小型の飛行機械がアキラの頭上を通り過ぎていく。攻撃はしてこない。アキラを発見できなかったのか、発見したが攻撃対象ではなかったのか、偵察機で別の機械系モンスターにアキラの位置を送信したのか、そのいずれかだ。
アルファがアキラを急に止める。
『アキラ。そこで止まって一度そっちのビルに入って。このまま進むと少し危ないかもしれないわ』
途中の部屋には不自然なほどに整頓されている机や事務用品などが残っていた。アキラがそれらの備品を不思議そうに見ている。
『備品とかが随分
アルファが首を横に振る。
『恐らく現在の技術でも製造可能な物だから残っているだけよ。都市の店舗でも似たようなものが普通に買えると思うわ』
『そこらの店で小銭で購入できる物を、命賭けで警備機械と戦って持ち帰るやつはいないってことか』
『室内を自動で清掃整備点検するシステムなら高い価値があるのでしょうけれど、それを持ち帰るのは難しいわ。ビルに備え付けられている機能なのかもしれないしね。このビルを制圧してしまえば快適な環境を自動で維持する建物が手に入るのかもしれないけれど、大量の機械系モンスターが周囲を
アキラがふと思いついたことを話してみる。
『でもハンターが遺跡の中の休憩地点として確保しても良いんじゃないか? ミハゾノ街遺跡はこんなに広いんだ。そういう場所があれば便利だと思うぞ?』
『少数のハンターが室内を短時間だけ
『難しいか。まあ、できるなら、割に合うなら、とっくに誰かがやっているってことだな』
アキラが改めて室内を見渡す。整理整頓されている室内は一見安全そうだが、
いって言った理由か。途中で遭った小型の機械とは別物だ。どう見てもあのビルを防衛しているな』
『アキラがここに来るまでに遭遇したものは、市街区画を対象とした警備機械なんでしょうね。恐らくあのビルの周辺にいる機械系モンスターはあのビルの防衛用で、他のやつとは性能も指示系統も異なるのよ』
『単純に当時の人間の指示に今でもずっと従い続けているのかもしれないわ。あのビルを管理している人工知能が稼動し続けていて、警備の指示を出している可能性もあるわね。ミハゾノ街遺跡全体の警備と、あのビルの警備が別の指示系統や権限で行われているのかもしれない。いろいろ考えられるわ』
『興味深い話だけど、今の俺にその話がどの程度関係があるかは微妙だな』
アキラにとっては機械系モンスターの警備権限の違いなど知ったことではない。厄介な相手かどうか。襲いかかってくるかどうか。違いはそれだけだ。
しかしアルファがそれを否定する。
『アキラにも十分関係ある話よ? 指示系統や権限が異なれば、他の機体との情報共有が異なっているかもしれないわ。それによっていろいろ違いが、アキラ! すぐに離れて!』
アルファの唐突な指示にアキラがすぐに行動に移る。指示の理由を尋ねる必要はない。銃の照準器越しにその理由を見ていたからだ。ミサイルポッドを搭載していた車両から、無数の小型ミサイルが発射されていた。
発射されたミサイルがある程度の誘導性で攻撃目標へ飛んでいく。ビルの内部に急いで移動しているアキラへ向けて飛んでいく。先頭のミサイルがビルの外壁を吹き飛ばし、後続のミサイルがビルの中へ飛び込んでいく。続々と続くミサイルが内部の部屋を吹き飛ばし、障害物の壁を破壊して、アキラへ続く通路を強引に作成する。そして長めの通路を走っているアキラの背後に迫った。
『迎撃するわよ!』
『了解!』
アキラが振り返ってDVTSミニガンを構え、殺到するミサイルの迎撃体勢を取る。無数のミサイルを凝視して、集中して、意識を圧縮させて引き金を引いた。
DVTSミニガンから発射された大量の銃弾が、アルファのサポートによる精密射撃で殺到するミサイルに直撃する。迎撃されたミサイルが空中で爆発し、脇にそれてビルの内壁に激突し、
