Chapter 11:
Ship Severer
WHEN I STEPPED OUTSIDE the party venue, I was greeted by the
sight of a spaceship hovering overhead.
"A ship in the Capital Planet's skies is a bit much, isn't it?
Assassinations are supposed to be cleverer than that, Calvin."
I was a little disappointed in the man. This was the best he could
think of?
All around me, Kukuri and his men were facing enemy operatives.
All of the guests inside were terrified, so my victory party was totally
ruined.
The moment I left the venue, a group of ninjas rushed toward me.
One of Kukuri's men got in between us and promptly blew himself up,
killing himself and bringing a bunch of our enemies down with him. The
man gave his life for me, but it was all a part of their job. Still...
"Dead people don't betray you. Your loyalty was the real deal."
You could only really measure someone's true character after they
died. By blowing himself up, Kukuri's subordinate fulfilled his duty to me
with his very life. I wouldn't call it a noble sacrifice, as it was just a single
man who had given his life to protect another man—me. That was all it
was. So I decided to fulfill my own duty.
Rosetta flew out of the building behind me, but Amagi grabbed her
arm to stop her and pull her back inside.
"Amagi, let me go!" I heard her yell. "Darling's in trouble!"
"You will only get in his way, Lady Rosetta. Please wait for him
inside."
I was relieved to see Amagi looking out for her. I didn't know what
Rosetta thought she could do, but it would only be more trouble for me if
she were out here.
"Amagi, hide inside with Rosetta, would you?" I ordered her.
Tears spilled from Rosetta's eyes, and Amagi looked worried too.
"Master, please do not be reckless."
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"You call this reckless? This is child's play to me."
Just then, gunfire rained down from the floating ship in the sky.
Warships were mostly specialized for attacks on other spacecraft, but those
armaments could be used to fire on ground forces as well.
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The ship's beam lenses flashed, and live bullets streamed from its
guns. Lasers burned the ground around me, and bullets drove into the
earth, creating clouds of dust... But every attack that would have been a
direct hit on me was deflected by my Flash. I redirected the lasers with the
mirror-bright surface of my blade, and I cut down any solid projectiles that
came my way.
Though I dealt with all the firepower directed at me, my
surroundings were thoroughly destroyed. As clouds of dust plumed up and
obscured my vision, I gasped. Shit! I'll get Amagi's dress dirty! The dress
I ordered was of such high quality, though, that not a single speck of dirt
stained it. Another of the designer's multifunctional features, I imagined.
"I think I like that designer. Maybe I'll hire him on an exclusive
contract."
Gripping the hilt of my sheathed sword, I assumed a ready stance.
The Way of the Flash didn't actually use formal stances, but it did help to
brace myself to gather my full strength.
As I watched Amagi hustle Rosetta back inside, a fresh barrage of
gunfire rained down on me from the ship. I assumed they didn't want to
fire their main cannon, lest it cause too much damage to the Capital Planet.
I knew they would have had a better chance if they used that or launched
missiles at me though.
"Unfortunately, trying not to damage the Capital Planet will be your
downfall."
If they really wanted to kill me, they'd have to obliterate me with
their main gun. Of course, I considered some countermeasures in case they
did become desperate enough to use the ship's heavy armaments. Villains
had to be cautious, after all, and a real villain never lets down his guard.
The only reason I'd come outside was because I was certain I could win,
and I faced the ship alone because I was that confident in my abilities.
"My technique still doesn't hold a candle to my master's, but...
you're no match for me."
I tightened my grip on my sword in its scabbard, gathering my full
power in order to launch an attack on the ship. Narrowing my eyes, my
concentration heightened, I simply said, "Flash."
Then, I released my slash toward the large object suspended in the
sky, and my trusty sword amplified its power. I felt the wave of increased
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strength rush from me and rocket toward the spaceship. Relaxing my
stance, I rested my sheathed blade across my shoulder.
"Now to see what comes next."
A tear appeared in the center of the ship's armored hull and
widened. A moment later, debris began to crash down from the sky. At this
rate, there would be a great deal of damage to the surface of the Capital
Planet. I already planned on justifying my actions as self-defense, but I
still didn't want the prime minister to think less of me because I let an area
of the Capital Planet get destroyed. It would be the fault of the people who
attacked me, so I didn't want to get in trouble for their actions. That was
why I intended to thoroughly clean up after myself when all this was over.
What was really surprising to me was that the Capital Planet's
defense force hadn't deployed any troops after this spaceship had gotten in
through the planet's shell. What negligence!
"Geez, what's going on with this damn planet's security?" I said.
I thought I saw an animal scamper past out of the corner of my eye.
I turned toward it, but there was nothing there when I looked directly. Was
it just my imagination?
"Am I seeing things? Whatever—I've got enough to focus on."
The slow manner in which the ruined spaceship was descending was
proof that its anti-gravity equipment was still functioning. It would be a
problem if it crashed to the ground, but even more so if it exploded. The
party venue had a protective force field around it, so our safety was
assured, but the same couldn't be said for the surrounding area. Those
really in danger from the falling spacecraft weren't the upper echelons of
society like us, but common people. I didn't want to have their deaths on
my hands when I wasn't responsible for them in the first place.
