Volume 5 Chapter 3 (1/2)

Back-to-back rounds

We had to play two rounds back-to-back

”Cough”

I couldn't breathe

I couldn't see either My eyes, nose, andrubbed with coarse salt By the time I realized I had been thrown into the seawater, ed by an incredible force

”Cough, cough! Ghwah!?”

I flailed s wildly, but it was no use I eventually realized thatcreatures and I was trapped between them

I reached intoand pulled a thin cord

Two pillow-sized balloons inflated I had obtained the to them as I made my way to the surface

I had been caught at ground level this time and the water was about 5 floors' worth That was 15 meters Would I make it? I had to! I prayed and clenched my teeth

”Bwah!?”

My mouth finally breached the surface I felt dizzy, but I wasn't sure if it was sien deprivation or if the water pressure had caused a minor case of decompression sickness

I did not at all feel like I was saved

After all, this dark sea was full of who-kno-many people infected with parasites We still did not kno the infections occurred, but I couldn't be optimistic I had to assume the water was infected

And…

”Himatsuri-san?”

The current swept lanced around

Himatsuri-san, where are you!? Dammit!!”

There was no response as I called for her

The surging water gloith a sticky bluish light low-in-the-dark paint I was tossed around on the surface but so out fro

Where was she?

Daht blonde hair and chane-colored dress!!

What would I do?

Stay put, or dive down to search for her?

”…I can't”

I shook my head There was zero visibility in that ht without a proper light would be suicide I had no way of staying in one spot and I had no oxygen tank

But there was so I could do

I clenched n Over and over, like soic words, I told ht in the si a vertical row of signs saying Haruency, and so on I used them as a ladder to reach the roof I had to cli rain and somehow made it to the top

I aimed my smartphone's lens around the roof

”Maxwell, find so I can use as a rope And a float!”

”Sure In the hoarden space, I see a vinyl rope and a fertilizer bottle If the latter is empty, it should supply buoyancy”

Every second counted, so I pulled out the rope, tied one end to the bottle, leaned over the roof's railing, and stared into the surging water

”Is Himatsuri-san there?”

”I do not see her”

The floater ift and complex Had she already been swept far away?

That ed to escape to safety on her own

But just as I thought that…

The water split before my eyes and an enormous mass leaped out toward me

”Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

I screamed and fell on my ass

It was the giant shark

The Leviathan

It could pull this off just by using its ridiculouswas the only reason I dodged the jagged rows of teeth that passed right above my head The 30m beast flew in an arc that passed just above the roof, bit right through the water tank, and dropped down the other side

That ay too close!

Is it attacking directly instead of using its parasites!?

”Warning!”

”I know!!”

And I could not have the shark kill me here I had to find Himatsuri-san and pull her out of the water

I heard the water parting oncearound before building up speed for another leap

I did not have the firepower to directly defeat the Leviathan That left only one thing to do

”Dammit!!”

I got up and ran with all ht to tackle the door into the building and broke the lock Just as I collapsed inside, a violent wind roared behinddestroyed The Leviathan ed in and crushed the industrial air conditioner unit that was the size of a small storeroom

My legs locked up with fear, but I forced myself to run down the stairs

”What are you going to do?” asked Maxwell

”Divert its attention elsewhere”

Fortunately, I had seen a certain na

”Harumi's Yakiniku Is this it!?”

On the 6th floor of thethe walls of a narrow hallway and I ran into the erill-equipped tables and entered the kitchen I pulled out a hunk of beef froarbage bucket

”Sharks are sensitive to the scent of blood, aren't they? I hope that isn't one of those common beliefs that isn't actually true”

I had to try anything I could I wouldn't be able to search for Himatsuri-san with the Leviathan locked onto me

I headed to thein the kitchen As the rain blew onto it, the usual lass: today's exit

That was our one and only , but I didn't have time to compare it with my map app at the moment

”Maxwell I'll take a photo, so you analyze it and check it against the map app If that doesn't work, use the maps from pamphlets and sites you find in the web cache like before”

”Sure”

I grabbed the fire extinguisher installed by the floor and s wind and rain rushed in and I was hit by the shards of glass I had just created

”Uehp! Dammit!!”

