Greetings, people! Once again – here's the new chapter. This one is pretty big, so it took a bit of time to write it.
This one is about 'drone units attack', but mostly it is still a preparation before the real battle – 'autumn school trip arc'. It's anime-only, so I only will be taking the general idea.
FateBurn, Imperial-samaB: Thanks guys, it's good to see you too.
kuro yaksha: Actually, right now I'm thinking about four women, but I still need some time to decide this.
Primordial Inscriptor Z-09: Naamah isn't an A.I. – that's just a generic term – she's an A.C. – "Artificial Consciousness"
Dopez: No, it's just the 'small things are easiest to miss'.
Apex85: Sorry, not yet – this is a bit too early for Tabane.
Now, let's proceed with the chapter.
Chapter XXII – Devastation
…
October 18th, Wednesday, 4:41 P.M.
"Thank you very much!" After the special training ended, Houki and the kendo members bowed and thanked each other.
"Hey, you don't have to say it so stiffly," Floating down from above was Houki's coach and tag match partner, Tatenashi. She looked carefree as usual as she waved her hand lightly.
"No, it's unacceptable for a swordsman to lack formalities," Houki shook her head.
"Swordsman?" Seeing the stern looking Houki, Tatenashi couldn't help but give a wry smile. "Oh yeah. How about we have a dinner today? At the cafeteria in the second year dorm. I'll lead the way."
"Huh? No, I…" Houki tried to refuse.
"Okay. It's decided. Let's go, let's go," And of course Tatenashi ignored her attempt.
"Wait… Wait a minute! I…"
"C'mon, c'mon, let's go!"
"Haaa…" Unable to endure Tatenashi's angelic expression, Houki couldn't help but sigh deeply. It was the same when she complied to pair up with her. Why was Houki unable to resist Tatenashi at all? At first, she thought that this sempai wasn't willing to listen to others, but even after thinking about that and getting manipulated, there were a lot of inexplicable things.
'For… Forget about it. It's not like I hate it…' Now being led by the hand that was holding hers, they walked to the changing room in the arena. It wasn't something she hated.
Houki remembered her own sister who used to hold her hand like this. Shinonono Tabane… To Houki, Tabane was an existence she couldn't surpass no matter how hard she tried. When she was young, Tabane was someone she relied on, and someone she was proud of. But unknowingly, she felt that the difference between her and her sister had started to show.
'That person, she's of a completely different breed from me,' The inherent talent difference was too great. But even so, somewhere in her heart, the aspect where she viewed her sister Tabane as someone she vaguely admired only lasted until «that Incident».
"Houki-chan," Tatenashi called for her.
"Ah, what is it!?" Houki almost panicked.
"What's wrong? We reached the changing room," Sempai noted.
"Huh, I see, yeah. Okay."
"Are you thinking about something? You look really scary."
"Do… Do I?"
"You do. Girls are prettier when they smile!" Tatenashi went behind Houki and moved both hands under her armpits, "Koochi koochi koochi!"
"Uahaha! Haha… Hahaha! Sto… Stop it! … Ahahahaha!" Houki laughed hysterically as Tatenashi tickled her.
Just like that, they spent two minutes in laughter, and Houki was out of breath when the tickling attack ended, "Haah... haah... haah..."
"Hmm, Houki-chan and Laura-chan's reactions are so cute… Speaking of which," Sempai seemed as if she just remembered something.
"Wha… What is it?" Finally regaining her breath, Houki opened the locker and asked.
"Houki-chan, regarding your elder sister – Professor Tabane, do you keep her away?" Tatenashi wondered.
Houki went silent. It wasn't that she hated it. Recently, she finally started to realize it. But she would remember «that incident» each time when they meet one another. She wanted to seal her memories, her lack of control over her emotions, 'And the hurt I inflicted on her, on everyone…' All of those were her own fault. Not Tabane's fault, not anyone else's but her own – Houki's fault. She couldn't control herself, drowned in power, and caused «that incident» to happen. She no longer wanted to remember that, and now she wanted to run away from everything related to that situation, especially Tabane, who was the most vivid reminder about what happened. In fact, she even wanted to reject the entrance to I.S. Academy, but she finally entered because the government somewhat forced her. Of course, that was because she was Tabane's imōto as government wanted a lever
"…It's not that I hate her…" Houki mumbled in the end.
"Really. That's good. A family should get along well together," Tatenashi smiled. "Though I really can't say that to the others…" She then murmured, although it wasn't heard by Houki. "Let's take a shower together," Sempai suddenly suggested.
"Huh? No, I'll just use my own room…" Kōhai again tried to refuse.
"That's fine, that's fine. That guy's gonna hate the sweaty smell!" Tatenashi smiled cunningly.
That guy. Houki knew who Tatenashi was referring to, and her face immediately blushed. And his room is next to Houki's, so the possibility to meet him cannot be excluded completely.
"It's so late already, and there shouldn't be anyone in the shower room. We got the whole room, you know?" Tatenashi said as she grabbed Houki's hand.
"Ple… Please don't drag me along! I'll just walk on my own!" Though Houki protested, Tatenashi just replied with a smile and continued to pull Houki by the arm.
October 18th, Wednesday, 5:08 P.M.
"Ah… It feels so good," In the shower of hot water, Tatenashi let out a refreshing sigh.
The showerheads in the shower room were separated, and both of them entered the neighboring cubicles. Even though they were separated, the leg and head area were completely open for everyone to see, so there would normally be girls chatting away happily. The spacers were all translucent glass sheets, and though they could block the exposure from the chest to the thighs, the human figure would be shown as a silhouette. Houki didn't like this shower room as her bust size would be checked on by the other girls.
"Are you the bathing type, Houki-chan?" Tatenashi suddenly asked Houki, who remained silent up till now.
"Well, as for what you said just now," Houki mumbled uncertainly.
"Hmm? About Houki-chan's onee-san?" Tatenashi asked.
Houki nodded her head, "I don't really hate her. I'm really grateful about the Personal I.S."
"I see…" Sempai replied.
"But I still can't understand," Kōhai added.
"Can't understand what?" Tatenashi asked.
"What was my sister thinking…" Houki really couldn't understand.
"Hmm?" Tatenashi turned off the shower and leaned on the spacer. The space between the body and the spacer couldn't take the ample breasts, and they were squashed, "You're scared because you don't understand?" Getting a silent affirmation, Tatenashi continued, "If that's the case, I'm the same."
"Huh?" Houki sounded surprised.
"So, I'm sure that your onee-san's the same as well…" Tatenashi said ambiguously. Unable to understand. Unable to understand, and being afraid as a result. However, one has to understand that courage was needed. The courage that surpasses the fear of hurting oneself, that surpasses the fear of hurting others, "It's alright…"
"In… In what case?" Houki stuttered.
"There's no need to worry. I'm sure your onee-san would treat you as someone important," Explaining this gently, Tatenashi maintained a silent smile on her face until the end, "So, there's no need to be scared." Intentionally or not, Tatenashi was following Ichika's advice to not poke her nose into relationships between Shinonono sisters.
October 20th, Friday, 3:29 P.M.
Second preparation room, after school. Kanzashi was already here, accompanied by Ichika. Others also started to arrive. "Ah, Mayuzumi-sempai, thank you for your appearance today."
"Let me say first that my appearance fee's really high, you know? An exclusive, ahem, date for once," Kaoruko smiled.
"Oh?" Ichika's eyes flashed.
"A date with Orimura-sama. Yep, that's something to be proud of!" She kept smiling.
"Hmm, but of course," Ichika looked at Mayuzumi coldly, "Why not? That will be a great opportunity for us to discuss my share of the money you've got from the illegal auction where you were selling my photos. I'm pretty sure that we can come to some agreement, without disturbing my elder sister…"
"Ugh…" Kaoruko froze like paralyzed, her smile instantly disappeared. Chifuyu's name really works better than any magical words. "Aha… ahaha… I surely would like to go on a date… But right now, I'm a bit busy… I have to help Kanzashi-chan with her I.S…" Mayuzumi quickly got Ichika's hint.
If Ichika wants to complete Kanzashi's I.S. without his personal interference, he definitely needs to have the second-year ace of the conditioning class, Mayuzumi Kaoruko, to help Kanzashi. And he got just the right bargaining chip.
"Okay, okay, okay. I want to go on a date with Orimu," And there's Nohotoke Honne, who didn't hear the conversation between Ichika and Kaoruko. She's a first year, but amongst the members of the conditioning course, her ability's top notch.
"Yes, yes, thank you for coming again," Ichika ruffled Honne's hair.
"Ehehe," Girl giggled happily. Ichika definitely was treating her like a child, but seemingly she wasn't against that.
"By the way, Mayuzumi-san, feel free to invite some of your friends, if you think that they may be of help," Ichika noted casually.
"Ah, well, you see, I would've liked to call in Kyōko and Fee to help, but…" Kaoruko mumbled uncertainly.
"Oh, no, no, Mayuzumi-san, I'm not forcing you to do anything, I'm just wondering – how many laps around the arena you will have to run, with an I.S. deployed, but without thrusters and PIC, when Orimura-sensei will learn about those 476 300 yen you've earned…"
"Alright, alright!" Kaoruko exclaimed, interrupting Ichika. "Uuu, no need to blackmail me that explicitly!" With sour face, Mayuzumi-san pulled her handphone out to call for her team.
October 20th, Friday, 4:02 P.M.
In order to complete Kanzashi's personal machine Uchigane Nisihiki, all the second-year members of the conditioning class were present and working. Ichika had no idea how Koaruko managed to convince those two girls to help, but he couldn't care less. Of course – for your normal student, blackmailing an ace of the newspaper's club wouldn't be the best idea, but Ichika wasn't worried at all. She already tried, many times, but still couldn't learn anything interesting regarding Ichika, no reason to think that it will ever change. Ichika was surrounded with impenetrable wall of disinformation and secrecy.
Despite that her first test flight ended up in failure, Kanzashi managed to get at least some operational data on thrusters, armor, servo-systems and overall structural dynamics. But there still a lot of systems to work with – armaments, internal firearms, shield and so on. Also, the core needed to use data to create the respective parts and the final model of the machine. Kanzashi continued to assemble the I.S. in order to operate it immediately after finishing work.
And there is still a lot of problems with the software. It's based on the Uchigane, but there's the adjusting and checking of things that include the construct of the Yama Arashi [Mountain Storm] MLRS, the thrusters' unit control system optimization and efficiency maximization, the machine's Energy Bypass Operating System simulation, and the Passive Inertia Canceller system.
