ch57

While managing a small war where I had to take full responsibility for everything from supplies to detailed operations and combat, I never took my eyes off the conflict between the two people who were the cause of it all.

“Fight…!! Draw your sword! Are you just going to keep backing away?!”

“You…….”

This isn’t going to solve anything.

Why are you closing off your own potential and trying to end it like this?

At first, Helena tried to talk, trying to avoid getting hurt or… even hurting Anne, but now she was saying less and less.

Persuasion, nagging, ignoring.

She should be sick of this stubborn egoist who wouldn’t listen to anything, but she still seemed to believe there was another way.

Chiiiiik—!

Thump!!

Anne, engulfed in a cloud of hazy smoke, leaps again.

There’s nothing here that can burn, so it’s not a fire. It’s just steam from the Suit overheating as it tears through the facility, stretching out and rippling along the trajectory of its leap.

Helena’s body twists and turns every second to counter. She clearly recognizes the frenzied offensive that shatters walls and gouges the ground like scooping ice cream, and she lets it flow past her.

“Ha…! Hooo…!”

The gap, so close yet so far, is almost paper-thin. Riot gear might be torn off, but the composure to not shed a single drop of blood, and the guts to make it happen, aren’t something everyone has.

Bang! The scabbard slams into the inside of the Suit’s arm, breaking its stance before its monstrous strength can even be unleashed.

It was already in rough shape, cracked and with pieces falling off, but somehow it endured the impact again.

As the Katana’s blade slowly emerges. Helena’s face hardens as she suffers through Anne’s desperate courtship.

Even if I, the spectator, didn’t bother to point it out, she would know. That she can’t just keep avoiding it.

“……I can’t understand why you’re so desperately throwing yourself at me. But… if what you want is a real fight…!”

Crack!!

Her legs, which had been maintaining a resilient gait as if floating in the air, were planted on the ground.

Her eyes, which had been filled with affection, lingering feelings, and regret, changed color and stared directly at her opponent.

If the end was near anyway, she’d rather not back down anymore and face her head-on. That fighting spirit poured out of Helena’s entire body… and Anne didn’t refuse.

“Lena…! Lena! LenaLenaLena—!!”

For the first time since the battle began, Helena moved proactively.

It was chilling to hear her repeat her pet name like a broken radio, now that her beloved was finally looking at her.

She wasn’t exactly barehanded… but knowing that she couldn’t compete with the reinforced exoskeleton armor with just her tattered police uniform, she approached it in a clever way.

Whoosh!!

Anne’s shortened hair flutters in the wind pressure.

Helena lunged straight into her arms, and the violently outstretched claws reached out to grab her, but she had long since slipped past her side.

“You’re running away again…!”

Wanting to vent her resentment at being made to expect so much, only to still be trying to shake her off, the Suit turned around roughly. But Helena’s shadow, who she thought had already distanced herself, was nowhere to be seen… and suddenly, a strong pressure assailed her.

“Keuh…?!”

Thud!!

Anne, who had lost her footing, fell to the ground.

Her arm, which she had thrown out to support herself, dug a furrow, and her knee, which had been slammed down, broke the tiles and created a small ditch.

Helena, who had climbed onto the back of the Suit like a panther, wrapped her arms around its defenseless neck. The performance of the armor, which didn’t put any burden on the wearer even with a whole person on top of it, was excellent, but in this case, it could be said to have become a poison.

“Eugeugeugeuk……!!”

Anne, whose breathing was suddenly obstructed, made a metallic sound as she tried to break free… but she realized her own attack power and stopped.

Groping around her neck with those hands and accidentally killing herself would be far from the ending she had been hoping for.

No matter how much the armor’s defense system could freely defend against incoming threats, Anne’s reaction itself hadn’t improved. It was just that all of her movements had become stronger and faster with the help of engineering technology.

“……If you just fall asleep for a moment, it’ll all be over.”

“Don’t… kid… me!!”

Her arm, turned behind her, cut through the air and scratched her shoulder, but she just kept flailing.

The struggle to turn herself upside down became slower and slower as Anne’s consciousness faded.

It was the result of exploiting a gap in the system, which didn’t consider simple contact or collisions as a threat, something she had figured out just by seeing it react to my gunfire.

Even though it was somewhat anticlimactic, she had managed to subdue Anne safely, but….

• …Abnormal heart rate and dyspnea detected in wearer, autonomous defense module activated. –

“What…!!”

Before Helena’s shock could even end, the Suit, using the recoil of its knee hitting the ground, acrobatically rotated in the air and shook off the culprit who had been pressing down on it.

