Chapter 10
SECT.19 - This Last Battle of Mine
On the screens showing a video feed in the bar──
A pink chibi stood up while tearing off her disguise and showed off her gallant, pink figure.
"It"s timeee! The previous champion!"
"So that"s where she was!"
"Nice; go at them!"
Cheers,
"Idiooot! Why did you come out at a place like that!"
"You took off your camouflage poncho too soon!"
"Ah, she"s done for……"
And voices of despair came out at the exact same moment.
As if responding to both sides, the pink chibi began sprinting with all of her well-trained agility.
"Huh?"
Directly northwest.
In other words, she was running away from the log house.
"There she isssssssssssss!"
Pitohui was pleasantly surprised.
Through her scope, demagnified in order to look for enemies, she saw something pink standing up from the gra.s.s at the top of her view.
"I saw it too. It"s LLENN."
Having set up his M14 EBR on a window frame, M reported,
"She"s mine, you hear me! If you arbitrarily decide to kill her, I"m gonna kill you, got it?"
While Pitohui gave him a warning in advance. And then,
"Now then! Come at me!"
She gazed through her scope with an expression that looked like a cl.u.s.ter of fighting spirit,
"Huh?"
And saw LLENN, fleeing at the speed of a rabbit.
Her small back was getting even smaller.
"Hey! Wha! She f.u.c.kin" ran away! Unbelieveable! Unbelieveable!"
Due to her terrifyingly high speed, LLENN had already used the opening to disappear, thus Pitohui moved the Savage 110BA away from her body and rose up.
She grabbed the KTR-09 a.s.sault rifle, the beloved gun that was actually hers, placed beside her,
"We"re going after her! Come!"
And gave a forceful order to M, who was, naturally, flabbergasted.
"Y-yeah, okay…… What"re we going to do about her partner?"
"We"ll handle her later!"
"However, if she recovers her limbs, her grenades will be a pain in the a.s.s, you know?"
"Oh shut it!"
Pitohui used her black boots to kick M"s nether region with all her might.
"Fugurih!"
As M fell on the spot knees-first, along with a strange scream,
"I said! We"re going!"
She sent him these extremely rash words.
"Guuuh── H-however……"
It was unclear whether M was suffering or enjoying himself, but with his knees and elbows on the floor,
"If LLENN"s seriously running away…… even if we pursue…… we can"t even catch her……"
He concluded calmly.
"I know that. "Cause LLENN-chan runs car-like fast."
With his pain or pleasure seemingly having lessened, M suddenly raised his head,
"In that case?"
"We"re obviously going after her in a car!"
LLENN beginning her grand escape at full speed before the final, decisive battle was, of course, broadcast──
The cameras in the air caught sight of LLENN"s back and the meadow flowing by at extreme speeds beside her.
"Bhahahahahahahahahahaha!"
In a waiting area, where only a monitor floated in a dim s.p.a.ce with no sky or walls, Boss burst into laughter.
Beside her,
"Way to go!"
Tanya,
"LLENN! Do your best!"
Tohma,
"We"re counting on you!"
And Rosa, finishing the group of the dead, their bottoms on the black floor as they cheerfully watched on.
Boss turned her tough-looking expression into a smile and muttered.
"Oh, yes. That"s the LLENN I wanted to beat."
Having run through the meadows at full speed, LLENN suddenly stopped and turned around.
Keeping the P90 held by its sling in her left hand, she brought the monocle she had been grasping in her right hand the entire time to her eyes.
Just like that, she distanced herself from the log house by about 1 km. At its western edge, she caught sight of three four-wheelers. There were two figures embarking on one of them. And it began to move.
"Hehehehe."
With a broad, fiendish grin, LLENN,
"C"mon, come at me!"
She changed her course.
Her goal was the east.
"There! She"s running east!"
Shouted M, while grasping a thin handle in the driver"s seat of a Humvee that was trampling the gra.s.s in the meadow.
"I see heeeeeer!"
Pitohui was standing at the middle of the four seats with her head stuck out from the roof that was surrounded by a bulletproof plate.
"Hold on!"
With M"s voice, the Humvee turned to the right. Through centrifugal force, Pitohui"s body was pressed onto the side of the roof,
"Kyahahahahahahaha!"
And she seemed awfully cheerful.
