Vol 3 Chapter 3 (2/2)

Tia nodded happily

While ere training, Tia attended classroo to a separate timetable and sometimes helped the crew

Since Tia was Basilisk's target and could not go on the frontline, she orking hard to do what she could do

No one in Brynhildr Class asting their time

Although under heavy surveillance, I must pay Iris' room a visit before the operation

I committed this determination of mine firmly in my heart

Part 5

When Basilisk reached the location two kilometers away from the volcanic island, my chance finally arrived Since enemy contact would happen within three days at the quickest, everyone participating in the operation were summoned after dinner

However, since Iris, Tia and I did not have particular tasks, ere excluded fro

I could not miss this excellent chance, so I left my cabin and made my way to Iris' cabin near the prow end of the shi+p

Apart froirls' cabins also had their student nu the plate that seemed to read No7 of Brynhildr Class, I concluded it was probably Iris' cabin

I tried my best to knock quietly Then the door opened from the inside Dressed in school uniform, Iris poked her head out

”Eh? Mononobe, what's up?”

”Well—Umm, didn't you invite me to your room last time?”

I scratched my cheek and replied

”Oh, you still reot!”

S lived on this shi+p for al in this cabin More specifically—It was very messy

”Oh”

Noticing pink underwear a the random mess of articles, I could not help but freeze

”What's wrong—Eh? Ohhh! H-Hold on a sec, I'll tidy things up straight away!”

Blushi+ng to her ears, Iris frantically ran about the cabin, gathering everything on the floor in a pile to create space Only after ht, Iris let me into the room

”S-Sorry about that Come, sit down”

Iris scratched her head shyly and asked me to sit on the bed

”It's okay, I've learned a bit more about you as a result, Iris”

”W-What did you learn?”

Sitting down next to me, Iris asked, shaken

”You're not good at keeping your rooht?”

”Ooh, d-don't say it out, please Lisa-chan gets mad at me about this often too”

Iris sluine Lisa lecturing at her to clean up her room

”Speaking of which, back when I first transferred, you seem to have become closer friends with Lisa better”

”Yeah, ever since the Leviathan incident, Lisa-chan has been caring for me often, but sometimes I'm scared of her, that's all”

Iris s of so, she asked me:

”Oh right I totally didn't notice, but Lisa-chan and Mitsuki-chan got into an argu hard to resolve it”

”No really, what I did doesn't count as working hard”

”It's not resolved yet?”

Seeing Iris with a worried face, I hastily said:

”Yeah, but don't worry Right now, there's no spare tiet settled soon”

Lisa was at the heart of the current operation She definitely had no tiiveness” to demand from Mitsuki

”I see That's a relief”

Iris breathed a sigh of relief then reached out to touch my left shoulder

”Iris?”

My heart skipped a beat I called her name quietly

”Mononobe, you seee off Has the wound stopped hurting?”

”It's okay, the wound is almost fully healed I can move freely now”

Saying that, I placedmy shoulder

”Ah—”

Iris blushed Seeing her react like that, I felt

Our gazes beca silence, but we did not speak for a while

”Uh, Iris, what did you intend to tell inally?”

”U-U at all What do you wanna know, Mononobe?”

”E-Even if you ask me what I wanna know, I”

I did not knohat to say in response to her question

”Since it's so rare for us to be alone in a roo that you can only confirht?”

Iris looked up at estion

”So that I can only ask now”

”Yeah”

Iris nodded As soon as Ito be sucked into her eyes, unable to avertfelt so attractive, no s My heartbeat could not calm down at all

”Iris, your hair is so pretty”

I finally turned ht

”Thank you Then go ahead and touch it”

At Iris' urging, I lightly touched her beautiful silver hair

”So soft, it feels very nice to touch”

”Fufu, I'Tia-chan and Ren-chan's heads, I'm so jealous”

Iris remarked a little unhappily

”Well, it's because Tia and Ren feel like little sisters toI can touch casually”

”Why?”

”If you ask et nervous”

Hearing my answer, Iris tilted her head and made a surprised look

”In that case, you're nervous right now?”

”That goes without saying”

I coers and nodded in admission

Then Mitsuki's face flashed in my mind I recalled back when I was hospitalized, what she had said to me ere alone in the sickroom

—Please handle Iris-san's kiss with upfront honesty, okay?

If I was going to bring that up, noas the only time

”Iris, is it really okay for me to accept that kind of thank you reward from you?”

”That kind of thank you reward? What are you talking about?”

”I-I don't need to spell it out, right? O-Of course I mean the kiss that time”

I listened toto her

”Eh? Oh—”

Iris' face went red

”Iris, your reaction iht?”

