The controls to move forward and backward and to turn left and right were just like those on a normal car, but to go up and down, a new set of buttons had to be installed next to the steering wheel. The coupe was equipped with a drive-by-wire system—that is, instead of a mechanical steering column, it was all electronic. This had made it a simple matter to reprogram the connections.
Hovering in one place was straightforward enough, but extreme care was required when steering because unlike a regular car, which turned along a curve, this vehicle could rotate in place, and when you slammed on the brakes, there was no road friction to help you.
“Whoa.”
Beside him, Midori wobbled atop her similarly modified motorcycle. Unlike the car, her bike had only two propellers, front and back, so it was much harder to keep stable, and Midori had to lean left and right in order to turn.
Kaname: Are you sure you don’t want to ride with me?
Midori: Don’t worry. Besides, it’s looking a little cramped in there already.
Kaname glanced toward the passenger’s seat. Indeed, Tselika, whose curves already took up a fair amount of space, had Cindy crushed into her lap, facing backward. The bespectacled dark elf noticed Kaname’s gaze.
“Go on, keep imagining,” she said. “I don’t mind.”
“Mmrgh?! Hey! You better not be trying to physically assert dominance or something!” yelled Tselika.
The pair took off from Mangrove Island and flew beneath the large circular bridge. Weaving between support pillars as they made their way to the mainland was as much of a test flight as they were going to get. It might’ve been quicker to fly in a straight line across the ocean, but it seemed like a bad idea to be without cover while they still didn’t know the full range of Takamasa’s laser weapon.
This custom conversion kit was originally intended to bring older automobiles up to speed once flying cars hit the skies. It was a bit like the tuning kits aimed at old CRT TVs that had appeared on the market back when digital broadcasts first became a thing. Still, a conversion project of this magnitude was far beyond what even the car-obsessed Tselika could do alone. That was why Cindy had assisted her. The dark elf had been known to hole herself up in a garage restoring vehicles for days at a time.
For whatever reason, it didn’t really feel like flying. It wasn’t like sitting behind the joystick of a helicopter or the controls of a plane. If anything, it felt like driving atop a cushion of air. Perhaps that was only because Kaname had a steering wheel in his hands.
Midori: I thought this was going to be like a gimmick or a toy, but we’re actually going quite fast. Look, the speedometer just hit 200 kph.
Kaname: That’s because we’re not losing speed to road friction or turns. Make sure you don’t crash into the pillars, Midori.
Midori: I won’t. But I still need to test the controls. If I can’t handle this, I’m never going to make it flying between the buildings.
Kaname: Midori, crosswind!
Kaname hastily typed out a warning as the girl with the twin tails was nearly carried away by the wind, almost like she’d jinxed herself.
Things got a lot more difficult once they reached the mainland. Kaname’s coupe and Midori’s bike left the cover of the bridge, coming out high over the harbor district before plunging into a valley of shimmering office blocks. Orange light seemed to burn all around them, from the mirrored windows to the individual raindrops falling like citrine gems.
Kaname: A little over 10 km until we reach the jungle. At the speed we’re going, we’ll be there before you know it.
Midori: Whee!
Tselika: There sure are a lot of cameras around now that we’ve hit the mainland.
Midori: Wait, what do you mean? Are people watching us?
Cindy: Ah-ha-ha, you bet! Your cute little butt is trending
Midori: WHAT?! What’s that supposed to mean?!
The pair of vehicles zoomed between skyscrapers, passing over the rooftops of smaller buildings with complete disregard for the traffic below. However, they weren’t quite out of the woods yet. With the kind of power that #flash.err possessed, it wouldn’t be surprising if it could fire straight through these buildings, vaporizing Kaname and Midori in an instant. The fact they were trending online meant that pretty much the whole world knew they were there. And that included Takamasa.
Kaname needed to do something to compensate. He turned to Cindy.
“You have the thing ready?”
“Tee-hee-hee. At last, something for me to do!”
The dark elf gave an unsettling chuckle and reached behind the headrest, sandwiching Tselika between the seat and her supple skin. The demon pit babe kicked and screamed as Cindy’s breasts pressed into her face, making for an unusual sight. A big smile on her face, Cindy pulled out a large tablet PC and gave the screen a few taps.