While I considered my options, Wallace contacted me.
"Liam, the prime minister approved the use of mobile knights!"
I smirked and looked back up at the sky, shouting, "You're up,
Avid!"
In response to my voice, a mobile knight appeared in the sky above
me. The Avid had been deployed from a House Banfield ship I kept in the
vicinity of the Capital Planet, and waited outside the shell until it had
approval to enter. Communication jamming meant nothing to my trusty
machine, especially now since I installed that mysterious artifact called the
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Machine Heart. The Avid had no doubt sensed that I was in danger and
was standing by to help me as soon as it could.
I praised the Avid for its arrival, which had been even quicker than I
hoped. "Good job."
The twenty-four-meter giant landed in front of me, but with such
precision that the ground didn't so much as quiver from its arrival. Man,
technology in an intergalactic nation is amazing.
The Avid extended one hand to me, so I jumped up onto it and was
lifted to the cockpit. Inside, I settled in my seat and gripped the control
sticks.
"It'll be a major pain if that ship makes it to the ground. Show me
what you can do, Avid."
I explained the situation to the Avid, and in response, its engines
roared as it took off into the sky. We were headed for the falling ship. The
Avid positioned itself under the crumbling vessel and supported it from
below. The spaceship was much larger than even this huge mobile knight,
and its mass far outweighed the Avid, but the Avid was still powerful
enough to take its weight.
"That's it! Now...let's push that thing back into space!"
The Avid exerted more power, and the falling ship slowed to a
stop... Then, slowly, it began to ascend. To an observer, it probably
looked incredible to see such a relatively small craft lifting the much larger
ship.
I couldn't hide my excitement at the Avid's display of strength. "Ah
ha ha ha! This is the power of the Avid!"
Small lifeboat units escaped from the ship, one after another.
Meanwhile, the Avid initiated contact with the vessel. The crew still
trapped aboard were requesting aid from me.
"Please, help us! At this rate, we'll—"
The people who were here to kill me were begging me to save their
lives? Who did they think they were?
I took my hands off the control sticks and linked my fingers behind
my head, crossing my legs as well. The Avid moved on its own now to
accomplish what I expected from it. For simple tasks, all I had to do was
picture what I wanted in my mind, and the Avid took action. While I
kicked back, I decided to amuse myself by talking with the people who
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pleaded for help.
"I guess you're right. At this rate, you'll all die, won't you?"
"P-please! We were only following orders!"
Well, no doubt it was true that they'd only carried out such a
ridiculously bold plan because the people who wanted me dead had
ordered them to.
"You brought a spaceship down to the Capital Planet and opened
fire. Even the ones who escaped that wreck aren't going to escape being
captured and put through hell," I said.
Those who died aboard the ship would be the lucky ones, I figured,
but these idiots were still trying to get me to sympathize with them.
"We were threatened! We'll tell you everything! We'll testify
against your enemies! Just please save us!"
Though they claimed they'd do anything for me, I just wasn't
interested.
"I don't care. Go ahead and die."
I ended the conversation, and the Avid promptly sped up. We
climbed and climbed until we could see the metal shell that encased the
Capital Planet. An area of the shell assumed a liquid form and simply
allowed the ship to pass right through. Outside the shell was airless space.
"P-please, nooo!!!"
The voices over my speaker stopped when we emerged into space,
and the ship gradually drifted away from the Avid. The Avid held out one
hand, and a glowing magic circle appeared in front of its palm. From this
portal, a gigantic sword manifested in the Avid's grip. I smiled with
approval at the weapon the Avid had chosen for itself.
"You want to chop it up, huh?"
The Avid's engines roared in response, so I reached out and gripped
the control sticks. It was cute how the Avid responded to my words now
that it had the Machine Heart to instill life into it. Though appearance-wise
it was just a big, hulking machine, the Avid felt more like a cute little pet
to me. How could I say no to what it wanted?
"All right...show me how well you're able to duplicate my moves. I
want your full strength—no holding back."
Within the cockpit, I took up a stance to convey the Flash to the
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Avid. It needed to assume a proper stance if I wanted my mobile knight to
utilize the Flash.
The Avid pointed the tip of its sword toward the drifting ship.
"Flash," I said, and the Avid unleashed its technique.
Several dramatic slashes appeared in the ship's hull, and it broke
into pieces, which sailed off into space...but the Avid wasn't undamaged
either. My craft groaned from the strain of reproducing my technique, its
damage meter transitioning from green into the orange range. Now that the
Avid had the Machine Heart, however, it was able to restore itself. Soon
enough, the meter phased back to green, and an electronic ping alerted me
that my craft was done self-repairing.
I smiled. "Nice. Now I can hold back a little less in the future."
The Avid roared in response, evidently not yet satisfied.
I tried to calm the raging beast. "Don't be so impatient. There's no
end to the enemies out here in space to hunt down. You'll have so many
opportunities to play that you'll get sick of it soon enough."
