The difference in power among anti-tank missiles is quite noticeable, and the one chosen by Mohe is a modified missile known as Hellfire. Originally an air-to-ground missile, it has been slightly upgraded for use in land-to-land combat due to its exceptional power.
The explosion of that anti-tank missile had enough force to momentarily halt Vina’s charge. Seeing that, I arrived at a painfully obvious conclusion, akin to the laws of the universe.
After all, nothing hurts as much as hitting a sore spot again.
In an instant, a cluster of stars grew larger in my hand and shot toward the spot where the missile struck, resulting in a spectacular explosion. If Mohe had seen it, she would have been overjoyed…
Hoo… Huh… What was that beautiful explosion just now? Ah… Totally the best!
…Yep, she saw it. I’m glad she liked it so much.
It seemed we definitely inflicted valid damage this time, as Vina began to move differently from before. Her body, now on a rampage, swept across the battlefield at incredible speed.
The situation at the base, already chaotic, was beyond recovery. From the continuous sounds of shotgun blasts coming from the opposite side, it seemed Hoshino was also dealing some damage in her own way.
[RABBIT 1, reporting. RABBIT 4 is incapacitated and will take some time to recover.]
[Good job. After transporting Miyu here, join Vina.]
[Condition is good. Command confirmed, Teacher. I will move immediately.]
For now, I didn’t know about the rest, but the situation on the other side seemed to be wrapping up fairly well. The fact that they could send Miyako here right away meant that support could soon arrive from there as well.
[Ah, RABBIT 3. The flare’s duration is almost up. Since the operation is taking longer, we need to refresh it, so please check.]
[Just a sec~ I brought spare flares, so that’s a relief.]
Not long after, Mohe fired a new flare. Even during this, we continued our fierce battle with Vina.
Boom!
[Ugh…]
“Shiroko, are you okay?”
[Um… I got caught up in the missile explosion a bit. Just a light injury.]
That tough resilience of a Sunaokami. Getting caught up in Vina’s missile but only sustaining light injuries… I’d say someone in their third year would probably be right on the line of top combat strength.
While Vina continued to rampage at high speed, she suddenly burrowed into the ground. As the massive serpent that filled the battlefield disappeared, our vision opened up.
“…Huh, she didn’t escape, did she?”
Rumble…
Well, judging by this tremor, it didn’t seem like she had escaped. If she had, all the struggle we had gone through would have been in vain.
Vina reemerged from a distance away from us, popping up from the ground.
“Ahaha. I was thinking if you had fled, I might bring something like anti-ship missiles next time… But thankfully that’s not the case.”
[Hmm~? Mika, wasn’t the original plan already a success just by driving her off?]
“What are you talking about, Hoshino? Now that we’ve come this far, we have to finish it off for sure. Anything could happen while we sort out the next plan, you know?”
[Well, since Mika said that, even the old man can’t disagree… Ah, she’s coming again.]
Ayane’s warning following Hoshino’s words indicated that Vina was preparing to unleash another heat ray.
The following laser swept across the area. Unlike the previous shot aimed at a single point or the ones that made a straight line, this one drew a long horizontal line.
As the heat ray began sweeping from a place a bit distant from me, I dashed at full speed to escape its range. Honestly, I had no desire to take on an attack that looked incredibly painful, whether I could withstand it or not.
“Is everyone okay?”
[This much is nothing~]
[Yeah, no need to worry.]
Hoshino must have relied on her shield to endure, and Shiroko seemed to have easily evaded since she was on the opposite side of the attack’s starting point.
I was slightly concerned that the Teacher or the Yuseki team might have gotten caught up in the attack, but thankfully, it seemed that wasn’t the case…
During that time, Miyako, who had transported Miyu as instructed by the Teacher, joined us here. Simply put, having one more person means an increase in firepower, so that’s good.
“RABBIT 1, I will begin support as per the Teacher’s orders. FOX 5, giving orders—”
“Alright, alright, our bunny number 1. Here, it’s every rabbit for themselves. So just do your best, okay?”
“…Huh?”
In a situation where Vina charges in wildly, there’s little reason to give orders. Here, all decisions have to be made on one’s own.
