Volume 3 -A Chapter 10 (1/2)
A certain noise could be heard in the distance: gunfire
The sharp yet low-pitched tone ruh the power station
Akira and Gunmal heard it as they made their way to the center of the power station
They heard unfire that seemed to match their pace
”That's Rin,”and kept an eye on her surroundings
Gun strides next to her and nodded
”I guess they've already started …Worried?”
”Well, yes Especially after what you said earlier”
…That she's prepared to die
She looked to Gunmal
His sword Device was resting on his shoulder and he faced forith a look that made her think he had dropped his tension somewhere In other words, he was the same as always
”Hey, Gunmal”
”Sorry about forcing you to come with me”
…But why are you here?
”Well…”
”And if you say because you ran here, I'll smash your head open”
He trailed off there, so she had apparently guessed right
”…This stupid guy”
She clicked her tongue and looked to his Device
It was shaped like a bladeless mixture of aand was a lot like him
”I've been wondering Did you create that Device?”
”Hoould I give birth to so like this? I'm not equipped for that”
”I-I didn't mean it like that!”
…If you can ?
He did not answer her
He only faced forward and said so else
”We have some opponents”
She saw them too
About fifty ures stood before the reactor
It was a siel and a human Buster
Akira and Gunether
Both sides could see each other's faces at that range
For those who used Lives, they were already within range
”Long ti too hot”
J-Gun did not reply
Instead, Genius spoke next to him
”Leave, both of you This is not worth dying over”
”No one said we're going to die”
…Gunmal, is that woman Genius?
Gunmal silently nodded
”Your beauty's wasted on my mute brother”
”You don't go easy on your own family, do you?”
”Don't worry I make sure to praise myself”
As soon as he spoke, the mercury lamp next to them burst
The area grew a little darker and the lailely clattered to the asphalt
…What just happened?
Akira realized that Genius held a sword and that light rapped around the blade
That light was not a Live; it was actual light
It slithered up the weapon like a snake and the fine grooves along the blade formed an emblem
Gunhtly
”Wo that's SF”
”What are you talking about, you idiot? She has four wings, so she's a cherub That's the kind of Nein Engel that controls light”
”Miss Akira? If you're Double Lee's sister, youI a, you can't react to flying light”
She lightly swung the sword and the light flew like a whip
She targeted the mercury lamp positioned opposite the previous one
With a solid sound, this white light also burst
Gunave Akira a serious look
”Akira, listen carefully to what I' to say”
”What?”
”I'm a normal civilian, so can I leave now?”
”No”
”That's just mean You said earlier I could leave, didn't you?”
”Shut up Fro to automatically reject any ideas like that”
”Fine then Busting without producing a Live is hard, though”
With that, he raised his Device in his prosthetic right hand
”Hey, lady! Where's Akira's brother!?”
”About one hundred meters beyond this reactor …But you'll have to defeat us first”
”I see,” hefun?”
”What?”
Akira tilted her head at the unexpected question, so he asked again
”Well, there's a lot to it, but let's keep it si fun?”
”W-well, I suppose”
Her ansas vague, but it seehts because he nodded
”I see Thenfun for me”
”Eh?”
He said nothing
Like always
”So you're going to fight?” asked Genius
Gunmal nodded and so did Akira
J-Gun did not, but he did take a single step forward
They all raised their weapons at once and a distant gunshot was their cue to attack
Rin and Kouga were in the power station's courtyard
It was a gravel-covered space surrounded by school-like buildings
The buildings were abandoned and all of the ere dark
”Is that a security center? Since this is a power station, we can't do anything too reckless”
”Where's the enemy?”
”I don't know He canthis way earlier, but…”
”Ahh, ht back there, so should I go get it?”
”No We should stay where we can see each other”
With that siave a shout
”Here he comes!”
