Black Bullet - Volume 6 - Chapter 5.01

BLACK BULLET 6

CHAPTER 05

PURGATORY STRIDER

1

Rentaro’s life-and-death battle, playing out over dirty mud puddles, was turning into a desperate nightmare.

Having faced off with them once in the past, he was fully aware of the Varanium chainsaw wrapped around the gauntlet worn by Tamaki Katagiri, as well as the “territories” his sister Yuzuki could make with her invisible wires. What threw him off his game the most, however, were the immensely powerful slashes unleashed by the tiny body of Asaka Mibu. Her “twin sword” had a single handle, from which extended two blades, one in each direction. It was a bizarre sight, and one about the length of a typical spear—but the blades, which spun in the air as Asaka twisted her hips in a sort of lethal dance, let her land two blows with a single swipe. He had to be careful around it. The shock waves that fanned out whenever she beat the blades against the ground were akin to a localized tremor as well, enough so to force him to brace himself.

Yuzuki and Tamaki always chose that moment to lunge upon him, too. The chainsaw screamed each time it whizzed past his ear.

He and Hotaru had tried launching a tandem barrage to at least get Asaka out of the picture. It was met with a flurry of sparks and zinging noises as she deflected it, spinning her weapon like a propeller. It floored him to see it in action.

Come to think of it, her IP Rank was 275, wasn’t it? Following Tina and Kohina, she was the third highest-ranked Initiator Rentaro had ever met in his life. There was no way he could treat her lightly.

Meanwhile, he was starting to get a read on her innate ability as well. Whatever her Gastrea factor was, it was geared for power—power further enhanced by her armored exoskeleton. The kick Rentaro uncoiled with all his spinal strength was stopped by the shock-absorbent fibers woven into the armor, barely damaging her at all.

His main means of survival in this battle were the one-shot finishers he could unleash by discharging his leg cartridges. But his foes knew about that. And whenever he set himself up to let one off, they would promptly take their distance from him.

This time, there was no relying on Hotaru’s miraculous regeneration skills. If Hotaru left the battlefield for even a moment, it’d be three-on-one, which meant Rentaro would be dead. She must have known this. She was keeping a safe distance from the enemy at all times, putting herself mainly in a backup-fire role. But if you ignored her regeneration, Hotaru’s basic skills were a far cry from both Asaka’s and Yuzuki’s.

There was no conceivable path of victory. It was a situation where anyone would’ve immediately assumed the end was near. But Rentaro’s confrontational tenacity made Tamaki and his team honestly gaze in wonderment.

“Why?!” screamed Yuzuki, who should have had a decisive advantage but instead found herself brushing away her rain-soaked hair in wonderment. Rentaro had used his cybernetic eye to dodge Asaka’s three-slash twin-sword strike by a hair’s breadth, all while using his artificial leg and arm to deflect Tamaki’s chainsaw knuckle and Yuzuki’s kick. He now planted that leg on the ground. It sank in a little as he gritted his teeth.

“Ohhhhh!”

He thrust it down with all his might as the Katagiris wavered. At the same time, he triggered a cartridge. It kicked downward, allowing him to stomp on the earth with enough force to compress the dirt underneath. His leg gouged a hole in the muddy ground, and the next moment, the earth shuddered.

Asaka realized what he was doing soon enough to step away. Yuzuki and Tamaki did not. They fell to the ground, kicking up mud. Without a second thought, Rentaro dashed forward for a follow-up. If he didn’t beat Asaka, there would never be any victory for him.

By the time she lifted her twin sword high and sent it zooming down, she and Rentaro were a good twenty meters away from each other. He thought she had misjudged his advance by a fairly wide margin, but a chill suddenly ran up his spine. In an instant, he tilted his trajectory to the side.

It was just in time to hear a horrendous shredding sound that made his back feel cold with terror. The earth Rentaro had stood on just a moment ago was cleanly cut in two.

It unnerved him. That slash had some serious distance to it. And unlike Kisara’s, it had made a clean slice through ground like it was made of butter.

