CH 233

The transport that Akira was boarding lined up with the other transport trucks and formed a long line in the middle of the wasteland. Their huge size left behind a trail of dust storms; it was an easy thing to spot the convoy from afar. They marched forward mercilessly, pushing aside and crushing anything in their way. Rubble meters in length and large carcasses were no match to the size of the transport truck. None of them could even pose a challenge to the vehicle.

The transport vehicles were equipped with powerful forcefield armour that could easily deflect cannon warheads. The cannon perching on top of it had enough firepower to shoot down flying monsters. It had enough space to carry the population of a small town, with all its members armed to the teeth. It was so well equipped that it could be called a moving fortress. That was the transport vehicle that Akira and the other Hunters were boarding.

Akira was there as the escort to Gigant 3. He already had his position decided beforehand, so he was currently waiting for the hourly guard exchange while talking and studying with Alpha to kill the time.

During that time, he glanced at Hikaru, who was moving her mouth as if she was quipping. She was not making any sound and smiling while facing toward an empty space. She would only make a sound when she was using a mini AR device to negotiate with someone from afar. To Akira, who already knew what he was doing, this scene seemed completely normal. However, for those who had no idea, she looked like a madwoman talking to herself.

“Alpha. Do I look like that too when I’m talking to you?”

“Only when we’re alone. But I’ve always made sure that you won’t look like that when there’s someone else, so it’s fine, at least, it’s fine right now.”

“So basically, I was completely hopeless back when I just met you, huh? Bet I stuck out a lot.”

Akira smiled wryly next to Alpha who was smiling amusedly.

Hikaru lightly bowed and sighed. It seemed that she had finished negotiations. Hikaru then turned to Akira. Judging from her smile, it seemed that it went well.

As Akira thought about why she was looking at him, sudden order to dispatch reached him. Akira was about to pick it up, but Hikaru stopped him with her hand signal. Thus, he paused for a bit before finally picking it up. He was a bit surprised to see the person shown in the display of his augmented vision. Although the notification said that he was connected to someone in command, the person displayed was Hikaru.

Akira immediately glanced at Hikaru and saw her smile mischievously at him.

“It seems that it went well, I’m a part of the escort unit’s commander now. I’m glad that I made it on time. Akira, I’m joining the escort unit as your operator.”

Akira raised his eyebrows. He was obviously surprised, Hikaru noticed that too as she smiled wryly and explained.

“Well, although I’m an operator, it’s not like I’m going to bother you with my orders. Basically, I’ll just convey the orders that I receive from the higher-ups to you. In exchange, if you want to be allowed to ignore said order. Oh. It could be either because it was a bad order or because you are not in a position to obey it. Regardless of the reason, I can negotiate in your place. So instead of being an operator that gives you detailed support, I’ll focus more on supporting you so that you can move freely.”

“Ah, I see, alright then. I’ll be counting on you.”

“Just leave it to me, well then, as my first job as your operator, Akira, get ready. I’ll guide you as close as possible to your post once you’re ready.”

Hikaru said so to Akira with a smile, although there were lies mixed in her words, Akira could not notice them thanks to how skilled she was.

Once Akira was done with his preparation, they left the room and walked through the transport’s hallway guided by Hikaru. She was walking next to Akira while vigilantly watching her surroundings as if she was carefully walking through the dangerous ruin.

As expected, Akira found that very weird, but he then caught Alpha smiling amusedly next to him.

“What?”

“Hm? Well, it’s just that she basically doesn’t allow you to get out of your room, and when you do, she’ll always be close by. That bracelet also allowed her to track your location all the time. It’s as if you’re a prisoner.”

“Just what did I do to deserve this treatment?”

“Killing many people outside the wall, although it doesn’t really matter to me, it seems that is not the case for City Management.”

Akira somehow was able to make a guess as to the reason why Hikaru was treating him like that.

“…It’s not like I’m involved in all those things because I wanted to, though…”

“Of course, but it’s a completely different story whether they’ll trust you or not, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right…”

Akira threw a bitter smile, which Hikaru could not have noticed.

The top of the transport vehicle was basically flat. It was designed to maximize the efficiency of the forcefield armour. Because of that, the only thing that could serve as a shield from the wind was the huge cannons perched on top of the transport vehicle. With the vehicle travelling at high speed, the atmosphere on the roof was constantly turbulent.

