289 大巨人と観戦者
アキラ達は4体の巨人を相手にしなければならない状況に陥ったものの、キャロルのお陰でグートル達が参戦したことにより優勢を維持していた。
500億オーラムの賞金首が都市のすぐ
にする勢いで繰り返され巨人達を粉砕する。そこにアキラ達の攻撃も加わり巨人達との圧倒的な質量差を覆して優勢を維持していた。
表現を変えれば、それでも、優勢の維持が限界だった。現在、巨人の数は8体に増えていた。
アキラが思わず叫ぶ。
「増えるな!」
巨人を1体倒す度に巨人が2体増えていく。しかし倒さない訳にもいかない。
『アルファ! 切りが無いぞ!』
『切りはあるわ。向こうが保持する回復薬や周囲の
『それはいつなんだ?』
『そこまでは分からないわ。でも、私達は無駄な攻撃を続けている訳ではない、これだけは確かよ』
巨人達と戦うアキラの様子を廃ビルの屋上から見る者達がいた。
その中の一人、旧世界製の衣服を
られましても。お客様。申し訳御座いませんが、お客様の護衛の最中に、社への別件での交渉は御遠慮させて頂いております」
続けて、クズスハラ街遺跡から出てきたツバキが愛想も返さずに言う。
「判断したのは私ですが、この程度の内容であれば、予備の端末とはいえ管理区域外への移動許可を承認したのは誤りでしたね」
最後に、自身の護衛を兼ねた
支援者と支援者予定の者達の厳しい態度に、ハルカは自身の硬い笑顔を柔らかくしようとして、結果微妙な表情となった。そして思わず隣の男、ヤツバヤシに視線を向ける。するとヤツバヤシは不機嫌な顔をハルカに返した。
「その、制作者として何かありませんか?」
「知らん。あれを作った覚えも、作成技術を公開した覚えも無い。人のデータを勝手に使いやがって......、何考えてやがる......」
シロウはアキラ達の戦闘の様子を拠点の中から遠隔で探っていた。絶望的な体格差を物ともせずに応戦するアキラ達の様子に感心しながらも、その顔は険しい。
(これ......、勝てるか?)
アキラ達は間違いなく善戦しているが、勝利を得る気配は見られない。既に巨人の数は12体にまで増えている。シロウには倒す度に増えていく巨人達の圧力に徐々に
『増援はどうなってるんだ!?』
『要請は出してる! 何度もな!』
『この状況で上はまだ静観か!? ふざけやがって! 帰ったらぶっ殺してやる!』
、都市の防衛隊が本格的に出動しないことを、シロウは異常事態とは思わなかった。
リオンズテイル社の圧力もある。防壁内の価値、安全の
また、防衛隊を本格的に出撃させるのはアキラが死んだ後で良いという考えもある。都市からモンスター認定も受けている。それとは別に、アキラにはここで死んでもらった方が都合の良い者もいる。イナベと敵対している都市幹部達などは特にそうだ。
シロウもそれは理解できる。だがそれで増援が来ないのは困るのだ。
いな......。何か良い方法は......)
現時点での情報で良い手段が思い浮かばない時は、更なる情報が必要だ。
(あいつは......、リオンズテイル社の代表......? それに......、クズスハラ街遺跡の管理人格......!? こいつら、何でこんな場所に......!? 他にもいる。この服、旧世界の......)
シロウは驚きながらも機器内のデータを取得していた。そこで逆侵入を探知し、反射的に通信を切る。
「......危ねえ!」
思わず上げた声と、なかなか落ち着かない荒い息が、非常に
(......誰かが俺の機器に侵入していたな。良い腕だ。普通は探知すら出来ないはずなんだが......)