But I couldn't worry about that I took the beef, the fat which couldn't be sold, the garbage, and the juices and blood that oozed froed meat and I dumped them all out into the water

If that drew the Leviathan's attention, I could get away from it Once I had my freedom, I could resume my search for Himatsuri-san

Please

Please fall for it!!

Just then, the wall to the side was bloay

It was…the Leviathan

Despite the bait, it tackled into theand destroyed the wall The kitchen was not all that large, but I was still blown from one end to the other

”Gbah! Ggehah, ubwah!!”

I crashed into the tile wall, fell to the floor, and writhed around in pain I couldn't breathe… It felt like an invisible hand was pressing on the center of my chest, so I couldn't draw in any air!!

…But I was still lucky

I had not been hit by the giant shark's teeth If it had bit me, my torso would have been split in two I had only been hit by a piece of the building that had broken off when the shark broke through the wall

That thing wasOnly its nose could fit inside the cramped kitchen, but I was still hit by some kind of invisible pressure that threatened to crush me

And I heard an odd sound of , but it couldn't be It was a fish I did not produce air bubbles when breathing

Which meant…

”Warning: the gas line has been ruptured If the pipe itself is daas will leak out”

I did not have ti with the sh the half-collapsed and rain-filled kitchen to reach the custo and I heard so sound It had likely crushed some kind of metal

It happened just as I moved out of the kitchen

I was rolling along the floor, but a powerful blow hit as explosion There was heat, noise, light, and a shockwave, but it was the sound that cahtened me most of all!!

”Gbwah!?”

I couldn't brace for impact and rolled across the floor I only stopped after breaking through the thin partition between tables

I looked back toward the kitchen and saw fire spewing froh to kill the Leviathan It had charged toward us while explosive flames erupted all around it in the industrial complex

”It will be co soon,” said Maxwell ”Prepare yourself”

”Why didn't it go for the bait!? I thought a shark's nose was better than its eyes or ears!”

For one thing, the seawater was not perfectly transparent, so ht Or so I thought Had that trivia quiz show been s up!?

”I have not confiruess here”

”That's fine You are a simulator, after all”

”In addition to blood, sharks use the specialized ampullae of Lorenzini on the sides of their head to read the faint electric currents in the seawater”

”Electric currents?”

”Sure A living being such as yourself has bioelectricity, so a shark would be able to distinguish you from some frozen meat”

So it only ate live bait This lord of the ocean was quite the gourmet But that did lowing ocean, but it was round for the Leviathan That hy the city was entirely flooded, so there also had to be a reason for the blackout

In that case…

”Where would the eister counter”

”Could you tell what you intend to do?”

I climbed over the counter as I replied

”If we send electricity into the water, we can take out its prized nose It's sensitive enough to detect the faint current from a human body, so it doesn't even have to be as powerful as a stun gun”

”No The power is out, so I doubt you could find such a power source”

”Have you forgotten, Maxwell?” I ruister ”This is Kukyou City, hoht around”

Once I switched it on, I slaainst the corner of the counter

With an explosive noise, the custoiant shark crashed through the opposite wall and escaped into the ocean The tables and chairs were a coister on one end, I would have been killed instantly

And that open hole was actually convenient

The flashlight was broken and the wiring exposed, so I chucked it through the hole in the wall and into the water

The giant shark veered froe back this way It swa instead

I shrank back and whispered into my smartphone

”Let's get going This won't last forever”

The Leviathan was an Archenemy with a basic structure very much like a shark's, but it was not actually a shark For exaher and cleverer than a ans a real shark did not

To find Himatsuri-san, I made my way to the roof where I would have a better view Meanwhile, Maxwell used a social media speech bubble to speak

”User, I have found a region of the map app that matches themap”

”Where's the exit this tiainst me on the roof

”shi+nryoku Inn in the mountains”

”…Wait What did you say?”

