Chapter 15: How to Wake from a Nightmare
Do you all like fairy tales?
Stories like the glass slipper,
the Little Mermaid who lost her voice for a prince,
the brother and sister who escaped the witch’s house,
and...
the tale of the cursed red shoes.
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Old Tales.
A successor squad to the Goddess Squad, composed of first-generation [Fairy Tale Model] units.
They bear names from fairy tales.
Cinderella, their leader, fires a massive laser known as the [Glass Slipper].
Hansel and Gretel wield an enormous weapon called the [Witch’s Oven], comparable to the nuclear weapon Little Boy of old.
Siren, also known as Little Mermaid, subdues her opponents with bubbles and spoken commands.
Red Shoes possesses leg parts capable of attacking with dozens of tons of weight.
They are a squad composed of second-generation [Fairy Tale Model] NIKKEs, jointly developed by the Human Allied Forces and V.T.C. Built with specifications surpassing those of the first-generation [Fairy Tale Model] units, they are especially specialized in annihilation warfare.
But despite being so powerful, there was a reason they had never deployed...
Hah. Guess people are the same everywhere.
The upper brass... the people at the top were too busy tearing into each other over competing interests, so Old Tales underwent only internal testing.
Then one day, they were assigned to support the Goddess Squad’s operation to attack the Orbital Elevator. Just as Cinderella, their leader, was about to deploy the next day with a trembling heart—
"Damn it, Cinderella!!"
Boooom!!
Cinderella, who had been undergoing her final inspection, suddenly attacked her own comrades.
She shattered Siren’s jaw, the one who used spoken commands,
and tore off Hansel and Gretel’s arms.
Red Shoes? That one merely had her legs broken(?). Hmph, why am I acting like that’s a shame? I’ll tell you later.
So why did Cinderella do this?
That’s right.
Cinderella had been Corrupted.
. . .
..
After Cinderella destroyed the laboratory, the surviving researcher, Abe, desperately held herself together despite the reality that her comrade had been Corrupted, and barely managed to repair the remaining Old Tales members.
And now—
"We persuade Cinderella."
The blonde woman at the end of the table adjusted her glasses and spoke to the remaining members.
"...Abe, there has never been a single case of someone returning from Corruption..."
"I know. That’s why we’ll persuade her more aggressively."
Everyone knew their minds were worn down. But... but this was the only way.
"So, we beat her up. If we beat her senseless, maybe she’ll feel like listening to us."
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Old Tales’ offensive power was truly formidable.
Claaang!!!
Red Shoes’ multi-ton parts,
"Kneel."
Boom!!
Little Mermaid’s spoken command,
"What should we use, Hansel?"
"Let’s melt that cold Cinderella, Gretel."
Booooom!!!!
And the massive [Witch’s Oven] wielded by Hansel and Gretel fired upon Cinderella.
The operation was nearly a success, but—
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Abe! Reinforcements are coming!!"
"What?!"
Was it a cruel twist of fate? The situation was turning in favor of the Corrupted Cinderella, who excelled at annihilation warfare.
Even reinforcements could become a curse depending on the circumstances.
"Damn it, don’t come! You can’t come!!"
The reinforcements were poison.
In the end, Cinderella rose into the air, looking down on them like a god.
"Everyone, take cover!! Protect yourselves however you can!!"
Wooooooooom...!!!
The [Glass Slipper], gathering light as though collecting its power, then—
Pshuuuuuuwing!!!!
—fell from the sky upon everyone like divine punishment.
Damn it, was this as far as they got? Watching the incoming beams, Abe crouched down in despair. They had been so... so close. Everyone... everyone could have reached a happy ending!!
Watching the others get intercepted, Abe watched the beam heading toward her as if it were in slow motion, then shut her eyes.
"[Pine and Cypress Resolve], Full Bloom."
Ting!!
Tiiing!!
Chiiiiiing!!!
Am I... seeing things?
Abe’s thoughts came to a halt at the sight unfolding before her.
"Phew~ You can’t give up yet, okay?"
"Well done, Janghwa."
"What...?"
She had deflected them.
Deflected what?
Cinderella’s beams.
The beams from the [Glass Slipper] that she had painstakingly created.
