『Magic-Sweeping SwordSoumatou』 is triggering that instinct. That's Kusanagis forbidden swordsmanship. Men of the Kusanagi family devised this technique to fight demons.
"This guy...!"
The leader lifted his gun again and aimed. He kept pulling the trigger until his magazine was empty.
None of the bullets reached their target, not a single one..
A loud metallic sound filled the room, the sound of ricochets.
"...hiii."
In the room filled with gunpowder smoke, Kusanagi Takeru was untouched.
Looking around the room, Takeru's mouth arched.
At first glance it appeared the situation had turned around. Takeru seemed to have more time, but his body wasn't in such a good condition.
Magic-Sweeping Sword'sSoumatou's activation burdened the body a great deal; the movement forced the body too much. Tearing muscles, breaking bones, it was moving too much.
The body couldn't keep up with the brain being 『Serious』.
Takeru's body had several muscle fibres ruptured, his bones aching. Even in this state, he continued.
He still continued, despite that.
"...something like this."
The current Takeru didn't think of things like that. He had had a lot of pride in his swordsmanship ever since he was young. Blood would rise to his head every time swordsmanship was made fun of. Because of that he was known as a problem child in the neighbourhood.
After being defeated during his second year of middle school, Takeru revised his attitude, he changed, and his personality calmed down. From the side, he behaved like a timid boy.
But, after he reached the limits of patience blood would rush to his head, his original violent personality would surface.
"Whether it's scrap iron or not, I'll show you. Instead of coming at me one by one, come at me all at once."
"Hi—hiiiii"
"If you think it's scrap iron, I'll show that I'm a guy who won't bleed."
Takeru laughed like a demon; everyone saw a glimpse of his canines. Now that he had become like that, no one could stop him.
Even if all seven thugs kowtow[2B 3] on the spot, even if the Dragoon starts up, even if the KnightsSpriggans arrive. His anger won't subside.
If, assuming there was a person who could stop Takeru, that would be...
《"Onii-chan, please, don't make such a scary face."》
It was just one person. His only family left, his little sister.
"——Eh!!"
As her voice came from the intercom, Takeru made a gasped in surprise.
With just that, his anger had been blown away.
Just with "Onii-chan".
《"Did you calm down...? Kusanagi?"》
"Eh?! Umm?! Just now?! Eh?!"
《"That was my voice, you siscon. How was it? Was it similar?"》
Now that she said it, Takeru thought the tone was different from his little sister's. In the first place, it was impossible for his little sister to be together with Ikaruga. Absolutely impossible.
Takeru sighed with relief; if he remained like that, it would surely become irreversible. And not because of killing the enemy, but cause of Takeru's body suffering consequences. Thinking about it normally, going against seven trained gunmen. He couldn't do anything if they shot at the same time. His body would self-destruct before he took out anyone. He wasn't strong enough to do such a thing.
Grateful for being stopped, he lowered his sword.
《"So, what will you do in this situation?"》
As he looked around, all the seven thugs had completely terrified look on their faces and aimed their guns at him.
Because he had had such an intimidating face, and acted so cocky until now. They all had fingers on their triggers.
He was done for, it came down to that.
"A-Ahaha, that before was a joke. Just a little joke——the thing about being hit and not bleeding, that was obviously a joke. You know, it's one of these puberty problems... ahaha."
After showing them a scene of bullets being cut in mid-air, it was hard to pass it off as a joke. After seeing out-of-ordinary power, it was obvious that they would attack as a group.
Eh, what do I do? Do I drop my weapon? Or maybe I should kneel down? Kneeling down is a good idea, but I think it's too late to apologize.
Takeru was thinking at high speed like that.
"*parin*
Suddenly the fluorescent light in the ceiling broke.
Because visibility was suddenly lost, everyone stopped in place.
That's when Takeru saw it.
From above the seven guys, out of the vent installed in the ceiling. Something sunset-coloured dropped down.
"Uwaghh!"
It landed on enemy's head.
Everyone looked towards the knocked out man.
A single girl was there, and with her sunset-coloured hair gently suspended in the air she kicked a guy.
Such misplaced beauty. Her long hair rose up according to the laws of gravity. From between the hair shined pair of sharp, deep blue eyes.
"Ootori!"
Takeru called her name.
"Wh...you bitch...!"
One person changed his target from Takeru to Ouka, but Ouka moved faster.
Her left hand pressed against his gun and knocked it to the ground.
She didn't stop, reacting fast, she neutralized weapon of another thug. Then she fired at two people with anaesthesia bullets right in their chests.
With her movements like a torrent, she focused her attention on the guy who had dropped his weapon. She turned her body in mid-air, flexibly dancing in the air like a leopardess, and kicked his face.
The last guy had lost all his companions, and was too confused. He fell down helplessly after Ouka swept his leg. He let out a scream.
After he opened his eyes what he saw was——an incredibly beautiful girl.
The girl was looking down at him, while he was looking up at her. Takeru has experienced a very similar situation in middle school.
Too beautiful, too strong, and completely silent.
While he was laying there impressed, a muzzle was pointed at his belly at point blank range and he got hit by an anaesthesia bullet. He lost consciousness.
