Chapter 54

Marshmallow Smile operator room.

Niko, watching Shiki's battle, wore a look of bewilderment.

"Shiki... I knew she was capable, but this much..."

Single-handedly wiping out four teams and trading even blows with Tsubasa, a top-tier player. Not the sort of feat someone with only ten days of playtime should be able to pull off.

Niko had rarely seen Shiki fight before. That made the shock all the greater.

"It's the first time I've ever seen Tsubasa-san use ricochets."

Ricochets with Aegis. Even her former teammate Sheena had never seen that tactic, and therefore had no countermeasure prepared.

"She synchronized her shield and the submachine gun so the bullets would bounce off the shield. Normally anyone taking that on their first look would go down, but Shiki-chan managed to dodge the direct hits."

"Right. Amazing reflexes—or rather, the breadth of her vision, I guess."

Seeing Shiki's superhuman reactions, Niko overlaid the girl with another in her mind.

(She overlaps... with Azuha, somehow...)

No, that couldn't be. Niko shook her head.

"But this range is Tsubasa-san's sweet spot..."

"Shiki-chan can do close combat too."

"In that field Tsubasa's still better. If there's any opening to exploit..."

The key to victory would be a single, one-hit-kill bullet.

"But landing that with a broken spec is impossible. Tsubasa's reaction speed is first-rate. You'd have to bait her in pretty far before you could hit her."

"And there's no way Tsubasa-san would close to guaranteed-hit range without a plan."

"So you lure her out. With the very best bait."

Chacha's lips curved in a meaningful smile.

"Chacha-san...?"

"What's with that creepy grin?"

Chacha gazed at Shiki on the screen.

"—A terrifying child, isn't she. Absolutely."

---

Crimson Wings operator room.

Crimson Wings had no operator. Only Kurenai and Len were in the operator room.

The two of them were watching the final showdown as mere spectators.

"Last time our ace fought someone one-on-one like this was Sheena, right?"

"Sheena's a balancer, so that made sense. But this one's a sniper. How's she keeping up with Tsubasa at that range?"

"As a fellow sniper, you find that unbelievable?"

"Un-believable!"

The two members of Crimson Wings stared at their ace.

"Think she'll lose this fight?"

"Not a chance. Tsubasa doesn't lose. She's a genius so stupid it's scary. A woman who'll one day stand at the pinnacle of this game. That's why we follow her. Right?"

"No doubt."

Not a trace of worry or fear could be found in their eyes.

---

Moonlight high-rise, top floor.

Seika, who had been watching Shiki and Tsubasa's battle, rose from her seat.

"Hm? What's up, Seika?"

"...∞ Burst isn't going to trigger. There's no need to keep watching this fight."

"Not going to trigger? So you're saying this Shiki girl wasn't worthy after all?"

Seika shook her head. "No."

"Her opponent's level is too low. Because of that, she can't push Shiki past her limits."

"Oh?"

"∞ Burst only appears when you're facing an enemy you can't handle with your current strength. For the first time—your very first ∞ Burst—you need either a battle against a powerful foe or an absolutely hopeless pinch."

Seika spoke more than usual.

"But this time, Shiki will never be driven that far. She can win with her current strength, so she has no need to draw out anything beyond her limits."

Seika glanced sideways at the screen.

"...This child is dancing on the palm of Shiki's hand."

With the corners of her mouth lifting ever so slightly, Seika left the room.

Seika's mother, alone now, giggled at the screen.

"Looks like fun, Seika. Making you show that kind of expression... I'm a little jealous of this girl."

Seika's mother focused on Shiki.

"Skill, reactions, tactics. All of them are brilliant and terrifying, but the most terrifying thing inside her is..."

Seika's mother looked into Shiki's eyes.

"...Once she sets her sights on a target, she never lets it escape—a ravenous obsession with her prey, like a starving wolf. How nice. Instead of Seika... maybe I should take this child for myself♪ She seems so innocent, and I'd have so much fun teaching her all sorts of things."

Seika's mother formed a gun with her right hand and aimed her slender white fingertip at Shiki on the screen.

"Mother and daughter, and we like the same type... I wonder if that runs in the family."

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