Ch.136136. Marina Battle (3)

“Ellie. Where are you right now?”

[I’m down below. I need to find the capsule where the Boss is confined.]

“The doctor should have marked it with a hologram. Any forces inside?”

[No magical girls, just ordinary humans.]

“…Neutralize them.”

[I’m already doing that, you know?]

“…If necessary, you can kill them.”

[Bine…?]

“People who imprison our Boss don’t deserve to enjoy the new world. They’ve thrown away that right themselves. It’s practically suicide on their part. Just kill them.”

[Bine, what are you saying… kill them…?]

“If that’s the better option, then killing is the right choice. Yes. Idiots who don’t follow the ideal. Garbage not even worth educating…”

Suddenly, anger boils up inside me.

I shouldn’t have such emotional fluctuations.

It could cause problems with the mission…

No, that’s impossible.

I need to quickly rescue the Boss and ask about what comes next.

It’s important.

I can control my trivial emotions for that purpose.

See?

My anger toward those pieces of trash has already subsided.

Phew.

I walk past the collapsed people and head inside.

What does it matter if they cut the electricity?

We can already operate on batteries.

For a facility of this level, just one battery is enough to keep things running.

Still stupidly relying on nuclear fission or thermal power.

We’re more efficient, using energy converted from human emotions.

Humans are truly laughable.

There must have been intense fighting—I can see bullet marks and chaos everywhere.

“Doctor? Can you hear me?”

[I hear you clearly.]

“What about the control rights?”

[Hela planted our hacking module in the control layer. You can control it from your device, so go rescue the Boss.]

“Yes, understood.”

On my device…

Ah, there it is.

Calling the elevator to go down.

Well, that’s good.

“Ellie?”

[Bine.]

“I’m heading down. The Boss?”

[Still searching. Should be in the deepest room.]

“Don’t mess things up by touching strange capsules. There are dangerous criminals too.”

[I know. It’s just dark down here.]

“Right. I’ll be down soon.”

While walking to the elevator, I check once more for anything unusual.

If there’s anyone I failed to subdue, even by mistake, I’ll need to confirm the kill.

Well, it seems they’ve all been properly handled with unconsciousness.

I take the elevator down.

Down, further down.

Endless descent to the detention level.

There should have been strict surveillance equipment and personnel.

Well, now they’re all sprawled out unconscious.

All the surveillance equipment is broken and non-functional.

Nothing special.

Isn’t that expected?

We prepared so thoroughly. Could a mere government agency withstand us?

Only about 20 magical girls defending this Marina?

Well, it was a surprise attack.

I suppose we should call it a success.

Pfft… how pathetic. Yes.

There’s no way they could stop our Eden with mere military power.

The difference between individual combatants is just too great.

Of course, most of those combatants were used to stop the magical girls, but still.

“Ellie.”

“Oh, you’re here?”

“Did you find it?”

“Yes. We just needed you.”

“…The warp device?”

“You know it’s for one person only, right? We can only send the Boss. The rest of us have to escape separately.”

“Once we rescue the Boss, everything else is just a bonus. Even if only some of us survive and return, it doesn’t matter if we take some losses.”

“…Right, that’s how it is. You’ve saved enough magical power for operation?”

“Yes. I also have spare batteries.”

“Then…”

Ellie led me deeper inside.

To where the Boss really is.

Voltorn and his combat units were standing guard.

The magical power needed to operate the warp device is enough for two people.

If three people share it, we can leave some behind and safely escort the Boss to our current headquarters.

The remaining personnel should use the leftover magical power to escape on their own.

If we all leave at once, our headquarters would surely be exposed, right?

We need to scatter in teams and then warp from possible locations.

…The capsule is really big.

Too large and heavy for just one person.

…Here at the bottom of this cold sea, in this massive capsule.

Ah…

Those horns, that head. That body.

…Boss, I see you like this.

Really, really.

It’s been a long time, Boss.

* * *

“Regroup! Prepare for their exit!”

“They’ll come back out this way. Be ready this time!”

After finally neutralizing all the combatants, I pulled Arin back.

Surely the one they call Boss will come out through this door.

Destroying the core, sacrificing my body to absorb the recoil.

I’ll finish off that damn… bastard here, no matter what.

What does this body matter anyway?

I asked Jibriel about it. She looked at me with worried eyes.

So I told her I’d disperse the impact using an asteroid from the asteroid belt. She said she understood for now.