Akira’s post was on the rooftop. Thus, he was standing straight in the middle of the raging storm, which would have blown any normal human away. It was only thanks to his augmented suit that he could stand straight. The enemy detection was done through the powerful radar installed on the vehicle. So, Akira’s current job was to wait there until he received an order that allowed him to start shooting.

Akira stood on one edge of the rooftop and scanned over the wasteland. The fast-moving transport vehicle had already entered the eastern area of the eastern district. Although he was still far away from the front line, the area was already filled with monsters that were way stronger and smarter than the monsters around Kugamayama city. Even the view there left Akira the impression that he was looking at something high-tech.

“Alpha. There’s something that looks like a huge bird in the sky over there with a column-like building hanging under it, you’re not playing with my vision, right?”

“Nope.”

“Then, I guess it’s a real monster, huh?”

Akira glanced at Alpha, aside from her unrealistic beauty coupled with the too exposed dress and the fact that she sometimes floated in the air, she looked like a real person. People could feel her if they touched her through their prosthetic body or augmented suit, but in reality, she was not there. Meanwhile, the fantasy-like bird that was flying far away was not virtual, it was a real monster.

“I feel like I am starting to not be able to trust my own eyes…”

“There are things in this world that are real although you can see them, you know?”

“I know the real meaning of that saying is different from what you’re implying.”

“But it’s true. The connection between you and me is not something that eyes can see, right?”

“That’s true, but still…”

Deals, contracts, trust, debts, favors, schemes, compromises, obligations, evaluations, toleration. Alpha built a complicated connection through the old-world domain based on all these factors. As for whether this link was weak or strong, Alpha herself was not certain.

Nonetheless, Alpha wished to create a stronger connection with Akira when she smiled at him. However, Akira just thought that Alpha was being cryptic as usual and just ignored her smile.

Hikaru’s voice suddenly could be heard from the comms and her image quickly appeared in his augmented vision.

“Akira, the monsters are coming, A swarm of flying monsters are approaching. The transport’s cannon will take care of the bigger ones, so you only need to focus on the smaller ones when they are closing in on you. There’s no need to fight the ones outside your range even if you have the leeway to. As long as there’s no order to do so, the other Hunters might mistake it as you trying to snatch their prey and reward, so it might cause some issues. I’ll send you their locations, you can make your own decision based on that data.”

Another display showing the enemy’s locations appeared in Akira’s augmented vision. Akira could see a swarm of monsters coming from the front of the transport convoy, the display also showed that none of them were currently Akira’s targets.

“Just tell me if you’re having a hard time over there, I’ll send help.”

“Roger that, well, I’ll do the best I can first before asking for help. Is that everything?”

“Yes, if I may add something, I’m basically monitoring you as an operator, so you can show me your cool side, or so I want to say, but…”

Hikaru’s smile which was brimming with confidence up until that point suddenly turned cloudy.

“Just because I said so, there’s no need for you to do anything reckless like what Kibayashi wants.”

Akar smiled bitterly and replied.

“It’s not like I did them because I wanted to.”

“Is that so? That kind of thing depends on the individual, I guess. Well, I’ll be watching as the operator so we can compare our impressions later. Now then, good luck, Akira.”

Hikaru’s image vanished from Akira’s display. He then changed gear to get ready for the fight.

The monsters approaching the convoy had come close enough to be seen with naked eyes. When Akira locked his gaze at those monsters, Akira’s information-gathering device recognized the enemy as it augmented Akira’s vision to be able to clearly see them. The swarm looked like a group of flying insects. The display also added the information of their distance as well as their location.

But when Akira glanced at the distance, he found it rather surprising.

“…Oh, wait? Are they still that far away? Are these numbers correct?”

“They’re so big that they already looked that big although they’re still so far away. And since there’s nothing to compare to when they’re flying in the sky, it’s so difficult to grasp how far away they are with just your eyes.”

“Is that so? But I still feel like the number is a little bit too big, though…”

“In that case, let’s add something to help you compare.”

Alpha suddenly vanished and reappeared next to the monsters. As Akira compared the size of the monster and Alpha, he could not help but frown.

The oval-like monster had a relatively small head with small round eyes. That eye alone was already bigger than Alpha. Although the initial impression made it seem like a small insect that Akira could easily scoop with the tip of his finger, its true size was comparable to that of a small island. Worse, these humongous monsters were all flying toward the convoy.

“Isn’t that just way too big? So, the eastern region is filled with these kinds of monsters, huh? No wonder Hunters there bring their tanks and powered suits with them.”

