The cityscape of Avignon was being destroyed more and more.
The rioters were being knocked unconscious by the shockwave-like blanks, dragged into piles by the powered suits, and then carried away by the balloons woven with bulletproof fiber.
And among it all, Tsuchimikado Motoharu ran.
He moved from hiding behind rubble to hiding behind cars only staying out in the open for as short a time as possible. He was fleeing the pursuing powered suits. Even though he was staying behind cover as much as possible, the blasts continued. He avoided level ground as much as he could and continued along paths with toppled street lights and destroyed roads.
But…
(Tch. So they really aren't going to fall over from just that. Their drive correction devices are working…!!)
Even though the powered suits walked on two legs which was difficult to balance and were actually quite heavy, they moved without showing any signs of wobbling. They weren't walking one step at a time like on level ground; they were moving smoothly like a cockroach.
The powered suits scanned the environment and automatically made the most optimal corrections for the situation. They pursued Tsuchimikado while traveling as fast as an automobile and crossing the terrain more smoothly than a human could.
It was only a matter of time until checkmate.
Tsuchimikado stopped in the middle of the road. The tall buildings on the left and right were destroyed and had blocked the road like a rockslide. It wasn't too much to climb over, but the powered suits wouldn't give him enough time to do so. It would end with him getting shot in the back while pressing up against the wall.
He heard a metallic noise from behind him.
It sounded like a gear turning.
He felt a chill run up his spine. It was a sound he had not yet heard that signified that something had been changed.
He had a pretty good idea of what.
(…The anti-barrier shotgun.)
It was the sound of the blanks for suppressing the rioters being changed to the live shells that were intended to open the gates to nuclear shelters.
(Here it comes!!)
Tsuchimikado leapt with all his strength to the side without bothering to turn around. Directly afterwards, the sound of an explosion hit him like a physical blow. The mountain of rubble that had blocked his way was blown into nothingness. In a single blast, a hole a few meters in diameter had been created.
"…!!"
Covering his ears, Tsuchimikado looked behind him.
The powered suit pointed the gun barrel that was big enough to put a fist in towards him and placed its finger on the trigger.
The streets of Avignon were narrow.
He couldn't jump to the side to avoid it this time.
"!? Hey, wooden sticks. Be useful for once and be a shield!! (Use the talisman of the blue wood and protect my body!!)[1]"
Tsuchimikado yelled this as he pulled out a piece of origami as the explosive gunshots came from directly in front of him.
The few dozen anti-materiel bullets fired acted as if they had ricocheted off of a shield slightly in front of Tsuchimikado and destroyed the walls they hit.
Blood leaked from between Tsuchimikado's lips.
It was the side-effect of his magic use.
Even so, he pulled out another piece of origami, this one black.
"C'mon, wake up you fuckers. Destroy some shit and laugh your asses off about it!! (The color black is the symbol of water. Open a path similar to that violence!!)"
A sphere of water a meter across suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flew towards the powered suit knocking it back.
But that was all it did.
Since he had used magic twice in quick succession, blood was oozing from Tsuchimikado's side. He tried to prop himself up against the ancient wall, but one of his legs gave out before his hand reached the wall.
"Fuck…"
He looked around the area and saw a number of powered suits. And there were even some on the roofs of the buildings aiming for him.
(…)
As he checked the location of the suits, Tsuchimikado slowly raised his hands above his head.
Then he moved his lips and spoke.
"I surrender. …Do whatever you like to me."
"But," he continued. "That's only if you can do it."
As soon as he spoke those words, something changed with the powered suits aiming at him.
The powered suits that could move more smoothly than a flesh-and-blood person suddenly stiffened. As the pilots hurriedly checked the behavior of the suits, the sound of stuck gears could be heard. It seemed that not even the fingers could move, because there was no sound of gunshots.
"I'm sure you want to know what's going on."
As Tsuchimikado slowly approached, he could feel the atmosphere of surprise coming from within the suits. These powerful weapons were still being piloted by normal people.
