Chapter 112
Shiroinu Reina takes one step at a time towards Luck. She appears fatigued from her feat of hurling the highway at her. Luck estimates that her combat ability is now around half of what it was before. Her power is likely still intact, but her speed can’t keep up.
The same goes for Nakamoto Tsuyoshi, who catches the falling Apollyon with its limbs torn off. There are fewer undamaged parts on its armor than damaged ones, and the air around the machine shimmers due to its extremely high temperature. In other words, it can’t activate MNB, and even if it could move, it would only be for a moment, Luck surmises.
In the first place, the reason Apollyon could be manufactured in such a short period of time since the Orange Book in March is that Apollyon itself is designed to be built using only existing parts or parts that are easy to obtain and process. It is designed so that even if they were to start manufacturing in a hurry as the apocalypse of 2050 approaches, they would still make it in time.
However, MNB and 「Anfangsrot」 are different. These are custom-made and have been uniquely customized for use in combat, unlike the machines used in the Battle Royale. Therefore, this was the only machine that succeeded in being reproduced within the remaining time.
In other words, there is no replacement for Nakamoto’s machine, and without the ability to use MNB, there is no chance of winning. Nevertheless, Nakamoto’s voice is more lighthearted than ever.
「Shiroinu, let’s do this.」
「I can’t keep up with you, but will that be okay?」
「No problem. Move as you like.」
It’s a strange conversation. Usually, the one who matches the pace is the side with equal or superior ability. However, Nakamoto, whose performance is far inferior and who can’t even use MNB, says he will match her. Luck also notices. Those words are not a joke.
With a sound like an explosion at Reina’s feet, leaving a crater, a white figure dashes straight towards Luck. Power is speed; simply kicking the ground forcefully results in the fastest linear speed. But no matter how fast the linear speed is, it’s impossible to catch up with Luck, who can freely control speed equal to it, and in contrast, the white figure quietly approaches Nakamoto.
As she draws her 11th knife, Luck thinks that she needs to reduce their numbers. If it were one-on-one, she could win against either opponent. That’s why she heads toward the easier one to take down and tries to deliver the finishing blow.
But before that, Nakamoto’s hammer falls to the ground in the shortest distance. The earth shatters with a blow like a bombardment, fragments dance in the air, and an ear-crushing sound spreads. Cartridges spill from the hammer onto the ground. Cooling cartridges for MNB. Using them, he had activated MNB on the hammer alone. It was a product created by Tanaka, an employee of Kōmitsu Solutions, through countless all-nighters, appearing from Ver3.00 onwards.
Clicking her tongue at the information that was unexpectedly missing, Luck doesn’t stop her fastest thrust. She lowers her posture and steps on the utterly destroyed ground. And she suddenly wonders.
(Why the ground? Did he want to make me fall over with the vibration? But it should be obvious that it’s meaningless. What is he looking at…!?)
At that moment, what she sees is the figure of 「Anfangsrot」 smoothly releasing its lifeline, the hammer. The hammer, released as if in a failed throw, rampages irregularly back and forth without anyone to suppress the remaining recoil.
「So that was his aim!」
The irregular attacks of the hammer with the power of MNB remaining. If it hits, Reina will grab that spot and it will be over. It’s a magnificent technique. The trajectory of the released hammer is precisely matched to rampage around Luck’s surroundings. Clicking her tongue again at the ability to strategically perform such movements in combat, she begins evasive action.
「Raaah!」
There, Reina charges in a straight line like lightning. She thrusts her hands forward, aligned in the shape of a karate chop, and she herself becomes a single spear charging forward, but Luck avoids even that. She can see and respond to both the hammer’s irregular movements and Reina’s single blow.
Luck tries to smile fearlessly. Until the black shadow pierces her face. It happens the moment the hammer moves slightly away from Luck’s surroundings. 「Anfangsrot」 had leaped into the air. Reina has already flown out of the shadow’s range with her momentum, leaving only Luck inside. The machine’s posture, horizontal to the ground, indicates a crush using its mass. An area attack taking advantage of the machine’s size. But the speed of that attack is bound by gravity.
「Even that is too slow…?」
「Two more moves.」
Therefore, it was the end of everything when she escaped from the shadow with her swift feet. No, to be more precise, if one were to look for the cause of defeat, it would be that she challenged Nakamoto while he had an ally. Transparent wires extend from the machine that seemed to lean over Luck. With the sound of those wires retracting, the hammer returns to 「Anfangsrot’s」 hand. The machine swings the hammer as if to block Luck’s escape route while rotating once in the air.
With her escape route closed off from behind, Shiroinu Reina charges straight at her from the front. As Luck tries to evade there, she finally understands her own defeat. The ground has collapsed and the footing has crumbled. It was a place where there were evacuation passages and holes dug by 「Mogura」. The initial blow to the ground was to find this fragile spot, and the crush was used to guide and lure Luck to be hit by Reina’s final blow. It was all calculated from the beginning, a strategy to defeat Luck at the fastest speed.
And no matter how fast she is, with her range of movement restricted and the footing to generate speed turned into a mess, Luck is no match for Shiroinu Reina, who delivers her top speed. Luck’s arm is finally grabbed by Reina. Without hesitation, Luck tries to escape by striking off her own arm, but Reina straddles and presses down on her waist. Her power is overwhelming, and Luck cannot pull her off with her own strength, being pushed down to the ground. With an unchanged smile, Luck gives Reina her resignation and praise.
「As expected of big sis, to punish bad me-」
A sound surpassing even that of a rocket launcher resounds with the blow of 「Anfangsrot’s」 hammer. Reina’s swung-down fist directly hits Luck’s face, spilling blue blood around it. After a short interval, another blow falls. Shiroinu Reina had canceled all dialogue.
「That’s the problem. Don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re a pitiful character who will meet a bad end. Did you have fun, getting drunk on despair, using being oppressed by researchers as an excuse to end up killing your sister? Right now, you’re just a villain hindering everyone who is trying to reach a happy ending.」
Blows are relentlessly hammered into Luck’s face. Nakamoto doesn’t stop her. He understands that even taking hits at this level, second-generation Beastkin won’t die, and rather, if they don’t go this far, Luck might get up before the 「UYK」 is defeated and cause damage.
「That’s why, as your sister, I will question you about the sin of killing Nina after everything is over. Let’s have that conversation when you’re just a boring person who only causes trouble and have to face what you’ve done. Right now, it’s simply my task to incapacitate you. It’s not the time to discuss your personality or background or anything like that.」
Nakamoto leaves the rest to Shiroinu Reina and leaves the scene. For now, he needs to get Hiniru to safety and at the same time exterminate the terrorists.
「Hmph, it’s okay because it’s a task, raaah! It’s okay because it’s a task, oraaa, it’s okay because it’s a task.」
…Hearing the excuses and clearly excessive number of blows from behind, he turns back after all.
MVP: Tanaka the old man from the company who desperately implemented the cartridge system (recently nicknamed 「Immortal」 within the company) (doesn’t actually have any such abilities)
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