As far as actual combat experience went, all I had under my belt was scolding a few delinquent girls who'd foolishly challenged me and a pathetic skirmish against the Pandemonium Society that I wouldn't even call a fight. Maybe I never really understood just how strong I was, or what a different league the top fighters of an academy were in.
I quickly realized Hiyori's sniper shots were manageable as long as they didn't hit me in the head. Besides, she couldn't keep up with my movements, so getting hit was rare in the first place.
Atsuko's shots, with a slight exaggeration, felt like a massage gun. Of course, my halo would give out eventually if I just stood there and took them, but I wasn't stupid enough to do that.
Misaki seemed to be just observing, likely due to the nature of the fight. The moment she realized Saori or Azusa could get caught in the crossfire and that I was leagues more durable, she must have understood there was little room for her on this battlefield.
Saori, who had landed near the swings and avoided the full impact, was already back on her feet, assault rifle in one hand, charging at me. She drew a pistol with her other hand, clearly intending to subdue me in close combat, just as you'd expect from a girl trained more like a soldier than a student.
Technically speaking, Saori was probably the superior fighter. No, not probably—she definitely was. I hadn't received any formal combat training; my fighting style was an honest one, relying solely on my enhanced physique and instincts.
The problem was, the gap in our physical specs was so massive that her superior technique meant nothing. It's like a special forces soldier trying to fight a bear that doesn't flinch at bullets. There's just no way to win a one-on-one.
Seizing an opening while I was distracted by Hiyori's sniping, Saori charged in and opened fire. At the same time, Atsuko laid down a three-round burst to keep me pinned and divide my attention. Thankfully, Azusa had emptied her magazine while buying time for Saori to recover and was in the middle of reloading, so I avoided taking unnecessary damage.
I could dodge most of Atsuko's shots, but I had to tank Saori's fire as she closed in to within five meters. No matter how tough my body was, taking half a magazine at point-blank range still hurt. So, I returned fire not with my usual bursts, but with a full-auto spray of my own.
"...Agh!"
Gritting her teeth, Saori absorbed the bullets and closed the distance, swinging her pistol to aim for my head. But, and I almost felt bad for her, her movements were painfully obvious. I grabbed her wrist and squeezed lightly. She dropped the pistol, losing another weapon.
Bang— Bang— Bang—
"Well, this is a little annoying."
Azusa reloaded much faster than I expected, forcing me to back off. Still, if I had been as ruthless as Tsurugi and was willing to turn my opponents into crumpled cans, Saori would have been half-crippled right there. She'd assumed her initial defeat was a fluke and made a mistake that could have decided the battle. But because I was too soft, she was able to continue the fight without taking any serious damage.
It was around then that I realized holding back was just a surefire way for both of us to lose. But having already wasted my best opportunity, all I'd done was make things a lot harder for myself.
"Azusa, don't let her get close!"
Learning from her mistake, Saori immediately changed tactics and started creating distance. Watching Azusa follow the order without a word and maintain a similar distance, I couldn't help but think she was a soldier through and through.
The moment we were separated, I became the hunter.
"Hey, you know, I think it was more fun when you were charging at me, Saori-chan ☆"
"Tch...!"
The dynamic of the fight had completely reversed.
Hiyori's sniping, the cover provided by the playground equipment, and the booby traps set up all around felt like the desperate struggles of prey trying to shake off a predator.
Yes, just struggles—and that was the tragedy for the Arius Squad.
The most annoying thing wasn't their gunfire, but the booby traps Azusa had plastered everywhere. For what were supposed to be simple traps, an awful lot of them were explosive. It was nearly impossible to spot every trap while chasing them in the dead of night. It was so troublesome that I almost felt like I was the one being hunted.
But troublesome doesn't mean threatening.
Twang—KABOOM—!!!
