"If you have no intention of stepping forward, I shall resolve this myself!"
"···Haa."
"Code Purple, Code Purple. Violation of Taboo K185 detected."
Oh, for fuck's sake, please.
Why is it that not a single thing ever goes smoothly?
"Requesting thrombocyte support. Re-broadcast, thrombocyte..."
The employee, repeating the same words over and over, began hissing those ominous terms into the radio...
[Announcement. Code Purple, Code Purple. Thrombocyte, leukocyte, Checkpoint 14, Cycle 2 Block.]
Thick iron doors slammed shut with terrifying force, and a stream of incomprehensible chatter and sirens began to blare without mercy.
"···We should've just smashed their skulls and stuffed them in body bags to get through."
"I don't think that would've changed much."
"Thrombo, leuko... I assume those refer to platelets and white blood cells, respectively."
"So they're referring to those people, then. Very fitting for K Corp."
In the direction Faust was pointing, people in fierce-looking uniforms were staring at us.
""
"Yes. They violated a Wing's taboo."
""
Faust looked Dante straight in the eye.
Usually, Faust spoke while staring into empty space, so the fact that she was looking directly at someone meant Dante had said something especially frustrating.
Which, in this case, was more or less true.
"Any Wing, if a taboo has been violated..."
Crack!
With a thunderous sound, Don Quixote was split apart into various body parts.
"It means the violator may be executed without a separate warning shot."
The K Corp employees, apparently not satisfied with Don Quixote alone, were slowly advancing toward us.
"···Every day, you become more and more astonishing."
"You're evaporating even the tiny shred of hope that had pooled beneath the floorboards."
"I'm sitting this one out. If you want to call it that one bastard's solo crime, then do whatever you want and handle it yourselves."
"Just a moment ago you said you came along because the Manager alone wasn't enough?!"
"I said I'd take responsibility for what can't be helped. I never said I'd join in this nonsense."
Mr. Vergilius calmly pushed through the armed guards and leaned against a wall.
He even crossed his arms, as if he had decided to firmly establish himself as a spectator.
"Haa... Fine, then. I suppose we'll have to do this. Let's see who dies first, us or them."
"···Dante, please hold back a little. If you get hit by a stray bullet, it'll be a catastrophe."
"Everyone, let's fight while protecting Dante as much as possible."
"You're stating the obvious. Then, everyone, prepare for combat!"
I really, really, really didn't want to fight, but I guess I had to.
...Fine. Let's think of it positively. I might as well use this to test the new Identity.
It wasn't like I could judge it properly with nothing but thugs, after all.
"······."
Whether that was actually the case or not needed a bit more thought, but for now I decided to think positively.
If my thoughts kept spiraling in a worse direction from here, I felt like I'd end up punching through Don Quixote's skull first and thinking later.
In my head, I could feel Dante silently asking for permission.
If I allowed it...
"Seven Association, moving out."
I could feel a subtly altered personality.
A vague mingling of someone else's memories.
It was a strange sensation I'd never felt before, but I didn't dislike it.
Exploring new information was always enjoyable.
It seemed I'd be able to experiment with a variety of things I'd only been thinking about during this fight with the K Corp employees as well.
The situation was bad, but a smile still crept onto my lips.
Let's give it a try, then.
Whoooosh—
I gave the spear a light spin.
Was I in good condition today?
This should be enough.
After finishing my calculations for what I needed to do next, I gripped the spear and charged at the enemy.
The target was the K Corp employee right in front of me.
"Please accept this."
Perhaps startled by how quickly I closed the distance, the employee raised his shield.
Seeing that, I slightly adjusted my stance and shoved him hard with my body.
Thud!
He seemed momentarily thrown off by the sudden impact, his posture breaking for an instant.
The moment I saw that, I swung the spear and struck his head.
Thwack—!!
A valid hit. And a fairly heavy one at that.
Just as I thought this might be easier than expected, bang! a sharp burst rang out and his body instantly recovered.
Gunfire? Then was that an HP round?
A trace of emptiness flickered through me at how quickly his body regenerated, but it was soon overwritten by even stronger curiosity.
An HP round—how far did it regenerate things?
They say it regenerates endlessly, but until you actually test it, that's no different from uncertainty.
I decided I'd gladly take on the role of confirming that.
**
Hand, foot, calf, thigh, arm, abdomen, chest, neck, around the heart, around the head.
I repeated dozens of spear thrusts, targeting the body parts I had selected purely for experimental purposes.
By repeating the process, I was able to learn a few things.
For one, they seemed to be extremely wary of attacks aimed at the heart and head, which suggested they probably couldn't recover from instant death.
Whoom—
Flinch!
