Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Crimson Catastrophe

Part 1

I, Mononobe Mitsuki, have a secret.

It happened two years prior during the Kraken battle.

Confronted with an increase to two Krakens, standing there blankly in shock, I... heard a voice.

—Don't worry, Mitsuki.

It was the voice of my best friend who had just turned into a monster.

Reflected in my eyes were only the two Krakens—each consisting of an ominous purple eyeball with countless writhing tentacles of silver. Shinomiya Miyako no longer existed in this world... But I heard her voice.

—Calm down, draw your bow, aim.

I felt as though in a dream. There was no sense of reality. Witnessing a scene that I did not wish to admit, half of my thinking had halted.

In that kind of state, I did as the voice instructed. While I was drawing my fictional armament of a bow, the dragon mark under my clothing felt hot as though it were burning.

I even had an illusion as though the heat from my dragon mark was flowing into the arrow I had nocked.

—Okay, shoot! Kill it... Mitsuki!

"Ah..."

The voice escaped my lips with overflowing emotions.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

I screamed while shooting the arrow. I shot at the monster that had robbed me of my best friend.

Using its tentacles to cover its purple eyeball, the Kraken took on a secure defensive stance.

However, my arrow easily penetrated the silver tentacles, embedding itself into the Kraken's eyeball inside.

Then a blinding flash of light erupted between the tentacles, expanding. With a giant explosion, the Kraken's core was destroyed. Originally blotting out the sky in the area, the tentacles instantly went limp and fell onto the sea.

Watching that scene, I finally came to my senses.

"This was... my doing?"

I murmured blankly to myself in disbelief.

"Miyako...?"

What was the voice just now? I yelled at the air, but the voice did not answer. Even if I perked up my ears to listen, my ears could not hear my best friend's pleasant voice.

Finally, I looked down at the writhing monster on the sea. The remaining Kraken—the thing that used to be my best friend.

"Was it Miyako!? Did Miyako—"

Did her consciousness remain? I cried out hoarsely, crying out until my throat hurt.

The Kraken's eyeball turned in my direction while the silver tentacles extended with astounding speed.

"What are you doing!?"

Just before the attack struck, Haruka-san knocked me away, saving me.

The voice was my hallucination after all? A miracle of that sort could not possibly happen.

"—Mononobe Mitsuki! Shoot again!"

"Huh...?"

"If it's the attack you used just now, it should be capable of defeatin the remaining Kraken. Only you can do it—So hurry!"

"But... That is Miyako, right?"

I asked in a trembling voice

Even if it no longer had a consciousness, even if it no longer called to me in a gentle voice, even if it was just a monster, it used to be Miyako.

My best friend, Haruaka-san's younger sister, but I had to—

"...No time to hesitate! If you don't hurry and kill it, someone else might turn into a Kraken too!"

"But... But!"

"This is an order! By my will, not yours! I will take full responsibility!"

Tears fell from Haruka-san's eyes.

Then my memories turned blurry.

I remember drawing my bow with trembling hands, aiming with tearful eyes, screaming with unrecognizable words, shooting the arrow.

However, what I was thinking back then, what feelings were in my heart, all this seemed vague and blurry as though they were behind fog.

It was probably my mind's defensive mechanism to maintain my sanity.

Once everything ended, someone hugged me tightly.

I lost consciousness without seeing that person's face, so even now, I had no idea who it was.

For no particular reason, I thought it should be Haruka-san but I had no concrete proof.

However, the bosom covering me was extremely soft and warm, that hand caressing my head was very gentle. Those feelings lingered clearly in my memories.

After waking up in Midgard's infirmary, I was subjected to a hearing.

I explained everything in as much detail as I could possibly recall, but there was one fact that I could not bring up.

—The fact that I had heard Miyako's voice, it was something I could not bring up no matter what.

It was very likely my own hallucination. Also, as soon as something like that was revealed, it would surely turn into an inspiring story.

Everyone would probably spread the rumor like this—Miyako must have entrusted her power to her best friend, Mitsuki, to allow herself to be killed after turning into a Kraken.

I could not tolerate my actions to be beautified like that and forgiven.

I wanted to be condemned. I wanted to suffer.

However, everyone at Midgard was very kind. Smiling, they encouraged me, supported me, forgave me.

Only one person was willing to be angry at me.

The only person to denounce my crime was the girl named Lisa Highwalker.

Part 2

'—I never expected you to call me on your own, 2nd Lieutenant Mononobe. I don't suppose you wish to return to my team, right?'

