The girl squeezed the trigger and sent a crackle of electricity arcing toward the Saurian. Flabbergasted and probably not expecting a human girl to shoot at him, the alien was knocked over by the lightning blast and began convulsing.
Huh. When Aegis said that firearms were effective, I believed her, but I didn't think that such firearms existed. The pistols and revolvers that I was familiar with certainly didn't fire electricity. However, I was glad to see that it was still as effective. The girl appeared pleased with her accuracy too, and she lowered her gun just a fraction.
Bad mistake.
It didn't take long for the Saurian to shrug off the debilitating effects of what otherwise appeared to be lethal lightning (at least for a human). He jumped back up, shaking himself to get rid of the last of the electric blasts, and then lunged at his assailant. The girl blinked in surprise, but credit to her, she managed to snap off another shot.
However, the Saurian twisted in midair, slapping his tail against the ground to alter his trajectory and dodge the fork of lightning. Spinning about, he readjusted his leap and pounced on the girl before she could correct her aim to fire a third blast.
"Aegis!"
"Understood, Commander."
The hovering shield sped forward, almost blurring out of view. There was a crackle of energy before the Saurian struck the energy barrier and bounced off. He landed on all fours and hissed maliciously, his tongue darting out once more.
"What's this?!" The girl's eyes widened when she saw the barrier that now enveloped her. She pressed her free hand against the screen and recoiled with a flinch when she was physically repelled by the glowing screen.
The Saurian eyed her, but seeing that she was trapped inside a protective bubble that disallowed attacks from both inside and outside, he turned toward me. Seeing that I was no longer shielded by an energy barrier, he leaped at me, his claws scything downward.
"Are you an idiot?"
By now, I had climbed out of the hole that he dug, and was able to dive to the side. His slash went wide, but not by much. Rolling on the ground, I kicked out and tripped him up when he landed, using his own momentum against him. Then I bounced back to my feet and delivered an axe kick to the back of his head, driving his face into the dirt again.
My opponent roared and whipped his tail about, but blinded temporarily, his attempt to swat me away missed. I hopped away from his swinging tail, and then jumped above his wildly lashing claws.
"Hey!" The girl shouted, waving from inside the barrier. I nodded, and Aegis immediately dispersed the protective field before steaking toward me like artificial comets. Just in time too, for the Saurian had enough and was powering up his cannon. The moment I landed, he fired another thermal lance that dissipated harmlessly against Aegis's barrier.
The surroundings, on the other hand, were severely harmed.
The girl was wise enough to keep her distance, though she couldn't help but gape at the titanic firepower being thrown out. She gritted her teeth and raised her gun once more to squeeze off another shot. Lightning struck the Saurian once more and sent him into spasms, knocking his aim wide.
Fortunately, it also had the added effect of shutting down his cannon. Sparks flew from the barrel as the beam flickered out. While the Saurian shuddered and flailed, I mentally commanded Aegis to switch the barrier off and charged forward.
Kicking off the ground, I launched myself at the fallen Saurian. Reaching out with my hands, I seized hold of the physical shield that was Aegis and slammed her down on the prone enemy.
I had chosen a vulnerable spot – right at the head. The Saurian, for reasons unknown, had chosen not to wear a helmet. Whether it was because he was arrogant or he found helmets uncomfortable, I didn't know, but I gleefully pulverized his face with my shield. Bone fractured under the tremendous weight of Aegis and his skull was caved in, blood leaking through flesh pierced by broken bone fragments.
The convulsing body immediately went limp.
"Huff…" Heaving, I knelt on the shell-like armor that covered the Saurian's torso and slowly raised Aegis. Good heavens, just how heavy was her? What material did her creators construct her from? I hadn't actually intended to murder the poor alien. I thought I would only knock him out, perhaps break his reptilian nose at worst, but the full weight of Aegis had crushed his skull like an egg under a boulder.
"Sorry about that, Aegis."
"Not at all, Commander." To my relief, Aegis didn't sound offended or miffed that I had just used her as a blunt weapon to behead the enemy. "In fact, I would say that was a job well done. You improvised and adapted, and overcame the enemy, despite not being fully ready for the task."
"Thanks. You too, excellent work."
I rose to my feet and jumped off the Saurian's corpse. Letting go of Aegis, I let her drift beside me. Adjusting my glasses, I turned to the girl who was staring at me warily and bowed gratefully. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been able to defeat the Saurian. Her timely arrival as well as the incapacitating bolts of lightning from her gun had allowed me to deliver the decisive blow. I glanced cautiously toward that small but deadly weapon. Visibly, it didn't look much different from a Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol, short and compact, light and portable, easily concealed under the jacket she was wearing.
"Thank you. Um, you are…?"
Now that the battle was over and I had a good look at her, I could see that she was a beautiful girl around my age, with sweet features and long hair that reached to her waist. I noticed that even though she was wearing a uniform, it was different from my high school uniform. In fact, it resembled a combat attire, except for the gray skirt.
