Chapter Thirty-Five: Chaos
I really like how this chapter came out.
Hopefully, the rest will come out even better.
I want to try writing battle scenes a little longer since the majority has been slice of life and preparations.
Of course, more flexing on the main cast is incoming.
Thursday.
8:44 A.M.
Using the [Transporter] placed on the lower floor of Franxinus, which apparently was a realizer itself.
It was made to transport or retrieve things as long as the straight-line path to the destination was not blocked by anything.
This same principle was applied to Avalon.
By inputting coordinates, it would transport itself above said coordinates, which was what was meant by:
[Docking Ride]
At this moment, however,
Shidou appeared on the ground; rather, he had been transported behind the school.
He glanced around quickly.
From the looks of things, the AST had yet to arrive.
Patting his rising chest, reassuring himself, he nodded.
"Now then, first I should—"
As he started to speak, his words stopped.
It was like a bad joke.
Though he had seen the destruction from above,
…still, seeing the carved-out building behind him, he couldn't help but stagger back a little.
[Well, perfect, enter the building from there.]
From the intercom attached to his right ear, he heard Kotori's voice.
Shidou could only vaguely bob his head.
"Understood."
If he wasted too much time, the Spirit might wander outside.
Even before that, there was also the possibility of being discovered by the AST and put into "protection."
[Now, let's hurry. The Spirit's response is three floors up the stairs beside you, in the fourth classroom in front.]
"Roger…"
Shidou took a deep breath and dashed up the nearby stairs.
Before even a minute had passed, he arrived in front of the specified classroom.
From the somewhat small, tinted, blurry glass on the sliding door, he could vaguely see a figure inside.
However,
Raising his head—
"Eh, this is class 2-4. Isn't this my class?"
[Ara, is that so. Isn't that convenient? You can't say you have a locational advantage.]
[It's probably better than being somewhere completely unfamiliar, no?]
Well, maybe she was right.
But that still wasn't the point.
[Still, hurry up, you fool. They're close.]
At those words, his heart skipped a beat again.
Naturally, he knew instantly that the AST were near Raizen High.
He had to act quickly.
However, as Kotori said, he had the advantage this time because of where the Spirit appeared.
Realizers weren't made for indoor use.
As such, they could only position themselves outside until the Spirit was declared [Lost].
Still, that didn't mean they would be sitting ducks, doing nothing while he engaged [Princess].
"…well, here goes."
Shhcck-!
The door slid open as winds carried a sour mix of concrete, dust, and debris.
He was now face to face with her.
Princess.
That very same beautiful girl with purple hair, otherworldly appearance, and a despondent expression.
"...Hey, good morning, what are you doing in a place like this?"
With his hand rubbing the back of his head, he said that with a sheepish and nervous smile.
But...
The girl wrapped in armor stood by the fourth row of the classroom.
Precisely in front of the desk she and Origami had joined together that morning was where she stood.
"Nngh."
Noticing him.
Klank!
She shifted the broadsword in her hands, the blade catching a glowing sheen from the morning sun.
"Chotto matte!"
He immediately raised his hand.
But..
The girl however, didn't seem to take that gesture of his lightly.
Her brows furrowed, clenching her hands on it tighter, and,
—Hyun.
Chink!
Something passed by him.
A streak of black light brushed his cheek, followed by a gust of wind that rustled his hair.
Like that, it disappeared.
Oddly, he could hear the sound of something splitting, followed by a great noise that echoed.
Bam!
Thud!
"...!?"
He froze.
Touching his cheek, he felt a thin trail of blood.
But he wasn't even allowed to stay stunned.
[Shidou!]
Kotori's voice shook his eardrums until they hurt.
While making a gloomy expression, the girl swung her arm overhead.
Above the palm of her hand, what looked like round blobs of light radiated black.
"Wai..."
Faster than his shout, he scrambled to the left, hiding his body behind a table and chair.
Nyun!
An instant later.
Like earlier.
A stream of light burst through where he had been standing.
Easily, it blasted through the outer walls of the school building and extended outside.
Once more he paled.
More than that, his face was drained of colors.
"W-wait! I'm not your enemy!"
Just as he shouted—
[Good job, Shidou. From what I can see, she's holding back quite a bit, she could have easily destroyed you.]
