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THE DAGGER AND THE BULLET GLARE AT EACH OTHER

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*****

The soldiers flooded into the residential sector, blasting through barricades and cutting down anyone who dared to resist. In the blink of an eye, they had secured every single entry and exit point.

Even though the residents hadn't been prepared for an interception, the whole operation had taken only a minute or two. The soldiers who had seized the entrances scattered into the residential area in four-man squads.

A heavy, tense silence fell over the dark alleyways.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by gunfire, explosions, shouts, and screams, only to fade away and leave the area in quiet once more. This cycle repeated itself several times.

All that remained were those who had surrendered and those cowering in the shadows of their living spaces. The women, children, and elderly left behind weren't entirely incapable of fighting; in terms of sheer numbers, the residents still held the advantage.

However, having witnessed the overwhelming difference in power, they were frozen in place. And after the ship-wide PA system announced that surrender would be accepted, fighting until the bitter end was no longer an option anyone was willing to choose.

***

Meanwhile, Rob moved silently through the back alleys, keeping an eye on the soldiers' movements. Berta had vanished somewhere without him noticing, but Rob didn't pay it much mind; he just watched the raid unfold from the shadows, tracking every move of the soldiers as they were illuminated by the occasional red flash of security lights in the darkness.

Their equipment was inconsistent, with Magitech machinery showing visible rust attached to their bodies. Their primary weapons seemed to be suppressed firearms and melee gear. They were rough around the edges, with unkempt stubble, bloodshot eyes, and corners of their mouths curled into expressions of sheer twisted glee—they looked utterly drunk on the violence. And yet, there wasn't a single wasted movement in how they operated.

Rob had already figured out that these soldiers were members of the organization led by the investigator Neil Flags, and that this raid was part of the operation to rescue the Interworld Train. That was why he hadn't interfered until now—but...

The piercing wail of a baby stabbed into his eardrums.

That was the trigger.

Immediately after, the screams of women and children erupted from all corners of the residential sector. The sound of shelves being toppled, screams like ripping silk, the cries of infants, the tearing of clothes.

「Damn it...」

Rob clicked his tongue at the sudden onset of atrocities.

This was a world that had once experienced total civilizational collapse. It seemed that not only their culture and technology had been lost, but their sense of ethics as well. Much like a war-torn region in a lawless era, the rape, looting, and pillaging began in earnest.

This might just be the norm for this land, but...

Rob pulled the Mecha-Platypus he’d shoved into his backpack and casually rolled it toward the living space the soldiers had just stormed.

*Clack, clack-clack.*

The Magitech machine, which resembled a platypus more than a dog, let out a pathetic cry.

The next second, the soldier who had rushed out of the living space turned it into Swiss cheese. Countless bullets tore into it, sending sparks flying. The floppy ears, which had barely passed for canine, were ripped off, and bullets embedded themselves into its left eye and body. It looked even more like a platypus now, but the sheer tragic aura of it had increased tenfold.

「Tch, a toy?」

The soldier scanned the surrounding darkness, but there was nothing unusual to see. His comrades, who had been busy looting valuables from other living spaces, popped their heads out, but quickly went back to their pillaging.

「Interrupting me at the best part, huh.」

The soldier spat, and in his irritation, he slammed a bullet into the Mecha-Platypus's remaining right eye. He spat again, and just as he turned to head back into the living space, Rob slid in.

In that split second, illuminated only by the sparks flying from the destroyed Mecha-Platypus, Rob saw the soldier's gear. He saw their combat training, their reaction speed, the clunky coordination with their allies, and their crude operational principles.

Judging in an instant that they were suppressible, Rob slid out from the shadows right to the soldier's feet and fired Revolving Shotgun from both hands.

The shells were fired silently, but the moment they hit the soldier's face, they expanded into a large, cross-shaped burst. The bullets clamped onto the face and blew the entire body away, embedding it deep into the ceiling.

The soldier was silenced in a single blow, his jaw shattered by the cross-restraint shells as his head was slammed hard into the ceiling.

The rest of the squad instantly sensed the anomaly and jumped out of the living space. But Rob didn't give them the chance to react.

He unleashed three more cross-restraint shells in total silence.

The three soldiers were blown away, their faces caught by the shells, and they were pinned to the wall like insects. Even as the soldiers tried to force the Magitech equipment on their bodies to move, Rob fired again, pinning their limbs and rendering them completely immobile.

「――Move, and you die.」

The three soldiers ignored Rob's warning, forcing their Magitech equipment to max output as they tried to move in unison.

Just as they began to shift, they were pinned to the wall once more, and then they stopped moving entirely. Armor-piercing shells, resembling metal spikes, were driven straight through their armored chests.

***

Sensing the sounds of combat, soldiers began to swarm, but for some reason, they couldn't find Rob.

Every soldier was equipped with Magitech gear providing night vision, but they couldn't spot the intruder in the densely packed, jungle-like residential sector. If they had thermal sensing or x-ray capabilities, they might have found him instantly, but they didn't have anything of the sort. They were toys in Rob's hands as he moved through the shadows, systematically picking them off one by one.

