Chapter 52 – Tatakae1

The sound of rain, snarls, impacts… Lin Xi was a mess of nerves.

Fortunately, she wasn’t alone.

She had Shi Yu, Lu Yi, Sebas, and this Maybach that was both fast and steady.

“Shi Yu! What the hell are we fighting?!” Lin Xi shouted.

Shi Yu answered, “They’re Apostles!”

“Apostles of the Super Disaster Kun-the Rain Wraiths!”

“Their strength is probably around Level Five or Level Four. The strongest ones can reach roughly the level of a Level Three Disaster.”

“Their disaster level isn’t that high, but there are way too many of them. And they’re hidden in this pouring rain. They’re impossible to guard against!”

“Good thing this car is bulletproof, but it won’t hold out for long. We can’t just sit here and wait to die. We have to hit back with everything we’ve got!”

It was time to tatakae!

At some point, Shi Yu had already picked up two pistols, while Lu Yi had taken out a small UFO-shaped drone???

Lu Yi took the initiative to explain to Lin Xi, “This is a UFO Bomb. It’s controlled by phone. One blast covers a wide area. Very convenient.”

Lin Xi: “…”

“No, seriously, do you two carry weapons around with you even at school???”

“What do you call professionalism? This is professionalism!” Shi Yu said. “Preparing for a rainy day is also part of ZERO’s corporate culture.”

Lin Xi could only say she had learned something today.

“Miss Shi!” Sebas suddenly spoke up. Even with monsters attacking, he kept the car perfectly steady. “Please prepare to counterattack!”

Shi Yu chambered a round, and Sebas added, “Your firepower seems somewhat lacking. Perhaps you should use the vehicle-mounted weapon.”

“Vehicle-mounted weapon?” The corner of Shi Yu’s mouth lifted. “Zheng Mo is the same as ever, a total modification maniac. What did she install on this car?”

“Please look behind you-” Sebas pressed a black button beneath the car’s control panel, and movement came from the trunk. “Vehicle-mounted weapon ready. I am now going to open up the car. Are you prepared?”

“Ready!” Shi Yu said.

Sebas pressed another switch, and only then did Lin Xi understand what he meant by “open up the car.” The rear half of the vehicle actually transformed and opened!

The vehicle-mounted weapon appeared before the three girls.

Lin Xi froze.

A Gatling gun???!!!

“Miss Shi!” Sebas called out. “Our young lady said you would definitely like this Gatling gun that spits blue fire!”

“Zheng Mo really does understand me!” Shi Yu pounced on it as if she’d discovered buried treasure. “Lin Xi, Lu Yi, they’re about to swarm in from behind the car!”

Lin Xi’s eyes widened as wind and rain swept in through the open rear.

Amid the dense curtain of rain, ghostly figures flickered in and out of sight.

Suddenly-

“Da-da-da!!!-“

The Gatling gun spat tongues of flame as bullets poured out in a torrent.

The rainwater instantly turned pale green, and Shi Yu shouted:

“That’s the Rain Wraiths’ blood!”

“Carbon-based life forms are nothing before a blue-flame-spitting Gatling gun!”

It was obvious that Shi Yu was having the time of her life.

Lu Yi, fully prepared, remotely piloted three UFO Bombs into the air.

“Lu Yi!” Shi Yu said. “Blow the Rain Wraith smashing our roof to pieces!”

“Roger that!” Lu Yi began operating them with total focus.

Lin Xi wanted to fight too. “Uh, let me build up for about half a minute-“

“Wait!” Shi Yu stopped her while firing in a sweeping barrage. “Can you even control your ability properly?”

“Last time you burned through a building. This time, if you end up setting this car on fire, we’re really done for.”

“I…” Lin Xi honestly wasn’t sure.

The [Fireball Spell] was far more powerful than she’d expected, and she had yet to properly practice how to release it in a controlled manner.

“For now, come help me reload,” Shi Yu said.

