持たせていた。
だからアキラは気付かなかった。アルファは前回と異なり、大丈夫だとも、すぐに戻るとも、敵はいないとも言っていないことに。
エレナがアキラ達に状況を説明する。
「装備はドランカムの貸出品。恐らくドランカム所属の若手の誰か。連中も部隊行動ぐらいはしているはず。......死体を回収していないってことは、何かに襲われて、その余裕もなかった?」
エレナが全員に告げる。
アキラ達は臨戦態勢を維持したまま進んでいく。通路にまた死体が転がっていたが、今度は立ち止まらずに進んでいく。
アキラは銃を握る手に無意識に力を込めている自分に気付いて、過度な緊張を和らげるために一定の間隔で意図的な呼吸を繰り返す。
アキラが険しい表情でアルファに呼びかける。
『アルファ! まだか!』
アルファからの返事はなかった。
現実には存在しない空間に2人の女性が立っている。セランタルビルの管理人格であるセランタルと、アキラの前から姿を消したアルファだ。
アルファが不機嫌な無表情で尋ねる。
「釈明を求めたいわ」
セランタルも不機嫌な無表情で尋ねる。
「事前の取り決めに反してはいない。こちらもそちらがビルの奥へ進むのを放置する義務はない。その上でビルの外へ出て行くのを妨害もしない。取り決め通りだ」
「上階の機体がエレベーターを、ビルの機能を使用しているのは?」
「私の権限の外で行われていることだ。セランタルビルを管理しているのは確かに私だが、それはビルの全ての機能に対して最上位権限を行使できることを意味するわけではない。特に50階以上の各階を占有している顧客は、直通エレベーターの使用権限も有している。また、各フロアに対する自衛権の行使も可能だ。甲B18式類の行動はその一環だろう」
「甲B18式は30階にも配備されていたのだけれど?」
「それも顧客には自衛権の行使の内なのだろう。私の管理の外にある機体を勝手に配備されて、私も非常に困惑している。大変迷惑にも思っている。だが、私の力が及ぶ範囲ではないのでね。私が管理するビルを好き勝手に荒らされるのは、私もとても残念だ」
アルファとセランタルは互いに引かずに話を続けていた。
ビルの受付の広間の近くに到着したアキラ達が、通路の影や壁の穴、
相当大規模な戦闘が発生していたのか、アキラ達の周囲には多くの死体が転がっていた。強化服を着た死体が、銃を握ったまま、あちこちに転がっていた。
セランタルビルの正面玄関を兼ねている広間は天井も高い。ビルの3階部分も広間の一部になっていて開放的な空間を演出している。その広間の中央にアキラ達がビルに入った時には存在していなかったものが存在していた。
「......なに......あれ?」
広間には一体の巨大な機械系モンスターが存在していた。その巨体は明らかにビルの出入口や広間に続いている通路の幅と高さを超えていた。強固な装甲で全面が覆われており、機械の脚やタイヤ、履帯などの移動手段は全く付いていない。未知の手段で浮遊でもしない限り移動できるようには見えない。仮に移動できたとしても、あの巨体では通路や玄関を通ることなど不可能だ。
カナエが楽しげに笑いながら話す。
「随分デカいっすね。あんなデカい
もな疑問を口にすると、エレベーターに続いている広間の通路から、数体の甲B18式が現れた。大半は広間を通り抜けてビルの外に出て行ったが、その内の1機が大型固定機の側面をよじ登って上まで移動した。
大型固定機の頭頂部まで登った甲B18式がそこで一度停止する。次の瞬間、甲B18式が自壊するように勝手にばらばらになり、部品の山になった。
更に大型固定機の装甲の一部が開くと、無数の機械の腕が出てきて、バラバラの部品を
エレナが納得しながらも険しい表情を浮かべて話す。
「30階のやつもその場で作った機体だったわけか。納得。確かに、材料は山ほどあったわ」
広間の別の通路から新手の甲B18式が現れてビルの外へ向かおうとする。その内の1機がビルの外から銃撃されて着弾の衝撃で粉砕された。
更に別の銃弾が大型固定機に直撃する。着弾地点から
う。大型固定機を覆っている無数の装甲板が剥がれ落ちる。だがその下には別の新しい装甲板が存在していた。新しい装甲板が内側から押し出されるように出てきて、大型固定機の表面が元の状態に戻った。
「キャロル。お前、このビルには詳しいんだろう? 外に
キャロルが首を横に振って応える。
他の出口の存在を少し期待していたアキラが残念そうな表情を浮かべた。あの大型固定機が大人しく自分達を通してくれるとはとても思えない。何とか破壊しなければならないが、大型固定機は先ほどの攻撃にも耐えたのだ。そう簡単には倒せないだろう。
(1階まで戻ってきたんだから、ビルの壁に穴を開けて外に出る......、駄目か。キャロルも現実的な出口はあそこだけって言っているしな。アルファがいれば、どうして駄目なのかいろいろ教えてくれそうだけど......)
