✦ ✦ ✦
Sven and Blitzdonner were headed underground toward Meitzer. They had lost Daian’s sketch of the facility, but they had been this way once before.
“Where’s that thing?” Sven asked as she ran.
“Well, it wasn’t in its original place. I suppose it has been stored away.”
“Or has it already been thrown away?”
“I’m not sure, but I think...”
Before they descended underground, the two were trying to complete another matter of business, but someone appeared in the hallway ahead.
“A special combat unit soldier?!” Blitzdonner stopped.
Sophia and Suzuka were drawing away most of the soldiers. There shouldn’t be any here. They expected any soldiers to be stationed at the cell, but...
“This is her tactic, huh?” Sven bit her lip in frustration. This must have been the Saint’s work. Nothing else made sense. Only this was capable of stopping her in her tracks.
“Go back. I don’t want to get rough.” Lud Langart blocked the way.
“Master!!”
There was no hesitation in his eyes. He was lucid. The Saint must have ordered him to prevent anyone from proceeding beyond this point. Yes, he was here because the woman he thought was Sven had asked him to be.
“Langart! What the heck?!” Blitzdonner raised his left arm, the one that still moved.
“Svelgen, you go ahead. I’ll handle this—”
Even though he wasn’t himself, fighting her beloved master was more painful to Sven than the torments of hell.
“Major Blitzdonner! Leave this to me!”
“What?!” Blitzdonner doubted his ears.
“Don’t be foolish! That’s Lud Langart!”
A few days ago, Sven had sworn her love for him.
“Yes, that’s right. He’s my beloved master! That’s why! I can’t let anyone else be the one to hurt him!”
“You...” Looking into Sven’s eyes, Blitzdonner understood the truth.
She intended to suppress Lud without harming him. No injuries, not even a scratch. No one else could hurt him, even a little.
“Understood.” Blitzdonner couldn’t argue.
Sven was completely determined.
“I’ll bring back General Douglas as quickly as I can. Hang in there until then!”
That was all he could do. Blitzdonner took off running. Lud moved to stop him.
“Not happening!” Sven tried to stop Lud.
Lud was human. As a humanoid Hunter Unit, Sven’s physical strength far surpassed his. However, she had to fight without hurting him. She had to control her punches carefully. Her advantage disappeared. The two grappled and glared at each other.
“Wait!”
Unable to watch Blitzdonner as he left, Sven concentrated every nerve on stopping but not harming Lud.
Meitzer heard footsteps approaching his underground cell.
Who is it this time?
Man, woman, elderly person, child... The footsteps didn’t quite sound like any of these. They didn’t sound like they came from a human being at all.
“Oh... it’s you?” Meitzer spoke bluntly, as if it finally made sense.
“General Douglas, I have come to rescue you. I’m—”
“You’re Major Blitzdonner from Apuvea, Wiltia’s intelligence agency. I’ve heard of you.”
“You know me?” Blitzdonner was surprised at Noa’s intelligence-gathering abilities that gave Meitzer so many details about him, such as whether he was alive or dead, or active in a ghost unit.
“Good. It’s faster this way. Come with me!”
“I would like to leave, but this cell is sturdy, and I’m bound.”
“Oh, right!!”
Blitzdonner made a fist with his left hand and punched the stone wall. He wasn’t lashing out in frustration. The wall was made of stone over one hundred years old. He needed to break through to rescue Meitzer.
“Don’t be reckless. Your fist isn’t made for this!”
“Never mind! There’s no time!”
Blitzdonner’s mechanical arm was made for combat, but not for demolition. He would damage the joints and actuators.
“Gruaaarrrgh!”
And his mechanical arm was connected to flesh-and-blood nerves. Any injury to the mechanism attached to his body would directly affect his nerves and cause intense pain. It was in fact unbearable pain that made even a grown man cry out.
“We need to get back fast! I don’t know what will become of them!”
Blitzdonner ignored the agony and finally broke through the wall, creating a space wide enough for Meitzer to pass through.
“Whoa...”
Meitzer looked truly impressed. He felt grateful toward this person who possessed strength surpassing what he could imagine.
“Well done! I suspected as much. You guys are very strong.”
“Whah?!”
Blitzdonner’s reply to Meitzer sounded rude but it was because of his pain and impatience.
“I’ll break your bonds. This may hurt a bit, but you’ll have to bear it.”
“I don’t mind. Bang away.”
Blitzdonner summoned his last strength and tore apart Meitzer’s bonds. His arm finally broke completely.
“Now I’m useless. I’m counting on you for the rest. Go help them. Langart and Sven.”
“What?”
Meitzer’s eyes opened wide with astonishment.
“Wait, Major Blitzdonner. Those two are here? Why?”
“You asked Sven if she wanted to be human, so she and Lud came to help you, but...” Blitzdonner briefly explained the situation to Meitzer, just covering the main points.
“She did what?! That was foolish!” Meitzer was genuinely shocked and saddened at the Saint’s cruelty.
“Right now, Svelgen is holding Lud back with all her strength. Hurry up and snap him out of it!”
“You think I have a way to return him to normal?”
Meitzer didn’t understand the meaning behind what God had told Sven.
“What? Are you saying you don’t?!”
“What is that person trying to do? Or to make me do? Surely not...”
Meitzer finally realized what those words might mean.
“This is utterly reckless! Does he want to remove the girl from this world?!”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s no time to explain. Anyway, let’s go to Sven and Langart!”
Meitzer began running without a moment to spare.
“Hey, w-wait! You’re fast!!”
Blitzdonner followed in the wake of the man whose legs were even more powerful than his own mechanical limbs.