The second strike that came at him was parallel to the ground. Rentaro ducked under it; a moment later, another shredding sound erupted behind his back. He turned around without stopping, only to find the second floor of the sculpture studio crumbling behind him, belching soot and smoke as it did.

He ran, gritting down hard on his teeth until he cried out in pain. Asaka was getting closer and closer. Once he was within range of her sword, the blades began to spin like a tornado, forming ever-changing arcs in the air as they carved the earth under his feet.

Rentaro’s eye made calculations at blazing speed. He desperately struggled to read the blades, dodging the second strike, feinting, and making a wide leap to the right. Asaka flashed a look of surprise.

Now!

He tried to unleash an all-or-nothing cartridge from his leg—but then he lost his balance, as if pulled up by some unseen hand.

Rentaro checked behind him. His eyes opened wide.

“Oh, shi—”

There was a spider’s web, a shining rainbow as it stood illuminated by the arched streetlight. It was being pulled by Yuzuki, hatred clouding her face as she remained on the ground. Rentaro had been caught in it when he stopped her kick with his right arm.

But there was no time to gnash his teeth about it. Asaka’s twin blades were on their way, ready to skewer him.

Rentaro closed his eyes. I didn’t make it.

There was a loud, shrill vween as the blades flew.

And continued to fly…away.

No one was more surprised to see this than Asaka herself.

A bullet had flown in from somewhere, making a clean hit on the extended blade. It shot sparks into the air as it knocked the weapon clear from her hands. And that wasn’t all. Another bullet, launched at almost the same time, tore through the spider web as well, its heat loosening the strands.

The accuracy of both shots was incredible.

“Rentaro!”

Before Hotaru’s voice could even reach his ears, he started moving. Rentaro dove toward Asaka’s chest. The light around him swerved and spun—light that came from the explosion set off by his leg cartridge.

Asaka’s expression, which he saw just a glance of, resembled a child lost in an amusement park. She was at a total loss.

Ten minutes later, Rentaro stood amidst the mud and grime, letting the rain plink down upon him.

Two people were strewn around him. There was Asaka Mibu, lying facedown in a mud puddle like a worn-out paper bag detached from her shattered exoskeleton. On the other side was Yuzuki Katagiri, lying on her back.

“Nnhh… Shit… This is crazy.”

Rentaro turned toward the coughing voice. Tamaki was leaning hard against the wall, wiping blood from his mouth.

It was just as he’d hoped. Once Asaka was down, Tamaki’s and Yuzuki’s weaknesses were fully exposed to the world. They were well aware of the instantaneous force his cartridges gave him—but Rentaro was just as aware of their tactics.

Both were geared for close-quarters combat. Tamaki and his pistol could handle mid-range ops as well, but the Magnum he used, while powerful, had serious recoil issues and couldn’t store many bullets at once. It was almost entirely meant for Gastrea engagement. Compared to Rentaro’s Beretta, which relied on strength in numbers ammo-wise, it would be wholly useless in a shoot-out.

If Rentaro and Hotaru went full-fire on Tamaki, Yuzuki would naturally have to fly in to protect him. Then it’d be a matter of wearing her out. It didn’t take a military genius to come up with that plan. And it went without saying that Tamaki going at it solo had no chance at all.

Tamaki lifted his head. Rentaro could see, through the amber frames, that his eyes were full of murderous hatred for the traitor before him. Rentaro eyed him coldly.

“Eat it!”

Then he buried his fist in his stomach.

Tamaki groaned, whispered “God damn it” to himself, set his head down, and fell unconscious. Rentaro looked at him for a few moments, then closed his eyes and stood quietly in the sprinkling rain.

“Rentaro…”

He turned around to find Hotaru looking up at him, hands crossed against her chest in concern. He shook his head and passed by her side.

“Let’s go. It’s too dangerous here.”

He still had work to do. If he could reveal the Black Swan Project to the world, all this effort would be worth it—no matter how much hatred and how many muttered curses he had to take along the way.