残念ながらアルファはまだ帰ってきていない。このままだとアキラはアルファのサポート無しで戦うことになる。
『アルファ! 本当にまだか!?』
返事はなかった。
Airi who was next to Katsuya looked coldly at Kurosawa.
"...Is that all?"
Kurosawa looked at Airi, his expression then returned back to normal. He could see a resolve from Airi's eyes, so he had no plans to mock someone with that kind of resolve. people like her were not to be underestimated no matter how weak they were. After all, they often used insult and mockery as fuel to strengthen their resolve, which eventually fueled their growth.
Kurosawa's evaluation of Katsuya's group had gotten better, although only slightly. He then faced the person who caused that change and said to her.
"Yeah, that's at all. We've agreed beforehand to handle different areas to make sure that we don't disrupt each other. So just be careful next time. Later then."
He already conveyed what he wanted to say and was sure that Katsuya understood that he wanted them to stop wandering into his area. Although at first, he was planning to complain about other things too, he decided to back down as a form of respect to Airi.
When Kurosawa was about to leave Katsuya alone, he suddenly stopped, he saw a girl come out running from the entrance of the Seranthal building.
Kurosawa stopped thinking that it might be some kind of emergency, but judging from how that girl was running, it did not seem to be the case, so he decided to just forget about it and returned to his post. That girl, Lilina, ran straight to Katsuya and said to him as if she was venting her anger.
"Katsuya!! They mocked us again!! You should go there and say something to them!!"
"Lilina, calm down, tell me what happened?"
"What the heck is wrong with those people sounding so arrogant like that?! We're also Hunters who successfully hunted a bounty monster, you know?! They should show some respect for us..."
When Lilina was about to explain what happened to Katsuya, or at least, what she thought she was doing, she saw Kurosawa walking away. Although she did not know if that was Kurosawa, she knew for sure that person was not from Katsuya's group, and that was enough of a reason for her.
Lilina then stopped Kurosawa.
"You, stop there! I know that you guys are strong Hunters who have defeated a bounty monster, but we have too! Just because we're doing well, that's not a reason for you to keep sabotaging us out of envy!"
Kurosawa stopped, he looked obviously annoyed as he sighed and turned around.
"Isn't it obvious already?! It's on the first floor of the Seranthal building!! Are you too stupid to even make such a simple guess?"
"Seranthal building has multiple floors and it's pretty big. There are also countless individual rooms inside it. So where exactly is it on the first floor?"
"It's not in a room, but in a hallway. What about it?"
"Which hallway?"
Kurosawa's gaze shifted from Lilina to Katsuya. He sighed on purpose to express his exasperation and mockery. He then said to that Katsuya with a tone that obviously showed he was ridiculing Katsuya.
