OTO Chapter 118

[Collapse of Death]

Kemuri-san who was approaching me exploded, splattering blood and flesh on me, then I take a few steps back due to stamina consumption of using Heartbeat-Shot.

Staggering, I endure from collapsing on the spot.

“Hah, hah…”

It seems better to avoid using Heartbeat-Shot any more than this.

I stare at both of my hands and think.

I have overused my ability. If I hadn’t recovered in the medical room, I would have collapse by this time.

I used the Heartbeat-Shot on the spur of the moment, but thinking back, I should’ve used the Sound-Shot. Dammit, I wastefully consumed my stamina.

However, to kill him for sure, that was the correct answer. Sound-Shot, which is a ranged attack, might not be enough to kill a master-level enemy. As a deciding attack, I’m not really confident in Sound-Shot.

“Hah… hah…”

While adjusting my breathing, I walk up to Tameiki-san and kneel on the spot. Before I notice it, Tameiki-san is lying on her back while holding her stomach.

“…You’ve become, stronger.”

“…Told you so.”

Blood flows out of Tameiki-san’s mouth. I wonder if the poison has begun to spread.

Her breathing is rough and her bleeding does not stop.

Seeing her condition, I sort out the situation in my mind.

Tameiki-san probably can’t be saved.

Tameiki-san knows that as well, and I don’t know what to say.

Words for a person who is about to die…

I look at Sen, who is still petrified.

There are many mysteries. And many things that needs to be done come to mind.

A sound of battle is echoing in the woods. It’s from the battle between Chiyaku-san and Utsusemi-san.

I have to give up on Tameiki-san and head inside the hideout first.

I thought so, but my legs didn’t move.

“Go. You must live…” Maybe she noticed my inner feelings, as Tameiki-san says so while looking up at the sky vacantly.

I stand up quickly. Right, I have to go.

I turn my back on her.

“Thank you for everything,” When I try to run after saying that, Tameiki-san coughs violently.

My legs stop.

At the same time, I can hear a loud noise from somewhere in the forest, and the ongoing battle sound stopped.

I’m worried about that side too, but I turn my gaze toward Tameiki-san.

Then Tameiki-san turns her head toward me.

“…Shion, sorry, but can I ask you, for just one thing…?”

“Yes.”

Upon hearing my reply, Tameiki-san turn her face in the opposite direction and says,

“…Then… kiss me.”

I was unintentionally about to ask her to repeat that, but I immediately reply with a nod.

Just that much. Even in this situation where there is no time to waste, if it’s for Tameiki-san, I won’t hesitate.

“Come to think about it… even though you said you liked, me… you haven’t done anything, since then…”

That ‘since then’ is probably about when she trained me.

…Which reminds me, I did say something like that.

I kneel beside Tameiki-san again, and bring my lips closer to hers.

Tameiki-san’s lips are wet with blood.

Right at that time, Utsusemi-san appears from the depths of the forest.

Utsusemi-san seems to be injured, as he is holding down his right shoulder. From the sound I can hear withdrawing in the opposite direction, it seems that Chiyaku-san is not dead yet.

I close my eyes and kiss Tameiki-san. I can smell Tameiki-san’s nice smell mixed with the smell of blood.

After putting my lips on top of hers for just a few seconds, I lift my face and stand up.

Tameiki-san has a thin smile on her face.

“…I’m going.”

“…Ahh, see you later,” Saying that, Tameiki-san closes her eyes.

It seems that she has fainted.

Her heartbeat is weak, but still beating. But she probably won’t open her eyes anymore.

“…………”

Utsusemi-san walks to me.

The wound on his right shoulder is quite deep.

And as expected, before Tameiki-san’s death, it seems that even Utsusemi-san can’t smile frivolously like usual.

“Why did you kiss her?”

That thought of mine immediately shattered hearing that pretty boorish question.

“Why, you ask…”

“Well, whatever. I’ll cure her for the time being.”

