Published at 2nd of February 2021 09:30:05 AM
Chapter 119
[Collapse of Hope]
Thanks to Utsusemi-san playing an active role on the surface, the number of self-defense forces has decreased significantly .
And the number of allies has already decreased to the point where they can be easily counted .
For the time being, the enemies inside the hideout have been annihilated somehow, and we are now gathering in the conference room .
“I will explain the situation again,” I say, and every member nodded .
The amount is 18 people . Even though the non-combatants are also here, the members present are only 18 people .
The injured and medical personnel in the medical room on the first basement floor were all killed .
Kemuri-san did it . If I was late in killing Kemuri-san, the people in the medical room on the second basement floor would have been annihilated as well .
There are practically no people on the third basement floor and onward .
The total number of members remaining in the hideout is over 50 .
More than half of them is injured; the situation was hopeless .
Just that, the enemy is no longer the Self-Defense Forces .
“Currently, there is Shido-san’s Infinite Corridor deployed on the surface, so we can’t expect the arrival of reinforcements . At the same time, we cannot escape from here either . ”
Thanks to that, it should be okay to assume that there is no reinforcement for the Self-Defense Forces either .
“I don’t think that meant Shido-san betrayed us,” Roll says so to me .
I ask back, “Why?”
“Because she… she was the one who raised me since I was a child you know?”
“Kemuri-san and Chiyaku-san have protected us so far as well, but they betrayed us, right?”
Well, I understand Roll’s feelings .
I can calmly analyze the situation, but the other members who have been here for a long time cannot .
It was the same as Desuko-san’s case, the shock of learning that Kemuri-san and the others had turned traitor should be immeasurable .
Roll casts her eyes down . I continue,
“For the time being, let’s just look at the current situation and assume that Shido-san is an enemy .
The situation has grown worse due to the betrayal of Kemuri-san and Chiyaku-san . I managed to kill Kemuri-san, but Chiyaku-san and Shido-san are still in this Derrida . ”
The Infinite Corridor can only be deployed from the inside .
Therefore, if Boss is outside Derrida, it will be impossible for him to get in unless the Infinite Corridor is unraveled .
However, in case that the Infinite Corridor has been deployed since the beginning of the battle, it would be strange .
Shido-san’s Infinite Corridor should be a trump card that has an extreme stamina consumption . To keep deploying it for more than two hours… is impossible, I think .
“Obviously they’re going to come to kill us, so even though the Self-Defense Forces is mostly annihilated, they should still be preparing some sort of plan…
So… do you all want to fight back?” I throw a question .
The remaining path is withdrawal . But I can’t decide that at the drop of a hat .
Because everyone here has been in the organization for much longer than I am .
“I… don’t want to . Chiyaku is one thing, but there is no one who can beat Shido here,” Byakurei said .
As he said . There is no ability user who can defeat Shido-san here .
She is an ability user who has the ability to control the distance itself .
She can easily repel a thrown knife, and she can dodge our attacks like a walk in the park .
However .
“We can’t get out of here unless we defeat Shido-san . ”
“We can probably wait for her stamina to run out . There’s no way she can endure for that long . ”
“But she has already kept up the Infinite Corridor for at least more than an hour, right?”
The proof of that is the reinforcement hasn’t come yet .
They should already be here, considering so much time has passed .
“To begin with, why did they betray us?” Hikisaki-san brings up the topic I don’t want to talk about the most .
Thinking about something like that now is useless .
However, it is something that everyone is curious about .
“Maybe they are connected to the Self-Defense Forces . ”
The door of the conference room opens . The one who appears is Utsusemi-san who is covered in fresh blood .
Everyone turns their gazes to him .
Connected to the Self-Defense Forces; that is hard to imagine .
If that is the case, they can just leak the location of the hideout, they don’t need to do it in such a roundabout way . And they must have other ways to do it as well .
“Anyway, there’s no use thinking about it now . ”
I look closely at Utsusemi-san’s expression .
He has a face that says that he doesn’t really care about why they turned traitor .
Yeah, there’s no need to think deeply about it .
“I’ve cleaned up most of the enemies on the surface, but what to do from hereafter?” Utsusemi-san turns to me .
