In the midst of everyone’s admiration at the ridiculous power that blew off the outer wall of the Old School with a single blow…
“…Did I take it down?”
Aris quietly murmured, unable to know Neru’s situation engulfed by her maximum output attack due to the obscuring smoke.
“Aris-chan! You can’t say that line so carelessly!”
“Oh, sorry! Neru-senpai is a third-year. Let me rephrase that… D-did you get taken down…?”
“No, that’s not it…”
A line that acts like a cliché in any movie, novel, or manga. A magical incantation that brings back the dead…
Tatata-dang!!!
“Ah!”
The effect was far too certain.
As the smoke cleared, Aris, having received the bullet shot through, let out a cry. And at that moment, the figure of Neru emerged, showing not a single scratch.
“I’ll admit, your firepower is impressive. But… I can’t have this outfit getting damaged today. I don’t have many spares. If I ruin this, Mika will probably try to kill me with her nagging.”
Neru dusted off the dirt on her skazaan and smiled slyly.
“Onc—again… Magic charge…!”
“Doesn’t matter.”
In an instant, Neru approached and kicked at Aris’s abdomen while aiming her gun. Aris instinctively defended the incoming shot with her railgun, but her stance was already collapsing.
“Your weapon is strong. But after you pull the trigger, it takes a few seconds of delay before firing.”
Neru pointed out the weakness of the [Light Sword: Supernova] skill, nimbly evading the weak bullet shot at her and striking Aris’s arm with her own gun.
“Oh.”
Though it definitely wasn’t without impact, Neru let out a small sound of admiration upon seeing Aris not letting go of her weapon. Nevertheless, she lunged forward to continue firing at Aris.
“The maximum firepower of that weapon is actually a downside at close range. You’ll get caught in the backlash too. So your best bet is to counter with limited firepower like now… Honestly, it’s not that threatening.”
“…Neru-senpai talks a lot during battles. I understand now.”
“Huh? Well, I’m just really relaxed.”
Neru, stylishly switching her submachine gun magazines, noticed the broken iron chains and let out a fierce grin.
Then, she tried to swing the chains at Aris’s legs as she approached.
Kaang!!!
Aris defended herself with her own railgun and began firing at Neru once more.
“I told you, the delay before firing makes it not that threatening. There’s no one who can beat me within this distance… right?”
While speaking, Neru suddenly scowled and burst out.
“Ugh!!! Thinking about it again makes me angry. That guy barely won but refuses to fight me again! It’s infuriating!”
“Ahaha! Barely, huh?!”
“Hey??? Shut up, Asuna! If you got taken down by these weaklings, you should be ashamed…”
Whoosh——
“…Oh. That was pretty sharp. I’ll give you that.”
Neru admired as Aris swung her railgun like a club. Though her attention was briefly diverted, she effortlessly dodged the attack.
‘Seems like she’s gotten really heated about her allies underestimating her. If I provoke her a bit more, she might show me something entertaining.’
Having accumulated a lot of experience fighting aggressive opponents in close combat, Neru was confident she could win against anyone within this distance. Even the only one who had ever defeated her.
It wasn’t that they were avoiding a fair fight; rather, she thought she could win if they really fought.
In the meantime, this little newbie thrown into the mix was an intriguing opponent.
‘Don’t know what that Rion is up to wanting combat data on this kid, but as long as it’s fun for me, it’s all good.’
After dodging, Neru took advantage of the opening in Aris’s stance and swung her arms roughly. The chain sliced through the air and struck Aris hard in the side.
“Ah!”
“Honestly, if you were the one I was most looking forward to and that’s all you’ve got… how did you manage to fool my comrades? Or is the teacher over there really that amazing?”
“…Ugh.”
Aris, who had constantly been on the defensive since the beginning, gritted her teeth.
As Aris aimed forward and pulled the trigger, Neru approached at point-blank range to continue her attack, but…
Aris proceeded with her shots, undeterred, letting out only a small groan as she completed her charge. Neru realized that the target was aiming straight ahead and herself, but the sheer inexplicability of Aris’s actions raised doubts in her mind…
Kuaaaang!!!