“Hah?”

Utsusemi-san kneels beside Tameiki-san, flip up her shirt, and put his hand on her wound.

Then, her wound is gradually closing from the edge.

“…!”

I open my eyes wide. Then I come to a realization. His personality has reversed.

I see, this is… Chiyaku-san’s ‘Accel Heal’. This person…

“No way, did you copy it from Chiyaku-san…?”

“You got that right. This ability is essential if Chiyaku becomes an enemy. I’ve decided to abandon Sound Control.”

I want to give a big applause to Utsusemi-san. I unintentionally want to give him a tight hug.

Holding myself back, I stare at him.

I completely forgot. Even if Chiyaku-san becomes an enemy, if Utsusemi-san copies her ability, the hole will be filled.

Did this person start a battle with Chiyaku-san with that intention from the beginning?

When I first met him, I thought he was just a ridiculously oversized garbage, but the more I interact with him, the more I find him to be pretty sharp.

“Her wound is going to be okay, but the poison is troublesome. If she doesn’t go back to the hideout and get it detoxified soon, she’ll die. What happened to the inside of the hideout?

Also, what about Kemuri?”

“Yes.

I don’t know about the inside of the hideout. I tried to send Sen in, but…”

I glance at her. Sen is looking this way with an apologetic look.

With my and Utsusemi-san’s gaze piercing her, Sen hangs her head in a dejected manner.

“Go now.”

“I-I understand…”

Sen is at the bottom position of Anonymous, but if Sen had also become an enemy in the previous situation, I probably wouldn’t be able to do anything.

There is no way for me to defeat Sen.

I think while looking at Sen’s back as she ran.

“…What about Chiyaku-san?”

I will confirm it for the time being.

“She has escaped. Rather, I got this shoulder injury in exchange for copying her ability. Well, it can be cured though.”

As I thought, Chiyaku-san isn’t dead yet.

Eventually, Tameiki-san’s wound is closed, and Utsusemi-san lifts her body and carry her under his arms.

“Let’s go.”

“No, please wait.”

I look at the Derrida central doorway through the gaps between the trees in the forest on the slope.

The battle has begun. Did Byakurei-san’s ability run out, or was there something going on inside?

Kemuri-san’s strategy was probably like this.

Tameiki-san, Utsusemi-san, and all members who were brought here were to be isolated and then dealt with or forced to stay here; meanwhile, he’ll annihilate the people inside the hideout somehow.

Even if they are not annihilated, the Self-Defense Forces will clean them up.

However, does the small number of Self-Defense Forces means that they weren’t there from the beginning …?

The messenger who came during the meeting said that their number exceeds 2000.

Kemuri-san himself too, said things suggesting that the enemy’s force was overwhelming.

Is that mean that it was all a lie from the very beginning…?

Thinking about it, the Anonymous Countermeasures Department could not possibly have such a force.

The members on the surface of Derrida have been annihilated.

However, it is not difficult to annihilate them all even with a small amount of force, as long as there’s time.

Perhaps that’s why they were late to find the entrance to the underground parking lot.

“The number of troops left is roughly 150, or less.

For the time being, I think that Utsusemi-san alone will be able to manage to annihilate them. Would you like to launch a pincer attack as originally planned?”

“We don’t even know what’s going on inside the hideout, you know. The situation is messed up.”

“But in order to sort out the situation, it’s better to get rid of those soldiers.

Or rather, aren’t you aching to do that? Fighting against that number of people at once, I mean.”

Even if his personality is reversed, what Utsusemi-san desire for doesn’t change.

Overwhelming desire for battle.

“Well, I can’t deny that.”

“Then please. Regarding Tameiki-san and the inside of the hideout, please leave them to me.”

After taking Tameiki-san from Utsusemi-san, I carry her on my back.

As for Utsusemi-san, he claps my shoulder while laughing and rushes to the battlefield.

After seeing him off, I run to the evacuation exit.

