Chapter 44

I'd been monitoring the battle sounds over the comm, so I knew what had happened.

After defeating Kurenai-san, Niko-san was taken down by Tsubasa-san.

"Sorry."

A single word came through the comm from Niko-san.

There's no need to apologize. Trading with a superior opponent like Kurenai-san is a huge accomplishment.

"You did more than enough. Three Crimson Wings together are a real pain, so wearing down Kurenai-san is a major contribution."

Ugh... Sheena-san said everything I wanted to.

"N-Niko-san!! Um, ah—!"

"What?"

"Aaaah, leave the rest to us!!"

From the other end of the comm, Niko-san laughed.

"Got it. I'm counting on you."

The connection cut off. Then—

"Shiki-san."

Sheena-san, on a motorcycle, stopped in front of the house I'd been using as a base. I jumped down from the roof.

"Is this bike armed?"

"No. I found it on the field. Vehicles, drones, EN bottles, repair kits, grenades—you can scavenge all of them in the field. Come on, hop on."

"R-Roger! Excuse me!"

I climbed on behind Sheena-san.

(Whoa, this is my first time on a two-up bike... W-where do I hold on?)

I slipped my arms around her sides.

"—!?"

She flinched!!

"Whoa! S-sorry!!"

"...Shiki-san, a little lower, please."

Sheena-san's sides are sensitive. She has more weak spots than I thought...

This time I wrapped my arms around her waist and pressed close.

"All set!"

"Shiki-san... er..."

"Wh-what is it?"

"There's no need to cling that tight—ah, never mind. Let's go."

We tore along the highway and left the city. The bike raced down a neatly maintained dirt road.

"We're heading for the center of the safety zone. The zone shrinks around that axis. If we reach the middle, we won't need to move again unless we choose to."

"Roger!"

"But there's one choke point."

"Heaven's Road Bridge, right?"

"Exactly."

While waiting for Sheena-san, I'd studied the map.

This map consists of two islands.

The one I'd been on is Origin Land; the one we're headed for is Oasis Land. Origin Land is half natural terrain, but Oasis Land is mostly city—only about one-fifth nature, with a small forest.

To reach the center, we have to pass through Gunman City where Niko-san fell. Between that city and the plains where we are now lies a wide river connected to the sea, and the only way across is the bridge—Heaven's Road.

According to Sheena-san, an ambush is highly likely.

"There's roughly a sixty-percent chance a Space Girl is watching the bridge. It's three hundred meters long and fairly wide, but footing is terrible. Plus, there are multiple sniper nests on the far side—perfect for an ambush."

Long, open road with bad footing—no place easier for a sniper.

"If we're ambushed, I'll need covering fire."

"Understood!"

I straightened up, let go of Sheena-san with both hands, and equipped my sniper rifle.

As we neared the bridge, I scoped the far side—no sign of enemies.

(We should be... okay.)

"We're entering the bridge!"

The instant the bike rolled onto it, blips appeared on radar.

"Range five hundred! Three enemy units, clustered!!"

"We're punching through!!"

Halfway across—

—a barrage of rockets launched in the distance.

They arced high and bore down on us. Count: fifty-four!!

"That many...!?"

"It's Fun-Bom! Whole bomber team!!"

"Shiki-san! Do your best—"

"I'll shoot them down!!"

I digitized the sniper rifle into storage and swapped to an assault rifle.

(Bullet Pieces!)

I used Bullet Pieces and rapid fire to pick the rockets out of the sky.

"What accuracy... not a single miss."

"But I can't get them all!!"

Six rockets left—impossible to intercept!

Sheena-san can't take her hands off the handlebars. The bridge is rough with bumps and cracks; removing even one hand risks losing balance. Stopping to fight is also foolish—staying in this open area invites flanking, and we'd never survive Fun-Bom's second salvo.

"Sheena-cchi!"

(Shield Pieces only reach four meters! If I block with them we'll still eat the blast! Bullet Pieces are recharging—can't fire yet!)

What to do—

"Rikka!!"

Sheena-san launched Rikka. The six remaining rockets were dealt with by Rikka.

"We stopped them... but Rikka...!"

In Rank Match, if a weapon is destroyed it cannot be repaired. Durability loss can be fixed with repair kits, but lost gear is gone for good.

In other words, Rikka is unusable for the rest of this match.

"Nothing we can do. We can't afford more damage here."

"But what now? They'll fire again any second!"

I switched back to my sniper rifle.

"No problem. They're already within our sniper range."

On the far side, atop the observation deck, the bombers were visible—220 m away.

"...At this range, missing would be harder."

The three bombers reloaded their launchers and fired again. The instant the rockets left their tubes, I pulled the trigger.

My target wasn't the bombers, but the fresh rockets. One shot struck a rocket mid-flight, detonating it. The blast propagated to the others, setting off an explosion that blew the entire deck sky-high.

Three more kills added to my record.

"...Dead on."

"Excellent. Sorry to ask right after that, Shiki-san, but I hear engines behind us."

One vehicle, four occupants, 110 m back.

A Space Girl leaned out the passenger window, assault rifle ready.

"Looks like we were used as bait."

"And now that we're expendable, they attack..."

I aimed at the car's front wheels and fired.

The pursuing car lost balance and skidded to a stop in the middle of the bridge.

"You're not finishing them off?"

"No. I can see another car approaching the bridge 700 m ahead. Let's meet them head-on."

"Heh. Efficiency is a virtue."

We continued across the bridge.

Behind us, fierce gunfire echoed, but that was no longer our concern.

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