Helping to support the development, the pilot, Kanzashi, has been operating on both software and hardware with the support of Nohohon-san. She's working on things far more complicated than what an ordinary person can do, like operating the machine, gathering data and controlling the feedback.
The only person who wasn't working here was Ichika. However…
"Honne-chan," Ichika called for a sleepy girl, "Don't step on it, that panel hasn't been fixed yet," He warned her that she might fall.
"Ehe, thanks," Honne thanked him carefreely.
"How did he even notice this?" Girl, whose name apparently was Fee, asked in whisper. All this time Ichika was sitting in the corner, surrounded with eight holoscreens and working with weirdly-looking structures, which no one here could recognize. Yet, at the same time, he was observing girls' work, giving them advices and watching over them.
"I've heard that he has magical eyes of sort… maybe that's it?" Girl, whose name was Kyōko, guessed.
"I'd prefer him helping with the heavy equipment," Koaruko complained.
"Hello, Orimura-sensei?" Ichika pretended that he's calling his elder sister, "I'd like to report an illegal activity that involves money, yes, on academy's territory…"
"Alright, alright, stop it already!" Mayuzumi exclaimed, "It's not funny anymore, geez…"
"Heheh…" Seeing Ichika and Koaruko arguing like this, Kanzashi chuckled. It was just a little smile, but it glittered brighter than any diamond.
October 20th, Friday, 8:49 P.M.
"Okay, okay, we got the basic parts assembled together. Sarashiki-san, do you feel something weird about the machine's movements?" Mayuzumi asked.
"It… It's alright…" On the day before the tag match, they finally ended their final run of work just several minutes before 9 P.M.
On hearing Kanzashi's answer, Kaoruko nodded her head. "Yup yup. How about the weapons control system? Finally, is the Yama Arashi completed?"
"Ye… Yes. The normal Lock-on System can… be used…" Kanzashi mumbled in reply.
The girl named Kyōko, who planned on working as an arms developer in the future, seemed to be concerned about that. Right now, the Uchigane Nishiki has high-performance guided missiles amongst its armaments, eight missile pods altogether, with six mini missiles in every container. It's a weapon that can fire 48 missiles in one go, but as the important 48 independent operational Yama Arashi Multi Lock-on System wasn't completed, the supposedly high accuracy and high firepower type didn't appear.
However, the fact that Kanzashi managed to complete the machine to such an extent in such a short time, was due to Kaoruko, Kyōko, Fee and Honne's help.
And also… Kanzashi secretly glanced at Ichika. Almost all this time he was sitting in his dark corner, staring at his holoscreens, watching over girls at the same time. Though, at the end he agreed to help with clearing up the mechanical tools that were used by the girls, because as he said, that wasn't distracting him from his mathematics or whatever he's doing.
'Orimura… Ichika…' On looking at him, her eyes started to be passionate.
"Hmm?" Kaoruko detected the gaze from Kanzashi's eyes, and her own eyes began to glitter. "Then! That'll be all. We'll be making a move first then."
"Hmm? What are you saying, Kaoruko? We'll be scolded if we don't send the machinery and equipment back," Fee noted.
"Ahh. Okay, okay. Can't Orimura-sama take care of that?" Mayuzumi asked.
"Yes, yes, thanks for your help, I'll take care of the formalities," Ichika waved his arms. Really, it will be faster that way.
"Oh my. How kind of you," Kaoruko said sarcastically but Ichika just ignored her.
"Yay! Then, Orimu, we'll leave it to you then!" Honne exclaimed happily.
"Yay!" Fee and Kyōko cheered, as they repeated this somewhat unknown high-touch.
"Th… That!" Kanzashi was stuttering, but she decided to thank everyone who worked so hard to help her, so she said really loudly, "Thank you very much, everyone! I definitely couldn't have done this on my own. Really, thank you, thank you very much!" She earnestly bowed her head.
Seeing Kanzashi like that, the four girls showed a kind smile.
"Ahaha. Don't really mind that. Aren't we all friends in the school?"
"Ah, well. It's meaningful to meet a Japanese made I.S. after so long."
"Hmm, please treat me to dessert next time!"
"I want cake!"
After being surrounded by cheerful voices, Kanzashi felt tears well up in her eyes. Up till now, she was so obstinate… But even so, the world was still filled with the light of kindness.
"Then, we're going back," Kaoruko concluded. "Orimura-sama, the rest is up to you."
"Of course," Ichika replied as his holoscreens disappeared and he stood up.
"Sarashiki-san, do your best," Kaoruko whispered to Kanzashi's ear just when she was spacing out, and even gave a small knowing look.
On hearing that, Kanzashi immediately blushed and looked down. *Gulp* She gulped as sweat immediately appeared, 'Wha… What's with that… telling me to do my best…' While keeping her head down, she still glanced at Ichika secretly. He picked up the heavy equipment almost effortlessly, as if it was made of paper.
'Wha… What do I do…? No… no matter what, I want to help him…' Deactivating her I.S. and opening the armor, Kanzashi landed on the floor.
"Hmm? Kanzashi, you're ready to go?" Ichika asked as he locked the mechanical equipment in the storage.
"Yes… but…" Girl mumbled uncertainly.
"If you want to make some fine-tuning – take your time, I still have some calculations to complete, so I can keep you company for about half an hour," Ichika declared.
"Wa… Wait a minute!" The unexpectedly loud response caused Ichika to look at Kanzashi questioningly.
"Ah… Um…" Kanzashi being Kanzashi, she immediately felt shy about speaking out loud, and turned back to the tuning on the Uchigane Nishiki.
"Hmm?" Ichika just shrugged as many holoscreens again appeared around him.
The maintenance sounds echoed through the preparation room. In the spacious preparation room, only Ichika and Kanzashi were present. 'Wha… What do I do… what do I do…' Kanzashi wondered as she continued to fine-tune the Uchigane Nishiki. The machine was without a pilot, and thus in standby mode now. Of course, she didn't forget to let the core optimize itself.
She glanced slightly at Ichika. Despite that he and Kanzashi were alone, he was completely focused on his equations or whatever. 'He… He's really used to… handling girls…' Even though she didn't join the inner circle of girls, she did hear the rumors. Rumors like the guy named Orimura Ichika having a good relationship with all the Personal I.S. pilots in the first year.
"As expected… I'm still…" As a Personal I.S. pilot, the girl still turned her face back to recall. All of them, those girls from all over the world, they all are girls with overwhelming charm. Kanzashi felt really depressed, and there was an ache in her chest. She started to feel dejected. 'If I could… be more loveable than now. If I could be even cuter now…'
"Kanzashi-chan," Quiet voice called for her.
"Hya…!?" Just when she lowered her head and got lost in her trail of thoughts, Ichika suddenly appeared right behind her. As it was too sudden, Kanzashi got shocked and straightened her back. "Wha… what's wrong…?"
"I've told you that I can wait if you need to complete some additional fine-tuning, but if you're done here – I'd prefer to return to my own room, I really miss my chair," Ichika noted.
"Huh?" Kanzashi looked at the clock. Most likely, time flew as Kanzashi was thinking to herself.
"C'mon, let's go back," Ichika gently pushed the girl toward the exit.
"Al… Alright…" She mumbled. Kanzashi couldn't calm down as she stroked Uchigane Nishiki that was in standby phase, the ring on the middle finger of her right hand. She walked with Ichika side by side out of the entrance of the preparation room. The tremendous beating in her chest was now painful, as if it was giving a loud cry.
"Which changing room you're using, Kanzashi?" Ichika asked.
"Well, that… Number 2-A…" She replied gingerly.
"Very well. I'll walk with you for a while then, there's one more question I'd like to discuss with you before the tomorrow's tournament."
"Ah… what… is it?" She asked. Kanzashi and Ichika walked together side by side. They could see the sky outside, through the window, and it was completely dark now.
"That's about your partner," Ichika said. "Since you didn't choose anyone, you will be paired with that girl, as she also hasn't chosen a teammate…"
"Yes… Angelica Jiosestaf-san," Kanzashi pronounced.
"Yeah. Representative Candidate of Italy, she's piloting the Tempesta II, 3rd generation I.S. built after the legendary Tempesta, an I.S. whose glory is almost on par with Chifuyu onee-san's Kurozakura," Ichika explained.
"You… know her…?" Kanzashi asked humbly.
"Not in person," Ichika replied. "She's not the biggest fan of me in this academy…"
"Why… why is that…?" Kanzashi seemed surprised a bit.
Ichika looked at her with evaluating sight. Since Kanzashi's is going to be that girl's teammate, he probably has to explain it to some extent. "Well, in some regard, she's like me and you – she's also came from a 'dynasty' of I.S. pilots, so to say. Angelica Jiosestaf is a niece of Alicia Jiosestaf – the original Tempesta's pilot, the woman who fought against Chifuyu onee-san in Mondo Grosso finals twice. As you probably well aware yourself – onee-san won in the first match, thus winning the first Mondo Grosso, but in second match, three years later, onee-san left the arena right in the middle of the battle. Alicia-san was declared the victor, though she refused to take the title and reward, proclaiming that match is unconcluded. Of course, Alicia-san was angry at onee-san, but as I think of it now, she probably was angry not because Chifuyu left the match, but, maybe, because she didn't say why and where she is going and because onee-san didn't take Alicia-san with her… but that's just my speculations. What is more important – I think that Alicia-san has already forgave onee-san… but her niece, Angelica, did not. She probably still thinks that onee-san just ran away to not let her aunt to get a clear victory, and, for some reason, she also thinks that all those events have something to do with me," Ichika finished his explanation with explicit sarcasm in his voice. From aside it seemed like he wasn't expecting anything else from a teenager.
Ichika continued, "I'm telling you this so you could understand how that girl is thinking. Due to her legacy – she's a proud lone wolf. You two have a lot in common, so that tournament will be a challenge for both of you. Be prepared," He concluded.
"I… I see…" Kanzashi mumbled. "I'll… do… my best…" And naturally, the conversation ended as both of them continued to walk silently. Kanzashi was so nervous she didn't know what to do, but Ichika didn't say anything else, he already said more than enough.
"Well, we're here," Ichika said as he raised his arm, waved to Kanzashi, and walked away, "Good night."
"Yes… You too…" Kanzashi stared at that figure's back for a while, and only when she lost sight of Ichika, she did run into the changing room as if she was escaping.
