Translator: Reflet

  The men were being dragged by the powerful mass. In a state not unlike an earphone cord entered into one’s pocket, they were bound hand and foot, letting out groans of anguish.

  The ones who were deeply enfolded tried to escape, but the men on the outside were comparatively able to somehow crawl out in small numbers.

  They united with the men holding the first and second nets.

  Natsuno Taiyou calculated momentarily in his head.

  Objective and method.

  In this case, he came to the conclusion that a simple and clear method was the closest thing to the objective.

  Picking up the shovel that had rolled over on the ground, he gently crouched. He took the track-and-field athlete position of a crouching start.

  “Gugugu”…charging power, and not flexing his muscles????he kicked the ground with only level power.

  “Crunch”! The sound of shoes carving through asphalt could be heard. Shortly after, Taiyou’s body flew like a cannonball.

  It was not the kind of sprinting until now, and it was bit different from leaping.

  It was the skilled movement of the superhuman powers of the games that he was so good at.

  In terms of speed it was approximately one hundred kilometers per hour. He had rushed off at a fierce speed of Mach one-tenth.

  Michiyo’s subordinates expectedly could not hold their surprise. They had prepared themselves when Taiyou had entered into his crouching position, and the moment he had leaped out, while astonished, they had instantly wedged themselves into the line of trajectory.

  The men were equipped with close-range weapons in their hands like knives, batons, and stun rods. To deal with Taiyou they had not prepared a single firearm.

  The three in the lead swung those weapons with the speed of almost spinal-like reflexes, proceeding to launch an attack.

  「Haaaah!」


  Taiyou swung the shovel with power.

  The greatest weapon comfortable in his hands, the half-remaining blade let out unique metallic sounds, bisecting their weapons in one sitting.

  Taiyou didn’t know, but the sharp, ear-piercing sound was the special sound of the latest cemented carbide developed by the Juunishima military department. It was of a high cost but was a material of great focus across the world renowned for its high performance, and was a new product professed to be「unable to break no matter what」.

  What bisected those weapons was「a shovel that was nonchalantly picked up in the vicinity」.

  The shovel as well as the alloy. Knowing about both of those things, Youran was shocked, far behind him.

  Taiyou’s charge didn’t end there.

  With the shovel’s point, the opponents’ weapons were destroyed, and with the face, the flesh flew everywhere.

  It was like slapping someone with a tennis racket.

  Taiyou had intended to be merciful, but that hardly fulfilled the meaning of “holding back”.

  Able to rip an unusually extremely hard and heavy bullet-proof limousine into pieces and fling them away, Taiyou had already surpassed the realm of humanity by a large margin.

  From his perspective it was nothing more than the output of breaking through shouji paper with wet fingers, but the men who were slapped by the shovel had all vanished, blown away in ten meter units.

  Having crushed one corner of the formation, he stopped moving briefly and spun around looking at his surroundings.

  Men with masculine faces and a robust build.

  Men with impressive equipment and special corps clothing.

  Looking at them, they all resembled the symbol of power. The sort of group that would bring about the sort of image of advancing anywhere with overwhelming power and overrunning all.

  However, right now…


  He could tell that the majority of humans there had the look of fear in their eyes. It was clear they were scared of Taiyou’s power.

  「Withdraw. You can’t win against me.」


  Stabbing the shovel through the asphalt ground, he advised surrender.

  Taiyou liked bluffs, but this time alone was no bluff.

  It was advice to surrender after having them feel the stark contrast in power.

  「Any more than this is futile.」


  「But is that really so?」


  「What?」


  「She is this island’s most important personage…the Juunishima head is in a position that even the various prime ministers should shower respect on.」


  Taiyou was puzzled.

  「What are you trying to say?」


  「She who is the VIP among VIPs… I am currently in the position to get the jump on her…in other words, cause a coup de’etat.」


  「Oof.」


  「Is it conceivable that I would merely come here with this much war potential?」


  Taiyou severely lowered his eyebrows.

  There was logic to what Michiyo had said. He still wasn’t able to comprehend just what kind of a position the head of Juunishima was, but when he thought of it as being the autonomous leader of a million, he could imagine fairly well.