As if such a method would even be possible.

I’ll take all the recoil myself.

If I couldn’t take that much to protect someone, I wouldn’t have made it this far.

It would be the most fitting end for a magical girl, wouldn’t it?

If Bine could exit the stage with me, wouldn’t that be more beautiful than any narrative?

Well, I don’t usually care about narratives, but working in animation has made me think this way.

The rescue operation is about going in and bringing someone out.

So there’s no need to enter and increase casualties.

If Marina gets damaged, other dangerous criminals might escape too.

We sent a few magical girls down to check the situation, but that’s it.

Whether they truly had no interest in anyone but the Boss or not, they just passed by the capsules where other criminals were sleeping.

Of course, they neutralized many personnel in the process.

Indoor combat against them in those deep-sea conditions…?

Why would I walk into an ant’s nest to die?

We’ll use the narrow entrance to defeat them one by one.

But first, the magical girls need to recover.

These combatants aren’t like the old Eden days.

They’re like… artificial monsters created somewhere.

Even the color of their blood when cut isn’t red, but black.

This… clearly indicates there have been changes inside.

Something must be happening within Eden.

…The others seem to have finished healing too.

I don’t think they’ll recover these combatants.

Normally, they would have returned to headquarters using the last warp device, even if they were knocked down.

But they’ve just stopped moving without showing any signs of that.

“…Unnie. This feels strange.”

“What about the others? The ones who’ve never fought Eden combatants before.”

“…They fought as if against monsters, so these remains aren’t exactly a pretty sight.”

“…So you think the same thing?”

“Yes. The feeling when my arrows pierced them… it was different from usual.”

“If you could feel it, Garnet… Plum unnie and Citrus must have felt it too.”

“Yes.”

“…Arin, no. Iris?”

“She’s helping heal the other magical girls.”

“…Keep her back from combat. She must have been quite shocked by Bine earlier.”

“Ah, that! What happened to Bine…?”

“I don’t know either… but her power… yes, it was stronger than expected.”

“…Stronger than expected?”

“Yes. But… it felt somewhat different from Bine’s strength that I last remembered. Usually, it felt like all her movements were readable, yet still powerful. Now it’s just… overwhelming with raw power. All that cunning technique is gone.”

“…Getting close to her doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

“Didn’t you see what she did to Arin? Since you’re a magical girl with a nickname, she probably wouldn’t hold back at all. Right?”

“…It really doesn’t look good. I’ll handle Hela or Voltorn instead. Or Elise.”

“Where do you think you’re running? We need your ranged support.”

“Come on, how could I possibly fight Bine…”

“If we win now, can you tell Bine later that you beat her?”

“…I already beat her at Ragnarok, you know?”

“…Oh?”

“Well… if you say I should help…”

“Yes. For now… Bine again.”

There’s a commotion below.

[Currently…! Un-unknown magical source…?! M-magic shouldn’t have been usable inside Marina…! W-wait…! Magical source concentrating…! Wh-what…?!&*!@*&#^*!*%!*$%*&!!]

“I’m listening! What’s happening? What…? I can’t hear! I can’t hear!”

A communication from the magical girl who went inside.

However, the latter part was covered by noise, so I couldn’t hear properly.

Something must have happened inside.

“Ugh… Unnie…! I think I need to go in and check…”

“…I’ll go.”

“Unnie…!”

“Stay here quietly…?!”

With a loud noise, the entrance door to Marina shatters.

And what appears is…

“The Boss is… gone?”

“Ellie, meet at the base. Hela. Voltorn. Scatter!”

“Okay.”

“Don’t get caught. It’ll be troublesome later.”

Bine charges straight at me.

Seems like she’s trying to distract my attention to let the other villains escape.

“Iris! Citrus! Stop Ellie! Garnet, take Hela! Plum unnie, handle Voltorn! Ragnarok graduates provide support! Pre-Ragnarok, capture all the leaders!”

“My, my, Blanc. You’re over here, aren’t you?”

“Kugh?!”

CRASH!

As I dodged and backed against the wall, her tail-like legs smashed into it, causing it to collapse.

“Bine!”

“Ha. Uselessly good at running away. We’ve almost achieved our goal. If only you were gone, our operation would be perfect.”

“What!?”

Bine points her gun at me and declares:

“Eden’s nemesis, Blanc. I’ve come to reclaim the victory you stole from us.”