Episode 6: You're Gonna Go Far, Kid
* * *
The instant the signal to begin sounded, Melvin Gray felt the world shift. The transparent void filled in—an abandoned school materialized around her. She surveyed it calmly.
(This is... the "Abandoned School" stage. I've fought in a similar setup before.)
The simulators used in Representative Battles generated their stages at random. The positions of her and her opponent were randomized too. Gray drew on experience to predict Koshiba's behavior.
(Koshiba Nyao is most likely within 100 meters. ...Her first move will be—)
Gunscar: Shamshir. The ability to swap a Seal with a bullet. On this "Abandoned School" stage, what should her first move be? What was the most efficient way to use her Gunscar?
The realization hit, and Gray broke into a sprint with staggering leg power.
(—To scatter Shamshir's Seals all over the school!)
Since Shamshir swapped bullets with Seals, the more Seals placed across this stage, the more teleportation options Koshiba would have. Koshiba Nyao was right now scrambling to plaster Seals throughout the abandoned school.
(If that's the case, the more time I give her, the worse it gets for me!)
A Half-Wing didn't take on a direct weapon form the way Gunscars and Slashes did. Instead, it dramatically enhanced its owner's physical abilities. Gray's senses were, conservatively, superior to any wild animal's.
(I can hear faint footsteps! The location is...—)
Gray honed her hearing as she ran. Once she had a rough lock on Koshiba's position, she spread her gray wings. In that instant, a ring of red geometric patterns appeared at her feet.
* * *
[Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid)] [Half-Wing]
A Half-Wing that "creates paths." Range: 50 meters. Generates portals (rings) with a diameter under 1 meter. Enter through the red ring to exit from the blue ring. Enter through the blue ring to exit from the red ring.
* * *
Gray dove into the portal inscribed with geometric patterns. The instant she did, her body burst out of a second portal—a blue one that had materialized in a hallway inside the school.
"Wha—"
Koshiba's eyes went wide at the sight of Gray appearing right in front of her. Those red and blue portals were a teleportation ability. Just like Koshiba's Shamshir.
(If she places a Seal on me, it's dangerous. I'll take her out in one hit—)
Gray drove a tightly clenched fist at Koshiba's throat. Koshiba dodged by a hair, but as she lost her balance—a blue ring appeared right beside her cheek.
"—Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid)."
Gray thrust her fist into the red ring she'd generated in front of her. It shot out from the blue ring and caught Koshiba's cheek dead center, sending her flying. The blow carried staggering force, and Koshiba's consciousness blinked out for an instant.
(The power difference is too much up close! Koshiba needs distance—)
Koshiba fired a desperate Shamshir bullet. It was aimed straight at Gray's forehead. But Gray dodged it with animal-like reflexes.
"Shamshir!"
The bullet that had sailed past Gray down the hallway—and Koshiba's position swapped.
"—Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid)."
Before Koshiba could even catch her breath, a red ring appeared at her feet.
"Wha—!?"
The startled Koshiba dropped through the red ring. She was launched out under open sky through the blue ring.
"—Fall."
The blue ring had been floating 50 meters above the school. Hurled into midair, Koshiba's eyes darted in panic as she leveled her Shamshir.
(This height! If I fall, I'm dead!)
An object free-falling from 50 meters reached the ground in three seconds. Just three seconds. Very few abilities could handle that, and in most cases, this was the end. It was one of Gray's guaranteed kill patterns.
"Shamshir!"
The bullet Koshiba fired embedded itself in the rooftop ground.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
She swapped positions with the bullet on the roof and steadied her ragged breathing.
"...She's seriously strong."
The same kind of ability—teleportation. But Shamshir required firing a bullet, while Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid) generated portals instantly. The difference in convenience was overwhelming.
(Shamshir has better range! And payload! But up close, she's got me beat!)
However, Gray's close-range combat was bare-fisted. Devastating as the blows were, Shamshir had the advantage that once a Seal was placed, the swap was unavoidable.
(Koshiba can't win at close range. But if she can land a Seal at long range...)
But how? As Koshiba mulled it over, noise crept into her thoughts.
The patter of water leaking from pipes? The trickle of dust falling from the ceiling?
No. This noise was nothing so mundane.
"...Huh?"