"Taaaaaaah!"
LLENN ran and ran, and ran to no end.
She ran at full speed, to the utmost of her abilities.
Since this was a meadow, she could not see what she was stepping on. If there were a slightly big stone there, she would undoubtedly tumble immediately and roll a long way on the ground.
Yet, she did not slow down at all. While running, she glanced back and, seeing a brown car coming towards her,
"Not yet, still not yet!"
Continued running earnestly.
She ran eastward, while the log house to her right had already disappeared from sight, left behind to her right.
Stretching out ahead of her was a valley, located in-between the snowy and rocky mountains, ── meadows, ponds, and rivers.
Chasing the pink chibi dashing through the meadow like a swift horse was a single Humvee about 400 metres away.
"C"mon M! Step on the accelerator moreeee! I can"t target her like this!"
LLENN"s dash lost to the automobile in speed. The distance was gradually diminishing for a while now, but no matter how good Pitohui was, the distance was not suitable for successfully shooting any target with one hand in a violently shaking car.
M objected from the driver"s seat.
"I can step on it, but if the frame gets even more stressed, the car might end up flipping, you know? I have no idea how rough the ground will be beyond here."
"Like I care! Do it!"
With her left foot, Pitohui kicked M"s head hard as he drove.
"Gafuh! ──This is on you!"
M"s big leg stepped on the accelerator even further.
The V6 diesel turbo engine with a displacement of 6500 cc roared up and, after a pause, the Humvee accelerated with a jerk. In addition, Pitohui"s body was taken aback by the jerk, while her strong arms supported her.
"Hi-yo! Silveeeeer!"(1)
Pitohui shouted like a certain protagonist──
With her pony tail blown by the wind, her eyes glittered atop the Humvee.
"Now, LLENN-chan! Show me how you will fight!
Watching as LLENN ran and the car pursued it,
"I wonder what LLENN-chan is planning!"
"She can"t possibly be going without a plan. I"m looking forward to it!"
The bar spectators" chests pounded with excitement,
"LLENN, you have nothing in mind, huh."
"Yeah. She"s going in super-blind."
In the waiting area, Tanya and Boss had such a conversational exchange.
"Yet, that"s the best option."
On the north side of the log house, waiting for her limbs to recover, f.u.kaziroh somehow succeeded in applying a first aid kit with just her arms and mouth.
As her hit points recovered bit by bit──
And looking at LLENN"s bar that was still completely full and green,
"Do your best do your best."
She wished in her mind.
"If you do your best, you can do anything."
"What do I do what do I do what do I do what do I do?"
While running, that was all that LLENN thought about.
She jumped out due to succ.u.mbing to anger, but that did not mean she had some sort of plan. She just avoided an impossigame of having to break into a building encamped by skilled snipersfor the time being.
Once again, she glanced behind her,
"Ugeh."
The rectangular car was far closer than it was just a few moments ago, around 250-300 metresaway.
She was able to discern the smile on Pitohui"s face as the top half of her body protruded from the roof. In her right hand was a long, black rod. She did not know what that was, but it was obvious that it was not a carpet beater.
"s.h.i.tt!"
After spitting out a dirty word for the umpteenth time today, LLENN thought.
"After starting GGO, I sure have turned foul-mouthed."
That aside, she thought of a plan.
"Should I turn around and intercept them with my P90?"
"I"ve been able to hit a target at 200 metres distance before, so should I hope for a fluke hit?"
"No way! At such a distance, they"ll also be shooting us, y"know? The moment we stop, we"ll be shot."
P-chan rejected the idea.
That would actually be the case, seeing as Pitohui"s gun would probably be an a.s.sault rifle. She would undoubtedly lose the shoot-out.
LLENN continued running and noticed.
To the left of her course, at a place about 100 metres away she saw something that looked like a pond.
It was a round puddle several tens of metres in diameter; its surface only reflected the lead-coloured sky, while it was impossible to tell how deep it was.
"…………"
LLENN slightly changed her trajectory towards it.
The spectators in the bar, seeing LLENN change course on the screen,
"Oi oi! That"s a pond!"
"Don"t tell me she"s going to jump in it and swim away?"
"That"s not so bad of a plan. No matter how great a Humvee is, it"ll become unable to move if it plunges into a pond."
