Chapter 314 : The Strongest
Chapter 314: The Strongest
Roughly several dozen minutes had passed since we boarded the vehicle and began moving under Lexus's lead.
Just by looking outside, it was obvious that the atmosphere was becoming increasingly dire, yet Lexus looked as relaxed as though he were heading out on a picnic.
“W-Where are we going right now?”
“We're going to work. You kids are here for a field trip.”
“……A field trip? To where?”
“You'll know once we get off.”
“…….”
...Then where exactly?
I barely swallowed the question that had risen to the tip of my tongue.
Rattle. Rattle.
The Flying Armored Personnel Carrier shook violently from side to side.
Even though Level 5 Anti-Rain—the highest level—was pouring down, the wind was far too violent even taking that into account.
The view outside was even more horrifying.
Beyond the wall illuminated by flare rounds, an endless tide of monsters surged forward.
The Railgun Turrets atop the wall were firing continuously until their barrels glowed red-hot.
Even so, it still wasn't enough.
In several places, monsters had managed to cling to the wall.
Among the Flying Mystics, some successfully slipped through the anti-air defenses and infiltrated the city, only to be discovered and eliminated by the City Defense Force and corporate private soldiers.
'The situation is worse than I expected…….'
The front line was barely holding together even now.
At the moment, only a handful of Flying Mystics that hadn't been intercepted beyond the wall were lucky enough to make it into the city...
But that wouldn't last long.
Some sections of the wall had already become fierce battlefields.
The turrets there appeared to have broken down, their barrels hanging downward, while members of the City Defense Force and corporate Adaptees desperately fought to stop the monsters that had climbed onto the wall.
“…….”
I lightly bit my lip.
Only now did I understand why Aaron had reacted like that earlier.
The place where I'd been fighting had only contained a relatively small number of demons, so I'd somehow managed to hold them back alone.
Elsewhere...
A full-scale war was already raging.
'I was just lucky.'
From Aaron's perspective, knowing the situation in the other sectors, hearing that I had been fighting demons beyond the wall all by myself could only have made him imagine the worst.
'Pull yourself together.'
After repeating those words to myself several times, I happened to meet the eyes of the other members of the Special Class.
I realized they were thinking exactly the same thing.
We had to become much stronger.
“Alright. Wake yourselves up.”
Just then, Lexus suddenly stood up.
Everyone's attention shifted toward him.
“We're here.”
“Huh?”
The members tilted their heads in confusion.
The vehicle was still floating in midair.
Yet he said we'd arrived?
Then they looked outside and saw a horrifying silhouette dominating the distant horizon.
“That's…… 'Behemoth'……!?”
“[Holy crap, 'Behemoth'!? Seriously!?]”
The moment I spoke, Silence jumped in shock and rushed to the window.
Guardian asked in a somewhat indifferent tone.
“What is Behemoth?”
“[What!? Don't tell me you don't know what that is!?]”
“I am asking precisely because I do not know…….”
“[How can you not know the second-largest monster in the world!? Look over there! That's Behemoth!]”
“Hmm……?”
Guardian glanced outside and tilted his head.
The illumination flares didn't light up the entire battlefield, making it difficult to see clearly, but there was definitely something enormous out there.
“You mean that writhing tentacle? It's certainly large, but not as large as I expected…….”
“[No, look properly! That's only part of it!]”
Guardian widened his eyes and looked again.
At that moment, several more illumination flares shot into the sky.
When Behemoth's true form finally became visible, Guardian's eyes flew wide open, and he collapsed onto the floor.
“U-Uwaah!?”
“[Hey! Are you okay? Pull yourself together!]”
“Namu Amitabha! Namu Amitabha!”
Guardian actually started chanting Buddhist prayers.
Considering he usually charged headlong at any powerful monster he saw, it was easy to imagine just how badly he'd been shocked.
What we'd mistaken for a giant tentacle...
Was merely its long trunk.
The elephant-like monster was far too enormous to be described simply as "gigantic."
Beside its massive trunk were long tusks, and its eyes closely resembled those of a goat.
Its six thick legs looked capable of crushing entire mountains as though they were sandcastles, while its pitch-black hide stretched endlessly like a smooth black plain.
Compared to Behemoth...
A Titan would be like an ordinary human standing beside an African elephant.
If it merely rested the tip of one toe upon the wall, the wall would collapse instantly, and the defensive line would be destroyed.
“[It's said that, purely in terms of physical ability, it might rival a Dragon. I'd heard its habitat was much farther south than here, so how did it end up all the way here……!?]”
Most of Behemoth's mana was devoted solely to maintaining its physical form, and its intelligence was said to be little different from that of an ordinary beast.
For that reason, its danger rating was lower than that of a Dragon, which excelled in every aspect.
That certainly didn't mean it was something anyone could afford to underestimate.
“Namu Amitabha…… But you said that thing is only the second largest……?”
“[Yeah. Second.]”
“Then what is the largest?”
“[Leviathan. It lives in the sea, so it won't come this far.]”
“Good heavens…….”
Guardian let out a sigh.
His face had gone noticeably pale as he asked again.
“H-How are we supposed to stop... that?”