“On it!” Lin Xi hurried over and started feeding in ammo. “If we make it out of here alive, I swear I’ll practice controlling how much power I put out.”

Shi Yu said in a low, eerie voice, “The three of us are already unlucky enough. Could you not jinx us?”

Lin Xi: “…”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three explosions went off on the roof, successfully clearing out the Rain Wraiths hammering at it.

Under the Gatling gun’s suppressive fire, not a single Rain Wraith managed to break into the vehicle.

Rain splashed onto the Gatling gun’s six barrels and instantly turned to steam.

Spent casings clattered and poured down like a torrential rain.

After less than two minutes of firing, they were almost out of bullets.

“Reload! Hurry up and reload!” Shi Yu urged.

Lin Xi’s reloading speed was nowhere near enough to keep up with the rate they were burning through ammo.

At long last, she understood the hardships of the Logistics Team.

After Lu Yi used up the UFO Bombs, she also started helping reload.

“Sebas!” Shi Yu shouted. “Have you still not found anywhere that looks like an exit?!”

“My apologies, Miss Shi!” Sebas kept adjusting the steering wheel. He had tried every spot on the overpass, but none of them had been the exit.

“It’s possible the exit hasn’t appeared yet!”

They were trapped inside this Dark Domain centered around the overpass, which meant the exit had to be here. Sebas could only surmise that the exit had not yet “spawned.”

“Got it,” Shi Yu said. “Focus on driving. Leave fighting the monsters to us!”

“Yes, Miss Shi!”

A few minutes later, the bullets ran out, and the Gatling gun fell completely silent.

Shi Yu drew both pistols. “When we run out of bullets, we use blades. When the blades are trashed, we use fists!”

“Lin Xi, get ready!”

“Worst case, you burn us and the Rain Wraiths to death together. We can’t let these monsters have it easy all by themselves!”

Lin Xi: “…”

“Hey, come on. Don’t make me sound that unreliable!”

“While I was reloading, I was already getting pretty much ready!”

“Really?” Shi Yu fired both pistols in rapid succession, the rain constantly being dyed a bizarre green by the Rain Wraiths’ blood.

“Really!” Lin Xi said.

Shi Yu thought for a moment, then suddenly shouted to Sebas, “Open the roof!”

Then she said to Lin Xi, “You don’t need to control it either. Just pour everything you’ve got into the sky.”

“Huh? There aren’t any Rain Wraiths on the roof anymore,” Lin Xi said. She had been planning to blast those bastard monsters chasing them from behind.

“Who said I wanted you to hit the Rain Wraiths?” Shi Yu gave a sly grin. “Give that huge thing up there one hell of a shot!”

Lin Xi clicked her tongue. “Wait… you want me to hit the Kun???”

“Miss Lin!” Sebas reminded her. “I’m opening the roof now.”

After taking a deep breath, Lin Xi said, “Fine!”

She wanted to see for herself just how powerful the Fireball Spell would be at full output.

Click.

The roof opened in an instant.

But not a single drop of rain poured in.

Above the three girls, an enormous fireball, scorching like the blazing sun, swelled under Lin Xi’s will. It spun at high speed and shot straight into the clouds.

It evaporated every drop of rain and pierced through layer after layer of gray fog.

BOOOOM!!!

At last, it exploded in the distant sky with a crash like thunder.

Shi Yu and Lu Yi were both stunned. Shi Yu said, “I’ll admit there was an element of gambling there, but you actually hurt the Super Disaster Kun!”

“Are you sure you’ve only recovered a tiny portion of your power?”

“I… I don’t know…” Lin Xi felt utterly exhausted. Her vision went black, her legs gave out, and she collapsed.

Beside her ears, Shi Yu’s and Lu Yi’s anxious cries gradually faded away…

Footnote:

1. Tatakae(戦え): The Japanese word for “Fight!” or “Go fight!” It is a widely recognized meme in the global ACGN community, famously associated with characters (such as Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan) motivating themselves before a battle.