A tripwire snagged my foot, followed by an explosion. The impact was, ridiculously, no worse than bumping into someone running at a decent speed. No wonder some people can get hit by a train and just get back up, or take an anti-air cannon to the face and be fine after a little rest.
Thanks to that, a bizarre irony was born: the flashbang traps were more dangerous than the IEDs. If I got blinded by a flashbang, Hiyori would undoubtedly try to put a bullet in my head, and Misaki would break her silence and launch a missile. I could tank the bombs and the crude Claymore knock-offs, but the follow-up attacks made the flashbangs the one thing I had to watch out for. It was ridiculous.
"Hey, Azusa-chan. I'm just curious, when did you start setting up all these traps? Everywhere I step, something goes 'boom,' and I can barely move. Seriously... don't you think this is a bit much?"
"...Are you mocking me?"
"Ahaha, actually, yeah, I am ☆ But I think you focused so much on quantity that the quality has... um, dropped quite a bit! What do you think? Hmm?"
Oh, there it is. Azusa's trademark expression, the one that launched a thousand 'Mataku' memes. I'm not a huge fan of the meme itself, but I always thought the expression was cute. The real-life version isn't quite the same, but it's close enough.
"...Don't get drawn into her banter, Azusa. Princess, fall back and regroup with Hiyori immediately. And Misaki."
"Huh, you don't actually mean—"
"Light it up."
"Whoa."
Saori must have been getting desperate, too, to choose an option that was more likely to hurt her own team than me.
No, that's not it.
She saw me take one of Azusa's IEDs head-on. She had to have learned something from that. This wasn't about trying to damage me. There was a reason she sent Atsuko back.
"Hey, Saori-chan. Don't you think you're giving up a little too easily...?"
FWOOSH—
A missile launched from the church rooftop, setting the dark sky ablaze. If my guess was right, I couldn't let that thing detonate. It would completely contradict my goal of avoiding as much attention as possible.
If Saori had ordered Misaki to fire to cover a retreat or regrouping, then that had to be an incendiary cluster bomb... in other words, Misaki's in-game EX Skill. And incendiary fires aren't the kind you can just put out easily. The explosions had probably already drawn attention, and this would make it impossible to cover our tracks.
But I had no way to stop it. Trying to shoot it down with my mystics would only make the situation worse.
...Looks like this round goes to the Squad.
Through the series of explosions and the rising flames, I saw Saori and Azusa retreating.
My hesitation to beat these kids up had just made the situation a whole lot bigger. Vowing not to hold back next time, I threw myself into the inferno after them.
"That thing... you can't call it anything but a monster. Staying here any longer is too dangerous. Madame won't be happy, but we have no choice but to fall back."
"Good call on the quick retreat, Leader. If we had kept fighting, things would have only gotten worse."
"...She's strong. Even with you backing me up, Leader, I didn't see a path to victory. It's the first time I've ever felt like the traps I set weren't powerful enough."
(Whistle, whoosh, whoosh.)
"That's right, Princess... That woman, she definitely knew who we were. Her pretending not to know me at first was a tactic to get us to lower our guard. But... the Arius district has never been discovered by any outsider. I can't figure out where she got her information."
"Waaah!!! W-what was that person...? I'd aim for her head and miss, and hitting her anywhere else did nothing! I guess I really was useless after all. I'm worse than a rock on the side of the road..."
"Hey, you're way better than a rock, Hiyori-chan. At least you're cute, right?"
"R-really?! Oh, no. I see. You're just trying to praise me so you can watch me fall and suffer. Hehehe... life is always full of pain and hardship, so this time will be the same— G-gyaah! Y-you?!"
"Oh? Did you think you'd lost me? Ahaha, no way! My clothes got a little scorched, but... I have a spare, so I won't ask you to pay for it!"
At the end of the passage connecting the church to the catacombs, I came face-to-face with the entire Arius Squad.
(Whistle, whoosh, whoosh...)
"...I know, Princess."
Atsuko was signing something to Saori, but I had no way of knowing what she was saying.