「危なかった!」
『すぐに移動するわ。追加が来るかどうかは分からないけれど、念のためにね』
い有様になった部屋の中を見て表情を少し引きつらせながら、アキラは急いでその場から離脱した。
攻撃の影響がない階まで移動したアキラが休息を取っている。移動中に敵の攻撃の追加もなく、安全に退避することができた。
をするなんて。ミハゾノ街遺跡の警備用の機械なら遺跡の建物を壊すなよ。戦車が近付いてきたわけじゃないんだぞ? たかがハンターを一人殺すためにあそこまでするのか? 絶対採算が合わないだろう』
アルファがアキラの問いに答える。
『少し前に説明しようとしたけれど、恐らく指示系統の違いの所為ね。さっきアキラを攻撃した機械系モンスター達はあのビルの防衛用で、指示系統がミハゾノ街遺跡全体の警備とは別なのでしょう。だから他のビルの損傷を気にしないのよ』
『もしかして、あのビルの周囲が不自然に開いていたのって、その防衛用の兵器が周囲のビルを破壊し尽くしたからか? いや、でも、そんなに
いは、定期的に再建している途中なのかもしれないわ。そしてハンターが再建中のビルに隠れてまた壊されるのよ。このビルが残っているのは、通常の警戒領域のぎりぎり範囲外だったかもしれないわ』
『まさか、防衛対象のビルに銃を向けている人間を見つけたから、その警戒範囲が少し広がったのか? だから攻撃してきたのか? 追加の攻撃がなかったのは、俺を殺したと判断して、警戒範囲が戻ったからか?』
『アキラ。今のうちに聞いておくけれど、これからどうするの? 予定通り目的地を目指して進む? それともここで引き返す?』
引き返す。そう返事をしようとしたアキラが引っ掛かるものを覚えて少し
アキラの感覚では先ほどの攻撃はかなり危なかった。だからアルファならば撤退を強く勧め、先に進むなど言語道断だと告げても不思議はない。アキラはそう思っていたのだが、アルファはどちらかと言えば先に進んでも良い感じで尋ねていた。
アキラが真剣な表情でアルファに尋ねる。
『俺が予定通り先に進むって言ったらどうするんだ? 止めないのか?』
んでそう話すアルファに、アキラが少し悩むような表情で話す。
『いや、まあ、確かにそんなことを言ったけどさ。覚悟をしてもらうって、どの程度の覚悟がいるんだ? あの賞金首もどきと交戦した時のような覚悟がいるんだったら、
後はアキラの判断次第だ。現実的な勝率を見込める敵から引くことも誤りではない。しかし多少苦戦するが勝てる相手に勝って先に進むことも誤りではない。
だがアキラは強くならなければならない。いつかアルファの依頼を達成する
アキラが結論を出す。
『進む。十分勝てる相手から逃げ出すようじゃ、この先ハンター稼業を続けられなくなるからな』
『良いの? 説明した通り、それなりの覚悟が必要よ?』
『覚悟は俺の担当だ。やってくれ』
アルファがより一層楽しげに笑う。
『良いわ。やりましょう。この前は最後にアキラをサポートできなかったからね。私のサポートの
アキラが戦闘前の準備を進める。アルファの指示で一度1階まで戻り、そしてビルの屋上を目指して登っていく。その際に、情報収集機器でビルの構造を調べてから次の階に進む。フロアの全てを調べるのではなく、目的地の高層ビルに面している部分を重点的に調べていく。
27階建てのビルの屋上に到着したアキラが準備を整える。DVTSミニガンに拡張弾倉を
右手にCWH対物突撃銃を、左手にDVTSミニガンを持つ。予備の弾倉だけを保持しておき、他の銃とリュックサックを戦闘の邪魔にならないように屋上の床に置いて、攻撃力を落とさずにできるだけ身軽になる。
アキラはビルの屋上の、目的地のある高層ビルとは反対方向の端に立ち、高層ビルの方向を見て、息を整える。準備は終わった。
みながらアキラに最終確認を取る。