"And what if it"s shallow? It could just be a simple puddle in the wetland, y"know? If the water is only about 50 cm deep, it could be easily crossed, right?"
"Though, you need to get very close to it to be able to tell, right?"
Said whatever came to their minds in excitement.
LLENN continued running towards the pond.
"Please don"t let Pito-san shoot me!"
With just this wish in mind.
Glimpsing behind herself, she saw that her distance from the car was 200 metres.
Facing forward, the distance to the pond was 30 metres.
"Alright! Let"s doooo it!"
LLENN sent a command from her brain to stop. Her legs, having been moving as if they were automated, instantly came to a sudden halt.
LLENN"s soles slid through the meadow while kicking up the dirt, lowering her speed.
It was an unbelievably sudden brake, but LLENN endured the deceleration burden that forced her body backwards, and, flawlessly maintaining her balance with her legs, she successfully stopped without tumbling down.
Her stopping distance was merely around 5 metres.
"Now that was something!"
"That move was awesome."
Spectators voiced out in the bar,
"Uhyaa! What the how the!
"Хорошo! If LLENN took up virtual rhythmic gymnastics, she"d definitely be great at it!"
In the waiting area, Tanya and Tohma shared their impressions.
Having suddenly stopped and speedily turned around, LLENN,
"Gotcha, we"ll shoot them down here, I see!"
As if ignoring P-chan"s voice, she took the gun hanging by the sling and moved it behind her.
"Huh? You"re not going to shoot with me? You"re not? You"re not?"
Ignoring her annoying, beloved gun, LLENN brought her right hand to the back of her waist,
"Fuh!"
And pulled out the combat knife with black l.u.s.ter which was located there in a backhand grip.
Bringing it in front of her, she held it in a pugilist"s stance,
"Come at me! Pitohui!"
"Fuheh?"
Pitohui raised her voice hysterically.
The pink chibi she had been chasing this long stopped like a plane that landed on an aircraft carrier, turned around right at that instant, and pointed its knife towards her, riding on a car that was chasing it.
Her wide-open eyes instantly gave way to a smile of a pleasant surprise,
"Hyaaah! How wonderfuuuuuul!"
Pitohui exclaimed atop her Humvee.
She nonchalantly threw the KTR-09 she had been trying to lock onto her target with her right hand onto the Humvee"s rear seat. A dull metallic sound could be heard.
150 metres remaining.
"Horseey! Continue onwards! It"s single combat time!"
Pitohui gave an order to M and tightly grasped a different weapon with her right hand,
"Hyahou!"
From there, a bluish-white light came forth.
Holding her Muramasa F9 photon sword horizontally, Pitohui quickly turned around on the spot. The sword of light completely cut off the bulletproof plates installed around the Humvee"s roof. The disconnected bulletproof plates fell to the sides and behind the car, one after another.
Now, there was nothing on the Humvee"s roof, aside from Pitohui"s figure from the waist up, with a sword in hand.
Holding up the sword in her right hand imposingly,
"ISessha shall serve as your opponent in battle!"
Pitohui cried out like a samurai.
M did not let go of the accelerator.
"Aww yeah!"
LLENN chuckled.
The Humvee was just 100 metres away; Pitohui was riding on it while holding a sword of light and charging straight at her.
"Hey hey! Can"t you just shoot that woman on the car right now! It"s your super chance, LLENN-chan! Hurry up and lift me up to fire!"
"Shut up keep quiet I"ll sell you."
LLENN yelled at her beloved gun in her mind, and glared at the enemy knight coming at her on a huge horse beyond the black blade held in front of her.
"Single combat! The chibi is planning to attack her with a jump!"
"How"s it gonna turn out!"
The voices from the bar,
"How cool!"
"Get "er!"
"Stab "er!"
And the voices from the waiting area did not reach LLENN, of course.
On the video feed screen.
The distance between the pink chibi standing in wait and the Humvee drawing near her with a roaring engine was──
50 metres.
40 metres.
30 metres.
"Uooo!"
LLENN broke into a run. 20 metres.
The woman atop the car slightly pulled back her right arm, which was holding her photon sword, and took up a posture for a stab without leaving any openings. Her left arm, conversely, was brought forward with the intent of sacrificing it for defence.
Everyone watching the stream understood.