With a sword, no less.
"Who... are you...?"
One was a sword-wielding NIKKE dressed in Eastern-style clothing, while the other wore a black hood and stared toward Cinderella.
"Are you crazy...?"
Perhaps having heard her question, the hooded one looked her way, their face still hidden.
"I said, are you crazy?! Fighting Cinderella right now is...!"
"We know."
"What?"
"We’re doing this because we know."
. . . .
"Oh, come on. At a time like this, can’t you just say thank you?"
Isn’t that right, Rukh? Exactly.
Abe: a genius of the century and Old Tales’ creator.
Why was she a genius?
The answer was simple.
Because she had created those four NIKKEs for the cost of making a single arm for a Goddess Squad member.
"...Are you out of your minds?"
Oh, come on.
"Cinderella’s power is more than you can handle. Even if you deflect them like you just did, if she bombards you relentlessly...!"
"Abe, a bird does not fly all at once."
"What does that..."
"Instead of giving up without even trying—"
Kiiiiik.
"—we move forward without looking back."
I planted strength in my legs and—
Booooom!!!
—threw myself toward Cinderella.
"What the hell...?"
"Hehe... By the way..."
At the sight of the dumbfounded Abe, Janghwa chuckled softly and patted her shoulder.
"Your comrades... are dying, you know?"
"Ah!!"
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Kiiiiiiiik!!
"Whoops, I nearly died there."
"Traitoooor!!!!"
"Goodness, how scary~ Why are you so angry?"
"Kiiiing!!!! Whyyyyy?! Why did you betray usssss?!!!!"
Along with a scream-like roar, blue rays poured down where I had been standing.
Cinderella was the key person who could end this miserable story.
If we saved her, we could save even more people.
My plan went like this.
Whoosh.
"Whoops, here we go again?"
"Don’t run awaaaay!!!"
"Would I?"
Cinderella’s beams were probably powerful enough to inflict a fatal injury on me. To prepare for that, I had Janghwa train for almost a month to deflect Bippy’s lasers.
"Gasp... gasp... Rukh, youuuuu!!"
"Ruuuun awaaaaay!!"
Halfway through, it got so hard that she tried to cut me down, though;;
And to continue explaining:
Even if I could physically subdue Cinderella, her body was currently controlled by Anachiro—that is, Corruption.
Her body also possessed abilities similar to a Rapture’s, making it difficult to attack recklessly.
So the conclusion I reached was!
"Phew... phew... Holy shit... I’m really fucking nervous."
"Bip!"
While I bought time, Mori, hidden behind Bippy’s energy shield, would fire Unchained from her sniper rifle into Cinderella.
Perfect!
"Traitor!!! A Rapture who betrayed the Queen and sided with those pseudo-humans...!!"
The eyes of Cinde—no, Anachiro, who was chasing me, were bloodshot so fiercely red that they looked ready to weep blood.
Yeah, yeah, you’re pissed, right? Huh?
So—
"Eclipse, ten percent."
"Okay!"
Take a hit.
Thwack!!
"Guhhh!!"
At the same time I drove my fist into Anachiro’s core—
"Take this! Two million vooooolts!!!"
Crackle-crackle-crack!!!
—the electric shocker Eclipse had used last time joined in and sent her flying.
Oh, and Eclipse’s help let me regulate my strength. While Janghwa practiced deflecting lasers, I trained alongside her to control my power, but it’s still... kind of difficult.
Oof, that looked like it hurt, though?
Creak... creak....
Contrary to my concern, Anachiro rose from the rubble of the building she had crashed into.
Holy shit, she tanked that?
"I’ll kill you.... I’ll kill you!!! I’ll kill youuuuu!!!!"
Wheeeeeeeeeeeng!!!!!
Along with Anachiro’s rage, the [Glass Slipper] began to emit light with a deafening roar. But for me?
Pshuuuuuuwing!!!
"Janghwa?"
Chiiiiiing!!!!!
Slice... clack.
"....Buy me something delicious later."
"I promise I will."
Janghwa looked my way with her lips pushed into a pout. If I had a little sister, I imagine she’d be like this.
And now... this should be enough...