アキラが覚悟を決めた表情で答える。
アルファが不敵に笑って戦闘の開始を宣言する。
その瞬間、CWH対物突撃銃の専用弾が砲口に飛び込んだ。専用弾が発射直前の砲弾に命中して着弾の衝撃で誘爆を引き起こす。その爆発は機関砲を内部から破壊し大破させた。アルファの指示でアキラが事前に撃っていた弾丸が着弾したのだ。専用弾は発砲時にアキラの方へ向けられてもいなかった砲口の内部へ正確無比に着弾していた。
機関砲を破壊された無人兵器の制御装置が即座に機体の損傷を確認する。そして敵を攻撃する
同系機が破壊されたことで、他の機体がアキラの脅威度を大幅に変更した。明確な脅威を速やかに排除するために、一斉にアキラの撃破へ動き出す。
ミサイルポッドから無数の小型ミサイルがアキラに向けて発射される。機関砲がアキラに狙いを定め砲弾を発射する。ミサイルポッドの真上にばらまかれた無数のミサイルが、勢いを溜めるように一度空中に
『頼むからちゃんと避けてくれよ! これ、爆風で外側に吹き飛ばされても死ぬだろう!?』
アキラは体を水平に傾けて壁を走る経験など初めてだ。そのため動作の大半はアルファによる強化服の操作で実現させている。拡張された視界に砲撃の着弾予想位置なども表示されているが、それを見て移動ルートを判断する暇や余裕などない。可能な限りアルファの指示通りに動くので限界だ。
アルファがビルの側面を滑るように横向きになって移動しながら、余裕の微笑で答える。
『確かに足場を失うととても危険よ。だから敵の砲撃箇所を分散させるためにも止まらずに走り続けてね。銃撃も緩めては駄目よ。その反動がなくなると壁を蹴っての素早い移動が難しくなるわ。覚悟を決めて走り続けなさい』
『それなりの覚悟で良かったんじゃないのか!?』
『それはあの時と、アキラが賞金首もどきと戦った時と比べればの話よ。それなりの覚悟はいるって念押ししたでしょう? 少なくともアキラがモンスターの体内から自力で脱出した時の状況と比べれば、覚悟と呼ぶのも
んでいる。アキラはアルファの表情を、現在の状況が自分が思うほど危機的なものではないから、と信じながらも必死の形相で答える。
『それは! 絶対に! 比較対象が間違っている!』
アキラがビルの側面を走りながら、迫りくる小型ミサイルの群れにDVTSミニガンを向けて引き金を引く。無数の銃弾が空中を飛ぶ小型ミサイルの軌道上にばらまかれる。その銃弾と衝突したミサイルが次々と空中で爆発し、爆風が他のミサイルの軌道を狂わせていく。
同時にアキラはCWH対物突撃銃を無人兵器へ向ける。照準合わせはアルファが勝手にやっているので、アキラの仕事は大まかな狙いを付けることと、銃撃の反動に耐えることだけだ。ただし片腕でかなり銃撃しているのでその反動を抑え切れておらず、アキラの身体にかなりの負荷を与えていた。
事前に服用していた回復薬の鎮痛作用のおかげで、アキラが感じている痛みは僅かだ。しかし強化服の身体能力を振り絞った無理な動作と、近距離に着弾したミサイルの爆発の衝撃などで、アキラの骨が
アキラは細胞単位で破壊と再生が繰り返されている奇妙な感覚を覚えながら、濃密な時間感覚を実感しつつ、ビルの側面を駆け降りながら戦うという人生初の体験を、できれば最初で最後であってほしい経験を続けていた。現在のアキラの位置はビルの18階辺りだ。自由落下ならあっという間のはずの地上までの距離はまだ遠い。
アキラが一帯に広がっているミサイルの群れを見てアルファに尋ねる。
『アルファ! あれは迎撃できるのか!?』
『迎撃は無理ね。範囲が広すぎるわ。でも大丈夫よ』
無数の小型ミサイルがアキラごと周囲一帯を吹き飛ばそうと殺到する。アキラはその一つに狙いを定めて、CWH対物突撃銃とDVTSミニガンを向けて引き金を引く。爆発したミサイルの爆風と銃の反動を利用して、アキラは進行方向にあるビルの窓に飛び込んだ。
