Whoooosh——
The fierce sandstorm rushed in, violently banging against the windows of what used to be the annex of Abydos High School but had now become the main building. The interior was already a mess, covered in sand, except for the main structure.
Boom-boom-boom——
With a deafening roar as if the earth itself was shaking, a rattling sound echoed from the window frames. A girl, tapping away on her laptop while monitoring the drone’s shared view, let out a deep sigh.
Even though the drone’s visuals were severely hindered by the sandstorm, it managed to distinguish a few key dolls thanks to the thermal imaging camera function.
“Hoshino-senpai… A monster from the desert has appeared. It’s this big…”
“C’mon, Ayane-chan. Don’t be too shaky. We have to figure something out, right?”
“Hmm. I’ll go in with the mindset to smash it!”
“No, no, Shiroko-chan. Isn’t that a bit too reckless?! Cough! Ugh! Even with a mask on, it’s still rough. We can’t take down a monster of that size alone.”
Beyond the dust storm, a gigantic shadow began to move. Spotting a concentrated heat energy point, Okusora Ayane shouted urgently.
“I confirmed the high heat energy reaction! Hoshino-senpai, it’s dangerous!”
“Wah?! Nonomi-chan, behind me!”
In an instant, a beam of heat lashed out, momentarily clearing the sandstorm. Beyond the cleared path emerged a steel serpent emitting heat rays from its head, towering like a high-rise building.
Hoshino, with her shield forward, stood firm in front of Nonomi. And then…
Zzzzziiiiiiing———
As the heat rays battered Hoshino’s shield, Nonomi crouched behind, feeling the intense warmth all over her body, doing her best to support Hoshino and not let her be pushed back.
While the surrounding sand began to melt due to the high heat, Shiroko-controlled drones shot at the serpent’s heat-emitting head, but even after being hit, the serpent didn’t budge and relentlessly continued shooting heat rays at Hoshino.
“…There’s absolutely no effect.”
“Ugh. But I can manage for now… More importantly, how long is this laser gonna shoot?! It’s unbearably hot!”
“Luckily, the energy reactions are calming down now. But how on earth do we drive away a monster like this…”
Just as Ayane subconsciously began to chew her nails, Hoshino’s voice reached her ears, soothing her from the toughest spot.
“Don’t worry, Ayane-chan. This old man will give it his all, so you don’t have to worry. Besides, there’s no way it can shoot lasers endlessly, right?”
As the heat ray ceased, Hoshino wiped the sweat from her brow and ordered Nonomi to move to the side. Then, she dashed forward at full speed.
Before her loomed the massive serpent… or rather, a dragon, revealing immensely intense presence, trying to hide beyond the resuming sandstorm.
“…I’m always grateful to Hoshino-senpai.”
“W-What?! Saying such embarrassing things so suddenly… Shiroko-chan, this atmosphere is really uncomfortable!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you go alone.”
Despite the seriousness of their resolve, Shiroko’s eyes widened as she vaguely noticed missiles being launched from the serpent’s back. Yet, while trying to shoot down some missiles using drones, Shiroko charged ahead without hesitation.
Nonomi, slightly shifted to the side, took her position and opened fire at the serpent’s head. Although she was within effective range, the strong sandstorm reduced her hit rate to less than half of usual.
The first one to climb onto the serpent’s body was Shiroko. Noticing this, the serpent twisted its body, trying to throw her off in a wild frenzy.
Even while desperately trying not to get thrown off and repeatedly hitting that body with shotgun blasts, Hoshino saw the serpent’s head digging into the ground.
“Shiroko-chan, get down!”
At Hoshino’s command, Shiroko hurriedly leaped off the serpent’s body. The rapidly moving serpent disappeared into the earth and resurfaced a short distance away.
“We’ve got another high heat energy reaction! Nonomi-senpai, watch out!”
This time, without Hoshino’s presence to protect her, the situation was exceedingly dangerous, but luckily Nonomi reacted quickly. Putting down her submachine gun, she dashed, leaping at the last moment to escape the heat ray’s range.
“I’m fine!”
Seeing this as an opportunity, Hoshino successfully climbed onto the serpent’s back. Having spotted the serpent’s attack aimed at Nonomi, Hoshino shoved her gun into the harness’s gap and reverted her shield, racing toward the head.
A cold light shimmered in her usually rounded and easygoing multi-colored eyes.
“Shiroko, distract it a little.”
“Okay. Got it, Hoshino-senpai.”
Not paying attention to Hoshino’s chill voice and changed title, Shiroko raised the drone to its highest altitude, grabbing the serpent’s attention. While Hoshino raced through, she faced a steep incline but didn’t stop her charge.
Despite reaching an incline where she could no longer run up, Hoshino took a few more steps before starting a grueling climb.
During this struggle, another heat ray shot through, negating Hoshino’s previous declaration, ‘There’s no way it can shoot lasers endlessly.’ Thankfully, Shiroko successfully evaded.
While Hoshino desperately climbed a scarcely supportive area, her nails cracked and blood flowed, she repeated her grueling ascent, revealing a path that was a calamity for the serpent but good news for the crisis committee.
Finally standing above the serpent’s head, Hoshino dangled from the edge with one hand. At that moment, the serpent’s eyes finally turned backwards, recognizing Hoshino’s presence.
“Get lost.”
Drawing her unarmed shotgun from the gap in the harness, Hoshino aimed it at the serpent’s eye.
In the blink of an eye, four bullets fired in rapid succession struck the serpent’s eye.
Kieeeek———
“H-Hoshino-senpai!”
As the gigantic serpent thrashed about, shaking the earth beneath them, Shiroko dashed away urgently from where she stood. Hoshino, barely hanging on, extended her legs toward the falling place, heart racing.
At last, Shiroko caught Hoshino just in time, taking a few more steps before stumbling and collapsing on the ground.
Behind the two, the massive serpent vanished as if it had never been there at all. Leaving behind a rhythmic quake, it drifted farther away from Abydos High School… and the nearby urban area.
“The desert monster… is retreating. How could three of us manage to repel it…”
Murmuring in disbelief at the bizarre situation and the evidence before her, Ayane found it hard to fathom. It was such an unreal sight.
“Ah, Ayaya… Just as expected from Shiroko-chan. This old man truly was counting solely on you, Shiroko-chan.”
“Yup… Cough.”
As the desert monster retreated, the sandstorm settled just a little. However, the storm would soon resume. The greatest threat to Abydos lately was nature itself.
Thinking of Serika, who got stranded due to a storm while working a part-time job, Ayane felt relieved that the situation hadn’t spiraled into chaos. If Serika faced that monster, it would indeed be a disaster.
But this couldn’t continue. They managed to succeed this once, but there was no guarantee they could do so twice or thrice.
Recalling the rumors recently circulating about the ‘Federal Investigation Club Shalle,’ Ayane slowly began drafting a letter.
“Shiroko-senpai, let’s hurry back and rest… Gyaah?! Senpai, we need to treat that hand first!”
“Uhee~ Isn’t losing a few nails a fair trade for chasing that monster away? You all did great.”
It was the first encounter between the Crisis Committee of Abydos and the third prophet of Decagramaton, Vina.
