“No... We haven’t done everything yet.”
“Hah?”
“It’s my fault you’re in this situation. Let me finish this.”
“Listen here—”
“I missed my chance to say so earlier, but this is actually our home planet. We have to defeat that kaiju no matter what.”
Satsuki and the others were due to arrive soon, too. Once they did, we might actually have a way to defeat it.
“...?”
I glanced up to see that the kaiju had stopped moving. Its head was way too far up in the air for me to see it clearly, but it was facing the mountain it had nearly just leveled. When I turned to look...
“Oh, no! There’s a town that way!” Kiri shouted in a panic.
Goosebumps ran across my skin.
Zeta had estimated that it would take an hour for the kaiju to reach the nearest town. But what about its long-range beam attack? What if it had blown away that mountain so it could take a clear shot next time?
“GRAAAAAAHH!”
With an Earth-trembling roar, the kaiju started to gather a bright light in its mouth.
“No!”
We all moved to try and stop it, but it was too late. The kaiju fired its massive plasma beam from its gaping mouth. And then...
Weeeooooom!
“Huh?! Was that Zeta’s spaceship?!”
“A barrier! She used the spaceship’s barrier to deflect the plasma beam!”
According to Iris, space was full of debris and asteroids scattered everywhere, so most ships came equipped with a barrier to protect them while traveling.
“Increase power to the barrier!” I could hear a fired-up Zeta yelling through the transmitter.
“Zeta! Hey, Zeta?!” I tried calling to her.
“It’s no good, director! The barrier can’t hold!”
“Don’t take it head-on! Adjust the angle to deflect it above us!”
All I could hear on the other side was Zeta and a flustered staff member talking. Whatever was going on, they seemed to be way too busy to answer me.
As for the rest of us, all we could do was sit and watch. We were on the edge of our seats as Zeta’s spaceship shifted to change angle and deflect the kaiju’s beam up into the air. But unfortunately, the beam wasn’t just a short burst. It felt like it was lasting forever...
“The barrier’s energy supply has been exhausted!”
“Redirect all batteries to the barrier!”
The barrier could only take so much, and its power was drained almost immediately.
Krrk, krrk... KRRRSH!
It shattered with a ear-piercing sound just as the plasma beam ran out. The last rays of it scorched the surface of Zeta’s ship. There was a small explosion here and there, and black smoke began rising from the ship. It seemed that it had taken enough damage to compromise its equilibrium, and it swayed in the air before crashing into the ground.
“Zeta?! Hey, are you all right?!”
“I thought I told you to can it... It was an emergency landing, but we’re safe.”
I exhaled in relief to hear that.
“But that’s about all she wrote for us. I won’t be able to block the next beam. You guys’ll have to figure something out yourselves. The winged girl is headed your way now.”
“Rachelle?”
“She said she had some kind of plan.”
For real?
“Oooh, Rekka!”
“Rekka! Are you unharmed?!”
As I was standing there in confusion, the aforementioned Rachelle—accompanied by Rosalind in bat-swarm mode—arrived on the scene.
“Rachelle, I heard you had a plan?”
“I do! I’ll need a teeny tiny bit of your help, but if we do things my way, I’ll be able to slaughter that kaiju in a single blow.”
“A single blow?!”
What she was saying was so ridiculous that I was having a hard time believing it. But nevertheless, she seemed perfectly confident.
“Teehee, you may have forgotten, but I’m an angel! We’re pretty powerful beings, you know? I can’t have you thinking I’m just some holy lackey.”
Honest to God, I thought of her as the most annoying person in this story before I thought of anything holy. That being said, we had to do something before the kaiju fired its next beam. I was fresh out of ideas, so I decided to go along with it.
“All right, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
“Then leave this to me! Heh heh heh...”
I had no real choice other than to rely on her right now, but I couldn’t escape the feeling she was up to something horrendous.
