You’re Right, They’ll Expel Me if I Run into the Store with a Weapon!! - Chapter 39: There Were So Many Things I Wanted to Say…

The explosion was massive.

The shockwave it created shook the ground and produced a massive cloud of smoke.

What remained was a wall turned into a mountain of rubble.

“They are…?”

“From the Japan branch…?”

“Why are they here… No, how did they…?”

“Anna, are you sure they have no abilities?”

“…None. I can’t see anything…”

Those trembling and widening their eyes were leaking words upon seeing him sitting atop a black beast.

The light cannon that shattered the despairing situation came from the shadow of a door.

From the darkness-covered space, one person and one machine appeared.

Riding on the jet-black giant beast, his gaze fixed on a single point made everyone present hold their breath.

While Meryl and the others could not comprehend the situation and stood frozen, a girl acted as if she had anticipated this outcome.

“!?”

Someone choked upon seeing Shiori’s face.

Her smile was different from the one he knew.

“Shiori, what exactly is he…?”

Leaving the choked person behind, Meryl spoke up.

She was so shaken by the current situation that she couldn’t return to normal without knowing the information Shiori knew.

“Is now really the time to be asking that?”

The response made her expression crumble.

What did she mean by “that”?

Could this situation be dismissed as “that”?

Meryl was about to ask again, but Shiori pointed her gun at her before she could.

“Shiori?”

“That’s why I said, now’s not the time for that.”

With her smile gone, Shiori let sparks fly from her gun barrel.

The iron bullets from there brushed past Meryl’s blonde hair, hitting a dark shadow behind her.

“It’s not over yet. Hiroki is still not taking his eyes off the rubble. Don’t you understand what this means?”

Shiori calmly opened her mouth as a bee-shaped soldier was writhing in sparks behind Meryl.

“Only a few bullets left. Many are severely injured. Everyone has been infected with a biological weapon. The soldier is still moving. John Mayer’s survival is unknown. Our top priority is to destroy the operational terminal that activates the biological weapon John Mayer possesses and to treat the severely injured. Why can’t you understand just this?”

With her gaze deepening, Shiori conveyed the situation and what needed to be done now.

But unable to comprehend what she was saying, they stood there frozen, and the color in her eyes deepened even more.

“I’m going.”

And she said, gripping the gun in her right hand while staring at Hiroki riding the black beast.

Meryl and the others held their breath at her figure.

“What do you mean by powerless? What are you all looking at?”

Powerlessness refers to someone who can’t do anything.

An emblem of uselessness that their teachers had repeatedly labeled him as.

“If he’s powerless, then I’m less than the dust beneath that powerlessness. What about you?”

The girl, summoning blackthorns and piercing through the soldiers one after another, questioned them.

If he was “powerless,” what were they, who he saved?

“I’m going. I will reach the heights where he stands. Even if I have to crawl and struggle, I will continue to follow his back.”

Meryl and the others’ expressions completely broke down.

Because they understood what the girl in front of them was saying.

She was the tenth-ranked of the Japan branch. Despite being the lowest in the hierarchy, she felt like the strongest presence there.

And she said she would crawl to follow him.

The answer was already within Meryl and the others.

“Healers, treat the severely wounded!”

“Attackers and defenders, create a cycle that doesn’t cause cooldown and protect your comrades!”

“The rest, support the whole team!”

Jack opened his mouth, issuing instructions with minimal words.

Reacting to that, the formation was reorganized, and they ran towards their fallen comrades.

“Hiroki…”

“It’s not me…”

Hiroki answered Shiori’s muttered words.

He knew. He knew that the entity they should be looking at now wasn’t Hiroki. What they should be looking at was their enemy.

◆

A white rectangular weapon clatters to the floor with a thud.

“It’s not my fault…”

Hiroki, sweating profusely in his mind, tries to turn away from reality with those words.

Before him, a mountain of rubble was shrouded in smoke. The source of this destruction is the robot he’s piloting.

(There were people there…)

There was a glass wall before the beam was fired, and he remembers seeing figures behind it.

But now, the wall is destroyed, turned into rubble, with smoke billowing around.

(It’s all because of me… because I touched Airi’s groin area…)

His thoughts circle back to the beginning, touching Airi in that dark room. That memory now fuels his fear, igniting a mental flame that brings an onslaught of terror.