「所長。どうかしたんですか?」
「何でもない。......あと、俺を所長と呼ぶな。そう呼ぶなら権限も返せ」
「私に言われても......」
『アルファ。本当に切りが無いぞ。何か状況が好転しそうな様子とか無いのか?』
『そうね。強いて言えば、追加の巨人はどんどん弱くなっているわ』
『質より量になってるのか......。そうすると一番初めのやつが一番強かった訳だから、それを一撃で倒しておいたのは正解だったな』
悪くはない話だった。そう思いながらもアキラの顔は険しいままだ。
切り札である対滅弾頭は非常に強力な敵の撃破には有効だが、それなりに強い個体で構成された群れの
そして他の武装では、現時点の巨人達にはまだ効き目が薄い。巨人達が更に弱くなれば別だが、その時には巨人達の数も膨れ上がっている。
アキラとしては個体の弱さを数で補う群れよりも、その群れを1体で
りながら戦っているのだが、巨人を撃破する度に、周囲を切り裂き焼き焦がすブレードと光波の数が増えていく。威力は前より下がっていても、無視できるほど低くはない。そして数が増えるほどに回避が困難になっていく。アキラは徐々に追い詰められていた。
シロウから念話が来たのはその最中だった。
『アキラ。まだ生きてるな?』
『このクソ忙しい時に何だ?』
『今お前が戦ってるモンスターの情報......かもしれないものの一部を手に入れた。必要なら送るが、どうする?』
『その情報に敵の弱点でも載ってるのか? そもそも、かもしれないって何だ?』
『詳しいことは解析しないと分からない。弱点が分かるかもしれないし、そもそも全然関係無い情報かもしれない』
『それなら、解析してから送れ! こっちの状況分かってるのか!? 戦いながら調べろっていう気か!?』
った声を返してしまったアキラに、シロウの方も思わず強い口調で言い返す。
『手持ちの機器じゃ解析なんて出来ねえし、解析の
アキラはシロウの誤解を思い出して落ち着きを取り戻した。
お互いに旧領域接続者だ。単純なデータ送信だけであれば、データの形式を問わずに受け渡しは可能だろう。そして
そこでアルファから笑って言われる。
『アキラ。私が解析するから送ってもらって』
アキラはそれを意外に思ったが、アルファのいつもの自信に
『悪かった。何とかしてみる。送ってくれ』
『よし。送るぞ』
シロウからデータが送られてくる。
それでアキラも意気を完全に取り戻した。同じように笑って返す。
『了解だ。よし! 行こう!』
バイクが加速して宙を駆ける。ここが勝負だと、巨人達の群れの中に
『アルファ! 効いてるようには全然見えないけど、あとどれだけ撃てば良いんだ?』
『とにかく撃ちなさい。私の計算通りならこの辺りのどこかに......、アキラ! あそこよ!』
アキラの視界が拡張され、血肉の海の中に埋もれて肉眼では見えない何かの姿が透過表示される。輪郭すらあやふやな状態だが狙うには十分だ。今までは広範囲に弾を
『防がれた!? ......!?』
更に、驚くアキラの視線の先で、標的の反応が分裂して別々の方向に高速で逃げていく。
『アルファ! どれを狙えば良いんだ!?』
『待って......、あれよ!』
拡張視界上の反応が一つを残して消える。アキラが即座にバイクでその反応を追う。血肉の海の表面を走りながら標的の反応の真上に移動し、銃弾を遮る分厚い血肉の層を可能な限り薄くした上で、眼下の標的を銃撃する。無数の銃弾が血肉の
『アルファ! どうなってるんだ!?』
『全ての巨人が攻撃対象を私達に最優先で変えたわ! 全力で回避するから、振り落とされないように死ぬ気で
『どうしてもあれを攻撃されたくないってことか! 分かった! 頼んだぞ!』
それをエレナ達やグートル達が可能な限り邪魔する。突如自分達を完全に無視してアキラを攻撃しようとする巨人達の様子に、アキラが巨人達にとってそれだけ非常に
じ曲げる。そのお陰でアキラへの攻撃は大分弱まった。
だがそれでもアキラの居場所は死地のままだ。冗談のような質量差の存在が、その数すら上回った状態で、まるで初めから刺し違えるつもりのようにアキラを襲っている。
ブレード同士が衝突して砕けて飛び散り宙を舞う中、無手の巨人がアキラを殴り付けようとする。その巨人を別の巨人が背後から突き刺してアキラを狙う。荒れ狂う
に一度離脱した方が良いんじゃないか!?』
『それも駄目! まだ取っておきなさい!』
そして次の契機が起こる。血肉の海が標的の反応を中心にして突如急激に盛り上がる。同時に、アキラの方へ走っていた巨人達が場に到着し、アキラの方へ飛び掛かるように他の巨人達と一緒に跳躍した。思わず顔を上げたアキラの視線の先に空は無く、巨人達で埋まっていた。
アキラがその光景に思わず圧死を想像する。だが痛烈な慣性で我に返った。バイクが乗員への負担を完全に無視した上に、ジェネレーターの破損すら考慮に入れた急加速で場から離脱を始めたのだ。
そして天井が地面に激突した。地が揺れ、派手な土煙が舞い上がる。僅かに遅れて、その土煙の中からアキラだけが飛び出した。バイクは間に合わなかった。
天井が地面に激突する直前、間に合わないと察したアキラとアルファはバイクを捨てていた。バイクの前部に移動し、バイクを車体が大破するまで加速させ、その上で強化服の出力を全開にして、加速する足場から更に加速して飛んでいた。その二重の加速により弾丸のように飛び出したアキラは、ギリギリのところで巨人達に押し潰されずに済んでいた。
そのまま宙を飛んでいたアキラが、速度が落ち始めた辺りで近くの廃ビルの屋上に着地する。
「あ、危なかった......! アルファ......、あっちはどうなった?」
『質より量だったのを、量より質に切り替えさせたのよ』
そう軽く答えてから、アルファが作戦の詳細をアキラに話していく。
