novelraw Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Chapter 91
I read Bottle's hand.
So after erasing my form, I left a dummy behind, withdrew to a position where I wouldn't be showered with fragments and liquid, and while Shiki-chan was distracted by the dummy, I circled to her back and aimed my dagger at her spine.
Among my weapons, the only gun is the Walther. To swap weapons requires opening the menu, which needs 5~6 seconds of operation. Against Shiki-chan, looking away for that long is far too dangerous.
So I aimed for the finishing blow with the dagger. What I miscalculated were the bottle fragments scattered on the ground.
——crackle.
That sound sent an icy drop into my heart.
(If I use thrusters, the sound will give me away. To strike from behind I have no choice but to kick off the ground. She anticipated that and spread those bottle fragments as security gravel!)
They're not just bottle fragments. They break easily and sound out loudly......!
To fall for such a simple trap...... unlike me, I rushed the match.
The muzzle of the gun peers at me from beside Shiki-chan's neck. I twist my body, but it's too late. My left shoulder is shot through and destroyed. The left arm holding the dagger falls.
"Guh......!?"
I let my voice slip on purpose and make my form visible for a moment. I draw her attention completely to me.
I have no more arms. I kick the falling dagger's hilt up with my right foot and catch it in my mouth. I point the dagger's blade at Shiki-chan.
Shiki-chan looks this way, ready to deliver the finishing shot.
Her attention is completely focused on me, taken off the dummy.
(I'm glad I made the bomb timed instead of remote. In this state, I can't press any switch.)
I laugh. At the same time, the expendable item I had hidden inside the dummy——a time bomb detonates.
"Wha!?"
It wasn't luck that broke the jamming. I made you focus on me so your attention would shift away from the dummy.
Planting a bomb inside a dummy doll is an absurdly simple trap. A trap you would notice if you were calm. You, like me...... rushed the match, Shiki-chan!
(This is the perfect timing!)
Because I made the bomb small so it wouldn't hit me by chance, its scale is limited. Even at 2~3 meters it can't deal fatal damage. But propelled by the blast, Shiki-chan loses her stance. The right arm holding the gun opens, the muzzle faces sideways. The Bullet Pieces are disturbed by the blast and can't fly properly.
All that's left is to slit Shiki-chan's neck with this dagger in my mouth as she is pushed toward me! And restart the jamming! You already know my position, but you can't read the timing of an invisible attack!
(Even you can't do anything about this! Still, I won't let my guard down until the end. Until you vanish, I won't relax for even an instant!!)
I close in. 4 m, 3 m, 2——
"......!?"
She should have no more hands. Only her left hand is free. But what can she do with that?
There's no time to deploy a new weapon. And besides that Colt Government, she has no other arms. She should be cornered...... yet,
(What is this pressure......!? The deepest, most unfathomable thing I've ever felt from Shiki-chan......!?)
Shiki-chan's right eye looks at me.
I unconsciously widen my eyes. In Shiki-chan's right eye, faintly——the crest of '∞(infinity)' floated.
(Infinity......? No, don't mind it. Shake it off!!)
I shake my head and aim my dagger at Shiki-chan's neck.
——Terrifying.
(Absolutely terrifying. For a fellow high-school girl to be able to do this......)
My dagger strike was repelled by an unexpected hand.
Shiki-chan deflected my attack with the Orb (Triad) in her left hand. An invisible attack, deflected perfectly.
(Sound, scent, or did she see a tiny warp in space, or was it instinct or reading me? Whatever it is, to guard an unseen attack at the last second——I tip my hat.)
I've fought people who parry anything in other games, people who cleared over ten thousand games, people who use bugs, but none of them could pull off a feat like this. This is it. This is what I mean...... the genuine possesses 'power' that surpasses human limits. This is the real thing. There is meaning in defeating this......!
(Not yet......)
The match isn't over yet!
(Kick to create distance!)
I put strength into my right foot to deliver a kick. But the instant I did, Shiki-chan stepped on the toes of my right foot.
(No way!? She still shouldn't be able to see my form with Red-Lie!?)
Don't flinch. Don't stop attacking!
(At this range, with the dagger in my mouth!!)
I swing my head and aim at Shiki-chan with the dagger in my mouth.
"——kah!?"
The dagger attack doesn't reach.
My chin is driven up by Shiki-chan's right palm heel, and the dagger leaves my mouth.
(Her unarmed moves are sharper than before......!?)
Shiki-chan grapples me as I fall backward, pressing the muzzle to my forehead.
The outcome is decided.
I release the jamming and reveal my form.
"Shiki-chan......"
"......Barely made it!"
With the eyes of a child who cleared a game for the first time, she says.
"It was right on the edge! I'd used every trick! That last bomb was completely unexpected!! ......Thank you, Rabi-chan. I had the most fun ever!!"
Straddling me, Shiki-chan speaks with a melted face.
"......You're really...... so erotic, Shiki-chan......"
I still can't reach her.
Even after analyzing every talent sleeping inside me, after so much effort, after so many countermeasures.
——To clear this labyrinth, I still need far more preparation.
Having a puzzle you can't solve is a truly wonderful thing, isn't it, Shiki-chan.