(It all started with me… I’ve killed people…)

What lies ahead is a life in prison. Being labeled a murderer complicates employment opportunities, his face broadcasted on TV, despised by family and friends.

(My future is…)

BOOOOOOOM!

Hiroki and Shiori’s eyes widened as a loud destruction noise came from the rubble, revealing several figures and a strange-shaped shadow.

“You bastard!?”

“KISYRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!”

John Mayer, his clothes singed, and body overheating, stands there. Behind him, an octopus-shaped robot the size of a car chassis sparks and howls.

When the area was engulfed in light, a soldier octopus, camouflaged and hidden behind them, used its eight tentacles to envelop John and the others.

The light then burns through the octopus’s body and collapses the wall.

The octopus was meant for protection, a weapon equipped with the most durable materials and camouflaging capabilities.

They managed to deflect the beam with the help of the octopus.

“Who are you? How come you’re riding a liger? How did you manage to control the liger!?”

John yells, pointing at Hiroki, his face a mix of rage and confusion.

“What on earth are you!?”

John stops mid-sentence because he sees Airi about to fire another shot, condensing light in her mouth.

He shouts at the sight of him and the giant beast.

“Release all soldiers, don’t let them shoot!?”

Reacting to his command, shadows emerge from dark spaces, and many figures dive in.

“Kill that brat!!”

Airi did not tolerate his command to kill a young boy.

“Don’t come near my brother!!”

“GAR!!”

“Whoa!?”

Airi, securing Hiroki with her tail and leaping back, sticks to the wall and fires at the approaching soldiers.

The balls of light hit the soldiers, causing explosions, but the number of soldiers didn’t decrease; it kept increasing.

As Airi maneuvers through the onslaught of abilities and bullets, defending and dodging, her actions reminiscent of an unbeatable soldier, her red eyes catch sight of a group.

(That is!?)

(They’re wearing the same uniform, so they must be brother’s comrades!)

(Another robot is approaching!)

(So…)

(Yeah…)

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

“GARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR！！”

A powerful voice rises.

Many others joined Airi, Shiori, Meryl, and Jack’s cries.

Shiori and the others were supposed to be cooling down, unable to use their abilities. But what drove them was the presence of just one person, “Ogino Hiroki.”

(I swore not to be protected anymore!)

(I thought of him as weak, even for a moment!)

(Why didn’t I realize it about him!)

Shiori remembered her past regrets, Meryl lamented her mistakes, and Jack burned with remorse for his past self.

It wasn’t just the three of them. Everyone here harbored a strong loathing for their past selves, roaring out.

Their past selves had become the shackles for “Ogino Hiroki,” sharply etched into their hearts.

The blade of regret pierced their chests, blood continuously flowing from the deep wounds.

What could be done to stop this blood, to heal these wounds?

The answer was simple.

Shiori and the others exercised their abilities with a will that surpassed their limits.

Their will was singular.

“We will crawl and grovel.”

“We will struggle.”

These words, these thoughts, were what spurred them all.

All explosions, thunder, and noise clashed together, everything colliding.

Objects, beams, lightning, flames, light.

The floor’s surface burst open, turning everything before them into a storm.

As debris formed, one after another, combatants appeared, kneeling, but the light in their eyes never faded, their hands continually reaching forward.

Shiori and the others kept moving.

Even now, bacteria flow within their bodies.

It was over.

If Hiroki hadn’t destroyed the glass walls, the enemy would have used the power of bacteria again.

But they were thrown outside, bacteria introduced into their systems, preventing its activation.

Ogino Hiroki had created a state of equilibrium in extreme conditions, a genuine final battle attack.

And each person’s unceasing fighting spirit brought fear to John Mayer’s face.

“Why is this happening? You were supposed to be finished!”

John screamed with all his might, his soldiers’ remaining strength reaching its limit, the initial ease disappearing like a lie.

Sweating and spitting, his face mixed with fear and anger turned towards a young boy.

“It’s you. It was all because of you. Everything was going well until you showed up!”

He pulled a device from his pocket with his right hand. It was a different device from the bacteriological weapon control terminal. Seeing this, John’s comrades widened their eyes.

