Since the hospital was an elite medical facility operated by a private corporation, the surrounding businesses were equally upscale.
Inside the VIP room of an expensive café, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
The private room was intended for business discussions that shouldn't be overheard, but it wasn't so thoroughly soundproofed that nothing from outside could be heard.
Yet the café had grown increasingly quiet, as though the people inside this room were the only living beings left in the world.
As the one who had arranged this meeting, Kikuoka Seijirou was growing more nervous by the second.
Logically, the arrival of armed reinforcements should have made him feel safer. Instead, their presence only deepened his unease.
The sudden silence outside clearly meant the building had been evacuated. In all likelihood, heavily armed personnel had already surrounded the room and were prepared to storm it at any moment.
Of course, they weren't under Kikuoka's command. Nor could he overrule the decisions of his superiors.
He had invited Kain here partly because he genuinely wanted to talk, but also because he wanted to draw him away from the hospital. If a conflict broke out, at least innocent patients and medical staff wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.
Kain's apparent calm only made Kikuoka more uneasy. He seemed completely unaware of the troops surrounding them.
Only five minutes had passed since the two of them entered the room, and they still hadn't begun a meaningful conversation.
From the moment they sat down, Kain had been playing with a handheld device resembling a PSP. He had left Kikuoka waiting without saying a word.
The special operations unit had arrived so quickly because it had already been stationed nearby. After a large number of SAO players logged out and the authorities identified Asuna as an unusual case, they had quietly deployed a team to the area.
"Mr. Kikuoka, you're familiar with video games, aren't you?" Kain finally asked.
"I've played a few."
"Are you interested in shooting games? Would you say you're good at them?"
The questions seemed like meaningless small talk, but Kikuoka didn't believe Kain would bring them up without a reason. He carefully analyzed every word before answering.
"I can't compete with young people when it comes to most modern games, but I'm fairly confident in my shooting skills. I'm not very good with handheld consoles like the PSP, though. Gun Gale Online is a virtual game centered around firearms, and I'm reasonably good at that."
"I see."
What did he see?
Kain suddenly placed the unfamiliar handheld device in the center of the table and pressed a button.
Something shot out of it in the next instant, making Kikuoka flinch. For a moment, he thought Kain had activated a weapon.
Instead, several objects about the size of buttons flew out and attached themselves to the ceiling and surrounding walls.
They emitted a faint glow, and the entire VIP room transformed.
It suddenly appeared as though they had been transported thousands of feet into the sky.
In reality, a holographic projection had covered the entire room. Yet the imagery was so realistic that it further demonstrated just how advanced Kain's technology was.
A formation of fighter jets suddenly appeared before them, causing Kikuoka's expression to change.
The formation included fighters belonging to multiple countries.
If Kikuoka remembered correctly, a joint military exercise was being held over the waters near Okinawa today.
The perspective showed the fighter formation passing directly in front of them, implying that whatever was observing the jets was flying right alongside them.
Kain made a gesture, and a holographic control interface appeared.
It seemed to be the flight-control system of the unidentified aircraft.
He closed one hand around an invisible control stick and tapped the projected optical panels with the other. Their surroundings accelerated, giving the impression that they were racing through the sky in pursuit of the fighter formation.
Within roughly ten seconds, they had caught up.
They were now flying so close that it felt like two people standing shoulder to shoulder, with barely a fist's width between them.
Despite the unbelievably short distance, the fighter formation didn't react.
If this wasn't simply the result of a magnified camera feed, and the unidentified craft truly were flying beside the jets, then they weren't merely invisible to radar.
They were invisible to the naked eye as well.
"Mr. Kikuoka, how about we play a game?" Kain suggested with a smile. "Let's see who can shoot down the most."
His casual proposal sent a chill down Kikuoka's spine.
At the same time, another holographic flight interface appeared in front of him.
The surrounding projection split into two separate viewpoints. One showed the fighter formation from the right, while the other showed it from the left.
That meant two unidentified aircraft were flying alongside the formation, one on either side.
Was any of this real?
Or was it an elaborate fabrication?
"Wait. Let's change the rules," Kain said. "How about this instead?"
With a few subtle movements, he made one of the unidentified craft roll over and position itself above a fighter jet, its camera aimed directly at the aircraft's upper fuselage.
He activated another function.
Kikuoka's pupils widened as a laser began engraving something onto the fighter's back.
When it finished, a cartoon face had appeared on the fuselage. It depicted a blonde girl with twin braided pigtails, sticking out her tongue with a playfully cute expression.
The entire image had been engraved in a single second.
The fighter jet finally seemed to notice something was wrong. Its flight path wavered, and it drifted out of formation.
"That first one doesn't count," Kain said. "We'll compete to see who can stamp the most portraits onto these fighters without damaging them or causing an accident. That means no collisions and no setting the output too high and burning out their internal electronics.
"If you manage to stamp more fighters than I do, I'll give you one of the aircraft you're currently controlling. If I win, you hand the Alicization Project over to me."
Kain had finally revealed his true objective.
"Of course, you probably don't know how to operate the controls yet. You can practice on these fighters first and get a feel for—"
Bang!
The sudden crash interrupted him, and Kikuoka's expression changed drastically.
The door had been violently forced open. Fully armed personnel immediately poured into the room.
"Idiots! Don't come any closer!" Kikuoka roared.
It was already too late.
One soldier had rushed to his side, apparently intending to pull him away or restrain him.
Kikuoka instinctively tried to stop the man from approaching. Their bodies collided, causing one of them to strike the projected control panel and accidentally activate a function.
A line of text appeared in the air.
Entering Extermination Mode. Eliminate all armed threats.
The instant the message appeared, countless missiles launched across the holographic display.
The unidentified craft seemed like a flying beehive, releasing an entire swarm of missiles at once.
Several new windows appeared. Some showed missiles pursuing the fighter jets, but most showed missiles streaking toward the joint naval fleet.
The missiles didn't appear particularly fast. They seemed to be traveling at roughly the speed of ordinary cruise missiles.
A fighter jet should have been able to outrun them by going supersonic.
There was only one problem.
The missiles also appeared to possess optical camouflage.
They were visible in the projection because the cameras had captured them at the instant of launch. When the display zoomed in, however, all that could be seen were faint distortions in the air hurtling forward.
"What is this?" one of the operatives who had stormed inside asked in shock.
"Get out of the way!"
Kikuoka kicked him aside.
"Please stop them!" Kikuoka demanded.
"Press the blue button," Kain replied.
Without hesitation, Kikuoka struck the blue button on the holographic control panel.
A new message appeared immediately.
Extermination Mode changed to Deterrence Mode.
In the next instant, every missile altered course and flew toward the ocean, targeting the waters directly ahead of the approaching fleet.
The dense swarm struck the sea, releasing a blinding flash.
There was no colossal explosion.
When the light faded, the otherwise calm sea looked as though someone had scooped a piece out of it like pudding.
An enormous crater had been instantly vaporized into the surface of the ocean.
(End of Chapter)
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