Chapter 37

1.

“Hnnngh!”

I inhaled sharply and thrust my shield forward.

With the contraction of my muscles, the explosively swung shield struck the neck of the automaton that had just ambushed me.

Crack!

The automaton shattered instantly, its head separating from the body. As it crumbled quickly, I looked down at it and scratched my head in irritation.

“…This feels dirty.”

[Um, what was that? The detector didn’t pick up any signals just now. Where did it suddenly come from?]

“It’s a different type of automaton with an unconventional operating method. To put it simply, its very ‘attribute’ has been altered.”

[An automaton in an inverted state, you say?]

Given Himari’s knowledge of the mysterious, she immediately deduced the truth about the ‘terrorization.’

However, the fact that I couldn’t rely on her help was a significant drawback. If the terrorized soldiers couldn’t be detected by the usual detectors, the situation became more complex.

Moreover,

“I can’t sense their presence. It’s like they’re already ‘dead’?”

There’s a strange, unsettling sensation.

But none of them feel like I’m dealing with living beings or ordinary objects.

A being that shouldn’t exist in this world, something that never existed here, or something that has died here and disappeared.

It feels like I’m facing such entities.

Matching the mystery’s inversion called ‘Terror,’ every encounter stimulates my instincts with an eerie sensation. Is it because my senses aren’t ordinary?

‘I don’t know about that.’

The frequency that Himari didn’t hear earlier and the terrorized soldiers likely indicate that there’s something I alone can perceive, which isn’t unusual.

Moreover,

“This place was the enemy’s headquarters all along.”

[…Can we win?]

I had already fallen into the enemies’ trap.

As evidence, numerous terrorized soldiers were approaching where I stood.

There are at least dozens of them.

To Himari’s question, I remained silent for a moment before answering.

“We will win.”

It was a clear answer.

2.

The X, Decagram, and Terrorized Soldiers,

along with the Kaiser Corporation’s subsidiaries here and the increasingly suspicious requests.

I thought they had meticulously prepared a trap. No, they never even attempted to hide that it was a trap.

They revealed the information as if awaiting us, and as if on cue, sent out the terrorized soldiers to fight.

It’s like they’re saying, “Give it a try.”

Who? Why me? Such questions were unnecessary.

Was Gamatria ever a group that could be understood?

Just as I can’t comprehend them, they can’t understand me. Thus, they undertook this matter to investigate me. And I, too—

Wanted to know their purpose.

So, let’s play along with them once.

“Let’s do it.”

Peeee-

Once again, the unidentified frequency rang out. However, this time it seemed that Himari also heard it, as she tried to say something with a surprised voice.

[Hiiro! That sound just now…!]

Ch-chichichichichichichi!

Suddenly, the communication was cut off, preventing her from speaking.

Hiiro took the in-ear monitor out of his pocket and raised his shield. He thought about using the Web Shooter, but wanted to fight this time using only the shield for the sake of a simple experiment.

Keeee-!

Guguuguuung-

The automatons, who only perform commands, looked up at Hiiro with their guns raised.

Chuckling, Hiiro leaped forward as bursts of bullets immediately fired.

Dotodododododododododododoto-!!!

The sound of countless bullets bouncing off the shield with a ting-ting-ting was heard. The shield, which absorbed most of the impact, firmly protected Hiiro from the rain of bullets.

The moment Hiiro landed by rolling forward using a break-fall technique from the building, he swung his shield toward the nearest automaton—

Bang!!

The shield plunged into the heart of the automaton. Actually, it split it in half with more than just that. Hiirō’s attack, which had already transcended human strength, shattered their armor, even if they were terrorized.

Chiiikeee-!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Immediately, while throwing his shield, Hiirō disabled three nearby automatons that were readying their guns.

Bracing his feet with great force from the same spot, jumping skyward, Hiirō quickly retrieved his shield and threw it back toward the automatons on the ground.

Even while doing this, bullets were being fired at Hiirō targeting him, but for Hiirō, who could read their trajectories with his heightened senses, these bullets from the non-terrorized automatons were nothing more than futile means that failed to cause serious damage.

