episode_0082

Sounds of intense battle. The solid clanging of their weapons striking each other and shockwaves reverberated multiple times.

Listening to that symphony, Spade moved wildly throughout the narrow space, charging at her comrade in front of her again and again.

“What…? Spade, you seem faster than usual…?”

Blocking Spade’s attacks, which raged like a storm or a frenzied rabbit, Check murmured in surprise.

Check is in charge of Spade’s training. Check, as an experienced senior, often guides Spade on how to use her body and how to handle her abilities.

That’s why she knows well what Spade’s top speed and full power are.

And yet.

Clang!!

Again, Spade’s decisive strike came in at a speed that should have been impossible.

Check’s staff, imbued with magic, blocked and deflected it. However, even with Check’s magic infused into it, a tingling shock was transmitted to her staff and arm.

Once again, a gap opened between the two.

Around Spade, who lowered her body and regulated her ragged breathing, her crimson magic pulsed with a menacing aura.

‘I can’t underestimate her.’

So she thought.

However, compared to Spade, whose breathing was already starting to become ragged, Check was as relaxed as if she were out for a stroll.

Just moments ago, she had single-handedly defeated numerous dolls, and had just now blocked Spade’s fierce onslaught, yet she was so composed that she didn’t even have a scratch, let alone a drop of sweat.

Her speed had increased. Her power had risen. Her method of magic manipulation was also far more refined than before.

Spade had clearly changed. She had become much stronger than before.

But even having grown so strong.

There was still a desperate gap between her and the 7th unit’s Vice-Captain, the veteran Check.

“I’ll attack now. Concentrate. If you can’t block it properly, you’ll be done for in one hit.”

Check smiled faintly as she warned her.

And the next moment.

The tip of the staff in Check’s hand seemed to waver for a moment, then lunged towards Spade’s eyes with an unnatural movement.

“?!”

She crossed her magic-infused lightweight staff to block it, which flew precisely aimed at her face.

An explosive sound. And a powerful shockwave.

Even though it was just weapon against weapon, an intense blast erupted as if a bomb had exploded.

Spade’s body was sent flying, shattering the window behind her and bouncing outside.

Thud!

“Gah…!?”

From the third floor, she plummeted straight to the ground. Unable to even execute a breakfall, she landed on her back.

Had she not fully reinforced her body with magic, her bones would have broken and her internal organs ruptured from that fall. Had she landed on her head, that alone would have been fatal.

Even so, the throbbing pain and agony throughout her body hadn’t subsided, and Spade’s face twisted in a grimace. But she couldn’t keep rolling around on the ground.

Lightly, Check, staff in hand, landed near Spade.

Having leaped down from the third floor in pursuit of Spade, she landed like a feather, not even making a sound, let alone taking any impact. Just how did she utilize her magic to pull off such a feat? For Spade, who still lacked experience, it was an impossible feat.

“Still alive, are we? Even though I put quite a bit of force into that poke.”

“Check-ssi…!”

“You can do more, can’t you? Get up. This isn’t the end, is it? You didn’t pick a fight just for this, did you?”

Check provoked her with an accent mixed with a faux dialect, and aimed the tip of her staff at Spade once more.

To incapacitate Spade, she could have just attacked her right then. Nevertheless, Check, driven by her complex and desiring a struggle, urged Spade on, saying it wasn’t enough.

Thanks to that, Spade was able to regain her stance.

The club in her hand was still intact, not broken. Normally, it wouldn’t have been strange for it to have shattered from Check’s last strike.

However, a crack was visible, with a faint cracking sound. It was unknown how much longer it could hold up.

“I’m a bit disappointed, though. Since you suddenly picked a fight, I thought it would be more of a fight. At this rate, you can’t do anything, can you?”

“…Is that so.”

Spade took her stance again, and summoned her crimson magic.

“It’s alright. Please don’t worry. I think I’m starting to get used to it now.”

“…Is that so? Can I look forward to it, then?”

And the battle resumed.

***

Check and Spade had gone off-screen. Although cameras were installed on the building’s exterior walls, the distance was just too great to capture the two of them.

At this rate, proper observation wouldn’t be possible. And they were trying to test Spade’s abilities, not let her die.

They had been watching, intending to intervene if necessary, but this wouldn’t do.

‘Should I go out?’

Number 13 checked the tablet screen. He wanted to confirm the location of the remaining intruder, Coco.

Coco was quickly found. She was in the corridor on the second basement floor. It would take a long time to reach this place.