Initially, I thought all she wanted to express was gratitude, nothingshe felt conscious about that kiss too, I could not cals

”Right Although we greet one another with kisses between family, that's on the cheek A-A kiss on the lips, Mononobe, you're my first”

Iris replied She was blushi+ng all the way to her ears

”For me to be your first Is that really okay?”

Hearing me ask that, Iris lowered her head and nodded in affirmation

”If it's you, Mononobe, my second time can be yours too”

Hearing that, aze away froeous pink lips

So this really was the case? I was not i her favorable impressions of me, Iris actually felt—

My heart rate quickened and reeaty

Then I had no choice but to reply to her seriously Since Iris had confessed to such an extent, I had to voice s too

I gulped to moisten my throat that had become parched by the time I noticed

I inhaled then exhaled

Then I took a deep breath again and spoke while breathing out:

”Iris, I—”

I hts into words, but Iris looked up in alarm and covered my mouth with her hands

”N-No! Don't say it out yet!”

”?”

I asked her with questioning eyes then Iris took her hands off my lips, a wry smile on her face

”Because If it's a saddening reply, I will be very depressed The operation is about to start, if I'm in that kind of state I won't be able to keep up with the operation in an eency”

”No, but—”

”Even if it's a gladdening reply, now's not the tiht for Tia-chan's sake next!”

Iris looked at me with serious eyes and persuaded me

To be honest, I really did not want to drag this on longer, but pressured by Iris' vigor, I could only nod in agreement

”Got it Then let's talk again once Basilisk is taken care of”

”Thank you, Mononobe”

Iris breathed a sigh of relief then thanked me

”It's just that this kind of dialogue is kind of unlucky on the battlefield”

”Oh, I know that one! I'ue, right?”

I had no idea where she heard it from, but Iris followed up on the subject I raised

”Yeah, but I've seen many people on battlefields In my view, it's not simply a matter of luck”

”What do you mean?”

”The more serious a person's personality or the more reason they have to return, the less they want to use that kind of thing as an excuse As a result, they will force themselves harder than the others, desperate to survive, which makes them die early, of course”

Hearing an to panic

”D-Don't die, Mononobe! I-If itour promise from just now!”

”No need to be that worried Compared to the others, we're safest on standby on the shi+p”

Indeed, Iris and I were si unexpected happened, perhaps we ed on that not happening, right?

”R-Right Okay, in that case, I'll wait for your reply, Mononobe”

”Great”

I nodded clearly as a promise

There was an increasing nu to slow me down

Part 6

Then the time for the decisive battle arrived at last

It was 11:20aht was shi+ning mercilessly all around

Everyone was in position The transport shi+p had retreated to a position where the volcanic island could be barely seen on the horizon Iris, Tia and I were at the bridge, watching shi+nomiya-sensei issue orders

Tia staying on the shi+p was different froested that if she were on the shi+p, Basiliskthe shi+p Based on this reason, the plan was modified

In other words, Tia was our hostage against Basilisk We had no idea whether it would work as intended There was no way of testing it after all, since it would be pointless if Tia lost her life in the experiment

Even so, Tia's request was accepted, because if she unfortunately got caught up in the attack, at least the worst-case scenario of ”a new Basilisk's birth” would be averted

Lisa and Ren were on the volcanic island, preparing for the attack Mitsuki, Firill and Ariella were between the volcanic island and the transport shi+p, on standby while keeping a certain distance from one another This formation allowed Mitsuki's instantly support Lisa and Ren if anything happened to them

The backup sent by Midgard had also arrived They were on standby dozens of kilometers away from the volcanic island Due to the nature of the operation, sending a large force to the frontline would only add unnecessary risk That hat shi+nomiya-sensei and others apparently decided

Basilisk was currently twelve kilometers away froure from a position over the volcanic island

As universally known, the Earth is round Hence, sis on the surface would be naturally blocked out of view by the horizon A person standing on a coast would see no farther than five kiloe was probably ten kilo out from the volcano's peak, it was probably possible to observe nearby waters within twenty or thirty kilometers

In other words, ere using natural cover consisting of two things, the volcanic island and the horizon

A large number of surveillance devices was distributed in the nearby waters Ie Although seawater along Basilisk's route of advance had turned into salt, surveillance devices would function nor as they were not exposed to the red light directly

”The dragon mark feels so hot”

Seeing the Basilisk on the ainst her thigh near the top of her skirt That here her dragon mark was located

Right now, Basilisk had not opened the third eye on its back It was probably a trump card it used only when cornered In other words, its attack range was still 5000 m at the moment

”Don't worry, Tia The way the situation looks, we'll be able to lure Basilisk to a sufficient distance before attacking Since it's Lisa we're talking about, she's definitely not going to miss”

I placed my hand on Tia's head and spoke

What Lisa and Ren were planning to execute was a super long-range sniping attack using the volcano as cover

With Ren's assistance, she was going to attack Basilisk using a high-powered positron cannon