Just then a roar could be heard, and a beam of light passed dangerously close to where they were flying. Midori instinctively tried to fly downward, but Kaname messaged her not to bother. She would only slice herself in half on the lower buildings’ lightning rods.
Midori, it seemed, wasn’t surprised by the beam itself.
Midori: Why did that miss us?! I thought once it got a lock on us, we were finished!!
Cindy waved the tablet and blew a kiss at Kaname. It looked like the plan had worked.
Then they heard a loud buzzing noise like an electric shaver, and it wasn’t coming from the propellers keeping Kaname and Midori afloat. A massive swarm of some kind had overtaken the pair and continued on ahead.
Kaname: Those are 1,500 radio-controlled drones. We’re going to have them split up and advance on the jungle from all directions. Still using cover, as though they’re trying to protect themselves. Takamasa’s Legacy is the ultimate anti-air weapon, but even he can’t possibly shoot down all of them.
Midori: ,1500…
Kaname: Your comma’s wrong, Midori. Anyway, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Money’s not everything, but it certainly opens up your options.
Drones were a lot cheaper compared to back in the day, when they would run you a million yen apiece. But these weren’t something you’d find on the shelves at your local toy store, either; they were military-spec, and big enough to be mistaken for a car or bike at long range. Their resilience wasn’t so important, since one shot from the Legacy would take them down anyway, but they still cost as much as a motor scooter. Multiply that by one and a half thousand, and it quickly became the sort of money you could stake your life on. However.
“Aren’t you going to tell her you bought them all for cheap at one of Pavilion’s auctions?” asked Tselika.
“Oh?” remarked Cindy. “How did you manage that?”
“How else? Price-fixing, just like the big construction companies do,” explained Tselika. “Convince all the other bidders to stay quiet, and you can pick up the lot at the starting price. That poor woman. She knew something was going on, but she couldn’t prove it. I still remember her tears as she accepted the final bid. Not that I feel sorry for her or anything.”
If Kaname had gone to a pawnshop like one of Frey(a)’s, the price would have been set and probably inflated several times over. And that would go double if they found out how desperately Kaname needed them. Money gave you more options, but that didn’t mean you had to pay market price for them.
“My Lord, we’re nearing the outskirts of the city.”
Buildings farther from the city center were lower, which meant less camouflage to fool Takamasa’s eyes. And of course, with a laser weapon like #flash.err, once you saw the beam, it was too late to dodge.
But there was no use crying over spilled milk. If there were no more natural shields to exploit, Kaname would just have to make some.
Kaname: Midori, I’m sending you some map data. Follow my course!
“Cindy, I’m counting on you. Get the drones in formation!!”
The buzzing, like a giant electric razor, grew until it was nearly deafening. The drones swarmed together like hornets, creating what felt like a sandstorm so thick Kaname could no longer see what lay ahead. Great beams of light pierced the swarm one after another, trying to beat it back. They were less like projectiles and more like horizontal bolts of lightning. In the blink of an eye, they scorched the surrounding air.
Meanwhile, Kaname was able to avoid a direct hit, thanks both to Cindy’s deft control of the swarm of decoy drones and the course he’d plotted with the help of his Lion’s Nose.
Warding off the barrage of light with a cloak of mechanical bees, he plunged into enemy territory.
Now to see how far this tactic gets me against a real Legacy…
Midori: I see it!! The jungle’s up ahead!!
At this point, the buildings around them were only a few stories high and of little use as shields. The rooftops were littered with lightning rods, TV antennae, and water tanks, so Kaname and Midori leveled off a few meters above them. By the time they reached the last of the buildings, the lush trees of the rain forest had already begun to rise up around them. They were in the jungle now—half zoo, half wild parkland. And in the tower at its center, Takamasa was waiting.
“I’m sorry, Kaname,” said Cindy. “The crosswind’s too strong!”
Kaname: Midori, we’re nearly out of drone cover. Descend below the canopy!
“Tselika, hand me the Legacy and take the wheel!!”
They were moving fast, but they weren’t going to make it to the trees in time. Kaname rolled down the side window and leaned out, the collapsible anti-materiel rifle, #fireline.err, resting on his shoulder. This Legacy boasted infinite range, and when paired with Kaname’s expert marksmanship, anything in the line of sight became a fair target.
In other words.
Anything #flash.err could hit, it could hit, too…!!