Chapter 81 (1/2)

Index

Editor: Silavin

Proofreader: p4553r

Guyver was sitting on the driving seat with Akira next to him, while Colbert and Dale were sitting on the backseat. As not to get in the way in case of a fight, Sheryl was sent to the cart together with the rest of her gang.

Guyver offered to drive saying that it was to make up for not being present when the mansion was attacked by the swarm of monsters. To be honest, Akira did not mind at all, but since Colbert and Dale were pressuring Guyver to do that, he ended up driving the vehicle.

The vehicle was swaying left and right as it traversed the wasteland. There were wreckages scattered around the route that they were taking; with some of them not entirely buried under the ground, the vehicle shook as it bumped with those wreckages.

The one who picked that route was the driver, Guyver. So Akira asked him.

“Say, why are we taking this route?”

“It’s still better than getting stuck on a muddy road, right? This route should not have any muddy roads, but it’s a little bit bumpy though.”

“…Well, you’re right, but still.”

Although Guyver’s explanation was reasonable, Akira was not fully convinced by that.

Akira then asked Alpha.

“Say, Alpha, about that monster from before though…”

“Well, we do have time for that now, so let’s talk about it.”

“Don’t you think that it’s weird? I know that I have bad luck, but that swarm didn’t feel like a pure coincidence.”

“Let’s assume that it was not a coincidence and someone intentionally gathered those monsters there. There are only 2 possible ways of doing that, either that person runs around the wasteland to attract those monsters or by using a decoy device.”

“Decoy device?”

“Yep, that’s a device to attract monsters. It’s usually used to gather monsters in one place.”

Akira then turned to Dale and the others and asked them.

“Say, did you guys bring decoy devices with you?”

Dale, who did bring some before, answered that question.

“I did, but I don’t have it right now. Why do you ask…? Ahhh, about that swarm of monsters, huh?”

“So you did have them?”

“I left them in our vehicle. So I lost them when our vehicle went back to the city on autopilot. Well, even if I did have some back then, it was not a situation where you would use the decoy device, right?”

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

“…Wait for a sec! It’s possible that they got activated when our vehicle was attacked by the monster. It then might have dropped some of those devices on its way back to the city and attracted all the monsters around the route that it took to the city into that mansion. If that’s the case, then there’s nothing strange about the number of monsters that ended up coming there… Hmm, no no no, that shouldn’t be possible. No matter how unlucky we are, that’s just too unlucky. It’s not like anyone in this place has that level of bad luck, right?”

Dale laughed after he said that.

Akira just kept his face looking out to the wasteland without saying anything. It was because he knew the answer to that question, he might be the unlucky person that Dale was talking about.

Seeing how Akira was keeping silent, Alpha smiled teasingly at him. When Akira noticed it, he annoyedly jabbed at her.

“…What?”

“Don’t be angry. Even if that’s true, you did survive, right? And that’s all that matters. So in short, it was not that big of a trouble for the current you. You really got stronger, don’t you think so too?”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll leave it like that.”

Akira was just sitting there looking out to the wasteland without saying anything, Guyver who was beside him was also driving without saying anything. Although Dale found that sudden silence a bit weird, he just decided to ignore it.

Just like when he was leaving for the wasteland, Akira fixed his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun back on his vehicle. At the moment, he only had his AAH assault rifle and A2D assault rifle with him.

Guyver glanced at Akira’s equipment.

“Won’t you at least let the children on the back borrow some of those rifles?”

“Why should I?”

“It’s better to have more people equipped with guns if another swarm attacks us, right?”

“If you think so, you can just lend them yours.”

“I’m doing that already, you know? I’ve lent one of my guns to that Sebla guy. You have those big weapons on the back, so it’s okay to just lend them those assault rifles, right?”

Akira peeked back at Sebla who was in the back cart. It was true that he was holding a gun and some grenades. But even so, Akira did not feel any reassurance from seeing that.

Akira then replied to Guyver.

“No.”

“Why?”

“They’re my weapons. Even if we get attacked by monsters again, it’s much more useful when they’re with me.”

“…I see. Well, I won’t force you.”

Akira did not get to encounter any monsters even after they got out from the Higaraka residence ruin. He prayed that nothing would happen until they reached the city. But it was quickly proven that his prayer would not come true.

“Akira, it’s a monster.”

“…I guess it won’t go that easy, huh?”

Akira turned to the direction where Alpha was pointing, he quickly spotted a monster running toward the vehicle. It was obvious from their distance that the monster was a carnivorous monster.

“It’s closer than I thought.”

“Blame the rain, there’s still some effect left from the rain, so it’s like we’re still in a colourless mist. That’s why I was late detecting that monster.”

As Akira’s gaze was fixed in one direction in the wide wasteland, Dale and the other Hunters found it weird and followed his gaze, thus they quickly spotted that monster too.

Guyver stopped the vehicle, Akira immediately criticized him.

“Oi, why are we stopping?”

