Masou Gakuen HxH:Volume 2 Prologue
Prologue
{Special Attack Unit, respond.}
A voice mixed with grating noise could be heard.
“This is Special Attack Unit, imperial headquarters, please.”
{Report your current position.}
Below my eyes a lake surrounded by mountains was visible.
“Currently I am at Shizuoka, in the middle of passing through Hakone. The estimated time until my arrival in Nagoya is――”
{The Nagoya operation is suspended. Return to Tokyo.}
I doubted my ears.
“What is the meaning of this? Right now magic weapons are advancing from the Entrance of Kumano right!? I have to head there quickly!”
{Nagoya is abandoned.}
“Wha……-?”
Abandoned he said…… what did that mean?
{Rather than that, this is a new order. Make sure Tokyo float takes off.}
“Eh!?”
Inside my heart was growing cold.
Tokyo float that was floating in Tokyo Bay. For that to take off meant――
To throw away Japan, was what it said.
Cold sweats soaked the whole body.
The ears were buzzing.
{An Entrance is also materializing in Tokyo, magic weapons are also approaching this location. Take position as guard until the citizens gathering in Tokyo Bay boarded the Tokyo float.}
“Tha, that’s! Nagoya will…… what will happen to the other cities! Even though they are waiting for me to go to their aid! Are you telling me to watch a great number of people die!?”
{Then, you are going to watch the people here die?}
“……Kuh!”
{This is an order. Quickly return.}
“……Roger.”
I turned around for 180°. At that time, screams that I shouldn’t be hearing felt like they reached my ears.
With painful reluctance, I headed to Tokyo.
I had to pretend not seeing the flames and smokes raising everywhere.
It felt as if my own body was roasted.
Tears came out from my own powerlessness.
But, I couldn’t show this kind of face to other people.
I am the protector of Japan. There was no way I could show a weak face to the people.
Wiping the tears, I landed on the pier of Tokyo Bay.
“This is……”
Tokyo Bay, from the pier until its surrounding area became a black mountain of people crowded. Was there several thousand, several tens of thousands, or even more than that number gathering here?
Certainly, accommodating all these people would take quite a bit of time.
“Oi! What’s that!?”
“That’s the Special Attack Unit! Help is coming!”
The people discovered my figure, they pointed and raised their voices.
Everyone had faces that were filled with hope and expectation. Those faces raised voices of joy and relief.
That’s right.
I had to protect these people. There was no time to cry or anything.
When I landed on the pier, the people came surging forward, so I spoke to control the crowd.
“Everyone, please calm down! From now on, I will protect everyone. Please calm down by any means, follow the instructions and evacuate!”
My words was transmitted like spreading ripples from mouth to mouth of the people. At the same time, relieved expressions were also spreading. I confirmed that situation and walked around among the people.
Old and young, male and female, their ages and attires were also various. Rather than being together with their family, there were a lot of people that made a group with others who seemed to be their colleagues in school or in the workplace. There was also a girl in the same age as me among them. A boy was standing beside her, holding her hand firmly.
Surely they were lovers.
My chest felt constricted tightly. I pretended not to see and passed beside them.
“My?”
There was a mother leading her child. Her child was a girl around the age of a kindergartener, she was hugging a small plushy bear with a face that seemed ready to cry.
“What’s wrong? Do you feel scared?”
The mother made an obliged smile and lowered her head. The face of the girl was still looking sad while looking up at me.
“Hicc…… uh huh. O, onee-chan? You are not scared?”
“Yes, I’m not scared at all.”
The girl blinked her eyes in surprise.
“Because, all those bad guys, this onee-chan will beat them all!”
Smiling cheerfully, I patted the head of the girl.
Thereupon, the cheeks of the girl relaxed, and soon her face turned into a happy smile.
“Really? Really, onee-chan will save us? Me too, mama too?”
“Yes, really.”
The girl went ‘uwaa’ with an opened mouth, her eyes were sparkling brightly.
“Oii-! What’s that!?”
A scared voice could be heard from the other side of the human wall.
A wave of agitation was attacking the crowd.
“Please calm down! Is something wrong?”
I ran to the direction of the voice. There, everyone were pointing at a single spot.
――That’s?
From the shadow of the town buildings, an enormous ball of light showed its figure.
Perhaps it had the diameter of ten meters. The surface was red, it was like gas whirling in a circle, for some reason it even looked similar like Jupiter changing color into red.
“Everyone, calm down! Lower your body close to the ground, people that can hide move to the nearby building for cove――”
Tremendous shockwave pierced my body.
――Eh?
Before I realized, the sky and earth were completely reversed.
Flame and explosion burst out on the surroundings, obstructing the field of vision.
――Wha,
What, was happening?
My body floated in the air, and then crashed on the ground.
“Ku…… h”
My whole body hurt.
I was blown away?
I crawled on all fours and somehow tried to stand up.
A dripping sound, her blood was dripping to the ground.
Was I cut somewhere?
However, I cannot complain about such things right now.
“E…… every…… one”
I lifted my face, and lost for words.
The figures of people standing in orderly line, waiting for their turn were nowhere to be seen.
Even though just now they were staring at me, with those eyes overflowing with that much expectation.
“What in the world…… happened”
When I hit my own leg, I stood up.
Rubble was everywhere she could see.
Hell fire that burned everything to nothing.
Black smoke and tornado that the flame produced.
Suddenly, I felt a soft sensation below my feet.
I moved aside, my feet trembling.
It was a bear plushy, half burned and melted.
At that time, the land shook, a growling voice reverberated.
Enormous metals were grating each other, a voice that was like creaking.
The owner of the voice, slowly displayed its appearance from the other side of the smoke and flame.
It had three necks, flexibly squirming in the air.
Coldly shining eyes, with drool of lava dripping down from the reddish shining mouth.
――A three headed dragon.
Even though I wanted to scream, the voice didn’t come out.
Terror, and rage, and sorrow, impatience, shock, everything were mixing with each other,
Impulse that was hard to describe rushed about inside my body,
It was desperately searching for an outlet.
Like this I would break.
I would crack.
I would crumble.
If I don’t create an outlet.
With all my body strength, I opened my mouth.
“NOooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!!”
As if to vomit out everything, a scream gushed out.
Translator's Notes and References
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