“What do we need to do?”
She was good in a shootout but otherwise not terribly smart. How was it, then, that she had managed to survive for so long? It was strange. Too strange, as if every moment in her life came with a dialogue box of three choices and the correct one was a different color so she couldn’t miss it. Her decisions were so perfect, even her own thoughts and principles seemed to waver to accommodate them.
…Bloody Dancer may have been a monster in battle, but she’s a monster of a whole other kind.
“Where’s your vehicle? We’ll try to get you there,” said Kaname. “Criminal AO is only powerful inside the game. You should log out and wait until the heat dies down a bit. He can’t get to you in the real world.”
“And how will I know when the heat has died down?”
“How about you leave me your contact details? Obviously, something you can access from the real world.”
Pavilion pouted and pointed at Midori. It seemed she was loath to give up her personal information, but if it had to be done, then the innocent schoolgirl was a better bet than some sketchy boy she barely knew.
…Kaname had assumed the Lamia Magistellus was keeping Pavilion defanged because she was one of the Zodiac Children, but that didn’t actually seem to be the case. Instead, it appeared she had an ingrained sense of hierarchy that was hard to shake. Humans below Magistelli, men below women. Very straightforward.
Midori and Pavilion tapped their phones together and exchanged details; then the girl with the twin tails cocked her head and asked, “So where is your vehicle? Is it a car or a bike?”
“It’s a lavender convertible, in the underground parking garage of a tourist hotel nearby. It’s less than fifty meters away.”
“Okay, then go straight there. I’ll try to hold off big bro…I mean, my brother, until you can reach it and log out. It’s a good thing it’s underground; the structure is probably sturdy enough to hold, right? …Right?”
Kaname did not agree. He was staring up at the ceiling, as though transfixed by something only he could detect.
Then he muttered, “We’re too late. They’re here!”
✦ ✦ ✦
A few seconds later, they heard a deep bass sound. Ba-zoom!!
And the whole room was plunged into darkness.
✦ ✦ ✦
This wasn’t just a case of faulty lighting. The air conditioning had gone out, too, and Kaname was already starting to feel the warm night air seep in from outside. It was so dark, he couldn’t even see the tip of his nose, and he quickly took out his short-range sniper rifle, Short Spear.
“It’s Criminal AO. He’s had the same idea as me—he’s aiming for the shared facilities!”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s decided to take out the power room.”
Before Midori could get her bearings, they heard the sound of light gunfire on the other side of the wall.
“It…it’s started!” cried Pavilion, trembling. “G-get out there and hold them off!! Don’t let them get to me or my mistress!!”
“There’s too much noise for him to be acting alone. You were in charge of organizing the auction, correct? Could you tell me what the centerpiece was tonight?”
“…”
“Something so expensive you can’t answer, huh? And it’s not just the merchandise, either. People have come from all over to bid on it. Cash, checkbooks, black cards, you name it. More than enough to persuade a few unscrupulous Dealers to take a chance while the security cameras are down.”
It was unlikely Criminal AO had built up a circle of allies when he steadfastly refused to work with the Magistelli and didn’t trust humans much more. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t familiar with human nature. He knew what they were capable of given the right conditions. And once a riot was in the cards, making your way into a high-security area was a lot easier.
This wasn’t the Takamasa Kaname knew—the old friend who had taught him to do his good deeds when no one was looking. Yet at the same time, it was something he would definitely be capable of if he stuck to his strengths at the expense of his humanity. Kaname was sure of it.
Takamasa!!
In the pitch-black room, Kaname clenched his teeth, but when he spoke, his voice was clear and unwavering.
“We stick to the plan. Criminal AO is here for you, Pavilion. Once you’re off the ship, he has no reason to stay. That’s our best shot of avoiding any unnecessary loss of life.”
Even with the blackout, Kaname wasn’t so foolish as to use his smartphone as a light source. Guided only by the emergency lighting, he sidled over to the door and pushed it open.
It was dark out in the hall, but the gunfire sounded louder now, the threat of death ever closer.
“Wh-what is it?” asked Midori as she rushed to cling to his back. “Wah?!”
“…”
It sounded like she had bumped into somebody who got there first—the Lamia Magistellus. Even with no way to see, Pavilion tried to give Kaname a swift kick in the shin, but the Lion’s Nose warned him, and he effortlessly moved his leg out of the way.
“The public areas are full of gunfire,” he said. “It’s every man for himself out there, and we don’t know who’ll try and shoot us in the back… We need to take a route without many people.”
They groped their way through the darkened corridors of the communal area. After a while, Kaname raised his gun and opened the door to a large cloakroom. It was packed wall-to-wall with steel racks containing all the guests’ bulkier luggage, each item numbered so it could be identified later. Kaname and company passed through the messy room, less than pleased with the service. A few lockers might go a long way toward tidying the place up.
Kaname heard the sound of something sliding along the floor, but it wasn’t the Lamia Magistellus’s snakelike body. It was apparently Pavilion, dragging her shoes on the carpet as she walked.
“Watch out, My Lady,” she said. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself on any broken glass…”
“Do you have to do that a lot?” asked Midori. “Having a snake body sounds like a lot of work.”
“Watch your tongue, pip-squeak. I could ask for no greater pleasure than to clean the ground My Lady slithers on! Tee-hee-hee!”
The next room was the kitchen. In order to cater to every floor of the airship, it was connected to the levels above and below via a system of service elevators and ramps.
As soon as he opened the door, Kaname was fired upon. The bullets glanced nearby, and Kaname pulled back, firing a warning shot into the air. However, this was the one time his integrated silencer let him down. He couldn’t threaten his foe with a gunshot they couldn’t hear.
“Tch.”
The enemy kept firing, the muzzle flashes burning an image of the surrounding room into Kaname’s brain. He aimed at a gas stove and pulled the trigger, causing an explosion.
Once the main threat had been disposed of, he gave a shout.
“I answer to Pavilion! If you continue to resist, I’ll gun down any threats to her life!!”
These guys weren’t trained for battle. They were cooks and waiters who only knew how to spray and pray. They soon came out with their hands up.
“We don’t know if the sprinklers are working in this blackout!” cried Midori. “Turn off the gas and grab a fire extinguisher!”
But Kaname shot down Midori’s sensible suggestion. “No,” he said. There was a buzzing pain at the tip of his nose.
“I think first everyone ought to hit the deck.”