Before Hiirō knew it, nearly ten of them had fallen, and as if urging himself to keep accelerating, his speed increased even more.

Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The impact sound resounding with each single blow shook the space.

As each blow lands with a shield, the altered attributes of the automatons are ignored, and they’re destroyed as if hit by a hammer.

“Hnnnh—!!”

Even though Hiirō recognized his rapidly depleting stamina, she continued moving more quickly, incorporating the movements of the terrorized soldiers into his vision, swiftly judging, and etching the order of attack into his mind.

Machine guns, bazookas, and shields.

The various forms of terrorized automatons attack Hiirō at their respective positions while waiting for the opportunity.

But for Hiirō, none of these attacks worked.

Her newly forged shield and her heightened senses combined to create an existence far superior to Silk in terms of defense.

When bullets fly, Hiirō blocks them with the shield,

When the bazooka fires, she either dodges or blocks it with the shield,

And if blocked with the same shield, she shatters them with her own shield.

Even though they were in an inverted state, the basic defense strategies didn’t deviate from what he had previously thought.

Though there was a disadvantage in not detecting them sensorially, Hiirō was quick to identify their flaws.

‘Still lacking in collective thinking. And they’re weak.’

They are far from the conventional examples of the “Ustini Order” mentioned in the game.

Perhaps it’s a model from the early stages of terrorization?

Or is the technology still incomplete?

I don’t know. But at this moment, what Hiirō felt was that …

“This is simple.”

To Hiirō, who has experience in countless battlefields and has gained enhanced abilities, these enemies are infinitely weak.

Hiirō quietly muttered as she destroyed the last remaining terrorized automaton by throwing her shield at its head.

The initial sense of crisis she felt, enemies outside her sensorial reach,

And this unknown.

For a moment, she had a hunch.

Sometime in the future, a far stronger “terrorized” soldier might appear.

‘If that happens, it could get difficult.’

A powerful enemy of the future has arisen.

The moment I understood this, I gained a new goal.

“…I need to get stronger.”

I needed overwhelming power.

3.

After all the terrorized soldiers had been destroyed and I was catching my breath roughly.

Clap-clap-clap

An unpleasant sound of clapping came from somewhere.

When the sound suddenly came, I couldn’t help but jump in surprise.

Why didn’t I sense it this time too?

Damn, having this happen twice in a row isn’t good!

I swiftly turned my head toward the source of the sound and immediately saw them.

“…Shit.”

A man in a black suit with a white crack on his face.

A mannequin-like being with two heads.

And a headless entity holding a frame and a cane.

Gematria.

The beings called that name had appeared before my eyes.

Among them, the twin-like being with two heads—”Maestro”—was clapping incessantly as if praising me.

‘Why is he like this? He’s crazy.’

Then, suddenly,

“Bravo! The enigmatic power, without origin or limit, that you possess, ‘The Nameless One’! Your belief does not break even in the face of the inverted terror…! Although your work was incomplete, your victory was simple!”

“Aah, Aahhh! You are a ‘Muse’ that endlessly inspires me!”

Before anyone else could speak, Maestro stepped forward, arms wide open, and shouted.

Maestro, with the unique creaking sound of a wooden puppet, directed a burdensome gaze—though it’s hard to tell if it’s really a gaze—toward me.

At the moment I instinctively moved to throw my shield with a scowl—

“Hmph. Excuse us for creating such a situation, Silk. We have merely come to greet you.”

A figure clad in a black suit, ‘Black Suit’, stepped forward as if to restrain my actions. I smirked and glared at him.

“…Greeting? After attacking me, you talk about greetings?”

“Isn’t the expression irrelevant as long as the meaning is clear? What’s important is that we have no intention of ‘opposing’ you. On the contrary, we wish to cooperate. We want to explore further. After all, you are a very intriguing existence. Surely you must feel the same.”

“What the-”

Black Suit’s subsequent explanation was truly astonishing.

“An adult who isn’t quite an adult, a student who’s not entirely a student. A hero who has lost their own mystery. Isn’t that rather fascinating?”

“The nameless hero.”

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