Welcome to Underground Secret Organization Fighting the World"s Darkness
Part 2
Now that they understand the situation, it"s time for the final intention confirmation. From now on, they"ll be taking the practical part of the "World Graduation Exam" and trying to prevent their opponent (the "Super Water-Ball") from destroying Tokyo. But they can choose to decline to take the exam. After all, it"s a difficult enemy, the likes of which they"ve never seen before. They"re probably scared stiff. If I was at Shoutkun"s or Toukchan"s level of power and was told to go fight that Super Water-Ball, my legs would give out. I would prefer that the extraordinary be a spice that adds color to everyday life, not something that makes them fear for their lives.
Do Shoutkun and Toukchan feel a desire to save Tokyo, even at the cost of their own lives? Or are their own lives matter more to them? There"s no wrong answer here. When you want to live your life helping others, you are able to get a lot of pride and self-confidence when you accomplish that, and this becomes your support in the future. On the other hand, the feeling that you want to cherish your own life is also equally important. I think that way every time I hear on the news that a student committed suicide.
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Kaburagi-san opened her mouth in order to confirm their intentions, but before she could say anything, Shoutkun spoke up.
"So it"s dangerous, right? Kaburagi-san, what"s our strategy? If we"re fighting out in the ocean, I can freeze it so we can walk on it."
Shoutkun accepted the oncoming battle as if it was natural. He checked the condition of the zipper on his battle suit, and gave a sidelong glance to Ig, who was taking chocolate cigarettes out of the pocket of his gakuran1.
"It"ll be tough to make it evaporate with my flames when it"s fifty meters big. Will rapid-firing my flaming javelin be enough to at least hold it back?"
Toukchan also spoke as if she already presumed they would be fighting while confirming that the high pressure gas gimmick, which helped increase her firepower, was properly affixed to her arm.
Neither of them are underestimating the enemy. Nor are they the type to overestimate their own abilities. In other words, they unhesitatingly made the decision to fight against such a fearsome opponent. We didn"t even need to light a fire under them.
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Kaburagi-san blinked her eyes and was a bit agitated.
"Both of you, aren"t you scared?" (Kaburagi)
"Of course we"re scared. But our parents are in Tokyo – " (Touka)
"So is the bar-master who always has that sour look on his face." (Shouta)
" – Right. The point is, it"s our city, so we"re going to protect it with you." (Touka)
That surprise attack made my cheeks get hot. Shoutkun, you"re embarra.s.sing me. I"m not a capture target, so you don"t need to earn likability points with me. Most likely, their feelings are due to their activities as members of Amaterasu. They aren"t acting like typical middle-school students, after all. Towards the two who were displaying innate goodness and strong willpower despite not yet being adults, Kaburagi-san gave a heartfelt smile.
"That"s right. We are Amaterasu. ESP"ers who fight the world"s darkness. So let"s go fight it. Even if we have to risk our lives in the process."
And then Kaburagi-san, who had a bold smile and fearless look on her face after reciting her speech, got a chocolate cigarette shoved up her nose by Ig. I held my head. Ah! It was ruined again! Ig! Don"t do that! No! Look, Kaburagi-san"s fingers are twitching. Apologize! It"s good that you"re getting used to her, but that"s too much!
"ChiChiChiChiChi – JiJiJiJiJi!?"
Ig made a noise that sounded like laughing as she went to shove another one into Kaburagi-san"s opposite nostril; but in the next moment, Ig ended up with a chocolate cigarette thrust into her own nostril and shoved into the gap between the seats in the back. Thanks to s.p.a.ce-time abilities, it was unexpected and therefore fairly comedic, and Toukchan, who rescues Ig, is unable to hold back her laughter. No way, is Ig also able to heal someone"s soul…?
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The group parked the car in a coin parking lot that was hidden behind a row of deserted warehouses in the harbor section. Ig crawled into the chest of Toukchan"s battle suit. All of them have fully changed into their black battle suits. The two middle-school students seem moderately tense. It"s the best condition for them to be in.
"How are we continuing on from here? On a ship?"
"No, I"ll be borrowing a little of the boss" power. It"s precious, but now is the time to use it. Hide your faces, both of you."
They do as they"re told; they pulled on their hoods, and put on masks with a sun emblem engraved on them. Amaterasu is a secret organization, after all. Even though they"re going to show themselves, their true ident.i.ties must be kept secret. Kaburagi-san imitated them and also hid her face, then proceeded to tear up a paper bird made from washi2. Immediately, a mysterious translucent bird-shaped film wraps the three.
"Uo~!" (Shouta)
"Eh, w-w-we-we"re floating!" (Touka)
"Don"t fight it. Try to fly." (Kaburagi)
The three gradually float upwards as a strong wind blows through the row of warehouses, causing the shutters on the warehouse windows to creak. The translucent bird-shaped film is dyed black, preventing them from being seen from the outside. And then, high in the sky about the warehouses, the giant black bird orients itself, then suddenly departs like a jet fighter. In a blink of an eye, it breaks the sound barrier, and becomes like a jet-black meteor. What can I say, the boss" carefully produced, handmade items are amazingly powerful!
