At this very mont, similar scenes, much like Artemisia's battle with DEM, were unfolding in every underground shelter.
"Ah… kuh… ah… ah…"
Sweat mixed with dust rolled down her cheeks. Okamine Mikie struggled to crawl up from the ground, panting heavily, her eyes fixed gravely ahead.
"This is… Private Okamine. We have encountered a DEM attack and are trapped in a hard battle… requesting support… kuh!"
"O-Okamine-san? Why are you here? Why are you so badly injured?"
While fleeing with the citizens, Saoto Natsutake accidentally encountered a classmate who was rarely seen at school and could not help asking in panic.
"Bamboo Princess…"
Mikie had just been about to say sothing when a sudden intensification in magical energy fluctuations made her expression instantly change.
"Danger!"
Protecting Natsutake behind her, Mikie drove the magical power generator of her CR-Unit and raised the strength of her Territory to the limit.
Crack!
One second later, there was a crisp roar. Clearly, no object had approached Mikie, yet the Territory around her shattered violently as though struck by so heavy blow.
Mikie uncontrollably took several steps back, her face completely pale.
"Run! Class rep!"
"I-I'll go find help!"
Seeing this extrely abnormal scene, Natsutake understood that she had beco a burden to Mikie. Forcing her legs, which were nearly weak from fear, she moved away from the area.
Although Mikie had not expected much, seeing Natsutake decisively flee still made her sigh in relief.
"Oh~ How rare. To think Unicorn's attack was actually blocked."
A voice of admiration entered Mikie's ears. Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw a white haired girl holding a lance type armant about twenty ters away. The girl looked around Mikie's age and was watching her curiously.
"Ashley… Why are you in DEM?"
Mikie looked at the girl before her, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Hm? Why do you know my na…? Oh well."
Hearing that, Ashley froze slightly, but quickly tossed the question aside and smiled wickedly.
"No need to talk too much with soone who's about to die."
With that, Ashley maintained a distance of twenty ters from Mikie and took a spear thrusting stance.
Without hesitation, Mikie rolled sideways and left her original position. Imdiately after, a cone shaped hole appeared where she had just been standing.
(As expected… It's Ashcroft's Unicorn armant.)
Seeing Ashley's thod of attack, Mikie judged this inwardly. Unicorn was a close to mid range tactical unit that could release special shockwaves to perform attacks that could not be captured visually.
If Mikie had not fought Ashley before, she would probably already be seriously injured. Although she did not know why Ashley acted as though she did not recognize her, to Mikie, that was also an opportunity.
"Damn it! Dodging here and there! Are you a cockroach?!"
Seeing that this AST cannon fodder was more troubleso than expected, Ashley could not help growing sowhat flustered and angry.
"Haha! That's because your movents are so obvious! Only an idiot wouldn't dodge!"
After saying that, Mikie made a face and stuck her tongue out at Ashley.
"Hah!?"
Although it was an extrely childish provocation, unfortunately, Ashley unexpectedly fell for it.
"Fine! This ti, let's see how you dodge!"
After taking a harsh breath, Ashley lowered her stance, leaning slightly forward. Her posture changed from spear-thrusting to charging. With the sound of an explosion, her entire body vanished from the spot.
This was an ultra-high-speed thrust realized through Unicorn's acceleration function. Under normal circumstances, an ordinary Wizard would not even see Ashley's shadow before being pierced straight through the heart by Unicorn.
With Mikie's strength, it was naturally impossible for her to dodge this attack. But she knew the path this move would take.
Boom!
Suddenly, just as Ashley approached Mikie, an explosion erupted from below.
A landmine?!
Ashley widened her eyes in surprise. At that mont, she had used most of her Territory to drive Unicorn, greatly weakening her personal defense. Although the explosion was not very powerful, it still interrupted her charge.
Now, Ashley, who had originally intended to kill Mikie, had instead beco the lamb waiting for Mikie's blade.
"Take this—"
"Alice!"
An invisible pressure stopped Mikie's counterattack. Her blade suddenly halted halfway through. Imdiately after, pressure ca from all directions like walls slowly pushing in, trapping her in midair.
"This power is…"
"Honestly, Ashley, I told you not to act impulsively during a mission."
At so point, a tall brown haired woman had suddenly walked over to the two of them, sighing helplessly.
"Tch, mind your own business."
Ashley said with dissatisfaction.
"Oh? If I hadn't helped, you might have been defeated."
"Shut up, shut up! I didn't lose!"
Ashley turned her head away and stubbornly insisted.
"Cecile-san…You joined DEM too?"
Mikie said in disbelief. Hearing that, Cecile looked at Mikie with so confusion.
"Hm? Have we t sowhere? Strange… Why don't I rember…"
"Hey! Cecile, is this really the ti to chat? Have you finished dealing with your area?"