Honestly, I would like the executives, namely Byakurei-san and Utsusemi-san, to decide .
Utsusemi-san and Byakurei-san are aware that they are suspected, though slightly .
That’s natural . When the executives betrayed us in quick succession, it would be unavoidable for both of them to be directed with suspicious gazes .
“For the time being, we have to find Shido-san,” I’m also worried about Chiyaku-san’s movement, who withdrew earlier .
“Haa—, finding Shido you say, are you insane? How are we going to do that?”
As Byakurei-san said, that would be difficult if she is seriously hiding .
However, she is deploying Infinite Corridor while maintaining a distance in the surroundings where sounds can’t reach her . I want to believe that it is possible to find her .
“If she finds that we get closer to her, she will just widen the distance, so I have no choice to go to the surface and try to detect her…”
“She’s not necessarily on the ground y’know . Maybe she’s hiding inside the hideout . ”
What Utsusemi said is… undeniable .
Anyway, we have to try whatever we can do .
“…Then, Roll and I will go to the surface and see the situation for now . Will you search in the hideout with the remaining members in the meantime? If you find her, please contact me or Roll . ”
If Shido-san is in the hideout, we can do something about her even if we can’t reach her .
When every member nod, we start to move .
Roll and I leave the conference room and run down the corridor .
“Just in case, let’s go out from evacuation exit . ”
We will stand out if we exit from the central doorway now, and I’m also worried about the remnants of the Self-Defense Forces .
“…Okay,” Roll’s voice is a little spiritless .
“…………”
Roll is unstable . I chose to act together with her because she’s my partner, but looking at her condition, I don’t think I can expect a tag combination from her right now .
Should I have chosen another person?
……No, at least on top of being my partner, the one who I can cooperate with the best is Roll . It’s not a wrong choice .
Returning to the evacuation exit on the second basement floor, Roll and I go out to the surface using the grappling gun that I had left there earlier .
“Shion,” After we get to the ground, Roll calls my name .
I want to hurry, but I stop and look back .
“Shido-san… I wonder if she really betrayed us . ”
I don’t know .
“Roll, right now…”
“Isn’t it strange? Why did the executives turn traitor in quick succession? What is their intention…”
“It’s wrong to try to look at this situation in a good way, Roll… How many people have died because of them?
There is the corpse of Face Punch-san ahead .
I’ll just put it straight, their intention is to obliterate us . ”
“But I don’t want to think that Chiyaku-san and Shido-san are enemies… No matter what you say, for me, they are family, you know… This place is… my home you know . ”
“…………”
I totally got it wrong . This organization is what supported Roll up till now, huh .
…In that case, I wonder what is the difference between Tameiki-san, Byakurei-san, Utsusemi-san and the executives that have turned traitor?
It is no exaggeration to say that Tameiki-san has been around since the formation of Anonymous; what is the difference between her and the other old timers?
Not good . It’s not time to think about that .
“I wish… I can live like Shion too . ”
“……Let’s go . ”
“Yeah . ”
I reach my hand out to Roll . Roll claps my hand as if giving me a high five and goes ahead .
Passing the place where I fought Kemuri-san earlier, we stand in a place where we can overlook the village .
At the same time, I expand my sound detecting field .
“…”
The sound that I sent out stretches far beyond . Without any interference .
I realize it then .
The Infinite Corridor is not deployed .
……What is going on .
“The Infinite Corridor is not deployed,” When I look at Roll while saying that, I notice that she is staring at a part of the village .
I follow her line of sight . It leads to the village square about 100 meters away from the central entrance .
There are the figures of Shido-san and Chiyaku-san who is treating her .
“…!”
What the heck is going on…?
I squint and try to look at their appearances . However, due to the distance, I can only see them vaguely .
That attire and black hair… that is Shido-san, right?
I try to listen to the sounds there, but I can hear nothing, as Chiyaku-san is just treating Shido-san silently .
“Roll, let’s go back for now . Now that the Infinite Corridor is cleared, we can withdraw…”
“Shion . I’m going… to confirm it . ”
What are you saying? – When I think so and turn to her, Roll rushes out without waiting for my reply .
“…! Roll!”
Rushing out of the forest, Roll immediately runs to the two’s side .
