> Divulge The Magic Vulnerability Volume 1 Chapter 3">Volume 1 Chapter 3 (2/2)

”S-so what are we going to do!?”

”The same as always: we do it Sorcery Hacker style. In other words, we end this before they can even get started!”

Luckily, Wind Castle Town Silphine had sorcery device traffic lights floating everywhere to handle the many artificial air currents, so securing processing s.p.a.ce was not difficult. Ayato drew his sword as he flew around and started stabbing into those ball-shaped devices to increase his power.

He removed the crystal tarot cards from his blue blazer's breast pocket, so they floated along with him.

”Level 9. Not quite the resonance I want.”

Ayato, Teleria, and Mamilis circled behind a group of high-rise buildings and clung to the wall of one. They were at least 1000 esoule[10] from the ground, but that was fairly low down in this wind town.

”We need to be careful.”

They slipped in through a window, but this was not the dangerous sniper's hideout. The artificial wind was convenient, but the silence provided by the barrier of stone and gla.s.s was still nice.

Ayato cut across an empty room with no furniture to speak of and no sign of being lived in. He moved from the back to the front window. After confirming the position, he nodded.

”Okay, the sniper's hideout is on the other side of the road there.”

That was about 40 esoule[11] away. That was not close range even for a sniper, but the real problem was all the people, things, and vehicles moving every which way through that s.p.a.ce. If they fired any magic now, they could easily hit the ordinary people at the accessory shops or mobile restaurants serving seafood pasta.

”What do we do?”

”I hacked a few traffic lights on the way here, so I can use those to keep people away when we make the shot.”

With that, Ayato stepped away from the window and slipped past Mamilis who had deactivated her Mimic Options to reveal her distinctive long ears. Those must have been restrictive because the Dark Elf seemed to free herself from them whenever she was outside of the public eye.

The empty room had no furniture, but the insides of the walls were not empty. After making some estimations from the locations of the pillars and ducts, he drew his Linkage Plug sword and faced the wall covered in simple wallpaper. When he stabbed the tip in and pulled it vertically down, the wall ”opened” like he had removed a large panel.

Inside was a long vertical s.p.a.ce and some pipes running in straight lines.

”This should work. There's a restaurant above here, so they have a largescale fire system in case of emergency. I'll resonate with its processing s.p.a.ce. If it's Level 5 that should be about right.”

”Hm? Hmm???”

”You two wait here. I'm going to borrow a ballista crane from a rooftop around here.”

While releasing a new blade from the ones compressed in the hilt, he returned to the back entrance.

”And Miss Teleria, you have trouble with fire magic, don't you?”

”Why would you bring that up when you already know the answer? Uhh.”

”Then we will have to bet on Miss Mamilis's debut battle. Prepare your full-auto shotgun.”

The Dark Elf's mind went blank when she was suddenly selected for what seemed like a major role, but Ayato had more to tell her.

”First, I will tie a bundle of steel beams to the end of the ballista crane and send that cras.h.i.+ng into the hideout being used by Critical Disaster's owner. That should make her escape through a different window.”

”Coach, what is a ballista crane?”

”That.” Ayato pointed to the giant crossbow-like machine at the top of a building under construction. ”These are ultrhigh-rise buildings with wind blowing every which way, right? A normal crane would be useless. The walkways giving everything that uneven jungle gym look can apparently be raised like drawbridges, but that can only do so much. They use a ballista - a type of siege weapon - to launch a thick wire, the sorcery device wings on either side of the hook catch the wind, and it accurately weaves its way between the jungle gym arrangement here. They are modeled after bees, so they should be able come to a complete stop at the desired floor and even return to their original location without tangling everything up like you would if you simply reeled it back in. Of course, they're still sending a wire out through this town where aerial movement is so common, so they still have to be careful.”

Mamilis's face clouded over. Just because she loved her weapon designer of a grandmother apparently did not mean she unconditionally liked all sorcery devices. She also appeared unsure what kind of stance to take with the shotgun she held. He felt bad putting the Dark Elf through this kind of dilemma, but he preferred seeing this than seeing her innocently grab and accept the weapon without giving it any real thought.

”I'll be stealing that from the construction site over there. As a diversion. If we know what route she'll take, you can't miss. Now, Miss Mamilis, I would like for you to end this with your magic. You do not have to worry about the window. Just prepare to take the shot while indoors and I will throw open the window when the timing is right.”

”Eh? But, Coach, will it really work that well my very first time???”

”You don't have to hit. That's a shotgun, after all. You just have to pull the trigger, so it's no different from lighting the kitchen stove.”

Ayato specialized in Sorcery Hacking and did not use an obvious sorcery gun.

But despite that…

”If you prepare the magical spark, I can do the rest with the traffic lights. You may have forgotten, but that isn't just ordinary wind blowing around here. It's magically-created wind. If I keep that ma.s.sive manaflow from being converted into wind and then concentrate it and send it into the road as a liquid spray, it will fuse with the magical fire you create and trigger a huge explosion. And this explosion will rival that dragon in Flared.”

”Whew, the battle is finally over.”

That exchange was held in the microbus food stall shaped a lot like a crayfish that was riding the artificial air currents below the sunny and starry sky. The ”battle” here was of course the lunchtime rush. Restaurant customers came in waves, so selecting a workplace based on the averaged-out amount of work listed on the help wanted ad would end badly.

These vehicle-based food stalls could start doing business fairly cheaply, but their mobility meant they could not install Media Summoners which had to connect to the mist mana arranged in a web-like pattern around the city. It was a wireless technology, but the requirement to place devices at the fixed starting and ending points of the mist mana lines left much to be desired. This place's owner envied the restaurants that positioned themselves on the giant walkway rooftops. Without the television, radio, and data searching that the young people wanted, the baby-faced apprentice with a towel around his head only had the owner to focus on.

The youth placed a hand on his shoulder and spun that arm around while giving the older man a puzzled look.

”Is something wrong?”

”No.”

Once the lunchtime rush was over, it was time to check on their sales, but the unrefined owner was focused on a certain coin instead.

”Our selling point is how cheaply we can provide a satisfying meal, so it just seems unusual for someone to pay with a royal gold[12]”

”Yeah, that is pretty weird. But they probably just wanted change. No one likes being directly asked to break a royal gold after all.”

”Why do you keep flipping it over? Do you think it might be counterfeit? Ha ha. We're too dumb to tell if it's real or not. We don't have an eye for the Light-Dark Duality. Oh, or is it true you can tell by biting it?”

”If it's a real counterfeit coin, I imagine there would be no way to tell the difference.”

That did not seem to be what the owner was interested in.

”That trio didn't look all that rich to me, but this coin isn't particularly sc.r.a.ped up yet it doesn't look like it was some great treasure of theirs either. Something about it rubs me wrong. It's like seeing an old man sleeping under a bridge with a gold watch hanging from his pocket.”

”Um, so should we contact the authorities?”

”I'm not sure. I don't want to get caught up in any trouble.”

The scales in his mind kept tipping back and forth.

And at times like this, a certain person came to mind.

”Yeah, we should contact her.”

”Probably, but I'm always worried she's overworking herself with how many people go to her for help.”

Yes.

The people were the greatest warning system. Just like a certain Striker had worked so hard to ensure.

After stabbing his sword into the ballista crane on the other rooftop, Ayato easily slipped between a shop that sold accessories made of monster wings and scales and a mobile restaurant that specialized in seafood pasta in order to return to the empty room from which they planned to make their attack.

That ridiculous sniper's hideout was right in front of them.

A midair road filled with people, things, and vehicles sat between them and Teleria and Mamilis were observing things through the thick window that kept the powerful wind out. He placed his hands on Teleria's shoulders from behind and pulled her toward him.

”Hyah!?”

”If you get too close to the window, she might notice you.”

”H-how can you do things like this so naturally? And if you really thought that would happen, you would seem more worried.”

”Have you seen her?”

”A few glimpses. Maybe she isn't going anywhere today.”

Mamilis's long ears poked out through her silver hair and she did not seem bothered by the other two's flirting.

Ayato focused on the building across the street as well.

”So that's the sniper in question, huh? Still…”

He could see a red figure at the window. She had long, flowing hair and a curvy body. She had the look of a determined woman and she wore a red leather outfit formed from a vest and a longish tight skirt with slits in the sides. She wore floating Expansion Armor like Teleria's long skirt, but hers looked like giant bat wings. No, a closer look showed she also had what looked like horns and a thick tail.

That may have been about right for this wind town. Ayato knew how trying to be as inconspicuous as possible could make you stand out even more, but this woman clearly had confidence in her body given how much of her bodylines she was showing off.

Then the Sorcery Hacker frowned.

(That wing… No, it couldn't be. Am I overthinking this?)

He could not see the anti-dragon rifle. She must not have kept it with her at all times.

”Have you seen anyone else there? Like roommates, visitors, and pizza deliverers?”

The two girls shook their heads.