The man shown on the screen in the bridge narrowed his slender eyes and spoke. He was Loki Jotunheim, my commanding officer back in NIFL, the man who tried to cultivate me into the strongest "killer."

"Impossible. I'm very contented with life in Midgard."

'Oh, then what business do you have with me? I am a very busy man.'

Major Loki hurried me to speak with his gaze.

"You promised me a reward once, right? As for when that happened, I don't quite remember."

I spoke suggestively. Major Loki's eyebrow moved slightly.

It was back when the Leviathan incident had ended, Major Loki had promised me one favor as a reward for setting things smoothly.

Of course, I was lying when I said I could not remember, but our conversation had happened unbeknownst to Midgard. Hence, with Shinomiya-sensei and others present at the bridge, I could not bring up that conversation.

'...Speaking of which, I definitely did promise you. Then what? Have you finally decided what you want?'

After I heard Major Loki's question, I nodded affirmatively.

"Yes—Please give me Mistilteinn."

Upon hearing my request, Major Loki's lips curled with delight.

'Oh... You are referring to the weapon developed by NIFL for taking down Basilisk?'

"That's right, although I don't think it's a mass produced weapon, there should be a prototype. If it's still usable, can you give it to me?"

'Mistilteinn is supposed to be ineffective against Basilisk. Why do you want something like that?'

Major Loki stared at me from the screen and asked me.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with Mistilteinn's design concept. If you hand that weapon over for us to use, I might be able to find a solution."

'You seem to have a plan. But if you're thinking of using that weapon, why not negotiate directly with those in charge of the Mistilteinn operation?'

"It would turn into a situation of Midgard requesting for NIFL's aid, which might result in undue interference, hence I am asking you this as a personal favor, Major Loki."

I met Major Loki's gaze and answered.

'Haha—How cautious. But considering precedents, it's understandable that you may have concerns of that sort. In other words, all you want is for me to act as an intermediary and arrange for NIFL to voluntarily offer Mistilteinn to your side, right?'

"Yes, is it feasible?"

'Having said that I would prepare any reward no matter what, I will try my best. However, I don't guarantee success.'

"That's good enough. Thank you very much."

I bowed and thanked him.

I did not know for sure whether Mistilteinn had a prototype to begin with, hence I did not raise my hopes too much. It was just that obtaining it would be relatively more advantageous.

'You're really working hard, 2nd Lieutenant Mononobe. Do you have things that wish to protect that much?'

"..."

I responded with silence to this sarcastic question. Because for some reason, I felt that answering this question would be extremely dangerous.

'—Whatever, if things go smoothly, NIFL should have a response today. If they don't make a move, you should give up. Goodbye.'

Major Loki smiled at the end and the call disconnected.

Listening to our conversation from the side, Shinomiya-sensei gazed suspiciously at me.

"Mononobe Yuu, what exactly are you..."

"Sorry for doing things my own way, Shinomiya-sensei, can I trouble you to gather everyone? I'll explain then."

I apologized to Shinomiya-sensei and asked her.

Although it was unknown whether Mistilteinn would be given to us, I had things to tell everyone.

Basilisk could very well have an opening to exploit.

This was the only solution I had discovered during our failed operation.

Part 3

"I believe that NIFL's plan of attack was the most effective against Basilisk."

In front of everyone gathered in the conference room, that was my opening line.

"What Mistilteinn lacked was a mithril shield enough to last through 'Catastrophe.' Conversely, as long as we reinforce it on this point, Mistilteinn will become a weapon capable of defeating Basilisk."

After I spoke in a strong tone of voice, Lisa immediately interjected.

"Hold it right there, Mononobe Yuu. Although that may be true in theory, Basilisk is capable of weathering even mithril instantly once it opens its third eye. Didn't NIFL give up precisely because they concluded that no amount of mithril would be enough?"

Lisa was right. If simply increasing the amount of mithril would be enough, NIFL should have mass produced Mistilteinn and deployed the bombs consecutively. NIFL did not do that because the amount of mithril required was beyond what could be achieved in practice.

"That's right. Assuming Basilisk could fire its third eye's beam repeatedly, then it would easily eliminate a mithril shield no matter how thick it was. But I believe that Basilisk has a limit."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Including the NIFL operation, Basilisk has fired beams from its third eye thrice so far. Before this meeting, I asked someone to check and in all cases, the beam lasted approximately five seconds. Also, on the two occasions during our operation, it would clearly be advantageous for Basilisk to fire consecutive beams but it did not do so."

