Ailiss stealthily stops walking.
She moves her right leg and kicks a guy who suddenly emerges from the maze of furniture. Then, she swiftly raises her arm, aiming her weapon at the student, and fires.
Due to the suppressor, the only sounds heard are the impact and the victim's groan as the bullet pierces his skull. His death marks the start of this confrontation between a group of rebellious students and a psychopathic assassin.
Soon, more boys emerge from behind the shelves, attempting to disarm her and prevent her from gaining control of the battle so quickly. Not giving her space to counterattack is, in itself, a reasonable tactic. However, to the misfortune of my battalion comrades, she majestically dodges all their movements simultaneously. One by one, they fall amidst kicks, punches, and gunfire as she retreats.
Does nothing work against her? I could never have imagined that a girl approximately my age would be capable of such dominance in a fight.
Through this sequence of attacks, she retreats far enough to slip out of my sight. I only hear the muffled sounds of gunfire, screams, and thuds, likely from more punches or kicks.
A few seconds later, a new sound fills the air. Loud gunshots echo—this time, there is no suppressor. Judging by the sound, it is clearly a machine gun.
"Well, nice try," says the girl as she emerges from the maze, holding a student by the hair and kicking another at her feet.
These are not just any boys—they are Manabu and Haruki, probably the two most important figures in this assault.
If she reached them, it means all our forces were massacred in an instant. This cannot even be classified as a battle—she simply killed everyone within seconds.
What exactly is she?
"A machine gun? I didn't see that coming," Haruki says, lying on the ground.
"A regrettable miscalculation. By picking a fight with me, you should have prepared for anything. If you had accounted for tanks, maybe you'd have had a plan with a slightly lower chance of suffering this humiliation," she responds, stepping on his head.
"Don't we deserve some pity, at least?" Manabu turns his face toward her and asks.
In a rage at Manabu's plea, she kicks Haruki into plain view and then tosses Manabu on top of him. She proceeds to beat them with relentless kicks right in front of us.
Even knowing I stand no chance of defeating her, my legs instinctively move to help them, but I am quickly stopped.
"Don't move!" Ailiss turns to me. "Keep watching if you don't want me to shoot them," she says, pointing her machine gun.
She doesn't even need to resort to this method, but her declaration leaves us paralyzed. Mikoto and I are forced to watch Ailiss brutally beating them without stopping.
In such a state, how should I react? I am not even weighing options that benefit Mikoto and me—I am only thinking about our comrades.
After a few minutes of agonizing torture, Haruki and Manabu's screams cease, and Ailiss says:
"What a pity. If I keep going, these weaklings will probably die," she looks at us, "and then I'll have nothing left to entertain myself after killing you two."
I pick up a loose piece of wood from one of the shelves and position myself defensively.
"What do you plan to do with that toy? Even with knives, your friends couldn't leave a scratch on me," she taunts as she approaches us.
I know this very well, but what else can I do? Sit and wait for her to finish off the two of them, kill Mikoto, and then kill me? I cannot let it end like this.
"If I'm going to die anyway, I'll at least make your job harder," I reply.
She continues walking toward us, her weapons lowered. I must appear so little of a threat that she doesn't even bother to be cautious in my presence. Perhaps I can exploit her overconfidence to disarm her somehow.
It is certainly an unexpected move—she could never imagine that someone as insignificant as me might manage to strike the queen, even once.
As she enters my reach, I swing the piece of wood downward, attempting to mimic a kendo technique. However, she moves to the left and easily dodges the strike. She then forcefully hits my weapon, causing it to slip from my hands due to the torque applied.
"This is what you call making things harder? Hmpf," she mocks.
Damn. Disarmed in less than a second. I glance around, searching for anything else that might serve as a distraction for a few more seconds. My eyes focus on a shelf, but I see only books. I am at the end of the line—checkmate has already been achieved.
Paralyzed, I observe her glowing red eyes in the dim light, then see the aim of her machine gun rising slowly toward my chest.
Is this the end? Will I die in such a pathetic and meaningless way? I keep asking myself this to create a sense of drama—perhaps it will leave a good posthumous impression. But for me, it doesn't matter. All that matters now is holding her off and ensuring Mikoto survives.
On the verge of death, the shelf beside us collapses onto us, forcing Ailiss to occupy her hands holding it up. I take advantage of the situation to retreat a few meters.
Am I saved? Coincidences like this don't happen every day.
Mikoto? I understand—she used our conflict to circle this "corridor" of the storage room and pushed the shelf from the other side.
Does this mean she intended to bury me along with Ailiss? Or did she already assume that Ailiss would hold it up? I prefer to think it's the latter.
Ailiss pushes the shelf back, causing it to topple to the opposite side.
Mikoto emerges through the path created by the fallen shelf.
"Thank you—you saved me. I owe you one," I say in gratitude.
"She only postponed your death," Ailiss turns angrily to Mikoto. "Since you interrupted, I suppose you'd like to join in. And since you're in such a hurry, how about being the first to die?" she asks, her eyes dark with malice.
"I am sorry, but I will politely decline your invitation. I still have many responsibilities ahead and do not intend to die anytime soon, least of all to someone of your ilk," Mikoto replies.
Ailiss prepares to fire at Mikoto. Without a second thought, I rush toward her, trying to grab her arms so she cannot aim appropriately at Mikoto.
"Let go of me, you filthy rat."
I succeed in stopping her, but she easily counters by grabbing one of my arms, twisting, and throwing me over her body against the wall.
The impact against the wall is hard.
Once again, I find myself in a disadvantageous situation, my back aching terribly. I sincerely hope I haven't broken any bones from this ridiculous throw.
As I lie there, she approaches, ready to punch me in the face. However, Mikoto again surprises me by striking Ailiss's elbow slightly, diverting her powerful blow toward the wall behind me.
I see that Ailiss was not holding back—she managed to crack the concrete, even with an unbalanced punch.
Are this girl's fists made of steel? Is she even human? I don't want to think about the state my face would have been in had she hit me—it would have been a wholly disfigured funeral.
Unfortunately, there is no time to celebrate. Even while off-balance, Ailiss uses one of her legs to retaliate against Mikoto, pushing her away.
"Congratulations, girl. At first glance, you seemed like a defenseless princess, but you managed to divert one of my strikes. Whoever taught you to fight must be very competent," Ailiss comments.
"I studied karate during middle school. Although I am a bit out of practice, I can still defend myself reasonably well," Mikoto replies, getting up.
"Don't make me laugh—it can't be just that," Ailiss turns her gaze to me. "Who would've thought, Mistkerl? It's pathetic how you always need a girl to save your skin," Ailiss says, laughing.
Always?
"You know what? I can't remember the last time I missed a hit. You can leave—consider it a reward for this accomplishment. But do me a favor and take the trash you brought with you."
Can we leave? What has gotten into her? Well, it's no time to complain. For now, we must focus on surviving and getting out of here.
Mikoto and I exchange glances and then nod, agreeing to retreat.
I head toward Manabu and Haruki, who are lying on the ground, gravely injured. I help them up, and we move away from her without turning back.
"Next time, come just the two of you," Ailiss says as we leave the basement.