Lisa earing a pair of goggles, allowing her to perfor data sent by the surveillance devices and therefore snipe through the mountain Basilisk should not be able to see the attack until it arrived, hence in theory, it should not have time to counterattack

But even so, just in case, the sniping was to be done froe, which was over 10 km with the third eye open and 5 km when shut Of course, the farther the distance, the harder it was to snipe, hence it was advantageous to us that the third eye was closed

”B1, B6, execute Plan A Begin attacking when the target reaches six klicks away”

shi+noh the communicator

'Affirmative'

'Mm'

Their voices answered

”I hope they'll succeed”

Iris closed her eyes and prayed

Thus, the moment arrived

”Target at six klicks!”

The crewas the communications officer reported

”Begin the operation!”

shi+nomiya-sensei instantly commanded

I looked at the screen showing Lisa and Ren's situation Just as they had practiced iant fictional armament in the shape of a spear

The spear's tip began to glow brightly A positron ray gun surpassing modern weaponry was about to appear

But just before that, the communications officer yelled:

”Basilisk stoppedout!”

No way—It noticed?

I was greatly surprised Lisa and Ren should not have entered Basilisk's view Did it sense the y? As soon as the third eye appeared, even the volcanic island had coe

A giant eyeball had appeared on Basilisk's back Supported by muscle fibers, it was thrust outside of its body Next, that red eyeball aimed forward

”This is bad—Halt the attack!”

shi+noently

But about to fire, Lisa and Ren were unable to stop the attack imigantic fictional weapon of a spear

Brilliant golden light stabbed into the volcano

But at the saht

Through the volcano, the gold and red beams were about to collide But at this rate, the instant, the et erased and the red light would devour Lisa and Ren

”You two take evasive action ie to Plan B!”

shi+nomiya-sensei rapidly issued orders

After that—The top of the volcano was turned into dust Red light streaked across the sky Even a mountain could not oppose the torrential flow of time, apparently

The red glow could be seen fro out the other end of the volcanic island, the bea away cloud layers along the way

Several seconds later, the light stopped What reed shapes and a volcano with its top half vanished

The volcano showed a clear-cut cross-section, but after a while, lava flowed out while dense smoke rose into the sky

”What happened to Lisa and Ren!?”

I shouted Perhaps hearing my voice, an answer came from the communicator

'Worry not, we dodged in the nick of tie with Mitsuki-san immediatly'

It was Lisa's voice Hearing her answer, Iris and Tia also showed relieved expressions

However, shi+no

”All units return to the shi+p quickly Fly at as low an altitude as possible!”

Theair trans in for up with Firill and the others, Lisa and Ren should be able to return even faster

Having bloay the volcano's top half, Basilisk resumed its advance towards Tia behind the volcano Captured froe video showed the Basilisk advancing

Perhaps finding the lava and smoke ahead of it a hassle, Basilisk shot out two red beams from its eyes Immediately, the smoke screen vanished while the lava solidified into rock whileshape

Solidified unnaturally, the lava was shaped as strangely as avant garde artwork I was once again confronted with the astounding powers of ”Catastrophe” However, soed me

—It didn't use its third eye just now?

The third eye remained open If Basilisk found the lava a nuisance, it could have fired a beaain But Basilisk chose to approach the lava first without using its third eye I felt that there seemed to be some kind of purpose in that

”Yuu, the operation failed?”

Tia tuggedworriedly

”Basilisk noticed the sniping attack and took counter the initial idea of destroying Basilisk together with the island”

”Then it'll be victory?”

”—Who knows? But there's no other way right now, so all we can do is try our best”

After I answered, I heard Iris, who had been listening on the side, say quietly:

”We won't be able to enjoy that hot spring again”

”It's a shame but that can't be helped Okay, Lisa and the others should be back soon Let's head over to the deck Starting now, this shi+p is the frontline”

I grabbed Iris' arm and said As much as I hated to think this, once this operation failed, everyone, including us, would have no choice but to adapt accordingly

”Yuu, Tia too—”

”No When entering Basilisk's attack range, the first to becohest point As Basilisk's hostage, Tia, you have to stay here to protect the bridge”

I stopped Tia fro

”Tia got it Yuu, do your best!”

Despite showing a look of regret, Tia still cheered for me as she saw me off

”Okay, I'm off!”

Iris and I left the bridge together, went down the stairs and rapidly made our way to the deck

The shi+p had started et away from the island We went to the deck on the aft

After waiting there for a while,everyone flying back at low altitude

”Welcome back!”