”There is no doubting it The door marked 'today's exit' is there”

…That was too far away

I glanced down at the roaring blue water and desperately gathered strength in ive out

First of all, traveling fro the entire city But there was only so far you could go while ju It was possible in the dense areas like the shopping district, but the residential areas filled with more separated houses would be entirely flooded I could not travel far just using roofs

But would I have to do it anyway?

No matter how unreasonable it was, death was the only option if I stopped here

”In that case…”

I looked around the roof that had been torn apart by the giant shark's repeated attacks and I spotted a ional city, but this was Kukyou City, home of disaster prevention

Any coathered a certain number of people would have one of these: aat the push of a button

I had used one during the fight between Erika and Ayu the water had been close to suicide, so I had wanted to avoid it if possible

I ree clasp in the metal box

”Maxwell, simulate the floater Calculate out where Hi point”

”Sure”

With a ”poof!”, the rubber boat took shape just like in a crash test scene on a car commercial

I tossed the inflated rubber boat in the water and climbed in myself It would be carried by the current even without theMy only complaint was the lack of brakes

”Based on the speed of the water and the passage of time, the most likely location is by the trees of the train station plaza 400 meters ahead”

”She really ept away…!”

I used the h the current A great mass seemed to split the water's surface behindback now

What about Himatsuri-san?

Where was she?

Where the hell was she!?

My panic threatened to ht left and right before aiain

I sahat looked like golden fabric tangled around the top of a tree sticking up above the water

It was her dress

”Himatsuri-san!!”

I shouted her nay to respond I controlled the et close to the treetop Isure I didn't injure her with the propeller and I pulled half-conscious Himatsuri-san into the rubber boat

”Pwah! Pant, pant…”

In her drenched dress, Hi for breath The cabaret girl style of dress left her thighs exposed up to the base, but she did not seem in any state of mind to care

And this was no ti intently on human observation

This time, the water split apart directly behind us

”Daate us!!”

”Sure But there is an overwhel difference in speed between the disaster-relief rubber boat and the Leviathan The rubber boat can onlyin a straight line It is not a mere shark”

”I know…that!!”

But we had no hope if we abandoned the boat either If ere going to cross the flooded city to reach the mountains, we needed the boat to follow a course across the water So we could not abandon it if ere to reach the ”today's exit” door

”Maxwell, analyze the ies from the smartphone lens! Locate any power sources other than the home power, like battery-powered products!!”

”Sure The first on the list would be this smartphone and rubber boat”

That could have been interpreted as sarcasm or a joke, but unfortunately, the simulator was entirely serious

Yes

This was not the only boat They were stored all around the city, so we could always use a different one The problem was that we had no time to come to a stop and I couldn't think of any projectiles capable of destroying a distant box But even so…

”Maxwell, e!”

”Sure I will display them based on their proximity to the Leviathan's predicted path”

I viewed the scenery throughoutline around a rubber boat storage box That justthe shark's course aligned with the box

It could ht forward even in such a powerful current

It tore through the half-sube box into scrap iant shark began veering unnaturally off course once more

The effects did not last long, but they were there all the sa electricity into the seawater apparently ans It didn't really matter if this was true of all sharks or if it was unique to the Leviathan

”If we could predict hoould veer off course, we could probably get it to skewer itself on a piece of rebar sticking out Its own ridiculous strength could probably break through its muscles”

Himatsuri-san hts had shi+fted toward attack But we could not hope for thatback alive came first We could use the inforot back We did not have to challenge this 30amble We knew our odds were poor and we only had one life to ith

We left the shopping district and cut across the residential district The entire area was flooded and we could not see any tall obstacles that stuck up above the water's surface I knew my house and the Class Rep's house had to be below that water, but it did not seem real

”This is bad,” said Himatsuri-san ”We can't slon the shark here!!”