He traced his fingers across his floating Linkage Monitor crystal tarot cards and approached the side of the window.

”Then let's get started. Miss Mamilis, prepare your sorcery gun. Miss Teleria, you provide support if she screws it up.”

”Eh? Like I said, I'm not good at fire magic.”

”Not that way. This is her first time doing this, so if she loses control of the explosion, I would really appreciate it if you cast recovery magic on me before I'm roasted here by the window.”

”Eeeeeeek!”

The blonde girl sounded much more afraid than necessary and Ayato glanced over at her while making the final check.

”The plan is as follows: I will use the lights to keep people and vehicles away, I will fire the ballista crane at her hideout, I will open the window to clear a line of fire, Miss Mamilis will launch her fire magic once the sniper woman leaves her hideout, and I will send a liquified manaflow into that to trigger a ma.s.sive explosion in her direction. That might sound like a lot, but I want to complete it all before I can count to five in my head.”

”O-okay.”

There must not have been any good end point for the air currents here because there were no shops or restaurants on the walls, so controlling the lights was enough to keep other people away from here.

”Do not confirm the previous step is complete before continuing to the next; we will essentially be doing everything at once. It will take time for the people to disappear after I control the lights and it will take time for the steel beams attached to the ballista crane's hook to hit the hideout after it is fired, so I want to begin on the next step while those are still underway. Focus on the countdown in your head more than the things you see happening.”

”Got it, Coach.”

”Really, it's like cooking. You can save a lot of time by chopping the vegetables while you wait for the pot to boil, right? Be more flexible and make sure you do your job.”

”Hmm.”

”Now, before we begin, I will provide you with the magic words, Miss Mamilis: You are my only hope.”

”Pretty sure that doesn't work on me.”

”(You say that and your expression might be blank, but I can see your long ears twitching!!)”

She was sniping, but she did not have to stand right up at the window. Nor did she need to attach all sorts of accessories like a scope or bipod. The Dark Elf aimed the full-auto shotgun with drum magazine toward the closed window from the center of the room. Ayato glanced over at her while he placed a hand on the window frame and flicked one of his floating crystal tarot cards to change its position relative to the others.

All of the ball-shaped traffic lights floating outside changed their display.

”Phase 1.”

Ayato did not bother watching the result of that change as he manipulated his cards again. This time, the crane on top of another building swung around and the thick steel beams attached to the end of the thick wire took aim.

At that distance, there would be a slight time lag between the launch and the hit.

As long as the people, things, and vehicles left the air before then, it would all work out.

”Phase 2, Miss Mamilis.”

Just as the people vanished, the steel beams crashed into the opposite building wall.

Mamilis found herself staring at the skillful coordination that felt like something from a parade, but when Ayato called her name, she frantically looked through her full-auto shotgun's sight again.

Something moved at the window as if forced out by that external stimulation.

It was a devil in red leather.

That very real threat had fired the devastating Critical Disaster on the city already.

She forcibly opened a large window and started to throw herself out into the empty air.

The Dark Elf was acting as a sniper, but she did not have to directly hit this target. Her role was to trigger a fire, just like a wife lighting the kitchen stove for some cooking.

So it was fortunate she did not have to look too closely at her target.

If she had seen someone with a humanoid form much like her own, her finger would likely have stopped there.

Ayato gave her the final push she needed.

He threw open the window and the wind from outside slammed into her face.

She seemed to pull the trigger more out of surprise than anything. A red muzzle flash colored the air and a torrent of mist mana burst through that while transforming into a supernatural phenomenon with real power behind it. A used shotgun sh.e.l.l, with the surface of the mist mana hardened by the impurity powder and the high temperature, lost its light as it was spat from the ejection port. The gunshot flew out the window after transforming into the crimson flames that Teleria had trouble with.

”Phase 3.”

That just left switching over control of the traffic lights to stop the artificial air current and sending out the highly concentrated manaflow as spray. Fire would not cause condensed mana like that to burn, but magic fire or water were a different matter. Liquefied mana inside bullet cartridges was dangerous because it could cause an explosion, but the degree of the interference was all in how you used it. If he used one of the manaflows supporting the city traffic infrastructure to create a blazing gust of wind, that orange dragon would swallow up their target.

Everything was going according to plan.

He only had to flick one of the ultrthin crystal tarot cards floating in the air.

However.

The line Ayato Criminaltrophy was using to control it all was severed.

He could not use the traffic lights to control the manaflow that was normally used to create wind.

The arcana images vanished from the crystal tarot cards, so they became no more than transparent panels.

The spark launched by Mamilis Coster left the window, twisted around, and faded away in the air. However, the gunshot and magic must have drawn their opponent's attention.

His eyes clearly met those of the red leather woman with false wings spread wide.

”It didn't work!? Um, Coach, I…!!”

”It wasn't your fault! d.a.m.n, did someone interfere with all the traffic lights that convert the wind!?”

The red leather sniper had initially tried to escape from the window, but now he wondered if she had detected their actions and fought back. In other words, he wondered if she too was a Sorcery Hacker.

But something was not right.

All three of them heard several sets of heavy metallic clanking take up positions outside the window and on the other side of the wall.

”Kyah!?”

Teleria was shocked by a disgusting sensation like metallic bugs were crawling all over that wall. She lost her balance, so Ayato took her arm and pulled her close.

”Is that the knights?”

”Sorcery Hacker! We would like a word with you concerning the incident in Fire Castle Town Flared!!”

(That's an obvious diversion. They'll be sending a strike team in from the back. If we let that voice scare us and try to escape out the back, we'll be hit with a surprise attack.)

Someone must have called the knights on them and those knights had reset everything to retake control of the traffic lights without considering what Ayato's group might be trying to do. That was why he had not been able to use the manaflow meant to transform Mamilis's spark into a finis.h.i.+ng blow.

Out the window and at the building across the way, the long-haired devil woman was stepping up onto the windowsill and throwing herself out into the air. Her thick tail swished side to side as if mocking him. Was that the long, narrow case for a fis.h.i.+ng rod hanging from her shoulder? That item did not suit this wind town at all. What she was actually hiding inside went without saying. She was a sniper, after all.

”Wh-what do we do!?”

She was going to get away after all this.

Ayato was not going to hold back now. He whispered in tearful Teleria's ear while still holding her close.

”I still have the ballista crane.”

The steel beams on the end of the giant crossbow's wire crashed into their own building.

The knights out front were a diversion for the real attack in the rear.

That meant the knights had not planned for a bold escape through the front window. Simply eliminating the group on the outside wall would be enough to throw the scene into chaos. Ayato calmly a.n.a.lyzed the situation while glancing over to see Mamilis putting on her earrings to hide her distinctive long ears.

The heavy bundle slipped through the uneven jungle gym structure of this town and mercilessly blew away the wall.

The time of chaos was nigh.

Below the sunny and starry sky, the boy jumped out of the high-rise building's window with Teleria in his right hand and Mamilis in his left.

”Wahh!?”

”Miss Teleria, scream if you like, but do not forget our objective here. We must pursue the sniper!!”

The foolish knights had reset all the traffic lights in this area, so all the air currents were even and indistinct. The effects of this branched out over a wider area, so the people, things, and vehicles that would normally never collide had to twist around under their own power to avoid danger.

And amid all that…

”Wow, she's fast!!”

They pursued the demonic sniper who was switching from one air current to the next to escape, but they could not seem to catch up. She maintained a distance of about 50 esoule[13] ahead. This was not the result of her large decorative wings catching the wind. The answer was obvious once he observed that false-winged sniper as she took sharp turns with almost no time loss.

”I see.”

”Y-you see what!?”

”I would like to move quickly, so let go of your skirt for now. And it is not those decorative wings that are helping her here. She places her feet on the walls when making a turn. Instead of just floating, she is using that footing to control her flight. That seems to let her make sharper turns!”

Sometimes she used the building walls themselves and sometimes she used the signs or the roofs of the tent-shaped shops attached perpendicularly to the walls, but she used it all to move out ahead.

Of course, she was making contact with stationary objects while moving at high speed. When she seemingly stroked those surfaces with the high-heeled feet sticking out from her slit skirt, the slightest mistake in the force used could have broken or shattered her ankles. Just because he knew how it worked did not mean he could do it himself.

Also the sniper escaping ahead while flapping her Expansion Armor wings was not the only problem.

The Dark Elf looked back and raised her voice while continuing to ride the artificial currents.

”We're being pursued too!! Coach, the knights are coming!!”

He grabbed her shoulder and took a large right turn at the next intersection.

An intense barrage of magic arrived a moment later.

The white beams fired at them were ”weathering”. They were probably Tertiary Ex Weathering from the wind element which excelled at status effects. Anything those hit would be broken apart at the microscopic level, have gaps opened within it, and be blown away like dust in the wind. This would affect living creatures and metal alike, so the knights must not have been thinking about taking them alive.