少し遅れて無数の小型ミサイルがビルの側面に直撃する。ほぼ同時に着弾したミサイルの派手な爆音が響き渡る。広範囲に攻撃したことで火力を集中した時より威力は低下していた。旧世界の高度な技術で建造されたビルは、側面が多少ひび割れた程度でその攻撃に耐えきった。
アルファはアキラに指示を出し、事前に1階から最上階までの各階の構造を情報収集機器で調査した。そこから得た情報を基に、アキラを最も安全な場所まで誘導して走らせていたのだ。
『アキラ。口の中に含んでいる回復薬を今のうちに飲み込んでおいて』
『痛みがないから気付きにくいのかもしれないけれど、既に相当なダメージを受けているわ。戦闘の途中で腕や脚が千切れるのが嫌なら、念のために早めに使っておいて』
アキラが走りながら追加の回復薬を飲み込む。銃の弾倉も交換しておく。そしてアルファが指定した窓から、再びビルの外へ飛び出した。現在位置はビルの10階。地上まではあと少し、残りのモンスターの数もあと少しだ。
敵モンスターの位置はアルファがしっかり把握している。アキラは窓から飛び出た直後から残りの敵へ向けて銃撃を開始する。構えたCWH対物突撃銃から放たれた専用弾が、機械系モンスター特有の強固な装甲を貫き、弱点部位を破壊する。ビルの周辺から更に敵が1体消えて、同量の
り着いた。着地と同時に両脚を地面に着けてCWH対物突撃銃をしっかり構え、最後のモンスターに狙いを定める。
『これで最後よ!』
アキラはアルファの言葉を聞きながら最後のモンスターを凝視して、引き金を引いた。CWH対物突撃銃の専用弾が直撃し、着弾地点から
に立っているアルファが満面の笑みで勝利を告げる。
勝利を実感したアキラが最初にしたことは、大きく息を吐くことだった。次に自分が飛び降りてきた場所を、ビルの屋上を見上げて苦笑いを浮かべた。そしてアルファを見た。アルファは少し得意げに
『その自慢のサポートは、できれば俺がこんな経験をしないで済む方向で頼む』
『アキラに死なれたら私も非常に困るから、いろいろと考慮しているつもりよ? 今回の経験も私は安全性を計算して判断した上で、アキラの意志に従って、ちゃんと確認を取った上で実施したわ。ただね? アキラの場合、極めて偶発的な事態を考慮に入れすぎると、そもそもアキラを荒野に出すことすらできなくなるのよね』
アキラが嫌そうな表情を頑張って苦笑で上書きした。アキラは運が悪いのだ。確かに荒野に出た途端モンスターの群れに襲われることを前提にしてしまえば都市から出られなくなってしまう。アキラに必要なのは、不運を回避する能力ではなく、不運を打ち砕く能力なのだろう。
『......分かったよ。この程度の事態に軽く対処できるように、これからも
んで上を指差す。予備の弾薬などが入ったリュックサックと、先ほどの戦闘で使用していない他の銃などはビルの屋上に置いたままだ。
アキラが頭上を見上げる。27階建てのビルは改めて確認すると非常に高い。それをまた階段で登らなければならない。
『そうよ。大丈夫。今度は階段を降りて戻ってこられるわ。それとも、もう一回飛び降りる?』
A small flying drone just flew over Akira's head. But it did not try to attack him, either because it could not see Akira, or because it did not have any weapon to shoot him with, or maybe it was just a reconnaissance drone that sent his location to the other mechanical monsters.
