While Tsukuteku and Toku were engaged in their offensive and defensive maneuvers, the fierce battle between Answer Bat and Chel also continued. Chel assessed the state of the war as she fought.
Bat had not yet used anything that seemed like a proper ability. He was using his walking stick as a weapon, sticking to close-quarters combat centered on physical reinforcement. Judging by his movements, he was undoubtedly a top-class user, but in terms of pure grappling, Chel had the advantage.
Chel was far superior in terms of her total aura output, physical reinforcement rate, and combat techniques. As an Enhancer who had piled up unceasing effort to polish her skills, every one of her attacks was honed to a level that could be called a one-hit kill.
Comparing their simple combat power, she had thought the victory would be decided immediately. However, in reality, the fight was dragging on. Part of the reason was that she couldn't attack recklessly due to being wary of the enemy's Hatsu, but even excluding that, there had been many opportunities to finish him. She just hadn't been able to capitalize on them.
The reason was the enemy's incredible intuition. Despite this being their first time fighting, he was accurately reading the habits in Chel's movements. Her attacks were being evaded just as they were about to land. Because of this, a situation continued where neither had dealt a single effective blow.
Chel felt a gaze from behind Bat's mask so unsettling it made her skin crawl. It was a terrifying level of observation. He didn't take his eyes off Chel's movements for even a second. That obsession with finding the 'answer' to her attacks was the greatest weapon of Bat, who was physically inferior.
Still, if the fight continued like this, it would eventually end in Chel's victory. If Bat misread Chel's movements even once, he would lose. Furthermore, Chel was also learning Bat's patterns as they fought. she wouldn't remain the one being read forever.
However, in the middle of that stagnant battle, a sudden explosion rang out. She knew Toku had been attacking flamboyantly, but this explosion was different. It was Toku's own self-destruction, his formulas having run wild after meeting Tsukuteku's counterattack.
'Toku!?'
Chel knew Toku's strength. Based on that, she had trusted him with one of the enemies, but it seemed Tsukuteku was even more capable than anticipated. Seeing her comrade in a predicament, she couldn't hide her agitation.
Bat was not one to miss that opening. His walking stick, shrouded in refined aura, struck Chel's body. Bat, who had remained silent until now, still said nothing, but a slight wave of emotion could be seen in his attack.
It was anger. Not the joy of landing a hit on an enemy. He was expressing fury toward Chel for letting herself be distracted by something so trivial and showing an opening.
"Midnight Carpet!"
However, Bat's attack, which should have been a direct hit, sliced through empty air. He couldn't believe his eyes. He found it impossible to believe that his absolute confidence in his observation had been wrong.
Chel's ability, 'Hidden Abundance' (Night Carpet), allowed her to apply 'In' to her 'En.' At first glance, it seemed like an ability unrelated to direct combat power, but she had added improvements to that Hatsu to create a new technique.
That was 'Unrevealed Abundance' (Midnight Carpet). Within the realm of this En, Bat didn't have a one-in-ten-thousand chance of winning.
An impact surged through Bat's chest. Chel's fist drove in. With that single blow, an impact powerful enough to burst a heart exploded. An ordinary person would have died instantly. Even for a Nen user, it was an attack that was undoubtedly fatal. It possessed enough power that even a user of Bat's caliber couldn't avoid being incapacitated.
However, he didn't fall. At the moment he took the hit, he had gathered his aura using 'Gyo,' improving the defense of his chest. At the very last second, he had read Chel's attack and managed to react.
Still, he couldn't reduce the damage to zero. The sensation of breaking several ribs remained in Chel's fist. The impact she hadn't been able to fully kill had reached his internal organs. Normally, he should have been overwhelmed by a level of pain that made it impossible to stand.
Yet, Bat did not yield. Despite taking significant damage and being placed at a further disadvantage, his fighting spirit did not vanish. Rather, a surging will to fight could be felt from the aura emitting from his body.
Chel re-recognized her enemy as a threat. She was worried about Toku, but she couldn't head to his aid without defeating Bat. She decided to focus on the enemy in front of her first.
Various objects were rolling across the ground, which was tilted at a forty-five-degree angle. I was being held by Noah, and Noah was being held by Blade as they somehow managed to keep their footing.
"I'm going to use Mil-pyon's magic to make this ship crash-land now, pyon☆ I'll try to make it a soft landing for safety, but the hull might shake a little, pyon☆ Forgive me, pyon☆"
It was a bit more than just "a little." We were Nen users, so we were managing, but it was an accident of the scale where it wouldn't be strange for ordinary people to be injured. If they were crushed by objects rolling left and right, it was possible people could even die.
"But some people might feel anxious, right☆ That's why, Mil-pyon... will sing for everyone☆☆"
And then, an anime song and Milky's passionate singing began to blare from the speakers at a high volume. The venue had turned into a hellish scene of chaos.