“Lord Mayer! There are still brains stored in the facility. Are you planning to use them!?”

“Silence, our soldiers’ remaining strength is dwindling! We’re in danger if we continue like this! This is the only option left!”

Ignoring the protests, John operated the terminal, and sirens and warnings began to sound throughout the facility.

The warning was for “facility self-destruction.”

The countdown to the facility’s collapse began.

“Goodbye, combatants. You will perish with the facility! We won’t meet again! Enjoy your last moments with the soldiers! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

With those final words, John disappeared into the door with his comrades.

And those left behind continued to fight, trembling, forced to keep engaging.

“Hey, this is bad!?”

“Is this how it ends!?”

As the end approached, they shouted in anger, the flame of their will about to extinguish—

“GARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!”

A black giant beast nearby let out a roar.

All the combatants’ bodies floated and orbited around the giant beast.

“What’s this!?”

“What are you planning to do!?”

As they were astonished, they burst through the floor and leaped towards a door behind them.

With red lights crossing and warning sounds mixing, the giant beast did not stop.

There was no shadow of soldiers ahead, nothing that could lead to a conflict.

And as they reached a dead end, they stopped.

“GAR!”

The floating ceased, and Shiori and the others landed on the floor.

Leaving them confused, Airi pushed her foreleg against an unremarkable wall.

(This is it, right?)

(Yes!) (Definitely here!) (I’ll open it now!)

“The activation of ‘Hacking.’ Airi and the others were aware of the space beyond the wall.

A buzzing sound echoed as the wall rose upwards like a shelter.

Upon witnessing the space beyond, Shiori and her companions opened their eyes wide in astonishment.

Countless capsules spread out before them.

‘…So it was here,’ Shiori murmured, understanding as she looked inside a capsule. It was a room storing hundreds of ‘brains.’

Each capsule contained a single brain, floating and connected by several cords.

At the far end of the room, their attention was captivated by the largest capsule in the space, which contained not one but dozens of brains centered around a single brain.

‘Airi Edelman…’ Shiori read the name inscribed on the capsule aloud.

‘GARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!’ Suddenly, a giant beast at the entrance roared, and a loud explosion resounded.

‘! The soldiers are coming!’ From the corridor visible outside the entrance, numerous soldiers appeared.

The giant beast engaged them, moving forward to continue firing.

(Hiroki…)

Slowly lifting him from the back, who was wrapped in her tail, and placing him on the floor.

(I wished we could have stayed together longer…)

She unwound her tail that had been tightly coiled around him.

(It’s over now, isn’t it…)

Airi, the giant beast, stepped outside the entrance, leaving Hiroki behind.

(I’m sorry; I tried hacking multiple times but couldn’t stop the self-destructing system.)

(The robots’ hacking didn’t work either.)

(Probably, those bad people did something.)

(It can’t be helped.)

(This room is the farthest from the bomb.)

(Yeah, all we can do now is trust in Hiroki and the others.)

(So, what do we do now?)

(There’s only one thing to do!)

‘Hacking’ initiated, and the closure of the shelter began.

‘GARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!’ As they sounded the charge, Airi and the others’ battle began.

A beast cloaked in dazzling light compresses blue-white plasma on its black back, unleashing thunderous strikes on everything in sight.

A storm of azure lightning, piercing, scorching, dyeing everything in pitch black.

As the shelter slowly closed, the beast, adorned in blinding light, continued to roar bravely in front of the entrance to its limit.

The last thing Hiroki and the others saw was black legs shining in blue light amidst the roaring thunder, the wall completely sealed off.

‘Shiori…’

(I can’t keep up with what’s happening…)

‘I understand.’

Reaching her information processing capacity limits, she called out to Shiori for support.

Anticipating his thoughts, Shiori replied and shouted, ‘All materialization ability users, cover the walls, floor, and ceiling with solid material! Everyone else, gather in the center and assume a shock-resistant position!’

Following her command, the space was quickly covered with ice, earth, light, and blackthorns… by various abilities, creating a completely sealed space without gaps. Centering around Hiroki, everyone gathered, further enveloping the surroundings with their abilities.

‘Hey, Shiori…’

‘What is it, Hiroki?’

‘I…’

The moment was dominated by a loud explosion, preventing any further words…