Hearing me say that, Mitsuki brought her hand to the side of her mouth and murmurmed:

"—Indeed, that did bother me. Is there some kind of reason why Basilisk must conserve its usage of the third eye...?"

"Normally speaking, it's due to risk, right? If there's no risk, then it would use it as much as possible without needing to hide it."

"Risk... Nii-san, you seem to have some kind of hypothesis."

Staring at my face, Mitsuki urged me to explain.

"I guess. There is a limit to the amount of dark matter we can generate each time. In the same vein, the total amount of red light that Basilisk can shoot out—or perhaps the amount of time stolen—might have a limit too."

"...It is possible. Come to think of it, this could explain why Basilisk cannot fire in succession. Perhaps the beam duration is fixed because its strength cannot be adjusted..."

"Right, the third eye probably cannot make fine adjustments. After releasing the total amount, there will be a five-second shortage of energy. I'm guessing that's the kind of trump card it is."

After listening to the explanation so far, Iris asked me:

"Then after the third eye attacks, Basilisk is in a vulnerable state? Then it can be defeated easily?"

"—Things would be a breeze if that were so, but what I just said only applies to the third eye alone. It's best to assume that Basilisk can still use its regular pair of eyes to attack normally. In fact, Basilisk managed to intercept your rain of mithril shards, didn't it?"

"Oh right... Then what do we do?"

Iris cocked her head and asked.

"That's exactly why we need Mistilteinn. That weapon was designed to withstand normal exposure to 'Catastrophe.' By adding more mithril to its shield, to allow it to survive the five seconds of exposure to the third eye's beam, it should be possible to strike Basilisk in theory."

I explained the possibility I had pictured in my mind.

"...I essentially understood what you are trying to convey, Nii-san. In other words, the insufficient mithril will be supplied through Ds' transmutations, right?"

Mitsuki asked me as though confirming.

"You got it. I believe this is the most practical plan."

"It still is not comprehensive enough to call practical. Also, it does not take in account the abnormal sensing abilities displayed by Basilisk this time. However, I believe your plan is certainly worth discussing."

Saying that, Mitsuki turned her gaze to Shinomiya-sensei.

"—I agree. Although the situation would change more or less depending on whether NIFL hands Mistilteinn over, we will devise a new battle plan based on this direction."

Hearing Shinomiya-sensei say that, Mitsuki nodded in agreement then announced to everyone:

"Then we shall adjourn for the time being. Please rest properly until you are notified of the operation, everyone."

Despite saying that, Mitsuki did not seem like she was planning to rest. Immediately, she was going to start discussing with Shinomiya-sensei.

However, she looked more cheerful than just now. Compared to helpless despair, things probably felt a lot easier when there was room to work hard despite difficulties.

—I really hope she won't force herself too much.

Looking at the side of Mitsuki's face, I worried for her. But it was several hours later when I finally came to understand that Mitsuki's unease was far worse than I imagined.

Part 4

The elderly man with a scar on his forehead—Major-General Dylan on the screen—smiled gently at Tia.

'This is Uncle's gift to you, so please accept it.'

That evening—Mistelteinn's handover went surprisingly smoothly.

Apparently, Major-General Dylan had gone great lengths with outstanding initiative, even providing as a bonus gift a transport aircraft capable of taking Mistilteinn high into the sky.

"Thank you, Uncle!"

Tia smiled radiantly and thanked him. Hearing Tia's response, Major-General Dylan grinned, unable to close his mouth. But after noticing my gaze from the side, he coughed.

'Ahem—There are no more backup Mistilteinns, this is the last one. I hope you will use it well. If NIFL's weapon could contribute towards Basilisk's defeat, it would redeem our honor a little.'

Major-General Dylan resumed a serious expression then disconnected after he finished talking.

Although I had no idea what exactly Major Loki had done, I got the sense that Major-General Dylan had handed Mistilteinn to us without any strings attached despite knowing clearly that my side wanted the weapon.

It was probably thanks to Tia.

"You helped a lot, Tia."

"Eh? But Tia didn't do anything?"

Tia widened her eyes in surprise but as soon as I stroked her head, she instantly closed her eyes partially in pleasure.

Thus, we were off to what could be considered a smooth start. However, problems started in the strategy meeting afterwards.

"Are you serious in what you said just now?"

Lisa's angry voice resounded inside the conference room. Standing in front of the screen showing all sorts of data, Mitsuki took on Lisa's gaze without evading at all.