Currently, this ship's flight functions were all being controlled by an automatic pilot system. A pilot wasn't directly steering it. If they were, we would have stormed the cockpit and suppressed them long ago. Someone was controlling the system and had made it inaccessible.
"Does that mean Magical☆Milky has hijacked the system, ssle!?"
I knew Magical☆Milky had high-level hacking skills, but I never imagined she would hijack the ship itself. However, even if that were the case, while I understood the reason for trying to crash-land the ship somewhere, there was no need to steer it so recklessly. There were even destructions occurring that seemed like bombs were being used.
"She probably doesn't care what happens to others as long as her own life is safe. By violently tossing the ship around, she might be trying to shake the management."
So the fate of this ship depended on Milky's whim. Now that the situation had become this serious, there was a high possibility that the management, which had been silent until now, would take some kind of action. Velvet said it was likely an act of blackmail to smoke out the mastermind.
"This ship is in a state where external communication is cut off. In other words, it's impossible to enter the system from the outside. Milky is likely somewhere on this ship."
Surely she wouldn't actually crash the ship she was on. Even at this stage, it was shaking quite violently and explosions were occurring, but they said this ship wouldn't fall so easily.
It was a massive, slow airship with its flight capabilities kept to a minimum, but it had been built with an abnormal obsession with safety; it was designed so that it wouldn't plummet immediately even if it lost the ability to fly. It was likely she was causing explosions after calculating that.
Was the joking production, as if she were doing a live stream, and her singing—which I couldn't call good even as a compliment—also a provocation toward the management? Even if I understood the reason, I couldn't accept it. Regardless, we had to stop her before the damage spread any further.
"It's not realistic to find a single target in this vast ship. Perhaps this is actually a good development? As long as we Nen users are careful of the explosions, we won't die."
Velvet said it was better to leave it alone until the management gave in. It was an irresponsible thing to say, but I couldn't think of a better alternative to blame her.
The most we could do was search for Milky's location. Besides, we knew what Milky's avatar looked like, but we had no idea what her real body looked like. She wouldn't be so clumsy as to reveal her identity easily.
There was too little information to make a judgment for action. Were we forced to just watch and wait? I clenched my fist so hard my nails dug into my palm.
It was true that her character was an assassin girl and she sometimes made extremist remarks, but I didn't think she was the kind of person who would pull something like this.
"MILKYYYYYYYYYY!!"
It was Blade who shouted. His voice rang out, overpowering even the high-volume broadcast. Milky in the video reacted to that voice full of anger. She could hear us. If so, we might be able to have a dialogue.
"You may have your own reasons for your actions, but that doesn't give you a reason to involve innocent general guests, ssle. There are other ways to settle this peacefully. Stop this commotion right now, ssle."
Milky trembled at Blade's straightforward question. Large tears began to fall.
"Waaaaah~☆ The big muscle man is bullying Mil-pyon~☆ Mil-pyon just wants to help everyone~☆"
However, Milky, who had been sobbing, wiped her tears and her expression changed to one of determination.
"But Mil-pyon won't lose...☆ Mil-pyon is... the Magic Assassin Girl of Justice, Magical☆Milky☆ As long as I have the cheers of all my fans, I'm a healthy Vorpal Bunny again today☆★☆"
"I'm one to talk, but I don't think it's possible to have a normal conversation with that."
To be called 'that' by Noah. That's saying something, Magical☆Milky.
"It's useless to try and stop me, pyon☆ Mil-pyon is the Magic Assassin Girl of the cyber world, pyon☆ People from the real world can't even touch Mil-pyon, pyon☆ But you know..."
There, Milky took a thoughtful pose.
"I think that might be a little unfair, pyon☆ Right now we're in the middle of a game where iTubers fight each other, but if it stays like this, Mil-pyon's victory is guaranteed☆ It'll be a one-sided game, pyon☆ As an entertainer, I have my doubts about that, pyon☆ So, Mil-pyon has decided to give the other iTubers a chance, pyon☆"
A small object approached us. It was the spider-shaped machine that had been projecting Milky's form as a hologram when she first appeared. The mechanical spider, walking on eight legs, arrived in front of us and began to transform. it became a helmet-like form.
"That's a prototype of a next-generation VR sensory device developed by Mil-pyon, pyon☆ By wearing this, anyone can dive into the VR world, pyon☆ In other words, you can even fight Mil-pyon, pyon☆"
In short, it seemed to be something like a VR goggle. Naturally, putting this on wouldn't actually take you to a magic world. It just meant you could experience the video world prepared by Milky.
Milky proposed a match in a VR game. As far as Velvet and Blade could see, there seemed to be no Nen-like traces, but it was still a device where you didn't know what might be rigged. It was a suspicious device no one would want to use, but the situation changed with Milky's next words.
"If you can defeat Mil-pyon, I'll give you a wonderful present of information, pyon☆"
It was information regarding Pomerni's location. Through hacking, Milky was even able to operate the ship's surveillance cameras. For someone who had infiltrated the core of the management, it wouldn't be strange if she had found where Pomerni was.