“[Well—.]”
“We'll stop it.”
At that moment, Lexus answered with a bright smile.
The members of the Special Class stared at him in disbelief.
Still looking completely unconcerned, Lexus continued.
“We're getting off here. You kids stay here and watch how your teachers do things.”
“[W-Wait, what are you talking about!? You're going to kill that thing!?]”
“M-Mister, wait! At least explain properly—”
“Relax. It's surprisingly weak.”
Clack!
Before I could ask another question, Lexus violently threw open the armored vehicle's door.
A violent gust of wind and rain rushed inside.
Grinning broadly, Lexus waved to us.
“Bye~”
Then—
He suddenly leaped hundreds of meters straight down.
His figure rapidly shrank into the distance.
Moments later, he glided through the wind and landed atop Behemoth's vast hide, as broad as an endless plain.
Baaaang—!
A brilliant beam of light erupted from his body.
The bluish flash ripped across the black hide like lightning, tearing it apart.
WOOOOOOOOOOOONG!
Behemoth began crying out in pain.
It violently swung its trunk about as it thrashed, crushing all the miscellaneous monsters swarming beneath its six legs.
“M-Mister!?”
That wasn't all.
The members of the Special Class noticed that Flying Armored Personnel Carriers identical to ours were hovering in the air both in front of and behind us.
Their doors opened one after another, and people with strikingly unique appearances stepped out.
Eleven in total.
The moment Silence recognized them, he shouted.
“[Holy crap! Holy crap! Look at that! This is my first time seeing them in person!]”
“Who are they?”
“[Who else!? They're the government's Special Operations Fixers! Look at that red-haired woman! 'Kara the Red Fixer!' Don't tell me you don't know her!? Whoa, 'Raymond the Yellow Fixer' too... wait, that's Chairman Vladimir Kharitonov...!]”
Silence chattered excitedly like a child seeing a tokusatsu hero in real life.
Even the LED Mask, reacting to his emotional state, displayed an extremely excited emoticon.
Raina looked at her boyfriend in confusion.
“I know they're amazing people... but is it really something to get this excited over?”
“[Of course it is! Don't you see Chairman Aaron is here too!? These are New Valhalla City's strongest... an all-star lineup!]”
“So... they're just incredibly strong people?”
“[Guardian, you bastard, I know exactly what you're thinking. Don't even dream about it. If you knew how strong those people really are—!]”
At that moment, everyone waiting inside the vehicles leaped hundreds of meters downward all at once.
Landing atop Behemoth's back in an instant, they each took their positions and shouted.
Module Online.
The strongest individuals in the city deployed their modules simultaneously.
The first to catch everyone's attention was, without question, Aaron Stingray.
Around him, hundreds of thousands of razor-sharp threads intertwined like an enormous spider's web, scattering reflected light in every direction.
With a single pull of his finger, a gigantic fissure several kilometers long tore across Behemoth's black hide.
Thick, sticky blood erupted from the wound like a fountain.
Immediately afterward, Aaron drew his sword.
[True Tech Blade]
He plunged the blade—so impossibly sharp that it had lost even its visible form—straight into the wound.
Then, gripping the hilt with both hands, he swung upward with all his strength.
Sshhhhhhhhk—!
Following the already opened fissure, another brilliant flash tore through it.
At the same time, Behemoth's mountain-like spine was laid completely bare.
“……!”
The members could only stare with their mouths half-open in astonishment.
Every time they saw him, they thought the same thing.
That man was absurdly powerful.
With only two slashes, he'd completely flayed open the back of that colossal monster.
“...Doesn't the Chairman seem much stronger than before?”
“[I think so too…….]”
Next came Kara.
The moment she deployed her module, heavy chains wrapped around both of her arms.
In her right hand appeared an axe larger than her own body, while in her left was a sword fitted with shark-toothed serrations.
Holding both weapons, Kara began carving through Behemoth's bones and muscles.
Her crimson hair and coat fluttered behind her, leaving scarlet afterimages.
But Behemoth's body was so unbelievably tough that her weapons broke first.
The massive axe blade snapped apart, its tip flying away, while every tooth on the serrated sword shattered until it could no longer cut anything.
Yet Kara showed no sign of panic.
She immediately discarded both weapons.
At the same time, completely different weapons appeared in her hands.
Lv.5 Arcane Module, [Blacksmith].
A module capable of instantly producing an unlimited number of tens of thousands of different weapons.
The weapons it created possessed performance equivalent to at least a Lv.4 Arcane Module depending on the amount of energy invested, while the user automatically mastered the combat style appropriate for each weapon.
WOOOOOOOOOOO—!
Behemoth truly began to suffer.
As its enormous body trembled, tiny lifeforms started writhing into existence across its black hide.
Creatures Behemoth had instantly created to defend itself.
There were enough of them to trigger an entirely new Monster Wave.
However, humanity also possessed more than enough means to counter them.
[Listen up, you little chicks!]
At that moment, a transmission came through from Lexus.
“M-Mister!?”
[Alright, now it's your teacher's turn. Watch carefully!]
The man who had once almost earned the title of the "Blue Fixer"—
Lexus Bane—
Raised his gun.