Something impossible entered Koshiba's field of vision. It was enough to freeze her thoughts entirely.
"—Tons of pebbles... are falling?"
Gravel was raining from the sky.
It poured down from above in waves, and the longer it fell, the faster it got.
(How? Why? What for?)
How? —Through Gray's Half-Wing, Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid).
Why? —Because the gravel was falling endlessly, gradually accelerating.
What for? —To shoot down Koshiba Nyao from long range.
"The speed of a pebble dropped from 100 meters is 160 kilometers per hour."
A blue ring floated in the sky. Gravel that fell from it dropped into a red ring near the ground—and looped back up through the blue ring. Over and over and over, accelerating with each pass.
"After 30 seconds of continuous free fall—the speed reaches 1,127 kilometers per hour."
A barrage of gravel hurtling through the air at 1,127 kilometers per hour. That was what Gray had prepared.
She had been roughly tracking Koshiba's position through the school's windows. And that level of precision was more than enough.
"Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid)!"
Koshiba raised Shamshir. But before she could act, a blue ring appeared right in front of her face.
(Oh. This is seriously, seriously bad—)
A massive spray of gravel exploded from the blue ring at 1,127 kilometers per hour.
"Shamshir!"
The bullet from her revolver hit the ground of the athletic field. Koshiba swapped herself with the bullet—but too late. Countless pieces of gravel had already pierced her left shoulder, and the arm had long since stopped responding.
"Guh... kah... ghhh..."
The gravel embedded in Koshiba's left side had punched through muscle and lodged in bone. Her arm was done. Which meant she couldn't reload anymore.
(Shamshir holds nine rounds! Koshiba's already fired three, so six left!)
Could she take down that girl—a veteran of countless battles—in just six shots?
"—That looks painful, Koshiba Nyao."
A blue ring formed about 10 meters ahead of Koshiba, and Gray stepped out of it.
"That body won't let you fight properly anymore, will it? If you'd rather not suffer any more pain, you're welcome to forfeit right here. I'm a kind person, after all."
"...That's not kindness. You're just buying time to free-fall more pebbles and build up speed. And using conversation to eat up the time Koshiba could use to prepare a plan."
"Yes. Exactly right. And now I've bought that time."
Gray's gray wings flapped. Unlike on the rooftop, this time she had line of sight. Which meant—the blue ring appeared precisely in front of Koshiba's face.
"Heh."
The small girl—left side mangled, drenched in blood—was smiling.
"—You're underestimating Koshiba just a little too much."
"...!"
Koshiba was the first to fire.
(What incredible speed of decision!)
The wounds weren't fatal, but Koshiba was badly injured. Gray had assumed that with her thinking dulled by the damage, Koshiba wouldn't be able to react in time.
But just as Gray was a battle-hardened veteran, Koshiba too had survived her share of life-or-death situations.
"Shamshir!"
Koshiba had pulled the trigger the instant the blue ring appeared.
Her bullet swapped with an object she'd pre-applied a Seal to on the rooftop.
"Wha—!?"
It was a water tank. The enormous thing came hurtling toward Gray's face at tremendous speed.
(Two meters long! It won't fit through the portal. Speed over 2,000 km/h! Completely different level of firepower!)
In that instant, Gray was certain she was dead.
(Oh. I just lost.)
She squeezed her eyes shut in terror. The thunderous roar hammered her eardrums.
"...Wh...at?"
What had undone it was the bullet's spin. The irregularly shaped water tank caught fierce air resistance, veered sharply, and grazed past Gray's cheek as it disintegrated at incredible speed.
"Hah, hah—"
If anything, it was Koshiba who took the worse hit. The water tank had deflected most of the gravel, but some slipped through and riddled her entire body.
(Shamshir! A dangerous ability. Its destructive power per shot is above mine! I need to be careful.)
(Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid)... What a solid, hard-to-counter ability. Koshiba can't win playing it straight.)
Gray, being unscathed, chose to withdraw.
Koshiba, being battered beyond recognition, chose to press the attack.
—If you looked only at the result, that was everything that decided the outcome.
* * *
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!"
Koshiba was bleeding badly, her consciousness fading in and out. But she roared like a lion and leveled Gunscar.
"...!"
Gray manifested a red ring at her own feet.
