Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 6 - Chapter 5.5

5

As Adelie continues to stand in stunned silence, I point my index finger at her.

“Don’t make it sound like you’re just some bystander. You’re the cause of all this chaos!”

“M-m-m-m-me?! What are you talking about?! How did my everyday good deeds result in terrorism in the city of Toris?!”

Adelie, who seems to have been caught off guard by my remark, tries to play dumb.

It seems that Snow can’t just let Adelie’s statement go without comment, and she hops on to her unicorn, drawing her sword.

“How dare you continue to mock us, even now! Don’t think we’ll simply forget all that you’ve done to the Grace Kingdom! We’re here because we’ve accepted your declaration of war!”

“Really, what are you going on about?! What do you mean, declaration of war?! I don’t know anything about that!”

Well, true, we haven’t gotten a formal declaration of war by letter or by messenger.

But…

“We’re already well aware that you were conducting acts of sabotage to cause a rebellion in Grace. Not only that, but sending your monster to invade us is clearly an act of war.”

“Causing a rebellion?! I don’t know anything about that. And what do you mean, sending a monster to invade you?!”

Even after Grimm points out her crimes, Adelie, of course, shows no sign of admitting to them.

Tired of Adelie’s attempts at playing dumb, Alice holds up her shotgun and speaks.

“Don’t play innocent after all that you’ve done. Of course, we don’t have any clear evidence that’s what you were planning. Obviously, no operative is going to be stupid enough to leave evidence of their intentions. But we’re the Kisaragi Corporation, an evil organization with a long history. So long as we think you’re responsible, we don’t need evidence. Besides…”

I cut Alice off by putting an arm in front of her.

Sorry, but it’s my right to speak up as Viper’s playmate.

“And you even hurt our boss who’s been working so hard lately that she’s lost a lot sleep. We, the Grace branch of the Kisaragi Corporation, are extremely pissed off about that. And we always get even. We don’t care who you guys are. We’re here for revenge! Once I beat your ass and kidnap you, I’m going to force you to apologize to Vi!”

“I really don’t know what you’re on about, but I’m well aware that you’re evil! I’m Adelheid Krueger, the Umbral Savior! Member of the Hiiragi Agency of Order! Don’t think you can win with such a small number of allies, Agentsix!”

At Adelie’s declaration, Snow spurs on her unicorn.

Despite the fact that we’re on a wet cobblestone road, Grimm kneels in place and clasps her hands together.

“I’m not Agentsix. I’m Combat Agent Six, employee of the Kisaragi Corporation! I’ll accept that you’re a Hero. The accepted wisdom is for Combat Agents to fight Heroes with an advantage in numbers. So don’t hate me for this!”

With that, I begin running in the pouring rain.

“Diiiiiiie, Hero!”

At my high-pitched screech, Alice provides cover fire with her shotgun.

Adelie is already on guard when she sees Alice’s weapon, and she crosses her arms in front of her face to guard herself from the scattering of buckshot.

Snow, who reached Adelie a step before me, shouts, “My name is Snow, knight captain of the kingdom of Grace! I hereby announce my claim to the head of the treacherous Adelie!”

“Don’t call me treacherous when you’re the corrupt governor!”

Even as she gives an idiotic response, Adelie uses her gauntlet to block Snow’s burning blade.

Adelie grabs the blade, showing no concern about the heat from the flames. Snow quickly lets go of the blade and grabs the hilt of another sword on her saddle, draws it, and strikes at Adelie with it.

Adelie tosses the sword in her hand aside and dodges Snow’s slash with a backstep, prompting Snow to throw the sword in her hand at her before drawing the ice sword on her hip.

Snow spurs her horse forward as Adelie dodges the sword thrown in her direction with just a tilt of her head.

…With just this short exchange I once again recognize Adelie’s sheer skill as a combatant.

We’re in the middle of enemy territory, and there are still soldiers scurrying about. It’ll be bad for us if the fight goes on too long.

I run forward as Snow and Adelie are engaged in a fierce struggle.

“Release restraints!”

<Removing restraints from power armor. Proceed?>

I shout as I run. Behind me, Alice begins speaking into her comm link.

“Addressing all Combat Agents. Alice here. Given the difficulty in entering the palace, we’re now switching to Operation Mogero. Wrap up your sabotage activities and make immediate preparations to retreat.”

<Once restraints are released, you will have one minute to—>

As though to cover up that announcement, Grimm speaks in a sultry voice.

“It’s here, it’s here! This is going to be big! I feel the strength of the people’s feelings and the power of my god! O Great Lord Zenarith, deliver disaster unto this realm! Bring down misery and woe upon this land’s people!”

“What’s with that crazy woman?! Is she some sort of evil ancient spirit?!”

Even Adelie is put off by the sheer enthusiasm of Grimm’s prayer.

I, of course, find myself cringing as well.

“The people of this land shall be cursed to dream of lovemaking sessions with orcs for three days and three nights!”

Perhaps because of the sheer intensity of the curse, the ground beneath me shakes.

<Releasing restraints. To cancel, please revoke the order during the countdown…>

Adelie’s armor glows momentarily as the curse also impacts her, and for some reason, Grimm falls over dead. Alice promptly collects her corpse.

In that same instant, Adelie ducks down to deliver a palm strike to Snow just as Snow is reaching for the katana on her back…

<…9…8…>

Adelie looks around in confusion at an even larger rumble from the ground, even as she took down Snow with a single blow.

“An earthquake in Toris…? First the storm and now this. There’s something odd going on tonight!”