[Still, on the contrary, wasting time and annoying her is not good. Press in.]
Kotori's voice came through.
Judging by her tone, the optical camera had probably made it into the classroom already.
That aside,
Slowly, the girl in front of him began lowering her hand, even if only a little.
Her sword, however, disappeared with that motion.
At least, that was progress.
'Okay now, how to start—'
[Shidou! Get down!]
Kotori's voice exploded in his right ear and—
Boom!
The school building was suddenly struck by a tremendous blast, shaking everything.
His body jerked back, sliding against the floor, plopping onto his rear, clenching his teeth.
"As expected, you led them here."
Those words from her reached him, prompting him to raise his head impulsively.
"Wait, I–"
But before he could speak.
Creak-crack!
Ratatatatatata!
A loud noise rang out, breaking the classroom windows' glass all at once.
It even opened countless bullet holes in the already cracked walls caused by the earlier Spacequake.
But this...
This was straight out of a Mafia shootout.
"Wh-What the hell...!"
[Che! Their response time is fast. How did they manage to get there in that short time!?]
[Change of plans, Shidou, focus on surviving first!]
From their side, they could see it:
Princess's rising Spirit Wave.
Her emotions were spiking, and Shidou could understand why.
standing at the very back of it made that clear enough just from the way her hair seemed to rise.
"C-crap."
Even as he muttered, the barrage continued.
When he looked at the girl clad in purple, she was already surrounded by some sort of barrier.
The bullet holes punching through the walls felt random.
While it was targeted, they were indiscriminately blasting the firearm around this spot.
However, thanks to being within the range of her protection, he was safe.
For now.
[They're probably trying to lure the Spirit out.]
[—Ahh, or maybe it's to make the school collapse, getting rid of any place the Spirit can hide.]
[Either way, they're a problem.]
"Tsk. Insolent humans. Your kind never truly learns."
Holding back the assault of bullets, Princess pushed her hand forward with a simple motion.
Yet that simple motion.
..was deadly.
A force seemed to erupt from her hands, pushing away the bullets and the wall like that.
"..hah!?"
Crack!
Boom!
The wall was pushed forward, to the AST, as broken rubbles hit against their territory.
Much to no effect.
But now the entire classroom was exposed, and parts of the ceiling had collapsed.
The upper floors were beginning to give way.
An unreasonable level of destruction had befallen Raizen High.
This was reality, if it were equal to everyone.
In front of such unreasonable power, it was good luck she was playing with him.
More so, lucky that Spirits weren't like certain beings obsessed with wiping out humanity.
Forget dating them.
The moment he walked up to one would have been his last day on earth.
"Finally, you've appeared Princess."
Just as those thoughts passed through his mind, jolting him out of his reverie, that voice cut in.
Shidou and Princess turned their gazes toward the now open-air classroom.
A figure hovered outside, slowly descending into view.
Wearing black suits with mechanical components attached.
From the numbers hovering behind.
They numbered easily over twenty.
[What's with that number!? Shidou! Something isn't right!]
Shidou kept his eyes fixed forward.
Kotori's warning barely even registered.
He stared into those eerie red pupils.
She was beautiful.
But her expression alone radiated cruelty, which explained the overwhelming numbers.
"...mhm. I spot only Princess and a hostage. X doesn't seem to be around here."
Just as the red-eyed woman said that, another member slowly floated up beside her.
"Yes. According to HQ, they suspect X is an agent of those defected scientists."
Ignoring Princess, ignoring him, the woman pressed a hand to her face willfully, sighing.
To put it in simple terms.
It was complete disregard.
"Well, I suppose there's no reason to keep Lieutenant Officer Mana and Sergeant Origami on standby anymore."
With that, her figure lifted into the sky.
At the same moment, Princess tightened her hand, pulling it back.
Kacha!
Click click!
Prepare any bgm of your choice
Her slightly mechanical shoes scraped against the floor with a metallic clank.
In response,
"All unit, prepare-"
All rounds were aimed at Princess.
'W-w-w- are these people planning on opening fire–!?'
Shidou's heart jumped.
His feet unknowingly took a step back. Survival instincts kicked in.
Fortunately for him, part of the wall facing the hallway had already been blown open by Princess's attack earlier.
He could manage his way through the cracked gaping hole there.
"Fire!"
"..nu!"