The knights were using semi-auto rifles that had once been retired from use and later brought back and improved once their accuracy and power in mid-range sniping was rea.s.sessed. They had the obvious power of a large caliber and they were convenient enough to produce certain results no matter who wielded them, so they were known for being strictly banned from sale to civilians.

However.

”Wait, you idiots! Run away!!”

Ayato shouted at them, but did those pursuing knights know what he was referring to?

The fearsome beam reminiscent of a dragon attack blew away that threat like it was nothing.

When Ayato's group quickly turned the corner at the intersection, the weathering magic fired by the pursuing knights must have continued on toward the sniper with the Expansion Armor wings. That horned woman must have concluded she was under attack and returned fire. People were free to throw stones to knock down a hornet's nest if they liked, but what if a hibernating bear's den was located back behind there? That was what the knights had done.

(That power and that beam. I would recognize it anywhere.)

Ayato's heart filled with an unpleasant certainty as he left the intersection and pa.s.sed by a mobile shop shaped like a ladybug.

It was nothing short of a miracle that none of the shops and restaurants on the walls here had been blown away.

(That's the anti-dragon rifle that started all this by sending Funny s.n.a.t.c.h's group to their graves in Flared. That settles it! She really is the person who framed us!!)

He was reminded just how absurdly powerful that thing was.

It was bright enough to blot out the sunny and starry sky.

The magic had been amplified so far he could not even hazard a guess at what it had originally been. There was no trace of its original form remaining. He was amazed by the power of the anti-dragon rifle hidden in the fis.h.i.+ng rod case and by the skill of the red leather woman who could control that absurd level of recoil while moving at high speed with no footing to speak of.

”Wah, wah, wah!!”

”Calm down, Miss Teleria. Here, I will hold you tight to help.”

”Coach, I'm pretty sure that's going to do the opposite. Although making her mind go blank so she freezes up might work out in the end.”

Now that the rookie Dark Elf had their dynamic figured out so well, the blus.h.i.+ng and dizzy blonde girl had nowhere to turn.

”Miss Teleria, do try to speak in human language. Also, those knights were wearing dark gray armor. That is their combat armor made from oxidized manconducting silver protectors and large monster tendons and leather. It provides both a physical boosting effect and magical defense. The soundproofing at the weak points is not perfect, but it is guaranteed to keep them alive. They will not die so easily.”

”Monster…urp, uwehhhhhh.”

If the knights and the sniper woman would fight each other and slow each other down, that was fine with him. His group had left the shortest route and turned a corner to avoid the knights' attacks, so they had start pursuing that absurdly-powerful sniper again.

The deafening sounds of gunfire told him where she was even with a tall building in the way. The knights knew they were straying from their original target, but they must not have been able to ignore such a powerful threat. Ayato, Teleria, and Mamilis turned a corner toward the source of the noise.

”Eeeek! It sounds like that one woman is winning out against the organized power of the knights.”

”That means she must be preparing for something that requires enough power to overpower the knights. She already used human traffickers to capture the city's urban design manager, so what could she be planning?”

Was it due to their alt.i.tude or because they were approaching the center?

As soon as they turned the corner, a giant windmill's blades came into view. Each blade was 35 esoule[14] long and the windmill used four of them to catch the artificial air currents needed to heavily rotate them. It likely compressed the mana spread thinly through the air as mist and sent it through an underground pipeline to help power central Light Castle Brightio. Teleria screamed, so he grabbed her arm and ducked below the blade that approached from above like a guillotine while continuing to gain ground on the brutal sniper.

The Dark Elf gulped while holding her full-auto shotgun in both hands.

”The sound disappeared, Coach.”

”We're about to catch up. We'll reach the next intersection at the same time!”

But tracking the red leather devil woman's position was the most Ayato could manage, so he had to delay doing anything as a Sorcery Hacker. He had lost most of his resonating processing s.p.a.ce when the knights reset the traffic lights, so all he had left was the fire system he had found inside the empty room's wall. Also, that only let him operate that stationary ballista crane and the hook equipped with giant bee wings could only be fired so far. Wildly firing that wire would only get other people caught in the crossfire, so he had to a.s.sume that would not help.

(There are the machines that scatter the visualization flower petals, there are the light fixtures, and…argh, the stores on the walls are in the way!)

He had to use his Linkage Plug to build things up from scratch, so he needed Teleria or Mamilis to buy him some time with their magic. But that would mean using those girls as a s.h.i.+eld by placing them in front of that sniper who wielded enough firepower to directly overpower the organized strength of the knights.

They only had one chance here.

(The air currents are controlled by low-level traffic lights. If I can stab my sword into one of those to control it, I can mess with the current and strength of the air current. Disturbing the current the sniper is using to slow her down is the only real option here!!)

One of those ball-shaped traffic lights floated at the center of the upcoming intersection.

He focused on the sword at his hip.

And the moment arrived.

They were 1500 esoule[15] up from the base of the city.

As two air currents intersected, the sniper used her Expansion Armor wings and tail in the wind and just barely shared the same s.p.a.ce and time as Ayato's group. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. They were close enough to smell each other's hair, but there was nothing shared between their hearts.

Ayato drew his Linkage Cable sword to take control of the traffic light and locally control the air currents, but the woman with devilish horns swung around the anti-dragon rifle sorcery gun that was longer than she was tall and struck his blade, redirecting it. However, their close range worked against her, so the devil woman in red leather could not actually aim the enormous weapon at her target.

Neither one of them could accomplish what they wanted.

And time sped back up to normal.

The scenery flew by and the distance between them stretched out infinitely once more. He nearly crashed into one of the walkways creating the jungle gym look of this town, but he just barely managed to regain his balance at high speed.

”Again!! We need to cross that sniper's route again before we lose sight of her!!”

Just as he shouted that, the sniper took action sooner than expected.

The fearsome beam of that anti-dragon rifle ignored the street made from artificial air currents and the row of towering buildings as it attacked. Yes, she used its destructive power to blast right through the building in between them.

This one caught him entirely by surprise.

Even Ayato felt like an icy hand was squeezing at his heart, but this was not aimed at him or at the ordinary people standing perpendicular on the wall. The wind blew in through the smashed wall, but the people in the stores were miraculously safe. That woman's skill really was astounding. But what had she been shooting?

It was one of the ball-shaped sorcery devices floating in the air.

She had vaporized the traffic light that organized traffic by controlling the air currents for this area.

”Wh?”

Ayato himself had tried to control that very device to slow down the sniper, but the woman with her Expansion Armor tail waving had chosen to destroy it instead of control it.

With the traffic light gone, the artificially-managed air current vanished.

Ayato's group had been freely soaring through the sky as if swimming, but that movement suddenly changed.

They fell.

”Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!?” screamed Teleria.

Ayato reached out a hand almost on reflex and pulled the blonde girl close.

An instinctual fear ran down his spine as he felt gravity clutching at his stomach, but they were not going to crash into the ground right away. Wind Castle Town Silphine had countless air currents intersecting like knit wool. They had lost one, but they just had to catch a ride on another one lower down.

But it was true they had lost that smooth control.

They were blasted in an entirely different direction like they had boarded the wrong train.

”Where's that sniper!?” he shouted.

”It's no use!” answered Mamilis. ”I can't see her anymore!!”

Changing ”tracks” must have made Mamilis panic because she tried to reach for a nearby mobile shop modified from a longhorn beetle sorcery taxi, but Ayato quickly stopped her. He was not going to let her break or shatter a bone.

This result made everything feel dark and hopeless, but the devil woman in red leather had not literally disappeared. She was still in this wind town, so they could still pursue her.

Or so he thought.

However…

”What is that? Dammit!”

Ayato Criminaltrophy finally realized where the sniper had sent them.

They were being swept toward the many people and beetle-like sorcery vehicles clinging to the wall of a giant building.

Except all of these people carried large sorcery guns and wore identical asphalt-colored armor made from oxidized manconducting silver protectors and large monster leather and tendons.

”Really!? Straight to the knights' local command post!?”

It was too late to complain now.

There was only one exit from that invisible slide made from a powerful air current, so Ayato's group was forced to land on the wall right in the middle of the enemy formation.

Henrietta Split Destrius had sensed an odd change to the ”flow” of events. The Sorcery Hackers had supposedly been running from the peacekeeping knights, so she doubted they would charge right into the knights' formation for no reason. Most likely, some third party had intentionally intervened. And that Striker with a blonde braid, dark gray protector armor, and a tight miniskirt was not careless enough to a.s.sume the enemy of their enemy was their friend.

But whatever their circ.u.mstances, these people here were undoubtedly sorcery criminals.

Also, it was highly likely they were a vigilante group that had fought some other criminals in the fire town and vaporized their opponents with high-power magic.

(This is wrong of me.)

The weight of the large sorcery gun at her hip felt comforting to Henrietta right now.

(I should not be finding comfort in a tool of killing. A Striker's focus should be on compa.s.sion and decorum.)