Unfortunately for any among the audience who was expecting fanservice, she was also wearing tight black shorts under her skirt, so tough luck.
The girl scowled. "I just have the feeling that you were thinking something rude."
"No, I wasn't." I cocked my head to the side and deflected before she could insist on something so trivial and petty. "Anyway, you still haven't answered my question. Who are you?"
"Isn't it common courtesy for you to offer your own name before you ask for someone else's?" She replied icily. I pushed my glasses up my nose as I regarded her coolly.
"Normally, but you're clearly not from my high school. If you hadn't just helped me against that alien creature, I would have considered you a trespasser. Moreover, you're wielding a…lightning gun. A weapon I've never seen before, one that wouldn't be out of place in a science fiction animation. No matter how you look at it, you're somebody suspicious."
"Says the guy with that…that floating shield thing." The girl pointed at Aegis, absolutely fuming. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"You have a point…except that I literally pulled her out of that hole over there a few minutes ago. I didn't know this shield was buried here until that alien creature dug her out. You can say I stole her from him."
I jabbed my thumb at the now headless corpse, but the girl continued to be skeptical. Not that I blamed her.
"It might seem too convenient an explanation, but I'm telling the truth."
"Not all of it," Aegis muttered inside my head, but the girl didn't hear her telepathic voice.
"Okay…let's say I believe you." The girl folded her arms and glared at me. "Then why do you know that this mysterious lifeform is an alien creature?"
"What else can he be?" I retorted. "He's wearing futuristic looking armor and has a back-mounted magma cannon, and he dropped down from the sky earlier. Is he supposed to be a demonic monster from a fantasy setting then?"
"Ah…" The girl was dumbfounded when she realized she couldn't counter my statement. She sighed and shook her head before holstering her pistol. "I'm Lin Xue. I…work for a top-secret government organization. That's all I can tell you at the moment."
"Okay." I bowed my head politely. "I'm Li Tian Xing. I'm a student at this school. Thank you for your help earlier."
"You certainly aren't any ordinary student," Lin Xue snapped suspiciously. "Those movements from earlier…and I don't think any normal high school student will fight against a monster they supposedly saw for the first time!"
"Hmm?" I raised an eyebrow. "The way you say it, it sounds like you've seen this alien creature before? You know what he is?"
"I…what? No!" Lin Xue was flustered, completely caught off guard. I placed my hand on my chin and nodded slowly, my mind whirring.
"You mentioned earlier that you work for a top-secret government organization. I'm guessing you deal with alien species? That explains that hi-tech gun that shoots lightning instead of bullets."
"Of course not! Our organization is formed out of people with special abilities! We didn't even know aliens exist until now!"
"…special abilities?"
"Ah." Lin Xue realized she had just made a terrible mistake. Her hands flew to her mouth, but it was too late. She blinked and shook her head frantically before pointing at me. "You…! Forget everything you've just heard! Understand?"
"R…right."
She then paused when the melody of Caramel by Shi Xi Tong, Xie Yu Chun, Zhong Xin cent3e and Zzqc_Jessie suddenly played loudly, and she frantically fumbled and retrieved her smartphone from her jacket pocket. Listening to it, she whispered animatedly, her voice too soft for me to make out the words. It didn't take her long to hang up, and she glared at me.
"W…wait right here! A cleanup crew is going to come and cover up everything, but we'll need to take you in for questioning later. Especially that…that shield! So don't go anywhere! Wait for me!"
She ran off, probably to look for her colleagues and lead them here. If I hadn't known better, I would almost have thought that she was The Girl Downstairs.
Anyway, I snorted at her naivety. Did she really think I would obey her and stick around if she told me to? Sorry, but I had no intention of being hauled in for questioning by a mysterious organization. It was simply too troublesome, and I had better things to do with my time.
More importantly, I had a lot of questions for Aegis. She awaiting my command, silently hovering next to me. I took a deep breath and glanced at her. As if sensing something, she finally spoke up.
"If you were expecting me to be a loli general who will do all the fighting for you, then I'm afraid that you will be sorely disappointed. Also, I'm sorry, Commander, but I have no intention of roleplaying as your little sister and calling you big brother."
"What kind of person do you think I am?! And why are you ripping off Xyrin Empire?!" I threw my hands into the air in despair, and then shook my head. "Whatever! We don't have time to waste on jokes! Let's go before Lin Xue and her friends get here!"
"Are you sure you shouldn't wait for her? From my calculations, the female specimen designated Lin Xue appears to be an optimal mating partner. As one of the commanders of the Holy Terran Empire, you are expected to produce heirs, and I believe Lin Xue will function suitably in a maternal role."
"What are you, a matchmaker!? If I wanted to get married, I will approach the fox spirits from Tu Shan for advice, not you! Anyway, let's hurry!"
Ignoring Aegis, I hastily jogged away from the ruins of the storage shed and exited through the back gate, leaving the chaos-ridden high school behind before troublesome organization members could show up and apprehend me.