Alpha reappeared next to Akira again and smiled at him.

“Oh my, are you scared now?”

“To be honest, yeah, a bit. But being big doesn’t mean that I can’t defeat them. I fought something that big before too and compared to that time, I have better equipment now. So, I’ll just do what I usually do. And it’s not like I have to fight all of them in the first place. But still, give me full support this time.”

“Just leave it to me. They’re coming, Akira.”

Alpha pointed her finger to the direction where the convoy was heading, the other vehicles in front of the one they were on had already started firing their cannons.

Multiple cannons fixed their aim at the incoming swarm. Then they released a loud explosion, followed by a lance of light that pierced the swarm. Although the light lance looked similar to the AF anti-material cannon, its speed, accuracy, firepower, and size were completely different. As these lances cut through the swarm, they drilled a hole through the monsters’ resilient-looking armor, evaporated and melted their organs, and ended them.

As the monsters fell to the ground one by one, due to their size and their distance, they seemed to be falling in slow motion from Akira’s point of view.

At the same time, the cannons started shooting, the transport vehicles ahead also started deploying drones to fight the monsters. Each of them was equipped with powerful rifles with extended magazines, which they used to release a barrage. The convoy also did not hold back releasing all of their missiles toward the swarm. The bullet storm and explosions made easy work of the smaller monsters.

Among the deployed robots and drones, there were also some infantry which also participated in the battle. Since they were equipped with weapons used in the eastern district, they were able to mow down the smaller monsters without any issue at all.

The intense battle continued. Akira was watching it in amazement.

“They’re really not holding anything back. So, this is how the Hunters in the east fight. Err, what can I say? It’s like we’re living in different worlds.”

“I don’t think your impression is wrong. The further east you go, the more sophisticated the technology. And the civilization created with such technology is an abnormality in itself.”

“Well, we’re talking about an area filled with those flying things after all. So, it’s obvious that it’s not normal. And there are Hunters who work and live there, so it’s only to be expected that they’re also not normal either. And here I thought that I’ve grown pretty strong, but I guess there’s always a bigger fish, huh?”

Stronger escorts were assigned to the front of the convoy and Akira right now was assigned to somewhere near the end of the convoy. So compared to the other Hunters, he was relatively on the weaker side.

Akira imagined just how big the world was and sighed. He was making a rather conflicted expression mixed with a tint of both admiration and self-mockery.

But Alpha was smiling as usual at Akira and said to him.

“If you keep looking up at the sky while you’re climbing a mountain, you won’t notice how far you’re from the top, but there’s no mistaking it. You’re getting closer to the tip. So don’t worry, there’s no need to rush. Let’s climb it at our own pace.”

“…You’re right.”

Akira pulled himself together and managed to give a smile to Alpha, who replied with a confident smile.

“Now then, let’s do what we usually do. Akira, let’s take them down and add them to your track record for the sake of reaching the top.”

Alpha pointed at the monsters that broke through the front and started shooting at the transport vehicles at the back of the convoy. They were the smaller monsters that the vanguards let go through since they were relatively harmless and would not be able to deal much damage to the transport vehicles. But even so, they were still huge compared to a single human. Some of them stuck themselves on the side or on the top of the transport vehicle and started biting off its armor. While the other small group continued forward toward where Akira and the rest were.

The display indicating the enemies started changing color to let Akira know that they were his responsibility now.

“Roger that!”

Akira smiled and aimed his rifle. With LEO multi-rifle in both hands, he aimed the muzzles toward the incoming monsters and started shooting.

Hikaru was observing the situation of the battle from inside the transport vehicle. She was checking the information sent from Akira’s information terminal and the sensors of the transport vehicle to look for enemies. She was watching closely at the flow of the battle from that information she was receiving and was planning to send a help request without asking Akira first in case the situation got worse.

But it seemed that there was no need to do so. Akira already turned everything that entered his area into minced meat and the number of the dead carcasses scattered in his area only kept increasing. He was holding the line against the swarming monsters using countless bullets and warheads. Despite being at a great disadvantage in terms of numbers, Akira was pushing back the swarm just fine.

The camera fixed on Akira’s headgear swayed left and right, up and down, following Akira’s movement. But it was not as bad as how fast Akira shifted his aim around. Of course, Akira did not have a problem following that movement, but that was not the case for Hikaru.

“Ah, nope, I’m out, this is going to make me puke.”

