novelraw Chapter 89
Chapter 89
Chapter 89
Red-Lie's power is extremely low—almost like a real firearm. It has no armor-piercing capability like G-AGE, so the rounds break apart easily.
But if a round hits anywhere on the body, nanomachines are embedded and the system can no longer recognize Rabi-chan.
The velocity is higher than a normal Walther; reacting at close range is difficult.
A very powerful weapon. I think it must be obtained only by clearing a special mission, just like G-AGE.
My countermeasures are this flamethrower and the mantle, Hi-Odoshi.
Walther bullets will melt the instant they touch these flames. I can also burn the wires with the flamethrower; disposing of burned wires is a hassle, and they can't be redeployed immediately.
Even if she surprises me with a clever trick, Hi-Odoshi's special mode can block bullets with no motion. These two moves decide how far I can push the fight......!
"Fire!"
I unleash a jet of flame from the flamethrower, aiming for Rabi-chan. She evades the fire, but the wires she had extended catch fire. Rabi-chan severs the wires with a knife and aims her Walther at me. I melt the bullet in the vortex of flame and keep trying to burn Rabi-chan.
"Gyaaah!? You troublesome general!!"
From the Trick Arm on her left hand Rabi-chan fires a wire, hooks it on a building's window, and shortens the wire to move, dodging the flames.
(It's working better than I expected. With this......!)
While releasing flames to restrict her movement, I attack from four sides with Bullet Pieces. Rabi-chan spurts her thrusters to evade the lasers from every direction, but the wire in her left hand is shot through.
"This looks bad......!"
Rabi-chan had been flying between buildings, but with her wire stopped and her thrusters exhausted she loses her means of flight and begins to fall.
Rabi-chan lands on a car driving along the road. I also land on a different car and give chase.
This time we leap from car to car while continuing the attack and defense.
I can't use the flamethrower here where cars are coming and going, so I fight back with Stark and Bullet Pieces. Rabi-chan duels me with a single Red-Lie.
(Even though it's a situation hard to build a bullet curtain, she's fending off Bullet Pieces and my sniping without using shield pieces!)
She's a different type from the steadfast Tsubasa-san. A player specialized in evasion!
(The number of cars has decreased.)
Maybe because we've left the downtown area. There are fewer cars.
We reach a deserted street for a metropolis.
Rabi-chan and I are riding cars in the same lane. Rabi-chan is ahead; I'm in the car directly behind her. The distance between her car and mine is about 10 m.
Rabi-chan turns her back to me and jumps down from the car to the road in front of it. I lose sight of her behind the car.
(There was no crash. She wasn't run over.)
I think for one second.
Manholes are spaced at fixed intervals along our lane.
Just before Rabi-chan jumped off, there was a manhole diagonally in front of her car.
The car I'm riding passes that manhole in an instant.
(There's no other place to hide!)
I hold G-AGE in my right hand, slip it under my left armpit and bring the muzzle behind me. Then I fire a bullet aimed at Rabi-chan as she pokes her head out of the manhole.
(To dive into the manhole in that split second, wait for my car to pass, then aim for my back—it's an unbelievable feat of speed. But I barely reacted in time.)
A sense of wrongness.
(A scratch......?)
On the manhole cover is a gouge like it had been stabbed with a spear.
—A sense of wrongness.
The bullet pierces Rabi-chan's forehead, but what spurts from her forehead isn't screws or energy—it's air.
"A dummy doll!?"
I look ahead. Rabi-chan is standing on the back of the car.
(She put only the dummy in the manhole and clung under the car herself! She opened and closed the cover by hooking a wire to it. The gouge on the cover was from that moment......!)
Rabi-chan is holding a Walther in her hand. At this distance, this footing, this posture—evasion is impossible!
"Burn, Hi-Odoshi!!"
Special coat 'Hi-Odoshi'. For 10 seconds I can switch it to 'Enten' mode; during that time anything that touches the mantle is melted and destroyed. I activate Enten and clad the mantle in crimson energy.
(Reflex evasion is impossible! I'll cover the parts the mantle can't with shield pieces!!)
The single shot from the Walther. It was aimed at my face, but a shield piece blocks it.
Seven seconds left until Enten ends. I leap boldly and land on the same car as Rabi-chan.
"How bold♪"
"I'll finish this in one go. Rabi-chan!"
I launch a close-quarters assault with G-AGE and Bullet Pieces.
For the next few seconds the Walther is ineffective. Shield pieces and Hi-Odoshi can cover my entire body.
First I try a body blow with Enten, but she dodges by jumping up. Exactly as I expected. I surround and fire at Rabi-chan in midair with six Bullet Pieces. However, she dodges with a burst from her thrusters, and lands again on the car I'm on. I aim for the landing lag with G-AGE but she twists her torso and evades.
(My balance is broken......! I'll follow up——)
Rabi-chan deliberately slips her foot and tumbles off the car.
"Nice move......!"
Rabi-chan rights herself in midair and lands neatly on the road. I also give chase, and the instant I step off the car—Rabi-chan closes the distance with thrusters at full output. At the same time Enten expires and the mantle turns to dust.
(She timed it for the moment Enten expired......!)
Rabi-chan swings a black-light laser dagger in a reverse grip. I grab her right wrist holding the dagger with my left hand.
"Nya!?"
"Too soft."
I pull her arm and collar, execute a shoulder throw, and slam her to the ground.
I try to drop my knee onto the fallen Rabi-chan's chest, but from the hole in the center of her left hand she fires a wire. I twist my body to avoid the wire, but in that opening my left knee is kicked from behind and I falter. Rabi-chan escapes the hold and distances herself from me.
The instant I dash to close the distance again, Rabi-chan throws a kick at my face. I avoid the first strike by half a step back, but the following combination—a martial art focusing on leg techniques—pushes me back, and finally I'm sent flying by a kick that lands even through my arm guard.
"Kickboxing......!?"
"Nope. This is savate."
Savate. A French self-defense art. Why can a high-school girl use that!?
"Yours is judo? No... too ruthless for judo. Judging from Shiki-chan's tastes, is it command sambo?"
"Bingo. Ehehe... I saw the hero of a military movie using it before, so I admired it and practiced by watching videos. It's just imitation."
Command sambo is a Russian military martial art. Strikes, throws, chokes, joint locks—anything goes. A rational art devoted to incapacitating the opponent.
...It's also a style often used by fictional soldiers in media. I admired it and practiced. Using virtual space I could practice endlessly without damage and spar against CPUs. Even Azusa-chan, who hates games, would spar with me because it wasn't a game but martial arts practice.
"......I learned it for real, you know. How come we're even?"
"More importantly, Rabi-chan. If you're a Phantom Thief, shouldn't you pay a bit more attention to the treasure?"
I show the Triad orb I'm holding in my right hand.
"Geh!"
Rabi-chan checks her pocket; when she confirms the Triad is gone she bites her lip in frustration.
"I swiped it during the grappling. Phantom Thief-san."
"......You got me, Shiki-chan......!"
"With this, the option of running away and leaving me behind is gone."
Distance: 7 m.
Under a moon-painted night sky, on a deserted crossroads. I reach for the G-AGE holstered at my hip; Rabi-chan reaches for the Red-Lie tucked into her stocking.
"A quick-draw showdown...... huh."
"The outcome is obvious. It won't even be a contest. You know that, Shiki-chan."
"Who knows, maybe I don't understand anything."
Bang! The gunshots overlap.
My shot is dodged, and Rabi-chan's shot hits my right chest, putting a hole through my clothes.
"I win, Shiki-chan."