'I'm… Weird…' They weren't so close that she could talk to Ichika naturally. She thought that she could say something at the beginning. 'I… I do… like him… Isn't that the case…' Thinking about this, her heart pounded again. 'No, I can't… think about that, no way…' Finally reaching her locker somehow, Kanzashi silently leaned and placed her hand on her chest.
October 20th, Friday, 9:44 P.M.
Ichika was sitting in his leather chair, in his dormitory room. His plans for today were fulfilled, so now he was reading today's news. The development of Uchigane Nishiki, with minimal interference from his side, has been completed, as such, his promise to Tatenashi has been fulfilled as well. Speaking of which…
*Knock* *Knock* Someone knocked on the door.
"Come on in, it's open," Ichika allowed his visitor to enter.
The door opened, and aforementioned person is standing there, "Hello!" She smiled.
"Come in, don't stay there," Ichika waved his arm.
"Then, excuse me." Like usual, Tatenashi entered the room with graceful steps before walking to the bed and leaping onto it. Why does she feel like a kid…? She even flailed her legs about. Ichika could see her panties, but at that stage it was completely meaningless.
"So?" Ichika asked, "What brought you into my humble abode?"
"What else could it be?" Tatenashi replied, still smiling, "Of course I want to know how's my precious imōto doing."
"As if you actually don't know it already," Ichika shook his head. "But if you want to hear it from me – fine. Kanzashi-chan's I.S. is mostly completed. She will need some real operational data to use her unit's advanced capabilities, but at least now she can pilot it normally…"
"I see," Tatenashi nodded, "Thank you, Ichika-sama, really, thanks a lot!"
"No need," Ichika replied, "I was just fulfilling my promise, after all. By the way, how's Houki-chan doing?"
"Huh?" Tatenashi looked at Ichika, "Well, Houki-chan is a hardworking person, you know? She's trying her best."
"Good. I wish you luck in tomorrow's tournament then," Ichika pronounced. "You two should do nicely, just don't rely on that girl too much…"
"Hmm? What?" Tatenashi looked at Ichika in confusion.
"Why you're looking at me like that?" Ichika asked as if he didn't tell anything special, "I've said that if you really want to win tomorrow – you shouldn't rely on Houki's prudence too much. Just keep my advice in mind."
"What makes you say so?" Sarashiki seemed quite surprised.
'Because Houki is cowardly, pathetic and weak…' – That was what Ichika would've liked to say, but he didn't, since it would've been a lie, you can't judge a teenager like that. "Because, if we'll forget about her traditional upbringing, she's a common schoolgirl," Ichika said as he decided to start from afar. "Tatenashi, I'm really not the one who should tell you this, but since you took a liking in that girl, I'll give you a summary." Ichika really didn't know – had Tatenashi found a silhouette of her own imōto inside of Houki, or what, he just decided to explain the situation. That may help both Tatenashi and Houki.
"Despite that your and Kanzashi-chan's situation seems similar, Houki and Tabane-nee's situation has some differences. For instance – Houki actually has a reason to be angry at her elder sister," Ichika began to explain. "As you could guess yourself, when Tabane-nee did introduce an I.S. to the world – Houki's life got twisted inside-out. Back then she was just a primary school student. And all that in addition to Houki's already existing inferiority complex toward Tabane-nee. Due to all those circumstances Houki became emotionally unstable. And after all of that, there was an incident about three years ago. I won't go into details as they're irrelevant to current situation, I'll just say that Houki committed a very shameful and idiotic action, and her elder sister was one of those who suffered because of it. But of course – Tabane-nee never blamed her imōto, she's accepted all the blame on herself… and you can guess from here," Ichika again looked at Tatenashi. "Since then, Tabane-nee became an incarnation of Houki's shame and sense of guilt. This is why she's avoiding her as much as possible – she just can't look into her sister's eyes or she becomes overwhelmed with those shameful memories. Thus, Houki's running away. And of course, that situation only worsened Houki's emotional instability. And thus – my advice – don't rely on that girl too much – she has a tendency to lose control over her emotions at most inconvenient times. Not the best quality for an I.S. pilot, don't you think?"
While she was listening to Ichika's explanation – shivers ran along Tatenashi's spine. But not because Ichika's words were some sort of revelation for her – she already has guessed some of it herself. It was because she got one more reminder – those eyes of different color – they easily can see through one's flesh – right into the soul.
And, as it was said, actually Ichika didn't try to say that Houki is worse or better than any other of his fangirls. She's just a teenager with her own set of hang-ups… And of course, as expected, Tatenashi still couldn't ignore Houki's situation. But obviously that's something, which Ichika definitely don't want to discuss further.
About one minute Ichika and Tatenashi have spent in silence. "Ichika-sama, you really have quite a good relationship with your sister…" Girl suddenly said. "Despite all of your achievements, Orimura-sensei's still really strict with you."
"And you decided to play a 'captain obvious' because…?" Ichika looked at Tatenashi questioningly.
"I'm envious…" She mumbled in reply.
"Well, that's the reverse of the medal," Ichika noted. "There were only two of us against this whole world. There still are only the two of us. Only person to rely on – your only sibling. It simply couldn't and can't be otherwise."
And though Ichika seemed calm – his memory got awakened again. Actually, he and Chifuyu have one more person, which may be called their blood sibling, who can be called Ichika's younger twin sister – Orimura Madoka. But Ichika never thought of her like that – in his eyes she's just a little insect that dared to endanger Chifuyu's life. And at this point he couldn't care less that she's his twin sister – her fate was already decided – she'll pay for everything. As well as that clockwork bitch – Squall – she will regret the moment when she crawled out of her grave… Ichika's eyes flashed in darkness.
"Well, a war's going to start again…" Tatenashi mumbled to herself, she probably felt the atmosphere.
"A war?" Ichika looked at Tatenashi, "No, there will be no war – it will be a one-sided annihilation," He said, and girl shivered in fear due to explicit murderous intent that Ichika suddenly released. But that intent disappeared as abruptly as it appeared, Ichika was again looking into his holoscreen, reading news, as if nothing happened at all. "Well, we'll talk about serious stuff later, I think that today's already too late for such discussions."
"Huh?" Tatenashi looked at her I.S. clock. "Oh my, it's already that late?" She asked herself. That girl was well aware about that she's a heavy sleeper, and tomorrow she's going to participate in an I.S. battle, during which she shouldn't be sleepy.
October 20th, Friday, 10:21 P.M.
Kanzashi was using the kitchen in her dorm. The gas stove was giving off piping hot air, and Kanzashi, who was sitting on a chair in front of it, looked on impatiently. 'Orimura-sama… will…will he eat it…?' She was making green-tea-flavored cupcakes. One of the many specialty dishes of Kanzashi.
Looking at the clock on the wall to check the time, it was now past 10 P.M. Maybe Ichika would be sleeping. Thinking about this, Kanzashi's heart sank again as she stared at the stove expectantly, thinking that it would have been better to bake it earlier. "Ah…!" A small bell rang, informing the girl that it is done. Kanzashi's expression immediately brightened. She carefully placed her mittens on both hands and took out the cupcakes from the oven. The sweet smell of baked sugar and the aroma of green tea scattered out.
*Sniff* 'Yup… well done…' The cupcakes that were giving off a hot air so yummy that it could be eaten. Kanzashi gently put each cupcake into the prepared bag one by one, and then used a string to tie the opening. 'Then… Then… I'll give it to Orimura-sama to eat…'
She felt so happy. And because she was too happy, Kanzashi's heart felt like it was going to explode. "Be… Before it cools down…" Holding the three cupcakes with both hands, Kanzashi ran out of the kitchen. Taking fast steps on the corridor, Kanzashi couldn't help but smile. She was really happy.
Giving something to the person she liked. While she was somewhat shy about it, she also felt a little proud. 'I want to see him…' 'I want to see him…' 'I want to see him…' That was the only thought in Kanzashi's head. She continued to run on the corridor and hastened her pace.
She turned around the next corner, and soon she was about to reach Ichika's room. She stopped at the corner to adjust her breathing. 'I'll go slowly from here…' She didn't want to be seen panicking. Thinking about this, she turned the corner.
"Huh?" At that moment, Ichika's door has been opened, and Kanzashi instinctively hid behind the corner.
"Anyway, thank you for sparing me your time, Ichika-sama," Girl's voice said.
"Ah?!" Kanzashi definitely didn't mistake that. It was her sister, Tatenashi's voice.
'Why… Why in this room…?' Hiding behind the corner, she was listening from there.
"No need, favor for a favor," Ichika replied. And at this point he probably made a tiny mistake – he didn't come out from his room to say goodbye to Tatenashi. Even his eyes, at least in a passive mode, couldn't see around two corners. And since Kanzashi had no ill intents – he didn't feel any danger either.
"Uuh, don't be so formal," Tatenashi pouted childishly.
Seeing them like this, Kanzashi's breathing stopped for a moment, 'Both of them seem to have quite the good relationships.' Her heart ached as if a knife had pierced into it. Kanzashi then subconsciously held onto the cupcakes tightly.
"But still, I'm looking forward to see Kanzashi-chan's machine in action," Tatenashi added.
'Huh?' Kanzashi froze. 'What's, going on?' She couldn't help but prick her ears and eavesdrop on their conversation, and her heart rang like a siren. She shouldn't listen. She mustn't listen to it at all.
"Were my machine's data useful?" Elder sister wondered.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Though, I've used the data from several others units to make an extrapolation, using your Renia Nui's operational data as a start point was the right decision," Ichika replied. "And operational data from your lance also were useful."
'Ah!?' Subconsciously shocked, Kanzashi immediately stuffed her mouth and leaned her back on the wall. 'Then… the test data Orimura-sama gave me…' Though it was compiled using several I.S.-es, the core data was from… 'Nee-san's machine's…?'
Kanzashi's world started to collapse. Nobody had any ill intents, however, she had her own pride. 'Uchigane Nishiki's assembly… I finally managed to complete it with my own power… finally… finally!' Perhaps she thought that she caught up to her sister, or that's what she had thought.
