He narrowed his eyes before continuing: “It’s a state secret, and this is hardly the best place for it. Operating it at a single soldier’s discretion in a sovereign nation like Japan is beyond reckless.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than beams lanced from his eyes.
But...
With a bizarre ringing noise, they bent.
The beams, that is.
Even Dolph’s eyes went wide in surprise.
“This is our latest weapon! We brought it as a guarantee against Princess Pamil. Did you really think we wouldn’t have taken precautions against your powers?!” came a triumphant voice. It was probably the colonel speaking from within the Valkyrie. “It has a room-temperature superconducting system that creates a powerful electromagnetic barrier. Beams, fire, plasma, and of course, physical objects like normal ammunition cannot hit it!”
As he spoke, the Valkyrie changed direction, its nose pointing towards Dolph and the others. With a noise of sliding metal, it opened...
“And there’s this...!!” the colonel yelled.
Dolph leaped to the side, and Kyouhei grabbed Pamil and Sanae’s hands as he followed suit. A huge bullet had soundlessly impacted the asphalt where they had been standing moments ago.
“Wha?!”
“A railgun, huh?” muttered Pamil.
The lack of sound fit. A normal gun accelerated its round from the explosion of gunpowder, but a railgun used an electromagnetic field to do so, so there was no sound from the explosion. And in theory it was possible to raise its power without limit. A single switch could change its initial velocity, simultaneously changing the range and force the projectile had. Kyouhei hadn’t heard of any military being able to miniaturize it enough to fit on a tank, or putting one into actual use, though.
Boom!
The railgun continued firing, punching through the engines of the Mercedes and police car. They didn’t go up in flames like they would in movies, but both cars came to a halt with holes in their engines and chassis. Kyouhei could see the gangster and officer hurriedly getting out of their cars.
Then...
“I didn’t want to use this; it’s far too blatant,” the colonel’s tone was a touch more relaxed, likely because of the overwhelming weapon he now had. “There’s no avoiding it. Once I’ve killed all the witnesses, I’ll take you. We’ll just call it a gas explosion or something. It’ll take some money to cover up, but—”
“No you won’t,” Pamil said, stepping out.
“Pamil?! Hey—”
It was a reckless act. The weapon was immune to the Royal Beam and such; it had essentially been made to combat the absurd powers the royal family held. If they went head-on, it would certainly be Pamil who came off worse. Of course, Walser wanted the information about the Legacy that Pamil had, but there were many of the royal family here now, so he could well consider killing her an acceptable outcome.
“Stop!” Kyouhei yelled, running in front of her.
Then, there was a heavy thud.
It had come from the side of the Valkyrie.
“W-What?!”
The construction was listing heavily as well.
If the colonel was correct, the electromagnetic barrier would stop even a direct hit from a tank, but...
“W-What? What?! What on earth?!” Walser demanded in dismay.
Then, as if to cover the yell:
Thud!
This time it was completely visible—a black mass charging the Valkyrie head-on. It was stopped momentarily by the barrier, but soon broke through before rising once more.
It had no wings.
No propeller.
No jets.
Yet still, the black shape flew through the air.
“Whaaa?!” Kyouhei murmured dazedly.
Sanae’s eyes were wide too.
Everyone was looking at it.
“Rejoice,” Pamil said, sounding like a completely different person to the one Kyouhei knew, “this is what you wanted.”
Thud!
As she spoke, the thing slammed into the Valkyrie again. The supposedly invincible weapon’s armor warped and staggered.
“What the hell...?!” the colonel cried.
“You called it ‘the Legacy,’” Pamil proclaimed haughtily as the object came flying down from the sky to float next to her.
“I-It’s that?!” Kyouhei exclaimed astonished.
The thing floating in front of him... was the coffin that Pamil had been inside.