"Yes, of course I am serious. I have decided—to descend together with Mistilteinn."

This was equally unbelievable for me. Everyone else was staring blankly at Mitsuki.

"Why are you doing this? It is far too reckless!"

Lisa slammed the table and suddenly stood up.

"If you do not understand, I shall explain again. According to calculations, it is possible to reinforce the mithril to withstand the third eye's beam. However, the warhead will become too large, rendering the original descent control system ineffective. Hence, someone needs to descend together with Mistilteinn to apply trajectory corrections."

"That is not what I am asking! I am asking why do you need to take on this task alone, Mitsuki-san!"

"Since the plan is formulated using a unfounded hypothesis, it is possible that our predictions are wrong. In the event of failure, certain death presumably awaits. Hence, I cannot push such a dangerous job onto others."

"..."

Lisa gnashed her teeth and approached Mitsuki angrily and rapidly.

Smack—A crisp sound was heard. Lisa had slapped Mitsuki in the face.

"Why are you always like this... I will not approve of this!"

"...It does not matter if you do not approve, because I am the Counter-Dragon Squad's captain."

Despite the red mark on her cheek from the slap, Mitsuki still glared at Lisa squarely.

"Wait."

Firill interrupted.

"...If someone has to go, I'll do it."

"What—N-No way! This is something I must do!"

"...Wrong, considering the event of failure, I'm more suitable than you, Mitsuki. You are both the student body president and the Counter-Dragon Squad captain, but I'm just an ordinary student."

Firill shook her head and refuted Mitsuki's claim.

"If that's the case, letting me do it is fine too, right?"

Ariella stood up slowly and smiled mischievously at Mitsuki.

"Mm!"

Ren stood up as well as though saying it was the same for her.

"Oh, me too!"

Looking at her classmates, even Iris frantically got up.

"Iris-san, you cannot even fly. You have no way of controlling Mistilteinn at all, do you!?"

Mitsuki frantically pointed it out but Iris refuted her while showing a serious expression:

"That's definitely true, but I can't let anyone go alone! No matter who ends up going, I have to go along! And maybe I might be able to help in some way!"

—As expected of Iris.

She completely ignored the necessary requirement. However, what Iris said was correct in a certain sense.

"Although I won't be able to control Mistilteinn either, I volunteer myself to be part of the descent team. Precisely because it's a plan based on a hypothesis, that's why we have to anticipate all kinds of situations and think of countermeasures. Iris and I will definitely come in handy, you know?"

I stood up from my seat and said to Mitsuki.

"That is..."

Mitsuki was speechless. In the previous operation, it was thanks to Iris and my abilities that we were able to keep out of harm's way, hence she could not find any words to refute us.

"You do say some decent things on occasion, Mononobe Yuu."

Seeing all members of Brynhildr Class standing up, Lisa showed a smile on the corners of her lips.

"Mitsuki-san, I have made my decision."

"By decision... What have you decided? Lisa-san, you do not have the authority to decide on the plan, you know?"

Seeing Mitsuki's wary gaze, Lisa smiled wryly and replied:

"No, what I have decided is the method for you to settle your crime from two years ago."

"What—Why are you bringing that up now..."

Probably unprepared to hear this, Mitsuki reacted very awkwardly to the unexpected words.

"Naturally, because it is related to the current situation. What I demand of you, Mitsuki-san—"

Pointing her finger at Mitsuki, Lisa told her in an acute tone of voice:

"Including me, I want you to make full use of all manpower that had just volunteered for the operation, and come up with a perfect plan that could handle all unexpected situations! Furthermore, everyone must survive! So long as you accomplish this, I will forgive you, Mitsuki-san!"

"How on earth... The risk is too great with everyone together—"

"I will not force you. If you cannot think of a new plan, then have someone apart from yourself descend with Mistilteinn. Do you agree, Shinomiya-sensei?"

Shinomiya-sensei had her arms crossed before her chest, a troubled expression on her face. But after hearing Lisa's question, she nodded gravely.

"...Since there are other volunteers, as the commander, I have no choice but to make such a decision. The captain has other responsibilities. However, if there is no better plan, I cannot allow multiple people to be part of the descent."

Shinomiya-sensei's answer was very logical. Mitsuki looked like she had no counterarguments. She bit her lip and lowered her head.

"Understood? Mitsuki-san? If you don't want a classmate to head towards death alone—If you truly wish to protect your family to the very end, rack your brain as hard as you can. Find a path that will allow everyone to return alive..."