The boat batteries aterproof, so the flooding would not be enough for their power to leak out Plus, we could not destroy the boxes deep underwater while traveling along the surface

And if we could not divert the giant shark's path, it would catch up and shole The intense current would not slow it down

I estimated we had about 30 seconds

Maxwell did not have an answer, so e supposed to do in this fruitless current? Where e supposed to go!?

”Himatsuri-san, do you have a phone!?”

”Eh? Well, I have my smartphone…”

”You've backed up what's on it, right?”

”Hey, wait! I need that address book and the photo I took with that girl!!”

Before she could fight back, I snatched the smartphone from her hand, prepared the nail file I used as a screwdriver, stabbed it into the center of the screen to split open the LCD, and tossed it into the water

The approaching shark veered off target again The Leviathan's diagonal path took it just barely past us and we felt the same powerful wind as when a dump truck drove by

But survival was a win

We weren't as fast as the shark, but the boat was bouncing along the choppy waves at more than 100kph We quickly made it to the other side of the quiet residential district

We would next find ourselves at the mountains

Tall conifer trees poked their heads up above the water I skillfully weaved left and right so the shark would collide with them and we finally reached the slope that rose up from the water

”Himatsuri-san!”

”You owe me for that smartphone!!”

We held hands like friends and dove inside a narrow hand-dug tunnel

The giant shark made a jump directly behind us

We heard a roar like a head-on collision between a tractor-trailer and a bus I flipped over, felt iant shark'sthe entrance to the tunnel

The large teeth snapped shut a few tis, the tunnel was contained solidly in the mountain slope

After some resistance, the Leviathan pulled back

Hilance, but we could not exactly take a peek outside of the entrance to see as happening If the shark made another jump, it was all over

”For now…let's go further in”

”Yes”

The tunnel itself was a portion of the path up the mountain, so it ascended Once we exited the tunnel, the water would be far below us and the giant shark would have a harder tiuarantee of safety when it could perforth of its 30m body

We hesitantly left the other end of the tunnel

It was still pouring rain

But there was no sign of that giant shark Except for a fin that looked like a giant boulder as it parted the water's surface far below and moved off into the distance

”Did it give up…? Has it decided to focus on another target on this field?”

”I'm not sure Maxwell, do you knohat's in that direction?”

”Your search conditions are too vague and have received a greatthem would be the Kukyou Dam”

”…The dam?”

”If it destroys that to raise the water level, this area could flood as well”

I felt dizzy

My face had to be as pale as Himatsuri-san's

”Maxwell, display the route to the inn where the 'today's exit' door is! We need to get out of here while we still can!!”

”Sure”

”Wait…why!?” asked Hi tunnel, so tackling that thick da to-…”

”A daets the water gates, the one point of destruction could spread to the entire dam”

”Due to the great pressure, it only need be a single crack,” explained Maxwell ”Itapart in flight due to the smallest hole”

Whatever the case, this was not good We followed Maxwell's instructions toan ani the underbrush It was a pitch-black route right out of a test of courage If the situation hadn't called for it, I would have avoided walking down it even with Maxwell's guidance

And there was so up ahead

I heard so on the underbrush, sensed a presence, and saw a silhouette between the trees

”…Who is it?”

We were not the only ones dragged into this de whether there was a single ”today's exit” door orthe oal, then it was possible a large nuathered at the same inn

But soht

It was odd

I iht Himatsuri-san's face remained tense and she did not run over to whoever it was In fact, her wet hand grabbed at

The hu unsteadily and their shoulders were atrain hit them

Soht it was raindrops or possibly tears or snot running down their face

But it was not

They were fat, balled-up leeches

They pried open the eyelids, descended from the nostrils, and dropped dropped dropped dropped…

”Gh, ahhh!?”

I cried out and moved back, but the sole of my shoe slipped and my back hit the tree trunk behind me

They must have noticed that because their head clearly turned to face us

…damn!

”A parasite host!? Are they stationed near the goal to stop us!?”