「Is that all of them?」

Rob had effectively pinned the soldiers of a whole sector to the walls. The squad that had seized the four entrances gave up on interfering, opting to simply blockade the residential area instead.

「...Well, now what?」

Well, I doubt I'll get an answer by thinking about it, he told himself, resigning to the situation. While shooing away the residents who were approaching to get their revenge, he picked up the Mecha-Platypus, which had bullets embedded in both eyes, and kept a wary eye on both factions while pondering what to do next.

A little while later, one of the entrances became noisy.

Lights were lit in the residential sector.

「――Explain to me exactly what this situation is.」

The man stomped out his cigarette butt as he looked at the soldiers pinned to the walls. Arcelia was behind him, but she kept her mouth shut and stood back, as if the man was her superior.

He was a middle-aged man with sharp, dead-looking green eyes that left a lasting impression. He wore an unbuttoned black shirt, a dark suit, and a black coat over it. He radiated the overwhelming aura of a mafia boss.

Rob explained with a look of extreme seriousness.

「I didn't know if they were criminals or soldiers, so I shut them up. I only killed the four who resisted. The rest are alive. By the way, who are you? I'm Rob. I'm with Arcelia there.」

「I am Neil Flags. But what is this? I come to rescue the Interworld Train, only to find my own subordinates killed by an ally.」

「There's no way to tell friend from foe with that kind of ship-wide PA broadcast. Especially not when you're acting like villains who attack people even after they've surrendered. It's only natural to mistake you for the enemy, right?」

「Don't lump this place in with some carefree, civilized nation. Why should I help you lot when there's nothing in it for me?」

Upon Neil's arrival, the soldiers who had been pinned to the walls began to struggle. There was hostility in their eyes.

Even while talking to Neil, Rob pulled the trigger of his Revolving Shotgun as declared.

「――I intended to pierce you along with your gun, but...」

The bullet was knocked away in a random direction; a black dagger thrown by Neil had struck the muzzle of his gun.

Rob grinned and glanced slightly behind Neil.

「Nice reflexes, Arcelia.」

Arcelia glared daggers at Rob, who seemed to be deliberately provoking Neil.

With Rob's bullet blocked, the soldier who had been pinned to the wall broke free and began to move. But Arcelia, who had been behind Neil, instantly closed the distance, striking the soldier sideways with a large shackle, then catching the soldier's wrist in a binding hold with her follow-up.

No matter how much the soldier pushed the output of his Magitech gear, his wrist remained locked in the "Shackles that Capture Evil."

Neil glared at Arcelia, but she stared back, with no hint of shame.

「Investigator Flags, this ship has already been pacified, and they have surrendered. Further combat is unnecessary.」

「Don't misunderstand. It was us who pacified it, not the incompetent guards of the Interworld Train.」

「Under the Alliance's Rules of Engagement――」

「They don't apply to conflicts within this world. Don't go spouting your worthless justice, you tourists who do nothing but peek out of train windows.」

Once told that, Arcelia had no choice but to clam up. Even so, she didn't release the shackles.

「You talk as if you're the one representing justice.」

When Rob asked this, Neil pulled a cigarette from his pocket with those dead eyes, put it in his mouth, and lit it.

「There is no justice or evil. The strong devour, and the weak are trampled. The victor is the only one qualified to dictate justice and history. That is all.」

Neil furrowed his brow and exhaled a plume of purple smoke.

「Then there's no problem. You guys were strong, so you crushed the armed liner. I was stronger, so I kicked your soldiers around.」

「――Kid, think before you speak.」

Soldiers appeared from behind Neil. The soldiers who had been pinned to the wall forcibly broke their bindings and surrounded Rob.

Before he knew it, black daggers were floating around Neil, and the coat he wore was rippling. It was the "Hundred Blades," a set of daggers that cut through anything but supernatural power, and the "Cloth Armor of Dark Protection," which spread out like darkness to provide a solid defense.

But Rob, too, had completed a full-body armed transformation in an instant.

He manifested massive firearms on his hands, shoulders, back, and legs, pointing muzzles in every direction. His slightly exposed skin had a metallic luster, looking almost like the barrels of his guns.

It was a hair-trigger situation.

「The locals here are just collateral damage. I guess this is what it means to be a Hero.」

「My bullets only hit the people I'm aiming at... As for Arcelia, well, good luck.」

To be precise, he would erase the bullets before they could become stray shots. Rob had already chased away the nearby residents, so there wouldn't be any collateral damage.

Although it sounded like an afterthought, Arcelia slipped past Neil's side and stood to protect Rob's back.

「So, what's it going to be? Are you going to kill just me, or Arcelia too?」

Rob and Neil glared at each other.

But Neil effortlessly made the daggers vanish.

「...Fine. I have already come to an agreement with the conductor.」

Neil ordered his bloodshot-eyed subordinates to stand down, though their emotions were about to explode.

「These guys are going to leave this place, anyway. After that, do as you please.」

With those words, the subordinates sheathed their weapons.

It was true. No matter what Rob did, and no matter what Arcelia said, as long as they didn't stay in this land, the fate of the residents wouldn't change.

Rob said nothing, deactivated half of his armament, and took Arcelia with him toward the Interworld Train.

*****

Rob in this chapter:

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