That this battle would be resolved in an instant which would not allow anyone to even blink.
2-3 seconds after this moment──
LLENN would probably make use of her approaching run and Agility to attack with a great jump, while the woman would meet the attack with her photon sword.
Thus, whose head will it be?
The distance between the charging car and accelerating LLENN──
Was 10 more metres.
And thus the spectators witnessed.
The unbelievable instant.
*Petan*
Hit the dirt.
The pink chibi──
Hit the dirt.
The moment LLENN, having been charging towards the Humvee, stopped, she dropped onto the ground.
Lying atop the gra.s.sland, LLENN became awfully flat──
The Humvee"s front and back wheels pa.s.sed by her sides, while the car"s frame pa.s.sed above her.
"Whaaaaaaat!"
Pitohui, who had been gazing at her opponent all this time, saw how the girl flattened to the ground and was engulfed under the car,
"LLENN-chan, you bastaaaaard!"
She quickly turned around on the Humvee"s roof.
Looking behind her, she saw a pink figure appear, instantly rise up, take her P90 with her left hand, and aim at her,
"And you call yourself a samuraaaaai!"
"That"s where you are wrong", as if saying this, she began firing.
"LLENN-chan! This is what you were planning all this time?"
Spouting fire, P-chan asked in a questioning tone,
"Like h.e.l.l I"d fling myself at someone riding on a car! I"m not Pito-san!"
LLENN answered in her mind.
Aiming with only her left hand was unreliable, but this would be her first and final chance of having the enemy this close. Planning to shoot out all 50 bullets, LLENN squeezed the trigger.
"Why yoooooou!"
Pitohui roared out.
Multiple red Bullet Lines were extending towards her in a radial pattern.
Realising that she had been completely deceived by LLENN, Pitohui made a face so grim that it looked like it would make children cry,
"Uraaah!"
A Bullet Line that was on her face was met with the bluish-white light of her photon sword.
Mixed in with the dry metallic sounds of bullets. .h.i.tting the car all around──
*Juh!*
The sound of something evaporating resounded.
LLENN"s P90"s magazine came with 50 bullets. She was still shooting.
Pitohui gave up on a counter attack. The moment she used the photon sword"s switch to turn it off, she threw her legs forward and sat down inside the Humvee with a thud. Several more bullets grazed overhead.
"A pond! I"m stopping!"
Pitohui answered to the driver"s voice.
"No worries, continue forward!"
While shooting with her left hand alone,
"Alright, this will work!"
LLENN saw.
How the car that pa.s.sed over her charged towards the pond without dropping in speed.
"If it continued without stopping, the car would likely sink. No matter how st.u.r.dy the car was, it is hard to think that it is amphibious."
Using that chance, I"ll approach the edge of the pond while reloading my P90, switch it to my right hand to aim properly, of course, wait for the two to come to the surface and mercilessly make use of their weakness as they flounder about in the water to shoot them to death."
"Since the two were wearing heavy equipment, they should need to frantically move both their arms and legs to avoid sinking, making them unable to counterattack."
"Of course, they could just drown to death for all I care?"
At that point, she could just watch on to save bullets, thinking, "Are they done yet are they done yet? Have they already drowned?".
"That"s dirty in so many ways, LLENN-chan!"
"Shut it the victor is always right!"(2)
LLENN answered her beloved gun. At that moment, she fired out the last of her 50 bullets and her magazine ran dry.
LLENN returned the knife in her right hand to her waist sheath, and switched the P90 to her now empty right hand. She pulled out the empty magazine from the gun with her left hand,
*Zappaan!*
And heard a loud splash.
The Humvee charged towards the pond──
"C"mon, M! Continue forward!"
"Ou!"
And continued driving.
"Whaaaaaa?"
As LLENN was about install the new magazine, her hand suddenly stopped.
Above the pond beyond the meadow, the car was still going. Its large tyres were hoisting up a lot of water and it had considerably slowed down, but it was still going.
It looked like a water strider.
"Don"t tell me it"s some awesome feature of the tyres?", LLENN thought for a moment, but instantly came up with a more ordinary explanation.
"Son of a! It"s shallow!"
*Pachin*. LLENN inlayed the new magazine into the P90 and pulled the loading lever.
The car riding on the pond── no, a large puddle, turned right for a moment, then began a big turn left. Once it turns around, it would obviously come back for her.
