Editing HEAVY OBJECT:EX Chapter 7 (section)

===Part 4===

First, the Legitimacy Kingdom rubber boats clashed with the Faith Organization armored light trucks.

Powerful gunshots rang out as the heavy machineguns attached to the truck roofs roared to life. Each and every shot was an extraordinary bullet as thick as someone’s thumb. Every minute, two thousand bullets larger than the average anti-materiel rifle round were fired. A single hit would tear someone to pieces.

The Legitimacy Kingdom responded with assault rifles and light machineguns. They were quieter than the heavy machineguns that weighed several dozen kilograms, but the armored light trucks had sacrificed defense for the ability to float. These bullets were meant for heavy equipment and they could pierce through to the inside.

Both sides were risking their lives.

Sparks flew and pillars of water continually rose from the muddy river.

But even that exchange of lives was no more than a farce.

The true clash began soon thereafter.

The Baby Magnum and the Trinity Style both fired their main cannons.

The blinding light and deafening noise was enough for Quenser to nearly forget the reality of his situation.

Giant ripples expanded from the Objects and they threatened to capsize the rubber boats.

Meanwhile, the two mechanical monsters made quick and precise movements while firing main cannons powerful enough to instantly dig up and vaporize a nuclear shelter.

At some point, the firefight with the Faith Organization armored light trucks had ended.

Their heads were too rattled to aim properly and they even had difficulty tracking the passage of time. The one Object had a belt connecting the main cannon and giant magazine attached on opposite sides.

“The container cannon that uses the elevator? Are they starting with Urd!?”

“Enough with your technical obsession! We just have to do what we can. Load one of the ballista arrows. If you don’t have anything else to do, get to work!!”

The side effects of the Object battle were enough to tear their ranks apart. A rubber boat up ahead of Quenser and Heivia’s had already prepared their several-meter-long crossbow. Once they were in range, they pulled the trigger to fire an arrow thicker than an iron rod.

The sound it made was far too heavy to think of as a bow firing.

Even without the aluminum or iron oxide in the arrowhead, a hit from that would tear a human to pieces.

But…

“Gwah!!”

“You idiot! Look away, Quenser! Don’t watch it!!”

A light as bright as welding soon followed. It had been easily intercepted by one of the Trinity Style’s lasers before it hit.

It had been as casual as shooing away a fly in front of your face.

But a second laser took revenge by vaporizing the leading rubber boat and the soldiers aboard it.

“Dammit! Jump in!!”

Heivia switched off their boat’s engine, grabbed Quenser by the collar, and dove into the muddy river. A downpour of light continued even as the enemy Object fought the Princess. Several boats were blown away.

Quenser and Heivia’s boat was one of them.

The water was only about waist deep, but the current was too swift to stand properly. It felt like someone was grabbing and pulling at their legs, so the two boys’ arms flailed in search of something to help them float.

They grabbed onto a rubber boat by pure coincidence.

It was not the one they had been on and they had no idea what had become of the soldiers who had been using it.

They climbed onboard and caught their breath.

“I knew this wouldn’t work!! We’re just a nice target!!”

“That thing’s an acoustic scan specialist, right? It might be safer to put on a snorkel and dive below the muddy river.”

“And what kind of landmark would we swim toward when it’s that muddy? There’s a hell of a current and we’d end up kilometers downstream before we knew it!!”

And without their support, the Princess was on her own.

They may not have been any help in the first place, but that would still put her at a disadvantage.

Urd’s container shells continued to hit the water below the Princess. They likely contained liquid nitrogen or something similar. The Princess had to take further evasive action so she was not caught in the resultant blocks of ice, but then the Trinity Style ignored its previous “habits” and rushed right in toward her.

The main cannon changed form.

“Dammit, is it Verdandi now!?”

It started with a powerful laser beam.

When the Princess quickly dodged, the Trinity Style moved as if inviting her to dance. Their actions seemed synchronized except with the Trinity Style circling to the Baby Magnum’s side.

The upcoming second shot had caused great damage to the Princess last time.

But things were different this time.

The main cannon changed again. It changed to someone else’s.