“Please come this way, Rekka. As for the rest of you... Just sit back and watch an angel in action, okay?”
“Hmph. Just get on with it,” scoffed Rosalind.
“Tch. I wanted to defeat the kaiju with Rekka...” pouted Iris.
Neither one of them seemed too pleased about Rachelle’s interference.
“Hey, hurry it up, Rachelle!”
“Alrighty. Oh, but please remove your helmet first.”
“Huh?”
What did I need to do that for? Whatever. Now wasn’t the time to ask questions. I complied and pressed the button on the back of my neck. The helmet collapsed into the rest of the suit.
“Okay, now that’s done. Let’s make this quick.”
“Sure, sure. First, let’s fly closer to the kaiju, shall we?” she asked as she spread her wings.
She then put her arms around me and held me close as she lifted us up into the air. I must have been heavy, but she had no trouble moving closer to the kaiju. The kaiju had used all of its energy against the spaceship’s barrier earlier, so it was currently growling lowly in its throat while showing no signs of its next attack yet. We were so small, it had yet to notice us.
“Okay, so what do we do now that we’re up here?”
“Jeez, you’re so impatient, Rekka. Just hold your horses. I believe you said it should be soon...”
Apparently there was some timing involved with this plan? Rachelle kept looking up towards the sky like she was waiting for something. Hm? Speaking of things that should be soon...
Vrrrrr!
My phone in my breast pocket vibrated. Just as it did, the kaiju opened its huge mouth once more.
“Hey! The next shot is coming!”
Light and heat began gathering in the kaiju’s mouth.
“Ah! It’s here!” Rachelle yelled in an excited voice.
I followed her gaze and spied a single spaceship—the one Shirley had taken to fetch Lea and the others!
“Rekka!”
“Sir Rekka!”
“Nammy!”
One by one, everyone got off the ship. But the beam was already...!
“Rekka.”
“Huh?”
Rachelle said my name, and I turned to look at her. When I did, she leaned in and...
Smooch!
I felt something soft on my face.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!” And heard the piercing screams of every single person present echoing in my ears.
“Wh-What are you do—”
“OH, YES! It’s here! It’s here, baby!” Rachelle yelled at the top of her lungs, interrupting my objections.
I wondered what exactly was here... when I saw an extraordinary aura coming from behind her. Wait, was this because of everyone’s jealousy? Did Rachelle absorb all that love energy to power up? Then, as though to confirm my suspicions...
“LOOOOOOOOVE AAAND...”
Rachelle roared at the heavens as rays of light burst from her hands, merging to form a sword larger than even the kaiju.
“PEAAAAAAAACE!”
And she swung it in a single decisive stroke. The kaiju that had been on the verge of firing its next beam was sliced clean in two down the middle, splitting open as it fell to the ground in pieces. I could only stare in dumbfounded shock as Rachelle carried us both back down to the ground.
“Well, that sure went
well! Heeheehee...” Rachelle giggled, blushing.
“Yeah, that part went well... But, uh, could you give me some warning next time?”
“Hmm? Are you talking about the kiss? Don’t be silly! Someone as popular as you must be throwing kisses around on the regular, no?”
“Huh? Uh, actually...”
“Whaaat?! D-Don’t tell me you haven’t yet! Oh, no, whatever shall I do? I just stole Rekka’s first kiss!”
“Wh-What are you saying?! You missed my mouth by just a bit!”
She’s brushed it a bit... but that didn’t count! Not that you would’ve been able to tell unless you were right up in both of our faces...
“Ahahaha! Well, don’t sweat details... Hic!” Rachelle said, slapping my shoulder.
Her face was still flushed, but it wasn’t like she was being bashful or anything... In fact, why was she so red? And excited? And... hiccupping? Was she drunk? Huh? Wait, was it just me, or did her wings flash black just now...?
“Rekka. Oh, Rekka.”
“Hm?”