"What do we do? LLENN-chan?"
Hearing P-chan"s voice, LLENN once again began dashing at full speed. Towards that car.
"This thing is shallow! Though you can"t tell just from looking at it!"
Inside the Humvee riding atop the gigantic puddle, Pitohui said this while extending her hand for the beloved gun she had dropped.
"How"d you know?"
Hearing M ask this as he began a turn to the left, Pitohui, once again grasping her KTR-09, answered.
"The times and locations of the water eruptions were on the walls in that house! Didn"t you read them?"
The Humvee, kicking up water as it drove, made a 180 degree turn. And slightly dropped in speed.
In front of M, wipers, hanging on the top, in contrast to normal cars, were moving and wiping the wet windshield.
And what he saw was LLENN, standing upright before the pond, with her P90 at the ready. About 50 metres away.
"What do we do?"
Behind him, Pitohui suddenly moved her face closer to him and answered.
"Ain"t it obvious! We"re going in again. But this time, make a sudden turn a moment in advance! Squash her with your tyres!"
"…………"
M slightly frowned, but Pitohui looked like she was awfully enjoying herself.
"So far, I"ve only killed with my hands, guns, grenades, and sword, but I"ve yet to 〝kill by running over〟 . Now"s the perfect chance. ──Go!"
Having been pat on the shoulder, M stepped on the accelerator.
Once again, LLENN readied her P90 for the brown, angular beast coming at her.
Her goal was the roof. In case Pitohui stuck her head out, she got ready to fire out in full autoat full power.
The tyres kicked hoisted up water as the car rushed on.
Pitohui… did not appear.
"…………"
Holding her P90 at the ready, LLENN stepped back.
"Alright, forwaaard!"
Instead of sticking out her head through the roof, Pitohui maintained a low posture as she glared at LLENN through the windshield.
LLENN took a few steps back,
"Squash her even if she tries to run away!"
M remained silent, but did not let go of the accelerator.
3 seconds before she could be splattered.
LLENN broke into a run. Aiming forward. And then, she leaped.
Soaring through the air due to her superhuman jump, LLENN aimed her P90"s muzzle at the Humvee roof with a large hole in it.
*Kakakakan!*
Several metallic sounds could be heard within the car as sparks scattered,
"Gah!"
And Pitohui"s voice stacked on top.
Having jumped instead of dropping to the ground this time, LLENN unleashed her gunfire at the roof of the car, specifically, the hole in it, as it pa.s.sed under her.
When Pitohui turned around, Pitohui"s face looked like an afterimage and she saw 2-3 hit effectscaused by bullets the next moment, but all of them were on her legs.
"s.h.i.t! I missed!"
Preparing to land on the water, LLENN brought her legs forward.
"What do we do? What"s our next plan?"
In response to her beloved gun"s question, LLENN answered in her mind.
"We have no choice but to run!"
While driving the Humvee away from LLENN to get some distance,
"You alright?"
M turned clockwise behind him to ask.
"Now you"ve done it now you"ve done it!"
Pitohui, collapsed atop the rear seat,
"LLENN-chan, now you"ve done it!"
Said very cheerfully. There were two hit effects on her right thigh. Her hit points were still over eighty percent.
M turned forward and made another U turn with the Humvee.
LLENN was running atop the shallow puddle away from them. Although she was slower than running on the meadow, she was still running away at magnificent speed.
"Halt! I have no choice but to shoot her down!"
Pitohui stuck her head out from the roof of the Humvee that stopped as ordered, affixed the KTR-09 against her shoulder, and adjusted the selector to the full-auto position.
Her target was LLENN, running along the puddle. The distance was around 70 metres.
"This here… will end it, ho."
The KTR-09 roared in full-auto.
And created several large columns of water.
The over 2 metre columns of water appeared one after another around LLENN as she continued running. It looked beautiful, like an unpredictable fountain.
The columns of water chased after LLENN and hid her figure, but bright red hit effects shone through them.
"No choice but to run no choice but to run no choice but to run!"
With only this in mind, LLENN was running atop the puddle that was not the best footing for her, when she suddenly felt like her path was obstructed by water.
The moment she realised that it was a column of water formed by gunfire, she was completely surrounded and, without even the time to drop to the ground, she felt a dull pain running through her right knee.