"Hey, guys. Can't we just do this the easy way? If you think about it, I'm on your side, you know? I've already gone easy on Saori-chan twice now."
Attempt number two at a peaceful resolution. What I got in return: one pistol, two assault rifles, one submachine gun, and a trembling Hiyori.
"...Honestly, for a bunch of kids who are always going on about how everything is 'vain,' you really don't know when to quit. Then again, that's what I like about you."
I raised my own gun. From now on, no more holding back. If they get in my way, I'm taking them down. I'd control my strength, of course, but it was still going to hurt like hell, so they'd better be prepared.
"Spread out!"
As the squad members scattered, a wicked little thought crossed my mind. If I just caught Atsuko and used her as a hostage, I could probably skip all this面倒な... this troublesome business. Catching the relatively weak Atsuko wouldn't be too hard, either.
If my goal was simply to neutralize or eliminate the squad without a thought for the consequences, I might have done just that. But it wasn't. The last thing I could afford to do was send their already negative opinion of me plummeting straight to the earth's core.
Whatever. At least I don't have to worry about Azusa's booby traps down here. It was time to get serious and use my mystics properly. If I could just make Saori kneel, the rest of the squad, except maybe Azusa, would probably lose their will to fight.
"Hmm, I think I'll start with the cute little Hiyori-chan. ☆"
"H-hiiiik?!"
With that heavy gun case on her back, I could probably catch her just by running, but I've already wasted enough time. Time to speed things up a bit.
A cluster of stars bloomed at my fingertips. Not one, not two, but three stars, spinning in a circle. If I tied a rope between them, they'd look like bolas, but that wasn't necessary. This was just to confuse them about who I was targeting.
But the real answer was: everyone except the nimble Azusa.
The shooting stars flew toward the three of them, gaining speed as if thrown with centrifugal force, though that wasn't actually the case. I'd use the opening to take down Hiyori.
"Ugh, Misaki!!!"
A quick mental calculation told me I had exactly three rounds left in my magazine. That should be enough to get Hiyori, right?
Hiyori, get a taste of my guaranteed crit. It might sting a little, but hang in there, Hiyori!
BANG!
"Pueeeh!!"
A single shot to the back of Hiyori's left knee, robbing her of her mobility. I closed the distance in an instant, raising my fist to knock her out in one go, but then I saw her, trembling in fear.
"Ehehe... Y-yes... this is the end for me. I... I always knew this painful life would end someday, but I didn't think it would be so sudden... It's been hard and painful, but that's life, and I wanted to keep enduring and living... Everything really was in vain..."
"Whoa."
I really, really didn't want to make this more complicated than it needed to be. But I just couldn't bring myself to hit her.
It reminded me of the story where Saori saved Azusa from being beaten by an Arius instructor. I could just picture these kids being beaten as part of their harsh training, and a wave of revulsion washed over me.
In the end, I punched the ground instead. Watching Hiyori tremble and dart her eyes around just made me feel even weaker. Why do I keep making things harder for myself? This is getting ridiculous.
"Hiiik...!"
"...Just take a little nap. I'll go get the others."
I raised my gun and aimed it at Hiyori's forehead. Two shots should be enough.
Pa-pang!
With Hiyori taken care of—albeit crudely—I swapped magazines. I thought I heard Saori call for Misaki when I launched the star cluster at them. It'd be great if she was out of the fight, but it didn't really matter if she wasn't.
We were already in the catacombs, and the situation on the surface was already a mess. Time was on my side.
"Next up, I think I'll go for our little princess."
Atsuko was a crucial target for both them and Beatrice. I couldn't afford to save her for last.
Rat-tat-tat—
"Ahaha, trying to fight back isn't a very good idea, you know? Atsuko-chan."
If she'd just run, things would have gotten more complicated, but if she wanted to fight, that was fine by me. I started with evasive maneuvers to dodge the bullets, mentally calculating how many rounds she had left, and then charged straight at her.
