MHGA Chapter 263 — Battle with Kirin, Part One
Just as Naofumi Iwatani arrived at the base of the tower, preparing to ascend and challenge the Kirin, he suddenly received a message from Kairo Retsu.
"Naofumi, I'm entrusting this task to you and Joseph."
Right after receiving that message, Joseph—who had been stationed on the rooftop—suddenly leapt down, landing with a forceful impact that would make even the neighboring Demon Hunters green with envy, thanks to his unreasonably strong knees. This left Naofumi slightly perplexed.
"Joseph, what exactly… did Kairo Retsu want us to do?" Naofumi asked, puzzled.
"Kairo Retsu has a plan," Joseph whispered to Naofumi. "We need to get to work before Himmel arrives."
"A plan? Isn't the Kirin already up on the tower?"
Naofumi pressed further. "Are we supposed to intercept other corporate forces trying to get here? But with the electromagnetic interference going crazy around Arasaka Tower right now, wouldn't those companies' squads already be heavily disrupted?"
"…Kazuma is about to take Arasaka Raizen and V with him to fight for control over Arasaka," Joseph began explaining. "As for the other corporations in Night City—we don't need to worry about them. With Arasaka Raizen present, Night City won't be subjected to large-scale weaponized destruction."
"Our task now is to destroy the Mikoshi system here in Night City," Joseph looked firmly at Naofumi. "Which is why it has to be us two… We need to finish the preparations before Himmel arrives."
"Preparations? What kind of preparations?" Naofumi furrowed his brows. "Using the Kirin to destroy Mikoshi? But Mikoshi's databanks… we'd only be able to destroy the Mikoshi here in Night City, right?"
"That's why—we need to borrow some help."
Joseph continued, "In this Cyberpunk world, there are entities capable of destroying Mikoshi… Though they're extremely dangerous to the people of this world…"
"We've already been in contact with Arasaka Raizen. The damage that's about to befall Night City is still within Arasaka's acceptable loss range."
"I! Will use Hermit Purple! To imprint the AIs roaming beyond the Blackwall directly into Mikoshi!" Joseph clenched his fist. "As for you, Naofumi—your task is to prepare a passage within Arasaka Tower for Kairo Retsu and the Kirin… A direct passage from the rooftop of the tower down to the underground."
"!" Naofumi slightly furrowed his brow. "The AIs beyond the Blackwall? Aren't they extremely dangerous? I heard they can even influence the residents of Night City…"
"That's why Shirou and Rakuro will be handling that part. They've already returned to camp to switch gear," Joseph explained. "Do you remember how we handled things in the Infinity Fortress?"
"Ah… I get it now," Naofumi caught on to what Joseph was saying. "Feels kind of like something out of a horror movie…"
"Doctors who specialize in undefined corporeality are going to rake in a fortune—after all, this could bring them a ton of new business. Alright, let's move!" Joseph gripped his weapon. "Time waits for no one!"
At the same time Joseph said this, Shirou Emiya and Rakuro Hizutome had just rushed out from the camp, studying a map of Night City, each searching for the optimal position from which they could maximize their zone of effect.
Shirou and Rakuro headed toward the southern and northern ends of the city respectively, both having changed into new gear—equipment that came with the skill: Wide-Range.
The two newly appointed Hunters stood their ground in their respective positions, alert and awaiting the signal to come through the gathering channel.
The moment a signal arrived from Joseph or Kairo Retsu, they would immediately chug a Potion. At that moment… the effect of the Potion, amplified by Wide-Range, would cover the entirety of Night City.
Once that happened, the influence of the AIs beyond the Blackwall on the residents of Night City could be neutralized—and Joseph would then take care of imprinting those AIs into Mikoshi's system.
Mikoshi isn't unique to Night City; it represents Arasaka Saburo's hope for eternal life. It has relatively independent systems and is interconnected globally via satellites…
In the 2077 game, it was V and Johnny who managed to breach Arasaka's ICE defenses and infiltrate Mikoshi, thanks to Alt.
"I remember… In this world, after the roaming AIs and the Blackwall incident, the internet became isolated, right?" Naofumi said this while charging into Arasaka Tower alongside Joseph. "The corporations also used the internet's shutdown as an excuse to offer their own internal network services to the people—basically creating individual intranets…"
Joseph, without hesitation, sprinted toward the Mikoshi system. "Exactly… that's why only I can do this!"
"The Blackwall is an AI that's made a pact with humanity—it kills anything that tries to break through…"
Joseph's eyes glinted. "But this is a Stand ability!"
"My Stand ability… is the most useful one of all!!!!!!!"
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"COME ON!!!!"
At this moment, atop Arasaka Tower, the only three remaining Hunters were locked in a deadly clash with Kirin.
The visible exhaustion in Kirin allowed even Kairo Retsu—who wasn't exactly a master of footwork—to stay alive on the rooftop, even finding moments to land a hit or two using Vaulting Dance (Insect Glaive technique).
The bulk of Kairo Retsu's efforts were spent using the Insect Glaive's high mobility to harass the Kirin from close range, drawing down the beast's terrifying bolts of lightning as it chased after the obnoxious glaive-user and his ever-buzzing Kinsect.
In the grueling battle, Tanjiro was able to observe that Kirin's movements had already become noticeably slower compared to when they first encountered it.
The lack of nutrients and vitality in Night City's environment had finally taken its toll on the Kirin's body.
"Tanjiro, I've noticed something…"
Taking advantage of a moment when Kairo Retsu had drawn Kirin's attention, Laios quickly made his way over to Tanjiro and relayed his observations regarding Kirin's posture and physical condition in the briefest possible terms.
In Tanjiro's mind, an image of a completely transparent Kirin began to form—becoming more complete as his combat intuition and Laios's analysis filled in the gaps.
The Transparent World… From the very beginning of the battle with Kirin, Tanjiro had been attempting to perceive the movement of every single muscle and the flow of blood throughout the beast's body.
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