The Teacher might be able to read the situation and give orders, but expecting that from me was unreasonable.
By the way…
“This sandstorm seems to have weakened a lot compared to before?”
“Ah… You’re right. The visibility has definitely improved. The flares have also been shot.”
Shiroko intercepted a missile Vina launched from a distance. In a close-quarters fight, accumulated damage through weakened armor would be prevalent, and with the distance attacks not being effective enough, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume Vina had little choice but to escape.
The problem is that allowing Vina to escape would be a loss…
Surprisingly, however, Vina chose not to escape and charged toward us like a runaway train.
Unlike a train running in a perfectly straight line, a runaway train can swerve on its own, and it was much larger, to boot.
Unfortunately, the direction she was charging in was toward me.
“Miyako, run in the opposite direction.”
“…Understood.”
Without question, Miyako followed my orders without hesitation, which was good, but that wasn’t the important part right now.
I could see Vina’s mouth wide open as she charged toward us. It wasn’t that her insides were incredibly weak like a real creature, but there was an exhaust port inside that allowed Vina to shoot lasers uncontrollably… some sort of emission mechanism? Regardless, such a thing existed.
If damaging that is possible, the entire combat situation might become easier than it is now.
I tightly gripped my gun in one hand and began shooting, pouring Shinpi without holding back, not thinking about the future. No matter what the guardian inside the ruins is, my fists should definitely work unlike Vina’s… hopefully.
Shinpi began to gather in my other hand as well. Given how swiftly Vina was approaching, some limitations were clearly present, but I figured I might still be able to manage a basketball-sized amount.
Bullets knocked against the inside of Vina’s mouth. It didn’t seem to inflict as much damage as I’d hoped.
Just as I created a mass slightly larger than a basketball and was preparing to dodge my body…
“Whoa——”
I witnessed energy gathering in Vina’s mouth. For a moment, I was thankful that Nagisa wasn’t around to scold me for this.
But wait, isn’t this cheating? How can she shoot lasers while charging like that?
…I felt like I had to dodge here. If my Shinpi and that energy were to collide, it would be no surprise if the resulting explosion pleased Mohe to the point of causing her to faint.
And if such an explosion occurred, I’d undoubtedly get swept away regardless of whether I tried to dodge or not.
Over the comms, I faintly heard Ayane say something. I wasn’t entirely sure, but it probably meant to avoid Vina’s attack as she warned.
However, during that brief moment, my mind concluded that I would press on. If I got swept away, it would probably have an immense impact on Vina approaching from this angle.
I conjectured it would be at least more powerful than Mohe’s anti-tank missile.
So, there was no way I’d let this opportunity go to waste.
Even though I thought this could be something only a madman would do, I was already half of a madman since I stood at the forefront of battle like this.
The mass left the tip of my fingers.
I shifted my body sideways, but at the moment the energy gathering in front of the approaching Vina burst forth and my mass reached its destination, an explosion engulfed the area. My consciousness faded into oblivion, having not managed to create enough distance in time.
…I hadn’t imagined that such firepower would arise at all. Should I be happy about this, or not?
My body, influenced by the explosion, flew through the air at high speed.
Boom! My body slammed somewhere. I felt like I was dozens of meters away from Vina.
[…Ka! Are you okay…?]
[Mika…?!]
[…Teacher!]
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP——
I heard a ringing in my ears. I initially thought it was a malfunction of my communication device, but it seemed to be a personal issue after all.
My limp hands rested on the tank’s tracks.
I saw Vina writhing on the ground, defeated. Given that the Halo hadn’t disappeared, it seemed I hadn’t successfully hunted her down, but it was safe to consider her in a groggy state.
Well, I’d say this was a worthwhile trade-off, right? My current state could easily be resolved with a good night’s sleep, but Vina would need to deal with the follow-up attack in that condition.
One thing was for sure, our group’s firepower was capable of executing a full-scale offensive even without me.
[Mika!!!!!]
…Ah. There’s something more certain now.
Vina was set to take a beating from Hina until she literally dies.
As for me, once everything was over, I’d be scolded until I dropped dead by Nagisa.
…I don’t know. My eyes are getting heavy. Should I just take a nap and think about it afterward?