The path no longer rabbed Hirowth

The infected people were used to enter areas the Leviathan's giant body could not and drive out its prey They were like hunting dogs They had handled narrow passageways and the insides of buildings, but it seemed they also covered the elevated mountains

So if we just let them chase us around, ould be pushed back to the flooded area

Plus, I heard a deep roar in the distance

”Eek! Wh-what?”

Himatsuri-san cowered down and jumped

The giant shark seeun its attack on the dam Even if both locations were in the mountains, the fact that we could hear itexplosives I doubted just one or two hits was going to break it, but with no way of stopping it, it was only a matter of time It would eventually collapse, so we had to reach the exit at the inn before that happened The infected hiding in the forest were a threat, but if we held back out of fear, the water level would rise and this area would flood

”Maxwell, do leeches have any kind of weaknesses?”

”They are generally weak to fire and will apparently let go of your skin if you burn thehter…but that is true of most any lifefor more active”

Besides, we could not lightrain And even if we did have plenty of firepoould probably start a largescale forest fire Burning down the demon lord's ocean did not reallyourselves with the fire and smoke we started

”But if you need so…”

”What is it, Maxwell?”

”Sure As they were attached to a shark, they are likely a variety of sea leech In that case, wouldn't they be unfamiliar with this mountain forest environment with so many plants and trees?”

”Be more specific”

”Sure Just like a papercut, wouldn't they be shredding their body's soft surface when they move around here?”

I looked down at the ground covered in underbrush

…Were those plants their weakness? If so, would they groeaker as time passed, unlike in the sunken city? It didas available to it

”But we can't just wait until the spiked floor dae takes them out…”

Still, it could help that they were not at their best If they disliked the forest and the mountain, we probably didn't have to worry about the leeches leaving the infected people's bodies and crawling along the ground

We gathered a long stick fro ahead of us as we continued on I didn't want to use the stick for a fight since we didn't knoerful the infected people's bodies were I was just checking tobehind a tree or below the underbrush

Another loud roar rang out

It sounded like a bell counting down to destruction

We continued on while occasionally hiding behind cover to let a human silhouette move past

”…That's it”

We walked between the trees and parted the tall underbrush to finally reach an open area There was a wooden mansion on the mountain slope that had been intentionally made in an older style

There were a few figures wandering around the parking lot and front entrance, but they did not seeent I had asked Maxwell for course corrects a few tiinal route, but they did not seeht

These were not the Leviathan's pri with the lice in your hair These infected people were clearly inferior to a vampire like Erika or a zombie like Ayumi

”…It's dangerous, but I guess we have to go for it Himatsuri-san”

”I know The forest behind us has the infected wandering through it too, so it isn't any less dangerous”

We did not have the guts to approach the inn gate from the front

We stayed low and walked quickly along the wall, but there was an unsteady infected person at the back entrance too They could apparently be given si sure ere not spotted

But they were only standing guard at the entrance points

The wall between those points was about 2 meters tall

Hiave her a boost from below

”Nnnnnhh…!!”

I was a little worried about her pulling me up, but that worked too

Once ere on the inn grounds, the hurdle was a lot lower We did not know the total number of infected, but the inn was divided into ave it as uard at all of them, so we had plenty of ways in

We located a ithout an infected person looking out it and quietly approached It was probably locked, but that justht lass near the internal lock I did it again a few centiular shard, I reh, and opened the internal lock It was a burglar's h I wasn't up to no good

The dark japanese-style building had deep shadows inside It was i

”…Maxwell, where is the 'today's exit' door?”

”Sure It is the door to the detached roo the courtyard”

That was quite a noticeable spot I wasn't even sure we had needed to enter the h it had to be shorter than circling around it

Once inside, there were a lotstick was an absolute necessity I would open a door, stick the stick through, and only poke h once there was no reaction

We clih a hall and entered the courtyard

We spotted the detached roo like a sarden It felt uest rooes across several ponds

We ignored that path and rushed over to the detached rooround

That hen an explosive roar arrived froiant shark's attack on the dam But this one sounded different - wetter My instincts told ate h for the dam to break

”Himatsuri-san!!”