Chapter 76: Island Life with Esdeath
With just a change of scenery, Kobayashi appeared on a deserted island, with Esdeath appearing beside him.
The whole process had happened too fast for him to react.
Teleportation?
But why with Esdeath? And how did they do it?
Kobayashi frowned, his brain working rapidly, trying to recall what had just happened and sort out the process.
Suddenly, he was pulled into Esdeath's embrace.
"Hmm???"
His eyes widened, his body stiffened.
After a long moment, Kobayashi's muffled voice came out. "Um... Captain? What are you doing?"
"Because you looked very nervous and scared, so I hugged you."
Esdeath gently stroked his head and asked in a gentle voice, "How is it? Have you calmed down now?"
Hiss— hah— hiss— hah—
Kobayashi took several deep breaths before slowly lifting his head from the soft embrace, his brows unfurrowed and his eyes clear.
"Mmm, I've calmed down now."
"That's good."
Esdeath was not angry at his earlier behavior. On the contrary, she was quite impressed by how quickly he had adapted, but she didn't seem to have any intention of letting go.
Kobayashi asked softly, "Captain, do you think you could let go now?"
"What, you don't like this?" Esdeath asked in return.
Kobayashi shook his head. "I don't dislike it. But this place we're in could be potentially dangerous, so it's better to be a little more vigilant."
"You're right," Esdeath said, releasing her hands.
Kobayashi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Although the two of them had been very close during this period, he still hadn't dared to do anything out of line. After all, if he didn't stay calm, Esdeath would surely forcibly cool his ardor.
Alright, time to sort out the situation.
Without a doubt, Syura was the one behind this, because only the Teigu [Shambhala] could teleport people to other places in an instant.
But the strange thing was that he had been teleported twice in a row.
Esdeath was the first to speak. "At that time, you suddenly appeared in front of me, Kobayashi. Do you know anything about that?"
"Nothing at all."
He shook his head. "A purple light array appeared in front of me at that time. Before I could react, I was enveloped by the light. When I opened my eyes, I saw you, Captain. Then I was enveloped by the light again, and when I opened my eyes this time, we were here."
"I see," Esdeath nodded.
"But one thing is for sure. The other party's target was probably you, Captain."
"Oh? Why is that?"
Hearing him say this, Esdeath suddenly became interested.
The corner of Kobayashi's mouth twitched. He couldn't very well say that to guard against a sneak attack from the sneaky bastard Syura, he had kept [Spectator] active at all times to monitor his surroundings, could he?
He had no choice but to show off a wave of deduction.
Kobayashi pointed at a faint mark on the sand under his feet, which was not obvious under the sunlight, and said, "There's something strange about this mark. I suspect it's some kind of coordinate."
"A coordinate for teleportation?"
"That's right. The other party can most likely only teleport people to places with this kind of coordinate. And I noticed that it consumes a great deal of energy in that instant."
"I noticed that as well."
"But when I was teleported the first time, the energy required wasn't that great. I suppose the further the teleportation, the more energy is needed. It was night just now, and now it's daytime. Judging from the direction of the sun, we should be to the southeast of the Capital, and quite a distance away. After all, there's already a 12-hour time difference."
It sounded very impressive, but in truth, Kobayashi was just reverse-engineering the reasoning after already knowing the answer.
Esdeath raised an eyebrow, very impressed with his deduction.
She thought for a moment and said, "In other words, the enemy's initial plan was to teleport me here, and you were just caught up in it, Kobayashi?"
"...Probably."
This was the strange part. [Shambhala] could only teleport people to places with coordinates. Syura must have been hiding in Esdeath's vicinity just now, because his active [Spectator] hadn't detected him.
How was I teleported? Could it be a point-to-point teleportation between coordinates?
That ridiculous number of humanoid Danger Beasts, and the suspicious terrain that I didn't notice at the time but seems wrong now...
Don't tell me they deliberately drove me to that spot to trigger a trap, teleported me to Esdeath's side, and then teleported us both here together?
Simply put, he was also one of Syura's targets. He hadn't even gone looking for trouble, and trouble had come looking for him first.
Very good! Syura, you have already found the path to your own death.
"But there's still one problem," Esdeath said, puzzled. "Why teleport me here?"
"I think it's probably for that."
Kobayashi looked towards the distant sea level, from where a giant was climbing up, about the same size as the giant-form Doctor. It was most likely a failed experiment that had been teleported over.
"Heh, you think this thing can take me out?"
A mocking smile curled up on Esdeath's lips—three parts contempt, three parts arrogance, and four parts complete indifference.
With her status and strength, and in her current situation, she really did have the air of a Dragon King's crooked smile.
"This one is..."
"Let me take this one," Kobayashi said, stepping forward to request a fight.
It wasn't that he wanted to show off. He was just a little frustrated by Syura's little tricks and wanted to vent.
"Are you sure?"
Esdeath said in surprise, "Your Teigu isn't with you. Can you really handle this big guy?"
The giant before them was clearly on the same level as a Super-Class Danger Beast. Her doubt was warranted.
Kobayashi cracked his neck and said confidently, "The reason the strong are strong is because of the strong themselves, not because they rely on external forces. A Teigu is just a tool, not the foundation."
"Well said!"
Esdeath highly praised his words. Although she relied on her Teigu for her current strength, that was also thanks to her ability to eliminate the influence of the Teigu with her own powerful mind. This was the reward of the strong, not something reaped without sowing.
"Alright, how should I approach it?"
The giant's weak point was the same as the Doctor's: the pilot of the human flesh Gundam. So all he had to do was take him out. The problem was that he couldn't get close to it.
Have Esdeath create an ice path... Mmm, she has no intention of interfering at all.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of those slippers that could walk on water. If only he had bought them. Oh well, it was too late to talk about that now. He'd have to figure something out himself.
Seeing the coconut trees on the beach, a brilliant idea suddenly came to him.
What is he planning to do?
Esdeath saw Kobayashi climb up a coconut tree and then bounce on it a few times. She immediately understood how he was planning to approach the enemy.
—Use the coconut tree as a slingshot to launch himself!
She was very impressed by his bold and unrestrained combat style, and her eyes were filled with an inexplicable light as she looked at him.
He continuously jumped and dropped on the tree, bending the extremely resilient coconut tree over until its tip touched the sand, maximizing its elastic potential.
He adjusted his direction, and using the tension of the rebound, he shot out like a dark shadow, accompanied by a great whooshing sound, like an arrow, towards the giant in the distance!
The giant saw him and tried to intercept, but its slow movements were useless. It could only watch as he rushed towards it.
He plunged his sword into its chest, then twisted it around a few times to make sure he had killed it.
Without its pilot, the giant simply fell backwards, kicking up a thick cloud of smoke.
Easy. It was much easier to deal with than the Doctor. After all, it was a failed product that only had its instincts.
But it wasn't over!
After killing one giant, another appeared!
Just as Kobayashi was about to make a move, he saw Esdeath take it out easily with a [Tengai Shinsei]... no, a [Hagel Sprung].
I see. I've taken Tatsumi's script.
In that case, does this mean that as long as we wait for the purple light array to reopen at night, we can go back?
Thinking this, Kobayashi waited with peace of mind.
However—
One day passed, two days passed, three days passed...
Wait! Why isn't the light array opening? This isn't what was supposed to happen!
(End of Chapter)