"Ah… ah…" Kanzashi was shaking all over. It was an illusion. All that was an illusion. 'Is that possible that nee-san somehow persuaded my curators to hire Orimura Ichika to help me?!' Kanzashi thought, remembering the false story that Ichika put in her mind. Her thoughts were at a complete disarray, 'Can it be?!' Even that genius – the brilliant-minded engineer – Orimura Ichika. Tatenashi somehow was involved with him helping with Kanzashi's I.S. The man who helped her to find critical errors, who gathered a team to build the Uchigane Nishiki…
'All of it…' All that was completed by her own elder sister. "Hii…!" Thinking about this, Kanzashi's heart couldn't help but imagine about her sister. The perfect appearance, outstanding brain, athletic ability that far surpasses an ordinary person, the charisma that locks the hearts of many in. "Ah… ah… ah…" It's scary… It's scary… It's scary… It's scary… It's scary… "No, don't…"
"Kanzashi!" The voice of the illusion rang beside her. Even when she covered her ears and closed her eyes, she couldn't get rid of that sound. "You don't have to do anything, I'll take care of everything!" Illusive Tatenashi was smiling and her voice was so sweet, yet the words sounded like a poison. It started to spread in Kanzashi's heart, and soon flowed out.
The despair, darkness. "No… no…"
Illusive Tatenashi was still smiling, "So, you… can continue to remain powerless."
'No!' Kanzashi ran away. Her heart and body felt like they couldn't take it. She was running, running, and running, until she reached her room in a daze. "Hah… Hah… Hah…" Her shoulders couldn't stop trembling, and her face was covered with trails of tears that looked like they were drawn on it as they drip onto the floor. "Uuu…" She forcefully rubbed her eyes to wipe her tears away. But the tears swelled up again, and Kanzashi couldn't take it as she escaped into her bed. 'I… I just… I just…'
"Just continue to remain useless," The cruel voice of her imagination pierced through her chest.
And then, the dam crumbled as tears flowed out. Choking and crying, her heart was wavering. Feeling that she really wanted to die, Kanzashi just continued to sob alone.
October 21th, Saturday, 7:52 A.M.
'Is it morning… already?' Rubbing her swollen eyes, Kanzashi slowly got out of her bed. She couldn't feel even worse now. However, today's the day of the personal I.S. pilot tag match tournament. Right now, it's impossible to even think of resting. 'I have to go…' She staggered and walked to the basin area, and washed her face with cold water. Calming herself down, Kanzashi put her glasses on. She had to work hard today no matter what. She continued to think that way. Even though she still couldn't accept it psychologically, she could only think that way.
The tournament's schedule. They will show the match-ups… at that time… But if they progressed smoothly, they would have to face off against Tatenashi, even if they didn't know when. 'Ugh…' Her chest hurts. Ichika Orimura, and her own sister, Tatenashi, who looked really happy. She realized that they didn't mean to agitate her, but she still felt really hurt. 'I can't beat that person, I can't…' She bit her lower lip tightly. Tears again swelled in her eyes.
'If only there was a hero around,' Like in a manga, where the hero would appear majestically, a flawless hero. A powerful, strong, kind, unwavering and upright partner who would follow his own justice until the end. "Umm…" Kanzashi saw the hero in her dream interchange with Ichika, and couldn't help but shake her head. 'Either way, I have to go,' Feeling so inferior that she wanted to disappear, Kanzashi left the room.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:00 A.M.
"Then, we'll invite the Student Council President, Sarashiki Tatenashi, to deliver the opening address." After Nohotoke Utsuho said that, she took a step back from the microphone on the podium. On a side note, her younger sister, Nohotoke Honne, the secretary of the Student Council, was standing just one step behind Utsuho.
"Uuuhh… I'm so sleepy…" Honne yawned.
"Honne, pull yourself together," Elder sister glanced at her, "The head teacher's looking over."
However, it caused the opposite effect as Honne swayed around like a daruma.
That head of teaching staff has her hair tied to the back, she's dressed in an angular shirt. Her eyes are sharp and her sight is focused. She has a nickname 'nekomata' [demon cat]. However, she's much more beautiful than a real demon… Her name is Orimura Chifuyu.
"Everyone, we're having the Personal Pilot Tag match tournament. I hope that everyone can learn something from the match. Please enjoy the show!" The clear tone, the precise pronunciation, the bright smile. Like usual, Tatenashi gives an overwhelming presence. There's no other reason for why she's so popular. Though, her 'words of encouragement' were quite clichéd. But seemingly she ain't done yet, "Well, not only that." The fan opened, and the words on it read 'Bakuto' [lit. gambler]. "To let every student to enjoy this, the Student Council members specially came up with the plan. It's called 'Prediction of the Winning Pair – Meal Vouchers Fight'!"
"Uuuuhhh!" The students who were lined up properly broke into ruckus.
"Don't worry, I've finished the negotiations." Tatenashi-san gave auditory a smile, and nobody in the teachers' camp looked like they disagreed… though, Chifuyu looked like she got a headache. "And this isn't gambling. It's just a simple assistance. Just using one's own vouchers only. It's just guessing who will win."
That's really like her – suddenly creating a gambling cult… But this is the charisma of I.S. Academy's Student Council President, Sarashiki Tatenashi. She really grasped the hearts of the students.
"Then, I'll announce the matchups!" After saying that, the large holographic screen appeared behind Tatenashi.
Since the number of teams is not a multiple of degree of two, it is not possible to organize a fair competition with an 'elimination' format. As such, six teams were divided into two groups, three teams per each group. Teams are going to gain points – 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. Best team from each group will meet one another in a final match. As such – every team will have at least two matches. In case of even number of points – the best will be decided by a jury. Time limit for every battle – 20 minutes. Not perfect, but still better than an uneven number of matches to get into final. And of course – since the teams will need some time to recover their strength and shields – all today's lessons were canceled – the tournament will last from 11 A.M. to 7 P.M. Oh, and there will be no simultaneous matches – academy's administration wanted maximum number of students to be able to observe the matches. As such, they all will happen at arena №5, one after another.
And the first battle Is: Laura Bodewig and Charlotte Dunois VS Cecilia Alcott and Huang Lingyin. The second battle Is: Angelica Earley and Sarashiki Kanzashi VS Shinonono Houki and Sarashiki Tatenashi. And so on…
And while almost all of the students here were discussing the matchmaking, Chifuyu looked around. It seemed as if she was looking for a certain someone. And since that certain someone didn't even come to the meeting, Chifuyu's headache seemingly got worse…
October 21th, Saturday, 9:19 A.M.
Arena №5, changing room 5-B. Kanzashi was here, all alone. There's still more than one and a half hours until the first match, and hers is not even the first one. But it was simply unbearable to sit in her room, or anywhere else with other people around. She just wanted to stay alone and gather her thoughts.
Arena №5 itself right now was off-limits – it's going to held the tournament matches soon. But other four were free – students with earliest matches will be using them to warm-up. But Kanzashi had no desire, and/or strength to do that – she was just staying in this empty room, leaning on the wall and trying to rid of ill thoughts about her elder sister.
*BOOM!* An earthquake suddenly struck, and the ground shook wildly.
"Kya!" Shaking continuously, Kanzashi couldn't maintain her balance. She fell on knees, looking around in shock. "What…? What is… going on?" She seemed deeply shocked. With a crisp sound, all the lights on the corridor became red. Then, the holographic screens in the air showed Emergency Situation Alert as a broadcast was aired.
"All students are to evacuate underground! I repeat, all students… Kyyaaaahhhh?!" The teacher who was making the emergency broadcast got interrupted suddenly. And then, another powerful attack shook the school, shaking it left and right.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:21 A.M.
"Orimura-sensei!" Maya Yamada ran down the corridor, as she spotted Chifuyu, who was with Ichika right now. About one minute has passed since the attack started. Elder sister just found her brother, and she was scolding him for that he didn't even show up at the school's general assembly, when a first explosion shook up the entire I.S. Academy.
"Yamada-sensei, what's the situation? What happened?" Chifuyu asked quickly.
"It's… an attack! Please… look at this!" Panting really hard, Maya pulled out the portable terminal, and the screen clearly showed the 'enemy' image the arena's surveillance camera took.
"This is…?!" Chifuyu clenched her teeth.
"Ye… Yes! The same unmanned drones like before… no, it looks like they're more developed!" Maya exclaimed.
Ichika remained silent, he was a third party here at the moment, so he just let the two members of academy's staff to discuss the situation.
"Numbers!?" Elder sister inquired.
"Six of them! Appearing from all the arena pits at high speed! They're attacking students with Personal I.S.-es!" Maya replied worriedly.
On hearing Maya's words, Chifuyu's changed her expression. "Damn it… this is too early… 'that thing' still can't be used…"
"Huh?" Maya was a little surprised by Chifuyu's little muttering. However, it seemed that she muttered that subconsciously. Chifuyu again shut her mouth, her hasty mannerism wasn't like her at all. "Orimura-sensei! What do we do!?" Maya earnestly looked up at Chifuyu.
Chifuyu was the one in charge of I.S. Academy's Unexpected Event Response Command, and the reason was because she was crowned the world's strongest I.S. pilot – the Brunhild. "How's each section doing?" She inquired.
"Like last time, they're in the highest-level lockdown," Yamada-sensei replied with very concerned expression.
"Got it. The teachers should put priority on evacuating the students. Also, gate system lockdown is to be removed. Teaching staff are to get ready to attack. Level three armaments, two-man cells as defensive lines," Chifuyu gave a clear order.
"Un-Understood," Maya straightened her back as she answered, and then ran to the hangar to get her machine.
Seeing that figure leave, Chifuyu suddenly punched the wall viciously, making a deep dent on corridor's wall. "That was really daring… but, you underestimated us," Chifuyu's eyes looked like they were burning as she muttered softly but clearly. "Ichika," She finally looked at her younger brother.
"I'm going," He replied quickly. "Don't stress yourself over it, just give me fifteen minutes, I'll get rid of that junk. And, yes, just in case I'll call for a deployment of a containment unit and order them to close the airspace around the academy," He added.
"Do so," Elder sister approved. He turned around and made several steps, before he noticed an ambiguous expression on Chifuyu's face, with power of his eyes he had no need to look at her directly.
"And what's with that expression?" He snorted. "I've told you – don't stress yourself it. If you'll worry too much, you'll get wrinkles, you know?"
"Get going!" Chifuyu growled at him, but Ichika already turned around the corner and disappeared, heading to the nearest gates. Of course, he could summon his unit right here and broke through the ceiling, but right now that would've been just an unnecessary show-off. Elder sister sighed. Even now Ichika was a cocky and arrogant younger brother, as he always had been. But exactly at times like these Chifuyu couldn't be more grateful for that she always could rely on him. With these thoughts, she turned around and headed to control room.