The two of theht
At the sa sounds arrived
Their feet sent so and the spot they had just vacated was bloay
The gunfire was pursuing them
Specifically, it pursued Rin while scattering gravel everywhere
It was fast
…He certainly is confident
While running, Rin cocked her shotgun and fired once toward the roof she had had seen a figure on before
Instead of normal shot or a normal bullet, she used a specialized anti-deuns, this one did not send out a spear Instead, it fired a three ht
The barely-aimed bullet flew and burst in every direction once it hit the edge of the roof
If one carved a deep groove in the tip of the bullet, it would scatter like that
With the sound of shattering stone, a portion of the roof was bloay and the pursuing bullets stopped
…Did I hit him? No, I doubt it
Without stopping her running feet, Rin pressed up against the wall ahead She looked up and saw pieces of the concrete roof pouring down as powder
There was no sign of the enemy
She used her Tune power to listen for his Live, but it was no use The residual ringing of the previous gunfire was still too strong, so the area's Lives were still disturbed
She exhaled, looked down, and saw Kouga behind a tree in front of the opposite building
When they exchanged a glance, he pointed to the roof over her head and tilted his head
…So he can't see anything from there either? Did he run away?
”No, it wouldn't be that easy”
She only wished this opponent had fled
He was a Galgallin with a Custom Body
”Galgallins are said to be the chariots of heaven, but it looks like that holds true even with a Nein Engel”
She cocked her shotgun as she spoke She shoved a round into the chamber and loaded it
She attached a new tube-shaped azine and counted how many she had left: two
There were seven rounds in each, so she had twenty-two rounds left, counting those inside the gun
”And…”
She had her coun inside her body arun was a Colt New Service she had received from her father
It was loaded with the norht spear anti-demon rounds
She was ridiculously over-stocked for a norht
…But will this be enough to defeat him?
Her opponent had a lot of firepower even without considering the advantages of the Galgallin race
”That Custoerous even for one custom made by Archs RDC Even one of Detroit's virtual Custom Bodies would only be an even match”
Suddenly, Kouga moved behind the tree He pointed overhead
Rin reflexively fired her shotgun into the sky
”Ah,” she uttered in surprise
What she saw in the sky was not their enemy
It was a band of light The gathering of white points reseh the sky like a river
She eventually realized it was a group of Nein Engels and the white cas
These would be a portion of the six hundred Nein Engels who had vanished fro Cave
They had so Hoht sky like stars
They looked like angels flying around God and forreat white wind to decorate heaven
”Are they waiting for the Earth Burn to fly?”
At soels for in the sky
Rin's shoulders tre down at her
She was certain a siun above Beaufort Island, La Yi Island as well
She shook her head a little and looked back to the rooftop from which the enemy had vanished
And just as she raised the shotgun again…
”Boss!” shouted Kouga
Before she could wonder why, she heard a rumble
It sounded a lot like collapsing rubble
It was the sound of a greatdestroyed
And it came from the wall directly behind her
Their opponent had broken through the concrete wall behind Rin and appeared there
She could not turn around in time
Countless stone-like chunks of concrete poured down to crush her The powdery cru sounds continued as they struck her
And amid that concrete cascade, an attack hit her fro
It was a powerful strike
The great impact plowed into her and she could not even cry out
She was only aware that her consciousness cut out
Destruction and rebirth went hand in hand
This was a standard law, but it norood bit of time
It could take years, decades, or even centuries for green to return to war-torn land or for a destroyed city to be rebuilt
However, the battle Akira and Gunht was different
J-Gun would send out a Live as if swinging a baseball bat and Gunate it
Gunmal did not use his own Live
He would strike the ground with his Device and a sound” that produced
And when their colliding Lives broke apart, Akira would Tune them
She would Tune thee birds and sometimes swords or spears
And soround away, she would simply remake it into a ”wall” that would block their opponent's attacks
It was Genius's job to destroy what Akira's Tuning created
The light she fired with each swing of her sword easily pierced through the Tuned animals
Once destroyed by her light, the aniinal forms
The torn ground would return to normal and the weaponized air would stabilize
The cycle of destruction and rebirth was stuck on repeat
Each tirew more accurate and their speed increased
They had a clear division of offense and defense
Unless they broke through their opponent's defenses, they could never harm them, so all of their attacks had been focused on the defender
J-Gun's Live did not expand as a sphere It was a direct attack produced by swinging down his Device
Gunmal would swiftly ”break” it
Akira would send her Tuning after Genius
Genius's bea
The cycle sped up
J-Gun attacked, Gunht
That sequence grew tighter as it continued
J-Gun - Gunmal - Akira - Genius
It gradually grew faster and reached tremendous speed
Attack, defense, attack, defense, and then attack once more
It accelerated further
Light
On the fourteenth cycle, soed: Akira
When Gunmal ”tore apart” the air and produced a Live, she stuck the tip of her spear in it and Tuned it
”Oh, you Lives swi in the 440,000 Octaves around me! You cries of the dirt and excitement of the wind! Can you hear my Live!?”