Her father had been unable to die in battle.

With the world at peace, the royals and n.o.bles had held parties on a daily or nightly basis, so their lives were taken by excessive alcohol and salty meat dishes instead of an enemy's blade. Her father had been a simple and honest warrior, so he must not have been able to keep up with those machiavellian people who had nothing but soft fangs in their mouths. She had been unable to look at her father in those final days when the stress and lifestyle diseases had left him bedridden. He had pa.s.sed away while deliriously insisting he wanted to die in battle and that he wanted to take a blade for someone.

She had been unable to grant him his wish.

But after succeeding him as a very young head of the family, Henrietta had chosen to carry their family's honor by placing herself in the dangerous sorts of duties he had always aspired to.

The t.i.tle of knight had been stolen by those filthy white hat hackers and she had instead taken the temporary t.i.tle of Striker that did not have any history behind it, but that was fine with her.

What she had to do remained the same.

She had a body to use and an enemy to defeat, so if this would protect the people and the king's honor, nothing would delight her more.

”Striker Destrius.”

”Stay focused, Solder Shadelose.”

She slowly exhaled while viewing her target.

”Just do this like we always do.”

They had no time.

Even now, the sniper with devil wings was escaping further and further away.

”Sorcery Hacker.”

But Ayato felt things changing when a female voice sharply questioned him.

They were on a different set or rails now.

He wanted to pursue that red leather woman right away, but he could not ignore this either.

They were surrounded by a group of around ten wearing protector-based combat armor colored a dark gray, but the one beautiful woman wore some nicer-looking armor. Why had she chosen that technologically-inferior armor? She wore her long blonde hair in a single braid down to her hips, her hand slowly reached for the large sorcery gun worn at the side of her hip, and she appeared to be the one in charge here.

He heard some solid clanking sounds from directly behind him. The elites who had survived the fury of the anti-dragon rifle had caught up and landed on the wall of the building.

But he could not take his eyes off the person in front of him.

The pressure coming from that female knight with braided blonde hair was different from the rest. There was no warmup in combat. You could not hold anything in reserve for later. If he let his focus s.h.i.+ft even slightly, he would be devoured immediately.

He could tell.

”Disarm yourselves and surrender at once. We will give you one chance here. We have no problem at all with shooting all three of you to end this.”

”Hm, you real knights are nothing like the ones in the storybooks.”

”Excuse me, I am Striker Henrietta Split Destrius. My court rank is viscount. Unlike you, I hold a position where I need not hide my appearance and name behind a handle name. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

”We clearly live in very different worlds because that just sounds suicidal to me.”

Ayato slowly raised his hands and observed his surroundings by moving just his eyes and keeping his head motionless. They were on the wall of the high-rise building. In addition to the asphalt-colored knights, there were also a few six-legged sorcery vehicles parked around them. He could Sorcery Hack those if he had a manaflow to work with, but…

(Even the cheapest vehicle is Level 8 while I only have 6 to work with. There's nothing I can do right now. And those knights' protector armor is more than twice that.)

Their levels were high and they blocked the way forward and back. Ayato had not stabbed his sword's blades into various devices to build up his processing s.p.a.ce, so he was stuck like this for now.

(Whatever the case, I need to get to a higher level. I can't do anything without doing that.)

Clank, clank, CLINK. Ayato's footsteps rang out as he slowly walked toward the group in front of him with his hands still in the air.

Henrietta drew the large sorcery gun from her hip.

It was based on a large-caliber bolt-action rifle, but it was a carbine with a collapsible metal stock attached to the back and a giant axe attached like a bayonet either as a formality or for military demonstrations. However, he could not quite figure out what it was for. It might have decent penetrative power and accuracy with a scope by using its long-range and large caliber, but then what was that axe for? It seemed overly decorative to him, much like that armor with a miniskirt.

”Do you intend to survive this?”

”I certainly don't intend to surrender.”

With a rough noise, Henrietta pulled back the bolt-action c.o.c.king lever to load a round into the chamber.

”(Miss Mamilis.)”

Nevertheless, Ayato whispered in the Dark Elf's ear with his hands still raised.

”(What magic do you have loaded at the moment?)”

”(The simplest one: Primary Blaze.)”

”(Then,)” he began. ”(You are my only hope. Fire at the window directly below us.)”

The full-auto shotgun sorcery gun with a drum magazine attached produced a muzzle flash toward their feet and fire magic exploded out. The three of them immediately disappeared. They were standing on the side of a building and the wall they stood on had windows at set intervals. It went without saying what happened when Ayato, Teleria, and Mamilis stood on that thick gla.s.s and then shattered it.

The shotgun self-replicated the magic designated by the bullet itself and fanned it out from the barrel. The thick reinforced gla.s.s may have been designed to withstand the powerful winds and artificial air currents up here, but this was too much for it.

”Kyah!!”

The blonde girl's scream echoed out. They had been standing where the air current pushed them against the wall, so they had slipped right inside the building. Gunshots rang out from the outside wall, but it was too late now.

Ayato reflexively tried to pull the blonde girl close when he heard her scream, but someone else responded faster. Rookie Mamilis grabbed Teleria's hand and helped her up in his place.

”Oh?”

”Oh, no. If this student proves to be a little too capable and steals this role from me, that happy sensation will forever slip from my fingers!!”

”I'm not going anywhere, Ayato, so don't look even more panicked about this than everything else that's happened today!!”

The fading red shotgun sh.e.l.l finally fell into the building with a metallic clinking.

Ayato spun around to view their surroundings.

Teleria (while still held by the Dark Elf) pulled her dual handguns from their holsters, pressed the slides against her forehead, and used the power of her mind to transform the letters and numbers on the disintegrating lead bullets into something more combat-oriented.

There was a brightly-polished floor, decorative potted plants, and the giant crystal orb of a Media Summoner. A brand-new six-legged vehicle sat in the middle of the shop. This must have been a luxury shop s.h.i.+elded from the winds outside.

”A display store for sorcery vehicles?”

”Ugh, they're like driven weapons…”

”Miss Mamilis, there is nothing to fear from that machine. And Miss Teleria, fire some warning shots toward the workers and customers, but do not hit anyone. Miss Mamilis, keep track of your remaining shots while firing toward the window!”

”Oh, honestly! Secondary Water Jet!!”

The blonde girl fired a straight line of pressurized water up at the ceiling using her twin handguns and the Dark Elf used the Primary Blaze fire magic to construct a giant wall of small explosions at the window through which they had entered.

The floor was soon littered with red shotgun sh.e.l.ls covered with a hardened film of mist mana. The sh.e.l.ls flashed like sparks as they fell.

They had sent the extra people away from here while buying time until the knights could break in. Ayato had to make his move during that time. He drew his Linkage Plug sword, stabbed it into the floor, and removed a perfectly-hidden square panel. Several pipes ran through the floor.

(The sprinkler control and the A/C equipment. That's Level 5. I'll take that processing s.p.a.ce to start with.)

He stabbed his sword in, pulled the trigger, and detached the grip from the blade before replacing the floor panel.

This time, they would be fighting on a narrow field. He had some more processing s.p.a.ce now, but that was gone if the knights found the blade and pulled it out. That meant it had to remain hidden.

The giant snowdome-like Media Summoner connected to a long and narrow path of mist mana on the wall was being used as an advertis.e.m.e.nt display for new vehicles. He reached behind that and stabbed a blade into it.

(The Media Summoner is Level 3. That gives me a total of 14. With that much resonance, I can take over that display sorcery vehicle or even a knight's protector armor if I can get a blade into it!)

”Wah, wah! Ayato! I just heard hurried footsteps from over there. In the hallway!”

”Yeah, they would search for another way around with the window blocked by that barrage.”

”Hm? Then can I stop, Coach?”

”No, Miss Mamilis, you keep at it. Miss Teleria, fire on my signal. On the count of three!”

Heavily-equipped knights charged in through the same door the workers and customers had used to flee the warning shot. Ayato used that moment to use the sprinklers under his control to send an artificial downpour on them.

Their armored feet must have slipped in the pouring rain.

”Ahh, ah!!”

”Miss Teleria, the finis.h.i.+ng blow.”

She did not need a laser guide or dot sight. The blonde girl pulled her twin handguns' triggers toward the dark gray knights who had tripped quite spectacularly. Fire erupted from the muzzles and the disintegrating lead bullets created blue muzzle flashes as bright as fireworks. The mist mana spewed blue sparks in full-auto and the m.u.f.fled sound of suppressed gunfire rang out as spears of pressurized water were created. More and more shots of Secondary Water Jet stabbed into the defenseless knights. Since their armor was made to be wearable, the soundproofing around the vitals was not perfect.

”Keep going! Freeze their soaked armor if you can!!”

”That would kill the people inside, so I'm not doing that!!”

A surprise attack was no more than a surprise attack, so this would not work again.

But Ayato still thought they could win.

