81 Chapter 81: Ultimatum (1/2)

The two of us stood before the shifting and transforming gigantic box, enormous amounts of mana rippling from it to swirl around us ominously.

Swallowing and trying not to let the omen bother me, I put on a brave front.

”What is the important thing you want to talk about?”

”Don't you find this hero system weird?”

”…why don't you ask all these Japanese authors and all the web novelists to stop writing isekai stories then?”

Takeda Tetsuo chuckled at my bitter remark.

”Yeah, yeah. You're right. There's been a slew of isekai stories in the past few years, with high school students being summoned to another world as heroes and tasked with defeating the demon lord. Fairly cliché stuff, don't you agree?”

”Doesn't that make our story cliché too?”

”It does,” Takeda admitted as he glanced over his shoulder. ”But for some reason you're not a hero. You're not one of us. I wonder why.”

”Blame Kobayashi. You were there. You saw how he tried to kill me. Hell, you didn't even try to stop him from throwing me off the summoning spell.”

”I know it's no excuse, but…” Takeda raised both hands in surrender. ”We were in too much shock at that time. None of us could ever imagine what drove Kobayashi to such depths of insanity as to murder you that time.”

”The guy's got a screw loose in his head,” I muttered. Takeda chuckled in agreement.

”Yes, but even then…it's almost as if someone was controlling him.”

”Who?”

”Who knows?”

Takeda glanced up, toward the heavens, his eyes taking a distant gaze.

”We know for sure that gods and goddesses exist in Restia. We were summoned by one. And I hear you've pledged your allegiance to another. The goddess of knowledge, Lyia, was it? Very fitting of you, Tanaka-kun. You were always one of the smarter ones in class.”

”Um, no. I'm an idiot. I might study and read a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm smart. I've done a lot of stupid things, especially during my time here.”

”Maybe.” Takeda shrugged. ”But that doesn't make you less smart than us.”

”Thanks…I guess?”

”No problem. But you're smart, Tanaka-kun. For example, can you guess what this is?”

”It looks like an intercontinental ballistic missile launcher,” I replied dryly. Takeda grinned.

”There you go! Correct answer! Amazing!”

”…”

I didn't know how to reply. Was there any point to this farce? And what was the point of having a missile launcher that didn't have any missiles in it?

”As we've been discussing all this while, the heart of the problem is Kobayashi, right? And you were asking me about my plan to deal with him, correct?”

”…yeah.”

”If the problem originates from Kobayashi, then it follows that we can solve it by eliminating him. That's your goal too, isn't it?”

”Yeah, but you make it sound so easy.” I shook my head. ”My question is how do we kill him? He has armies at his disposal, he's the most powerful hero with all of Evelyn's blessings, and now he's the Emperor of Humanity.”

”It's simple. We nuke him.”

”…huh?”

I wasn't sure I heard Takeda correctly. He glanced at me over his shoulder and grinned.

”You heard that right. We nuke him.”

”How?!”

”That's where you come in.” Takeda turned to face me solemnly as the intercontinental ballistic missile launcher fully took shape.

”…me?”

I still didn't understand what Takeda was talking about. He sighed as he strode toward me, his eyes serious.

”Don't you even know the true extent of your abilities?”

”Probably not, but you sound as if you do.”

”Oh…it's nothing much. Just use your imagination.” Takeda tapped his head and smiled mockingly. ”Let's start from something simple. You've the ability to summon things, right? I heard that you summoned weapons during the battle against Minamoto.”

”…yeah.”

”And you summoned a freaking mecha during the fight against the dragons, didn't you?”

He must have heard that from Nagano. There was no point denying it, so I nodded.

”Theoretically then, there's no limit to what you can summon. You can probably summon ballistic weapons such as guns, missile launchers, rockets, and modern weaponry, right?”

”Considering I can summon futuristic hi-tech mecha like Titans, I guess so?”

Raising a hand, I summoned a M16 rifle and then snatched it out of midair before lifting it to my shoulder and taking aim. Lowering the rifle, I spun it about before summoning a Glock and testing it with both hands. Aiming far away, I fired off a rapid trio of shots. For a final test, I summoned a Stinger anti-air rocket launcher and aimed it toward the sky before suppressing the trigger.

A missile burst out of the tube and spiraled toward the sky before exploding.

”Seems like I can,” I remarked to an impressed Takeda. The muscular, armored Iron Knight leader clapped.

”Good. So do you think you can summon a nuke?”

”I…huh?”

I blinked when I heard Takeda's request. Scratching the back of my head, I gulped and closed my eyes.

”…maybe…? Oh…I see.”

I finally understood.

”You want me to summon a nuke, and then use this intercontinental ballistic missile launcher to fire it at Kobayashi.”

”You finally figured it out, huh?”

Takeda chuckled and nodded.

”That's right.”

Swallowing, I stared at Takeda uncertainly.

”Huh? Are you sure? Isn't that…overkill?”

”Kobayashi is a hero. Nothing short of a nuke will be able to kill him.”

”But…wouldn't that…? I mean…wouldn't the nuke, like, kill everyone else around him?”