Boom!
A crack thundered across the classroom.
The floor beneath Princess shattered as she shot upward with incredible speed.
Just that single leap splintered the ground she had been standing on.
It was morning.
And yet.
Fireworks bloomed.
Literally.
Ratatatatata!
Sounds of firearms echoed as each firearm pursued a trailing purple figure in the air.
Having taken their battles away from that enclosed space, they were now fighting above Raizen High.
Boom!
An RPG round detonated mid-air, but Princess dodged it with ease.
Circling around the firing squad, she extended her hand.
Twin—!
Purple light enveloped her body, forming a barrier as she closed in on one unit.
"I've said it, it's useless!"
Cocked her fist to the back, she approached an AST member, squaring her firearm at Princess.
Yet, no matter how much she shot.
She couldn't breach past the barrier.
And when she saw that streak of violet closing in, her eyes widened.
"...n–no!"
Bim~!
Bam!
A dull impact sounded.
She felt no pain.
But the monstrous force slammed into her Territory, sending her crashing onto the rooftop.
Vertigo and nausea hit altogether.
Gah!
"Yuka! Dammit, Spirit! You're dead!"
Another AST member shouted that toward the rooftop before snapping her furious gaze back to Princess.
But this time.
Perhaps, having thought better of it that normal firearms wouldn't work anymore.
Cling!
Kachak!
She equipped a new weapon.
A slim weapon with a handle and a thin, long metal blade on top of what looks to be a katana handguard.
Clink!
She twisted it, and it suddenly lit in blue.
"Die!"
With a heavy scream bursting from her lungs, she lunged towards Princess with vigor.
"Right back at you, human!"
<
Orders fell on deaf ears however.
Bim~!
Another blunt sound echoed followed by a hard thud.
Thud!
This time, instead of dropping onto the rooftop, she was sent crashing straight down to the ground.
Where the AST member landed splintered, forming large cracks on the ground.
<
Kusakabe Ryoko.
The leader of the AST unit stationed behind the line, called out to her superior through the comms.
But…
<
No response.
"Handle it yourself, huh?"
Beads of sweat trickled down Ryoko's features as her grip on her sword tightened.
However, just as she was in thought.
<
Ryoko clenched her teeth after receiving that information.
"Who is it? Is it X!?"
They weren't the only one to receive that piece of information.
Fraxinus,
…floating far above in the sky, fifteen thousand meters above ground, also caught the sudden reading.
"What's that!? Quick, display the footage!"
Kotori frantically swiped her arm through the air as the system picked up a signal.
One that seemingly appeared right beneath their radar.
Literally.
It appeared right under Fraxinus.
"Data reading!"
"Tracing coordinates!"
"Relaying coordinates over the map!"
Immediately, the crew got to work with intense focus in their gaze.
Their very first mission was already going downhill, and "disaster" wasn't even close to describing it.
"What about that blockhead!? Retrieve him immediately."
"I'm working on it."
Even the usually sleepy Reine looked pale as she furiously typed across her keyboard.
"..Shin, can you hear me, I have taken—"
"Footage displaying."
The deck soon became rowdy and finally then, a feed overlapping other panels popped up on the main screen.
At that moment.
Every head on deck, and even below looked at the object that appeared at this moment.
"Confirm: does this belong to the AST?"
"No, its wavelength is different."
"Matching readings… the wavelength is 99.9% similar to X's!"
Faces across Fraxinus drained of color.
Fraxinus' position was supposed to be top secret, even the AST barely knew of their existence or their position.
Yet…
"Bastard! Using Fraxinus' Territory to transport whatever that is! Prepare to deploy Mistelin!"
Kotori slammed her hand against the armrest in frustration.
Now, one could say she was fuming in anger.
On-screen, what was displayed was a black coffin, or rather, a box with a metal-like luster.
Its edges were almost perfect, and lines were carved around it.
But, oddly however,
That object suspended itself at the circular border of Fraxinus Territory, and its line of coordinates.
No, they didn't even need to confirm.
If the wavelength from it really did belong to X, then they were sure where he was going to appear.
Just when Kotori was thinking of opening fire on that object.
"Avalon… descend."
Bthum!
A deep shockwave boomed.
Breaking the sound barrier, the box shot forward, racing toward its target coordinates.
Raizen High.