The Avid seemed somewhat pacified by my words. Pieces of the
severed ship continued drifting away, but one of the Avid's slashes had
struck the engine and now it finally exploded, littering space with smaller
debris.
"That takes care of those idiots. But anyway..."
I took the alchemy box—another mysterious artifact I'd collected
over the years—from its hiding place within the Avid. When I did that, the
Avid held out a hand and used a tractor beam to pull the floating debris
toward it. When it had gathered a handful above its palm, the Avid closed
its fist around the junk. I then used the alchemy box on the scrap, amusing
myself by turning trash into gold.
"Still works like a charm."
I figured I'd continue to store my precious alchemy box inside the
Avid. Only certain people could enter its cockpit, and the Avid had been
strengthened with the Machine Heart besides. It was probably the safest
place for it. The Avid truly was my trusty mount—or was partner a better
word? But the Avid wasn't exactly a horse...
"Well, we've taken care of our little spaceship problem, so let's get
back. Calvin finally made a move, though...and it was a worse one than I
would have expected from him. Guess I overestimated him."
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Calvin hadn't made any blatant moves until this, but now that he
had, I could use it against him. Attacking the Capital Planet with a
spaceship was a big mistake.
I was still surprised by how little Calvin had amounted to, though. I
supposed that just like Linus, he was simply no match for me.
Nevertheless, I didn't intend to go easy on him. I was nothing if not
thorough when dealing with my enemies.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how thoroughly I can crush you
too."
***
The Guide was dumbstruck as he watched the day's events play out.
"You've gotta be kidding me!"
He just couldn't process what was going on. Liam had destroyed a
spaceship with a mere sword. It was all but impossible to accept what he
saw with his own eyes.
"Wh-why?"
The ship hadn't fired its main cannon or missiles, but instead had
shot lasers and bullets at Liam. The young man had intercepted them with
his sword. The Guide could barely accept that fact either.
Who would even imagine that a single human being could face off
against a warship and come out the victor?
"Does this mean Liam's evolved into a monster that's beyond my
influence?"
The Guide fell to his knees. Could he ever beat Liam as he was
now? With how much the Guide had been weakened by Liam over all
these years, he couldn't see a path to success.
"Where did I go wrong? What did I do?!"
Just then, the Avid returned to the site of the battle. Now that the
clashing Shadows and ninjas had vanished from the scene, several people
emerged from the party venue to greet Liam. Rosetta had run out ahead of
them all, still worried about him, but the first person Liam headed for was
Amagi.
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Unseen but close by, the Guide smiled when he noticed that. "I can't
beat you as you are now, Liam, but at least I can hurt you. I'll make you
regret this moment for the rest of your life."
The Guide had given up on defeating Liam utterly, but he still
wanted to make him taste despair.
***
The party venue was in chaos. Of course it was, considering a
spaceship had launched an attack right outside its doors. Having no time to
change, Amagi hustled here and there inside the venue in her fancy dress,
helping with whatever she could.
While she was walking down a hallway, she suddenly felt all the
human presences around her vanish. Up until a moment ago, people had
been running about this area, but suddenly, she felt completely alone. Even
for a maid robot, Amagi found this strange.
"Has something happened...?"
She started forward to seek out Liam when a strange presence
appeared before her.
"Hello, Miss."
The speaker was a man in a pinstriped tailcoat. He was tall and
slender, and the brim of his top hat hid his eyes. Amagi sensed something
strange about him...something she couldn't quite compute. The unknown
quality of the man made her leery.
"What are you?" she asked.
He was shaped like a person, but he was something else. To Amagi,
the Guide's true form was veiled by static. Alarm bells went off in her
mind, telling her that the being in front of her was dangerous.
His words proved this. "I don't need to explain myself to a robot. If
you die, it will cause Liam pain. That's all you need to know."
The Guide pulled a gun out of the pocket of his tailcoat. It was his
own weapon, but he looked down at it with resentment.
"Now that I'm so weak, I have to rely on something like this. In any
case, I should have just done this thing from the start! If you would please
disappear..."
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The Guide was so weakened now that he couldn't make proper use
of his powers. The gun in his hand, however, was more than powerful
enough to destroy Amagi.
With the weapon pointed at her, Amagi tried to take evasive action,
but black smoke suddenly appeared around her, coiling about her legs and
holding her in place. She couldn't break free, and calling for help wasn't
an option either. The communications lines were still jammed. A minute
ago, the building was full of people running in every direction, but for
some reason, this area was deserted. Did the strange being in front of her
do something to shut out the rest of the world? Amagi had no way of
knowing.
The only thing she could see under his hat was his smiling lips. "I
wonder what Liam's face will look like when I throw your head at his
feet?" the Guide asked.
Amagi's mind raced as the mysterious being mentioned Liam.
He knows Master somehow? At this rate I will be destroyed. My
data is backed up, but everything that truly makes me an individual... It
will disappear.
The maid robot closed her eyes and accepted her fate. "Master, I am
sorry... It seems this is as far as we will go together."
Grinning, the Guide pulled the trigger.
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