”Lean out into the hallway and keep firing. Take out as many as you can right now.”

”U-uwehhhh!! Okay, fine!!”

The soaking-wet blonde girl did as told and released a spray of full-auto fire into the straight hallway outside the door.

She had soon created a small pile of empty cartridges covered in a film from the impurity powder and high temperature. The fading blue lights scattered at her feet and lost their color like withering flowers.

Their opponents here were experts at keeping the peace. A thoughtless spray of magic would not normally score a clean hit on them, but things were different here.

”Gyah!?”

”Dammit, what!? I can't see it!!”

”It's water magic, but it's hard to see because it's blending into the sprinkler water!!”

It was the same idea as being unable to read red writing in a red light. With the sprinklers sending down a shower of water, Teleria's water attack magic blended into the background.

(We don't have to defeat all of the knights. It takes one of them to treat another, so we just have to take out half of them. And we just want to run away, so we don't have to defeat their big boss either. If we crush the underlings to trip them up, we can make our getaway!!)

He had built up a path to victory while outnumbered.

He chose not to confront them head-on because he recognized their skill. The more a Sorcery Hacker respected a formidable foe, the craftier a plan they would put together. If a clash could be avoided, nothing would be better. Direct combat was not the only way to fight. Whatever that blonde braided knight…no, that Striker thought, Ayato's group's win condition was escaping safely from this place.

Or so he thought.

However, the interior wall right next to him was suddenly smashed by brute force from the other side.

”Wh?”

This a.s.sault operation entirely ignored the preexisting pathways.

The explosive destruction sent chunks of wall larger than his head flying like a scattershot. Teleria had been by the door to the hallway, but Mamilis was in the danger zone while holding the full-auto shotgun at her hip and firing toward the window from the center of the display area. He immediately grabbed the Dark Elf around her slender hips and knocked her to the floor.

”Mgyuh!!”

”Miss Mamilis, you really do have some 'happiness' despite your slender build.”

”Are you making a joke so I won't worry about you, Coach? A piece of rubble just hit you in the back.”

He smiled and did not respond, but the blonde girl who did not know how to appreciate the little things in life interrupted them with a warning shot of water magic.

”C'mon, c'mon! Get up, get up!! This is serious!!”

”Yes, yes…ow.”

He slowed his breathing and tried to get up again.

The person who had destroyed the wall and now strolled in from the adjacent room was the blonde-braided Striker wearing the old model of tight skirt protector armor and carrying a bolt action carbine with an axe-like bayonet.

This was Henrietta Split Destrius.

A sniper rifle with a scope gave no advantage in an indoor battle like this, but she approached all the same.

”Nh!!”

Dark Elf Mamilis fired her full-auto magazine while still lying on her back after he pushed her down. It spat out a Primary Blaze blast along with the shotgun sh.e.l.l. The bright red muzzle flash spread out, the mist mana that pierced that produced explosion magic, and the many pieces of self-replicated fire magic fanned out to create a thick wall of explosions.

Yet it did not hit.

Magic's range was equal to the reach of the gunshot sound, but this was not thanks to the partial soundproofing around the Striker's vitals. A much larger system had prevented the magic from working.

A gust of wind blew in through the broken window and surrounded Henrietta's slender body. The small tornado twisted and bent Mamilis's lines of fire, sending them in the wrong direction. The walls and potted plants were caught by the explosions, but Henrietta remained unscathed. Shotgun sh.e.l.ls the size of fingers were ejected to show the power being consumed and the last trace of their light scattered like sparks while their color faded like a withering flower.

”Sorcery Hacker, you are no more than a pest abusing but a portion of this city's system.”

”Kh.”

”But we Strikers are the ones who built this city's system. I hold the jackpot that allows me to draw out the city's full power through the proper lines, so did you really think you could stand up to me with the power of a few chips you managed to swipe?”

Ayato did not bother listening to any more than that.

(I'm at Level 14. That display vehicle is 7!!)

He stabbed his Linkage Plug sword into the headlight of the six-legged sorcery vehicle sitting nearby and removed the grip from the blade. Then he started up the vehicle and had it drive right toward Henrietta.

While hearing the fearsome sound of impact, he grabbed the silver-haired Dark Elf's slender arm and pulled her up from the floor. Then he ran to the hallway door where Teleria was.

But the threat was not gone.

With a deafening crash, the beetle-like sorcery vehicle meant to crash into the Striker at full speed was knocked aside.

She seemingly swept it aside with just the one hand.

Dark-skinned Mamilis gulped.

”What was that? I know she's wearing combat armor made from oxidized manconducting silver and large monster tendons and leather, but that doesn't strengthen her physical abilities!!”

”That wasn't that wind defense using the city infrastructure either, was it!?” added Teleria.

There was only one other option.

Henrietta carried a carbine with an axe-like bayonet. However, she did not bother aiming at them. She had pointed the muzzle overhead and did not even look through the scope.

And she made a single shot.

”Buff: Primary Ex Ma.s.sive.”

Based on the letters and numbers carved into the disintegrating lead bullet by her willpower, a muzzle flash burst out like a scarlet firework and her body explosively swelled out. The soles of her boots dug at the floor and she charged toward Ayato with fearsome speed.

(That sorcery weapon isn't a projectile weapon meant to safely fire elemental magic from afar. It's specialized for buffing her own physical abilities for a direct clas.h.!.+???)

The power and accuracy of the sorcery gun itself did not matter.

She had never considered hitting her enemy with it.

”Hh!!”

Ayato pulled the Dark Elf in close and placed himself in front of the blonde girl while just barely managing to swing the trigger-equipped sword he used for Sorcery Hacking. Henrietta's axe-like bayonet was not just a decorative formality or for military demonstrations. She used ultrclose-range tactics where that was her primary weapon and everything else was no more than accessories.

He could not hope to defeat a fully-equipped professional at point-blank range.

As soon as the blade and bayonet axe collided, his entire body lost balance to the side.

(d.a.m.n, and I could hack that sorcery gun if I could only stab it!!)

Henrietta spun around and made another strike with the axe blade from a completely different angle more than twenty times faster than the boy could recover. A hit from that would kill him instantly.

”(Secondary Rupture. Um, and then!!)”

Teleria was supposedly safe behind him, but instead of relying that, she pressed the slide of her handgun to her forehead, changed the type of magic being used, and pulled the trigger at extreme close range.

With the m.u.f.fled sound of the suppressed gunfire, an ultrpressurized line of water shot out, burst, and produced an explosion of water. Instead of hitting Henrietta, it was meant to launch Ayato and the other two through the door and into the hallway.

And that girl had two handguns.

She fired that water magic with one, but she had apparently used a variant of recovery magic with the other.

The Dark Elf spoke with her healthy skin soaking wet while the boy continued to hold her in one arm.

”That stings.”

”You should be thankful it only stings after being hit by a blast like that!!” insisted Teleria.

The knights who had yet to be defeated were waiting for them in the hallway, but Teleria's water magic and Mamilis's fire magic made short work of them (while those two were still collapsed on the floor). The floor was covered with empty cartridges with their red or blue light rapidly fading like withering flowers.

If they kept fighting blindly, they would end up cornered.

Ayato had to think.

”Outside!! This labyrinthine building is perfect for Henrietta's close-range specialty!!”

They had a plan now.

They all ran for the emergency exit sign inside that hallway extending to the left and right.

The wall collapsed near the door where they had been lying on the floor a moment before, the dust cloud was torn apart, and Henrietta walked calmly out into the hallway with her intentionally outdated armor and her carbine equipped with an axe-like bayonet.

Ayato's cheeks tensed as he clenched his teeth.

”I guess a real knight is a step above the rest!”

”A compliment like that only serves to irritate me coming from a Sorcery Hacker like you who does not even carry a sorcery gun. Even though I do know that is irrational.”

”I know it's a weird thing to say when these two are using them, but I've sworn to never use one of those again.”

”Did you think setting up little rules for yourself places you on the side of good, sorcery criminal?”

She pulled back the bolt-action c.o.c.king lever, an empty cartridge was ejected while it lost its golden color and faded like a withering flower, a new round was loaded with the surface of its mist mana hardened like a thin film, and she once again ignored the scope to fire it up at an angle like a gun salute.

”Another buff: Primary Ex Ma.s.sive.”

Again, Henrietta's beautiful body seemed to explode out.

Running would not be enough to escape.

”Miss Teleria, the door!!”

”Secondary Water Jet!”

The blonde girl obeyed his instruction by placing the slide portion of her guns against her forehead, changing the magic, turning around, and firing spears of pressurized water using the laser guide and dot sight to accurately hit the doork.n.o.b of a metal door partway down the long hallway.

The door flew open and crashed into Henrietta. She plowed right through it, but the direction of her fierce tackle was changed. She strayed from her straight path, her protector armor crashed into the interior wall, and she pa.s.sed by Ayato's group while her sc.r.a.ping armor sent sparks flying.