Ichika almost reached the gates. And when his elder sister could no longer see him, a wicked smile beamed on his face as he barely withstood the desire to laugh aloud. "I'm sorry, onee-chan, but I can't agree with you… she just couldn't have a better timing…" No, of course Ichika has nothing to do with organization of that attack, neither he knew about that coming. For him it was just a very, very fortunate coincidence. His eyes flashed brightly in darkness as a metallic chain glinted on his arm.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:23 A.M.
Arena №2. With a metallic clang, the double-bladed Chinese scimitar Sōten Gatetsu launched an attack and continued on with another as Rin slammed the attacker, the black I.S., away. Chinse girl was really excited over repaying the debt.
In contrast, the opponent just responded with a presence that the unmanned machine would have. The black I.S. is being called the Golem Mark III. It was far stronger than the one that appeared before, and the shield expanded greater. In contrast to the metallic giant-like Golem, Golem Mark III looked more like an iron girl. It looked just like a female figure, clad completely in black.
The pitch-black armor was neatly arranged, outlining the feminine silhouette. The head had complex eye lens on it, and to obtain a wider range of view, the visor-shaped eyeline was changed to become a ram's horn Hyper Sensor as it charged in. And the parts that changed the most were definitely the arms. The area under the right elbow became a huge blade, and it possessed strong combat capabilities. In contrast, the left arm used the same design as Golem. It was a huge arm, but the modifications on the hand had four high intensity lasers, and the cannons opened up in black holes like the caves of hell.
"You recovered and forgot all about your scars, right?" The Impact Cannons on the shoulders opened, preparing to unleash the Dragon's Roar attack. In the battle at the narrow pit, she used the maximum force to blow the Golem Mark III up – or that what was supposed to happen. However, ball-shaped things formed around the machine, raising a powerful energy shield to defend against the Impact Cannons. "What the heck, you! You're more of a defensive type compared to before!?" Rin growled furiously.
"Rin-san, get down!" On hearing that voice, Rin hurriedly dived. Cecilia flew quickly above her, spun to stop in mid-air, and fired the Starlight Mark III a few times. "Damn it! This shield's really hard! However!" The BiTs that floated nearby fired at the same time, and all the beams shot off in the wrong direction. "I definitely won!" Cecilia flicked her finger in mid-air. At that moment, the beams created a huge refraction, firing at the blind spots of the unmanned machine. This was the BT weapons' attribute, Polarized BT Flexible Shot.
Sensing that there was no time to deploy the shield unit, the Golem Mark III's body danced in mid-air. "What!?" Because it was an unmanned unit, the body could do all sorts of complicated movements. And then, using precise thruster control, it dodged all the attacks. "Are… Are you kidding me!? Such defensive ability and mobility!? And…" The Golem Mark III stretched its left arm towards Rin and Cecilia. The cannons were loaded, and beams started firing. "Such tremendous firepower…" An explosion once again shook the pit.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:25 A.M.
Arena №1. "What's with this thing!?" The Golem Mark III that destroyed the ceiling accelerated and leaped at Laura. The huge arm wrapped around Laura's head, and then exerted force onto its fingers. The sensors on the head let out a sharp shrill, and the irritating alarm came. Still not understanding the situation, Laura quickly made a decision to get away from the bind, so she activated her left plasma saber.
'I'll slice the arm together with it!' Thinking about that, Laura quickly swung at it, but she got unexpectedly blocked by the blade mounted on the right arm of the Golem Mark III. "What!?" Silver-haired girl was taken aback. 'That's not good!' Just when she was thinking that, her partner's reliable voice rang nearby.
"Laura!" It was Charlotte. The two Lineage ultrasonic cannons opened fire simultaneously, almost point-blank.
"Damn it!" After a huge explosion, the Golem Mark III's left arm separated from Laura. But just when that arm separated, Laura saw a burning laser about to shoot out from the palm cannon, "Charlotte!"
"Laura, get down!" Charlotte, who slid in between the Golem Mark III and Laura, immediately used her specialty Rapid Switch to summon three heavy physical shields. "Kuh?!" Even if it was the Sandstorm's sturdy physical shield, three heavy ones in fact, it couldn't defend against the attack completely. The few infrared lasers that went through grazed Charlotte's right arm.
"Cha… Charlotte!" Laura exclaimed worriedly.
"I-I'm alright… I just got a bit of shield's energy eaten off," Charlotte replied, avoiding enemy's attacks.
"Unforgivable. You baaaaastard!" Laura screamed as she adamantly took off her left eyepatch, and just when the Golem Mark III, assisted by the support sensor to increase the firing speed, was about to fire the crimson beam, Laura used AIC at maximum power to attack the unmanned I.S.
Seeing her enemy being stalled for a moment, Charlotte deployed her two six-barreled 30 mm AA-cannons, creating a waltz of explosions and booms.
Trying to use this opening, Laura deployed her .80 caliber railgun, to get a precise shot, "Get blown to bits!"
"Laura, no! Get down!" Charlotte's shout seemed distant, and just when this voice reached, Laura was shocked by the Golem Mark III that closed in immediately.
German pilot didn't expect the enemy to recover from her AIC that quickly, she was taken by surprise, "Ignition Boost? And this efficiency…"
"Llaaaaauuurrrraaa!" Charlotte screamed desperately as the blade stabbed into her friend.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:27 A.M.
Arena №4. "Ahh… what do we do?" Saying this in a completely unenthusiastic tone was the third-year student Daryl Cayce. Though she deployed her I.S., Hellhound V2.5, she was completely unarmed.
"Please, sempai!" Saying that and making a victory pose was the second-year student, Forte Sapphire. She intended to let her partner handle the unmanned pilot. Though she summoned her I.S. Cold Blood, she was just using the PIC to float and flip in the air instead of fighting.
"Damn you, Forte. Is that an attitude you should have to your sempai?" Daryl scolded her teammate.
"What are you saying? You should be treating your kōhai gently," Sapphire replied.
On a side note, just when both of them were bickering, the Golem Mark III fired the high intensity laser over.
"Oh my. That seems hot. Hey, go check it out," Daryl ordered.
"No way, sempai, I don't like the looks of this," Forte refused.
Evade, defend, deflect, spin, sink, stop. Both of them seemed to be giving a little attitude, but in fact, they were making a bronze wall like defense. This pair's combination was called the Aegis. Combining the specialties of both pilots into one to block all attacks. Golem Mark III continued to attack, but it couldn't hit any of those two.
"But Forte," Cayce called for her kōhai.
"What is it, Daryl-sempai?" Sapphire inquired.
"It'll continue if we don't attack," Third year girl noted.
"You're right," Second year girl nodded.
Facing the sudden slash in from the blade, both of them easily dodged aside. Those eyes gradually narrowed.
"Then, shall we give it a counterattack?" Daryl suggested, but a moment later both girls flew away in different direction as shining purple fireball hit the unmanned I.S.
The Golem Mark III quickly deployed the malleable shield units to defend against a sudden attack, forming a powerful barrier. But that wasn't enough to block the energy-nullifying attack – Paradise of Darkness. The shield got destroyed, and though the unmanned I.S. managed to avoid the direct hit, it was sent crashing to the ground by a powerful blastwave. But most importantly, all that has already been foreseen, as heavy sniper rifle Superbia shot the second charge of a thermal plasma right after the first one. That was a technique, implemented by Ichika, which uses the foreseeing capabilities of his eyes – first shot disrupts the defenses and second lands a crippling blow – it's called a Pure Hatred.
Horrifying explosion shook the entire arena. It created a smoldering crater, several meters deep and more-than-half-of-the-arena wide, covered with molten sand and filled with dense clouds of dark smoke. And the unmanned I.S. was somewhere in the middle of it. Without delay, Majin Naamah dived into the smoke cloud, right into the crater.
Daryl Cayce and Forte Sapphire were looking at all this, with seemingly little passion, not trying to do anything, or interfere somehow.
A violet light flashed inside the smoke cloud. That was Ichika's secondary weapon – Hand of Eisheth, which took form of a two talon-like, arcuated blades. Another flash. Sound of torn-down metal could be heard. And then an unmanned I.S. Golem Mark III flew out of the smoke cloud, head over heels, and crashed into the arena's wall. Ichika appeared right after, and Demon Queen seemed especially dreadful right now. Her primary armament, shape-shifting weapon Sitra Ahra already took shape of a double-barreled, automatic scattergun Avaritia.
Ichika pointed his scattergun at an already unmoving enemy. "You've exhausted your use…" High iron voice pronounced as Demon Queen's pilot pulled the trigger. Since he shot from a very close range, all 24 plasma bolts (12 per each of both barrels) hit the target. Already defeated and defenseless Golem Mark III exploded. From aside it looked like an execution…
"Haah…" Daryl Cayce sighed heavily, "After all, men are only capable of destruction…"
"But at least that annoying thing is done for," Forte Sapphire shook her head.
Ichika didn't say anything to those two girls, he didn't even look at them. Demon Queen ignited all her thrusters and flew towards the neighboring arena.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:28 A.M.
"Haaaaahhh!" Houki used the swords in both hands as she swung them each, but they got blocked by the Golem Mark III's right arm. The deflection caused its body to slant slightly, but it immediately used PIC to support itself and regain position.
However, Tatenashi didn't let such an opening slip, "Got you!" The unique aqua nanomachines caused the water to move at high frequencies, and the water spun around her to form a lance-shaped weapon Heavy Rain as she aimed at the body of the Golem Mark III's frame, concentrating on a single point to thrust in.
But just millimeters from when it was about to be pierced through, that lance got held by the huge left hand. "Houki-chan! Use the Fold-Out Armor on your back! Push me!" Tatenashi ordered.
"Go… Got it!" Houki complied.
At that moment, the water lance's spinning ability got maximized. At the same time, water started to freeze, turning into ice. As a loud rubbing sound could be heard, the Golem Mark III's arm got worn away, little by little. "Ku! How hard is the armor it uses!?" Sarashiki exclaimed in annoyance.
"Tatenashi-san! I'm going!" Houki announced, expanding Fold-Out Armor.
"Roger!" With Houki's Crimson Camelia pushing hard, Tatenashi and the Golem Mark III approached the gate of the arena. The three I.S.-es continued to accelerate. Even though Tatenashi's Renia Nui and Houki's Akatsubaki were alerting them that they were too close to the gate of the arena, both of them completely ignored it.