ったデータを解析したアルファは、その解析結果から緑がかった血肉の海が巨大な生物系モンスターに近い存在だと結論付けた。また群体でも個体でもなく、厳密には2体だと判断した。核となる個体が別の大型の個体を操作する形式で動いているのだ。アキラが狙っていた標的は、血肉の海の中に潜んでいたその核となる個体だった。
1体目の強力な巨人をアキラに対滅弾頭であっさり撃破されたことで、相手は巨人を質よりも数を重視して生成していた。生成に材料も回復薬も大量に使用する強力な個体をあっさり倒され続けるのは消耗が大きすぎるからだ。そして核となる個体は血肉の海の中に潜んで
しかしアルファにその存在を見抜かれ、位置まで把握され、核の個体を直接攻撃までされたことで、質より量では核を守り切れないと判断した。それにより戦術を量より質に切り替えたのだ。加えて、当初の質の基準ではまた倒されるだけだと、個体の質を可能な限り向上させようとしていた。
アキラがその説明を聞きながら、新たに生まれた巨人を見る。
そこには今までの巨人が子供に見える大型巨人が立っていた。その足下に血肉の海は無い。全て最後の巨人の材料になっていた。
『アルファ......。核があれになる前に、対滅弾頭で消しておけば良かったんじゃないか?』
『質が飛躍的に向上したことで、核となった個体の外観が強く反映されたのでしょうね』
『そうか......。じゃあやっぱり、あれ、ラティスってやつなのか』
特大の巨人の顔は奇怪な肉片の塊ではなく、しっかりとラティスの顔になっていた。髪もしっかり生えている。体を覆う金属片は強化服のような形状をしている。その外見に他の巨人達のような醜悪さは無かった。
アキラがパメラの言葉を思い出す。
自分達が戦っていた巨人達は、あのような姿ではあったが、全てラティスだったのだと、アキラは遅れて理解した。
そのラティスがブレードを生成する。
狙われたのはグートル達の部隊だ。大型の巨人が突如現れたことで動きを止めていたが、その相手が動き出せばグートル達も即座に動く。全ての武装からありったけの弾を吐き出してラティスを攻撃していた。そこを狙われる。全力で回避行動を取ったが、数機が避け切れず、消滅した。
それでも防壁そのものは都市防衛用の強力な
『まあ、確かにかなりの威力だけれど、あの調子で戦えばすぐにエネルギー切れで餓死するわ』
『そうなるわね。だからその前に倒してしまいましょう。さっきの攻撃で相手が私達を認識していないことは確認できたから、落ち着いてしっかりと狙えるわ』
現在のアキラはアルファの操作で強化服の迷彩機能を有効にして潜んでいる状態だ。下手に動かない限り余程のことがなければ察知されない。それでも察知されている恐れは残っていたのだが、ラティスがアキラを狙わなかったことでその懸念は完全に消えた。認識されているのであれば、間違いなくアキラが真っ先に狙われるからだ。
り好み出来る状況ではないとして拭うと、気を切り替える。そして対滅弾頭を装填したRL2複合銃に持ち替えて、構えた。そして浮かんだ別の思いを、真面目な顔で口に出す。
「死んでからも、そんな姿になっても働くのは大したもんだ。でもそろそろ終わりにしてくれ。残りの弾、全部くれてやるからさ」
「......、じゃあな」
残り4発の対滅弾頭が銃口から全て撃ち出され、射線上の全てを
「これで4億オーラムか。まあ、あんたを倒せるなら、安上がりなんだろうな」
それは間違いなくアキラの本心だった。
『アルファ。一応聞くけど、倒したよな?』
今回の襲撃が終わっただけで、本質的には何も済んでいない。リオンズテイル社とは敵対したままであり、クロエも生きている。終わったとするには早すぎる。アキラもそれぐらいは分かっていた。
に今日はもう何も無いだろうと、心身共に疲れた息を吐いた。
『当面は坂下から装備が届くのを待つとしても、スラム街にいてもこれなら、やっぱり装備が届くまで荒野に隠れてた方が良いかな?』
『そうね。その辺りもゆっくり休みながら考えましょう......、アキラ! 警戒して!』
笑って話していたアルファが急に非常に真剣な顔で警戒を促した。アキラも反射的に臨戦態勢を取る。
アキラの情報収集機器は周囲に突如出現した無数の反応を捉えていた。全ての反応は自身の存在をアキラに意図的に示した上で近付いてくる。そしてそのままアキラの周囲に姿を現し、取り囲んだ。
現れた者達は全員メイド服と執事服を着用しており、リオンズテイル社の者だと容易に推察できた。アキラの顔が非常に険しいものに変わる。だが表情を大きく
「リオンズテイル東部本店の代表をしておりますアリスと申します。お見知り置きを」
「はい。社を代表して、
Ch 289
Thanks to Carol, Goutol's squad got dispatched to the battlefield. The difficult fight against four giants had shifted, giving Akria the upper hand.
Goutol's squad was posted on standby close to the wall. Their placement had taken Akira, a 50 billion Aurum bounty target, into account. With the risk of Akira being so close by, attacking the city, they were well equipped to handle him.
Therefore, their intense assault quickly reduced the giants to pieces. With the extra support from Akira and the others, they were able to overwhelm the enemies.
