Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume10 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 12===

Quenser was covered in scrapes, but he could not complain.

His goal had been the destruction of the anti-personnel sensors set to be added to the Miskatonic. That had been meant to reduce the sacrifices among the Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers, but the situation had changed.

The two Objects were fighting now.

Led by Nyarlathotep, Quenser ran from the Miskatonic. The Object moved every which way as it dodged the main cannon shots fired by the Baby Magnum. The orange ruins were destroyed even further like some kind of natural disaster.

Nyarlathotep spoke as he ran.

“Let’s find some masks somewhere. There must be some in these specialized factories.”

“Masks?”

“Those tanks are filled with liquid nitrogen, right? If they burst and the contents get out, it will vaporize almost immediately. That is not an environment for a human being that inhales oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide.”

“This place is going to get even closer to being like the surface of Mars!?”

Quenser shouted in fear as he held his War Hammer in both hands.

Not far away, the Miskatonic began returning fire. It scattered chemical incendiary rounds while its eight tentacle-like main cannons began to wriggle. Pure white beams were released from various angles.

The industrial sector had just barely maintained its scorched form as it was dyed orange, but it quickly melted into the lava now.

It had been enough of a shock to knock him unconscious when he first saw it, but was growing accustomed to this a good thing? Quenser swore in his heart to see an eye doctor once this was over.

The two of them were assaulted by scorching waves of heat and a tremendous shaking below their feet.

Walls collapsed and Object maintenance materials fell from large trucks. A metal sphere several meters across even rolled across an intersection in the work roads.

“Wah!?”

Quenser was nearly crushed, but his surprise did not come from the near miss.

The item was far different from a giant wrecking ball.

“A test reactor!? They carried in one of those as a spare part!?”

“Do you think we could make it go supercritical to blow away the Miskatonic from below?”

“It wouldn’t be that easy. Even if we did try to get close, those randomly fired chemical incendiary rounds are too scary. Let’s just keep going!”

However, a giant wall blocked their way. It was actually a tube over two meters wide wriggling around the area. It was probably a spare part for the Miskatonic’s main cannons.

Quenser clicked his tongue and searched for a way around it.

The clash between the two monsters was underway not far away.

“She’s at a disadvantage,” said Nyarlathotep in reference to the Princess. “Part of it comes down to the power of her main cannons, but the lava also stops her static electricity propulsion. Plus, her sensors are blinded. And if our theory is correct, the Miskatonic can accurately aim using its high-level olfactory sensors. She has no chance in a head-on battle.”

“Fortunately, the Miskatonic’s new anti-personnel sensors weren’t added in yet. The Princess is one thing, but we don’t have to worry about it locating us.”

“The fact that you chose to charge in to fight after hearing my explanation tells me they should build a statue to honor you. I sympathize with that partner who must always be following you around like this.”

Quenser adjusted his grip on the War Hammer and changed direction with Nyarlathotep. They gave the Miskatonic a wide berth as they ran through a factory.

“Don’t forget that the Legitimacy Kingdom is firing on us too, boy. Look, there are foot soldiers deployed in addition to the Object. How are we going to get past them?”

“I know that. Besides, the First Generation Baby Magnum’s sensors are enough of a-…”

He trailed off as he heard something explode behind them. He quickly looked back and saw a burst pipe partway down the way they had come.

(Did the heat raise the internal pressure too far!?)

But that was not the only explosion. More and more sounded out and they were getting closer.

“We’re going to be swallowed up.”

“But if we run out from here…!!”

There was another large building across a large work road. If they made it there, they would find new, safer cover.

But the second Quenser poked his head out, orange sparks flew from the nearby wall.

He ducked down and pulled his head back.

He poked just his survival kit’s knife out to check again and could tell someone was wielding an assault rifle seven hundred meters ahead.

Quenser clenched his teeth and shouted the familiar boy’s name.

“Heivia!!”

“So we’re cornered. He seems to be using a silencer, but I don’t see why he would need to avoid telling his comrades where his enemy is.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

The explosions were approaching from behind.

“Without a rifle that has support sensors, they’ll have to get closer to shoot. We can make a run for it now. If we can find a way past that idiot, that is.”

“But he’s proven his skill. Step out there and you’ll have your spine shot out before you make it ten steps.”

“I have an idea.”

“Just tell me what it is.”

“If he can shoot at us, that means the line of sight between us is clear.”

“But we have no gun. A handgun and your precious War Hammer can’t fire seven hundred meters.

“That isn’t all I have on hand.”

As he spoke, Quenser reached for his bullpup sticky bomb launcher.

With a solid clicking sound, he removed a piece of it.



In the fiery hell of nearly one hundred degrees, Heivia Winchell could not lie down on the asphalt to steady himself.

Instead, he stood upright as held his assault rifle and secretly clicked his tongue.

(Dammit. I would’ve hit on the first shot if I could do this by the book.)

The young soldier next to him spoke from below a silver cloak.

“What is it, Heivia? Quit firing needlessly. Just because this is an abandoned Capitalist Corporations factory doesn’t mean you can blow up all the fuel tanks like this is a video game. Wars have rules, you know?”

“You idiot, that’s not the point!!”

Just as he removed his eye from the scope to shout back, a transmission reached his radio.

The frequency and encryption format had long since been changed, but he still had Quenser’s bandwidth set in case he could “intercept” something. The reason for that went without saying: intelligence itself was a weapon for the military.