"Take this!" Tatenashi increased the force on the lance, activating the other armament on the Heavy Rain, as a 4-barrel Gatling gun fired. The Golem Mark III was about to use the malleable shield to defend as a single unit, but it was pressed onto the gate of the arena by the front impact. "Ough!" The impact that came from the front and the powerful thrust behind pancaked Tatenashi, who grimaced with pain.
"Tatenashi-san!" Houki exclaimed worriedly.
"I'm alright! Right now, we need to destroy that unmanned armor!" Sarashiki didn't back down.
"B… But…!" Shinonono wasn't convinced.
"C'mon, c'mon, get to work!" On hearing Tatenash'si grunt, Houki was surprised for a while, then increased the output of the Fold-Out Armor on her back. "Gu… ugh…" A huge pressure could be felt from behind. But even so, Tatenashi didn't stop her attack. The ice lance and the Gatling gun mounted on it did damage to the Golem Mark III, as sparks continued to fly.
"Tatenashi-san!" Houki called out.
"It's… not over yet. Onee-san's just getting started!" Tatenashi now was supporting the lance she was wielding with both hands with her left hand only, as she raised her right hand above her head. "Take this, the biggest firepower of Renia Nui…!" Ice shards gathered around Tatenashi's palm. All the frozen water of the Renia Nui was gathered, forming something.
"Th… This is…?" Houki mumbled uncertainly.
"By gathering all the aqua nanomachines that were normally defending on the surface of the armor at a single point to attack, I can release a deathblow. It's called… Lance of Mistilteinn!" This armament used every nanomachine's ultra-vibration to destroy. No matter how strong the armor was, it was as feeble as paper before it. And the nanomachines that enter the enemy's armor could use energy transfer to trigger a large explosion. The total energy would be equivalent to an M110A2 howitzer's 210 mm artillery shell. It really was the final deathblow.
However, perhaps feeling the flow of energy, the Golem Mark III hacked its large blade at Tatenashi. However, Tatenashi had no defense or resistance as she was setting up the Lance of Mistilteinn, and, thus, was wide open to attacks.
"Kuh… Aauuhh!" Tatetanshi's I.S. armor got wrecked as the weapon broke through the absolute barrier and sliced the skin. Blood flowed as Tatenashi continued to take the one-sided beatdown. But that smile didn't disappear as she called for her teammate, "Houki-chan."
"Ah, yes!?" Houki responded.
"Set all of your Fold-Out Armor to defense, or else you're going to get caught in this," Sarashiki advised.
"Alright… Huh!? But, what about you, Tatenashi-san?!" Houki suddenly realized what exactly her sempai is asking for.
"Haha, don't worry, this onee-san's an immortal," Tatenashi smiled radiantly at Houki. Joking around like usual, carefreely, Tatenashi's smile would definitely not disappear, "Here I go…!"
No… Nooo! Do you want to die, Tatenashi-san!?" Houki screamed but Tatenashi didn't answer. Instead, she just retained her smile. The Lance of Mistilteinn was activated.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:30 A.M.
About ten minutes have passed since the attack on I.S. Academy has begun. All that time, Kanzashi was inside of a changing room 5-B. Doors to the main part of the academy were locked tight, so she couldn't evacuate as ordered. And since the sounds of battle all around weren't ceasing, her anxiety was growing. Girl cautiously approached the massive doors that were leading to the arena itself. They were sealed too, but…
*Cleeek!* With an awful sound of a cringing metal, door was sliced in half. Then door has been bent aside, and that appeared in front of a shocked girl.
"Ah… Ah…" Facing the sudden attacker, Kanzashi couldn't even deploy her I.S., let alone come up with some plan. Unable to grit her teeth as she let out a cry, she backed away in fear. 'Wha… What… What is this…?' Fear – an overwhelming fear disrupted all of Kanzashi's thoughts. "Ah…?!" The legs that were backing away stopped as they got blocked by the wall. Kanzashi trembled as she looked at the wall behind her before slowly looking back in front of herself again.
The pitch black unmanned machine Golem Mark III was closing in, step by step, seeing the I.S. on Kanzashi's right hand that was in standby mode. 'Some… one… Somebody… Please, save me…!' She forcefully closed her eyes, praying hard as if she was trying to grasp for a miracle. If a hero was here, he would definitely save her. That perfect hero who would come with the wind and rip the darkness apart would definitely appear.
But the reality couldn't be like dreams and anime. In this world miracles don't happen. One step, and another, the Golem Mark III closed in on Kanzashi. "…ri… mu… ra… sa…" The left arm of the unmanned I.S. slowly stretched over. Just when its fingertips were about to touch her, Kanzashi screamed out "Orimuraaaa-samaaaa!"
*Crash!* And, at that moment, completely unexpectedly, the miracle happened. A wall beside Kanzashi got destroyed, and a dreadful I.S., which was glowing with dark violet light, appeared from the opening.
"Keep your distance…" High iron voice said, seemingly addressing the unmanned unit. Demon Queen raised her right arm and some sort of a wall, made of glowing, transparent hexagons, appeared between Kanzashi and an unmanned I.S. The hexagonal wall touched the Golem Mark III, and enemy was thrown back for several meters.
"Orimura-sama… you're… you're here…" Girl simply couldn't believe her eyes, looking at Majin Naamah. Her pilot was Ichika, and, in Kanzashi's eyes, right now he's undoubtedly a hero. The hero she always wanted. 'Orimura-sama… he really came…'
Ichika couldn't use his weapon right away, because even a simple swing of his plasma sword that close to Kanzashi could just fry a defenseless girl. As such, first, he had to use his new device to throw the enemy away from her – no matter what he himself was thinking about that – protecting the lives of students was a priority right now.
The Golem Mark III used the left hand to fire high intensity crimson-red laser. If Ichika would've tried to countershoot that attack – the two energies would've collided in mid-air, causing a huge explosion. With Kanzashi behind him that seemed too risky. So instead, Ichika deflected the attack with his double-edged plasma sword Invidia.
"Hey you, how long do you think I can protect you while you're staying there spacing out? Deploy your I.S., this instant!" High iron voice commanded.
"Ye… Yes!" Kanzashi hurriedly responded as her body was covered in light, and Uchigane Nishiki was deployed. Simultaneously, Ichika continued to fight with the Golem Mark III. Ichika hit the unmanned I.S. with a blade in his right hand, but the unmanned I.S. managed to block the attack with its gigantic left hand. It happened because, in this relatively small room, Ichika had to hold back.
"Kanzashi-chan, status report," Ichika requested, still with the same high iron voice.
Kanzashi immediately and hurriedly checked her systems. The energy levels were rising in her, and each of the parameters was showing «OK». 'I… I… Want to fight together!' The moment she prayed for that, the energy levels rose tremendously in the Uchigane Nishiki as if it was responding to Kanzashi's wishes. "All systems go!" Girl reported, "Ichika-sama, what shall I do?!"
"Good," Ichika replied. "This room is too small even for two I.S.-es, let alone three. Go outside and take position in front of the gates, wait for my command, I'll kick this thing out of here and we'll deal with it outside."
"Huh? But… but what about you?!" Kanzashi asked in surprise.
"Don't make me repeat myself, go," High iron voice replied simply.
"Ok… Okay…" Girl replied as she was slightly taken aback, but in the end, she complied, "Please, be careful…"
October 21th, Saturday, 9:33 A.M.
Arena №5. As soon as Kanzashi went outside, she looked around. The girl immediately noticed the pillar of black smoke, gushing out from the neighboring arena. 'Huh? Other students are over there?' She thought. As she was looking at the smoke, her Hyper Sensors detected an I.S.
"Are you alright over there?" Girl asked via public communication channel, but no one responded. And at that moment someone appeared from the smoke cloud. But that wasn't another pilot – that was an unmanned machine. Rapidly closing in, the black I.S. fired a crimson-red laser at Kanzashi.
"Gah!?" She barely avoided the attack, at the same time the rapid-fire particle cannons on her back, Shunrai, were deployed under her armpits as they were aimed at the incoming enemy. "I won't miss if it's this close!" At such a close distance, the particle cannons fired out. "Huh!?" But Kanzashi's attack got blocked completely by the changeable shield units of the Golem Mark III that were floating around.
At that moment, Kanzashi's left leg got grabbed by an unmanned suit. Though she immediately used her thrusters and tried to escape, the unmanned suit grabbed girl's leg tightly and used an exaggerated strength to slam her hard onto the wall. "Auuugh!" Pain went through her body, 'What's… going on…? The I.S. defense can't be broken through so easily…' Kanzashi was shocked, 'Don't tell me… This thing is…?' She immediately opened the I.S. Status Panel.
"Confirming that enemy unit is releasing an unknown energy. Shield deployment got interrupted…" The report was saying.
'Like… like that…? This I.S… is an anti-I.S!?' Kanzashi realized.
No matter what, the I.S. armor is made of an incomparable metal. However, it's not hard to wound the pilot's body. "Let go…! Kanzashi screamed as she summoned her close ranged equipment – the ultra-vibration trident Kōkotsu [Trance] and held it tightly with both hands. She used the thruster on her right leg to forcefully stand up and tried to stab the enemy with her trident. But the attack got blocked by the right arm's blade as the unmanned machine spun Kanzashi around and threw her to the inside wall of the arena.
"Aaauugh!" Due to an indescribable impact, that spread from behind her, she suffocated, and the pain went through Kanzashi's entire body. With a moan, she coughed with blood.
'No, not good! It'll be over if I lose consciousness! Got to get ready…' She gritted her teeth so hard that she felt like they were going to be crushed. Then Kanzashi quickly deployed the wing thrusters to get away from the rubble.
'No, I can't… beat it alone…!' The trident slash, the particle cannon shots, Kanzashi used these two things to engage in a fierce battle with the Golem Mark III. However, no matter whether it was the technical ability or the response, the enemy machine was always better as it started to gain an advantage.
"Ku!" Due to the strong interference, she still couldn't use the communication channel. Thus, she didn't know how the situation was with Ichika, who remained inside of the arena's changing room. The Golem Mark III high intensity lasers poured down like a rain. Kanzashi quickly exerted the boosters on her legs to the maximum and evaded the attack.
"Huh?!" While backing away from the rubble in front of her, the aquamarine-colored armor that she knew entered her eyesight. She couldn't be mistaken. It was the Renia Nui (though Kanzashi wasn't aware of its new name yet), an I.S. that her elder sister, Sarashiki Tatenashi piloted.
