Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 2 - Chapter 4.5

5 

“Russell of the Water, pillar of the Demon Lord’s Elite Four, falls before me!” 

“Russell?!” Heine lets out a pained scream as Russell collapses to the ground. 

Having closed the distance, we surround her. 

“Hands where I can see them!” 

“S-S-Six?! What are you doing here…?!” 

Heine, who has yet to recover from her shock, obeys and raises her hand as Alice and I point our guns at her. 

“We’ll be taking this weapon off your hands now. If you resist, we’ll make you watch as we shoot the brat next to you.” 

“““Yikes…””” 

I explained the plan to them earlier, but my subordinates look thoroughly disgusted by my actions. 

At my words, Heine seems to fully understand what’s going on, and her expression slowly turns to surprise. “Y-y-you bastard! W-wait. Have you been following us the whole time?! Was your plan to take all the spoils at the end?!” 

“Yep, you got it. It’s been smooth sailing for us since you two took care of all the obstacles.” 

“That’s so messed up! You scumbag! There are lines you shouldn’t cross…!” Heine protests (however little that’s worth), tears welling in her eyes. 

But I mean, c’mon, we’re an evil organization. What are we supposed to do…? 

Besides, I didn’t get any Evil Points this time, so this isn’t even a particularly villainous thing to do. 

“Don’t sweat the small stuff. Just come along quietly as a prisoner… Ah, that reminds me, Heine. Earlier, you said ‘Actually, you know what? There is someone I hate. I’d love to put an end to a certain son of a bitch, at the very least.’ Who were you talking about, hmm?” 

“ Eeep?! I—I—I wasn’t talking about you…” 

Even as I bully her, Heine keeps casting worried glances at the motionless Russell. 

Oh, right, this brat knows all about what’s in here. I need to wake him up and get the information out of him. 

“Hey, Alice, go extract some information from that brat.” 

“Got it…” Responding quickly to my instructions, Alice bends over to check on Russell. “Um, there might be one teensy problem with that request, though,” she says. “He’s not breathing. Looks like you landed a critical hit. Good work, Six.” 

“Russell!” Heine lets out another cry. 

“Wha? You serious?! Oh crap! H-hey, wake up! Alice, can you do something about this?!” 

“I’ll inject him with a stimulant, I guess. Not much we can do if that doesn’t work.” 

Everyone but Alice and I seem pretty appalled at the situation. Still, it looks like the shot worked, and Russell eventually comes to. 

“Guh… Wh-what happened…?” 

“Well, good morning. You almost died from one of my blows. But since the fight was pretty much over, we decided to have mercy on you and get you back up.” 

The color hasn’t quite returned to Russell’s face, and I give him the rundown. 

“Wow, that’s a pretty audacious claim, considering how he panicked after the attack was too effective.” 

“And now he’s declaring himself the winner…” 

“Wow, even Lord Zenarith thinks this is too much. Are you sure we should keep following the commander?” 

The peanut gallery continues its hushed discussion as Russell observes his surroundings. 

“…Ah, I see, I took a sneak attack. And then you waited for me to come to because you wanted to steal the weapon, right?” 

“Good guess! Well, now, no sudden moves. If you twitch the wrong way, I’ll go ahead and attack you and this machine.” 

“I get that I’m a demon and all,” Heine interjects, “so this might sound like a weird question…but how in the hell do you live with yourself?” 

She’s going on about something, but right now the giant weapon is more important. 

“First, you’re gonna open this up. Then you’ll listen to our instructions and teach us how to operate this big bastard.” 

“ Miss Snow ,” Rose whispers, “ this whole situation makes me feel like a really evil villain. I can’t keep watching this .” 

“ D-don’t look at me… This is for the good of the country. Yes, the good of the country …” 

“ Snow, try saying that while looking me in the eye ,” Grimm says. 

I continue to ignore them and listen to Russell’s explanation instead. 

“Activation is easy. Anyone that’s involved with this facility can start it.” 

It’s almost anticlimactic as Russell obediently opens the glass case and begins talking. Maybe he’s afraid of me after my powerful blow almost killed him. 

“So how do you actually move it?” 

“Like this.” 

In response to my question, Russell shimmers briefly and…disappears?! 

“Six, what the hell was that?! It swallowed up Russell of the Water!” Snow exclaims frantically while I hit the machine. 

But the robot’s interior begins to flash as though it’s got a heartbeat…! 

“Dammit! I’m startin’ to think we might be too late…!” 

“Six, get the hell away from it! Forget about stealing that thing! We have to destroy it!” 

I follow Alice’s warning and beat a hasty retreat as a giant hand emerges from the opened glass case, big enough to crush a person. 

I’ve seen this type of weapon countless times. The Heroes love these things. 

Yep, the thing standing up from the glass is a giant humanoid robot. 

“FREEEEZE!” I yell at the robot, keeping my gun trained. 

For a moment, it look like Russell is going to ignore me, but he stops moving when he catches sight of me pointing the gun. 

He shouldn’t have any idea what a gun even is, but Heine’s reaction to having one pointed at her is apparently enough to give him a good guess. 

“S-Six, s-surely that’s going too far…” Snow backs away, but now’s really not the time to arguing about this. 

Heine raises her hands, and I step behind her, treating her like a human shield, gun barrel pointed at her back. I don’t know why, but it feels like my allies are repulsed just as much as the enemy. 

Heine, still at gunpoint, lets out a deep sigh. 

And then… 

“Russell, can I leave the rest to you?” 

“Yeah, now that I have this, it’s not a problem. Go on ahead.” 

I connect the dots of their conversation—this is the part where Heine escapes using some sort of device. 

As if to confirm my suspicion, Heine reaches into her cleavage and retrieves a single stone…! 

“Six, it’s a draw this time! But next time… Wha?! Hey, don’t… EEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!” 

“Nice try!” 

I shove my hand into Heine’s cleavage hoping to grab the stone first, but unfortunately, I’m a heartbeat too slow. 

It must have been a teleportation item of some kind. Heine vanishes, and in her place she leaves… 

“Huh, congrats, Six. Got yourself a gem, eh?” 

Yes—I’m holding Heine’s bra. 

“Th-that’s… Ah, Heine must have used a teleport stone. It must have left the undergarment because Six was holding it,” Snow explains. 

“That means Heine just arrived at the Demon Lord’s castle topless, doesn’t it…?” Grimm observes, her face an emotionless mask. 

“H-Heine…,” Russell mutters softly with a grimace. 

An announcement rings in my mind, confirming those observations. 

<Evil Points Acquired>