”Necessary sacrifices,” Takeda acknowledged. He stared at me, his eyes narrowed. ”This is war, Tanaka-kun. What did you expect? Did you think this will end with only Kobayashi's death? Either way, we'll have to cut a bloody swathe through his followers in order to reach him. If that's the case, we might as well end it immediately. If you're able to summon a nuke right away, we'll obliterate Havia City immediately. That's where Kobayashi is currently residing in, after all.”

”No way…” I was horrified when I heard Takeda's ”plan” to deal with Kobayashi and his group. ”You don't mean…to ask me to nuke Havia City?”

Takeda's grim smile was all the answer I needed.

Back in the Cross Castle, inside the forging room, Lilith sat in front of a table. Across her was Nagano Nanaka, who was guarded by a standing Aoyama Aoi.

Nagano poured a cup of tea and slid it over to the seated Lilith, who was watching her warily. She smiled to ease the latter's nerves.

”Here.”

Lilith took the steaming cup of tea apprehensively and took a polite sip. Nagano smiled brightly as she watched Lilith.

”Have you made a decision on whether or not to join the Iron Knights?”

”Yes, I've decided.”

Lilith raised her head and looked at Nagano determinedly. Placing the cup of tea down on the table gently, she straightened up and met the hero's gaze.

”I promised to help Tomoyuki-kun and I will keep my promise.”

Wait…you did? I don't remember Lilith ever making such a promise.

”Even though he lied to you?” Nagano asked.

”Huh?” Lilith's brow twitched. ”What are you talking about? When did he ever lie to me?”

”Ah…never mind. Sorry. I must be confusing myself with another story. I guess he technically didn't lie to you.”

”Um…why are you talking like that?” Lilith asked warily. ”It's like you're trying to tear apart my relationship with Tomoyuki-kun.”

”Well, I mean…I wouldn't go that far. But I'm just curious. You still want to be Tanaka-kun's companion and fight together with him?”

”Yes.”

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Lilith didn't hesitate in replying at all.

”You're…”

Nagano, instead of being offended, brightened up happily. Before Lilith could react, Nagano had thrown herself at the red-haired vampire queen and wrapped her in an embrace.

”Too cute!!!”

”?!”

Rubbing her cheek against Lilith's silky hair, Nagano smiled slyly.

”Your devotion to Tanaka-kun is so admirable!”

”No, it isn't. I just don't want to go back on my promise!”

What promise!? Oh, the deal. Lilith made a deal with me. In return for helping her, she would assist me in whatever I needed to save the demon race. That reminded me, we still had to solve the problem with the vampire elders in Haemorage later.

Right now, however, Lilith found herself in a more pressing problem.

”Hey…why are you suddenly so clingy?”

”When I first saw you, I just wanted to hug you. You're so beautiful, so dignified, so cute, so elegant…”

”I appreciate the praise, but I believe my beauty has nothing to do with what we're discussing at the moment.”

Lilith coolly pushed Nagano away. Aoyama also stepped in to intervene and separate the two girls with a cough.

”Nagano-san…please behave yourself.”

Nagano giggled as she composed herself. Resuming her seat, she poured herself a cup of steaming tea and sipped from it, her childish behavior from earlier all gone. Turning serious, she maintained her friendly smile.

”Anyway…Tanaka-kun is really fortunate to have you as his companion.”

Aoyama sighed in relief when he saw Nagano's dignified composure. At least she has returned back to normal.

”It is give and take,” Lilith replied calmly as she folded her arms. ”He helped me, and I'm obligated to return the favor. Furthermore, I requested another favor of him, so it's only natural that I accompany him all the way. Besides, this concerns the demon race…and it's actually more of my responsibility than his.”

”Yeah, I understand.” Nagano nodded, but she still looked as if she was teasing Lilith. However, the dignified vampire queen didn't rise to the bait. Smiling, Nagano continued. ”Next, let us repair and reforge Tanaka-kun's sword.”

Back on the rooftop, I studied the massive intercontinental ballistic missile launcher apprehensively.

”If we nuke Havia City, where Kobayashi is residing in right now, we'll be able to end the war instanty.”

Beside me, Takeda explained his reasoning.

”We don't have to worry about anyone trying to force open the seal in that last secret domain and unleashing Chaos on Restia too.”

I watched him warily as he kept his hand raised, purple mana crackling around his arm and linking him to the gigantic missile launcher.

”If you nuke Havia City, wouldn't you be killing everyone else in the city too?”

”Yes. But I told you, this is war. Don't be naïve. You're not going to win without killing anybody. These will be necessary sacrifices.”

”Necessary sacrifices? Who are you kidding?” I scoffed. ”Who are you to decide who lives and who dies? Who gets sacrificed and who gets saved?”

Takeda shrugged. ”A hero, maybe? It doesn't matter. I'm looking at the bigger picture. The much longer term. To save the many, we have to sacrifice the few. To save a billion, we have to sacrifice a thousand. It doesn't matter whether it's our previous world or this world. That concept holds through universally.”

I clenched my fists tightly, but Takeda continued ploughing forward with his rhetoric.