“You’re kidding me…”
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Astonished, I take out my phone from my pocket .
I tap Byakurei-san’s name registered on the phone and make a call . But it doesn’t connect .
Looking at the screen, the signal reception status of the phone is out of service .
“Dammit!”
Is the communication antenna destroyed …?
In that case…
I throw the unusable phone away and put my right hand on the ground .
Then .
――Sound-Shot
A roaring sound echoes in the forest, and the birds fly into the sky all at once .
The vibration is transmitted to the ground . I wanted to send a sound directly, but since the underground is multi-layered, it’s tough from here .
However, if I make such a sound, they should be able to tell that this is my rescue signal .
The people around Utsusemi-san’s level should… noticed it .
I stand up to and run down the mountain to follow Roll .
Chiyaku-san has noticed us with the Sound-Shot just now . Shido-san remains lying down .
Roll dodges Chiyaku-san’s blood spear that she released from a distance . I use my knife to ward off the blood spear that has passed Roll and came to me .
However, because its power is higher than I expected, the knife is flung off my hand .
“ng…!”
Running through immediately, I reach Roll’s side .
However, there we are surrounded by countless blood blades .
“Roll!”
“Ah…!”
I hug Roll standing next to me and fire Sound-shots in every direction, dispersing the blood blades .
“Hah…! Hah…! Look…! Those two are enemies! Fight them!”
The dispersed blades are reforming in the air and aiming at me and Roll again .
I lower my body and run .
Chiyaku-san’s attack is almost equal to a one-shot deathblow . If you receive even a single drop of that blood, just like Heartbeat-Shot, you will be broken to pieces from inside your body .
I have no more stamina to use the Silent World .
However, the Distortion Sound can be used without the Silent World .
However, in that case, the range will be short . It can’t be used at this distance .
Roll’s reaction is delayed by one tempo .
A little more… just a little more…!
*Stab* A blood blade stabs into my shoulder .
“Guu …!”
Crap .
When I think so, Roll jumps out in front of me .
She deals with the blood blades that came one after another .
*Swish* Her cheeks is cut . And a blood blade passed by the side of my neck .
The wound on my shoulder hurts severely . The invading blood of Chiyaku-san proceeds, heading toward my heart .
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“Guuuuaaaaaahhhh!!!”
Jumping out of Roll’s back, I barely get Chiyaku-san into my range .
――Distortion Sound
The blood that is flying in the air falls to the ground .
The pain that pierces my body disappears .
The Sound-Shot that I try to release continuously doesn’t come out . It can’t be helped . I have overused my ability .
I feel dizzy . Chiyaku-san, who is about 10m away, looks hazy .
“Hah… hah…”
“This is… I see…”
Chiyaku murmurs, staring at her right hand with a surprised face .
“Haven’t you become a rash one, Shion-kun?”
I’m not . There is a chance of winning now .
“Hah… hah… with this… can we finally have a calm talk, I wonder . ”
When I say such words while behaving like I have room to spare, Chiyaku shrugs her shoulders and smiles .
Of course, we are not going to talk to each other . The only thing left to do is to deliver the final blow after all .
“I wonder about that . You can’t fight anymore, right?”
However, there is Roll .
Roll, please . End her now while her ability is blocked .
With that in mind, I look at Roll .
However, she keeps standing still .
“Chiyaku-san, why do you do something like this…?”
I feel a furious anger at Roll who opened her mouth and said that .
Dammit, to ask such a silly thing in a life-or-death situation…!
I can’t maintain Distortion Sound for long…!
“To hell with her reason! Quickly kill her!” I shout .
“Shut up, Shion!”
I’m silenced at her angry look . I have no choice but to keep quiet .
Tears is filling her eyes .
“…For me, that is something I care about . ”
“Right… I have to answer that… right…”
*Thud* The one who is struggling to lift her body is Shido-san .
I open my eyes wide .
Crap, the Distortion Sound doesn’t reach Shido-san .
I take a step towards her slowly and carefully . At that moment,
――The scenery flows .
“Dam………!!”
Shido-san and Chiyaku-san is far behind . The step I took, that was less than a meter, was transformed into a distance that drove me to the edge of the square .
Of course, both of them are out of Distortion Sound’s range .
It’s a complete failure .