"..."
Given the rate of fire of a submachine gun, this was the right move. If I'd charged straight in, I would've had to tank a whole magazine. But by stalling for a moment, I could cut down the number of bullets I had to absorb by half, or even two-thirds.
Rat-tat-tat—
After taking about eight shots, fewer than I expected, Atsuko's firing stopped. Saori had trained her well; she immediately dove and started to reload. But as I said before, choosing to fight back in the first place had been a mistake.
"Princess!!!"
Saori's shots tried to block my path, but I just tanked them.
If my unwillingness to become like the adults who abused these kids was going to create more risk, and if I could reduce that risk by taking a little more pain myself... then of course, I'd choose to get hurt. To avoid the potential tragedy that could result from my own foolish choices, I had to.
My gun roared to life. Atsuko's gas mask prevented any real damage, but it was enough to make Saori see red.
I closed the distance, grabbed Atsuko's arm, and yanked her toward me, momentarily letting go of my gun. Then I roughly tore off her gas mask and tossed it onto the ground.
"N-no!!!"
While Saori froze, having inadvertently used Atsuko as a shield, Azusa was circling wide behind me. It seemed Misaki was more or less out of the fight.
"This is going to hurt a little. Sorry, Atsuko-chan. It's not much of a consolation, but I promise, one day I'll make it so you can speak freely... and so you won't have to hide that pretty face behind a hideous mask like this."
I raised my gun and pressed it to Atsuko's temple. Here I was, a crazy bitch who couldn't bring herself to punch a defenseless high school girl, but had no problem shooting her at point-blank range.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"PRINCEEEEEESSSS!!!!!"
Saori screamed. I could feel her eyes, now filled with pure hatred, boring into me. Her own mask must have been lost when she dodged my mystic attack, because I could see blood trickling from where she'd bitten her lip.
Just then, Azusa opened fire from behind me. I tucked Atsuko under my arm and retreated to where Hiyori was lying. Now, all I had to do was take cover and wait. It was my victory.
Assuming Misaki was still conscious, the other three couldn't go for reinforcements. If even one of them left, their slim hope of stopping me would vanish completely. They understood that if Atsuko fell into Trinity's hands now, Arius wouldn't have the strength to get her back. From this moment on, Azusa and Saori saw this as a battlefield from which they could not retreat.
"You... Misono Mika. How dare you... How DARE you lay a hand on Atsuko!!!"
"Calm down, Leader. This is no time to be angry. We have to save Atsuko and Hiyori."
"...Right."
Before I could even suggest they surrender, the two of them started to pursue me. Saori, who had seemed to have lost her mind for a moment, regained her composure after just a few words from Azusa. Their mental fortitude was absurdly strong. Spiritually, they were probably in a different league from me.
I managed to take cover behind a stone pillar and set Atsuko down before throwing myself back into what would be the final engagement.
"Right, I see now that this story can't even begin until I've broken you here. So come on, bring it. For your own sakes, I have no intention of losing."
"You've been spouting nonsense from the very beginning..."
"...We have to win, Leader."
"Yeah. Let's go, Azusa."
The sight of the two of them, their resolve hardened, was dazzling. Azusa, with her angelic looks, and Saori, with blood dripping from her lip. It was impossible to say which of them was more magnificent. It might not have been a trick of the light; their halos seemed to be shining brighter than usual.
Anyone could see that in this situation, they were the heroes, and I was the villain. But reality isn't so kind, and it's not uncommon for the villain to crush the hero.
And so, this was nothing more than a simple story of an absurdly, unfairly strong villain declaring 'game over' to the heroes.
After propping up all four members of the squad except Atsuko against a pillar in the catacombs and tying them up with a rope I found in Azusa's belongings, I rubbed my eyes and sighed.
"..."
So, why was she the first one to wake up, and why was she just staring at me without any resistance?