Alpha suddenly stopped Akira.
"Akira, stop and get inside that building. It might be a bit dangerous if you keep going forward."
Inside the room that he was passing through, Akira noticed that there were tables and stationeries that, unnaturally enough, were neatly organized. He tilted his head in confusion.
"Those things look pretty well maintained, I might be able to get a lot of money if I bring them back, right?"
But Alpha shook her head.
"They might be left here because the current technology has no problem reproducing them. I think you can easily buy similar stuff from the stands in the city."
"So basically, no one would risk their lives just to bring them back home since you can easily buy them with a small amount of money, huh?"
"I bet you can get a lot of money from bringing back the autonomous maintenance system in this building, but it's very hard to bring that system back. Not to mention that system might even be embedded into this building. If you can seize the building, you might be able to get a building that automatically maintains itself, but with all the mechanical monsters roaming around this building, it might be not worth the hassle. But if we're talking about the area near the Hunter Office, that might not be the case. As in matter of fact, the Hunter Office might have already seized some of the buildings in that area."
Akira made a 'Hmmm' sound, he then thought of something.
"But like, isn't it a good idea to seize some of these buildings and use them as resting places for the Hunters? The Mihazono ruin is a very big ruin, so it would be great if we have some resting points inside this ruin."
"The security drones might react differently to some Hunters who only stay inside a building for a short time compared to a group of Hunters trying to take control of a building. After all, it's to be expected that they would use a different level of strength to just chase off some intruders compared to when they fight people who try to capture a building."
"So that's also a no, huh. Well, if it was possible and if it was worth all the hassle, they would have already done that by now."
Akira once again looked around the room. Although the well-organized interior somehow gave off a safe feeling, in reality, that place was more dangerous than the back alley of the slum city. He thought that it would be a very difficult task to return back alive from that place without Alpha's help. Thus he recomposed himself before starting to move forward again.
"So those monsters are the reason why you said it'll be dangerous if I continued moving forward, huh. They are on a different level compared to the small mechanical monsters that I fought on my way here. And it's obvious that they're guarding that building."
"I bet the other mechanical monsters that you fought are the security drones stationed in the city area. While those mechanical monsters are specialized for protecting that building. Their weapons and command protocols are completely different compared to the other mechanical monsters."
"It might be that they are just following the orders that they received from years ago. But it's also perfectly possible that they're under the control of a still-active artificial intelligence that's managing that building. Or maybe it's just simply because those monsters are under a separate security system compared to the other mechanical monsters. There are many possible explanations."
"It's a really interesting subject, but how exactly is that related to me?"
Akira actually did not really care about the difference between the systems controlling the mechanical monsters there. He was only interested if it would cause him more trouble or not, or if they would try to kill him or not.
But Alpha denied that.
"It actually has some effects on you, you know? If they're really under the control of a separate system, it's likely that they don't share the same information as the other mechanical monsters, and that would affect the action that you need to take. Akira!! Get away from there!!"
Akira moved quickly following Alpha's order, he did not even have to ask why since he could see the reason through his aiming device. The missile pod monsters suddenly launched missiles in his direction.
The missiles were also equipped with a homing device. They flew chasing after Akira who was running through the rooms inside the building. The first wave of missiles destroyed the wall where Akira was taking cover and opened a path for the following missiles to go right into that building. As they raced through the insides of that building, seeking for Akira, they destroyed walls and any other obstacles on their path and forcefully carved a way to find Akira. And eventually, they found Akira when he was running through a long hallway.
"Shoot them down!"
"Roger that!!"
Akira made a 180-degree turn as he grabbed and aimed his DVTS minigun, he quickly fixed his footing, confirmed the missiles heading in his direction, gathered his focus, compressed his time perception, and finally pulled the trigger.