In other words, they were only able to get the upper hand because of the additional force. The moment the giants multiplied to eight, that was the end of it.
Akira inadvertently shouted.
"Stop multiplying already!"
Every time they destroyed one giant, two more came out to take its place. However, none could be left alive.
"Alpha! There's no end to them!"
"Don't worry. They will no longer regenerate once they run out of material, medicine or jamming smoke."
"And when would be exactly?"
"No idea. But it's not like we're doing something pointless. That is one thing that I can say for certain."
Far away from the battle, on top of a certain abandoned building, a group of people were observing the fight.
One of them was a girl clad in an old-world dress. She was called Haruka. Haruka smiled politely at the others present and asked.
"Even if you ask. My deepest apologies, but please refrain from trying to make any unrelated offer to the company while I am in the middle of an escort mission."
The next one was Tsubaki, who had left Kuzusuhara ruin to come there.
"I was the one who made the decision to come here. But from the contents proposed, all I can say is that it was a mistake to grant myself permission to move outside my managed region, even if this is just a spare body."
Finally, Alicia, who was accompanied by her servants, who doubled as her escorts, smiled bitterly and spoke up.
The harsh reaction from her supporter, and other potential supporters, made Haruka try her best to force her stiff smile into a more amicable one. However, her attempt only made her smile look more awkward. She then glanced at the guy next to her, Yatsubayashi. But Yatsubayashi then curtly asked.
"Uhh, don't you have anything to say as its creator?"
"No, I don't remember ever creating something like that nor ever publicly presenting the method to make such a thing. Hah... using someone else's data without permission... how rude..."
While back in Sheryl's base, Shirou was watching Akira's battle from afar. He was amazed at how they were managing themselves despite the huge difference in size compared to their enemies. However, his expression was grave.
[...Are they really winning?]
There was no doubt that they were performing really well. Even so, it did not seem like they were winning. The giants had already multiplied to twelve. From Shirou's point of view, it seemed like the giants were mercilessly overwhelming Akira and the others.
