“A mine, huh…? That definitely seems like a good hideout,” Karamori said.
The helicopter’s speed dropped. The pilot probably decided they shouldn’t pass directly over it.
“I’ll look for a nearby landing place,” he said. He started to speak to someone over the radio.
Karamori and Fujinaka returned to their seats.
“Thanks, Fujinaka. For guiding us here,” he said haltingly. “Wait in the helicopter after we land. I swear I’ll bring your dad back with me.”
“Huh? But if I don’t go, Archive will—”
“There’s almost certainly going to be a fight after I infiltrate their facility. I can’t bring you into the middle of that.”
He had spent the whole flight mulling whether he should take her, but he decided it would be too dangerous. He couldn’t risk it when he didn’t have definitive proof she was the key to this situation.
“Just lie low. Once it’s safe, I’ll send someone to get you,” Karamori said.
“…Okay.”
“You may have to rethink those plans.”
Someone suddenly spoke from the other end of the helicopter. Karamori recognized the voice, but it belonged to someone who shouldn’t have been there.
He turned around. Somehow, Archive was standing there…looking ready for battle.
She held her red string before her eyes, blocking most of her field of view with a net pattern. She could see Karamori and Fujinaka through the holes.
“Fujinaka!” Karamori shouted, flinging himself at Fujinaka and forcing them both to the floor. A net of text whooshed centimeters over his head, slicing up the walls of the helicopter as it passed. It tore through the cockpit—mercilessly slicing the pilot’s back—and shattered the window. Blood, glass, and explosive wind rushed from the cockpit to the rest of the aircraft.
“Aaah!” Fujinaka screamed as forceful wind assaulted them.
The helicopter swayed massively, giving Karamori the sensation of his stomach jumping into his throat. They were falling. A deafening alarm added to the sense of crisis.
The next attack was imminent. Karamori looked at Archive amid the raging wind. She lifted her string toward him and Fujinaka again.
“Ngh…!”
He dashed across the tilting floor and swung Tyrfing, striking Archive’s wrist with its scabbard just before she fired another black net of text. He pressed on toward her to neutralize her abilities. Archive struggled in close combat. He had the advantage at this dista—
Archive disappeared.
“Crap!”
He should have seen that coming. She had no reason to stick around when he had her cornered.
He quickly looked around the nosediving helicopter and saw no sign of her. She had run. She had clearly done enough damage already.
The helicopter spiraled as it fell. There was no saving it.
“Fujinaka! Grab onto something and get down!” Karamori yelled. He ran to the cockpit and looked at the pilot. “Are you okay?!”
“Y-yeah… I think so…”
The pilot had survived despite the deep slash wounds on his back. He was desperately wrangling the joystick to try to get control of the helicopter, fighting through his pain and the strong wind.
“The helicopter’s done for! You need to evacuate!” he yelled.
“What about you?” Karamori asked.
“I—I’ll be fine! I have…a spare…parachute! Save the girl!” The pilot looked at Fujinaka, who was crouched in a stupor.
Karamori scanned the view outside. They were now about two hundred meters above the ground, close enough to make out details of the trees and the mine.
A crash was inevitable. The falling helicopter would make using parachutes dangerous, as they could easily get hit by the aircraft’s falling body or sliced up by the rotor. There was no easy escape. Karamori might be okay, but Fujinaka had received no special training and had no chance of surviving without help.
Hesitation would mean death. Karamori made a decision.
“Make it out alive, okay? That’s an order!”
He rushed toward Fujinaka in the spinning helicopter, then grabbed her trembling cheeks and turned her face toward his.
“Fujinaka, listen to me! We’re going to jump!”
“Huh? What?!”
He dragged the bewildered Fujinaka to her feet and kicked down the helicopter’s door. Then, after waiting for the right timing, he threw themselves into the air while holding her tight.
“Aaaaahhh!” Fujinaka screamed.
The wind beat at them as they fell and quickly built a lead on the helicopter.
“Fujinaka! You’ll be fine if you just stay calm! Do as I told you before we got on the helicopter!” Karamori shouted.
He made sure they were far enough ahead of the aircraft and pulled the string on her back to release her parachute. A giant dome made of nylon fabric instantly unfurled above her.
The sudden shock of being caught by the wind punched Karamori in the gut. He immediately let go of her hands and resumed falling, ending up far below her in just seconds. She looked like she was floating from his perspective, but that was just an optical illusion resulting from her falling much more slowly than him.
Please remain calm. Please.
He looked up at Fujinaka as she fell slowly under the rectangular parachute. She looked dazed, but she didn’t seem to be panicking. She would land just fine as long as she kept her composure.
Another parachute unfolded at the edge of his vision. The pilot must have managed to escape despite his injuries.
I hope he can be treated after he lands…
Right now, he had no time to worry about anyone but himself.
Karamori engaged his parachute. He was only about fifty meters from the ground, too low for his parachute to lower his speed enough for him to survive. Fortunately, he had a plan.
Face scrunched from the shock of the sudden decrease in speed, he stared fixedly at his landing spot. It was a tall and skinny building that looked like a smokestack.
He used the strings of his parachute to steer himself to the top of the building and stuck out his legs. His feet slammed hard into the structure, but instead of landing, he used the wall to kill his momentum before throwing himself back into the air. The impact was almost enough to break his knees, but he managed to slow himself to a safe landing speed and touch down in a spot overgrown with weeds.
He immediately detached his parachute to remove the burden of its weight.
Luckily—or unluckily—he landed right in the middle of the abandoned mine. The forgotten facilities offered no greeting to their rare visitor. The ground had been hardened by the tread of workers and vehicles, but the weeds now covered any marks they had left.
That was a narrow escape from death. Karamori panted heavily, his heart thundering in his chest; that was enough to scare even him.
“You don’t hold back, do you?” Karamori said to a blond girl standing nearby in a tight black dress. It was Archive. She was twisting her string and watching him.
Her clothes were plain and casual. They were completely unsuited for combat; it looked like she could have been going out for drinks at a café. That was no surprise, as Karamori knew she spared no thought for clothing.
Archive’s hands paused.
“This was all predetermined,” she said.
The helicopter crashed with a loud boom not far from where they were standing. The metallic crunch of the aircraft pierced their eardrums and explosive flames hurled intense heat at their skin. The weeds swayed violently, and the buildings creaked.
An object flew past Karamori and stabbed into a wall next to him. It was Tyrfing, which happened to fly out of the helicopter and end up by his side. The chains had been torn off along with most of the decorations, but the sword itself was whole.
Neither Karamori nor Archive batted an eye. They didn’t even look at the sword. Such distortions of fate were nothing new to them.
“Canopy.”
Archive twisted her string into a new shape, summoning a circle of light around them that quickly became a towering wall of text.
“You cannot escape… Not until one of us dies.”
“…”
Karamori bit his lip. Archive was forcing him to fight her. This was the worst-case scenario. He had instantly found himself forced into a situation in which he had to kill her, and he still had no idea what her intentions were.
“I won’t kill you,” he said.
“That is your prerogative,” Archive replied detachedly. “It simply means that I will be the one to leave this space.”
A red book appeared in her hands—The Archive, her true form. It left her hands and floated above her shoulder.
Karamori balled his fists.
“You wanted me to bring Fujinaka here, right? What do you want us to do?! Tell me!” he shouted.
“…She is—”
Archive’s figure blurred right after she started to answer. When she stabilized, she was back in her original posture, showing no intention of speaking.
She was fated to say nothing. That was clear.
“…I see. Then I don’t need words.” Karamori pulled Tyrfing out of the wall. “I trust you.”
“…”