Along with an intense explosion, the ground cracked apart.
A maze of interconnected tunnels appeared before everyone.
Because the nearby area was a residential district, Kurome had lowered Desta-Ghoul's destructive power.
Otherwise, with the destructive force of a Super Danger Beast, it would have been enough to bury all of Night Raid alive.
Ran looked around thoughtfully.
"Hmm... looks like we'll still need to split up."
Kurome expressionlessly tightened her grip on Yatsufusa.
"The commotion over there has stopped too. Uesugi-san should be arriving soon."
Suzuka and Mez followed behind the two of them.
Since they both served under the Minister, they had naturally heard of Kurome.
At the moment, she was clearly the strongest one present, so the subsequent operation would naturally be directed by her.
Kurome did not spend much time thinking.
Woll and Doya walked over to Suzuka's side.
Suzuka turned her head and curiously sized up the two puppets.
Of course, what stood out most was still Woll's mechanical arm.
Having fought Najenda before, Suzuka was very familiar with mechanical arms.
Mez grinned, revealing her white tiger teeth.
"Looks pretty cool. Way better-looking than that white-haired woman's from earlier!"
After joking around a little, she turned toward Ran and Kurome.
"So what do we do next?"
Their side currently held the numerical advantage, so Kurome had not summoned all of her puppets.
Yatsufusa was powerful, but the more puppets it summoned, the heavier the burden on the user.
Kurome and Ran exchanged a glance.
Then Kurome beckoned Mez over with a wave.
After a brief discussion, Kurome and the others quickly completed their combat assignments.
Ran and Desta-Ghoul would observe from the surface while waiting for Uesugi Ryu to arrive.
Kurome would take Mez, Natara, and Henter.
Suzuka would take Woll and Doya.
They split into two groups and pursued through the tunnels.
.....
Rocks fell onto the ground with clattering sounds.
Sheele carried Leone on her back as they continued running forward.
Among everyone present, the one most heavily injured and most exhausted was Leone.
She had been fighting continuously since the assassination began and had suffered severe injuries.
At this point, she did not even have the strength to run anymore.
Leone lowered her eyes and did not say anything about asking Sheele to leave her behind.
Night Raid would never abandon their companions, especially not Sheele.
But right now, nobody was in peak condition, and they were dragging along a wounded member.
The odds of escaping successfully were probably quite low.
Najenda frowned tightly as her mind raced for a way to escape.
"The enemy has powerful long-range attack methods. It should be the Danger Beast controlled by Yatsufusa."
"If we escape using the Air Manta, there's a high chance we'll just get shot down. In that case..."
With the enemy possessing long-range attacks, the only way to escape was to split up.
The sky was too conspicuous. Whoever rode the Air Manta would very likely be shot down directly.
As for the others, their chances were not much better.
What came next was merely a gamble with pitiful odds of success.
Splitting up was an extremely difficult decision. It concerned everyone's life and death.
Factors like the enemy's objectives and personalities all had to be taken into account.
"Uesugi Ryu. Teigu..."
Thinking of something, Najenda licked her dry lips.
Her gaze turned complicated as she looked at Sheele and Leone ahead of her.
But before she could struggle internally for long.
The explosive sound of bullets leaving the barrel suddenly erupted beside their ears.
Three orange-yellow bullets tore through the air toward them.
Tatsumi's charging figure abruptly halted as he swiftly drew his sword.
The blade traced a white line through the air.
Clang! Clang!
Two crisp metallic sounds rang out as the sword precisely blocked two bullets.
Najenda slowly loosened her fingers, and the deformed bullet she had crushed slipped from her palm.
Suzuka revealed a smile and waved at Night Raid.
"We meet again, everyone~"
Doya and Woll appeared behind her one after another.
Tatsumi's expression grew solemn, looking as if he were facing a great enemy.
Just as he was preparing to move, a purple figure stepped in front of him.
"Tatsumi, hurry and run."
Sheele turned to look at Tatsumi, her eyes curving into crescents.
"Being able to spend so much time with everyone really was... wonderful!"
"Sheele..."
Tatsumi froze slightly.
But this was not the time for emotional exchanges. Every second was precious.
Najenda grabbed Tatsumi by the collar.
With Leone tucked under one arm and Tatsumi dragged by the other, she quickly fled deeper into the tunnel.
Above ground, high in the sky.
Chelsea stood atop the Air Manta's back.
Holding a pair of binoculars, she looked into the distance.
The towering and terrifying Desta-Ghoul entered her sight.
There was no need to think about it. That violent explosion earlier was obviously caused by that thing.
Chelsea frowned slightly. Under these circumstances, she had to carefully consider where to land.
Otherwise, she would probably get shot out of the sky before even touching down.
The fierce wind blew her orange hair backward.
The distant battlefield was deathly silent. Although thinking this way felt somewhat wrong.
Chelsea's instincts told her that Susanoo had lost.
Her fair fingers tightly gripped the binoculars casing as disappointment flashed across her face.
"Susanoo..."
After spacing out for less than a second.
Chelsea brushed aside the hair near her ear and quickly adjusted her mental state.
Her eyes landed on a clock tower in the distance.
With the surrounding buildings providing cover, she should be safe for a short while.
As she directed the Air Manta toward that location, Chelsea began recalling Uesugi Ryu's appearance.
She also had a rough understanding of Uesugi Ryu's personality traits.
At a critical moment, she might even be able to confuse the enemy using her Teigu's ability.
Lifting the Teigu in her hand, Chelsea took out some makeup supplies.
A puff of white smoke appeared.
She had already transformed into Uesugi Ryu's appearance, with no visible flaws whatsoever.
An unusual gust of wind suddenly swept past, causing Chelsea to instinctively turn her head.
This was an altitude of over ten thousand meters, and the Air Manta was a Special-Class Danger Beast.
Ordinary Danger Beasts would not even dare provoke it, so there should not have been any enemies here.
A dark purple streak flashed by.
A long hooked claw stopped against the skin of Chelsea's neck.
The claw pressed against her pale skin, capable of tearing open her throat at any moment.
Mephisto's large head moved beside Chelsea's face.
It said teasingly,
"Beautiful lady, we meet again."
Chelsea's entire body went cold as she stared at the scene in disbelief.
A cold sensation came from the back of her neck, and Chelsea immediately did not dare move recklessly anymore.
Seeing Mephisto again, Chelsea suddenly realized something and thought inwardly,
"This crow... is Uesugi Ryu's pet???"
Mephisto sized Chelsea up.
After all, Chelsea currently looked exactly like Uesugi Ryu.
Mephisto felt that this was somewhat offensive.
It said faintly,
"Still, could you change back first?"