Thinking that it would help her judge the situation better, Hikaru tried to follow Akira’s movement. But she knew that it would be impossible to keep doing that any longer and dialed down the setting on her augmented vision. As she zoomed out the display of Akira’s vision, she expanded the data feed from the transport’s sensor.

The information display showed the blips around Akira vanishing one by one. Although the swarm was far from eradicated, judging at how fast the blips were vanishing, it seemed that the monsters could not overwhelm Akira.

[…This is amazing. No wonder Kibayashi likes him.]

Although she evaluated Akira’s skills highly, she was still making a stern expression. In the worst-case scenario, someone of this level of strength might rampage inside the middle district. And when that happened, the perpetrator and the one who allowed him inside would have to take responsibility for the damage, basically, it was Akira and her.

Those who had successfully handled dangerous articles for a long time were given special privileges to match their achievement. As such, those who were able to handle them skillfully and produce profits were rewarded with special rights.

This was exactly why Kibayashi had a lot of special privileges, this was also true for the relationship between Hunters and the Hunter Office. The Corporate Government was still having a hard time making sure that their power, which was enough to pose a threat to the whole eastern district, was to be used for the sake of good and for the development of the eastern district. At the very least, for now, they were managing themselves well.

Hikaru herself was yearning to join them, or at least, up until now.

“Haa… This is a mistake… No, I’ll do it!! Like hell I will lose here!!”

She shook her head and tried to banish that weak thought that she just worded out as she renewed her resolve.

Akira was moving around the rooftop of the transport vehicle while shooting the monsters down. The muzzles in front of his eyes were moving extremely fast. He no longer had the leeway to leisurely take aim, all of his focus was assigned to confirm the situation in front of his eyes.

He was receiving the data straight from his expensive information terminal through his connection to the old-world domain. He unconsciously took that flow of information as a normal thing and his brain used that information to perceive the world. Thanks to that, Akira was able to feel where the monsters were and quickly aimed his rifles in their general direction. He then used the aiming device connected to his headgear display to make the smaller adjustment to his aim. Then to top it off, Alpha also made a finer readjustment on his aim as well.

The bullets that Akira was using for his LEO multi-rifles were fuelled by forcefield reactants. Instead of using physical force, their firepower came from compressed energy, this type of bullet was known as Charge Bullet. Although, theoretically, there was no limit in how much energy it consumed, the available technology became the limiter of its firepower since stuffing too much-compressed energy would cause the bullet to explode instead of flying forward. Furthermore, the energy to power conversion became highly inefficient quickly past a certain level. Thus, further limiting the firepower of the Charge Bullet.

The Charge Bullet drew energy from the energy pack and compressed it to increase the firepower of the bullet, Alpha made an adjustment in that process as such, the bullets only consumed the right amount of energy needed to kill the monsters that Akira was fighting. While at the same time, Akira made sure to use the expensive extended magazine for his LEO multi-rifles so that he would not run out of ammo.

Due to these factors, the firepower, accuracy, and shooting speed of the LEO multi rifles that Akira was using were abnormally high, and this was true for both the left and the right ones. Akira was constantly swinging them around, spreading death and destruction to everything around him. Even with the overwhelming number of monsters in the swarm, the dead carcasses that were piling up around him made it obvious which one was overwhelming the other.

From Hikaru’s point of view, it seemed that Akira was having an easy time dealing with the monsters, but in reality, Akira could not take that fight easy.

“They’re just too many of them!!! What the heck with this number!?”

Akira already killed several monsters and the carcasses scattered around him were in no way scarce. But the monsters just kept coming at him. Although Alpha, who was smiling next to him, let him know that the situation was still far from dangerous, Akira still could not help but spit out some complaints.

“Akira, if it’s so hard on you, you can ask Hikaru for some help, you know?”

“If it’s way more than I can handle with your support, then I don’t mind asking her now.”

“In that case, there’s no need to then.”

Alpha and Akira exchanged a smile which let both of them know that they were doing fine, but Akira then frowned.

“Alpha, just how many more do I need to kill?”

“You’re doing very well, these smaller monsters are all coming from the bigger monsters that were shot down. It’s just like those smaller spiders from that Tank Tarantula, you remember that one, right? So, it’s the same as that monster.”

“I see. With their size, it’s not strange for there to be so many monsters. There doesn’t seem to be an end to them.”

“Well, there is also the fact that they are swarming all the transport vehicles, so even if you clean up the ones around you, it won’t take much time for the monsters surrounding the area to fill in the vacuum.”