Ashley impatiently interrupted Cecile. In response, Cecile nodded lightly.
"The mission has changed. Artemisia betrayed DEM. Minerva called us to reinforce Leonora."
"Well, that's unexpected. Fine. I've been wanting to see just how strong our SSS's ace really is."
Hearing that, Ashley could not help feeling a little surprised. Then she began eagerly cracking her knuckles.
(Artemisia is in danger?)
Hearing the two of them talk, Mikie hurriedly tried to break free from the restraint. However, with only AST's current standard issue CR-Unit, she clearly could not break free from Alice, which specialized in barrier strength.
"Give up. With your ability, you can't escape."
Seemingly noticing Mikie's actions, Cecile increased her Territory output while speaking.
Feeling the pressure around her grow stronger and stronger, as though it were about to crush her bones, Mikie still gritted her teeth and said,
"I… won't… let you reach… Artemisia…"
"Hmph! Not bad courage. I don't hate people like you, but unfortunately… you'll just stay here obediently…"
Mikie could no longer hear Ashley's words clearly. Her consciousness gradually blurred.
"Cecile, watch out!"
"This power… You are—"
Before Mikie could react, the restraint on her body suddenly disappeared. From the corner of her eye, she only saw a black shadow silently appear behind Cecile and Ashley. Then the two of them collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.
Reinforcents?
(Please… go… help… Artemisia…)
—————
Using her Territory barrier to endure Leonora's barrage head-on, Ryouko looked at the already devastated shelter, her face turning ashen.
"Are they insane?! Those DEM lunatics are using large scale destructive weapons in a closed space like this?!"
Seeing DEM once again lower the bottom line of what she could imagine, Ryouko could not stop herself from cursing.
"Attention, everyone! Confirm the condition of the wounded! This shelter won't hold much longer. Team A, continue engaging DEM, but don't fight to the death! Team B, continue guiding the citizens toward the suburban area!"
"Understood!"
Just as Ryouko was commanding the scene, her communicator suddenly received a communication request.
"Mikie… This is Kusakabe. Private Okamine, please respond."
[This is… Private Okamine. We encountered D￥%#￥%—]
Midway through the communication, Mikie's voice suddenly turned into aningless static.
"Private Okamine? Mikie! Mikie!"
Ryouko anxiously called out twice. Very soon, communication was restored, but this ti, the voice coming from the other side was not Mikie's.
[Sorry to disturb you. You are Kusakabe Ryouko, correct?]
Radio hijacking?
Realizing the situation, Ryouko's expression could not help changing.
"…Who are you?"
[An electronic nun who just happened to pass by. Just kidding~]
After frivolously cutting in with that line, the other party seed to know Ryouko's current anxiety and calmly said,
[Worried about your subordinate? Don't worry. Soone on my side has already gone to save her. No need to be concerned.]
"…What do you want?"
Although she did not know whether the other party's words were true or false, Ryouko still temporarily followed along and asked.
[Good. That saves the trouble of wasting words.]
After the other party chuckled softly, her tone suddenly beca serious.
[Do not move toward the suburban area. DEM has set up ambushes at the exits. If you do that, you'll be playing right into Father's hands.]
"What…"
Before Ryouko could react, stacks of data entered her terminal. Ryouko looked and saw that it was an underground map of Tengu City.
[Follow this route and move toward Shelter D13 in the city center. At the sa ti, order the AST mbers in the other shelters to lead the citizens there as well. I will be responsible for receiving you on my side.]
"Wait! Please don't just keep talking to yourself like that."
Hurriedly cutting the other party off, Ryouko took a deep breath and spoke cautiously.
"…I'm sorry. I cannot follow your suggestion. I don't know where you obtained this information, but if I cannot confirm your identity, I can't let my subordinates and the citizens take that risk."
[Tch, believe it or not, that's up to you. If Yutsuki hadn't asked , I wouldn't bother caring whether you lived or died.]
The other party clicked her tongue impatiently, then explained indifferently,
[A Spirit. More precisely, an existence created from a human, sothing like a half Spirit. Are you satisfied with that answer?]
After saying that, the other party hung up the communication, leaving Ryouko alone with her face full of question marks.
What? A Spirit? A half Spirit? Artificially made? Ryouko felt that the information she had received lately was all a little too much, exceeding the limits of what she could understand.
"Trusting a Spirit… If the old heard that, I'd definitely think sothing was wrong with my head."
With a bitter smile and a sigh, Ryouko connected to the communication channel and spoke softly.
"Everyone, listen up. Next, lead the citizens toward Shelter D13. Soone there will receive us."
After ending the communication, Ryouko looked up at the shelter on the verge of collapse and said to the subordinates around her,
"All right, you all hurry and regroup with the other units too."
"What about you, Captain?"
"…"
Looking at Artemisia fighting fiercely in the distance, Ryouko said,
"I'll wait a little longer."
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