"Where are the reinforcements!?"
"We've already sent reinforcement requests numerous times!"
"Are those guys at the top seriously going to just ignore this situation!? You gotta be kidding me! I'll freaking kill them once we get back!"
Even in this situation, City Management was still turning a blind eye. However, Shirou did not see that as something unexpected.
There was pressure from the Lion Steel company. On top of that, some within the inner wall believe that for the sake of guaranteeing safety, there was a need to regularly destroy the slums outside the inner wall.
Naturally, there were some who believed that there was still time even if they sent out the city defence squad only after Akira got killed. After all, City Management recognised Akira as a monster. There were also those who would benefit from Akira's death, especially those who were in the faction opposing Inabe.
Shirou understood all of this and thought the situation was getting worse by the minute.
[This is bad... Is there anything we can do...?]
When one did not have enough information to find a good solution, what they needed was to gather more information.
[Wait... Isn't this the representative from Lion Steel?! And ... The AI... It's from Kuzusuhara ruin..!? Why are they in such a place...!? There are others too, but this dress, it is an old-world dress...]
Shirou tried to hack into one of their equipment. However, his location was suddenly traced back, and he quickly cut the connection by pure reflex.
[...Whoah! That was dangerous!]
His pale and anxious expression, and heavy breathing demonstrated just how abnormal this situation was.
[...Oh? Someone tried to hack into my equipment. Not bad. Considering that no one would normally even be able to detect my position...]
"Chief, what's wrong?"
"Nope, nothing... Ah, also, don't call me chief. If you want to keep calling me that, then give me back my authority."
"Even if you say as much..."
"Alpha, they're not slowing down at all! The situation doesn't seem to be improving!
"That's true. Though to be more precise, each giant is getting weaker and weaker."
"So, quantity over quality, huh? Which means the first giant was the strongest one then. I guess it was a good thing that we took it down."
Akira believed that the situation was not that dire, but his expression remained solemn.
His trump card, the annihilator warhead, was perfect for destroying a single powerful monster. However, it was not the right weapon to take down a swarm of moderately strong monsters. Furthermore, he did not have that many left.
As for the other weapons, they were not that effective on the giants. However, it might change once the giants weakened a bit more, which would mean more of them.
Akira preferred if the giants stayed powerful and did not multiply. For him, it was much easier to deal with a single strong one than a swarm of weak ones.
The giants swung their blades and released laser beams. Akira slipped past through the openings and fought back. Every time he shot one of them down, the number of attacks kept increasing. Although the giants' firepower was reduced, Akira still could not ignore them. With more of them on the battlefield, it was getting harder to keep evading them. Thus, he was slowly getting pushed back.
That was when Shirou's telepathically reached him.
"Akira, are you still alive?"
"I'm busy right now, what is it?"
"I got a piece of information that may have something to do with those monsters you're fighting. I can send it your way if you want."
"Does it say anything about their weakness? Wait, what do you mean 'may have'?"
"I can't say for certain until I fully analyze the data. You might be able to find their weakness. However, that's a big 'might'. It might have nothing to do with those giants at all."
"Then analyze it first before sending it to me! Seriously... do you really understand my current situation!? Or are you telling me to analyze it while I fight!?"
It was a natural response considering Akira's current predicament. However, in response, Shirou also raised his voice.
"It's not like I can analyze something like this with my current equipment. I could if I used one of Sakashita's facilities, but they'll find out where I am! So, you should do something about it yourself by using Tsukisada's facilities!"
Shirou's explanation highlighted his deep misunderstanding, which helped Akira calm down.
Both of them were old-world connectors. If it was to transfer data, they could do so without any issue. This was regardless of the data format. If Akira was really someone from Tsukisada Construction, then he should be able to connect to one of the Tsukisada facilities to analyze the data. Although it was a little late, Akira finally understood what Shirou wanted from him due to the latter's misunderstanding.
That was when Alpha smiled and stated to him.
"Akira, I will do the analysis, so just get him to send it to you."
Akira did think that this came out of the left field, but seeing Alpha's confident smile, he gave a simple smile and nodded. He then reconnected to Shirou.
"Sorry, I'll do it then. Just send the data to me."
"Alright, I'm sending it now."
