Mikamo Neru slowly processed the words she had just heard from the communication device in her head while simultaneously continuing to pull the trigger.
It was a military factory located in the ruins of one of the false sanctuaries. Neru, who had already destroyed one sanctuary, and C&C had arrived at a place with no time to rest.
“Ugh, what the hell.”
[I just wish you would refrain from such inappropriate language. It’s concerning that Toki might get the wrong idea.]
As a calm voice flowed from the other end of the communication, Neru’s expression turned fierce.
“Hah! You call it a problem to say it like it is? What should I say, huh? And you, you really think that’s something you can say to me? I heard that Toki hasn’t made a single proper friend till now!”
[…]
Neru grumbled, realizing that the kid really wasn’t lacking in common sense in various ways, and threw herself into enemy territory.
An overwhelming number of automatons armed with rifles aimed at her, but diving into the mass, she began to wreak havoc.
When she swung her metal chains, the dull sound echoed as the bodies of the automatons dented or their weapons went flying.
A head kicked at 180 degrees turned around, or an automaton that was kicked fell and tangled up with others—it was all just basic stuff.
When she unleashed her pure martial prowess, it was clear that she was the strongest in the Millennium, scattering the automatons filling the factory like leaves in the wind.
The other C&C members weren’t just watching idly either. Especially, one stood out…
“Yahoo~! Over here, over here!”
Jumping around using the heads of the automatons as springboards, Asuna was busy shooting down the drones that were swirling in the air.
“That’s slander, Neru-senpai.”
“Huh? What do you mean slander? Don’t butt in, the gaslighted junior!”
And there was Toki, mounted on the upgraded Aabi Eshuh, taking down as many automatons as Neru without losing ground.
“Senpai, may I ask what gaslighting means?”
[It’s not a technical term. It originated from an old movie, and to put it simply… oh, right. If I were to hypothetically assume that I was gaslighting you, Toki—]
“Hey, it’s not hypothetical, it’s actually happening!”
[… if I were to assume.]
“KYAAAH!!! Are you ignoring me?!”
[The method might be a separate story, but I would psychologically corner you, Toki. And I would lead you to doubt your own judgment. In that process, you would come to believe that you must only follow my words, not anyone else’s, or even your own thoughts. In short, it’s quite close to brainwashing. That’s what Neru means by gaslighting.]
As Rion’s explanation came through the communication, it was a strangely out-of-place noise amidst the intense battle. For the C&C who knew how Toki had lived until now, it was a topic of interest.
“Hah. This guy really… you just admitted your fault!”
A Goliath, standing out among the automatons, was talked about as Neru passed by, chains wrapped around its neck.
As the Goliath fell, crushing several automatons in the process, Neru, throwing the cleanup back to the other C&C members, began to recklessly thrash about, meeting the infinite legions called forth by Hesed, the guardian of the sanctuary.
“…if that’s the case, I wouldn’t consider it gaslighting.”
“No, the clueless junior should just leave it to the senpai and go handle those cans!”
“I’ve taken down more than you, Neru-senpai!”
“Huh?! You think that’s funny?!”
“It’s true. In situations like this… Ah, they say you can just say, ‘Senpai’s really useless’.”
“…”
With a crunch, Neru ground her teeth. But just as the hotheaded Neru was about to explode, Rion slowly attempted to defend herself.
[I acknowledge I did something to Toki that I shouldn’t have. I’m deeply reflecting on it.]
“Oh, so that’s how it is. Will that bring back the time she lost?”
“Strictly speaking, I’m in a position where I repeated a year, so it can’t be considered lost time—”
“…ugh, you’re so frustrating! It’s the same thing! And what’s the deal, you? The victim is you, right? So why are you trying to defend her all the time?”
“Um, everyone… shouldn’t we focus a bit more on the battle…?”
Neru, frowning, kicked the automaton next to her, waiting for a response. Someone quietly tried to interject into the conversation, but neither of the three paid it any mind.
“I am, so I am. Of course, at this point, I know that you overworked me to the point of violating labor laws.”
[…]
“I don’t think the time I spent as your secretary and maid was meaningless at all. Such experiences have laid the groundwork for me to become the best secretary, the most perfect maid.”
[Toki…]
“So, I neither resent nor hate you. However, I have somewhat mixed feelings about having failed to fulfill the last mission you assigned to me…”
Hearing Toki’s words, Neru clicked her tongue and turned her gaze away. An unwitting automaton was left to bear the brunt of her frustration and met a tragic end.