Iris waved to welco all of them back safe and sound, she seemed quite happy

”I really wished I could reply 'I'm back' cheerfully, but sorry, we failed”

Lisa spoke with chagrin Ren also went ”mm” and lowered her head

”That was only because Basilisk's sensory powers seeer than expected It is not your fault, Lisa-san and Ren-san Next—It is my turn”

Mitsuki encourage the disheartened pair then gazed sharply in the volcanic island's direction

Part of the solidified lava was the only thing barely in view The island itself was hidden on the other side of the horizon

”I will use the horizon to hide e missile of antimatter Since my arroith fly in a parabolic trajectory, I will be able to shoot at a lower altitude than everyone else Ren-san Please lend me your assistance this time”

”Mm!”

Ren agreed and walked over to Mitsuki's side

”Brionac”

Mitsuki generated her fictional armament of a bow then used air trans with Ren

She looked like she was going to take ai to attack Basilisk while it was barely sunken on the other side of the horizon

Although I was clearly receiving essential information on a communicator, I still watched in trepidation

”Mm”

Ren touched Brionac Ied all at once

Mitsuki raised the iridescent and shi+ning bow, ten-odd ti and thick, commensurate with the bow's size

Looking up at the scene, Lisa could not help but offer praise

”—Nothing less expected fro the darkover to her Given the scale, Basilisk should disappear together with the island”

Mitsuki pulled the arrow back then yelled:

”Ter Arrow—Last Quark!”

The arrow of anti across the celestial sphere

However, the shooting star was devoured by a torrent of red light, flowing in the reverse direction

”What”

I could not find any words

Judging froe and scale, Basilisk had undoubtedly used its third eye to counterattack

Our attack had been discovered again

The Basilisk was on the other side of the volcanic island Although its top half was bloay, the mountain should still restrict Basilisk's field of vision It could not possibly have captured the antimatter projectile visually

—To be able to react so swiftly, what on earth was the reason?

The red light passed over us, flying to the far side, but we had no time to space out

Because the bea

Piercing clouds, the bea overhead this time

It was light a giant red sword swinging down froround

The instant I witnessed that scene, I reflexively took action

”Siegfried!”

I created ht hand

A red bea the horizon, it was blocked for a while

This was a natural barrier formed from the Earth's curvature On the Earth's round surface, there was a liht-line attacks Exploiting this fact, Mitsuki and Ren had stayed at a height where they would be safe froency

Through the passage of vast amounts of time, the navy-blue sea instantly turned into white salt

However, the ”weathering” did not stop there The ti the plain of salt into s it down

The Earth's curvature was gradually corrected, forcibly expanding Basilisk's attack range The horizon that ere originally using as our shi+eld was shaved off within the blink of an eye

—How could such a bastard exist!? Basilisk's power could even alter the Earth's shape?

The sword of red light chopped dohile gouging the horizon

Beloas Mitsuki and Ren The two of the, but the red beam was faster than them

—I have to make it in time!

”Antigravity!”

I poured the entirety ofit into the air

The bullet turned into high-density antigravitational low of pure white, a powerful repulsive field was generated

Next to the repulsive field, Mitsuki and Ren were deflected doards The spatial distortion bent the trajectory of the red beam

Thus, the red bea, Mitsuki and Ren used the wind around them to land safely

”—Nii-san, than you I alether with me”

Mitsuki gnashed her teeth with an expression of chagrin

”Save your regrets for later! What do we do next!? If that attack just now continued, ill not be able to escape even if anted to!”

Lisa urgently asked for Mitsuki's decision

”Iris-san, I have a favor to ask of you”

After thinking quietly for several seconds, Mitsuki called out Iris' name

”W-What is it? Just tell me!”

”Please detonate explosions in the air above the island to rain down h they will most likely be intercepted, at least it should buy us some time”

”I-I got it—Caduceus!”

Iris held the fictional are of the aft

”O holy silver, descend!!”

Iris raised the silver-white staff and yelled Immediately, silver explosions occurred in the distant sky while countless fragments of mithril fell upon the land

Basilisk seeht could be seen darting around in the sky in complicated movements Just as Mitsuki said, the mithril would probably be struck down completely If such a saturation attack worked, NIFL would have chosen this tactic a long tio

Iris caused explosions repeatedly while the shi+p used the opportunity to get away froradually went out of sight

This was—A retreat in defeat

Our entire operation ended in failure We could only flee with our backs to the enemy

”Ooh”

Mitsuki bit her lip, her fists clenched tightly, her shoulders trehtly

She was surely full of regret I suspect that she could not forgive herself for lacking power and for endangering her partner

Seeing Mitsuki like that, Lisa showed a look of anxiety

After causing large-scale explosions repeatedly, Iris sat down on the deck, utterly exhausted

In this heavy atmosphere, no one said a word

As fora sound

This was not because I found theRather, it had occurred toonly I could do, which hy I was putting it into action

How could I watch Mitsuki ain?

I had sworn to never abandon Mitsuki's happiness, to defeat dragons for thi