episode_0057

The villain organization ‘Lesser Rat’ is a dangerous organization. Although their scale is still small and the individual combat power of their members is low. Although they are an organization that was instantly annihilated by a joint raid operation involving several units. However, in the few months since reports about them began coming in—their influence had clearly grown compared to when their name was first heard. From small, petty thug-like villain gangs to recent serious villain crimes, If you traced the thread, their name was almost always visible. They are growing. And at an incredible speed. With tremendous momentum. Even if their true purpose is still difficult to ascertain, if they continue to grow like this, they might become the starting point of another Great Calamity… they might become such an ‘axis of evil’. One might think it’s excessive worry, but Captain Rahe, who is far smarter than Spade, and other unit captains of the same rank as Captain Rahe, and the wise individuals at headquarters, judged it to be so. If that’s the case, Spade has no choice but to accept it without doubt, believing it to be the truth. They must never be let go. If they are missed this time, who knows what kind of trouble they will return as next time. Therefore, for the future of heroes, and for the powerless ordinary citizens who live diligently, praying for peace even today, They must, They must, They must… ――be captured here.

* * *

“Ah, ah, ah…” “AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Whoosh! The accelerating red light. Releasing all possible magic power at once, with full force. The trajectory drawn by Spade, containing a visible and enormous amount of energy, looked like a single bolt of red lightning.

“?!” Perhaps because of that tremendous roar, the leader of 【Lesser Rat】, who had been desperately fleeing far ahead, turned back in surprise. She frantically raised her hand, creating a pillar of ice to block the path between Spade and herself, but it was not enough to stop Spade, who was rushing forward with immense momentum. With legs fully imbued with magic power, she sprinted in a straight line towards the villain. The visible aftereffects of the magic power were so great that they left a visible trajectory, and the air sizzled or expanded along the path Spade sprinted, leaving behind a clear crackling sound. She already felt the sniper’s bullet had been fired. And that it would strike the spot she had just left. And that the sniper’s bullet would never reach her. What Spade needed to do now was merely to catch and subdue the fleeing villain before the next sniper shot came.

―Next step. Spade accelerated, once again unleashing a burst of magic power. ―Next step. Without losing momentum, a fist imbued with magic power shattered the ice pillar before her. ―Final step. The distance to her opponent had almost vanished. The ice pillar hadn’t slowed Spade’s rush in the slightest, and her opponent was now within arm’s reach. Her wide-open eyes, her pupils, her opponent’s expression, the face filled with tension, resignation, anger, and sorrow—all were close enough to be recognized. This was the end. She had them. She had caught up. Caught them. Caught them. Caught up…

Thud!

“……?” And the moment she thought she had finally caught them. The 【Lesser Rat】 leader vanished before her eyes. No, that wasn’t it. Spade realized, belatedly, that her own body had been sent flying with a momentum no different from her own charge. Her body whooshed through the air. Spade had no magic to fly through the air, nor the ability to control her posture while airborne, And most of all, her confused mind couldn’t devise any rational way to deal with the current situation. So, just like that. CRASH! She flew through the air like trash, with the terrifying momentum of her own charge, and slammed into a diagonally positioned container box.

* * *

“……Huh…?” Perhaps startled by the hero suddenly flying away before her eyes, The rigid female leader of Lesser Rat blinked, making a dumbfounded sound. The hero, who had spectacularly crashed into the container box, did not move. No, she heard trembling and coughing, so she probably wasn’t dead. Perhaps she would get up soon and chase her. “……Don’t, don’t follow me… you damn bitch….” Crackle! Though she had been momentarily frozen, she subtly waved her hand, creating a heavy, massive ice barricade in front of Spade, and then she turned around again and began to run away quickly. Though she couldn’t match Spade’s speed, she had also reinforced her body with magic to some extent, allowing her to vanish from sight almost instantly.

“Ugh…!” Roll… Spade, who had been spectacularly thrown into the container box wall, which was significantly dented and even had a hole, groaned while clutching her waist. What rolled out from under the hand clutching her waist was the very rubber bullet she had so painstakingly dodged just moments ago. What on earth had happened? She had clearly thought she had dodged it. But the bullet she thought she had dodged, the one that should have surely grazed her back, had somehow flown back and embedded itself in her side. Moreover, with more power than before. ‘…That last one…’ ‘It suddenly… appeared out of nowhere… as if it had teleported.’ ‘It wasn’t something I could see and react to.’ “Ugh… cough… choke…!” Coughing heavily and painfully, Spade shakily pushed herself up. Her exposed abdomen beneath her combat suit had a dark bruise on her side. Her body, reinforced with magic, was harder than iron. But for it to pierce through the wall of magic she had unleashed with full force and leave such a wound… ‘…The other attacks were just… manageable…’ ‘But that last shot… it felt like it was fired by someone else…’ The quality of the magic, the depth of the impact… Spade’s intuition seemed to whisper that it was of a different kind, a fact she couldn’t comprehend. If it hadn’t been a rubber bullet, if the magic imbued in that bullet had been even slightly more powerful, it might not have ended with just a bruise; half of Spade’s abdomen might have been torn away. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Gasp… gasp… gasp… She tried to stumble forward, pressing a hand to her bruised side, but she couldn’t advance any further due to the ice barricade in front of her. Its strength didn’t seem much different from the ice pillar from earlier, but perhaps due to her maximum magic output being forcibly pierced… her magic control wasn’t working properly. The throbbing pain in her body intensified. Like this, breaking through the barricade in front of her… and continuing the pursuit beyond this point was impossible. At that fact, Spade gnashed her teeth. Thud!

“Damn it….” With a gloved hand, she struck the container box wall hard. The stinging impact of her simple, un-magically charged fist hitting the hard container wall was fully transmitted to her. The capture had failed. She had lost the enemy. Spade had failed. ―Hero Spade had been defeated….

* * *

Gasp… Gasp… gasp… gasp… gasp… “Gasp… gasp… gasp…! Ugh… cough… choke… retch…!” Rough breathing, an irregular and pitifully desperate respiration, spread out. On the rooftop of a building, Club lay prone, her rifle resting on the railing. Just moments ago, she had been diligently sniping her comrade, Spade, under Number 13’s orders. Now, she was breathing heavily, as if hyperventilating, and sometimes dry heaving. It was nothing else but an overload from the excessive use of her ability. Her entire body was drenched in sweat. Her pitifully slender body twitched in various places, crying out its limits.

“Well done, well done, Club. You did truly well.” Number 13, who was beside her, half-embraced Club’s body, detaching her from the rifle resting on the railing. Club’s current state was due to Number 13. At the very last moment, Spade’s final acceleration had caused their attack to miss. To make up for it, to reverse the situation that had become one beat too late, Number 13 urgently placed a hand on Club’s body and forcibly drew out her power. Naturally, the cost of forcibly extracting power was significant. That was why Club was still convulsing and gasping as if she were about to pass out. They hadn’t intended to go this far. But Hero Spade of the 7th Unit was so excellent, so excessively excellent, that they had no choice but to go this far. “Well done, Club. Truly well done. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. You can rest now. Rest, Club.” Still, even so. Although Spade was excellent. Even though she was a hero more excellent than imagined. Against her, Number 13 and Club had managed to achieve victory. They had successfully stopped her, and successfully endured her full power head-on. They, Villain Number 13 and Club. Had undoubtedly――won.