To be more precise, although Akira was assigned somewhere in the back, it was still originally an area assigned for a whole team. It was only because Hikaru somehow forced her way to get Akira in, that he was able to accept this escort job. Furthermore, in order to avoid any possible trouble in the chain of command, there was quite a distance between each team. This was to lower the chance of them getting into a fight. Due to that, Akira had to do the job that was originally meant for multiple people, alone.

Hikaru knew that this would happen and so she had prepared accordingly. But it seemed that it was unnecessary seeing how Akira was able to handle that job alone just fine.

Akira had no plan to call for help but fighting an unending flow of monsters was still hitting his motivation hard. Since it was not like there was anything else he could do there, Akira decided to use that chance to get a better track record.

“Alright then! Let’s use this chance to get a good achievement!! Alpha! Let’s get a little bit more serious!”

“Roger that!”

Alpha understood what Akira was talking about through telepathy, she then smiled and changed her instruction that she had been holding back to increase Akria’s destructive power.

Of course, the monsters did not just stand there waiting for Akira to destroy them. Although with their relatively large size, these monsters were flying agilely like small insects and had the power to lift multiple times their body weight. Their speed and strength were just as great as their size. The armour scales that enveloped their bodies could easily deflect normal bullets while their legs, arms, and jaws could easily crush metals and rubble. Although the transport vehicles were protected by forcefield armour, they still could not withstand this assault forever.

Not to mention, many of the monsters also had long-range weapons. They were spitting out fluid produced from an organ that grew out from their bodies. The fluid itself also varied. Some of them hardened and turned into bullets in mid-air, some of them had an abnormally sticky property, while some were highly acidic and melted everything they touched. Either way, it would be fatal if Akira got hit by any of them. The hardened fluid would crush his body, while the sticky fluid would stop his movement and he would drown in them, and the acidic fluid would melt his body. These fluids started dotting the rooftop, thus limiting the area where Akira could safely set foot on.

Akira quickly jumped between the safe areas, although they were not that many and not that wide to give Akira a place to plant himself, he was still able to jump between them without slowing down at all. He understood and followed the visual instructions that Alpha placed in his augmented vision. Moreover, the forcefield armour on his augmented suit also served some level of protection from the acidic fluid. He moved around swiftly to evade the incoming attacks while shooting down the enemies so that it would give him more places to step on. While at the same time, he was also herding the monsters.

Due to his herding, the monsters around Akira were concentrated into one location and it only grew more concentrated with time. Although Akira was surrounded just a moment ago, he now was fighting the monsters in one general direction. Right when he reached that point, Akira pulled back his LEO multi-rifles and turned on the AF anti-material cannon on his back. As the AF anti-material cannon unfolded in front of him, Akira gripped it with both of his hands and changed its setting to maximize the shooting area. After he pulled down the trigger, he also swung the cannon in an arc.

The light lance shot out from the AF anti-material cannon’s muzzle swallowed the monsters in front of it.

Once the light went off and vanished to the distance, due to the lowered firepower in exchange for the area covered, none of the monsters disintegrated. But that did not mean that it did not have any effect on them, the monsters that were swallowed by the light started falling to the ground one by one. While those that were still flying had lost their original mobility due to the damage, although they still could fly, they would not be able to catch up with the transport vehicle anymore and were left behind just like that.

Akira lightly sighed. Although he was satisfied with the result, he was still frowning.

“That took out most of them, but am I in the red with that one?”

“I wonder. It depends on how they calculate the reward, but if I have to say, it might be in the red.”

The ammunition for the AF anti-material cannon was extremely expensive. Although it was a trump card to kill huge monsters, it was not designed to clean up small fries. If that shot did not take out enough small fries, it would definitely mean his total revenue would be in the red. Akira knew that very well, but he told himself that it was for the sake of building up his career as a Hunter and decided to use it. At least, that was what he thought before he pulled the trigger.

“…It’s fine. I don’t want to spend time chipping on a swarm that big. I’ll leave it to Hikaru so that it will end up in black. Yep, let’s do that.”

“You’re right, let’s put our hope in her negotiation skill.”

Alpha was smiling mischievously as if she was teasing Akira and he just returned with a bitter smile.

After Akira eliminated his area from monsters, the other monsters near the area quickly filled in that vacuum.

“Akira, we have reinforcements.”

“Alright! One more time.”

Akira returned LEO multi-rifles to both of his hands and started shooting at the incoming monsters, hoping that the reward from that would balance out shooting his AF anti-material cannon.