“You won’t be able to get a good aim while the vehicle is rocking, right? We can get off the vehicle and take a good aim on that monster now.”

After he said that, Guyver hopped off the vehicle. Dale and Colbert looked at each other before hopping off the vehicle too.

Akira decided to stay in the vehicle just to be safe. Guyver kept his eyes on Akira who did not hop off from the vehicle.

He then shifted his gaze from Akira to the back cart. When he did that, Sebla hopped off from the cart and joined Dale and the other Hunters.

“Whoah there, are you planning to make him fight too?”

Guyver laughed lightly and said.

“Isn’t that exactly why I’m lending my gun to him? If you’re worried, you can just hop off from there and help us too.”

Akira thought for a bit.

“Alpha, are there any other monsters?”

“None. I’ll let you know when I find any.”

Akira then hopped off from the vehicle. It was not for keeping Sebla’s safe, but it was to make sure that Sebla would not cause extra trouble. It was also to help take out that monster and get back to the vehicle as soon as possible.

There were 4 Hunters against one monster. So Akira thought that there was no need to take out his CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun. Thus, he just left them on the vehicle.

Colbert readied his rifle and took an aim at that monster. Sebla just stood there in silence. Dale ignored Sebla, he just kept his eyes on the surroundings while making sure that he was not blocking Colbert’s aim.

Akira kept his eyes on that monster, he was ready to jump in to help if Colbert was having some trouble taking out that monster.

Everyone there thought that they just needed to quickly take out their target and return back to the vehicle. But there was a minor difference in what they were calling as their targets.

Guyver was being careful of Akira and the other Hunters, he was observing them as if he was looking for an opportunity.

He suddenly jumped away from that place. The other Hunters thought that Guyver jumped out because of that monster’s attack, thus they immediately focused their attention on that monster. But the very next moment, a blinding light and deafening ring drowned Akira and the other Hunters as they were thrown on the ground.

For some reason, Akira was able to keep himself conscious. But because of that light and that loud ringing, he was severely dazed thus preventing him from making any swift reaction. He thought that there was a monster nearby, so he felt the urge to get back on his feet as soon as possible and confirm his situation. Although he knew that well, he just could not do that.

“…W-what was that? Alpha?”

“Akira! Get up!! Quickly!!”

Alpha shouted at him. Akira understood that it meant he was in a deadly situation. In that case, he had to get on his feet as fast as he could. He did not care about the reason, for now, he just had to get on his feet. Akira understood very well that following Alpha’s instructions as fast as he could was the best possible choice to fix his situation.

So, Akira, who was lying face down on the ground, slowly pulled himself back up. He was trying to get on his feet while still severely dazed. But in that situation, when he was still so dizzy, it would be almost impossible to make any quick manoeuvres. He was still swaying left and right as he pushed his body against the ground, got on his knee, and looked up.

The moment he did that, he saw Guyver in front of him with the muzzle of his rifle pointing at him.

Guyver’s finger moved ever so slowly as he was pulling the trigger. He was staring at Akira full of killing intent, Akira was able to see even the slightest change in Guyver’s expression. Akira could clearly feel his time perception stretched out as the passage of time from his point of view considerably slowed down.

“Move away from there!!”

Akira did not wait for Alpha’s instruction as he quickly leapt away from that spot.

Guyver pulled the trigger, his rifle spewed out countless bullets that just sliced through the air right where Akira was just a moment ago and hit the wreckage on their trajectories. The bullets made rattling sounds as they hit those wreckages.

Akira instinctively scanned the area for his rifle as he leapt from that spot, he was in perfect sync with the movements of his augmented suit that was controlled by Alpha. Thanks to that, Akira was able to quickly reach out and grab his rifle. He then got on his feet, aimed at Guyver, and pulled the trigger. But because he was still severely dazed, he was not able to hit Guyver at all.

But even so, Guyver was taken aback by that swift move. He quickly jumped to the nearest wreckage and hid behind it.

Akira’s face turned grim. His consciousness was still not fully recovered yet. In the middle of that hazy situation, Akira asked for Alpha’s help.

“…Alpha, I’m sorry but I can’t get a good aim, can you help me with that?”

“I’m already doing it. I’m already increasing your accuracy as high as possible in your current situation.”

“And my shot missed even after that, huh. Did that attack damage my augmented suit?”

“That’s not the problem. Although I’m controlling your augmented suit right now, I’m controlling it through your body. So if you lose your consciousness or have a hazy mind, my support will also get diminished. That’s why you missed your shots.”

“…I understand. I just need to recover… The medicine, where did I put my medicine? Did I leave it on the vehicle? Or is it inside my rucksack? Where did I drop it? Hm? Where is it?”

Akira’s still dazed mind started to veer off into something unnecessary, thus Alpha quickly straightened that up.

“Akira, calm down, I’ll give you my instruction. You need to reposition yourself first.”

“…Alright.”

Akira followed Alpha’s instruction as he repositioned himself.

Guyver was still hiding behind the wreckage as he started cursing Akira.