"Seranthal building is a dangerous place where many Hunters lost their lives after stepping inside. So, it won't be strange if you get suddenly attacked by a swarm of monsters out of the blue when you're inside the building. Not to mention, for an unknown reason, the sensitivity of information-gathering devices is significantly lowered inside that building which makes it harder to accurately detect things around you. And with the inability to contact each other, Hunters have no other choice but to only judge whether they are looking at friends or foes solely on their visions. So of course, Hunters get more high-strung inside that building, and when you encounter another group of Hunters roaming around in the same area, there's a good chance that it might cause misunderstanding and even fight too. So, in order to avoid unfortunate accidents, it's important to refrain from unnecessarily interacting with the other group. That's exactly why, for the sake of safety and profit, our operation areas are properly divided from the beginning, or at least that's what I understand. The patrol time and route are decided beforehand and we are properly following it. It's designed so that when any of us encounter someone else inside that building, they don't need to spend too much time checking if they're friendly or not and just can make an assumption that they are hostile. And if any of us can't return back on time, it can be assumed that there's a fight inside the building. The report that I got is saying that the fight happened in C7 hallway. It's obviously inside our territory and it's not a place that you can enter by pure chance. So as long as you don't enter it on purpose or unless you get lost inside the building, you should not be able to go there."
"I don't know whether it's just stupid Hunters who entered that place on purpose or it was just stupid Hunters who got lost inside that building, but in this case, we're basically not the one at fault even if we suddenly opened fire. Whichever the case, are you seriously sending such stupid Hunters inside that building? Do you seriously want to pick a fight with us that much?"
"We just passed through it for a bit! There's no need for you to go that far, isn't it?!"
Kurosawa was exuding an aura that only those powerful Hunters had. There was no trace of joking or mockery in his face, he was using a tone that he would only use to talk against people who he recognized as enemies as he spoke to the leader of the other group, Katsuya.
After Kurosawa said that, he immediately ran back to his post without waiting for a reply since one of his men contacted him and told him to get back.
[...Although there seem to be some proper Hunters among them, I guess the majority are still those stupid ones, huh? Can we really secure the Seranthal building while avoiding getting into a fight with them? Are we seriously going to work with them once the main squad is here...? Good grief, I swear it's better if we just leave this operation to Drankam people without roping us too, isn't it?]
Kurosawa was thinking about what to do next as he ran back to his station.
She was about to burst with anger even now.
"...W-what the heck is wrong with that guy?!"
Yumina tried to calm Lilina down.
"Lilina, shut up."
Lilina was about to say something, but she stopped midway after she saw Yumina and Airi. Yumina looked at Lilina with a rather stern face, while Airi was looking at Lilina with her usual expressionless face but mixed with a tinge of hostility. Both of them were staring at Lilina, putting pressure on her.
There were other girls beside Yumina and Airi around Katsuya. But Airi and Yumina had been together with Katsuya for a long time. Their Hunter Rank was the second highest in Katsuya's team, only after Katsuya. Their pressure was enough to shut Lilina up, and even scared her.
There was no mistaking it, both of them were angry. If Lilina said anything, there was no mistaking it that both of them would get even angrier. Thus Lilina just shut up without being able to even make any excuse.
Katsuya was basically a kind person, if someone weak came to him scared, no matter the reason, he would extend his hand. And even more so when it was someone from his own team and a beautiful girl to top it off.
"Uhhh, we've agreed beforehand that we won't go to the second floor until we secure the first floor, right? Since the elevator started moving, they might use it to go to the upper floor without securing the first floor first. I just thought that I need to let Katsuya know this as soon as possible so that they won't steal a start..."
Lilina mixed her own guesses in her report.
After Kurosawa returned and received a report from his men, he frowned and asked if his men were sure they were not mistaken.
"Are you sure about it?"
"So basically, no one went to the upper floor without my permission and the elevator started moving, is that correct?"
"Yeah, that's as long as we believe the floor's display on that elevator. The Hunters who are stationed near the first-floor elevator also said that they heard the elevator moving. The elevator on the first floor started moving and we have nothing to do about it, and there's no fool among us who would go upstairs without permission."