The Te and somewhat low andante
The Te thrice
It reverberated nicely through her Device and she focused her feelings
She sent her Message into the Live and co in approximately three seconds
She created a norhu because it had a greater Live density
”Oh? You're trying soer…”
”This isn't the time for lame jokes”
”Tch”
Akira smiled bitterly
”Let's settle this!”
She sent the white tiger running forward
Unlike the previous Tunings e despite piercing through the tiger The light was so sharp it si apart the dense Live
The tiger charged in and Genius moved back a little
”Gunmal!” shouted Akira
Without responding, he ”tore apart” the air
”Oh, you Lives running through the 240,000 Octaves around me! You roars of the wind! Can you hear my Live!?”
She quickly Tuned that Live to produce a bird that flew after the tiger
”Go!”
Just as the bird flapped its wings, the tiger pounced on Genius
With a shout that could be interpreted as a screaer's face
After a short delay, light raced out froer Genius had likely stabbed the beast and then fired the light from inside
The white tiger audibly burst
Akira noticed claw marks on Genius's cheeks and arms
She was bleeding
As a felloo her opponent's face
…Sorry
But it was not over
The bird born from the torn air fleard Genius
It charged toward her feet, so even a direct hit would not be fatal
Akira had no intention of taking the other woman's life; she just wanted to reach Double Lee
The bird raced through the air and Genius's movements were too slow
She tried to raise her sword again while looking at her wounds as if she found them unbelievable
…She won't make it in time
But just as Akira realized that, someone else moved: J-Gun
And he did not use his Busting
He fired light from his Device
That light had the saht Genius fired
It was less powerful than his Busting, but it was sharp and fast
It instantly sliced through Akira's Tuned bird and the creature scattered into the wind
”My brother exchanged Lives with you in a Live Session!?”
It was only natural for Gunmal to be surprised
J-Gun, a Buster, had fired a Cherub's light And while he had previously beenhis Live to attack, he had done this to protect Genius
The cycle was broken
The first to begin aneas not Akira, Gunmal, or even J-Gun
It was Genius who had already started to raise her sword overhead
She briefly glanced over at J-Gun and then stepped forward
She swung down her sword and the light wrapped around it
”Seaaaah!”
Her voice shook the air despite not including her Live and her light reached Akira in an instant
…It's cold?
A strange sensation raced through various parts of Akira's body
It was entirely different from the pain she had predicted
…A this? Did it not hit me?
But then the pain arrived
Her feathers scattered and her right side split open
She instinctually squeezed her eyes shut
A deep and sharp pain stabbed through her body as if a thick pin had been driven into her spine Her heart skipped a beat when the fingers holding her side sank deeper than her skin
”Akira!”
She opened her eyes at Gunmal's voice and saall in front of her
…Why is there a wall?
Then she realized why
It was not, in fact, a wall It was the ground She had collapsed without even noticing
”Kh”
She groaned and got up
Ahead, she saw the Device she had dropped
Beyond it, she saw J-Gun and Genius preparing their second attack a distance away
…Not good
She moved the hand from her side and reached for the Device
The bloody hand looked like a stranger's
To wipe away that feeling, she squeezed the Device tightly in her hand
And she got up on her knees
She tried to force her breathing into order so she could Tune, but then she heard a voice
”You don't have to fight here”
It was a horribly cold yet kind and calm voice
”…Eh?”
She looked up just as Gun
As soon as he did, a blue Live burst out of her and scattered
Before she could ask what had happened, she found the answer: the pain had vanished from her
He had Busted the pain Lives in her body to destroy them
”Thanks”
He had already lowered the Device a little and faced their opponent
He had gone completely expressionless
The look there et her pain, sent a chill down her spine, and yet still showed some emotion
She had never seen this look on his face before
”I'll deal with those two,” he said
…Can you do that?
He did not answer her question, but he did speak