going to end it.”
Part 9[edit]
(November 10th – Oahu – New Honolulu International Airport Central Lobby – From surveillance camera footage.)
Low sounds like the beating of a drum intermittently reached Kamijou’s ears.
Shots were being fired at approximately five to ten second intervals.
The noises were coming from Hamazura and the others, who were around the corner of a passageway. They were firing an improvised gas gun at Cendrillon. To create the gas gun, they had tied four large fire extinguishers together in a bundle and attached a steel pipe to the end of the four hoses. Inside the pipe, they put corks with nails sticking through them. Those projectiles were sent slicing through the air at 230 kph, so a direct hit could drive the end of the nail into an arm or leg bone and shatter the bone like glass. They were using the weapon like a disposable bazooka.
And yet…
“I thank you, old lady.”
Cendrillon’s pure singing voice continued on.
Not a single shot hit her.
“I thank you for this lovely dance with the prince. I thank you for the glittering dress and glass slippers. These lovely clothes have turned this timid girl into an elegant and perfect princess for a night.”
The sound of her high heels on the floor was like a sewing machine.
Her eyes met Kamijou’s.
However, that was not all she was doing. Cendrillon was approaching Kamijou in great flowing motions as she avoided the projectiles.
The situation had changed.
During the discussion, the situation had become one where he could no longer attempt to buy time.
“Kh!!”
He immediately held up his right fist, but he simply did not have enough time.
Her slender arms wrapped around Kamijou’s right arm and she stuck one high heel between his legs. Kamijou reflexively moved in order to avoid great pain. His body spun around as if he were the lead in a ballroom dance.
In so doing, he moved himself in between Cendrillon and Hamazura.
“Old lady of the pumpkin carriage.”
Cendrillon thrust one arm under Kamijou’s arm and held her open palm out toward Hamazura who had frozen in shock.
“Please send the carriage quickly. Send it before I wake… before I wake from this one-night dream. Please send the pumpkin carriage.”
A shockwave roared across the room.
It was as if an invisible vehicle had driven through. Sensing danger from the line of destruction that ran across the floor, Hamazura and the others frantically headed back around the corner. The instant they did, the wall next to the corner was smashed to pieces.
“Why you…!!”
From her position near Cendrillon, sparks flew from Mikoto’s bangs.
However, Cendrillon tightened her grip on Kamijou’s arm, swung him around, and used him as a shield once more. Mikoto’s natural ability was sealed by that shield.
“Old lady of the pumpkin carriage.”
She swept Kamijou’s legs out from under him and he fell to the ground, taking Mikoto with him.
Cendrillon’s lovely singing voice was the only thing left resounding through the central lobby as she leaned over.
She was preparing her foot-crushing attack.
She was going to create a new explosion using magic.
“Please give me the glass slippers. The distance is 500. The number of people is unlimited. Please give me the strict and cruel test of the glass slippers that leaves all the dishonest liars hanging their heads.”
“That same spell…!?”
As Kamijou lay on his back, he saw Accelerator holding onto a metal framework near the ceiling.
“(…She’s noticed he’s hiding there!! That’s why she set it to such a wide range…!)”
There was no guarantee that Accelerator’s reflection would work against her.
It was an unknown number.
And Kamijou’s own situation was hopeless as he had no obvious defense other than his right hand.
They had been naïve.
Kamijou and his group had not been the only ones trying to draw out the enemy. Cendrillon had noticed the trap and had charged straight into it in order to eliminate all of the dangerous elements at once.
That seemed to be how it would end, but…
“You’re still in the central lobby, right?” asked Birdway’s voice.
Kamijou looked around for the source of the voice and spotted his cell phone lying on the ground nearby.
“Stay away! You need to fall back and wait for another opportunity to-!!”
“That’s all I need to know,” she said, cutting him off.
Immediately afterwards, the window covering one wall shattered.
The window was over three stories tall and over 300 meters across, but the entire area of reinforced glass shattered all at once.
The cause was clear.
A giant tanker truck filled with fifty tons of airplane fuel had smashed through the window and into the central lobby at full speed.
Birdway was aboard it.
However, she was not in the driver’s seat. She was standing on its roof in a daunting pose.
Birdway must have been using some kind of spell because not a single shard of the glass she had shattered touched her.