"This… can't…" Seized by the wave of unrest, Kanzashi switched her hyper sensor into super sensitive mode. 'Where…? Where is it…?' The irritating feeling couldn't be shaken away, and cold sweat broke out inexplicably as her heart pounded like crazy. "Ah!?" Tatenashi was there. Her armor was badly wrecked, and there was almost none of it left. She was lying there motionlessly, perhaps due to the grave injuries.
'No… Lie… That's a lie…' She wanted to scream, but she couldn't let her voice out. She wanted to shout that name out, but her mouth couldn't move. The world around her immediately distorted.
It's disgusting. It's disgusting. It's disgusting. It's disgusting. It's disgusting. It's disgusting. Struck by nausea, Kanzashi turned to look at Golem Mark III. The unmanned machine that was unable to speak had a visor, a bodyline that was refined like a girl, a large left arm that didn't match it and a slender right arm that looked pretty normal. All of this… It's despicable!
"I… will… destroy you…" Kanzashi murmured blankly, but this voice had unrivaled determination… no, a killing intent, in it.
"Aaaaarrrgh!" Letting out a scream, Kanzashi deployed her wing thrusters and exerted the maximum output as she used the Ignition Boost. Firing one shot after another with her particle cannons, Kanzashi raised both hands over her head and hacked the trident at the Golem Mark III.
*Clang!* A sharp metallic sound echoed out, and the trident that was parried by the blade spun in the air and flew out of Kanzashi's hands. But even so, the girl was so agitated that she couldn't calm down. She quickly recharged both of her particle cannons and shot wildly at close range. The unmanned I.S. continued to back away under the impact of the cannons, and Kanzashi pressed on as she closed in and continued firing.
"Unforgivable… unforgivable… unforgivable…" She continued to fire without letting the malleable shield units to interfere. The sturdy Golem Mark III's armor finally broke and revealed the I.S. core bay. Only a thin layer of metal was protecting the core right now.
'If I break through this…!' Just when Kanzashi saw a shining ray of success, a mechanical sound brought reality crashing down on her cruelly. She ran out of particle cannon energy. "Ah… Ah…" She prayed as she squeezed the trigger, but the particle cannon couldn't be shot. No more miracles, only that merciless sound was left for Kanzashi.
"Uh!?" As Kanzashi lifted her head up, the Golem Mark III was right in front of her. Trembling and unable to move, she got swept aside horizontally by the blade. "Augh!" Kanzashi flew aside, head over heels. As she was beaten to the ground, the girl remained in that position as she summoned her unit's console.
'Anything I can use, weapons… what… what…' Her teeth were letting out an unharmonious tune on fear. While unable to calm her trembling body down, she still checked on the machine's situation. 'Eight rapid-fire missiles with multiple warheads Yama Arashi… but… this…' Most likely, with such a powerful EMI jamming, a normal lock-on system couldn't chase the enemy effectively. No matter how potent the high explosive warheads are, they are pointless if they can't hit.
Kanzashi was lying there, completely powerless. But, for some reason, the unmanned machine was approaching slowly.
'Stop… please…' Kanzashi tried to shout as tears dripped down her face, but her mouth didn't open. 'It's… impossible… As expected, it's impossible… After all… someone like me…' Kanzashi hated herself for being unable to take revenge for Tatenashi and only able to hit the ground weakly. But she didn't even have the guts to stand up. It's scary. It's too scary. She wouldn't even lift her head up.
'Orimura-sama… I'm sorry… I'm sorry for taking your time… I'm sorry for being unable to help you… I'm sorry for being completely useless… I'm sorry… that I was even born…' Kanzashi felt really lousy, and now, she just prayed to hurry up and disappear from this world, crying silently. And then, thinking about it unknowingly, she finally realized – there's no such thing as a hero in this world. Thinking about this, there was only a despair in her future…
The Golem Mark III was closing in slowly. It raised its blade and swung it down. This movement looked really slow for some reason, and Kanzashi just looked at it, forgetting to even close her eyes. 'So… this is the end… I'll most likely die now…' Thinking that, everything else became meaningless. A meaningless life, a boring time. Everything and anything would vanish in the next few moments. She didn't feel relieved. Neither did she feel fear. She just felt completely empty.
"Huh?" But the blade didn't land on Kanzashi, and the figure that appeared in front of her hugged her as if it wanted to protect her. Tightly, it hugged her tightly.
"Onee… chan…?" Kanzashi asked blankly. The figure hugging her tightly was Tatenashi. She used the last ounce of her strength to fly over and protect her imōto with her own body. And blood spilled out as she took a slash on her back, "Onee…" She called out softly, and Tatenashi's body fell.
"Onee-chan! Onee-chan!" Kanzashi hugged her elder sister, who collapsed onto the floor, and shook her body. The warm blood covered Kanzashi's hands. "No… don't… onee-chaaan…" Younger sister cried.
"Ahaha… How many years has it been, since you last called me that…?" Tatenashi smiled. She looked really happy, as if the only thing that made her relax was that her little sister was okay.
"Why… must you… do that?" Kanzashi asked, chocking with tears.
"To save my sister. Do I need a reason…?" Tatenashi inquired.
"But! But… it's useless…" Younger sister cried.
"Useless… of course not," Elder sister disagreed.
"It's useless! There's no such thing as a hero in this world!" Kanzashi exclaimed as if protesting.
"Is that so…?" Smiling no matter when, Tatenashi was always so gentle.
"But… but…!" Kanzashi still couldn't hold her tears back. Seeing her little sister like this, Tatenashi gave a «Really, you…» look as she gently stroked Kanzashi's head. But this touching scene couldn't last any longer. The Golem Mark III raised its sword for another attack. And then…
"Get away from them!" Houki shouted. Crimson Camelia, which finally recovered from the close-ranged explosion, appeared and broke through like the wind.
Using the Fold-Out Armor for an additional thrust to close the distance, Houki kept her body low. A sharp metallic breaking sound could be heard. The unmanned I.S. was forced to use his blade to defend itself, thus it had to leave the Sarashiki sisters alone.
"Are you alright, Tatenashi-san?!" Houki asked worriedly – sempai's wound seemed pretty bad.
"Watch your back, Shinonono-san!" Kanzashi called out.
"What!?" The Golem Mark III regained its balance much quicker than Houki expected and attacked her. "Auugh!" Houki was slammed to the ground, and she hurriedly got up, changed directions, and left that position with her booster. But the accurate shots from laser cannons came at her.
Kanzashi once again chocked with doubts and grief. Her elder sister, who got a grieve wound, protecting her precious imōto. Shininono Houki, a girl who's fighting to protect her right now, despite they never even spoke until now. Why, why, why are they doing this? Unable to find the answer, tears continued to flow from Kanzashi's eyes.
'It's alright if I can't be that strong… It's alright if I don't have the courage to fight…' The tears landed on Tatenashi's face. "I'm really a coward…" She kept thinking of reasons not to fight, yet she didn't take a step out. Weak, ugly, cowardly, and unreasonable. "I… really can't, do this… onee-chan…" Crying could be heard. She felt so unhappy that she wanted to go crazy, yet she couldn't move.
"You're not useless," Gentle voice said.
"Huh…?" Kanzashi felt that she heard Tatenashi's voice, and thus hurriedly looked at her chest. However, Tatenashi, who lost consciousness, didn't move at all.
That's right. It was Tatenashi's voice. Is that the illusion that normally happened? But this voice that touched her heart was filled with warmth. "A flawless hero, huh?…" A girl's voice noted. "A flawless hero like that… He would never cry, and would never smile… He will never fail either… But can you really call such a being a «human»?"
An image of Orimura Ichika appeared in Kanzashi's consciousness. The genius, who helped Kanzashi with her I.S. and even saved her during test flight. But, all that time she was around him, he barely showed any emotion at all, let alone a smile. Is he really a human?
"We are humans. We can cry, we can laugh, and we do fail," Tatenashi's voice continued. "But what's so bad about it? Weak, ugly, cowardly, and unreasonable. Who made us humans anyway? Therefore, Kanzashi-chan. Just be weak, just smile. Accept all these. Once you accept that, you can stand up, because..."
"I… I'm a human…?" Kanzashi wondered.
"That's right. And also – you're the little sister I'm so proud of…" Tatenashi's voice replied gently. It felt that she was gently smiling back.
Kanzashi put her elder sister softly onto the ground, not moving away as she stood up on both legs, "I'm going… onee-chan." She was crying no longer.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:37 A.M.
Changing room 5-B. Here, Ichika was fighting one-on-one against an unmanned I.S. However, he was holding back. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to. Just when he saved Kanzashi and engaged the enemy in this room, Ichika got a message from Chifuyu. According to the message – twenty-seven students were trapped just above this changing room, and Ichika was tasked to protect them. If he'll go all out – ceiling may crumble and those girls will be hurt, not to mention they'll be trapped in a battle between two I.S.-es. Besides, Ichika held nothing personal against those Golem Mark IIIs, as such, risking with bystanders' lives was clearly unnecessary, anyway.
Besides – Ichika had a secondary objective – he was testing a new system. He created it, using the knowledge that he got as a Gift of Haniel, so it was defensive in nature. Testing it here and now wasn't necessary, but it was a good opportunity nonetheless.
This is why Ichika gave his own shield module to Kanzashi. To install this new system Ichika would've to reformat and recalibrate his barrier's parameters either way, as such – all accumulated operational data would've been lost anyway. Thus, he just gave his calibrated and tuned shield module to Kanzashi and took her uncalibrated module for himself. He just wanted to save time – nothing more – there were no hidden motives. The main point of all this, of course, the new defensive system, which, in the future, may be used in addition to (or even to replace) the standard I.S. shield, but there's still a lot of work ahead. For instance – more effective way of deployment is required – right now Ichika is using a big emitter, mounted under his right arm (left one is occupied with Hand of Eisheth). As such – the angle of deployment is limited to frontal half-sphere, and the angular size of a protected zone is pretty small – in front of Ichika's right arm.
*Clang!* Ichika used his plasma sword to parry the unmanned unit's melee attack, and then he used his secondary armament Hand of Eisheth, in its 'twin talons' form, to suppress the attack of a high intensity laser. Ichika was holding back, but the enemy was not – changing room already seemed wrecked. And Ichika couldn't fail his elder sister – he needs to lure this Golem Mark III out of here, to ensure the unarmed students' safety. Besides, outside he'll be able to fight with full power. But it seemed as if his enemy actually knows all that – this unmanned I.S. really doesn't want to be lured out. 'This thing is beginning to annoy me…' Ichika's eyes flashed.
