“Pretty crazy? Can you even see what is happening, Ramiris?”
“Uh, it’s a little hard. But I can see it.”
“Of course, I can see it. It is clear and crisp for me!”
“No, I am not asking you, Mister Veldora. You don’t need to try and show off.”
“…!?”
If Ramiris said she could see it, she probably could. That was what Zaza thought.
He could not imagine how advanced she was, but clearly there was some unknown technology being used in her small frame.
There was no room for doubt after seeing Beretta.
Karman’s troops were like gods of death, and yet Beretta was fighting them without giving in an inch.
This was much more than Zaza had been expecting, and he had to change his perception of Beretta.
(So a weapon that can take on the best of what the city had to offer had been made outside of the city laboratories… It was hard to believe, but had to be accepted.)
And this truth was a ray of hope for the resistance.
Zaza thought.
If Beretta was with them, then they might have a chance of winning with the plan they had discussed.
Zaza could sense that he was becoming excited, and so turned his attention to the battle.
Veldora looked at Zaza sadly.
Why am I being treated like this? He thought. He continued to stare at Zaza, but was ignored.
“Ah, Ramiris…”
“What? Master?”
“Perhaps I should have fought after all.”
“Why?”
“Why…”
Veldora couldn’t say it was because he wanted attention.
He was an unfortunate dragon. No, he was currently in human form.
“Hmph! Watch, Ramiris. That person is trying to do something to Beretta!!”
Veldora could not stand Ramiris’s inquisitive gaze and he tried to distract her.
“Oh, you’re right. Hey, isn’t that dangerous?”
“Hmm. I think Beretta should be fine…”
As Veldora pointed out, Karman, who had not joined in yet, was about to do something.
The two arms of the Powered Suit were now joined like a single cannon.
Zaza overheard Veldora and Ramiris and looked towards Karman as well.
And he knew.
“That…”
Through his own knowledge and what he had heard from surviving mercenaries, Zaza was able to guess what it was.
However, just then…
“Spread out!!”
Karman shouted angrily.
At the same time, in one smooth movement, the four Power Suits moved away from Beretta.
“…What?”
Just as Beretta looked at Karman, it was complete.
His tentacles could not react in time, and they were blown away. A hole then appeared in Beretta’s adamantine body.
And then a stream of light hit Beretta in the face.
Splat. Beretta’s face fell to the floor…
“BERETTTAAAA!!”
But before Ramiris’s scream could reach him, his body crumbled…
◆◆◆
Karman smirked.
It was just as he had planned.
No matter how strong the enemy, he had been sure of his victory. And it was so satisfying.
“Whoops. Did I just kill him? Oh, well. As long as we take the body back with us, Hiragi should forgive us.”
He said with a laugh.
Karman’s plan had been to use his subordinates as a distraction as he prepared his most powerful main cannon.
It was the Neutron Launcher.
It utilized technology that could both accelerate and decelerate neutrons through arranging the high-frequency magnetic field. The neutron beam that was created in the nuclear fusion reactor was gathered inside of the cannon that was the combined arms. And then it was released all at once.
The speed exceeded 10,000km/s–it was close to the speed of light.
Even if the atmosphere caused it to slow down a little, it was still not something that could be dodged.
As for power, that needed no explanation.
Regardless of your strength, it would be impossible to remain unharmed after being hit by the destructive force of the Neutron Launcher.
There was only one way to deal with it. Stop it before it launched.
Karman was sure of his victory now, and he took out another cigar.
“Well, you fought well enough. I almost believed that my men could do it alone, but you fended them off. You made me use my trump card. And for that, you should be proud.”
He said, before laughing pleasantly.
He rarely went all out like this. And he had won.
Unlike battles where he just tortured the weak, he felt his blood grow hot this time.
It was a feeling he had not felt since becoming a cyborg.
He laughed until he was satisfied. And then he moved to have his men collect Beretta’s body…
And then stopped.
There was a twitch.
Beretta should have been dead, but it looked as if he had moved.
“…Wait. No, he can’t…”
Karman told his men to stop.
It was then that Beretta’s hand moved under their watchful eyes.
◆◆◆
Beretta shook as he picked it up.
Perhaps the shaking was because of the damage he had taken.
No, that was wrong.
It wasn’t from the damage—
“This is bad. Master…”
“Y-yes. Beretta. He seems to have really blown a fuse…”
“He-hey? Is Mister Beretta alright? How can he be fine after that… What, blown a fuse? What do you mean…?”
Beretta raised it into the air and inspected the damage.
It was his mask.
The mask that he and Rimuru both had. The mask that hid his true face.
His long, bright silver hair was now free. Though, it covered his face now…
“This is bad. Rimuru said that he made Beretta’s face to fit his own tastes. And he made him wear that mask because knowledge of it would cause trouble. Perhaps Rimuru has already forgotten about it–but the face and mask were treasures to Beretta…”
“I see. Beretta rarely shows any emotion, but now, his expression is full of anger…”
Beretta had been wearing a mask that covered his head.
It was a mask that Rimuru had put on him and was meant to hide his true face.
Beretta had continued to faithfully obey this order that Rimuru had playfully given to him.
And now it was destroyed.
Beretta’s anger now exceeded his ability to hold back. It burst through in a second.
—Now, it was time for his revenge.