Click... clack.
I raised my left hand and signaled toward the building where Mori was hiding.
Yeah, let’s get ourselves a happy ending!
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"Wait... something... is wrong...."
As Abe moved Siren, a feeling of déjà vu made her look toward the battlefield. Anachiro had clearly been subdued, and in her current state, her output had been severely reduced.
Yet her survival instincts were screaming that something was dangerous. What the hell was dangerous...?
Wait... there were four [Glass Slippers] in total....
There are three... beside Cinderella right now?
Where did one... where did one go?!
Alarm bells rang in Abe’s head. She laid Siren against a nearby wall, ran to higher ground, and shouted.
"Heeey!!!! One [Glass Slipper] is missing!! I can’t see one of the [Glass Slippers]!!!"
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"....Mori?"
"J-just... just a moment!!"
Something seemed to have gone wrong on Mori’s end. From that building came the sound of machinery clicking and grinding as she worked on it. Huh? Why isn’t this working?
"Oh, for crying out loud...."
"Sigh... Mori? When we get back, you’re doing special training, okay?"
I told you to do some maintenance before I went up there.
"Heeeyyyyyy!!!!"
"Huh? Abe?"
Abe, who should have been evacuating, was shouting from atop the rubble, bleeding. What was she saying? She was too far away to hear.
"Missing...!!!!!"
"What did you saaaay???"
Abe kept shouting toward us, but unfortunately neither of us could properly hear what she was saying, and our faces naturally scrunched up. Can you... hear? No...?
As though catching her breath, Abe shouted our way once more.
"The [Glass Slipper]s!!!!"
The [Glass Slipper]s? Why would that...
"ONE OF THEM IS MISSINGGGGG!!!!"
".....Whaaaaaaaaat?!?!@!"
My mind went blank at words more terrifying than a death sentence. I definitely checked them?! Where was it?
Janghwa hurriedly began looking around as well. A weapon disappearing meant...!
"Huh...? Huuuhhhh???? Rukh, over there!!"
Th-th-there! Mori, who should have been hidden, had burst out of the building using Bippy as a foothold. More importantly, where?!
Following where Mori pointed, I saw a [Glass Slipper] struggling to rise from beneath the building rubble.
Wait, that targeting reticle is...
"Mori, get down!!!!"
The [Glass Slipper]’s targeting reticle was aimed at Mori!!
Pewwwwwng!!!!
"Aaaaaah!! Bippy, reverse! Reverssse!!!"
"Biiiiip!!"
Booooom!!!
The building Mori had been in collapsed with a thunderous roar.
"Janghwa! Mori!"
"Got it!!"
"Guh.... guhhhh...!!!"
"Fuck, seriously!!"
The moment Janghwa went to check on Mori, Anachiro began rising from the ground. Damn it. I couldn’t use Unchained right now!!
I looked toward where Janghwa had gone, but the smoke kept me from knowing what was happening. With Anachiro about to escape too, my head became a mess.
"Waaah!! Rukh!! Stop her! Stop her somehow!!"
"Don’t you have any ideas?! You’re an A.I.!!"
"I’m not ChatGPT!!"
"This is driving me insane!!"
My head spun even harder. Think, damn it. What’s the best thing I can do right now?!
Blood, Unchained—it just has to touch her!!
Do I rip off my arm and make her eat it?! Huh?!!
Uh...?
Make her... eat it?
In that instant, a ringing sounded in my head as though I had been struck.
Right. Why hadn’t I thought of this?
"Rukh! Mori and Bippy are safe...!...Rukh?"
The instant I got the idea, I ran straight for Anachiro.
"Hurry... hurry...!!"
Crunch!!!
"Guhhhhh!!!!"
I bit down hard on my tongue until it bled, and then...!!
"What are you trying to do...!"
"Cinderella!!"
Tap!
"I’m sorry!!!"
Smooooch!
"Mmph... mmmph????"
"R-Rukh???"
"Y-you... what are you doing to Cinderella?!"
"What the fuuuuuck? Are you insane???!!! He did it?! That bastard actually did it?!!"
I grabbed her jaw, lifted it, and kissed her.
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How Rukh imagines the current situation:
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