"Ah──"
She tumbled while turning around and plunged into the water back-first.
She saw the cloudy sky, she saw the columns of water still arising around her, and she saw gleaming Bullet Lines.
"I"m… likely… already…… done for."
She saw how her hit points steadily decreased, but──
The sudden decrease from being shot stopped at about halfway. However, most of her body was under water, thus, as usual in GGO, it continued decreasing gradually.
"If I fall asleep like this, I"ll eventually die."
"But if I stand up and receive even a single bullseye, I"ll die."
Just as LLENN finished her thought, the gunshots and columns of water suddenly stopped.
"Did I get her?"
Having stopped her fire for the moment, Pitohui gazed at the water where the columns disappeared, at noticed a pink figure floating face-up there. Above her… there was no 【Ｄｅａｄ】 marker.
"Fell short! Could it be that I only got 1 bullet in? Yep, my bad luck is strong! Eh, or perhaps it"s because she"s so tiny? Or both?"
"Pito, shall we get closer?"
M asked,
"Wha, it"s not like we really need to? I"ll hit on the next shot."
"Well, I just figured that you would want to see the face of your dying prey, seeing as she"s right in front of you anyway."
"Hou…… Thou, too, are catching on fast, huh."
"So what do we do?"
"But nah. Honestly, I find LLENN-chan eerie. I"m scared of being done in myself if I carelessly get too close."
"Hou…… So even you can feel fear……"
"What"s with you; treating people like monsters. I am scared. Specifically because I"m scared of dying is why I"m having so much fun! You and me need to have a talk, it seems; sit down there for a bit."
"I am sitting though."
Floating face-up, LLENN──
"Why aren"t they coming to shoot me?"
Had this thought.
As her equipment was light, LLENN"s body floated just enough for her to be able to breathe.
She did not feel so bad about floating like this.
Her chances for a counterattack was not zero, but if she stood up, she would probably be shot instantly. Nearly zero is not much different from zero.
After starting to not give a d.a.m.n, she had come this far by getting absorbed in her task, but now it seemed her time had come.
Suddenly feeling curious, she raised her left hand and looked at her wrist.w.a.tch.
14:27.
The previous tournament ended at 28 minutes, thus it was just the right time.
"LLENN-chan! Don"t you give up on me!"
"Shut it, enough already."
"LLENN-chan! There"s still a chance!"
"It"s not zero, but nearly zero nonetheless."
"LLENN! You alive? I"m coming to you!"
"You don"t need to come."
"LLENN! You are alive, aren"t you! What area are you in?"
"Hah──!"
Overcome with surprise, she pulled her chin in, thus a lot of the muddy water entered her mouth and nose.
"Gabuhah!"
"Ah, LLENN-chan"s suffering? She"s drowning?"
Gazing from the roof of the Humvee, Pitohui said.
"Possibly. Her hit points are decreasing under water, so we could just leave her to die."
"Yeah, that is a possible choice……"
Right after Pitohui"s words, M took his foot off the brake pedal. As he stepped on the accelerator; the diesel engine became louder and the Humvee started slowly moving forward.
"Hey?"
"I won"t go in too far. Just about 10 more metres."
"Hmph…… Whatever. Well then, I"ll shoot. I"m kinda reluctant to let her drown."
Pitohui fixed her KTR-09 onto the pink target floating face-up on the water.
The Humvee gradually closed the distance and stopped at the edge of the puddle.
Pitohui, and M too, saw.
LLENN"s right hand holding her P90 thrust upwards towards the sky grandly──
"Whoa?"
Pitohui suddenly crouched, but the muzzle suddenly aimed at the sky, instead of her, and began firing.
"Excuse me?"
*Pararararararararara*, hearing these gunshots, Pitohui"s head inclined noticeably,
"What"s… that? Some kind of ritual?"
"Who knows."
*Pararararararararara*, the long barrage of 50 gunshots continued and then suddenly ceased.
"I guess there are no more regrets? Well then──"
Pitohui firmly readied her KTR-09. She aimed steadily at LLENN.
She took a breath, let it out a bit, and stopped──
And right at the moment she was about to shoot,
*Zudoon!*
In the pond ahead of her, between her and LLENN, a column of water at least 5 metres in diameter rose up.