”Miss Mamilis, rapid fire!!”

Like the amateur she was, she stuck with Primary Blaze. The full-auto shotgun sorcery gun produced small explosions that were self-replicated and spread all over, but the wind complexly swirling around Henrietta diverted them all away.

The colorful used shotgun sh.e.l.ls were ejected all the same.

But that was fine.

The intense barrage of explosions completely destroyed the outside wall, giving them a view outside the building. Targeting a nearby wall meant Mamilis's flames nearly blew back in and burned them, but that was actually a good thing. They now had a shortcut outside, so it no longer mattered that Henrietta was blocking the route to the emergency exit.

There was no reason to hesitate.

Before Henrietta could extract that half of her body from the inner wall, Ayato's group jumped down from a height of more than 1000 esoule[16].

They were below the sunny and starry sky once more.

They rode an artificial air current pseudo-visualized by the flower petals in it and hurried away from there.

”This won't be enough to lose her!” pointed out Teleria. ”We need to figure out what to do!!”

”Based on our brief clash there, that Henrietta is on another level. On the other hand, the other knights weren't all that impressive. A head-on clash might be dangerous, but if we plan things out, we can have them dancing in our palm.”

”Coach, would it break their spirit if we defeated that braided ponytail woman?”

”Right now, I don't think she's going to let us just run away!”

With an explosive sound, Henrietta crashed through the wall of that building and rode an air current just like them. Her blonde braid and miniskirt fluttered behind her as she pursued them at incredible speed. She must have been used to this because she looked right at home slipping between the giant walkways and mobile shops made from sorcery vehicles.

She was faster.

It was obvious why. It was the same as with the sniper from before. While Ayato's group was avoiding the buildings and staying in the air, she was using her ridiculous strength to place her feet on a building wall and then kick off to accelerate herself whenever she had a chance. Doing so on the smooth vertical walls would be hard enough, but she also used the shops on those walls and the gaps between people. A normal person would have shattered their legs trying it, but she forcibly reduced the burden using the reinforcing function of the equipment supplied by the central Light Castle and the muscular-amplification magic she had created for herself.

It was gradual, but she was definitely closing the gap.

She would catch up if they did not come up with a plan and then those powerful arms would grab at their ankles and swing them around. Once that happened, it was all over.

”Wh-wh-wh-what do we do, what do we do, wait, huh, wait!?”

”We head northeast for now. Do not change direction. Also, Miss Teleria and Miss Mamilis, have you kept track of your remaining ammo? Do you have much left?”

”I'm fine there…”

”Coach, I am fine too. Also, directions like that don't mean much in a sky city.”

When the two girls answered him, Ayato made up his mind.

”Miss Mamilis, that large sign on the wall.”

”Hm?”

”Miss Teleria, destroy that window was.h.i.+ng gondola!!”

Fire and water magic erupted out and a storm of Primary Blaze and Secondary Water Jet tore through a heavy metal ma.s.s's bolts or wires to drop it into the air current. The heavy wreckage of metal and a thin Media Summoner pa.s.sed by directly behind them and flew straight toward Henrietta as she pursued them.

”Back in that shop, she did not stop the six-legged sorcery vehicle with her wind defense. I do not know exactly where the limit lies, but it must not be able to stop objects above a certain weight!”

Those ma.s.ses would kill a normal person and they now blocked Henrietta's path.

However…

”Uwehhhh!!”

Teleria could not be blamed for shouting in surprise. Henrietta never even considered dodging. She let her buffed body do the talking and deflected wreckage taller than she was with nothing but a swing of her fist.

”Th-that-that didn't buy us any time at all!”

”Hm, there really are more of those big windmills the closer we get to the center. And there are fewer walkways. I also saw some of those windmills while we were pursuing that sniper.”

”h.e.l.looo!?”

The large cross-shaped windmills had four blades which each measured 35 esoule[17] long. Ayato checked behind them while slipping between two windmills that were quite close together.

Henrietta really was a powerful enemy.

She grasped at the air currents more easily than Ayato's group and avoided the windmills more accurately than them as she closed in on them.

”There aren't any restaurants or mobile shops around. We must be almost to the Bright Castle in the center.”

”Eh? Coach, that means this is a dead end. There's a thick aurorlike barrier called the Free Audience Restriction. It's like a ma.s.sive wall of energy.”

”Then let's settle this before we run into that,” he said. ”Miss Teleria, focus on the steel beams dangling from that ballista crane. Fire on my signal.”

Striker Henrietta Split Destrius, who wore her blonde hair in a braid modeled after a ponytail and who wore old-fas.h.i.+oned armor that included asphalt-colored protectors and a tight miniskirt, heard the loud gunshot.

(It is no use.)

Any magic fired directly at her would be swept aside by the wind swirling wildly around her. And even if they knocked down a sign or cleaning gondola, she could deflect it with her own body thanks to her physical buffing magic.

Before the appearance of sorcery guns, her house had specialized in the halberd which was a fusion of a spear and an axe. That could still be seen in her house's coat of arms, but that symbolized the ability to slay any foe and to remove any trouble standing in the people's way.

She still felt ashamed wielding even the bare minimum of a sorcery gun, but she continued to embody the tactics that her ancestors had considered the ideal. She had insisted on using the axe bayonet despite everyone telling her it would negatively affect the barrel of the gun and she had proven that it had the power to overwhelm sorcery criminals. It was her use of that splitting weapon that had allowed her to take her middle name.

It would take a very large ma.s.s indeed to stop her.

For example, it would take the steel beams scattered from the end of a ballista crane cras.h.i.+ng into and breaking the back of a giant windmill's support pillar, sending the entire cross-shaped windmill with 35 esoule[18] blades flying toward her like a rotating deathtrap.

”Wh!!!???”

Even Henrietta widened her eyes at that.

The largest of the things she had destroyed and deflected so far had been the size of a vehicle. Not even she would break through what amounted to a small building to take a shortcut. But the underhanded Sorcery Hacker fleeing up ahead would see that she dodged the windmill instead of destroying it.

This was bad.

Cras.h.i.+ng into it would be bad.

But if she slowed her pursuit to avoid the windmill filling her vision like a giant screen, the Sorcery Hacker group would pull away and escape.

Would she prioritize her life or her honor?

She was struck by fear that felt like an icy hand clutching her heart, but Henrietta Split Destrius was still a Striker. She had lost the t.i.tle of Knight and taken the temporary t.i.tle of Striker instead, but she was a true warrior who had not lost her n.o.ble spirit.

The king had lent her more authority than she felt she deserved, so she had to live up to that.

”Buff till it's enough: Primary Ex Ma.s.sive!!!!!!”

She ignored the scope, fired the bolt-action carbine with axe bayonet like a gun salute, and applied even more muscle-amplification magic. She was reaching the point where her own reinforcements could destroy her own body, but she did not care.

Instead of clearing this wall and hurdle, she had to smash through it and reach her targets!!

”Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

She would use no tricks.

With more of a roar than a shout, Henrietta charged straight toward the thick barrier in front of her. With axe at the ready, that outdated protector of the people risked her life to challenge the inanimate windmill. Smirk and call it silly if you like, but no matter how much dust had gathered on the concept of chivalry, there was no other life for the woman named Henrietta.

An explosive boom erupted high in the sky.

She had of course collided with one of those giant blades.

She felt pain in all of her joints, but she kept her charge going. She tore into it and dove through it until she finally formed cracks in the enormous structure, widened those, and broke through.

If this was the underhanded Sorcery Hacker's final trick, then she had them in checkmate.

They seemed to want to focus on obstructing her path from a distance instead of directly fighting her, so she would grab those faces full of false hope and throw them down to the depths. Henrietta Split Destrius would prove through her actions that righteousness filled your blade with the greatest of powers.

She could fly freely through the sky once more.

With all the obstacles gone, that beautiful Striker gave a roar.

”This ends here, Sorcery Hacker!!”

But.

But.

But.

Her target was not there.

They had disappeared in the brief moment she was distracted by the giant screen formed by that windmill!?

And that was not the only surprise.

Something towered up before her: an unbelievably thick wall. Once she saw it, she finally realized what the enemy had been trying to do. No matter how powerful her equipment and no matter how far she buffed herself with magic, she had no chance of breaking through this.

Strikers could not oppose the king from whom they borrowed their power.

Not just in action, but in thought as well.

In other words…

”Light Castle Brightio's…Free Audience Restriction!?”

No one could pa.s.s that barrier without the royal family's permission. That destructive wall s.h.i.+ned like an aurora. There were no exceptions, not even the divine and the demonic beings that had existed in this world since ancient times.

The royal castle was surrounded by the fire, water, wind, and earth areas, so every castle town bordered the Free Audience Restriction. And hadn't those giant windmills grown more common the closer they moved to the center?

Her enemy had no chance of defeating her, so they had chosen to slam her into the Free Audience Restriction. They took advantage of the city infrastructure to defeat even those who wielded that power through the proper channels.