The pursuit continued to eliminate Helena, who had hurriedly retreated and hadn’t even gotten into position yet.

“Keuek?!”

Swaeeeek…!!

The claws of the steel beast, which had gained the upper hand, dangerously swept through the spot where her head had been just moments before.

When her bent elbow struck and broke the riot baton and scabbard that was stabbing into her chest, the Katana, which had been put off until the very end, finally revealed its shape.

There was no room for compassion anymore.

Even if she could damage plywood with her superhuman strength. She couldn’t cut through alloy with just a well-maintained blade, let alone a plasma blade, so now she had to aim for the vital point, the head.

At least there was no Suit above her neck, so if a slash came, the defense system would have to control Anne’s entire upper body or legs to avoid it, so optimization couldn’t be achieved.

Tit for tat.

When Helena kicked the steel legs that were extended to restrict her radius. The arm that was swung in return tore her uniform open in a long rip.

When the iron fist, thinking it had found an opportunity, was slammed down vertically, she twisted her body to avoid it, leaving only an afterimage, and the swung blade created a dizzying spark near Anne’s collarbone.

It was just like two boxers putting their heads together and engaging in infighting with their pride on the line.

The exchange of offense and defense, where it was hard to tell who had the upper hand, was repeated several times in an instant.

“…Cough!! Heueu… Haa…! That kind of lukewarm attack won’t work…! Lena!!”

“……This is what you brought on yourself.”

Anne, who seemed quite exhausted from being recklessly overworked but had regained her senses anyway, and Helena, who was biting her lip, made me firm my resolve.

…This won’t do. It’s obvious that someone who reluctantly harbors murderous intent is at a disadvantage when facing a fanatic who has been chasing only one goal from the start… I need to lend a hand without being seen.

I decided to leave some of the Levy units who had started to retreat from the chaotic scene after collecting the survivors, and to neutralize that annoying Suit first.

“Come out……!”

Like the hairs on my skin standing on end, I untangle the twisted bundles of signals floating in the world and grope around with my senses.

My head ached as if it were about to break, but in contrast, I was becoming more and more skilled at manipulating the virtual space….

If it were me now, I could easily infiltrate that defense system just by finding any connection network or transmitted signal.

“……What the hell?”

I take that back.

…If there were any exceptions, it was that machines or equipment that had built a perfect closed circuit, like the black box in the command center, couldn’t be remotely broken, even if the god of hacking came.

Well, ExaTech wouldn’t leave useless vulnerabilities in a type of weapon that the user personally rides in, not like a Droid or robot that needs to be controlled.

While I was wondering how to solve this… the situation on the other side reached an inflection point due to the sudden intrusion of troops.

“…!! Contact! Defected DS3-1 combat police found! Friendly forces in close combat… to avoid friendly fire…!”

“!!”

Even in the midst of a chaotic battle that was hard to follow with the naked eye, Helena, who had identified the Paradise goons who had suddenly appeared, urgently cut off her responding hand to get out of the line of fire.

Of course, she hadn’t made the naive decision to just leave Anne in front of her. With the intention of creating a temporary lull, she tried to retreat while swinging her Katana towards her head….

Crack!!

The Suit’s defense module had read that obvious move.

With a metallic sound, the blade caught in her grip crumbled into powder and flowed down.

Helena, who had at least retrieved the broken blade and hilt, barely endured the ensuing charge by crossing her arms… but that ambiguous defensive posture, that momentarily stopped step, was too fatal.

“……You pieces of shit who deserve to die.”

Bang!!

Explosive rounds…? Shotgun…? No, the data displayed says it’s a smart round… I don’t know what kind of crazy special round is designed to explode right in front of the target and scatter smaller bullets. Besides….

“Ah…?”

I thought to myself that it was quite… an unrealistic sight.

The meteor that heralds the prologue of Neo Haven hasn’t even fallen yet, but the heroine is caught in a cannon-like barrage and collapses bleeding.

Helena’s decision to cover her face with both arms even in that fleeting moment, and to even jump backwards to adapt to the impact as much as possible, deserved praise.

But if she had dealt with it harshly from the start, she wouldn’t have even needed to suffer such an injury.

There were many hardships ahead, but I was furious at her attitude of already trying to endure the pain alone.

…I’m sure you said that someone like me was family, right? Then… you need to be aware that you’re not alone and act accordingly.

Click.

“……? Suddenly a power outage….”

One of the Levy unit members, who didn’t even know what he had just done, was spouting nonsense.

He seemed surprised that the entire basement had been covered in darkness in the blink of an eye… I had temporarily recovered the electricity that was too precious to use for lighting.