And apparently there was no convenient function that erased pain, either.
Otherwise, there was no way they'd react so violently just from seeing me move to swing the spear.
If I wanted to beat them, it seemed better to focus on instant kills or inflicting pain rather than ordinary combat.
"Should I start killing them one by one?"
As much as I wanted to keep experimenting a little longer, I could hear the prisoners' already-fraying patience finally snapping.
As usual, it started with Heathcliff.
"This is fucking unbearable! We're doing the most meaningless thing in the world, you know that?!"
"I told you. Getting tangled up with a Wing is pointless."
"I didn't think the fight would become this hopeless in real time~"
"If you cut them, flesh just keeps filling back in."
"It's difficult to sustain combat properly."
"······."
"Right... so there's even art like this..."
Ryoshu was swinging her sheathed blade with the most pained expression I'd seen on her face so far, her features twisted into a grimace.
A fight where the blood barely even had time to spill before the wounds healed instantly was probably the absolute worst kind of battle for her.
"Is there no way...?"
"HP... The Helaphosis technology is a technique that continuously replenishes the cells of lost body parts."
"Even a single dose lasts quite a long time, but for those receiving supply inside the Nest..."
"It may be fair to say there's no way to win through combat."
Just as curiosity began to swell—would they really recover even if I pierced and shattered their brains and hearts like Faust said?—
"Mwahahahahaha!!! In the midst of chaos, this body has finally appeared!!"
An excessively high-energy voice echoed through the air.
And the owner of that voice came charging toward us like a madman.
"W-what... what is that thing running at us?"
"Three seconds. Manager, make your judgment."
""
...Ah.
The fight's over.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the mirror reflecting my body was withdrawn.
That person, running toward us from far away.
I didn't know him well, but it was definitely a face I remembered.
No, more accurately, it would be correct to say he existed in the memories of the Seven Association Identity.
If you had ever been to K Corp's Nest, he was an unforgettable K Corp superstar.
At the same time, a man counted among the strongest Fixers in K Corp's Nest.
"Ah, so you did come after all. K Corp's big star."
Mr. Vergilius, apparently acquainted with him, said with a displeased expression that seemed to say, Of course this bastard showed up.
"Greetings, everyone! You may post as many eyewitness accounts as you like, but any photography requires official K Corp authorization!"
"However, I have a magazine interview in thirty minutes, so I can't spare much time. Please understand if you're disappointed!"
After hearing his words and confirming his identity, I immediately let go of my weapon.
When the chance of winning isn't merely close to zero but actually zero, resisting is just a waste.
"I was wondering why you hadn't shown up."
"So you've become one of the Wings' salarymen, have you, Siegfried."
"Hahaha! My, my, your sneering tongue is as sharp as ever!"
"I rushed over as soon as Code Purple was triggered, only to find it was your friends!"
"They're not my friends. I'd appreciate it if you understood that I have nothing to do with this commotion."
"Then..."
"Yes, I'd like some spirited mental reconditioning."
Ah, damn it.
Would he still hit me even if I surrendered?
"What are you two whispering about so ominously?"
"Agreed. Where did this guy crawl out from?"
"Hahaha! From the looks of it, there are some people from rather back-alley places here too. Good, then I'll provide a special photo service just this once!"
Oh, that's actually tempting.
A super star's candid footage might be worth quite a lot in K Corp.
Besides, getting a photo of him inside K Corp would be a once-or-twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"You're treating us like some street-corner fanatics. How dare you..."
"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!"
"Don Quixote, what's wrong?"
"Th-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-that-man!!!!!!!!"
Right, if he's a superstar among Fixers, then our rabid fan Don Quixote couldn't possibly not react.
"We're a little busy, so finish this in under a minute. Leave out the clock-head, if you would."
On the surface, that might sound incredibly arrogant, but I didn't feel offended at all.
That man, Siegfried, had such a massive gap in skill compared to us that I felt like even giving us a minute was generous.
He was one of the strongest Fixers in the City, after all.
"Hmm... a prosthetic body? Then let's make it fifty seconds!!!"
Well, he certainly had the skill and performance to match his reputation.
"Ghk!"
"Now, look over here for a moment! Our fans will love this!"
"This bastard... he's disgustingly strong."
Click!
And he even had the leisure to take photos in the middle of combat. Seriously...
"Hm? What was that just now? Hahaha! How adorable!"
"Guh...!"
And before that promised fifty seconds were even up, every prisoner except me had been cut down.
Me? I had both hands raised in surrender before the fight had even properly begun.
In keeping with his hero-like appearance, he didn't seem to have the habit of attacking people who had already surrendered.
Mm. As expected, if something can't be done, it's better not to do it.
========================
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