One weapon was a super-electromagnetic launcher capable of accelerating metal projectiles less than eight meters across to a substantial fraction of the speed of light.
Once an object passed a certain velocity, friction with the atmosphere generated tremendous heat.
At such extreme speeds, the projectile left a straight, luminous trail through the air, making the shot resemble a laser.
The other weapon was a particle-beam projector. Its accelerator drove particles from a particle source to near-light speed, while magnetic fields concentrated them into a dense stream and fired them outward.
That attack also took the form of a glowing beam, easily mistaken for a laser.
Both were kinetic weapons. With roughly fifty kilometers separating them, the distance was practically negligible at those velocities.
Deliberately striking one projectile with the other would be like making two bullets collide head-on. In a sudden exchange like this, it should have been impossible.
Under normal circumstances, each weapon would simply aim at a large target.
The electromagnetic launcher's projectile was aimed at Scorpio, a monster more than four hundred meters tall.
The particle beam, in turn, should have been aimed at the electromagnetic railgun, an installation more than a hundred meters in size.
But that torrent of particles was not targeting the railgun.
It was targeting the incoming shell.
Hitting that shell directly should have been virtually impossible.
However, the straight line between the enemy railgun's muzzle and Scorpio provided an approximate trajectory.
The particle beam was angled into that path.
Unlike a single projectile, the beam formed a continuous line that could be sustained for a short period. That brief interval was all it needed to catch the shell as it passed through.
To everyone watching, the two streaks of light should have swept past one another.
Instead, they intersected.
The instant they met, the energy of the near-light-speed shell erupted. The particles striking it also lost their confinement and scattered violently.
A silver sun was born in the night.
Its radiance seemed to illuminate half the world.
When the light faded and darkness returned, a terrifying rumble rose from the earth beneath the point where that silver sun had vanished.
Within the space of a breath, a shock wave swept toward Scorpio like a super typhoon.
Another particle beam pierced that raging storm.
This time, its target was unmistakable.
The enormous electromagnetic railgun.
The beam struck with almost perfect accuracy.
On the screen, the railgun seemed to be made of plastic. Wherever the beam touched, its structure rapidly softened, melted, and twisted out of shape.
Finally, amid a brilliant flash, an enormous fireball rose over the installation like a volcanic eruption.
The particle cannon alone had not supplied all that destructive energy. Part of the explosion came from the installation itself.
"Lord Tendo, are you pleased with how things turned out?"
Inside the research facility in the Outer District, Kisara addressed Tendo Kikunojo, who had accompanied Seitenshi there.
Her voice carried a mocking edge.
He was the one responsible for Heaven's Ladder being activated and aimed at Scorpio.
Of course, he would never leave behind any evidence they could use against him.
The people operating it might not even have been from Tokyo Area.
He could simply have leaked the situation surrounding Scorpio to another Area, such as Osaka Area, ruled by Saitake Sogen.
That ambitious old man would never sit idly by while Tokyo Area obtained the body of a Stage V Gastrea.
With Scorpio lying so close to Tokyo Area, even if other Areas received a share, Tokyo would still keep the bulk of it.
Saitake would never accept being left with scraps.
He would rather make sure nobody got anything. That way, everyone would remain on equal footing, with no one pulling ahead.
It was entirely possible that he had sent personnel into Heaven's Ladder and activated it to destroy Scorpio.
Then again, Saitake was a senior member of the Five Wings Association. Shigaki Senichi, who had once served as the Tendo family's butler, was also a member.
Had Kikunojo ever noticed anything?
He had.
After Kain told Kisara that Senichi belonged to that organization in the story, her own investigation had confirmed it.
Kikunojo had also suspected that something was wrong with the butler. He had kept quiet because he occasionally used him to leak information to Saitake.
In other words, Saitake had been manipulated without even realizing it.
And Senichi was not the only disappointment.
Kisara had once thought of the butler as a kind man. She had also believed her former fiancé to be an honorable person.
Yet her investigation had revealed exactly what Kain had told her.
He, too, belonged to the Five Wings Association, and he had been plotting against her.
"Why would I be pleased?"
Kikunojo's reply was perfectly calm.
"It's simple. You hate the Gastrea more than anyone."
"And what does that have to do with this?"
"It means you also hate the Cursed Children, who carry the Gastrea virus, more than anyone. You can't stand the thought of them gaining rights, much less being cured and getting to live normal lives."
Kisara had no patience for talking around the issue. She laid the accusation out plainly.
The old man's expression did not change.
"How amusing. You're contradicting yourself. You claim I hate those children because they're infected with the Gastrea virus. If they're cured and no longer carry it, why would I object?"
"You'd only accept that if Grandmother came back to life too. As long as she stays dead, you'll never accept those children getting to live healthy lives. You want them to suffer for the rest of their lives!"
Her voice was utterly cold.
At last, the old man's expression changed.
His wife's death, the death of Kisara's grandmother, was what had...
No.
The Tendo family had already wielded enormous influence before the Gastrea War. They had not reached that position through kindness.
Kikunojo had been rotten long before then.
Her grandmother's death had merely made him even more vicious and ruthless.
"What could someone like you possibly understand?"
"And what right do you have to deny it? You murdered your own son!"
The moment those words left their mouths, both were openly radiating murderous intent.
Seitenshi immediately stepped between them.
She had to stop this before they actually tried to kill each other.
But what she had heard shook her.
Kikunojo had murdered his own son?
Did that mean both of Kisara's parents had been killed?
Kisara's accusations had also exposed something else.
Kikunojo had been involved in the chain of events that brought Scorpio here.
All of it had been intended to defeat the bill Seitenshi planned to introduce, the New Gastrea Law, which would protect the human rights of the Cursed Children.
Scorpio's arrival would terrify Tokyo Area's residents, intensifying their hatred of the Gastrea.
That hatred would then spill over onto the Cursed Children because they carried the virus.
Under those circumstances, the New Gastrea Law would never gain public support.
It would be rejected.
Seitenshi glanced at a screen.
Over there, the collection of samples from Scorpio had already resumed.
As for her request that the government be allowed to obtain a portion of its body...
Wasn't Dr. Muroto Sumire already part of the government?
And didn't Shiba Heavy Industries also count as part of the forces supporting it?
Seitenshi could only smile bitterly at that response.
Clearly, Kain had no intention of allowing any faction other than Sumire and Shiba Heavy Industries to get involved.
Still, this was a fairly good outcome.
(End of Chapter)
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