A stream of data came from Shirou. Akira did not have the slightest clue what it contained. However, he did feel the sensation of receiving a stream of information.
Strangely enough, her statement had completely calmed him down. Akira then confidently smiled back at her.
"Roger that! Let's go!"
Akira's bike suddenly accelerated right toward the giants. It was as if he was declaring that this next exchange would be the end of everything.
"Alpha! I don't think it's working; just how much longer should I keep shooting?"
"Just keep on shooting for now. According to my calculation, it should be around here... Akira! Over there!"
Akira could see something forming under the green fleshy sea thanks to his enhanced vision, which enabled him to see under it. Although it was just a blurry contour, it was more than enough for him to fire at it. Up until now, he was shooting around haphazardly with his two RL2 multi-rifles. This time, he had a target and released a barrage at it.
"It got blocked...!?"
While Akira had his eyes widened in disbelief, the target suddenly broke into smaller pieces and went in different directions.
"Alpha! Which one should I go for?!"
"Wait for a second... That one!!"
All the smaller, split-up signals in Akira's enhanced vision vanished except for one. He quickly accelerated his bike to chase after it. As the bike ran on top of the uneven fleshy greenish sea, in a straight line toward his target, he kept shooting at it. It was an attempt to try and thin out the thick fleshy wall around it, while also trying to hit the target. The barrage struck the forcefield created by the fleshy wall, which was absorbed and transformed into energy. It converted whatever Akira threw at it into flashes of light that enveloped the area.
"Alpha! What's going on!?"
"All the giants are prioritizing on attacking you right now! I will do my best to avoid them so hold on tight. Make sure you don't get thrown off the bike!"
"So basically, they don't want us to attack that thing no matter what, huh! Alright! I'll leave that part to you!"
Elena and the others were trying their best to stop the giants. Seeing how frenzied the giants were acting, they knew whatever Akira was trying to do was critical. Therefore, they quickly prioritized helping him.
With all the assistance he was receiving, the attacks on Akira abated.
Even so, it did not change how dire the situation was. Due to the overwhelming difference in the numbers, Akira still had to charge through the attacks as if he was planning to sacrifice himself to end the fight.
As blades collided with each other, sparks of fire were scattered into the air. Countless arms tried to grab onto him. Another giant from a different direction charged in between the rest of the giants, straight toward Akira. Even when the other giants got sliced by a frenzied giant flailing its blade, they were still trying to reach Akira with their arms.
"...Alpha!! Don't you think it might be better if we call a temporary retreat?!"
"We can't do that yet! Save the bullet for now!"
That was when something changed. The grotesque sea suddenly gathered around his target. At the same time, the giants in the area suddenly threw themselves at him. When he looked up, it was full of darkness. The sky got completely blocked off by the giants.
As expected, Akira thought that this was his end. But a sudden sharp pain snapped him back to reality. The bike suddenly accelerated away at full speed, completely ignoring the burden it placed on its rider and its generator.
The ceiling above eventually crashed down. The shockwave created a miniature earthquake, which released a cloud of dust high into the sky. A moment later, Akira jumped out of the dust storm. He got out on time, but not his bike.
Right before the giants landed, Akira and Alpha knew that they would not make it. They immediately chose to forgo the bike. Akira stepped on top of the handle. Using the full power of his augmented suit, he leapt off the bike. A moment later, an explosion occurred behind him. That combination of both forces propelled him forward, barely getting him out of the falling ceiling.
Akira eventually slowed down and landed on top of a nearby abandoned building.
"W-whoah...! That was close! Alpha! Did it go well?"
"Quality over quantity this time, so it prioritizes power now."
Alpha explained nonchalantly. She then proceeded to tell Akira the rest of her plan.
After Alpha analyzed the information from Shirou, she quickly concluded that the whole fleshy sea was some kind of monster. It was neither a swarm nor an individual. Rather, it was made of two monsters. These two monsters were the cores that controlled the rest of the giants. The one Akira chased after was one of these two cores.
The first one got killed by Akira's annihilator warhead. Thus, the second one decided to opt for more giants instead of better giants. After all, it was too costly to keep producing giants that required a huge amount of materials and medicines, which would just get shot down with a single annihilator warhead. Thus, it decided to produce many weaker giants as it stayed hidden under the fleshy sea.