With the shot, Aris shot into the air. Her movement instantly cleared everyone’s doubts, including Neru’s.
“…You intentionally didn’t brace for the recoil, did you?”
“Wow, she flies far!”
The three from the Game Development Club, excluding Karin, who had once again been knocked out.
“Amazing, Aris!”
“Honestly, I feel the one who can withstand such recoil is even more amazing…”
“If that’s the distance, you might at least be able to shoot one round at full power…”
Even the three members of the Game Development Club whom Aris considers her comrades were cheering.
“You did well, Aris! Now give it a real hit!”
Everyone was amazed by Aris’s unexpected move, and even the teacher was cheering with clenched fists.
While everyone was admiring Aris, Neru, watching the distance between them grow to more than mid-range, chuckled quietly.
“This kid’s doing something fun.”
“Backstep… is essential for Gunlance users! Once more, charging magic to 100%…”
As Aris pulled the trigger, Neru began to run forward. The distance between them rapidly closed, hinting that this would be a critical attack.
…And then, Neru started running up the wall.
“Light———!!!”
Kuaaaaang!!!
The loud sound rang out, but the sound of her footsteps running against the wall was clearly audible to Aris.
Worried that preparing for another shot here might strain her gun, Aris quickly began to prepare for her next attack.
“Charging magic to 100%…!”
The gun’s muzzle pointed toward the ground. If she couldn’t hit, there was no choice but to allow the enemy to approach. A resolve formed in Aris to sacrifice her bone, but that feeling faintly reached Neru.
“I’m gonna— Aaah!”
“Hey, not so fast.”
The chain swung harder than expected and struck directly at Aris’s knees. Though the cute sound was emitted, the sudden pain made Aris collapse slightly, causing her railgun to lift momentarily.
Neru, who dashed in under the vacant spot created by the rebounding wall, pushed Aris’s arm up… and with significant effort, it finally pointed awkwardly toward the ceiling.
Kuaaaang!!!
“Seriously, you wield that heavy thing around quite well. Does Mika swing this kind of stuff around without a care? Tsk.”
As everyone gasped at the ceiling that was blown clean through several floors, Neru casually patted Aris on the shoulder.
“I’ll call this match a draw, Houbae.”
“Why…?”
“Well? I told you. If your outfit gets ruined, you’ll hear it from me. That’s no joke. If you’d taken that shot, your clothes would have been a wreck.”
Shaking his head, Neru chuckled at Aris sitting on the floor.
“That said, you really went through with that. Your losses should have been worse than mine. That’s some serious guts, you know?”
“Disrespecting Aris’s party members… is unacceptable… We’ve successfully completed a total of thirty-eight raids and defeated forty-five dragon kinds, so we’re warrior heroes!”
“Uh… right. I don’t really know, but that sounds impressive. Anyway, little one. I kind of like you.”
“…Is this a second confession?”
“Eh??? I told you it’s not that! I just mean I had some fun, okay? It feels refreshing.”
Neru lightly flicked Aris on the forehead and turned to the other two in C&C.
“I’m going back.”
“Yeah, Boss~! By the way, you really do seem to like those clothes, huh?”
Tatata-tang!
“Kyah!”
“You’re the one who made me wear them!”
“More than that, Boss, to retreat like this so readily, that teacher really…”
As C&C backed away bickering, the members of the Game Development Club all charged at Aris at once. In an instant, buried under a pile of girls, Aris stared blankly at the teacher beyond them.
“Wow!!! You actually made the Maid Club’s Neru-senpai retreat…! Aris-chan, you’re our hero!”
“Retreating isn’t enough; it was a draw, sis. Let’s be direct!”
“I’m so glad you got mad for us… Thank you, Aris-chan…”
After a moment of hesitation, Aris smiled brightly at the members who hugged her. The teacher sincerely wished that the Game Development Club would not come to an end and that their efforts would be rewarded.
It was because she could not bear to see them scattered all over.
