Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume15 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 17===

Despite the fierce gas explosion so nearby, Heivia’s group was lucky in a few ways.

First, the blast had not been made more harmful with small metal balls like it would have been with a grenade or mine designed for military use.

Second, they had a 4m powered suit that would not budge even if an anti-personnel grenade detonated right in front of it.

Thus, the giant charming idol only had to lean over Heivia and Myonri to provide them with some makeshift shelter.

“Mghh. I was somewhat hopeful since the boobs actually jiggled, but this thing is heavy! Way too heavy!! How is this any different from a suspended ceiling trap!? It feels like I’m being suffocated with a thick plastic sheet filled with water!!”

“An idol and Elite is putting herself in harm’s way to protect insignificant enemy soldiers, so I would expect a more emotional reaction. Oh ho ho.”

An impact like that was apparently not even enough to cause any clothing damage on the 4m ringlet curl’s special suit. She was entirely unscathed. While they argued, Oh Ho Ho raised her arm with a motion more mechanical than a machine’s. She mercilessly aimed the right rapid-fire beam cannon toward the source of the grenade.

The swing of the arm was more important than the speed of the beam weapon itself.

Beyond the dust, a few figures fled from the sweeping series of short beams. When Oh Ho Ho prepared to supply the finishing blow, the rapid-fire beam cannon exploded in her hand since its barrel had been bent by the explosion. A capacitor had likely broken. The weapon had already looked like reinforced glass lab equipment with armor attached, so Heivia and Myonri cowered down as they watched it happen.

“Curse that prototype! It’s like the urine sample bottle breaking in your hand!!”

“The hand is fragile because of all the joints, right?” said Myonri. “I’ve heard armor craftsmen can judge someone’s skill by checking there. But that thing’s hand wasn’t harmed at all when the weapon it was holding exploded…”

Oh Ho Ho provided no comment. She switched to the left cannon, but it did not respond. The 4m ringlet curls threw the remains of the unusable rapid-fire beam cannons. Those weapons were meant to be transported by truck and staked to the ground. They weighed more than the bar of a barbell, so throwing them made for more than enough of a weapon.

“Wraith…”

It may have been as inefficient as could be.

It may have only given away his position and condition to the enemy. Melly may have been the target they needed to suppress first and foremost.

But Heivia still raised his voice.

“Wraith Martini Vermouthspray!!”

“Hello, diligent avenger. I don’t know what you’re doing here, but did you really think I would just sit idly by while you caused such a scene? It does not matter how many people you have sent into this university. I will remove every last threat, one by one.”

The explosion had destroyed both the wall and door. There was too much dust in the air to see. The cover and line-of-fire diagram in their heads had fallen apart. Heivia could only think of one option.

“Move out front, Oh Ho Ho. You’re our shield!”

“Oh ho ho. I see you are no more intelligent than a drone. You’re the type that gets angry when AI takes over his job.”

Despite her storm of complaints, Oh Ho Ho understood the situation. Her large head scraped along the ceiling and her boobs jiggled in sync with her pace as she took a step ahead of Heivia and Myonri and into the dust.

The deep sound of metal on metal immediately followed.

“Oh…?”

It was a blast into the center of her chest. The powered suit’s back wobbled in front of Heivia and Myonri’s eyes. She then fell onto her butt. The potatoes were nearly crushed by their ally’s giant butt, but they just barely managed to escape to either side. She had been shot by something incredible. Myonri reached a hand toward the collapsed Oh Ho Ho on instinct, but Heivia was different. There was no helping Oh Ho Ho when she was covered by thick composite armor and pseudo-moisture-retaining silicone woven with cellulose nanofibers. If they did not first do something about whoever had fired on her, more shots would be fired and there would be no stopping the demolition.

But as Heivia ducked low and charged into the dust, someone charged in below his chin. It was a small figure with a black uniform and long blonde hair. She had rushed in just like he had.

“Wrai-…”

A heavy impact ran through his right temple before he could shout.