R tapped me on the back, causing me to turn around. There were several dark figures approaching. Demons, maybe? Ah... No, it was the girls. Satsuki, Iris, Harissa, Tsumiki, Lea, Rosalind, Shirley, Corona, and Lyun. All nine of them were glaring, stomping, raging, shaking, and seething... In other words, they were pissed.
“Oh, Rekka...” Satsuki called.
“Y-Yes, ma’am!” I stood at attention.
“I see you and Rachelle have gotten rather friendly while I was gone...”
I couldn’t see her eyes through her bangs. She looked scary.
“Ah, no, that’s... Um, we were just working together to defeat the kaiju.”
“Then all you had to do was wait for me. I would’ve made it in time. That’s why you had me bring Lea and the others here, no?”
“Yeah, but... I didn’t really have the time to stop her...”
“You didn’t even have time to ask what she was doing?” Tsumiki asked, throwing her own question in with Satsuki’s.
She was still in her uniform, so I could guess she’d been abducted from school before being taken to Nozomiya to load up the takeout box in her hands with dark matter for Corona and Lea.
“None of that matters right now...”
The one to interrupt the interrogation was Rosalind. Her eyes were red with rage as she held her right hand out, sharpened nails extended.
“I won’t rest until I’ve exacted my vengeance on that rotten angel.”
I was worried about what exactly that vengeance would entail...
“W-Wait, Rosalind! Despite everything, she did save Earth! Isn’t that enough?”
“What?! Exactly whose side are you on?!” she demanded.
“That’s right!” Iris echoed.
“Sir Rekka, I can’t believe what you’ve been up to while I wasn’t around!” Harissa joined in.
Disgusted outcries came at me from all directions. Rosalind and Iris both seemed to be on the verge of attacking Rachelle, while Harissa was on the verge of tears.
“Harissa went through all the trouble of summoning me to help you because you were in a pinch, Nammy! But what is this?! Did you call me from the spirit world just to show me that?!”
Lyun also appeared to be quite enraged. The wind around her was stirring. I had asked Harissa to summon her here in case I needed to use the Spirit Armor, but at this rate, the girls were all going to be using their powers against me rather than helping me!
“S-Shirley...”
I sought help from the comparatively calm Shirley...
“...Hmph.”
But she only answered me with a cold look. I then looked to Lea and Corona, but they didn’t look thrilled, either.
“Uh...”
“I suppose this is what they call being up against a wall, huh?”
No kidding, R. I didn’t have a single ally... The only one who might possibly defend me was the cause of this whole mess—Rachelle.
“H-Hey, Rachelle. Come here and explain what happened to everyone.”
“...”
I shook the shoulder of the angel who had her back turned to me, but she had no reaction. What gives? Come to think of it, she’s been leaking that aura from the light sword for a while now... And isn’t that color a little psychedelic? Wait, are her wings really turning black?
“Rachelle?”
“Heh heh—hic!”
“Uh, Rachelle?”
“Ahyahyahyahyaah!”
“Wh-What’s wrong?!”
She’d definitely flipped some kind of switch.
“Rachelle!”
I forcefully turned Rachelle towards me. When I did, I could see that she’d gone way past red in the face and her eyes were spinning in circles. Those are definitely symptoms of drunkenness, right? But what was she drunk on? My eyes were drawn to the aura of love energy just flowing out of her body. Had she lost it because she’d taken in so much of it? The color of her wings really was changing!
“Hey! Snap out of it, Rachelle!”
“Heh heh heh...”
This wasn’t good. Maybe I shouldn’t shake her too much? Maybe I should get her some water... but maybe that’d be pointless. A million things went through my head.
“Hold it, Rekka! Just what are you doing with that woman now?! If you get that close to her, she might kiss you again!”
Rosalind—under the wrong impression—came storming our way. Her jealousy was generating even more love energy... which of course went right into Rachelle.
“Hnnngh!”
Rachelle’s body shook and spasmed before she collapsed on the spot.
