Neru, who was waiting at the Millennium airport, took in the shining girl, Mika, as always.
For some bizarre reason, Mika had asked her to follow her, which was odd, but if that was a call for help, then it was a different story.
She boasted a ridiculously simplistic way of handling things, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t figure out the situation to some extent.
Rion had summoned Mika to the Millennium.
Mika judged that the task Rion was handling would be too much for her alone.
So she must have asked for some seriously strong reinforcements—specifically, her to follow her and jump in if things got weird.
“Haha, you sure are relaxed.”
Neru blurted out as she watched Mika buy drinks at a convenience store. Some people were so preoccupied with their surroundings that they couldn’t afford to be that relaxed.
After leaving the convenience store, Mika soon found herself face to face with an unknown girl. Neru didn’t miss capturing that moment.
“…A maid outfit?”
Neru felt a strange sense of discomfort from the girl’s outfit, but she couldn’t figure out who she was. She simply followed them as they drove away in the car after Mika received her drink.
After confirming the shape and number of the vehicle the two were getting into, Neru mounted her prepped bike.
To top it off, she donned a rather puzzlingly designed helmet, giving her the appearance of a delinquent caught between a gang and a helmet club.
Neru started the engine, maintaining a distance that would make it difficult for them to notice her.
It wasn’t easy to track their position with binoculars constantly, but who was she? There’s nothing impossible for Kivotos’ strongest, Mikamo Neru.
…Except beating Mika in a straight-up fight.
‘…Ugh, now that I think about it, it’s so unfair. This time, I should challenge her again under the pretense of helping her.’
With thoughts that would make Mika panic if she heard them, Neru continued her tailing.
But just how far were they heading? After hours of following, Neru eventually had to keep her distance.
Now, with only one car left—the one carrying Mika and the unnamed girl—on a road leading who-knows-where, she had no choice but to increase the distance to avoid being detected.
As the distance grew, the difficulty of the tailing increased as well. She nearly lost them multiple times and actually lost them once, but even so, Mikamo Neru stubbornly stuck to her target.
Then she finally arrived at a place surrounded by massive walls.
“…What the heck is this?”
The appearance of the place was completely unidentifiable, but what mattered to her was that the car carrying Mika had already vanished beyond the walls. The doors they could follow through were closing in real-time.
“Ugh, seriously!”
Frustrated, Neru eventually brought her bike to a stop and approached the wall. There seemed to be no passage wide enough for her to squeeze through. No matter how strong she was, she couldn’t just push through a wall tough enough that even Mika couldn’t break.
Thus, Neru had to resort to the only means allowed to her.
“This is gonna require more than one go…!”
Neru began to climb the wall with nothing but her raw grit and determination. Thankfully, she had the necessary tools to scale the wall on hand.
…Though there were no safety measures, Neru wasn’t the kind to be daunted by such trivial problems. She could climb anything, even a building hundreds of meters tall.
In reality, Neru was already aware that the meaning of her tailing had half been lost. There was no way Rion would overlook the security of such a massive facility, so her intrusion may have already been reported to him.
‘So what?’
But that didn’t concern Neru in the slightest. She had already been asked for help by Mika.
And no matter what the task ahead entailed, even if it meant throwing herself into the depths of a fiery pit, she could do it for her dear friend.
Loyalty.
For Neru, keeping her loyalty was non-negotiable—it was simply one of the ways she lived her life.
“…That crazy girl.”
Finally scaling the wall, what lay before Neru’s eyes was a massive city that made her want to blurt out a curse.
How could they construct a place like this without anyone knowing and maintain such stringent security? The question was unavoidable, and Neru couldn’t help but flash a fierce grin.
The shapes of cans seen all around the city. The traces of Mika and her guide, which were now lost to her.
Lastly, she could see the giant tower in the city center where Rion was surely located.
Things that couldn’t be seen, and things that could. As Neru committed everything to memory, she began descending the wall in a manner that would make anyone else gasp in horror.
Zipping down the wall, just as she picked up speed, Neru kicked off the wall and launched herself into the air.
She curled up her body to brace for impact and rolled about ten meters before finally standing up.
“Wow, that was exhilarating.”
Dusting herself off, Neru checked her condition. About 90%… maybe slightly less.
Thinking it was a minor issue, she casually tossed aside the gear she used to scale the wall and picked up her gun.