This was a room on the fifth basement floor of an abandoned factory. To get down here, one needed tricks, such as finding hidden passages, so it wouldn’t be easy to find.

‘…But if I go up, I’ll inevitably run into Coco.’

‘Should I incapacitate Coco first, then go help Spade?’

There were no other personnel apart from Check and Coco. Apple had reported so, so it was certain.

If so, if only Coco was incapacitated, there would be no more variables. However, he hoped that Spade wouldn’t die senselessly in the meantime.

He had given her a trump card for emergencies, but… it was unknown if she would have the leisure to use another method in the midst of battle.

He had to move. Just as he thought that and was about to get up.

Thwack-

“……Huh?”

A deflating sound came from Number 13’s throat. No, even before that, something had plunged into his neck.

A needle protruded from Number 13’s neck. No, a needle was stuck in it. He only realized it after being stabbed. He hadn’t noticed anyone approaching, nor had he noticed when the wickedly huge barb was pulled out and plunged into his neck.

Strange. Only two heroes had come to this factory.

Check had just run outside with Spade, and Coco was clearly still far away from here….

“I can’t believe you were actually here. I thought the chances of that were less than 20%… It’s a good thing I didn’t give up searching.”

Strangely, the voice from behind him was unmistakably Coco’s.

Coco’s image was clearly visible on the tablet, but Coco was also in this room.

He didn’t even have time to turn around to confirm the identity of his assailant. Due to the potent paralyzing poison coating the barb stuck in his neck, Number 13’s eyes rolled back, and his body tilted, collapsing on the spot.

***

Coco was a specialist in espionage. Her hero rank was set at D, lower than even Club’s, but this was a fake to conceal her affiliation with the ‘Intelligence Division’.

Among the personnel of the Hero Association, the ‘Intelligence Division’ focused solely on information gathering and espionage activities, rather than participating in combat.

Coco was the hero dispatched to the 7th Unit from that Intelligence Division.

The magic Coco wielded was 『Illusions』 and 『Phantoms』.

There were quite a few heroes in the Intelligence Division with similar abilities, but none wielded them as well as Coco.

At the very least, an ability user who could send her phantom to a distant location, making it appear on camera without any sense of incongruity, while simultaneously hiding herself by blending into the surroundings and catching the target from behind completely undetected—there was only her within the current Hero Association.

“Club, Club. Can you get up?”

While Number 13, fallen on the floor, convulsed continuously from the paralyzing poison, unable to move.

Coco released Club’s restraints and gently slapped her cheeks, checking her reaction.

Then Club’s slender eyelids twitched, and soon, she slowly opened her eyes.

It seemed she wouldn’t need to use the awakening drug she’d brought just in case.

“Ah… Coco, Teacher-nim…?”

“Yes, it’s me. Are you alright? Can you see how many fingers this is?”

Coco held up her fingers in front of Club’s eyes, checking her condition.

Club was in better condition than expected. Coco had even prepared herself for the possibility that Club might have been completely brainwashed by drugs, losing her sanity and becoming a wreck.

When caught by villains, most people either die or suffer fates worse than death. Since Coco had frequently witnessed such things firsthand, she had prepared for various worst-case scenarios.

“Thank you. And I’m truly sorry. I caused you trouble.”

“…Yes. I have a lot to say to you. And a lot to scold you about. After all, I’m your supervisor.”

“Ugh….”

“But let’s talk once we get back. It seems something has happened with Check as well.”

Coco first restrained the paralyzed Number 13’s arms and legs. Using the cable ties she had brought and the rope that had been used to restrain Club, she securely tied him up so he couldn’t move.

For now, it seemed best to leave him as he was, check on Check’s situation, and then drag him out.

“Let’s move, Club.”

“Just a moment, Coco Teacher-nim. There’s an important item I need to retrieve.”

Club’s words halted Coco’s urging footsteps.

Club was rummaging through the bag placed next to Number 13, pulling something out.

What Club pulled out was a doll. Somehow familiar. And somehow resembling herself.

“…? Club?”

“Coco Teacher-nim. Please look at this for a moment.”

What on earth did she intend to do with such a doll in this situation?

To Coco, who was wondering this, Club thrust the doll forward for her to see.

“『Coco-ssi in Wonderland』. Now, from this moment on, Coco Teacher-nim will become this doll.”

What was she talking about? But it somehow sounded familiar. She had definitely heard those words before.

Before Coco could grasp what those words meant, or why they felt familiar.

Suddenly, Coco’s consciousness faded, and her body stiffened with a jolt.