However, Alpha was able to detect and ascertain its position. After it received a direct hit, it decided that numbers would not be able to protect it. Thus, it decided to form a better, more powerful body. However, creating the same giant as the last one would only get shot down the same way. Thus, it improved the quality of its body to its very limit.
After hearing Alpha's explanation, Akira looked at the new giant and exclaimed.
The current giant was smaller, as if it was the child version of the other giants. However, there was no longer a fleshy sea under it. It had used all its materials to create this body.
"Alpha... Shouldn't we target the core, use an annihilator warhead before it completes its body?"
"Now that it prioritized on quality, I bet its outer appearance now reflects its core better than before."
"I see... Then, as I thought, that must be Latis, huh?"
This special giant's appearance was no longer distorted. It had completely reconstructed Latis' face, and it even had Latis' hair as well. Its body, which was an amalgamation of flesh and metal, now seems like an augmented suit. It no longer had the twisted gory outlook the other giants had.
Akira then remembered Pamela's last words.
Although they were horribly reconstructed, all the giants that they fought against up until now had the same reference point. Akira finally understood that they were all supposed to look like Latis.
The new giant Latis grew a blade out of its palm. The blade was basically a lump of metal forged into a blade, with enhanced sharpness using forcefield armour. It faintly glowed when energy flowed into it and was long enough to slice apart a tall building. Latis then took a stance with that blade and released a slash.
Its first target was Goutol's squad. They temporarily stopped when the new giant was forming. However, once it started moving, they immediately reacted. They threw everything that they had at the new giant. Since they attacked it first, it prioritized its attack on them. Although Goutol's squad tried their best to get away from its attack, some still got caught.
Thankfully, the city's inner walls were unharmed due to its powerful forcefield armour. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the tall buildings in the lower district, which were taller than the city wall.
"Well, that is indeed powerful. However, it will run out of energy in no time if it keeps that up. After that, only death awaits."
"That's true. So, let's take it down before it destroys everything. Judging from the attack just now, it seems like it doesn't know our location. So, you can calmly take your time to aim."
At that very instant, Akira was able to receive Alpha's full support. Thus, his augmented suit's camouflaging capability was fully maximized. As long as he did not make any mistakes, he would stay hidden. Even though the possibility of getting detected was not zero, it was enough to assure him that Latis would not aim for him. If he got discovered, Latis would definitely prioritize eliminating him first.
Akira felt bad about using Goutol's men. However, he knew that he did not have the leeway to be complacent and suppressed those feelings. He swapped the ammunition in his RL2 multi-rifles and loaded it with the annihilator warheads. He took aim and mumbled his honest thoughts which suddenly popped up.
"It's pretty amazing for you to work this hard even after death, but let's end this. I'll use the rest of my ammo in exchange."
"...Farewell."
Akira shot out four annihilator warheads. They split the air and flew straight. They landed on points which would maximize their combined firepower according to Alpha's calculation.
"And that was 400 million Aurum... Well, I guess that's cheap considering that it allowed me to destroy that thing."
That was Akira's honest feelings.
"Alpha, just to make sure, it's dead, right?"
This battle had come to an end. However, his real goal had not progressed at all. His relationship with Lion Steel was still hostile and Chloe was still alive. Akira knew that it was too soon to state this to be the end.
Even so, he expected nothing would happen for the rest of the day. Thus, he heaved a sigh filled with fatigue.
"Well, I guess we are back to waiting for my new equipment from Sakashita then. But if this will happen as long as I stay in the slums, it might be better for me to hide in the wasteland while I wait for my new equipment."
"You're right. Let's think about that while you take a break... Hold on, Akira! Keep your guard up!!"
Alpha, who was smiling a moment ago, suddenly turned solemn as she warned Akira to put his guard up. Akira immediately got into a fight-or-flight state.
Akira's information-gathering device detected multiple signals around him. All of them were obviously approaching him and they eventually formed an encirclement around him.
All of them were wearing maid and butler uniforms. It was obvious that they were from the Lion Steel Company. Akira scowled, but the main reason for that was not because of their attire.
"I am the representative from Lion Steel company eastern district main branch, Alice. Pleased to meet you."
"Yes, I am here as the head of the Lion Steel company. I've come to negotiate with you."
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