October 21th, Saturday, 9:38 A.M.
Kanzashi was desperately estimating her options. 'If I use the Multi Lock-on System, I can create… an opening for Shinonono-san to attack…' However, Uchigane Nishiki which Kanzashi is piloting didn't get the operational data on its missiles, thus the MLS function is not yet available. 'If that's the case…' Kanzashi closed her eyes, gathering concentration and focusing her mind. She then opened her eyes suddenly, and the armor on the arms and legs scattered into light particles and disappeared. "I can do it… Uchigane Nishiki, manual guided system activate, forty-eight warheads salvo!"
Floating with the power of the PIC, Kanzashi opened her arms wide like a Saint bearing the cross. Holographic keyboards appeared, one above and one below at every limb. To each one of her fingers of her hands and feet, all twenty of them, were assigned to ball-shaped keyboards, eight keyboards altogether, and she started entering all the information manually.
"Atmospheric conditions… mobility of each missile… time lag… interference between the explosions. Should be able to create an offensive power large enough…" Several windows opened up in front of Kanzashi. In other words, she was intending to guide each of the 48 high-speed warheads manually. "Haaah…" She inhaled some air and exhaled it.
Kanzashi cleared her thoughts, gathered her concentration to the maximum, and then, "Can you run away from this Yama Arashi…?" The eight missile covers on the wing thrusters on her shoulders slid open. Eight missiles, each containing six warheads, have been formed by light particles, and all forty-eight shots were ready to be fired. "Give me your strength, Uchigane Nishiki!"
With booming sounds, the missiles flew out at the same time. "Direct link, check… Manual lock-on, target acquired…!" The missiles rushed at the Golem Mark III. All missiles flew in differently, using complex three-dimensional movements to close in at a fast rate. The unmanned I.S. deployed the malleable shield, at the same time intending to shoot down the missiles with its left arm.
However, the guided missiles, which were supported manually, dodged, as missiles released all the warheads inside. Swarm of smaller missiles accelerated, chasing the Golem Mark III as they changed directions, thoroughly crushing the middle of the malleable shield units. Having lost its defensive ability, the unmanned I.S. hurriedly used its thrusters to back away. However, it didn't get a chance to rest, as the next wave of missiles came roaring like wolves.
The legs, arms, shoulders, waist, head, abdomen. It got swallowed by the storm of explosions caused by the missiles. But even in this situation, the Golem Mark III still wanted to change the situation and gathered all its energy on the left arm. It wanted to shoot the high-powered crimson-red lasers at Kanzashi, who was defenseless as she controlled the missiles.
"I won't let you! Appearing in front of Kanzashi was Houki. She raised her arms forward, deployed her Fold-Out Armor, and created a powerful energy shield, blocking all the infrared lasers. At the same time, the unmanned I.S. changed the high-powered lasers to rapid-fire lasers as it tried to break through Houki's shield.
"Argh! It's not over yet! Crimson Camelia, please, lent me your strength!" Houki exclaimed. And, as if responding to her wish, the shoulder unit on Akatsubaki slid open. That shape looked like a huge crossbow with an arrow on it. "What… is this…?" Houki seemed confused.
The panel that suddenly popped out showed this message. «Experience level gained to a certain value. Construction of new equipment is complete. Variable output blaster rifle Ugachi [Thousand Pierces]. It's an outstanding piercing armament with the largest firing range…»
"Alright! Enough with the ridiculous explanation!" Shutting the window, Houki kept her shields open and bent down. 'This is a weapon that could vary its output. It's unlikely to hit without using all the PICs projectors…' Without knowing why, Houki understood it all, and summoned the scope on her right-eye. "I'll take your left arm!"
Using her Fold-Out Armor like usual, the crimson red energy bullet was shot out under a huge compression. The attack came from the shoulders on both sides, and it rushed forward with shockingly scorching heat that burned the land, and the Golem Mark III's left arm was blown away.
But since it is an unmanned machine, it simply cannot feel pain. The pitch-black I.S. barely tried to support the body that slightly lost its balance, as, at the same time, it prepared to use the Ignition Boost to rush at Crimson Camelia. And then…
*Cluung!* With horrible sound of crashing metal the Golem Mark III, which was attempting to execute the Ignition Boost, suddenly collided with another unmanned I.S. Just the moment before, the latter crashed the wall near the arena's airlock, making a hole in it, as a pitch-black machine suddenly flew out of the changing room 5-B. Its PIC seemingly was heavily damaged as Golem Mark III couldn't control its flight.
Just as two unmanned I.S.-es collided, a dark violet plasma fireball hit them. Combining their actions, Golem Mark IIIs deployed all their remaining malleable shield units. But, just like before, the energy barrier was destroyed by Paradise of Darkness, as second shot hit the target. Two consecutive plasma charges, shot from the heavy sniper rifle Superbia, the Pure Hatred, caused an incinerating explosion, wrecking the arena and sending two unmanned I.S.-es flying head over heels. They crashed into arena's wall and fell on the ground, eliciting a dust cloud.
"Sorry that it took so long," High iron voice said as Majin Naamah flew by Kanzashi and Houki at a high speed and dived right into the dust cloud. A few moments later the dust dissipated with fierce swing of Ichika's shape-shifting weapon, Sitra Ahra, which already took the shape of a double-edged plasma sword, Invidia. The unmanned I.S.-es were wallowing in the dust, one over another. "Stop floundering already…" Ichika said as he plunged his sword into the ground, right through Golem Mark IIIs' frames, pinning them to the ground.
Both Houki and Kanzashi were watching at this as entranced, especially the latter, since she never saw the Majin Naamah in real battle before. 'So, this is… the real strength of the Demon Queen…' She thought, standing with her eyes wide open.
*Criiing!* Naamah's claws grabbed the 'head' of the upper Golem Mark III and simply tore it off, *Smaash!* and crushed it between her claw and arena's barrier. *Craash!* *Boom!* The lower Golem Mark III's head was smashed by Naamah's right foot. Ichika was using those small SPE thrusters on his limbs to give them an additional thrust and destructive power.
Shivers ran along Houki's spine. Kanzashi also couldn't tear off her eyes of it. Even though she despised the very idea of this unmanned units, she couldn't stop thinking, 'Horrifying power…' She finally realized that – Majin Naamah is the predatory I.S. and other I.S.-es are her prey. The real demon among I.S.-es, she wasn't built to protect and save, her one and only purpose is to decimate other units, crash them, tear them to shreds, turn them to the metal filings.
"The end is near…" High iron voice said as Ichika took out his sword and turned around. The unmanned units were moving no longer. However, as soon as Demon Queen flew away from remains of enemy units, both Kaznzashi and Houki have noticed some glowing object on one of the Golem Mark IIIs. That was a high yield plasma mine – Acedia. The mine's glow was rapidly becoming brighter – it definitely was set off to explode.
"Ah!?" Kanzashi yelped in shock.
"Ichika, what…!?" Houki's eyes widened.
But neither of them got the answer. The Acedia mine exploded, evaporating the remains of enemy units' frames, also breaking the arena's barrier and decimating almost a half of the arena's east side tribune. At the same time Ichika approached Tatenashi, who was still unconscious. From aside that action seemed a bit random, but actually he came closer to protect the defenseless girl from a heat wave from mine's blast.
"Huh, those hetare girls actually managed to get rid of these things on their own?" Ichika noted to himself, looking on his magnetometric scanner's display. There were no more dots that shouldn't be here, at the academy. Looks like, somehow, Charlotte and Laura, as well as Cecilia and Rin, were able to defeat the unmanned machines in 2VS1 battles. "I guess this settles it then…" Ichika said as he undeployed his I.S. and landed on scorched sand.
"Orimura-sensei," He contacted his sister via comm channel, "Enemy units destroyed. I repeat – enemy destroyed. Situation is under control. Please acknowledge."
"Acknowledged, commander," Chifuyu's voice replied. "Thank you for your job. Any casualties?" She asked impartially.
"Only one, moderate wounds, transportable," He reported, examining Tatenashi's wounds at the same time, and for some reason that sounded like a snort. "Sending her for treatment now."
"Roger, please do," Orimura-sensei confirmed.
"Onee-chan!" Kanzashi exclaimed as Ichika picked up Tatenashi's body.
"Don't panic, she's stable. Here, take her to the medbay," He ordered.
"Yes!" Kanzashi replied as she undeployed her I.S. arms and gently took her elder sister from Ichika's hands. She was still in shock due to recent events (Ichika's actions, in particular), but her sister was much more important now so Kanzashi quickly flew away, towards medical facility.
"You too," Ichika turned to Houki, "Go have a check-up," He suggested.
"Wait, what about you?" She asked stubbornly.
"The lockdown has been removed, so I'll go see Orimura-sensei," Ichika shrugged. "Oh, and I need to call off the containment unit, and then report to my superiors. I guess it will be a long debriefing…" He sighed. "But don't bother – just go to the medbay, you should take care of yourself," Ichika added – Houki seemed pretty battered right now – she got a lot of bruises and small cuts. Girl of her age definitely doesn't need any of those.
"Humph!" Houki snorted, but she actually didn't find what to reply, so she also flew towards the medical facility.
When Houki was gone, Ichika looked around. The skies above the I.S. Academy were filled with smoke, and the facility itself definitely took a lot of damage. But, for some reason, Ichika seemed very pleased, he even smiled to himself – a very rare sight. "What a lucky day…" He chuckled quietly. Today, he personally destroyed three unmanned I.S. units. Let alone the very valuable telemetry he managed to get – there's more. Six unmanned units Golem Mark III attacked the academy. All six, including those three that Ichika destroyed, were equipped with unregistered I.S. cores. And those three cores ended up in Ichika's possession – of course he extracted the cores before he destroyed those frames – those dust and smoke clouds came in handy.
Ichika knew who send these drones to attack the I.S. Academy – no doubts about it – only one person in this world is capable of doing so. He didn't know her exact goals, and he didn't care. He got three cores – the best possible outcome – in the beginning he ain't hoped to get so many. "Three more keys… and just in time. Finally, we can begin…" Ichika whispered as his eyes flashed with cold whit light.
And that's it for today. Don't forget to write a review! See you people!
