Chapter 156: Strongest VS Strongest
Ten minutes later, inside the research base.
"Lionheart Shield!"
The instant a mobile unit squad appeared around the corner ahead, Kaguya Shinomiya raised her left hand. A massive shield carved with a lion's head burst into existence in her grip. It had a black base with dark blue patterns, nearly one and a half meters wide and two meters tall. The lion's face looked like it could roar at any moment.
"Fire!"
The battered mobile unit members had learned their lesson the hard way. When they encountered these mysterious intruders, hesitation meant death. If they did not open fire first, they would be cut down by abilities they could not even predict.
"Bang bang bang!"
Gunfire tore through the corridor, deafening and relentless. Kaguya Shinomiya bent her knees and braced her left forearm against the back of the shield.
A faint blue glow lit up inside the lion's eye sockets, as if the shield had awakened from a long sleep.
Rifle and shotgun rounds slammed into its surface over and over, but none broke through. Kaguya Shinomiya did not take a single step back. She gritted her teeth and held the line.
"Kaguya…"
Fujiwara Chika, pressed behind the shield with her, saw Kaguya's knuckles whitening from the strain. Blood had already seeped from the corner of Kaguya's mouth.
Chika did not hesitate.
She opened her palm and tossed a small, delicate die.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It bounced across the floor, then settled.
"1."
Chika's expression changed instantly. She bit her lip, then reached her right hand toward the die.
In the next heartbeat, the number facing upward twisted, warping in place, and became "6."
The moment it changed, sharp, dense thorns erupted from the ground beneath the mobile unit squad. They had no time to dodge. The spikes surged upward like spears, impaling bodies and pinning them to the walls and ceiling.
For a brief moment, screams filled the air.
Then everything went still.
"Hah… hah…"
When the Lionheart Shield finally vanished, Kaguya Shinomiya no longer had the strength to remain standing. She dropped to one knee. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth onto the floor.
Her beautiful red eyes trembled with frustration. She clenched her hands and tried to force herself upright, but Fujiwara Chika caught her immediately.
"Kaguya, stop. We're both… at our limit."
"No… I… I can keep going…"
Kaguya's vision blurred. A harsh ringing filled her ears so loudly she could barely hear her own voice.
Even with rest and food after arriving last night, the exertion at the train station had pushed her to the edge. That kind of exhaustion did not vanish just because you slept and ate properly.
"No. We're retreating!"
Fujiwara Chika's eyes were full of distress, but her voice turned uncharacteristically firm. She looked at Hayasaka Ai.
"Carry her. We leave right now!"
"Okay."
Hayasaka Ai understood. In Kaguya's state, continuing to fight was impossible. Staying conscious was already a struggle.
It was a bitter truth, but the highest level clear reward for this super large Dungeon was not meant for them.
For Chika and Hayasaka Ai, rewards were nothing compared to Kaguya Shinomiya's life.
Hayasaka Ai lifted Kaguya onto her back. The moment she steadied her, a calm, steady set of footsteps approached from behind the thorn barrier.
"Hm? An all female Player team?"
A man in a green beret stepped into view behind the tangled thorns. Through the gaps, his smiling face was visible, almost friendly.
"This is my first time seeing that."
His gaze slid over them with open interest, then turned toward the bodies skewered by thorns and shoved all the way up into the ceiling above.
"How interesting. No wonder you led me here."
His smile widened, voice vibrating with a feverish thrill.
"And you're strong Players. I wonder what kind of rewards I can extract after killing you. It's been a long time since I felt this excited…"
"Chika, run!"
Hayasaka Ai and Fujiwara Chika both realized instantly what this meant.
Trouble.
Using the thorn barrier as cover, they turned and sprinted down the corridor.
"Run? Can you escape?"
Sato laughed softly. He pulled a grenade from his pocket, yanked the pin, and tossed it into the thorns.
Boom!!!
The explosion thundered behind them. Neither Hayasaka Ai nor Fujiwara Chika dared look back. They only forced their legs to keep moving.
But they were already exhausted. Hayasaka Ai was also carrying Kaguya Shinomiya, and their speed was painfully slow.
Sato, as if enjoying himself, did not immediately catch up. He kept a deliberate distance, close enough that his footsteps stayed clear behind them, but never close enough to finish it.