It was exactly the Sorcery Hacker modus operandi.

The blonde braided Striker tried to slam on the brakes, but she could not stop the momentum she had built up to break through that windmill. And while plowing straight toward her doom, she saw something out of the corner of her eye: the targets she had lost sight of. That Sorcery Hacker boy and the others were standing on the wall of a nearby building. She could tell they had only disappeared for a few seconds at most. They had simply cut to the side right in front of her. That kind of distraction combined with sleight of hand was such hackneyed child's play it barely even qualified as a trick, but no matter how simple it was, she could not complain when she fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

Their eyes met for a brief moment.

He was smiling and she could clearly read the words on his lips: You are my only hope. Fire on my signal.

A continuous barrage of water and fire attacked Henrietta. She had already pa.s.sed them by, so this pushed on her back to slam her face-first into the thick Free Audience Restriction barrier that protected the royal castle. Of course, the whirlwind's protection diverted the attack magic's aim, but she could not do anything else while focusing on that.

That delayed applying the brakes even further.

That colorful attack magic missed her and flew off in a different direction, but her throat finally went dry when she saw it destroy the base of another giant windmill of all things.

It tore apart and rode the artificial air current.

One of the giant blades slammed into her from behind as if it had been calculated out from the beginning.

The blonde braided woman's body was trapped between central Brightio's Free Audience Restriction and the giant windmill, so she was shoved further and further toward that flickering wall of light.

The Free Audience Restriction was not just a wall.

It would repel any unauthorized visitors and, if they showed no sign of leaving, it would mercilessly destroy whoever was making contact.

The stone that pa.s.sed by her was shattered like it had been pressed against a jackhammer meant to mine for gems.

She was. .h.i.t by an impact that seemingly tried to crush her entire body with rapid vibrations. At this point, she might as well not have had the soundproofing meant to take advantage of the link between magical range and the sound of the gunshot. A fearsome level of damage was cras.h.i.+ng down toward her.

Orange sparks flew violently from the surface of contact.

”Ging back to bite her based on bizarre words like ”loophole” and ”vulnerability” and now she was going to lose to the power of the very king she served.

Was this just the way of things now?

Was she the fool for not adapting with the times!?

”I refuse to accept it.”

A deafening straining noise rang out.

Maybe it made her foolish, maybe it made her stupid, and maybe it made her too honest for her own good.

But for a moment, that proud Striker's willpower manifested itself as a supernatural phenomenon that overturned the a.s.sumptions of sorcery.

”I refuse to accept this ending!! I refuse to accept we live in a world where legitimate efforts are not rewarded with legitimate results and only those who search out shortcuts and loopholes get to skip half the steps and look down on the honest folk!! As someone tasked with preserving the king's safety and the people's happiness, I refuse to accept that!!!!!!”

She pushed it back.

Bit by bit, she pushed back the giant windmill in order to escape the destructive effects of the Free Audience Restriction protecting the royal castle. All so she could pursue that filthy Sorcery Hacker as a hound once more.

She created a slight gap that allowed her to escape that surface of contact. For a brief moment, the sparks stopped scattering. She could escape this!

But then she heard something hitting the other side of the giant windmill blade.

Someone had ridden an air current to land on that back surface. No, had they hit it with a flying kick? It was a slight thing compared to the overall ma.s.s of the windmill. It had no tactical effect.

But the Sorcery Hacker had done it.

He had intervened in that final scene while ignoring the realistic risks.

He would defeat her with his own hand.

He had arrived much like an old-fas.h.i.+oned knight demanding a duel.

”Hi there, Lady Knight!! I know I'm the one who did this to you, but I've got my own circ.u.mstances to consider. So I thought I'd pay you a visit and break your spirit!!”

”Do not mess with me, criminal. You call this an honorable duel!? I do not follow a version of chivalry that accepts a filthy soul such as yours!!”

”Sure, sure. When you get down to it, I'm a Sorcery Hacker first and a Forward second. I'm not about to deny what I've done. Not that I'm going to sit around and let you arrest me for it either.”

Just then, two holes appeared in the windmill blade between the two of them.

Ayato had used his Linkage Plug sword and Henrietta had used her bolt-action carbine with axe. They had torn through that obstacle in order to strike each other.

But as a result…

”Kh!?”

”Oh, I felt that one land. That's your armor, but…yes, I think that must be the shoulder joint. While trapped in there, I guess you can't even dodge an amateur's blade. Now, what level am I at right now? Surely you don't think your armor's defenses are going to keep me out!”

He was much more confident.

There was a monstrous vibration and sparks resumed flying from the surface of contact between armor and barrier.

He had her life in his hand. Chunks of brick and stone larger than her head were being obliterated by the surface of contact. If her magical defenses were taken from her now, she would be crushed and reduced to mincemeat by the jackhammer-like barrier that protected the king's castle with so much energy.

The concept of just deserts and the world's righteousness really were malfunctioning. Henrietta felt like everything was wrong with this G.o.dd.a.m.n modern era.

”You…criminal. You Sorcery Hackerrrrrrr!!”

”Criminal, huh? But you must have known that Mamilis Coster was a war victim who had her house destroyed by Government Security's cannon fire!!”

”Yet when you fought us, you didn't hesitate to say you had 'no problem at all' with shooting all three of us to end this. Why was that!?At the time, you couldn't have known. Mamilis Coster might have been tricked or threatened into helping us. The only fact you had on hand was her name on the list of Sky City Celedileka residents. So even if you had your suspicions, she should have been one of the people a knight is meant to protect! So why did you immediately abandon her!?”

An invisible stake stabbed into Henrietta's heart.

”Call it cynicism or sophistry if you like, but the fact that you have no reb.u.t.tal for the words of a 'filthy Sorcery Hacker' like me is proof that your righteousness is a fraud!! When placed in an uncertain situation, you weighed one of the people's lives against your own achievements and chose one over the other. Needless to say, it was your b.l.o.o.d.y and stained honor you chose!! Despicable knight, I doubt you'll believe me, but that sniper in red leather used those human traffickers to abduct the city's urban design manager in order to get information on the city's vulnerabilities for some kind of major job. And even if you do trust me, the biases you've created for yourself will probably only see it as a chance to make a name for yourself! Did you enjoy making those false accusations? Are you going to lament what happens after you turned a blind eye to the unanswered questions and simply blamed everything on us!?”

It had been a split-second decision.

When they had their sorcery guns aimed at each other, she had decided that brown girl was an enemy.

That guess probably had not even been wrong.

No matter what that filthy Sorcery Hacker said, she had seen enough now to know Mamilis Coster had almost certainly joined his group.

However…

(Why?)

Why had she doubted that girl so immediately? Why had she not trusted in the good of the people?

What even was the kind of Striker that Henrietta Split Destrius wanted to be?

No, what kind of Knight had she wanted to be back before that t.i.tle had been taken from her?

Had she strived to reject people as enemies?

Hadn't she wanted to rely on people even if they seemed suspicious, give them a chance to redeem themselves even if they did betray her, and to create an opportunity to gently hold them as they trembled from the weight of their crimes? Hadn't she wanted to never give up on those who had made a mistake and try to save them as many times as it took? Hadn't she been willing to accept any injury to that end?

Hadn't she wanted to be a sword that served the king and a s.h.i.+eld that protected the people?

Hadn't she wanted to be someone that everyone, regardless of social position, could love and trust?

Hadn't she wanted to be the person people thought of first when they were in trouble, no matter how trivial a thing it might be?

If not, what had she been trying to protect by changing her t.i.tle from Knight to Striker!?

(How did I think I could protect anything by giving up on people?)

”Do you know why I came to this city as a Forward? I'll give it to you straight from the lips of a 'filthy Sorcery Hacker'.”

Someone spoke.

This was not someone who had found a hole and crawled inside. It was someone who had been cast into a blind spot of the world yet continued to struggle from there.

”To right the world's cruelties! It's over for you if you let someone else take over your role while someone out there steals the truth away right before your eyes and manipulates you for their own ends. So rethink how you live your life, Lady Knight!!!!!!”

Those words, finally broke Henrietta Split Destrius's spirit.

The orange sparks scattering from her armor reached the breaking point.

The will to fight left her body and the power of the thick Free Audience Restriction barrier pierced her from head to toe.

The battle was over.

It was all wasted effort. This was not a job from a client, so they would not be paid for it. They had only racked up an ammo bill and filled their muscles with lactic acid.

(But it's over all the same. Or rather, we ended it.)

The power of central Light Castle Brightio's Free Audience Restriction was absolute. Even that giant windmill had been ground up as if crushed until its structural integrity had been reduced enough for it to fall apart. The vibration had been frightening. The destruction had been just like the jackhammers used in gem mines to tear up the rock and extract pieces of the concentrated underground gemflows.

A chill ran down Ayato's spine when he thought about placing a human body in the middle of that and that they had done that themselves. He chided himself for relying on his opponent's toughness a little too much.