(I don't know what she's going to do! I need to retreat for now!)
Gray's body dropped into the red ring in freefall. A bullet grazed the space above her.
(...Just a regular bullet? Not a structure with a Seal attached!)
Gray felt she had made a mistake. If it was just a regular bullet, she could have swallowed it with her red ring. If she'd manifested a blue ring behind Koshiba, Shamshir's bullet would have pierced straight through Koshiba's back.
Because she had seen the water tank attack earlier, Gray had overestimated Koshiba's choice.
(Is Koshiba Nyao already out of tricks? In that case, I should hurry and—)
Gray burst out of the blue ring and dropped down into a worn-out corridor of the abandoned school, about fifty meters away. It was the same corridor where she and Koshiba had fought up close at the start. She looked at the window, calming her racing heart.
"—I knew you'd come here."
A dripping sound. The sound of blood trickling. Coming from right behind Gray.
"Wha—"
"—For teleportation users like us, it's something everyone learns. You avoid jumping to locations you haven't visually confirmed. Because it's hard to predict obstacles."
This corridor overlooked the schoolyard where Koshiba had been. Since she'd been here before, she'd already confirmed it was safe. It was partly Koshiba's intuition—but also inevitable.
(Of course! This is where Koshiba Nyao started! Obviously, she'd already scattered Seals here too!)
Koshiba already had Gunscar raised. In that split second, Gray chose defense over offense.
(She should be out of tricks too—)
Most likely, what was coming was a bullet. Catch it with a red ring and use it against her!
"Did you notice, Gray?"
Koshiba put her finger on the trigger, blood streaming down her forehead.
"—This abandoned school still has running water."
(Now!)
Gray manifested a red portal one meter in diameter right in front of her. That was the moment.
"Shamshir!"
The bullet swapped positions with a pre-placed Seal.
"Wha—!?"
It was liquid.
(She's not out of tricks! This is... water!?)
A tremendous torrent of water. The violent impact was swallowed into Gray's portal. But due to the nature of water, the excess that couldn't fit into the portal engulfed the entire area.
"Gah—"
Gray lost her footing and was blasted off her feet. But that was all. The dispersed impact wasn't unbearable, and she staggered back up despite the bruising pain that felt like she'd been punched all over.
(What was that attack? What was the point of—)
That exchange should have been an opening. Would Koshiba really waste it on an attack that only got her wet?
"...Ah."
Gray realized. Hundreds of Seals had been mixed into that water. And now, her entire body was covered in them.
"This is bad! I need to ru—"
There was no running. Once the Seals were attached, Shamshir's range was infinite.
"—This is Koshiba's new winning strategy."
Right in front of Gray stood Koshiba, battered and broken, smiling. It was a beautiful smile—the smile of a victor mocking the defeated, without a shred of sportsmanship.
"Any last words?"
Gray wore a composed smirk. That was her pride. As the loser, it was only proper to leave some parting spite. She would never, ever say something like "good fight."
"—Drop dead, you idiot."
Koshiba aimed Gunscar at the wall of the abandoned school.
"Shamshir!"
The bullet and the Seal swapped positions. In other words—Melvin Gray was slammed into the wall at two thousand kilometers per hour. Her body punched through the old concrete and plummeted straight to the ground. The impact was beyond anything a human body could withstand.
"Hah... hah..."
Koshiba wiped her blood-blinded eyes with her sleeve, then raised Gunscar high.
"—Koshiba wins! Small fry, small fry, smaaall fryyy!"
* * *
The crowd erupted into a deafening roar.
"It's over!! The winner is Koshiba Nyao! Koshiba Nyao! An unbelievable comeback! A total upset! President Amelia—did you see this coming!? ☆"
"Gray-chan was so close too! She got outplayed on her best range. She was pressing her advantage early on, but that last mistake cost her everything, huh? ♡"
When Koshiba disconnected the simulator from her nervous system, she staggered down from the competition stage. I rushed over and caught her as she collapsed.
"Koshiba! Are you okay!?"
"Ehehe... Kotoha-senpai, did you see? Koshiba's super cool moment?"
"Yeah, that was the best!"
Koshiba smiled, then passed out on the spot. The simulator's precision was around ninety percent. When you went all out in a life-or-death battle using a Gunscar, the real-world fatigue was nearly as bad.