“…Quenser?”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve got that right. I never knew you were so heartless.”

“What are you talking about? You’re the one that blew me away with a bomb! Besides, you still owe me two hundred euros! And when we went to peep on the women’s bath the other day, you ran off and abandoned me!!”

“I have a suggestion, Heivia. …By the way, what do you think happened to the photo I took back then?”

“Hm? …Photo?”

[[Image:HO_v10_301.jpg|thumb]]

Heivia’s expression grew incredibly serious.

At the same time, a small piece of paper slowly stuck out from behind a distant wall.

It was a picture of Frolaytia Capistrano in the bath.

“Let’s make a deal, Heivia. This will be our little secret.”

“Tch!!!!”

Reason and instinct began an all-out battle inside Heivia Winchell.

Killing Quenser would be easy, but if he let go of that photo, the wind would blow it right into that sea of flames. The only way for Heivia to get his hands on this was to accept Quenser’s terms.

Blood focused in the soldier’s head until he thought he would get a nosebleed, but he finally reached his conclusion.

(Okay, I’ll burn it into my memory and then kill him.)

A hopeless guy was only going to reach a hopeless conclusion.

He began staring through his sniper scope so intently he thought the capillaries in his eyes were going to burst.

(This isn’t good. I know it’s only a photo, but it still looks like red light is shining from her eyes. She’s trained me pretty well, hasn’t she?)

But the idiot soon rejected that idea.

“No, wait…”

He blinked.

That alluring bathing scene photograph had a tiny, tiny pinprick of a hole in it. It was right on Frolaytia’s eye.

And something was aimed Heivia’s way from behind the photograph and thus hidden from his sight.

“A laser sight!? What are you, a rude spectator!?”



With the photo in his right hand and the War Hammer’s sensor in his left, Quenser’s hands were full.

So it was Nyarlathotep who used the boy’s survival kit knife as a mirror to observe the situation.

“The sniper looked away. He probably doesn’t want to be blinded.”

“Now’s our chance. Let’s go!!”

Quenser and Nyarlathotep both charged out from behind cover.

At the same time, the exploding pipes swallowed up the spot they had been hiding in.

The surrounding soldiers began spraying bullets their way, but reaching them and hitting them were two different things. Without a mid-range sniper unit, an assault rifle’s average range was between three and four hundred meters. That was not enough.

They ran across the wide work road and behind the cover provided by the wall of the next building.

“That settles it. They know we’re here now. They’re going to start a human wave attack soon.”

“Either way, we can’t escape from the anti-personnel sensors of the Princess’s First Generation. Plus, the more of their people are here, the more options we have.”

Quenser reattached the laser sight to the War Hammer and poked his head out once more.

A few guns immediately aimed his way, but he fired his War Hammer before they could do anything.

A few of the lenses attached to the Baby Magnum’s smaller cannons whirred as it fought the Miskatonic.

Rather than hitting a person, the jelly-like bomb had hit a giant cylindrical tank filled with liquid nitrogen.

Quenser ignored the assault rifles as he brought his radio to his mouth.

“Let’s talk this out peacefully, Princess! Call off the soldiers. If that tank bursts here, the heat of the lava will immediately create a cloud of nitrogen and that will kill everyone here like it’s a gas chamber.”

“Do you want me to kill you?”

“I’ll admit I look like a caged bird about to be killed by the fat cat, but are you sure you want to shoot me? Even the smallest of an Object’s cannons will cause too much destruction. Ha ha ha! If only you had a way to kill me without destroying the tank.”

That was when he heard a muffled explosion and a wave of heat washed over the surface of the earth with enough force to feel like a physical wall.

The Miskatonic was scattering its chemical incendiary rounds while moving at high speed.

Quenser covered his mouth with a hand and crouched down to weather the storm.

He had to peel his dried lips apart to shout into the radio.

“Just have them fall back, you idiot!! It’s too late by the time all your adorable little comrades are holding their throats and writhing in pain!!”

“…”

There was a short pause and confused looks covered the faces of all the soldiers aiming their rifles his away.

They all glared at him while moving back without turning around.

Heivia did the same, but he accurately aimed at the center of Quenser’s chest as he gave a shout.

“Quenser!! What are you trying to do!?”

“If you want to stand on the same stage as me, you should’ve been at least a little bit better of a guy, noble!!”

Quenser shouted back while stroking his finger over the War Hammer’s wireless trigger.

Even if they shot the boy, he could still blow up the liquid nitrogen tank if he was not killed instantly.

“Are you still gonna use that radio!?”

“What’s it to you!?”

“If you’re in real trouble, contact me on that frequency. If you kiss the burning asphalt, I’ll listen as you beg for your life!”

Heivia clicked his tongue and withdrew with the other soldiers.

Then the Princess spoke over the radio.

“Now what are you going to do? You lost your hostages, so I don’t have to worry about your tank shield.”

“That just means I need to use a different bargaining chip.”

“Such as?”

“Give me your scent, Princess. That will give me everything I need to defeat the Miska-…the Extra Arc.”

“Maybe I really should kill this pervert…”

“I’m talking about the repellant for your static electricity propulsion device!! It’s divided into small containers you can eject to avoid any trouble if it gets clogged up, right? Eject one of those containers at your feet!!”