”Ah, wait, Ayato!?”

When he spotted the dark gray protector armor falling limply down, he moved that way. He gained nothing from this and might even come into contact with the Free Audience Restriction barrier that wavered like an aurora, but he still felt a need to reach out his hand here.

He sighed at his actions once he was holding that limp, unconscious figure in his arms.

”It's because of things like this that I can't stop worrying, dammit.”

”You say that, but you made sure to stab your sword in her armor's joint to actually strengthen her defenses at the very end there.”

Ayato lightly cleared his throat at Dark Elf Mamilis's comment.

A skilled student had its downsides.

Whatever they were going to do with this asphalt-colored knight, they had successfully shaken the knights protecting the city. Now they could focus on that sniper wielding Critical Disaster.

…However, they had completely lost the trail of that devil in red leather and the knights still existed as a group. None of this had paid off. It felt like they had charged full speed ahead into wasted effort.

Silver-haired Mamilis spoke up with some exasperation in her voice.

”Coach, I see you use a princess carry when saving your enemies too.”

”Hm? Is that what this is called???”

”Does that mean you do that without even thinking about it?”

At any rate…

”We're free to act now, so let's get out of here before the others catch up. We have to start back at square one with that sniper, but it really comes down to repeating what we already did.”

”So what exactly are we going to do?” asked Teleria.

”That enormous anti-dragon rifle is that woman's greatest weapon but also her greatest flaw. She has to care for her aching body thanks to the ridiculous recoil of its giant bullets, so she had to rely on an outside supply no matter where she escapes to. It's the same as hunting out on a great prairie. We follow each of the little tracks she leaves to search out where she sleeps.”

After all the excitement in Wind Castle Town Silphine, the alert would be raised here just like in Fire Castle Town Flared. They would have to move to a different area to lose pursuit.

Ayato's group was of course the main dish for the knights, but the sniper had also ended up clas.h.i.+ng with the knights, meaning the knights were aware of her presence. Her priority would be lower, but she would still want to avoid being surrounded here. That meant the red leather woman would likely try to escape to a different town as well.

”The fire town is still on alert, so returning there would be suicide. So would Water Castle Town Aquaria be next? Although having just one option makes it easier for the knights to predict too.”

Just as they were working out their plans, something else happened.

It disappeared.

What did?

Something that had been towering above them. The giant barrier that would repel unauthorized visitors even if they were divine or demonic and that had defeated Henrietta Split Destrius so spectacularly. It had suddenly vanished like a candle's flame being blown out.

In other words…

”The barrier…the Light Castle's Free Audience Restriction is gone!?”

The red leather sniper had captured Urban Design Manager Jorbe Alphoverin and would have gotten all of Celedileka's vulnerabilities out of him. And she was planning something big using that.

Could this be it?

”The aurorlike barrier is created by borrowing the fire, water, wind, and earth powers of the four surrounding blocks, right? So if something went wrong with one of those, would the Free Audience Restriction lose its perfect balance and malfunction?”

”It isn't that simple, Coach. My grandma said the king's castle has several different layers of defense so an emergency facility immediately kicks in to power the barrier if the supply of the four elements is cut off. She sounded a little sad that none of her sorcery devices were needed to protect the castle!”

After hearing those two give their opinions, Ayato thought to himself while holding the Striker in dark gray protector armor.

Then that Sorcery Hacker spoke of a certain possibility.

”Then what about the moment between the normal power going out and the emergency power kicking in?”

”Eh?”

”The Free Audience Restriction might waver during the switch.”

With an electric buzz, the aurorlike barrier went back up.

This was probably the emergency power that Mamilis had mentioned, but that was meaningless if something had made it in during that brief downtime.

And with the impenetrable Free Audience Restriction back up, Ayato's group could not pursue that ”something”.

”Was this what the sniper was after?”

”Hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hmm.”

The humming devil in a red leather vest and longish tight skirt had been waiting for that moment.

She had used a third party to capture Sky City Celedileka Urban Design Manager Jorbe Alphoverin and she had gotten him to tell her the city's vulnerabilities. What mattered there was learning where the crucial points were. All four outer blocks were covered in a web-like array of the mist mana known as Intangible Mist, but the central core of that array was disguised as a civilian facility.

That poor sacrifice had taken over the entire sky city's foundational design, so he had only known the general areas for those four cores. He had not known the specific location or what they were disguised as. It was fairly standard, but he had drawn up countless different plans without knowing which ones had been ultimately adopted.

In Fire City Flared's case, it had been the giant crane that symbolized the unloading of cargo in the harbor block. That had been destroyed when the dragon breath was guided toward it.

Finding the one in Wind Castle Town Silphine had been more difficult, but she had ended up coming full circle and returning to the basics. Whether in the name of anti-terrorism or whatever else, she looked to see what part of the town was most heavily defended. After making many different observations and calculations, she had settled on the giant spherical theatre floating within all the tall buildings.

By destroying two of the cores, the Free Audience Restriction would waver and switch over to emergency power, but the problem was how short that switchover was. Rus.h.i.+ng through the artificial air currents to reach the wavering wall of light would not be fast enough after she destroyed the spherical theatre. The barrier would be back up under emergency power before she could get in.

So.

She had needed an ultrlong-range and high-firepower weapon that could destroy that spherical theatre core while right next to the Free Audience Restriction.

There was only one sorcery gun that devil could have relied on for that.

”Anti-dragon rifle Critical Disaster. Hm, hm, hm, hm, hmm☆”

Even the sunny and starry sky had disappeared.

With a blast rivaling a dragon's roar, the beam had shot through the uneven jungle gym of ultrhigh-rise buildings and giant walkways that was the wind town. That straight-line beam had skillfully weaved between all obstacles to accurately pierce the center of the giant spherical theatre. The semi-auto weapon ejected a fading empty cartridge thicker than her thumb. Its purple light fleetingly vanished and it lost its color like a withering flower. The aurorlike barrier wavered for about one multi-time[19], but that was plenty of time for a single person to pa.s.s through.

The Free Audience Restriction was only meant to prevent intruders coming in from outside.

It was not just a wall of destruction, so anyone could pa.s.s through unmolested if they were moving from the inside to the outside.

She had a single goal.

This was the center of Sky City Celedileka's government. It contained all of the important government offices, the great cathedral of the Forturiana Church which was all but officially recognized, and Light Castle Brightio where the king lived.

With the enormous rifle named Critical Disaster resting on her shoulder, that extraordinary sniper licked her lips and whispered to herself.

All while she calmly walked within arm's reach of someone's throat.

”Now, let's get this show on the road.”

All plants and animals (including humans) on this continent can be generally cla.s.sified into two categories. If you use a highly self-centered viewpoint, those can be described as Friendly Lifeforms and Hostile Lifeforms.

Humans are an example of Friendly Lifeforms.

Animals closely linked to human life such as dogs, cats, pigs, cows, chickens, sheep, horses, and goats as well as relatively benign wild animals and plants also belong in that category.

Meanwhile, Hostile Lifeforms are those that actively threaten human life, such as Mermaids, Dark Elves, Dragons, Griffins, and Krakens. In most cases, they are violent and malicious.

To draw on an older term, you could call them demons.

Now, one important note is that not everything cla.s.sified as a Friendly Lifeform is safe. For example, large carnivores like bears or tigers and venomous animals like hornets and scorpions are cla.s.sified as Friendly, but they are extremely dangerous when encountered in nature outside of human civilization. And it saddens me to say it, but there are at times conflicts between humans as well.

Now, does this mean the opposite is also true and some things cla.s.sified as Hostile Lifeforms are harmless and can be cooperated with? Unfortunately, this seems highly unlikely. Some of them are very nearly powerless such as Kobolds and Fairies, but they use their intelligence to work against humans, so their behavior remains highly cunning and dangerous.

It is impossible for humans, the peak of the Friendly Lifeforms, to live alongside Hostile Lifeforms. We can only marvel at our ancestors' foresight in shunning them as demons in a time before natural science had been formally developed.

(Handwritten Note at Bottom)

This is far too influenced by the biases of those G.o.dd.a.m.n Forturianans who seriously insist b.u.t.terflies are born from the morning dew. Besides, when you use the Light-Dark Duality that your religion insists must be true to trample on the actual observations, a.n.a.lyses, and records that form real natural science, you can't even call this an academic thesis. Throw it out!

Approximately 2400 meters. Approximately 3600 meters. Approximately 120 meters. Approximately 10,000 yen per coin. Approximately 5000 yen per coin. Approximately 480 meters. Approximately 36,000 meters. Approximately 12.5 millimeters. Approximately 480 meters. Approximately 1200 meters. Approximately 48 meters. Approximately 10,000 yen per coin. Approximately 60 meters. Approximately 42 meters. Approximately 1800 meters. Approximately 1200 meters. Approximately 42 meters. Approximately 42 meters. Approximately 75 seconds.

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