"Kotoyorozu-kun. Bring Koshiba over here."
At Mef's direction, I laid Koshiba down on the bench. The medical team came over to run their post-match checks.
"Waaah, waaah. My girl tried so hard—" (crying)
Koito-senpai, half in tears, stroked Koshiba's forehead.
We still needed to stay on guard for assassination attempts too. Once Koshiba recovered, she'd be back at it. But for now—
(I just want her to rest up properly.)
She'd fought that hard. She was only in her first year of middle school, and she was incredible, seriously.
"...Fwaaah... so sleepy... Is it my turn now?"
"Whoa. Wu-chan woke up on her own! That's rare!"
Glancing sideways at Koito-senpai, who was busy crying one moment and startling the next, Wu-senpai started walking.
"...I'm seriously so sleepy I'm about to pass out. Let's finish this game quick."
Swaying her big frilly sleeves, she climbed up onto the competition stage.
"Now for the next match! Entering from Corporations is—oh oh oh oh! RANK 72! The world's songstress! mALEEa! The queen of song can hold her own in a fight too! Let's give her a warm welcome!"
On the Corporations side of the stage stood a tall girl with vivid rainbow-colored hair, holding a microphone and waving to the crowd. Just by being there, she commanded an overwhelming presence.
"Thank yooou! I'll do my best! Cheer for me, pleeeease!"
The crowd's excitement hit its peak at her sheer adorableness. A huge number of people—including, of course, students from Azure Academy—were charmed, sending cheers her way.
"mALEEa-chan is actually quite the strategist, you know? ♡ Her Half-Wing is pretty powerful too, so the research division had been dying to study her, but her talent as a singer was just too insane..."
"Now, now, President! PR work is a necessary activity!"
The announcer consoled a somewhat disappointed President Amelia.
"Azure Academy's next fighter is, um... Wu Xihan-san, is it? I pride myself on my intelligence gathering, but I could barely find anything on her. Do you know anything, President Amelia?"
"..."
"President Amelia?"
President Amelia gazed at Wu-senpai, then let out a small laugh.
"So you're still at it. ...You really are... stubborn to the bitter end."
"You know her?"
"She was once considered a candidate for student council president at Azure Academy! Thanks to her Information Jamming, there's not much on her past. Her Gunscar is called 'Four Fierce Beasts (Megalomania).' She doesn't have a RANK or anything like that."
"An Information Jamming trait? For a human? Does that mean the Anti-Reality side effects are severe?"
"Yeah, quite. ♡ She's a veteran. Completely... just like me..."
mALEEa and Wu-senpai connected their simulators to their nervous systems at the same time.
The abandoned school virtual space where Koshiba had fought vanished, and what appeared within the transparent Square was a pure white world. Inside the glass enclosure, the two combatants faced each other.
"Nice to meet yooou! Thank you for having me today!"
"Same to you."
There was no tension between them. They stood naturally, both smiling.
"President Amelia, how do you see this matchup?"
"It's a tough one. ♡ mALEEa-chan always ranks high in the school's practice match rankings. She's seriously strong. ...But... Wu Xihan is, well..."
"Is she strong?"
"She's absurd. Even more than Koito-chan."
President Amelia closed her eyes as if recalling something, and smiled.
"Her chaos is uncontrollable. Even by herself. She wrecks everything, scrambles everything, and protects only what matters. Sounds like student council president material, doesn't it?"
"Ah yes, students chosen as president do tend to have abilities that alter laws on a wide scale. The same goes for President Sebastian of Chaos Institute."
The inside of the Square filled with golden particles. The scenery gradually shifted.
"The stage selected this time is 'Grassland'! A field of lush green grass with absolutely no obstacles. This match could be over fast!"
Within the grassland inside the Square, Wu-senpai and mALEEa both grinned.
"Alright, let's make this the most fun game ever. Come—'Qiongqi (Abracadabra)'!"
"I'm here to learn from you! Come—'Invincible Princess (Princess Brave!)'!"
A muscular beast with enormous arms emerged from Wu-senpai's bazooka.
Magnificent rainbow wings unfurled from mALEEa's back.
—It was the beginning of a fight that no one would be able to remember.