“Hrk?!”
Takamasa had not been prepared for such a decisive attack. He was surprised, but he still managed to move swiftly out of the line of fire. However, Kaname’s assault didn’t end there. This was the former Reaper of Called Game; he pulled the trigger a second time, and a third.
The bullets made a strange Ba-zamm!! Sound. Takamasa’s eyes flitted away from his opponent for a second. He seemed to be checking something on the smartphone attached to his battle rifle. He was probably playing back the footage it had been recording.
“A high-voltage current…?”
Then he realized.
Kaname had found it—a way for even a softy like him to win.
“Electric rounds… A stun gun!!”
“There’s a particular Dealer who specializes in these things. I broke my back setting things up with her, but thanks to that I have exactly what I need. A way to take you down without killing you.”
Smash Daughter was an expert in nonlethal combat.
This was the reason Kaname had gone through all that trouble attacking Mother Loose.
“If I don’t have to kill you, then there’s nothing to fear.”
“…”
“I did the same as you, Takamasa. I used technology to make up for what I lacked. So I won’t hold back like last time. Tonight, you’ll be dancing with the Reaper himself.”
“I see… I’m so glad you decided to take me seriously, Kaname. That puts us on equal footing.”
“Yeah. So let’s decide everything here. Whoever wins gets to save the world the way they want. No complaints.”
A .45-caliber short-range sniper rifle and a battle rifle with an underbarrel machine pistol. Both of them had eccentric weapons well suited to a variety of ranges.
Right now, there were about ten meters between them. They each pulled the trigger and unleashed a hail of bullets. However, Takamasa was by no means an ordinary Dealer. He rushed head-on toward Kaname so fast it looked as if his entire body had suddenly swelled in size. He dodged three .45-caliber bullets, grabbed the bottom of Kaname’s car door, and flipped it over like a dining table.
It was an insane feat of strength. The car must have weighed hundreds of kilograms, and yet it soared into the air, spinning over Kaname’s head. Now deprived of his cover, Kaname stared down the barrel of his friend’s battle rifle. In the blink of an eye, the battle had become a close-quarters death match.
“Grh!!”
Before Takamasa could put his hand back on the machine pistol that acted as his weapon’s foregrip, Kaname used Short Spear to knock his friend’s gun barrel aside, causing the powerful rifle round to miss its mark and embed itself in the wall. Kaname couldn’t fire back because he was using his weapon to deflect Takamasa’s, but that didn’t matter. In his opposite hand, Kaname held something else.
It looked suspiciously like an aerosol can.
“Pepper spray…?!”
“I never said I only had one nonlethal weapon.”
Kaname pointed the can at his friend’s face and pressed down. Takamasa leaped back just before the Pshhh!! of the spray. Somewhat disappointed, Kaname tossed the used pepper spray aside before taking out something resembling an IV bag and hurling it to the floor at his opponent’s feet.
Takamasa was careful not to step in the mysterious clear fluid that had exploded from the bag. He’d made the correct choice—the fluid was an almost-frictionless nanogel used to create deadly patches of road where even the most reliable driver would lose control of their vehicle. If Takamasa was to lose his footing for even a moment, it would all be over. There was no telling how many shots Kaname could get off in that amount of time.
However, the fact remained that with the gel on the floor, Takamasa found his movements severely restricted. Kaname pointed Short Spear at him once more. With all directions closed off, there was only one way Takamasa could escape: up.
However.
With a Clang!! Kaname kicked the can by his feet, sending it high into the air.
“Ah,” said Takamasa as he finally realized. Pepper spray worked the same way as any other aerosol can. If you were the mischievous type, you might know how to create a simple flamethrower by combining it with a lighter.
Tricks like those worked because the can was filled with an explosive gas—one that could very well trigger if hit by, say, an electric round that conducted through the metal.
The tinny sound of the can bursting open rattled his eardrums. But the flammable gas wasn’t the only thing in there. A fine red mist covered the area. If that mist came into contact with his eyes or eyelids, they might swell up for three whole days.
“Feel free to jump up, Takamasa. If you don’t mind cutting through my rose umbrella, that is.”
“Grh!!”
“When it comes to things like this, I find studying under a specialized mentor to be the shortest road to improvement. Now where do you have left to go? How far can you safely move in any direction? I think you’ll find there’s less space than you think.”
Takamasa was no idiot. He knew losing his sight here would be as good as death. And so he willingly relinquished his freedom instead.
“I just want…to save humanity.”
“I know.”
“Then I can finally pick up the pieces of my own life! I want to prove that my Fall at the hands of the AI wasn’t some tragedy!! That it had meaning!!”
“Still, I can’t let you hurt the Magistelli. Tselika, Meiki, Cindy… They’re not all the evil beings you think they are.”
There was nowhere left for Takamasa to run. All he could do now was fight. #vipersnest.err allowed him to lift a car with one hand. If he wanted to, Criminal AO had enough strength to tear Kaname in half. There was no way he would lose in a melee battle. It was Criminal AO, not Kaname, who had really been running from this fight.
“Kaname…”
“Takamasaaa!!”
Amid the debris of the ruined church, the two boys charged at each other.
Takamasa had always been geared for close-quarters combat. The rifle he carried was no Legacy… It may have been a powerful and accurate weapon, but that wouldn’t be enough to take down the Reaper. His only choice was to rely on the might of his exosuit, and thus his main concern was how to bring it into the fight.
So then.
Why would Kaname want to move into close range?
“Wha—?!”
As he rushed in a straight line toward his foe, lifting his battle rifle to swing its heavy stock into Kaname’s dominant hand, Takamasa suddenly looked surprised. Kaname wasn’t responding in the slightest. In fact, he seemed to be offering himself up. The weapon connected, he heard the sickening crack of Kaname’s collarbone, and his best friend’s arm fell limp.
Kaname pressed his ear to his shoulder, trapping the weapon as though he were talking on a phone. As his own gun fell from his grasp, he caught it in his other hand.
“Did you know, Takamasa? Apparently, you’re not supposed to use electric rounds and stun guns on rainy days.”
“…Hrh?!”
“That’s because if you’re wet, the electricity can backfire on you… The human body is a conductor, after all.”
With a smile, Kaname put his finger on the trigger. By the time Takamasa realized what he was up to, it was already too late.
Kaname pressed the trigger, firing an electric round into his own chin. The current leaped from his body, traveled across the rifle, and engulfed Takamasa as well.