"Damn it…"
Hayasaka Ai's jaw tightened.
She was already about to hand Kaguya off to Fujiwara Chika and sacrifice herself to block Sato when the metal door at the corner ahead suddenly began to drop.
"No… how could this…"
The door fell fast.
They were still nearly ten meters away when it was already more than halfway down. There was no time. Hayasaka Ai and Fujiwara Chika stopped and turned, forced to face Sato.
Sato casually adjusted his green beret and smiled.
"Interesting. Too interesting."
He sounded almost amused by the situation itself.
"I never thought I, Sato, would have a day where I 'work together' with the Anti-Ajin Special Forces."
By "cooperation," he meant something very different.
He had already seen through their intention. They wanted to use him to eliminate Players, or use Players to stall him.
Even knowing that, Sato did not care.
It simply meant the metal doors were shaping the route for him. If he kept moving, he would keep running into Players.
"Still…"
Sato's gaze swept over the three girls, then lingered on Kaguya's condition.
"Looking at you now, you can't continue fighting. What a pity."
He shook his head, drew a pistol from his waist, and lifted it slowly.
"In that case, I'll take your items and equipment."
Hayasaka Ai's mind went blank. Despair pressed down on her chest.
Fujiwara Chika's face twisted with unwillingness, then she suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Hey, you! Help!"
The shout actually startled Sato.
In a situation like this, he genuinely did not expect someone to scream for help.
But in the next second, he saw something that made his expression shift.
The heavy metal door that had nearly sealed shut began to rise again.
Not because the Anti-Ajin Special Forces lifted it through the central system.
A tall, burly black figure was forcing it up from beneath, lifting several tons of metal with raw strength.
"That is…"
Sato's eyes narrowed.
Only then did he notice a metal tip wedged into the door's track, something like the head of a Rope Dart, stopping the fall at the critical moment.
Using it as a brace. Finding a leverage point. Forcing the door back up.
Sato understood the mechanics, but he still could not believe it.
First, what kind of Rope Dart could withstand the full weight of a falling metal door without snapping? What was it made of?
Second, what kind of monster could lift a door like this by force?
As Sato stood in that moment of disbelief, a man in a long black trench coat stepped out from behind the rising door.
A dark gray mask covered his face.
His voice was calm, almost casual.
"I'll ask just in case. When you shout 'hey, you,' are you calling me?"
Fujiwara Chika could not see his face, but she recognized the voice, the tone, the height. Her face lit up with pure relief.
"I… I knew you'd come!"
"Don't say nonsense."
Asagiri chuckled.
"That was just a blind cat finding a dead mouse. Do you think I'm your summoned beast? You yell once and I appear?"
Then his gaze flicked to Kaguya Shinomiya on Hayasaka Ai's back. Kaguya's red eyes had dulled, her consciousness hanging by a thread.
Asagiri's tone sharpened.
"Violet. Take them. Detour to that place."
He paused, then turned his eyes fully to Sato.
"This guy stays with me."
"Okay. Understood."
Yuuki Asuna did not hesitate. She immediately signaled Hayasaka Ai and Fujiwara Chika to move.
Fujiwara Chika heard her voice, saw the strand of flaxen hair beneath the deep red cloak, and sprinted over without a second thought.
Asagiri's decision was clean and efficient.
Every minute wasted here was one more minute for another Player team to find the experimental data first.
But Sato would not let them go.
And the Anti-Ajin Special Forces was clearly guiding Sato to hunt Players. Even if they retreated behind the door, the Bureau could raise it again through the system and allow Sato to continue the pursuit.
With Fujiwara Chika near her limit and Kaguya Shinomiya unable to even walk, escaping Sato was impossible.
So the strongest stayed behind alone.
Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko would protect Fujiwara Chika, Kaguya Shinomiya, and Hayasaka Ai and push toward the experimental data.
Bang.
The metal door dropped again, cutting the corridor in two.
Sato stared at Asagiri. His gaze dipped to the Rope Dart chain hanging loosely beneath Asagiri's right arm, then rose to lock directly onto his eyes.
Sato's narrow eyes gleamed with feverish killing intent.
"You… must be the strongest Player."
.....
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