It was not caused by Wraith Martini Vermouthspray’s right hand or left hand. The aide young man had acted separately from her and swung a giant anti-materiel rifle’s stock into Heivia’s temple. It was a giant weapon meant to drop any opponent in one hit, just like that monstrous magnum made from a modified grenade launcher. But the gun’s recoil was so strong that it was hard to recover if he missed at close range. He knew that. He did, but relying on your insurance and then not killing the enemy in a single shot was always a mistake.

(Gh.)

Heivia’s vision shook and he could not control his collapsing body. But at the same time, his arm moved like an independent life form. It grabbed the uniform covering Wraith’s flat chest and used his shifting body weight to pull her down with him. After they rolled along the hallway floor, Heivia was on top. He pressed his handgun into the center of her chest and she pushed up his chin with a small self-defense handgun.

There was no fear in Heivia’s face.

The only emotion there was anger.

“What’s wrong, Wraith? Did your murderer’s luck finally run out?”

“Are you going to shoot me?”

“Did you think you’d get a chance to negotiate, crazy girl? I’ve dreamed of this chance. I don’t care about that active self-denial or whatever. I haven’t forgotten what you did!!”

“But unfortunately, I’m much too busy to mess with you. Melly.”

Heivia had perfectly taken the mounted position, but then his body flew straight up. This was not the same as the ''Tomoe Nage'' of the Asian Island Nation. A powerful impact struck his back and he had trouble breathing. Gravity seemed to lose its hold on him and his back slammed into the ceiling like he was being thrown around by turbulence on a passenger plane.

Even now, the brown girl named Melly Martini Extradry must have been worried about the potatoes’ eyes on her because she folded up her arms like a fetus on top of her giant ring. She hid her mouth with her thin game system and half-tearfully trembled as she explained.

“667. D-did you forget? This is a giant Object, so I can do that by shaking the balanced city just a bit using the gyro controls.”

“Dammit… Are you saying she’s the Elite!?”

“The Manhattan 000 belongs to me. I am only lending it to Capulet.”

Once he felt the tug of gravity return, Heivia immediately let go of his handgun. Comics and movies often depicted characters being slammed into the ground while holding a drawn sword or a gun with the safety off, but in reality, the force of the impact could easily have you stab or shoot yourself in the gut or thigh. Holding onto your weapon too tenaciously and accidentally committing ''harakiri'' was a stereotypical mistake given in military textbooks.

“…Gah!!”

He braced for impact, but the hallway ceiling was still more than three meters from the floor. The impact passing through his entire body was far greater than from being tripped or thrown to the ground. He could not fully escape it, so he ended up groaning on the floor. Meanwhile, Wraith aimed her toy-like self-defense handgun at him from a few meters away.

“Check.” The little demon smiled. “You poor avenger who could not escape the standard framework. As usual, the likes of you begin to lose as soon as an Object is involved.”

“Damn…you.”

“Well, that’s what happens when Quenser isn’t around. Not that there wasn’t room for criticism in that combat engineer.”

“Damn you!!!!!!”

Heivia roared in anger and forced his body up even though he was still having trouble breathing.

A 9mm bullet stabbed mercilessly into the center of his chest.

After being shot from outside arm’s reach, the delinquent soldier collapsed backwards. His troubled breathing was disrupted even further and his consciousness flashed in and out. If not for the pocket containing his military flashlight and mobile device, his ribs would have broken and his organs would have been pierced.

But in addition to that, Heivia was not given time to scream.

“Keep your head down,” whispered Wraith Martini Vermouthspray.

Something pierced through the wall. A shot was fired in through the window. The flying sparks looked like a handheld firework or a smoke grenade. It was an armor-piercing incendiary round that could damage military vehicles and unmanned weapons by shooting through the armor and then frying the internal circuitry or fuel tank.

If Wraith had not knocked Heivia out of the way with her self-defense handgun, it would have hit him in the side of the head.

“Didn’t I tell you I was too busy to mess with you? The threat we detected was that third party. To be honest, what you are up to is irrelevant.”

“What is the meaning of this…? And who is that!? How many people are going to jump into the same bed at this crazy orgy!?”

“Don’t ask me. And for the Information Alliance, that may make this the most fearsome presence here.”