Shido-san’s Infinite Corridor being deployed is probably the cause why Anonymous’s reinforcements haven’t arrived until now.

The Infinite Corridor in this situation is very disadvantageous for our side.

Therefore, Shido-san is also an enemy.

In other words, is Boss confined by Shido-san? It’s hard to imagine that even Boss, the leader of Anonymous, is an enemy.

When I arrive at the evacuation exit, I wrap the wire of the grappling gun around a nearby tree and managed to get down to the second basement floor of the hideout.

“Hah… hah…”

Because I’m carrying Tameiki-san, I used up a lot of stamina.

After taking some breaths, I start running again. The second basement floor is quiet. This is probably because all the members are gathered near the central doorway. The above is noisy.

First, I head to the medical room.

There is also a medical room on the second basement floor. This is where I was brought in earlier.

When I open the door of the medical room, the same scenery as before unfolds there.

The members in charge of medical care are running around busily.

When I lay Tameiki-san on the nearest vacant bed, I call a nearby medical staff and entrust her with Tameiki-san. I tell her to prioritize Tameiki-san’s treatment and detoxification.

The people here don’t seem to know anything about the situation, but I want to avoid confusion, so I decide not to tell them.

Immediately after leaving the medical room, I hurry to the central entrance on the first basement floor.

When I expand the sound detection to the first basement floor, I find that the enemies are rushing in.

At the end of the passage, there is a melee battle against the Self-Defense Forces ongoing, and obviously the number of our side is smaller.

I see Sen’s red hair among them.

Her ability is useless in a closed place. Sen should’ve stayed and fight on the surface, huh.

The one who sent her here wasn’t me though.

“Sen, have you told anyone about the situation?”

I send a sound to Sen from a long distance.

“There’s no way I could do it in this situation!”

This person is really useless.

However, looking at this situation, it is highly possible that Kemuri-san set up a disturbance here as well.

I wonder if he took each of our situation into account.

I ignore Sen, run back, and proceed from another passage that has few enemies.

The corpses of the enemies and allies are lying around, but as expected there are more corpses of our allies.

When I viewed the enemies’ forces from above, I saw no factor that would make us lose even in this situation.

Kemuri-san’s purpose was probably to give us reckless instructions and losing the battle that we could afford to win.

I find that the enemies inside the hideout are visibly decreasing. Utsusemi-san must be rampaging on the ground.

When the enemies’ offense loosened, I go to the front line right away.

When I arrive, Roll, Byakurei-san, and the other members are keeping the enemies’ invasion to a minimum.

Kaya-san and Hikisaki-san are still alive as well.

“Roll!”

“Shion!” Calling my name, Roll run to me.

Byakurei-san immediately deploys the Room Impair, and the space with multiple members including myself, Hikisaki-san, Kaya-san, and Byakurei-san temporarily gained an absolute defense shield.

“How’s it going?” I ask.

“Kemuri-san betrayed us…! He suddenly increased his clones and killed everyone…! …But all of his clones suddenly disappeared midway, so we’re able to hold up for now. The situation is hopeless…”

I see, his clones here disappeared because I killed his main body, huh.

“Hah, hah… That’s the situation here. How’s… the situation over there?” Byakurei-san asks in strained manner while heaving his shoulders up and down.

It seems that he is quite exhausted; deploying this 5-sided barrier must also be quite taxing for him.

“Chiyaku-san is also an enemy. Also, Shido-san too.

There is an Infinite Corridor deployed outside, so reinforcements cannot reach this place.

Face Punch died and Tameiki-san was serious injured, but I’ve carried her to the medical room, I think… she will make it.”

I omit various parts, explaining it in a concise and brief manner, and everyone reacts to it with a bitter expression.

“Chiyaku-san… and Shido-san are enemies… something like that…” Roll mutters.

“At any rate, let’s talk more about that later. Once we’ve cleared the enemies.”

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