Love You Seventh Night: 02 [Scar] ☆ (68) (Patreon)

*

[Heartbreak] approached, turning the workshop's desks, shelves, and equipment... into dust. The powder fell silently to her feet, spreading like a cloud of sand.

(What is that!? What the hell is that!?)

Even so, Sayoko reacted instantly. She ran through the gaps between the obstacles, heading deeper into the factory. Then, opening the door at the back of the building, she ran outside.

(I don't really get it, but getting close to that is a bad idea!)

A concrete wall blocked her vision. The back of the factory was a high fence, and it didn't look like she could climb it just by jumping.

"Dammit!"

But even here, Sayoko made an instant decision. She already knew that hesitation would cost her her life. Giving up on climbing over, she ran along the fence, escaping the premises at full speed.

(Anyway, I have to get out of her sight for a bit!)

She ran with a crowbar in her hand and a wrench in her pocket. Her balance was off, and they were heavy. But Sayoko ran desperately.

(It's like the [Mobile Armor] fight all over again!)

To regroup against an opponent with powerful close-combat capabilities, she first had to break away. Using fences, walls, and buildings to get into the opponent's blind spot. In addition, she had to gain distance and disappear from view.

Once she was out of sight, the enemy would be forced to search. And in the time she bought, she would analyze, formulate a countermeasure, and prepare.

Sayoko burst out of the repair shop gate, turned right, and sprinted along the road.

But running on the road for too long carried the risk of [Heartbreak] seeing her from behind when she came out. That said, fleeing into the adjacent property would be too dangerous. So she compromised on the property two plots over and tumbled into it.

The place, paved with asphalt and lacking a gate or fence, was about half a parking lot. The other half was just a building with a closed shutter that read "Nishiwaki Screw, Second Warehouse." The building was, literally, a warehouse. The property one plot before had a sign that said "Nishiwaki Screw" and was a small factory, so this was probably a parking lot prepared for the employees there.

She didn't have the luxury of trying to see if the warehouse shutter would open. The chances of it being open were low in the first place. Giving up on getting inside from the start, Sayoko ran along the side and headed for the back of the warehouse.

The girl with glasses rushed to the back as if diving in... and leaned her weight against the wall, patting her chest in relief.

(With this, I've managed to hide myself for now.)

And in that position, she took repeated deep breaths to steady her heartbeat, then muttered quietly.

"[Check Ability Details]"

A string of characters floated up before her eyes. Ability Name, [Heartbreak].

First, she scanned the main part of the ability, written in white text. Sayoko's bio-AI, having already witnessed its activation and met the conditions, displayed the opponent's ability details.

* Arbitrarily generates a barrier that disintegrates solid matter.

(So that's it...)

The scene from moments ago replayed in her mind.

The desks and shelves that turned to dust, crumbled, and became smoke as [Heartbreak] walked. Not only wood and plastic, but also sturdy impact wrenches made of hard metal had collapsed just as silently.

It seemed that as long as it was solid matter, the material and hardness didn't matter; it could be "disintegrated."

(And of course, the human body too, right?)

In other words, if Sayoko were caught by that barrier, the match would be over at that point. Even if it wasn't an instant death, losing her limbs would be certain.

"Hoo, hah."

Sayoko took a deep breath and pictured the scene of [Heartbreak] turning the desk to dust in her mind. She remembered that she couldn't visually confirm the "barrier" that was doing the disintegrating.

(So the barrier itself is invisible.)

Thanks to that, she didn't know its range or area of effect. But since she had come within ten meters without being harmed herself, it seemed it didn't have a long-range attack capability.

And judging from the situation when the desk began to crumble, its range was likely very close. It was presumed to be an ability for close-quarters combat only, almost like a physical attack.

(Which means if I can just secure some distance, I should be able to create some leeway.)

And then, the phrase "arbitrarily generates."

It sounded good to say she could generate the barrier within range at any time. It would be a convenient ability. But Sayoko had the opposite perception of it.

(She can't produce it without intending to; she can't produce it in a place she doesn't intend to.)

That was the weak point. That's what Sayoko thought.

The more she deduced, the calmer the girl became. The experience she had gained in past battles, the fields of death she had passed through... had forged her, polishing her buried essence. The days since she had made her resolve.

This growth, no, this transformation of her mental state was the greatest strength of the contender known as [Scar].

Next, her gaze crawled to the yellow string of text. The supplementary explanations, conditions, and limitations section.

* Steals the kinetic energy of the disintegrated object.

(What's that mean?)

She tilted her head.

A few seconds later, the memory of the disintegrated objects turning to dust and falling straight down resurfaced. She must have witnessed that and been left with the impression that they fell straight down, which is why this supplementary explanation was displayed.

(...So what does that mean, though?)

Sayoko didn't know what it meant. And in fact, it was a clause that had nothing to do with her. With a "Well, whatever," she breathed out through her nose and closed the display.

(For now, this is all I've figured out.)

A barrier of "disintegration" that served both offensively and defensively. It should be able to almost completely nullify normal physical attacks.

Strong. A truly powerful ability.

A defense that nullifies any strike, slash, or mass attack. And an offense that crumbles any armor and turns it to dust.

It wasn't a contradiction, but it was truly the strongest shield and spear.

...But.

(Is that all?)

A persistent, nagging feeling of unease remained.

It was certainly a powerful ability. Depending on the matchup, it could even lead to a perfect game.

But she couldn't imagine it being able to defend against abilities like fire or electricity... though this was only a prediction based on the roster that "there are probably ability users like that"... and as Sayoko had found a way through, it would be difficult to "arbitrarily" respond to a surprise attack from behind or out of sight.

It seemed she could win against [Mobile Armor] or [Grasshopper] on matchup alone, but if her opponent was [Accelerator], she would surely be defeated without a fight by a high-speed surprise attack from behind.

(If it were Eri-chan's [Gunstar Heroines], it would be over easily with a shot from a blind spot or a snipe from a distance.)

While powerful, it was hard to call it the strongest. Because human consciousness, reaction, and perception have their limits.

While this was a natural weakness considering the original nature of the entertainment program, for Sayoko, who knew the person had resorted to cheating, it felt strangely lacking. That was the feeling of unease that lingered.

(Am I just worrying too much about it being the 'strongest'?)

Kyoka had said, 'They must be setting up the match cards by choosing opponents who are easy to win against.' Sayoko also thought her partner's prediction was correct.

(So, has she just been winning through a rock-paper-scissors matchup until now?)

No, but, still... her thoughts, as she placed a hand on her chin again, were suddenly interrupted.

...Pop.

A part of the warehouse wall, which she had in her vision but wasn't looking at, suddenly had a large hole blown in it without a sound.

"Eh?"

The wall crumbled, fell down, and raised a cloud of smoke. And from that hole, a single girl slowly walked out.

It was none other than [Heartbreak].