[Did any of their men go upstairs and call for the elevator? No, it might be from the squad that went into this building before us... Wait, but the elevator is supposed to be unusable, right? So why has it started moving out of the blue? Did something change in the building...? I have a bad feeling about this.]
Kurosawa then looked at his men with a serious face and said to them.
"Inform everyone inside the building to return back as soon as possible, everyone, understand? Just leave the portable information-gathering device behind. Tell them to get back here, now. Also, tell the other Hunters who are transporting the dead monsters outside the building to stop immediately, and gather here. Also, prepare their weapons. Use all the portable walls to form a barrier, take some distance from the entrance so that you can safely focus your fire on the entrance, and form a barricade around the entrance."
Kurosawa's men were surprised when he suddenly gave that order to them. After all, it sounded as if Kurosawa had given up securing the building. One of them looked bewildered and said to him.
"Whoah, are you sure about that? We're almost done securing the first floor, you know? Are we really going to just abandon it?"
"It's fine. In the first place, there's another group who are working together with us in this place and they're not friendly to us. So even if we secure the first floor, I still doubt if it would be really safe. Moreover, it's not like I can trust those children to properly secure the area they're responsible for. And even if no monsters come out from the building, we can just restart the work to secure the building again later."
"But, we'll definitely lose a lot of time to secure the building, is this moving elevator really that dangerous?"
The amount of the secured area basically affects the reward that Kurosawa and his men would receive. Kurosawa put some pressure on his words as he replied to his men who were against retreating from the building.
"It's my intuition. So this is just to be safe. You've decided to work under me when you joined this team, so stop yapping and start working. I know that it's a coward's decision, but you accepted to join this team knowing fully that I'm a careful person. If you want to question my decision, you can do that later."
Kurosawa was indeed a skilled Hunter with good commanding skill, but judging from that point of view, he sometimes made cowardly decisions. There were many occasions where he focused too much on pessimistic guesses during the ruin exploration and gave an order for his men to withdraw although they could have gathered valuable relics if only they pushed just a bit further.
But thanks to that, Kurosawa's team had a high survivability rate. He was different from most of the Hunters in the eastern district who would happily take a high risk just to be able to return back with a lot of relics, instead, he preferred to maintain a long term profit.
Even during their fight against the bounty monster Maimai, no one got killed in Kurosawa's team, not even badly injured.
Now that Mihazono ruin had turned dangerous enough that it was more or less the same as an unexplored ruin, the other Hunters understood that Kurosawa's cautious nature was an important factor in making sure that they would be able to return back alive from the Seranthal building.
Kurosawa's men looked at him with a serious expression and said.
"Roger that, we'll do it right away."
But before Akira was able to ask Alpha about it, she suddenly said something that he could not ignore.
Alpha only said that and immediately vanished from Akira's views. Akira could also feel his augmented suit suddenly become heavier.
Although Akira's face turned even grimmer, he was still able to maintain his calmness. After all, that was not his first time, and he thought that he just needed to pass the entrance to escape the building.
But that line of thinking also caused Akira to not notice something. Unlike last time, Alpha did not say that it would be alright, or that she would be back in no time, or that there was no monster around.
Elena then explained the current situation to the rest of her team.
"Their equipment is from Drankam. I bet they're young Hunters from Drankam, they should be working in teams... So the fact that they didn't retrieve the dead bodies means that were attacked and did not have the leeway to do so."
Elena looked at everyone and said.
They continued walking through the hallway, ready for battle. They found other dead bodies, but this time, they just ignored them.
Akira unconsciously gripped his rifle tight, he tried to control his breath to calm his nerves down.
Akira had a stern expression as he called for Alpha.
"Alpha! Are you not done yet?"
Alpha did not respond back at all.
At the same time, in a vast empty white space, 2 girls were standing. It was Seranthal, the A.I manager of the Seranthal building, and Alpha.