Just when I am about a step away from Adelie, there is an enormous tremor, and the asphalt that covers the streets of Toris cracks and crumbles.

Mr. Mogero appears from the hole in the ground, and…

“PYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

…lets out a cry that sounds like metal twisting together as its giant body emerges, backlit by a lightning flash.

“Wh-wh-what…is that…?! Looks just like the Sand King, but it’s a giant metal mole!”

<…5…4…>

Having been distracted by Mr. Mogero’s sudden appearance, Adelie now notices my approach and falls into a defensive stance.

“That robot’s your fault, too, isn’t it? This is the middle of Toris. If there’s something that noticeable standing there, the others will get here soon. I can deal with that giant robot so long as the reinforcements help me. Then…”

<…2…1…>

Adelie crosses her arms in front of her face and slowly exhales.

With that, something resembling static electricity fills the air around her…!

“Let’s go, Agentsix! Justice Attaaaaaack!”

<Power armor restraints released.>

Adelie draws back her hands from her face, holding them a moment by her hip before she thrusts them out with a shout.

“Umbral Thunder!”

“Agent Six Kiiiiick!”

With my restraints released, I accelerate and quickly let loose with a flying kick.

Surprised by my sudden acceleration, Adelie’s reaction is a split second too slow.

Before her lightning-wreathed fist can reach me, Adelie is flung backward with a sound like two dump trucks colliding—!

“Wow, Six, she’s still conscious. That was a kick that could have killed a Hero… So what’s up with this armor?” says Alice, patting Adelie, who is sprawled out on the ground.

Considering that Alice feels the need to inject her with nanobots, Adelie may be conscious, but she’s in poor condition.

“After all, the flying kick is a terrifying move that’s killed countless mutants. If anything, it’s impressive she’s still alive after getting hit by one.”

Hearing that, Adelie seems to want to comment, but she has taken so much damage that all she can do is softly groan.

“Heh-heh. Well done, Six. I must say, I’m impressed that she and I were evenly matched even though I was equipped with my full arsenal…”

The loser who got knocked down by Adelie approaches while rubbing the spot on her stomach that suffered a nasty palm strike.

“You weren’t evenly matched. You lost even though Alice and I were covering for you.”

“Quiet. I only lost because I didn’t bring the cursed blade Deadstriker with me. If I had her with me, I would’ve won,” says Snow in a childish voice before averting her gaze. Rose hurries over after hopping off Mr. Mogero.

“Justice Lady! You’re the Justice Lady who bought me food in Grace! Why is this happening?!”

“Y-you… You’re the girl with the heart so pure, it made the crystal ball shine white…”

Rose and Adelie couldn’t have spent too much time together, so when did they get so friendly?

Had she been trying to recruit Rose as well…?

“Oh… I never expected you to be the pilot of that giant robot… So was it all just an act when you listened to me and agreed that justice was a good thing…?”

“I was only half listening because you promised to buy me meat skewers if I heard you out. But I do think being an ally of justice is a nice thing.”

After hearing this exchange, I realize they didn’t have much of a relationship after all.

“Haah… I’ve been soundly beaten… You know, I know I’m not the smartest, but I was at least confident in my fighting ability…”

“What a coincidence. My brain’s useless, but fighting is my one and only talent.”

Hearing that, Adelie chuckles and then coughs in pain.

It’s hard not to feel an odd sense of camaraderie with an enemy after a hard-fought battle. We’re both those who fight for a living, after all.

I turn to Adelie, who is still laboring to breathe.

“Looks like you’re friendly with Rose. Since you fed her skewers, I’ll hold off on kidnapping you and settle with you apologizing to Vi. This time.”

“Hey, Six, you’re probably freaked out because Adelie was hurt more badly than you expected, yes?”

Alice teases me, but Adelie seems concerned about something other than that.

“Vi…? Um, I really don’t know what you’re talking about…”

……?

“Playing dumb despite being this badly hurt? What’s wrong with her?”

“Um, I think she really doesn’t have any idea what we’re talking about…”

Just as Snow and I exchange glances and tilt our heads…

“All residents hearing this message, please evacuate the area at once. In a moment, the giant mole robot Mogero will be performing its final ‘fireworks display.’ This will probably be the fanciest day in Mogero’s short robot life.”

That announcement rings out from the speaker attached to Mr. Mogero.

It is delivered in Alice’s voice, but it is probably a prerecorded message.

“If this entire area is going to go up in a blaze, then it’d be a shame to leave all these great swords here! I’ll go save them…!”

The fact that Snow came up with a convenient excuse to go looting seems to clue in Adelie to what is about to happen, and she looks up at me with a concerned expression.

“…If this is a joke, it isn’t funny.”

“…Sorry, my partner’s a big fan of self-destructing. I tried really hard to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen to me and insisted she wanted to give the decrepit Mr. Mogero one last chance to shine…”

The whole point of this attack was to leave a big mark on Toris to make sure they respected Kisaragi.

Starting with the attacks from my coworkers, there was also the attack on the barracks by Heine and Russell, Snow’s looting, and Grimm’s curse.

I’m pretty sure the mark we’re leaving behind is already big enough, but…

“Self-destruction is a robot’s final moment to shine! Don’t underestimate Kisaragi, dammit—!”

“Are you serious?! Are you seriously serious?! SERIOUSLY?! You heartless, ruthless, evil organization! You’ll pay for this! AHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Adelie, who has yet to regain full control of her body, tries desperately to get away from Mr. Mogero. Her voice has a certain sadness in it distinct to losing. It is a show truly comparable to Mr. Mogero’s final fireworks display.