While she still looked negatively at the relationship between Toki and Rion, after hearing those words, she had no particular desire to stubbornly insist that Toki was wrong. At the very least, it seemed that Toki still followed Rion.
[Toki… you definitely succeeded in completing that mission. You subdued the so-called great Misono Mika and Double-O, that’s an undeniable fact. There’s no reason to view that as a failure, and you remain the best agent whose success rate converges at 100%.]
“…is that so?”
[Yes. Higher success rate than the self-proclaimed strongest, Neru.]
“AAAH?! Rion, are you vying for a fight?!”
Neru’s eyes sparkled with anger as Rion’s careless comment hit the mark. A punch filled with emotion smashed into the automaton’s face.
A mission failure referred to the incident that occurred when she had recklessly challenged Mika, who was ‘kidnapped’ in the middle of the Millennium Autonomous District. It was only natural for her to flare up, given that Rion had just brought up the blemish that lingered because of her mistake.
[Not exactly. Back to the beginning, the sanctuary you destroyed has been restored. I’m currently analyzing data related to it, and it seems all sanctuaries need to be destroyed within a certain timeframe.]
“Ugh, seriously! What kind of ridiculous situation is this…”
Neru muttered angrily, sighing deeply. Then, having regained a bit of composure, she asked a question.
“So, what’s the situation with the other sanctuaries? Are there places other than us that have successfully destroyed sanctuaries? If Mika got involved, at least one should have—”
[None.]
“…what?”
[Up to now, apart from the sanctuaries you’ve destroyed, all others remain intact. Even those have just been restored, so the distance between the finish line and us is still far.]
Rion began to go over the situation of other sanctuaries after speaking those words.
The first to talk about was the military factory where C&C was attempting to break in. For about three hours, they were blocked by the enemy’s numbers with little to no progress, but support from the Rescue Knights and the Manma Battle was promised.
As they didn’t have long to wait until their arrival, it was deemed that there was ample opportunity for the situation to turn around once the reinforcements joined.
Mika and the Teacher were actively participating, but progress at the Sanctum Tower was sluggish. They were struggling because of the wave effects impacting the area around the sanctuary.
In Abydos Desert, where Vina, the guardian of the sanctuary, was wandering about without care, they were preparing bait tactics to begin an assault, declaring the Highlander Railroad Academy’s intervention because they felt their territory had been violated.
At the High Cathedral of the Union, where the Student Council, Justice Realization Department, and Sisterhood had gathered, they were on the verge of launching a full-scale battle after dealing with the ‘ghosts’ pouring out from the cathedral, but upon hearing about the sanctuary’s restoration, they chose to maintain the status quo to observe the situation.
In Slumpia, where a bizarre cat appeared as the guardian of the sanctuary, they had been ranked lower in priority, but now that the hypothesis of needing to destroy all sanctuaries within a certain timeframe had arisen, they were recruiting volunteers to carry out a full-scale assault.
Lastly, to the location that had completely returned to its original state, the false sanctuary that used to be Eridu.
Hearing Rion’s explanation, Neru clicked her tongue. The situation was more frustrating than she had anticipated.
If their timings got misaligned, a catastrophe was likely to happen, but it was a bit absurd that the sanctuary they struggled to destroy was just restored.
“Oh, this situation is just damn annoying. Look at how much we struggled…”
[But let’s say it hasn’t been in vain. Thanks to you, we’ve obtained this information at such an early stage. If everyone focuses on timing from now on, there should be no problems. The fact that the restoration took nearly six hours means the timing isn’t too tight.]
“…well, you’re not wrong when you put it that way.”
[So I would recommend that you retreat and regroup first. Once the reinforcements arrive, it would be better for you to face the firepower battle then.]
After hearing Rion’s words, Neru stared in shock at the automaton forces continuously pouring out from inside the factory. She clenched her eyes shut and kicked the remains of an automaton lying on the ground as she spoke.
“Alright. We’ll pull back to the factory entrance and set up a defensive line, so tell those reinforcements that they better not be late or they’ll be in trouble with me.”
[I’ll look into it.]
“Hey, Rion! Make sure to relay it properly?!”
Even amid the unexpected crisis, Kivotos’s response to the invasion of colors was quite smooth. The bonds among everyone remained unshaken.
The Star of Hope continued to shine brightly before everyone.