All of that happened in the blink of an eye.
Ouka stood up with a relaxed face and swept her hair aside.
But, that wasn't the end yet.
There was one existence that could not be ignored, a huge shadow behind Ouka.
"Behind you!"
Takeru instinctively called out to her.
It should have been unmanned, but the man who was holding onto 『Trackless Psalms』 seemed to have boarded it during the commotion.
The dragoon swung its huge arm. Ouka faced Takeru with a cool expression.
"Get down, don't interfere."
And the next moment, Ouka instantaneously disappeared.
Cutting through the air, a huge fist broke the floor of the office.
《"Damn, I missed."》
An annoyed voice sounded from inside of dragoon. Ouka jumped towards it and after rolling she knelt, changing ammunition from anaesthesia bullets to live ammo.
The dragoon swung its fist down, trying to capture her.
Before the dragoon could catch her, Ouka shot the joints of its right arm. Of course even live ammunition didn't have enough power to damage it.
《"I won't let myself get caught in a place like thisssssssssss."》
As he let out a frightened cry, the barrel of a minigun equipped on the dragoon's left arm made a creepy rotating noise.
"This is bad!"
Takeru laid down on the ground and protected his head.
Ouka kicked off the floor, and at the same moment a bullet storm filled the office room coming out of the rotating barrel.
The sound of gunfire completely filled the room, shutting out any other sounds. Minigun bullets tracing Ouka destroyed not only the desk and chairs, but also the wall.
Ouka ran along the wall of the office, despite having powerful impact resounding behind her back. She was pulling the trigger repeatedly, shooting towards the dragoon's arm calmly.
With dust and pieces of wood scattering and flying all over, the girl was sprinting in front of the bullet inferno. Her hair looked like a tail lamp on the streets at night.
After reaching the corner of the office, Ouka kicked off the floor, jumped towards the dragoon and started sliding, bullets flew above her head. She crawled under the dragoon this time.
The huge mini-gun was no longer scary while you were right under it, but the dragoon's fist was waiting at close range. As the huge arm swung, Ouka stayed in the same spot, unmoving.
Thinking that it would crush her, Takeru almost triggered Magic-Sweeping Sword『Soumatou』 reflexively, but at that time.
*...clank....clank...clank...!*
The right arm of the dragoon made a clanging sound.
The swung right arm had stopped halfway in the air, trembling and making sounds of being stuck.
《"Wha-what the?!"》
The man piloting it shouted.
Takeru looked at the dragoon's arm with surprise as well.
Three bullets were stuck in cracks between the joints, and made it unable to any move further. The only way! to make it move was to repair it manually.
"One of the dragoon's weaknesses is the vulnerability of the joints. This thing was not made for close quarters combat."
《"J-just because of that... you stopped it with a handgun?!""》
Said the man inside.
God-like marksmanship. The crack was just about 3 centimetres big. It was something impossible for a normal human. Even if her gun sacrificed power for accuracy. To pull something like that off in the middle of a battle, it was astounding.
《"S-shit! Move! Move dammit!"》
The pilot tried to move the dragoon, but the right arm stuck in the air wouldn't budge.
That's when pilot lost sight of Ouka,
Where is she? he thought.
*bam* the pilot felt a slight vibration.
"............"
The powerful opponent with sun-coloured hair was standing on top of the dragoon's armour.
Looking down on it with cold eyes, she pointed a muzzle at the dragoon's neck, the spot that was a ventilation outlet.
《"Mo-monst——"》
Monster, as he tried to say that.
Ouka put the gun's muzzle in the outlet and pulled the trigger.
《"Guaaaaaaaahhhhh."》
A scream sounded from inside. He tried to shake her off with the dragoon.
Ouka who held onto its head wasn't shaken off, and continued to shoot inside until her ammunition ran out.
Bullets that entered the ventilation outlet ricocheted inside, destroying the machinery as well as hurting the pilot.
When she stopped shooting, the dragoon stopped and started releasing smoke.
The cockpit's hatch opened, and smoke spilled out from it.
"...gah...ughh...haa..."
The pilot showed himself. Two bullets hit him, one in the leg and the other one in the shoulders.
She really defeated it, a flesh and blood human defeated a dragoon.
Normally it would be necessary to use anti-tank weapons. To defeat such a thing with a sub-weapon, he wondered if that had ever happened before.
He knew it, despite knowing it from the beginning.
...she's on a different level.
While Takeru was speechless, in front of the pilot who was trying to catch his breath, Ouka placed a foot on the seat and pointed her gun at him.
"...that's how it ends up when an amateur pilots a dragoon, didn't you learn that?"
"...shit...shit...damn it...!"
"Whether it's outdated crap or not, using a dragoon is against law. When fighting an enemy using a dragoon shooting to kill is allowed."
"He...hehehe...do it...I dare you, you won't do it anyway."
"............."
"You bastards won't shoot defenceless people, I know that very well."
Ouka didn't respond to his insults, silent. He continued with even more cocky voice.
"See? You can't shoot can you."
"..........."
"Even if I kill kids in front of you, all you can do is look at me like that."