  Certainly, there was the battle potential of some ten people here, but he thought it was too small to rise in revolt against a human in that position.

  「Yer easy to read.」


  「Huh」


  Surprised, he looked behind. Having approached him before he realized it, Youran and Leticia were standing right behind him.

  「What do you mean I’m easy to read?」


  「If it were a coup d’etat then sure, this amount of power wouldn’t cut it, but this woman is doing something different.」


  Youran spoke in an easy manner, perhaps because she was speaking to Taiyou.

  「Right, this ain’t political disturbance, it’s political strife at it’s best.」


  「Political strife…so a power struggle.」


  「Yes, I’ve been dragged into the confusion of the current house. The confusion of the battle to determine whether Adano or I will be the successor.」


  「Adano?」


  「The girl named Pochi. Just like me, her name of Juunishima was already determined before she was born.」


  「Ohh……」


  「That woman sold me out and went with the other side.」


  「……I don’t really get it, but are you trying to say that what’s going on here now is…reasonable war potential?」


  「Right.」


  「Then, the reason why she said stuff like this」


  「Buy time, ain’t nothin’ else」


  「I see……」


  Taiyou was relieved. If Youran and Leticia were both affirming that, he thought that it was okay to relax.

  But.

  「Ya ain’t got a good head, do ya」


  「Huh?」


  Suddenly disparaged by Leticia, he looked at her wondering what the matter was.

  「What do you mean?」


  「Method and objective」


  Youran said in place of Leticia. Just like Taiyou, she liked that expression.

  Liking the same expression, and possessing the same thought pattern.

  Consequently, when she said it like that, he soon understood what she was trying to say.

  「There are…other objectives? But what can she do with buying time――」


  Thinking that far, he threw a glance at Michiyo.

  Preserving the classical image of a maid with her outfit, she displayed a stance with her hands together. Her face was blank like a noh mask, and he couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

  But that became his support.

  「――Ngh!」


  「What’s wrong」


  Coming next to him, Youran peered at him, quizzically inquiring.

  Right this moment, various things connected in a straight line.

  There had been more than enough elements…information given to him, and yet he hadn’t connected them.

  With Youran and Leticia’s words, it suddenly caught fire like a fuse.

  「Uwoooh!」


  Raising a war cry, he charged forward brandishing his shovel.

  In order to protect Michiyo, the heavily equipped men stood blocking in front of her one by one.

  But the difference in power was clear.

  There was still a remaining war potential of around twenty people, but Taiyou had begun kicking them about in the blink of an eye.

  Until shortly before he had had enough leisure to hold back by using the “face” of the shovel, but it had now all changed to an impactful attack.

  Bang、clang、slash!

  The shovel made a boisterous dance. The men who had blocked Taiyou’s way had become a tragic mess.

  Bones broken、blood spraying everywhere, the public night road began to transform into a lurid scene of carnage.

  After he had scattered all of the men, he confronted Michiyo in a flash. Not bothering to exchange any dialogue, he closed in on her and gave her a blow to the vital points.

  Her eyes wide open for an instant, Michiyo thereafter went into a slump as her concsiousness left her.

  Carrying her on his shoulders, he turned back to the other two.

  「Let’s go」


  「Go? Where?」


  「Wherever. We just need to get out of here」


  「Ya finally realized…but wasn’t that a bit hasty?」


  「There’s a good reason for that」


  「Whazzat」


  「I’ll explain later. Hey you, can you drive that?」


  Youran asked Leticia, looking at the armed helicopter that Michiyo had arrived with.

  「If it’s a cessna then I can make somethin’ of it, but that one’s a bit impossible」


  「Then we can’t get around」


  「Yup」


  Just as she said, speed was necessary to quickly escape from here.

  And right now Taiyou and company did not have such capabilities.

  The trailer limousine remnant that they had used to get here was in the net and couldn’t be uses.

  Taiyou panicked.

  What to do, what should they do.

  「Taiyou-chan Taiyou-chan, they have Aoba-chan and they’re heading this way」


  「――Mm!」


  Taiyou caught his breath with a grim face at the nonchalantly speaking Hera who had manifested herself.