A National Security Council meeting was underway at the operations headquarters in the Tokyo Area.
On a large screen, footage streamed in from an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
Night had already fallen, leaving the image somewhat indistinct.
Even so, the vast, turbulent sea remained clearly visible.
It resembled a bottomless abyss, concealing countless things beneath its surface, along with untold dangers.
Ever since the outbreak of the Gastrea virus, humanity had lost much of its freedom to travel the oceans.
Dangerous Gastrea lurked beneath the waves, making maritime trade an arduous undertaking.
At the edge of the screen, moonlight glinted off metal hulls. Those were the Tokyo Area's warships.
The fleet was nearly in position, ready to unleash its firepower the moment the target appeared.
Then the image darkened further.
Clouds had rolled across the sky, obscuring the moon.
The distant horizon now looked even more like a gateway to hell, a place from which a demon might emerge at any moment.
The drone continued toward that dark threshold. The closer it flew, the darker the footage became.
"How did information about the Legacy of the Seven Stars get leaked in the first place?"
"Only a handful of people knew about it!"
"Who was responsible?"
The voices in the conference room grew increasingly heated.
What should have been a meeting about tactics was turning into an argument over who deserved the blame.
Seitenshi, who had only recently returned, silently took out her phone and dialed a number.
"What is it now, Lady Seitenshi?"
The voice on the other end sounded thoroughly impatient.
"I can accept that condition."
"Huh? What condition?"
She seemed to have genuinely forgotten, rather than pretending for the sake of mockery.
"As long as the Tokyo Area can be protected, I'll accept any condition. Including the one you mentioned, President Tendo."
As Seitenshi spoke, a figure appeared on the screen.
An enormous, grotesque creature.
Scorpio had finally entered the waters near the Tokyo Area!
Now that the Stage V had been lured here, if the condition Kisara had proposed could truly buy everyone's safety, then the price was almost absurdly low.
Her own dignity and freedom were worth so little compared with the entire Tokyo Area.
It would be like trading a loaf of bread for a lump of gold of equal size. She would be getting by far the better end of the bargain.
If surrendering control over her own life was all he wanted, she would do so without hesitation.
Perhaps Kisara had secured his support through a similar arrangement.
"Oh? You understand this wouldn't be a one-time arrangement, right? You'd be at his beck and call."
"Yes."
"Heh."
A quiet laugh came through the phone.
Then Kisara hung up.
"Lady Seitenshi, was that President Tendo?"
"What agreement did you reach?"
The chief cabinet secretary and the defense minister immediately pressed her for answers.
Seitenshi said nothing.
"What is the purpose of this meeting? Let's not lose sight of our priorities."
The calm question silenced the noisy room.
Its speaker was Seitenshi's aide, Tendo Kikunojo.
Few could meet his imposing gaze.
Of course, he also wanted to know what sort of bargain Seitenshi had struck with the murderous girl who had turned her back on his family.
But that could wait until this was over.
The sea breeze stirred Senju Kayo's pale blond hair.
Once she sensed that no more Gastrea were approaching, she tied her loose hair back up so it wouldn't obstruct her vision during a fight.
She glanced at the straight blade in her hand. Nearly as long as she was tall, it resembled a Varanium sword, but it was far sharper than any Varanium weapon she knew.
So far, everything she had struck with it had parted as easily as soft cheese.
It also had another function.
It could fire lasers!
That gave it a considerable advantage over ordinary firearms. She could switch between close combat and ranged attacks without changing weapons.
Of course, its laser attacks didn't have an unlimited energy supply.
Hm?
As a Dolphin-type Cursed Child, her senses were stronger and reached farther than those of most other Cursed Children.
Something terrifying was approaching from beyond the horizon.
She tensed, her breathing growing faster.
Her gaze shifted to the figure standing closest to the water.
He had begun to move.
Once again, he produced equipment out of nowhere with that inexplicable ability of his and began putting on armor.
That must be what people called power armor.
Hm?
After putting on the first suit, he produced another, considerably bulkier layer.
Its appearance seemed to have little to do with advanced technology. It looked more like the heavy plate armor of an ancient knight.
Once he had donned that as well, he stood over two meters tall, a towering figure of metal.
He had also exchanged his firearm for a larger one. It looked powerful enough to reduce a person to pieces with a single shot.
In his other hand, he held a greatsword. A faint light seemed to flow along its blade.
"Kayo, head back and stand by aboard the aircraft."
After securing the last piece of his helmet, Kain gave her the order.
With an IQ above two hundred, she had already mastered almost all the controls of the aircraft he had brought and could operate it freely.
As his helmet's visual systems finished linking up, he saw that the approaching Scorpio had drawn considerably closer.
It stood over four hundred meters tall. From a distance, it looked like an enormous, vaguely humanoid mass lumbering through the sea.
But once his power armor magnified the image, the details were enough to send anyone's sanity plummeting.
An ordinary person without sufficient mental fortitude might lose their mind just looking at it.
Its body was covered in split, exposed muscle, with tumorlike growths resembling smallpox lesions bulging across the flesh. Raised masses and numerous sharp protrusions jutted from its hide.
There were also countless tentacles. Even from afar, they made its silhouette seem like a writhing tangle of bodies.
Its head was grotesquely swollen, joined directly to its torso without a neck.
Where a human mouth should have been, it possessed something resembling a crow's beak. Eyeballs of different sizes crowded its head.
From a distance, those clusters merely gave the impression of two mismatched eyes.
Up close, he could see many more.
There were even smaller eyes growing inside the larger ones.
It was impossible to say how many species had been combined to produce such a monster.
A casual glance revealed the characteristics of hundreds of different animals.
It kept advancing, parting the sea as it came.
Then a barrage of missiles rose into the sky and streaked toward it.
As they reached their target, something like a bird's cry rang out.
The atmosphere shuddered. Even the earth seemed to tremble.
The shock wave generated by its cry destroyed part of the incoming barrage, while the remaining missiles struck its enormous body.
When the explosions subsided, it appeared completely unharmed.
Part of the problem was its sheer size. Its outer hide had become correspondingly tougher, making it extremely difficult to penetrate.
The other problem was its regeneration.
It healed at the molecular level, repairing whatever minor damage the missiles inflicted in the blink of an eye.
Hm?
A message had arrived from Sumire.
The doctor had listed the samples she wanted him to collect.
Some could only be obtained by getting inside that thing.
Now that was going to be a challenge.
(End of Chapter)
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