——At that moment.
Gunfire resounded.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! Aah! It hurts! It hurts dammittttttttttttt!"
Inside the cockpit, the man was writhing while holding his hurt left leg.
Takeru couldn't move, stunned. He noticed Ouka was about to pull the trigger again.
"He-hey!"
Takeru tried to rush there, but suddenly his legs stopped.
Ouka was looking at the suffering man with her cobalt-blue coloured eyes.
There was something very, very dangerous inside of her them.
"I-I get it! F-forgive me! Don't shoot me anymore! I'll give this back to you!"
The man took out 『Trackless Psalms』 from his pocket and offered it weakly.
Ouka looked at it, and her eyes facial expressions sharpened slowly.
"The one who told me to try to do it was you."
"...ugh...that was..."
"I thought you wanted to get killed, am I wrong? That's really convenient, in fact that helps me a lot."
"T-that was a joke! A joke I tell you...! I apologize, so please s-spare me!"
The man was crying miserably from the deeps of his heart. Ouka narrowed her eyes. The thug's cries sounded in the office.
At that time Ouka's mouth trembled.
Takeru certainly heard a small voice.
"Trash... garbage... despite having a great strength they won't use it righteously. You can only hurt others for your own gain... it makes me wanna puke."
Takeru could feel cold, murderous intent. He didn't know what made her so angry. She changed as anger welled up from the depths of her heart, he knew that intuitively.
He had an ominous foreboding.
Her thirst for blood that suddenly welled up, Takeru vaguely realized it was familiar.
"...I'll exterminate you bastards... witches too... everything...!"
Ouka moved the gun's muzzle from the man's leg to his head. Takeru shouted from where he was.
"Hey, what are you doing! You've done enough already haven't you?!"
"The opponent is armed with a reinforced exoskeleton. Doing this is legitimate, Captain."
"Armed with... isn't he powerless now!"
"I see. So he is. But he still has Magical Heritage. So I still have a reason to kill him."
"That's too far-fetched! Such a reason won't hold out! Also, why do you want to kill him!"
"Shut up, it's already up to me. If I hadn't come you would have been defeated. You know that, so just stand there and look."
"...wha..."
Ouka didn't listen to the words of Takeru who was her captain.
It was unprofessional. Inquisitors were allowed to shoot to kill only in limited circumstances. Killing a defenceless opponent would be problematic.
She was clearly wrong. It didn't mean Takeru wanted to protect the man. In fact, Takeru didn't care what happened to that kind of scum.
Killing this man would affect Ouka and their platoon badly. As a captain he had to stop it.
"Well then... let's start the witch hunt."
As if looking at an ant, Ouka let out a distorted laugh.
——Make it in time!!
Takeru activated Magic-Sweeping Sword『Soumatou』 instantaneously. His body launched before he even thought.
Feeling pressure throughout his body, as if he moved in cement. He rushed towards the enemy as the world turned slow.
"...wha——"
Ouka revealed a surprised expression. Takeru who was supposed to be far behind her, was suddenly in front of her and protected the man by grabbing her hand.
As he grasped her wrist, Takeru was about
to admonish her with a serious look.
However,
"?!! Owaah!"
"——Guuhh."
Because of Magic-Sweeping Sword『Soumatou』, the momentum was too strong and his posture collapsed. Takeru and Ouka fell down on the floor together.
"It hurts——"
He touched his head while opening his eyes.
...........
And he froze.
"———"
"..........."
As they fell down, Takeru was on top of Ouka and the hand that was supposed to be rested on the floor was felt something unknown. A water balloon? A Marshmallow? A rubber ball? It didn't fall into either category, it was a warm and soft bulge.
His heart rate accelerated.
"———"
Words didn't come out. "Pretty big." came to his mind, but that impression was too frank.
There wasn't any change in Ouka's expression, but her face was tinged slightly red.
"I-it's okay."
Said Takeru in desperation, even though he didn't know what was okay himself. He was trying to find words that would allow him to live through this situation.
"Because I."
"............"
"Because——I'm in small breasts faction!"
...*kachin*
"Sorry, I lied! That's not a problem! Please forgive me, blood rushed to my head! It was an excuse!"
There was a muzzle touching his forehead, Takeru made a submissive posture with his hands raised.
Ouka was completely red and trembling as she pressed the muzzle harder.
"...uuuu..uuuu.....u....."
Embarrassed like that, even though it may be rude to say it, she seemed very girly.
During the battle earlier, and in the middle school he always thought "She's a female terminator!" and had that kind of impression of her. He thought he'd get slapped coldly and told "Will you get off me?". That's what he expected to happen.
That she would have watery eyes, or act pretty cute. He didn't think that would happen.
And that he'd get shot, definitely shot.
"Wait, calm down Ootori!"
"Get off me——already!!"
She put strength in her finger holding the trigger. Takeru was certain he will die.
And that time.
He'd been shot in the head. But the pain came from the back of his head for some reason.
"...eh, wha...〜at?"
Takeru tried to turn away, but he failed.
Antimagic Academy 35th Test Platoon - Volume 01 - Eienherjar wakes Page 5