It wasn’t a rational decision at all. I just… acknowledged that people who worry too much about the future have a hard time dealing with the immediate danger, and those things.

Especially… including Anne, who was about to pounce on the blown-away Helena.

I loaded up a flashy fireworks display with the intention of telling them all to die.

“Just die, all of you…!!”

I didn’t calculate at all how many walls, glass, or obstacles were in the path. Or whether the laser beam fired from the machine located the farthest away could actually reach the enemy.

I just gave a simple and clear order to all the weapons under my control, as their master.

To completely annihilate our enemies…!

Kiiiiiiing—!!

The red waves surged and split apart the abyss, where not a single ray of light existed.

I heard the sound of something exploding in various places because it couldn’t handle the output, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to it.

I instantly returned my consciousness from the deep sea, from the depths of the virtual world, to reality.

Emptiness enveloped my entire body, as if a swollen balloon had shrunk, but I forced myself to get up by leaning against the wall.

…Judging from the sensation on my lips, I guessed that I was bleeding from my nose as expected. But maybe it was because I had seen Helena with bullets in her entire body, but I was strangely indifferent.

“…Keung!”

I turned on the tactical light attached to my visor. And moved my legs towards the battlefield, staggering.

…Thanks to some considerate someone who had completely devastated the path, there was no chance of getting lost.

After passing the broken debris and melted structures, a slightly different… object finally appeared.

“…Ugh.”

Since coming to this neighborhood, I’d seen burned corpses, corpses blown to bits, and crushed corpses. But I never thought I’d see something melted down into a combination of ash and jelly.

Even though I couldn’t smell it thanks to the filter, it was really fucked up how my brain, receiving the visual information, was imagining it on its own.

And… finally. The grand prize, the powered exoskeleton armor, lay sprawled on the ground, blackened and scorched.

…It was too early to relax. Although she seemed motionless, the occasional reflection of Anne’s brown hair in the light made it clear that the Suit’s system had reacted and protected her vitals.

Bang! Clang…!!

Even in this state. The Suit barely managed to move its arm and deflect the fired pistol bullet.

……Is she dead? Is the wearer dead, and only the defense module is alive and acting up?

The thought kept swirling in my mind, but either way, there was no more time to waste. I had to quickly assess Helena’s injuries and get out of here….

“……Back off. Anastasia Valentine…!! Lena is… Helena is mine…!”

“?! This crazy bitch is really going all the way…?”

My bewilderment was fleeting. I didn’t know if her lower body was damaged, or if the Suit was half-broken and had become an iron tomb trapping its wearer.

Anne, reaching out and placing her hand on Helena’s Adam’s apple, threatened me.

No, damn it. If she had just threatened me, it would have been one thing… but she was even trying to satisfy her selfish desires, as if she actually liked being in this desperate situation.

“Kuh-heuk——?!”

“Ah… this is Lena’s blood…!”

“Shit….”

Helena, still conscious, let out a groan of pain.

As if digging into a wound, Anne pressed her forehead against her body and rubbed it wildly.

In the pitch-black darkness. The more her face was painted red… the more innocent her expression became, so pure that I couldn’t think of any way to save her.

What am I supposed to do here? Even though I used all the cards I had, am I supposed to helplessly watch this mess because my finish was sloppy?

Creak….

…It was then. Helena’s hand, the hand holding the broken sword, moved slowly.

“……”

Her eyes were tightly closed, and the Katana, moving as if crawling, had none of the strength it had before.

But the emotion inherent within was burning beyond comparison.

A pierced body and a ravaged mind, she could only make a decision after pushing herself to the limit… Foolish.

Suddenly… the most supported theory about Helena’s name came to mind.

Its origin… the word helénē in a language from a country that no longer exists. And its meaning is ‘burning torch’ or ‘shining one’.

“……Ah?”

Anne expressed her confusion at the sensation of her cheek being gently stroked.

Warmth and cold. Friendship and hatred. The result of the violently swirling conflicting emotions was there.

Only then, noticing the hilt of the sword hanging right below her chin, did she mutter with joy.

“With this… I’ll be… forever… inside Lena….”

“……Goodbye, Anne.”

The hand is pulled.

Whether the system didn’t recognize it at all like before, or… whether the wearer intentionally disabled the Suit’s functions, the truth was unknown.

…I couldn’t understand the desire to remain as a scar in someone’s memory.

But… perhaps it could be said that a pest, drawn to a bright light and recklessly jumping inside, became part of that flame.

……Farewell, Anne Grisha.