“R-Rachelle?”
I worriedly called out to her. I couldn’t see her face with her lying the way she was.
“More...”
But I could hear her muttering something quietly. I leaned in to listen when she suddenly leaped up from the ground like she was spring-loaded.
“GIVE ME MORE LOVE ENERGY!”
Yelling at the top of her lungs, she held a finger up towards the sky, and a pinkish aura began to gather at her fingertip. She then pointed at the nine heroines...
“TIME TO GET FIRED UP!”
And fired the aura at them.
“Wha—?!”
Even my astonished voice was swallowed up by the explosive burst of light.
Chapter 5: The “Mini” Little Apocalypse
“Satsuki?!”
As I shielded my eyes from the blinding light, I called out for my childhood friend.
“Wait, what are you even attacking everyone for?!” I asked Rachelle, shaking her shoulders.
“Heh heh heh...”
It was pointless. Words weren’t getting through to this angel. I had no idea what was going on. How had things even ended up like this? Why did Rachelle have to attack Satsuki and the others? And what in the world was she yelling about?
Eventually, the light faded. The flickering in my eyes was annoying, making me rub at them several times. Several seconds later, my vision finally returned to me.
“Everyone!”
Thankfully, the girls all appeared to be unharmed, although it looked like they were still reeling from the blinding light. They were standing there in a daze. I decided to ignore the cackling Rachelle for now and ran over to them.
“Satsuki! Are you all right? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No. I’m fine, Rekka.”
Phew. She seemed a little out of it, but she was still the usual Satsuki.
“Hm?” I suddenly noticed a leaf in Satsuki’s hair. “You have a leaf in your hair.”
“Huh?”
Satsuki started feeling around her head with her right hand in a fluster. Bad luck. It was on the left side.
“It’s over here. Let me get it for you,” I said, reaching my hand out... when somebody suddenly grabbed my wrist. “Iris?”
“Why are you only ever nice to Satsuki, Rekka?”
“Weh?” I was so blindsided by her out-of-
nowhere question that all I could offer for an answer at first was some weird noise. “I’m not? She just has a leaf in her hair...”
“You called Satsuki’s name first just now! It’s not fair! Why is it always Satsuki?!”
“I-It’s not always. That was just spur-of-the-moment...”
What was going on? She was being awfully fussy... Was this the aftereffect of the competition over me on Ciel?
“We even went on a date together today! So why didn’t you look for me first?!”
“Ow, ow, ow!”
Iris was squeezing my wrist with all her strength! It felt like it was going to snap! I tried to find the words to comfort her between my yelps of pain, but this time it was Satsuki that interrupted things by slapping Iris’s hand away.
“Stop that! You’re hurting Rekka!”
“What?! Don’t cut in on my conversation with Rekka!”
“You’re the one who did that! I was talking to Rekka first!”
“H-Hey, calm down you t—”
I was trying to mediate between the bickering girls when I was suddenly yanked by the back of my collar, cutting off my sentence in my throat. Then I felt something extremely soft pressing against the back of my head...
“Rekka...”
“L-Lea?”
She was the one who’d grabbed me from behind. Which meant these two pillowy lumps up against me were...!
I immediately tried to straighten myself out, but she was hugging me so tightly from behind that I couldn’t move much at all.
“U-Um, please let go...”
“Did you really go on a date with Iris?” Lea ignored my question to ask one of her own.
The combination of the extreme proximity of her face looking down at mine and the soft sensation behind my head made my heart thump erratically. God, she was so close that I could feel her warm breath... But just as my mind started to race, something tugged on my legs.
“Wuh?!”
And hard. I was pulled all the way down to the ground.
“Rosalind... and Harissa?”
“Sir Rekka, what does she mean by date?! What have you been doing all day anyway?! You told me you’d be home early because of the opening ceremony, so I’ve been waiting for you this whole time!”
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 10 Page 8