…But it"s also hard to control. Good thing I practiced every night for the last two weeks.
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~ ✤ ~
~ ✤ ~
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In the battle to protect Tokyo, the Super Water-Ball struck first. The giant black bird was approaching fast at a speed of Mach 8, but the Super Water-Ball struck it down with a thick water cutter. Its firepower caused the body of the giant black bird to disappear as if it had been killed. Its three pa.s.sengers were thrown out into the sky at a height of approximately 30m. In the next moment, the three of them found themselves in a raft on top of some sea ice. Kaburagi-san had stopped time; she adjusted the range of the stopped time so she could make a ramp for them to land on.
"It"s huge…!"
While expanding the range of drift ice by emitting cold air, Shoutkun spoke the groups" feelings aloud. Looking up, they could see the Super Water-Ball floating at low alt.i.tude in the sky (about 1m above sea level) without the use of any kind of gimmicks. There"s a difference between hearing that something is 50m wide and actually seeing it. 50 meters in diameter. Unlike the usual world"s darkness, it wasn"t wrapped in a black membrane either. This world"s darkness was like a high-rise building.
It began to move while emitting an overwhelming murderous intent. Since the membrane is transparent, it seems as if the water is alive. The dully glowing, lead-colored core in the center of it is also huge, with an enormous diameter of 1m. To be honest, the core actually is lead. It"ll be hard to break with Shoutkun"s frozen sword due to its size and strength, but the melting point of lead is 327.5°C, so if you have a flame of 1200°C, you can melt it fairly easily. Teamwork, boys and girls, +α3.
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"Eat this – "Eternal Force Blizzard"!"
Shoutkun ran towards the formidable Super Water-Ball while making ice at his feet. While making a large movement with his fist, he began to strike with his "special move". Don"t get ahead of yourself! Well, I guess it"s true that sometimes taking the "wait-and-see" approach and gradually increasing the strength of your moves isn"t the right strategy. When I was a kid, I don"t know how many times I thought while watching anime battles, "If you can only fight for 3 minutes, use your "certain kill" move from the beginning!" He has the right idea in wanting to knock down the enemy as quickly as possible. He at least understands that much.
But, it"s not going to work. 50 meters is 50 meters, after all. Shotkun"s blow instantly freezes a part of the Super Water-Ball and drops it into the sea, but it"s only an insignificant part of the whole. It"s like being bitten by a rat. It hurts, but it doesn"t cause a lot of damage. And, of course, the Super Water Ball launches a counterattack.
But this is the "awakened" Shoutkun. He"s different from the Shoutkun of the past. He predicts that the attack is ineffective and that a counterattack is incoming. Without redirecting his momentum, he follows through after the strike and then runs toward the opposite side while staying alert to what"s behind him. To help him withdraw, Toukchan acts as a diversion, letting flames well up over her whole body and then converging them into an approximately 3m long, red-hot flame javelin, but she"s ignored at first. The Super Water-Ball forms a huge tentacle and does a wide swing with it. It attacks, *Hora* !
"d.a.m.n, "Eternal Force Blizzard"!"
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Shoutkun accurately understood the signs of the attack. He points his hand towards the tentacles and creates a frozen white wall with his cold air. It "s not a full circle defense but a wall in one direction, is it because he concentrated all his power into it? It seems that he recognizes how much of a threat it is. Hmm, that"s good preparation on his part. Since we were only able to verify that it protects against bullets when were experimenting with it at Amaterasu.
I"m quite interested in seeing if Shoutkun"s "Eternal Force Blizzard" will be able to withstand this attack. But now isn"t the right time for conducting experiments. If Shoutkun"s defense fails, I"ll have to change the trajectory of the tentacle at the last minute in order to avoid a direct hit. We"re still in the early stages of the event, after all. Even a light hit from extremely thick water tentacle would have enough force to crush the Tokyo Sky Tree4 flat.
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"ACK, AAAAHHHH!"
"SHOUTA!"
Shoutkun cries out as he"s engulfed by the heavy water pressure, and Toukchan, who understands that she would just get in the way if she tried to help, can do nothing except call out his name.
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Footnotes:
1: Jacket that"s part of a j.a.panese school uniform. Image ⇒ Gakuran
2: Washi=j.a.panese paper. Used to be made by hand, nowadays ma.s.s-produced by machine ⇒
3: +α=plus alpha. Meaning to go beyond, to push past your limits.
4: Tokyo Sky Tree is the tallest tower in the world at 634m and is mainly used as a television broadcasting tower, and is a popular tourist attraction ⇒