MTLNOVEL Ch. 21
Chapter 21
According to the manual, an attacker's default stats are:
Armor: B (80)
Thruster Output: A (100)
Thruster Capacity: B (80)
Precision: C (60)
Radar: D (40)
Stealth: E (20)
EN Capacity: C (60)
The radar-related stats are low, while mobility and armor are high.
The low stealth is brutal. Slipping past the enemy's radar is pretty much impossible. With stealth this low, even the cloak is meaningless. When it comes to searching, I probably can't beat any other unit.
Right now, Niko-san is surrounded.
In front of Niko-san is a Space Girl with sabers and a handgun, behind her is a Space Girl with dual pistols, and on a nearby factory roof is a Space Girl dual-wielding sabers.
"Here comes the simultaneous fire!"
'Alright!!'
Niko-san evades the hail of bullets with high-speed maneuvers.
"Incredible..."
What amazed me was Niko-san's thruster technique.
Thrusters only recharge while your feet are on the ground, not while you're airborne. So to recover thrusters you have to land, but landing causes your knees to bend, creating a brief moment of vulnerability. In a situation where you're surrounded like this, that landing will definitely be punished. However—
"...Accelerate with thrusters at a 45-degree angle, immediately angle the thrusters diagonally downward and land by sliding across the ground—so that way you can recover thrusters during high-speed movement without that landing vulnerability..."
"Exactly. It's called the 'Slide Step' technique."
It's like figure skating, I guess. Jumping and sliding, then landing over and over. Hard to catch someone doing that.
"It's a pretty difficult move. If you mess up the angle you'll dig your feet into the ground, and you have to adjust it every time the thruster output changes."
Watching it is so cool. Flying and sliding across the ground, flying and sliding, and occasionally using nearby building walls as footholds to perform Slide Steps. With one unit she's toying with three enemies.
'Now, opening!'
While sliding along the factory wall, Niko-san throws two V-shaped weapons hanging from her leg holsters.
"What are those!?"
"Boomerangs."
The instant the metal boomerangs leave Niko-san's hands, they're wrapped in red energy. The boomerang slices the right leg of the dual-pistol Space Girl.
'Ox!'
'Ox-chan!'
With one enemy injured, their formation starts to waver.
One enemy leaps out to shield the injured Space Girl. She's another Space Girl dual-wielding sabers, same as Niko-san.
"A-a duel between dual-wielders!"
"It's not gonna be a dual-wielder duel."
Niko-san grins and swings her leg up.
"That is—!"
A laser saber extends along Niko-san's shin.
Niko-san slices through the opponent's body with the shin saber.
"Shin Saber!"
"Officially it's the 'Shin Saber'. So Niko-cchi is actually a four-sword style: reverse-grip dual sabers plus both shin sabers."
The enemy formation crumbles further.
'Gotcha...! High-output mode ON!!'
Niko-san's sabers double in length and visibly increase in power.
"What is that!?"
"High-output sabers. It's a mode usable only by sabers with expandability of 10 or higher; temporarily doubles the saber length and doubles the attack power."
Niko-san spins her body and performs Slide Steps, weaving between the three enemy units.
——A charging spinning slash. The extended laser sabers bend like whips and slice the three units apart.
'Eh...?' 'I got taken out?' 'No way...!'
All three units are deleted at once.
'This is Niko-chan's signature Rotating Wild Dance!'
The light fades from Niko-san's sabers.
"High-output sabers are powerful, but after using them the sabers' EN is completely drained. Until they recharge—whoa! Niko-cchi!!"
'Sniper, watch out!'
Bang! Niko-san's head is blown off from behind.
'Eh.'
With a critical hit, Niko-san is deleted and transferred to the capsule bed.
"Wha!? Seriously!? Who got me!?"
Niko-san leaps up from the capsule bed.
"According to the log it was Len-cchi from Crimson Wings."
The Crimson Wings sniper... same one who got me.
"Ughaa! Right in the most annoying spot!"
'...You got carried away.'
"I know, I'm sorry!"
With this, Marshmallow Smile is down to one last member: Sheena-san.
――――――Afterword――――――
Shin Sabers have high attack power in exchange for their narrow range and difficulty of use.
Boomerangs also have high attack power and return to the user's hand, so they're hard to deal with unless you're used to them.
Thrusters don't fully recharge the instant you land, so Slide Steps that let you fly immediately after landing can't be used infinitely, and eventually you'll run out of thrusters. This time Niko ran out after the spinning slash and got sniped. Snipers aim for landing kills, so even if there's no enemy right in front of you, be careful when landing. Attackers can't win at radar battles, so the constant tension is rough.