Drones and Rion’s AMAS were closing in from all directions to confront the intruder.
“Alright, bring it on. Go ahead and try to stop me if you can!”
Neru’s dash began.
AMAS and drones, without exception, were brutally destroyed by Neru, as her rampage seemed destined to continue straight toward the central tower.
That is, until a girl she had encountered earlier—the guide who led Mika here—revealed herself in the middle of the path.
“…What are you?”
“Greetings, Senior.”
“Excuse me??? What are you talking about? I’ve never had a junior like you!”
“I am the direct bodyguard of Rion, operating under C&C, code name Zerona. Asuma Toki here to introduce myself.”
“…???”
“Before I incapacitate you, I would like to know if you have any intention of surrendering—”
The bewildering self-introduction and words caught Neru off guard, leaving her momentarily speechless. But soon, she scoffed in disbelief.
“Hah, how ridiculous. I don’t know where you crawled out from to be claiming to be with C&C… but honestly, that’s not the crucial issue. If that shady Rion fellow had someone like you around, it wouldn’t be surprising at all. Actually…”
Neru aimed two submachine guns at Toki.
“I’m getting pretty excited thinking about teaching a cocky junior who believes she can take me on! Bring it on, bring it on, bring it on!!!”
Without mercy, Neru began to shoot. Blasts of bullets imbued with her mystique rained down on Toki.
And then,
“…Not here?”
In an instant, Toki vanished from her previous position and struck her foot with a fierce kick from behind.
Just narrowly managing to intercept the attack by blocking with her gun, Neru shot back immediately, but…
“What the hell…!”
Toki had already disappeared again. Displaying a speed that bordered on supernatural, Toki continuously harassed Neru, slipping into her blind spots.
“Ugh…”
An open space. And there, with overwhelming speed, Toki thrived.
Of course, Neru wasn’t simply going to sit back and take it. She gradually adapted to Toki’s speed and movements, retaliating with a chain with an eerie level of precision.
But Toki was skilled enough to minimize the damage from those chains, so Neru couldn’t help but remain on the back foot.
However, she was tenacious. Just recently, she had barely lost to Mika, and there was no way she would submit to another humiliating defeat?
“Both of you are really getting on my nerves?!”
Neru’s eyes filled with venom. Instead of trying to follow Toki’s fast movements, she closed her eyes.
And then.
Whoosh.
“Ugh…”
Finally, she managed to land a solid hit on Toki.
At the right moment, Neru grabbed Toki’s legs, tossing her aside.
Following that, Neru attempted to get into a mount position, but Toki swiftly rose up, creating some distance.
As Toki stepped back, Neru gasped for breath.
“Haah. Haah. Whatever trick you’re using to move like that… I’ll give you credit. You’re the fastest I’ve fought so far. But that’s where it ends.”
“…”
“If Mika had hit me like that, I would’ve been flat on my back, but you’re not at her level… somehow—”
“I am fully aware of the strength of that Mika.”
“…What?”
Toki, with a blank expression, opened her mouth.
“About three months ago, Rion assigned me a task. Misono Mika, thoroughly analyze her, and somehow bring her down.”
“Huh? You think a nobody like you can take down someone I haven’t? Dream big, huh?”
“I will provide the foundation necessary to defeat her. Therefore, you shall become the bullet that pierces Mika. That’s what Rion said, and to avoid disappointing Rion, I have poured everything I have into achieving the task given to me.”
[Toki. As of now… I permit you to use Aabi Eshuh.]
“…Yes, ma’am. Activating Powered Suit System Aabi Eshuh now.”
“What…? Aabi… what the heck is that?”
Bam!!!
With a speed one level faster than before, Toki struck Neru fiercely with a kick.
And then,
“Signal confirmed.”
Whoosh—
A meteor split the sky.
Boom!!!
Something descended behind Toki, landing not with a drop, but more like a crash. Toki, having thrown off her cumbersome clothes and gear, immediately boarded the machine.
“Powered Suit System Aabi Eshuh, operational.”
[Watch as the strategy you set crumbles effortlessly before you, Mika. This is destined to… make you kneel, the ever-mysterious Misono Mika. All of my resolve contained herein…]
As night began to fall on the fortress city, Neru, who was about to dismiss the hulking machine with a scoff, inwardly cursed as her vision filled with the massive metal form.