Lisa's demand was very harsh. Compared to shouldering all her comrades' lives, it would probably be easier to face Basilisk alone.

Lisa had said that she would come up with a very difficult condition. To Mitsuki, there was probably no harsher demand than this.

However, Mitsuki was cornered.

She clenched her fist and replied in a trembling voice:

"...I will try. Give me some time."

After saying that, Mitsuki rapidly left the conference room. As though praying, Lisa silently watched the frail-looking silhouette of her back—

Part 5

Our transport ship retreated back to behind Midgard's first defensive line. Here, we met up with NIFL's large transport vessel that was carrying Mistilteinn.

There was nothing for me to do until Mitsuki called for another meeting, so I spent time in my cabin, restless and uneasy.

—Will Mitsuki be fine?

Lying on the bed, I worried about my younger sister. I had already lost count of how many times I wanted to check up on her, but I managed to suppress the urge every time.

I would only get in her way if I went. There was nothing I could help out with.

Just as I was persuading myself, I heard a knock at my door.

"...Who is it?"

I frowned and went to the door. Opening it, I found Mitsuki standing there with a haggard face.

"Nii-san—May I talk to you for a while?"

"Y-Yeah..."

I nodded and invited Mitsuki into my cabin.

Sitting on the inner bed, Mitsuki sighed deeply.

"Hoo... This is really not going well."

"It's really hard to come up with a new plan, right?"

I sat down on the outer bed, facing Mitsuki, and asked her hesitantly.

"No, the new plan is already drafted. It is just that even so, I still petitioned everyone one by one, hoping they could withdraw from volunteering."

"The plan is already drafted huh? As expected of you, Mitsuki. But by this point, no one will withdraw, right?"

I recognized Mitsuki's excellence again and replied to her.

"Right... I already visited Firill-san and the others in their cabins, but no one agreed."

"—So you came to me last? Just to get it out of the way, I've no intention of backing out of this operation, okay?"

I guessed Mitsuki's intention in visiting me and clarified beforehand. On the other hand, Mitsuki glared resentfully at me.

"I was hoping that you of all people would listen to my request at least, Nii-san..."

"Don't ask for the impossible. If you're going to descend alone, Mitsuki, I'll have to stop you no matter what—Or make a huge fuss and insist I go along with you."

Hearing me assert that, Mitsuki exhaled helplessly.

"You are so willful, Nii-san."

"You're in no position to criticize me on that."

I retorted sarcastically.

"No helping it, I understand—I will protect you, Nii-san."

Mitsuki stood up from the bed then approached with an expression of resolve on her face, hugging me from the front.

"M-Mitsuki?"

Feeling Mitsuki's body warmth and the beating of her heart, I grew flustered.

"I absolutely will not allow you to die, Nii-san."

However, upon hearing Mitsuki's quiet whispering in my ear, the blood rushing to my brain calmed down. Mitsuki had probably vowed the same for the others.

However—This alone was not enough.

I wrapped my arms around Mitsuki's back and actively gave her a tight hug.

"Kyah!? N-Nii-san?"

"I think you probably know... By everyone surviving, that includes you too, Mitsuki, so I will protect you."

"W-Wrong! I will be the one to protect you, Nii-san!"

"No, I will protect you."

We argued like that but of course, there was no end to it.

"...Good grief, do whatever you wish, Nii-san. This is uncomfortable... Could you release me?"

Having decided it was pointless to argue any further, she pushed against my chest. Perhaps because it was hard to breathe, her face was especially red.

"Sorry, I used too much force."

I apologized and released her. With her face red, Mitsuki shook her head slightly then turned her back to me.

"Yes, it hurt a little. A man... is stronger after all."

Mitsuki looked back with a wry smile. For some reason, her words and the facial expression were making my heart rate accelerate.

Or perhaps it was because her using the word "man" strayed a bit from a brother-sister relationship.

"...I will take more care next time."

"Next time? You plan on hugging me again?"

"No, that's not what I meant—"

I hastily tried to explain but Mitsuki interrupted me and laughed.

"Fufu, I understand. It was just a joke. So, Nii-san, let us get moving. I will summon the others next."

Saying that, Mitsuki extended her hand to me. Her gaze showed cheerfulness as though all her troubles had been swept away.

This was probably resilience arising from the resolve to protect everyone, something one could not acquire from solitarily clinging to martyr-like feelings.

That was the earnest gaze of someone whose goal was to return alive—

Part 6

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