With the help from Alpha's support, the bullets spewed out from the DVTS minigun's muzzles accurately shot down the missiles in front of him. The missiles that were shot either immediately exploded in the middle of their flight or ricocheted and crashed into the inner wall of that building before exploding. Either way, they released a blinding light together with a loud banging sound and a lot of smoke when they exploded.
"That was close!!"
"We need to move quickly. I'm not sure if they'll do that again, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
Akira blazed through the rooms to leave that place. He frowned when he saw just how bad the rooms had turned into.
He took a rest inside a floor that was not damaged from the previous missile barrage. There was no following barrage after that and he was able to safely evacuate from that place.
"But still, for the security drones of the ruin to do something like that. If they're really security drones for this ruin, I really hope they don't try to destroy the ruin that they're protecting. It's not like I was bringing a tank in their direction, you know? So why exactly did they go that far just to kill one Hunter? It really isn't worth the expense, right?"
Alpha then answered Akira's question.
"As I said before, it might be because they're under the control of a different security system. The mechanical monsters that attacked you just now are protecting that one building and not the whole Mihazono ruin. That's why they don't hesitate to destroy other buildings."
"Wait, now that you mention it, is that clearing because those monsters destroyed any buildings around the building that they're protecting? Ah, but I didn't see any rubbles there though..."
"The other maintenance drones might have cleaned the leftover rubbles from that area, you know. And of course, they could not rebuild the destroyed buildings. Or maybe the other buildings were built in that place only on a fixed regular interval, and when they were built, the Hunters used them as covers so those monsters destroyed them during their fights. So the reason as to why this building is still intact, it might be because it's barely outside their active area."
"Wait, does that mean that they extended their active area back there? Is it because they found someone aiming at them? Is that why they shot missiles at me? And then the reason why they didn't try to pursue me is because they think I'm dead so they returned back to their usual active area?"
"Akira, I'll ask you this while I still have the chance, what are you planning to do? Are you still going to try and get to that building? Or are you planning to retreat?"
Akira was about to answer that he was thinking of retreating, but he suddenly realized something and looked at her with a confused face.
That missile barrage just now almost killed him. He thought that it would not be strange if Alpha suggested him to retreat and strongly told him not to continue. But even so, that question just now sounded as if she was telling him that it was also okay to continue.
Akira looked at Alpha with a serious face as he asked her a question.
"What will you do if I say I want to continue? You will not stop me?"
Looking at how Alpha was smiling like usual, Akira hesitated and still looked a bit confused as he said to her.
"Well, uhh, it's true that I did say that. But still, when you say I need to resolve myself, how much resolve do you mean? If it's the same amount of resolve that I had when I fought that pseudo bounty monster, I would rather choose to retreat for now."
The rest depended on Akira's decision. It was not a mistake to avoid a fight that he might lose. While on the other hand, it was also not a mistake to take the risk to challenge a fight that was winnable to continue with his exploration.
But Akira knew he had to become stronger, he had to eventually do that request that Alpha asked of him. He had to take responsibility for the advance payment that he was already receiving from her. He had to return all the debt that he had piled up from Alpha, or at least, he had to make the effort to do so.
Akira made his decision.
"We'll continue. If I decide to run away from enemies that I have a good chance to defeat, then I would need to stop working as a Hunter."
"Are you sure? Like I said before, you'll need to resolve yourself, you know."
"Resolve is my responsibility. So let's do this."
Alpha smiled even more.
"Very well, let's go then. I couldn't give you my support last time, so I'll show you again how great it is to have my support."
Akira prepared himself for the upcoming fight. He followed Alpha's instruction to return to the first floor before climbing that building from bottom to top. Every time he visited a new floor, he would check the area with his information-gathering device before moving to the next floor. And it was not like he checked the whole floor, he only checked the side of that building which was facing the skyscr.a.p.er.