Alpha seemed obviously annoyed as she said to Seranthal.
"Explain yourself!"
Seranthal was expressionless, but it was somehow obvious that she was also annoyed.
"I'm not violating any agreements that we made beforehand. I didn't block your way when you explored the building and I'm not preventing you from getting out of the building either. It's as we agreed on."
"Then why are you using the elevator?"
"That happened outside of my control. It's true that I'm the manager of this building, but there are other people too who have permission to use the facilities inside this building without going through me. Especially for the users of the 50th floor and above, they have the rights to directly use the elevator. The security drones also have that right. So I bet it was the B18 that used the elevator."
"I found B18 drones on the 30th floor too though."
"They're just exercising their rights to defend themselves. I'm also actually troubled here with those drones roaming inside this building without my permission. And I also feel sorry for it. But, it's not like I can do anything about it. I'm really saddened that they're creating a mess inside this building."
Alpha and Seranthal continued talking to each other, none of them seemed to be willing to back down.
Elena's team eventually reached the receptionist desk near the entrance, they confirmed the current situation from the piles of rubbles and wreckage inside the hall and the holes in the walls.
There were also many dead bodies lying around the hall, a fierce battle must have happened there. Those corpses were still clad in augmented suits and they were still gripping their rifles.
The front hall of the Seranthal building had a tall ceiling and tall entrance doors. It even extended all the way until the third floor of the building. Elena's team noticed that there were other things inside that hall that was not there when they came into that building.
"...What in the world is that?"
There was a huge mechanical monster in the front hall. It was so huge to the point that it was obvious it would not fit inside the hallway of that building, heck, it would not even fit the entrance of the building. Its body was enveloped in armour plating, it did not have legs, wheels, caterpillar tracks, or anything that it might use to move its huge body. It did not seem that it would be able to move except by flying. And even if it could move, it would not be able to get into the building because of its size.
Kanae smiled amusedly and said.
"This thing is pretty huge. How did this thing get inside this hall?"
When Kanae said that, the elevator in that hall suddenly opened and several B18 monsters came out from it. Most of them went straight out from the hall, but one of them approached that big monster and climbed it.
That B18 monster then stopped right on the head of that big monsters. Then on the next moment, that B18 monster suddenly exploded as if it activated its self-destruct protocol.
Then one of the armour platings of the big monster slid open, multiple arms came out and gathered the wreckage of that B18 monster and pulled them inside its body. The dead B18 monster became one with the huge monster-a new armour plating, a new machine gun-thus making its already huge body even bigger.
Elena nodded, her face was grim.
"Then, that means that the snake monster on the 30th floor must be there to consume the wreckages too.... I get it now, it's true that there are many materials available in this building."
More B18 monsters appeared from one of the hallways and headed outside the building, but suddenly, one of them was sniped and exploded.
Another bullet also hit the big monster, when that happened, a blinding light flashed.
They waited with bated breath, then a part of that monster's armour plating crumbled down, exposing a new armour plating right under it. That armour plating then popped out as if to replace the armour plating it just lost.
"Carol, you're knowledgeable about this building, right? Do you know any secret route that we can use to escape this building? In this situation, I'm willing to pay any price you ask."
Carol shook her head.
Akira, who was hoping that there was another way to escape the building, looked obviously disappointed. He did not think that big monster would just let them pass through peacefully. If they wanted to get out of that place, they had no other choice but to destroy that monster. And judging from the fact that it was able to take that single snipe shot just fine, it would be a difficult task to accomplish.
[Since we're already on the first floor, can't we just open a hole in the wall and escape through it...? No, that won't work. Carol also said that the entrance is our only logical choice. If only Alpha was here, I could ask her why it won't work though...]
Unfortunately enough, Alpha was still away. At this rate, Akira would have to fight without Alpha's support.
"Alpha?! Are you really not done yet!?"
And again, no reply at all.
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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