Chapter 92: Suppression

We had made a little too much noise.

Bubbles were gathering in numbers too large for A1, the ace team made up of Monkey, Rooster, and Dog, and A2, made up of Tiger and Boar, to handle on their own.

“H1, status.”

『We have finished descending the stairs.』

“Enemy presence and scale?”

『Small and merely threatening us. I would say they are still in a state of confusion.』

I see. In that case…

“We’re going in too. Secure the stair side.”

『Understood. I will send Friege.』

End transmission, out.

“Ox, Goat, disassemble Hellhound. Dragon, charge. How long will each of you need?”

Answer: Disassembly complete in three minutes.

Answer: Charging complete in one minute.

I registered the dancing letters.

“All right, I’m counting on you. A1, A2, S2, go on ahead. Support Friege at the stairs. Dog, I’m leaving leadership to you. And Monkey, get ready to bring out the ‘wall.’”

Suggestion: This will be rough for me alone.

That was from Monkey. I see. True, one machine would have a hard time. I considered the forces on that side. I considered the work that would need to be done there from here on. Close combat would have no job to do. That was my judgment.

“Tiger, support him.”

They had built the slide together. They should be able to coordinate.

I checked the time. About a minute and a half remained until Hellhound was fully disassembled.

“Dragon, move.” 

I drew the newly outfitted Lacquer Type Light Machine Gun and the crossbow, then took them in hand. I connected the crossbow to Rat and moved to accompany Dragon, whose charging was complete.

One minute passed. About thirty seconds early, Goat and Ox arrived. I mounted Horse, who had turned into Monoku, and put on the head armor of the Hound Model. A heavy von rang out. Power supplied from the torso activated the head. The green mono-eye lit up. Full throttle. I flicked my wrist and made Horse let out a roar.

“We’ll use Dragon’s bombardment to make a path and run through. Ox, tow Dragon. Rat, you ride with me. Goat, you’re light on your feet, so go on ahead. Horse, you and I will bring up the rear. Count, 3, 2, 1, go!”

Dragon’s laser scorched the air. Even through the head armor, the smell of ozone reached my nose.

“…”

Was it safe to breathe ozone?

No, but if I knew the smell, that meant I had smelled it before. In other words, I had breathed it before. And since I was still alive now, it had to be fine.

That was what I was thinking.

I was late off the mark.

Bad. No, not bad. I was the rear guard. This position was where I belonged.

“Ready, Horse?”

It’s time to work.

I rolled those words around in my mouth. Horse received them and answered with a vibration.

I watched.

My piloting skill was average. Even so, I needed to win. So I watched. That was my job.

Goat, who had gone on ahead, would not be caught. Ignore him. Ox was impressive, as expected. Even towing Dragon, his speed had not dropped. But unfortunately…

He had been slow to begin with.

At that rate, he would be caught. So go. I had to go. I would go.

“Horse, I’m leaving it to you…”

I watched. That was my job. I captured the scene with a wide field of vision and aimed through a narrow one. I saw with my mind the movements in the parts I was not looking at. I looked beyond the scenery in front of me. I pulled the crossbow’s trigger. The string cried with a sharp in. The Blast Bolt flew.

It was heavy, so it did not fly far. It was heavy, so it was slow. There was a margin of error before it took effect. The concern of friendly fire remained too. But it had more than enough power to make up for all that.

It carried an explosion by arrow. That was what this weapon was for.

Against light Bubbles, that alone was plenty effective. The blast wind battered them aside and opened a path. Even so, some drifted up and floated into our route. I fired the Lacquer Type in my left hand. I set the selector lever to single shot and fired three rounds. That took out one core.

“…”

The effect was weak. We would go as planned.

“Rat.”

At the same time as I spoke, water poured from Rat’s mouth. The Bubbles covered in water began to melt and shrink. No, unable to maintain their form, they vanished, leaving only their cores behind.

The enemy was Bubbles.

So of course we had brought water guns.

I moved out in front of Ox.

“Use it all.”

To secure our route, Rat dumped the chemical solution stored to the brim inside his small body. Rudo must have been trying to come support us. He jumped out, got splashed a little, and let out a sad hyan. A wry smile rose to my face. I wiped it away. This was no time to feel soothed.

I put Horse behind Dragon again and dropped an arrow right behind us. Three seconds later, it exploded. The blast wind shoved our backs forward.

“It’s your turn, Monkey, Tiger. Plug the hole.”

I reached our destination.

***

I removed the head armor.

The underground air was far from refreshing, but even so, it was somewhat better than being inside the centipede head armor. I handed the head armor to Ox as he came over, then put on my usual Double-C cap.

“What’s the situation?”

“As you can see, this place has been secured. We have also finished suppressing up to the next corner.”

“I see. And now?”

“We are waiting for a reliable sniper.”

“…”

“Oh? Why, there appears to be a sniper right here. Perfect timing,” Rikan said.

“…Please stop with the little skit. What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“There’s a sniper beyond the corner, at the far end of a long corridor. We are having trouble advancing. Can we leave it to you, Ratchet Hound?”

“I’ll give it a try. Woof, woof, woof. Rabbit, one Ball Drone is enough. Rat, link up with Rabbit and process the footage. Send me the video with as little loss as possible.”

Rabbit opened his mouth and spat out a Ball Drone.

Rabbit was a Hermit made by Arawn, but he remembered the blueprints from his former Abacus body, from the Galatea era. That was why he could make Ball Drones. Naturally, this was not his original body, so he could not bring out their full performance. But…

At close range, it was enough.

The Ball Drone rolled down the corridor. The video appeared on my headset. The Ball Drone was shot apart. I started walking.

“Hey, wait!”

Endo called after me. I ignored him. I set the Type Five against my shoulder and took aim. I stepped out into the corridor.

Sound vanished from the world.

I aimed. Fired. Hit.

A Doll could not be killed in one shot, so I destroyed its weapon first. After that, with two shots, I carefully shattered the core, the Doll’s weak point at its hip bone.

That ended the flesh worm’s movement as well.

Looks like the Doll blueprints Suen gave me were useful. That was what I thought.

“Cover.”

I said it flatly, still looking through the scope. My Monoz and Rudo raced down the corridor to secure the far end, firing wildly as they went.

That was all.

“…Cover,” I said again.

“We are charging in. Follow!”

Only then did Rikan finally notice and start running. A Doll came out from around the corner, and I shot its knee. Loaded. Then I shot the hip bone as it fell face-first to the floor.

Dog tossed a grenade toward the far side of the corner with a pei. It exploded. Bullets scattered in time with the blast.

Corridor secured.

Then I would move as well.

“What is it?”

My eyes met Endo’s slack-jawed face.

He had an AR in his hands. If he was a scholar who doubled as a soldier, I wanted him to take part in the fighting too.

“That’s some skill you’ve got there, Hound.”

“Is it?”

“I thought I was first-rate as a soldier too, but…”

“Well, this is my actual job.”

I can do at least this much.

I shrugged and gestured with my eyes toward the end of the corridor. Come on, don’t just stand there. Let’s get moving.

From beyond the corner came a deep laugh. The absurdity of Rikan, now all fired up, was exploding in full force.

At this point, it had already entered the realm of simple labor.