After reaching the top floor of that building, the 27th floor, Akira finalized his preparation. He attached the extended magazine on his DVTS minigun, exchanged the piercing ammo inside his CWH anti-material rifle into CWH special ammo, he also took extra medicine beforehand to make sure that he would still be able to move his body even if he broke his bones doing some crazy manoeuvre, and to top it off, he put some medicines inside his mouth so he could just swallow it anytime.
He had his CWH anti-material rifle in his right hand and DVTS minigun in his left. He only carried extra magazines with him and left his other rifles and his rucksack on the rooftop so that they would not hinder his movement. He carried as little as possible without sacrificing his firepower.
Akira stood on top of that building which was facing the skyscr.a.p.er that he was aiming for, he was standing at the edge of the exact opposite side that was facing that skyscr.a.p.er. He took some deep breaths to prepare himself.
Alpha smiled at him before confirming for the last time.
Akira made a serious face as he said.
Alpha smiled back full of confidence before telling him to start.
The moment they did that, CWH special bullets immediately slipped in and hit them right before they could shoot their cannons, it caused the gunpowder inside their bodies to explode prematurely and took out their cannons from the inside. Akira shot those bullets beforehand by following Alpha's instruction. Those bullets hit the cannons with unrivalled accuracy although those cannons were not even directed at Akira when he released those shots.
When their cannons were destroyed, the control unit inside the monsters' bodies recognized it as a fatal damage and it also recognized that they had lost their means to fight back. As such, the other autonomous weapons that were still untouched diverted their force field armours to the badly damaged autonomous weapons, thus temporarily reducing the power of their force field armours.
Once Akira destroyed some of the autonomous weapons, the rest of the autonomous weapons quickly recognized him as a threat. They immediately started to make their moves to deal with that threat.
Countless missiles launched from the missile pods aimed at Akira. While the ones with cannons immediately aimed their cannons and released shots at him. The countless missiles flew straight up for a few seconds to gather momentum before readjusting its trajectory to head straight for Akira, while the warheads released by the cannons just went ahead first and flew in a straight line to him.
"Please please please, make sure that I won't get hit, okay? If I get blown away off the wall, there's no mistaking that I'll die, you know?!"
It was his first time running down along a wall. Because of that, he really relied on Alpha's control through his augmented suit to be able to do that. Although he was able to see the predicted trajectories of the missiles and warheads coming at him with his enhanced vision, he did not have the leeway to react to them and decide which route was the safest. It took everything that he had to just follow Alpha's instruction.
Alpha was sliding sideway parallel to the building as she smiled and replied.
"It's true that it's extremely dangerous if you lose your footings. That's why you need to keep running to spread the incoming missiles and warheads over a wide area. And also, don't stop shooting. It would be impossible to move quickly around the wall without help from the kickback. So just resolve yourself and keep running."
"Didn't you say that I don't need that much resolve for this fight back then?!!"
"That's relative compared to when you fought the pseudo bounty monster. I did say that you'll need some more resolve than usual, remember? But compared to when you had to get out from inside a monster with your own power after it ate you, it's not that big of a resolve, right? Or is it that it was not that much of a difficult thing to get out from inside that monster?"
Alpha smiled amusedly. Akira looked at that smile and believed that he was not in as much danger as he thought as he fl.u.s.teredly replied back.
"That there!! You're comparing it to the wrong occasion!!!"
Akira aimed his DVTS minigun at the missiles coming at him while still running on the wall and pulled the trigger. The countless bullets rained down on those missiles and made them explode in the middle of their flight, the shockwave from those explosions then threw the other missiles off-flight and disrupted their targeting.
While at the same time, Akira aimed his CWH anti-material rifle toward those autonomous weapons. Since Alpha did all the aiming, he just had to point it in the general direction of his target and hold the kickback from it. But since he was holding it with one arm, he could not fully take the kickback and each shot put his body in extra burden.