"Those suits are equipped with the new drive correction device installed. Whether in a desert or in the Antarctic, the machine will automatically check the environment and perform maintenance."
"But," Tsuchimikado said, "in certain situations that can be a hindrance. For instance, if certain special conditions are met in a certain order, it creates an error in the device. Simply put, there's a security hole that slows down the system's decision-making ability when it simultaneously receives multiple contradictory conditions such as 'turn right' and 'turn left'. Did you forget that the HsPS-15 is a prototype that had only recently made it to the point that it could be shown at exhibition?"
In addition to that, the version of powered suit being used in Avignon was made to share its environmental data with the other suits. That meant that an error in one suit could affect all of them.
Tsuchimikado walked up next to one of the frozen powered suits and forcibly took the anti-barrier shotgun from its grip.
"…The error in the drive correction device was sent to the rest of them. Now, you need to manually change the settings on the escape equipment to even get out. There's a lot of annoying work that needs to be done to get them up and running and it'll take 10 minutes at the very least." He said while carrying the huge shotgun that looked like a shortened version of a tank's main gun over his shoulder.
It seemed the pilots inside the powered suits were completely dumbfounded at what Tsuchimikado was saying. They must have been wondering how the man in front of them knew about a problem with the suits that they didn't even know about.
Meanwhile, Tsuchimikado tapped on the armor of the suit next to him and spoke in a bored manner.
"If you're gonna get out, you should hurry. Once they figure out you can't attack, the rioters are going to start attacking."
After that, a clicking sound came from the powered suits. It seemed they were in a hurry to get out. Tsuchimikado thought as he watched this.
(Now then…)
He had succeeded in temporarily robbing the suits of functionality, but the soldiers themselves were still alive.
(This is where the true battle begins.)
At least they were sealed inside until they could repair the escape equipment. As they couldn't fight, maybe he could actually talk with them.
(First, I need to explain that I'm acting as an agent of Academy City. No, I suppose I'm acting against the wishes of my superiors this time. I hope I can get this conversation going without making things worse.)
Tsuchimikado was planning out how he was going to "negotiate", but his thoughts were interrupted and he suddenly looked up.
He could hear a loud roar.
He saw a jet black bomber flying through the peaceful blue sky.
And that 100-meter class bomber was not the only one. Over 10 bombers were circling in a giant arc above Avignon.
Tsuchimikado gritted his teeth at the sight of that characteristic silhouette.
(That's the Academy City HsB-02 Supersonic Stealth Bomber!)
Those bombers were created using the same tech as the supersonic passenger plane that he and Kamijou had taken to Avignon and that could travel over 7000 kph. It was said that they could shake off a missile just by flying straight.
After his thoughts calmed down, a question came to his mind.
Where had the huge number of powered suits come from?
This was his answer.
They had been loaded onto the bombers and brought to France in about an hour. Then they parachuted down to Avignon. It was quite a feat, but Academy City's elaborate technology had made it a reality.
Naturally, the HsB-02's would have more than the suits loaded on them. They must have had the equipment required for a bombing as well.
(Damn it…) Tsuchimikado thought as he glared up into the sky. (They dropped the powered suits down first to make sure the C-Document was here. Once that's confirmed, they're just planning to use the bombers to blow up the Palace of the Popes, aren't they!?)
It was a rough and easy to understand plan, but it was hard to think it would work knowing the special spell Terra of the Left had.
Tsuchimikado banged on the armor of the powered suit next to him.
"Hey! Have the people of Avignon been evacuated yet!? When is the bombing set to happen!? Those are the new HsB-02's. They aren't planning on using that here, are they!?"
As he yelled, he could feel his thoughts getting mixed up as he thought frantically.
(What are you thinking, Aleister? I could understand if it was the others, but you know about the world of magic. If everything could be solved with normal military action, organizations like Necessarius wouldn't exist. Don't you know that this isn't enough to eliminate the C-Document?)
Tsuchimikado had another thought.
(Or do you still have something else up your sleeve?)