After clearly hearing what Neru said, Momoi, whose heart had already been filled with fear, strangely calmed down.
Can we win?
Momoi asked herself silently. In just an instant, she arrived at the answer.
We will lose.
Even with the advantage in numbers, even with an out of specification weapon like the Sword of Light on their side, how could they possibly win against Neru, the strongest existence in all of Millennium?
Even if Momoi relied on her astonishing intellect to forcibly turn the tide of battle, once the Seminar and the C&C members holed up inside the combat command center joined the fight, the defeat of the Game Development Department would be inevitable.
But even so, even with a future of certain defeat ahead of them, Momoi and everyone in the Game Development Department had already made their resolve.
No matter what, they had to protect the club.
For that purpose, even if the one they had to face was Senior Neru—
If only she alone were sacrificed, maybe the others could escape?
The moment this thought arose, Momoi made up her mind. Her fingers, no longer trembling, pulled the trigger at Neru.
"Everyone, hurry…"
However, before she could finish speaking.
Neru leaped into the air. With the astonishing explosive power and balance contained within her petite body, she directly used the wall as a foothold, effortlessly evading all the bullets, even though with the mystery Neru possessed, there was no need to dodge at all.
Momoi instinctively tried to move the muzzle, tracking Neru as she moved along the wall.
But she was too fast.
Not even a second had passed since Momoi fired.
Neru had already crossed a distance of more than ten meters.
The crisp clang from the chains connecting the submachine guns colliding with the wall was drowned out by the furious shout and continuous gunfire of the strongest maid.
"Ora ora ora!"
In an instant, Momoi was engulfed by the hail of bullets. With a cry of pain, she was knocked backward and fell to the ground.
"Onee-chan!"
"Momoi!"
The girls, who had not yet reacted, called out to Momoi.
Neru landed lightly back on the ground. "So it was you lot? The problem children who barged into the Seminar."
Midori murmured, "H-how could this be, Senior Neru isn't…"
"I see. So you got hold of the information that I went out to handle some business."
Neru slung her gun over her shoulder, looked at Midori and Yuzu standing side by side in front of her, and grinned. "But now, I came back early. You little bastards, if you don't want to get beaten up, then surrender obediently. That way I can save some effort too."
Midori could not help shouting, "We won't give in so easily!"
The look in Neru's eyes grew more playful. "Oh? Even after seeing your companion get beaten so easily by me, you still won't give up?"
"T-that's right!" Yuzu mustered all her courage. "E-even if the opponent is Senior Neru… we…"
Hearing this, Neru instead burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Very good! Should I say you don't know your own limits, or that your courage is commendable? Well, either way is fine. The reward for juniors can wait until everything is over. Next, you can all just…"
Suddenly, Neru's ears twitched and she frowned. "Hah? Is there some kind of sound… huh!?"
Although she finally noticed something was wrong, it was already too late.
Midori and Yuzu quickly dodged to either side, revealing Arisu, who had been blocked behind them from the start, and the Sword of Light that had completed its charge.
The next moment, the light cannon burst forth, directly striking Neru, who had relaxed all over due to her carelessness and was completely caught off guard.
The floor beneath her feet collapsed.
"I-it worked!" Yuzu exclaimed in amazement.
Midori, meanwhile, hoisted her older sister, who was no longer able to fight and kept muttering something like "kuyashii," onto her back.
"Everyone, retreat quickly. If we don't, it'll be bad."
Arisu and Yuzu nodded, then fled toward a nearby room at the fastest speed possible.
—
Seminar Combat Command Center.
Watching the surveillance footage, Yuuka could not help asking the bespectacled maid beside her, who looked completely at ease.
"Are you really not going out to help?"
"Yes. Compared to chasing the children from the Game Development Department, holding this place is more important. If it's a feint to lure us away, that would be troublesome. Besides…"
Akane smiled faintly. "I don't want to spoil Neru's fun."
At this moment, on the monitor, a hand grabbed onto the edge of the large hole in the floor.
Then climbing up was Neru, almost completely unharmed, only covered in some dust, with a cruel smile on her face.
The corner of Yuuka's eye twitched. Then the Seminar's accountant took a deep breath and put on a bright smile.
"Isn't there a possibility that I'm worried Senior Neru might enjoy herself too much and even forget that she's currently inside Millennium Tower?"
If Neru got carried away emotionally, the property damage would be incalculable.
The increase in Yuuka's workload would be the same.
"Oh my, would something like that really happen?" Akane asked in surprise.
"What are you pretending not to know!"
"Hm… then I'll connect the internal C&C line for you. You can talk to the director."
"Hah? Wh-why…"
Yuuka had only spoken halfway when Akane brought the communicator to her mouth.
From the communicator came Neru's impatient voice. "Hey? What is it? Hurry up and say it."
Yuuka could only sigh inwardly. "Senior Neru, this is Yuuka. Please try to limit the damage inside Millennium Tower as much as possible…"
—
"Yeah, yeah, got it."
After replying perfunctorily, clearly not taking Yuuka's nagging to heart at all, Neru said to Akane, who took back the communicator.
"Help me confirm those guys' location."
"Mm. But Neru, they are juniors after all."
"Isn't that obvious?"
Toward the juniors who had given her such a big surprise, Neru naturally had to demonstrate what kind of magnanimity a senior should have.
After receiving the coordinates sent by Akane, Neru licked the corner of her mouth.
"Then, round two begins."
—
On the other side.
The Game Development Department fled while using the Sword of Light to open passages between rooms, while intensely discussing countermeasures.
Midori said, "Senior Neru has returned. The plan has already been declared a failure. All we can do now is retreat."
Yuzu nodded. "We can't win in a frontal fight… even if Eimi and Sensei arrive as support…"
"We can't just give up like this!"
"Onee-chan, you should rest properly."
But Yuzu said, "What Momoi said isn't wrong… saying we should give up now might be a bit too early. The plan can still proceed as it was. Weren't we planning to retreat from the start?"
"You mean…?"
Without directly answering Midori's confusion, Yuzu looked toward Arisu.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Yuzu asked sincerely.
"Arisu, could we ask you to cover our retreat later?"
"Yes."
Arisu smiled and nodded. "Even if it's fighting the petite maid who instantly defeated Momoi, please leave everything to Arisu!"
Then, two voices of protest rang out at the same time.
"I was not instantly defeated!"
"You bastard, who are you calling a petite maid!"
Mikamo Neru, pursuit complete.