Thanks to the medicines that he took beforehand, Akira did not feel much pain. But since he was pushing his body past its limit with the help of his augmented suit and withstanding all the shockwave from the missiles that exploded near him, his bones were grinding against each other and micro-wounds were tearing his muscles. Those injuries were healed almost instantaneously only to be formed again right after that. That cycle continued until either the medicines ran out of its effect or the battle ended.
Akira could feel the strange feeling of his body going through that cycle while experiencing his first battle where he was running down a wall while fighting, he went through all of that inside his compressed time perception. To be honest, he wished that it was his first and his last time going through something like that. He was currently somewhere around the 18th floor. If he was free-falling, he would have been way closer to the ground by now.
Akira saw the missiles fanned out in front of him.
"Alpha!! Is it possible to shoot them down?!!"
"Nope, that will be impossible. They're too spread out. But it's alright."
As those countless missiles headed towards Akira, he aimed his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun and pulled the trigger. The kickback from his shot and the shockwave from the missile that he shot blew him right into one of the windows on that building.
All the missiles collided with the wall where Akira was just a few seconds ago. They exploded almost synchronously as they released a loud bang. But since their explosions were more spread out than before, their firepower was greatly reduced compared to when they were focused on one small area. The building that was created with the superior old-world technology was left only with cracks after that amazing explosion.
Alpha quickly gave Akira her next instruction. Akira had already checked all the floors in that building beforehand. So Alpha used that information to move him into the safest location on that floor.
"Akira, swallow the medicine that you already have inside your mouth."
"You might not notice it since you don't feel any pain, but your body is already in pretty bad shape. If you don't want your limbs torn off in the middle of the fight, make sure to take your medicines."
Akira swallowed the medicine inside his mouth and loaded new magazines into his rifles. He then followed Alpha's instruction and jumped out of another window. He was already on the 10th floor, the ground was not too far away down, and the enemies left were also not that many.
Alpha knew the enemies' location. When Akira jumped out of the window, he immediately started shooting again. The CWH special ammo easily pierced through the autonomous weapon's hard armour and destroyed its weak point. That was one more monster around the building turned into scrap.
Akira only had 10 floors left. He kept on running down the building while shooting at the autonomous weapons. After a few shots, he finally reached the ground. The moment he landed on the ground, he quickly fixed the aim of his CWH anti-material rifle.
"That is the last one!!"
As he heard those words from Alpha, Akira spotted his last target, adjusted his aim, and pulled the trigger. The CWH special ammo flew in a straight line toward that autonomous weapon and almost immediately followed by a blinding light of the force field armour released right where the bullet landed on the autonomous weapon's body.
Alpha who was floating next to Akira smiled and reported their victory.
Akira's first reaction to his victory was a long and big sigh. He then looked up at the building that he jumped off from and smiled bitterly. After that, he turned to Alpha who was smiling smugly.
"If it's possible, with that support that you're so proud of, can you make it so that I don't need to go through something like this again?"
"To be honest, I did consider a lot of things before I gave you my support, you know? After all, if you die it would be a huge issue for me too. So before I made that suggestion, I already ran all the calculations for your safety and I even confirmed and respected your wish too. But you know? If you keep counting special rare occasions in your calculation for your safety, it would be impossible for you to go out to the wasteland."
Akira tried his best to replace his displeased expression with a bitter smile. He knew that he had terrible luck, and it was true if he assumed that he would be swarmed by monsters the moment he stepped out of the city, then he would not be able to go out to the wasteland. What he needed was not the ability to evade bad luck, but the ability to stomp that bad luck down.
"...Alright, I got it. I hope that you'll keep providing your support so I can deal with a situation like this easily."
Alpha smiled and pointed her finger up. Akira had left his rucksack filled with ammo and other equipment on the rooftop together with the other rifles that he did not use in that battle.
Akira looked up. Now that he looked at it, the 27 storey building was indeed a very tall building. And now he had to climb the stairs back to the rooftop.
"Yep. But don't worry, you can go down through stairs this time, or is it that you want to jump off again?"
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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