Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Biohacker Chapter1 (section)

===Part 8===

Of course, Kamijou Touma had gotten the snot beaten out of him in a no-rules street fight that was not divided out by weight category. He had learned his lesson. Since being a head taller could provide as big a difference as wielding a weapon, he was not about to challenge this enormous beast with just his clenched fist.

He had something else in mind.

The building and possibly the ground as well shook hard enough for fear to clutch at his heart, but staying put would not improve their situation. And if the dragon destroyed ''a certain something'' while trampling everything on the ground, it really would be checkmate. They would lose any hope of winning.

“Pant, pant, gasp!!”

He now ran down the stairs alone in the dark.

He needed to reach the first floor.

His reasoning was solid, but a theory and practical results were two very different things. He could not relax yet. There were no lights on and he only had his phone’s backlight to go on. As dumb as it would be, tripping here could still kill him.

“Phew!!”

They had been thrown into what looked like a hopeless dead end, but he was not going to let this end with that seemingly legendary monster killing them. He did not know what the dragon was thinking, but an animal was an animal. There was always a chance it would try to harm its prey for no logical reason.

(Was it a cake shop or a pastry shop? Where is it!? There!)

Was the door locked or had all the intense shaking bent it? Either way, it would not open when he turned the knob, so he forced it open with a tackle. He had no interest in the desk drawers or the safe in the corner of the room. He instead grabbed a large waterproof cloth bag hanging on the wall.

According to Kumokawa Seria, what they needed could not be opened with his bare hands. Strictly speaking, it was a public item anyone could use, but the necessary tool was traditionally kept by the manager of a nearby building.

“I’ve never seen one of these before,” he groaned after checking the hefty weight of the bag.

He did not have time to be choosy, so he grabbed the large bag and then made his way to the large silver freezer. However, this was not meant to store ordinary food. It was used to cool things to -70 degrees and it contained the other key they needed.

(This isn’t something I can carry by hand.)

He wanted a cooler, but none were in evidence. Instead, he checked the back of the shop and found a box made of styrofoam and plastic rope. It was apparently used to carry around whole cakes.

After filling up the box, he used his other hand to grab the loop of plastic rope connected to the styrofoam box.

He was too scared to use the building’s front exit and the back entrance was enveloped in the flames of the dragon’s breath. He ended up opening a window in the office room and rolling out from there. He failed to stick the landing and fell over, so he clicked his tongue.

He felt a low tremor.

“…”

He waited.

He stayed stock still. He would lose if he screamed.

He observed his surroundings while fighting with the great pressure inside him, but the bipedal monster did not seem to have spotted that raw flesh that posed less of a threat than a chicken. Driven by his pounding heart, he carefully observed everything.

He wanted two things while out here.

One was a flat red metal box on the side of the road, and the other…

“There it is.”

It was a special sign.

His gaze followed the metal pole down to the asphalt where he found what he was looking for.

He pulled a metal object from a thick bag. It was heavier than a metal bat, but it was not a weapon. It was a certain kind of handle shaped like a letter T.

His hands were trembling too much to move like he wanted.

Reality was not a video game, so his body did not always react the same way, like he was moving an analog stick or pressing a colorful button.

“Pant, gasp.”

But he had to do it regardless.

His breathing was heavy and sweat poured from his forehead.

(Argh, this is such a pain. Why can’t you just hit a single switch for this? What are you supposed to do in an emergency!? The damage will only spread while you’re dealing with all this crap!!)

It may have been similar to pitching a tent. He glanced down at the manual found inside the waterproof cloth and connected things together as instructed. It used paper instead of a digital format in case of a widespread power outage or communication disruption.

(I don’t want to release it yet. Where’s the intake? There it is. If I fill that with the stuff from the freezer, the tank’s pressure should rise.)

At any rate, it felt heavy in his grasp.

Once the unit was complete, he held it at his hip like a giant machinegun.

“Now, let’s get started.”