Chapter 158, Ignition

Akira was relaxing in his own home. He left his augmented suit on a shelf in an empty room.

Just like with the previous augmented suit, Alpha was working on the control device of Akira's new augmented suit.

"Alpha, how long will it take until my augmented suit is ready?"

"It'll be done sometime around tomorrow night. We'll head to the wasteland again after that."

"Hmmm, that's pretty long."

"Unlike your previous augmented suit, this is a high-quality augmented suit after all. Moreover, it's not like I'm just simply hijacking the control device. I'm basically rewriting the software from the bottom-up to be able to pull out its full power, so putting that in consideration, finishing it tomorrow night is pretty fast, you know."

"Is that so? That's pretty amazing then."

Alpha was telling the truth, but Akira barely showed any reaction to it at all. So Alpha pouted and said.

"It's understandable since it's out of your area of expertise, but I really wish that you would show more interest in it."

"Even if you told me so… Just wait patiently until I have enough knowledge to be honestly amazed by something like that."

Forget difficult things like that, Akira only had barely enough common knowledge according to the current standard. Not to mention, he would need all kinds of complex information that normal people would not know in order to be honestly amazed by what Alpha just said.

"Seems like it would take quite a long time until you reach that point, huh."

"Yup."

It seemed that it was not an easy thing to get Akira interested in that kind of information. Alpha thought so from how he replied apathetically.

A call suddenly reached Akira's information terminal. When he checked the caller, it was from Viola.

"It's Akira, what is it?"

"…It's about Sheryl, is this a good time?"

Viola's voice was rather rough. There was a hint of fear and it was obvious that she could not keep her calm. Akira also noticed that and frowned, but it was out of suspicion.

"What? If it's about Sheryl's gang, go talk with her. Don't try to jump over her by trying to ask for permission straight from me."

"That's not it. As in matter of fact, this problem is because I didn't inform you first. So I want to give you a short explanation first here."

"Alright alright, so, what is it?"

Akira got even more suspicious. Viola then carefully started her explanation.

"…Sheryl is being held in Ezont Family's base. At this rate, she might even get killed."

Akira's face slightly turned stern.

Viola then continued her explanation which sounded more like her making excuses. She started from when she introduced Sheryl to Ezont Family which she did originally as an apology to Akira. But then, for some reason, Sheryl refused that offer which offended Ezont Family. She then said that it was something that she did not expect and that it was not her fault. She nervously gave her explanation as if she was making excuses for what she did.

"…So basically that's what happened, I really didn't have any wish to put your lover in danger. I hope you can understand that."

Akira replied rather indifferently.

"I understand the situation."

Viola sounded rather relieved as she said.

"I see. I only called you to make sure that we don't have any misunderstanding between us, so I'm really glad that you understand."

"Is that all?"

Viola then continued while sounding rather nervous.

"Just one more. About that pickpocket, it seems that Alna is also in Ezont Family's base. But I don't know if she's also being held there or if the Ezont Family is sheltering her."

Akira's voice immediately changed, he sounded slightly annoyed.

"So?"

"…You might already know that Shijima and I tried to capture or kill Alna, but unfortunately, Drankam got in our way. If Alna is still somewhere in the slum city, we can try again, but it would be too much of a trouble if she's under Ezont Family's protection. That's why, I know that you didn't ask us anything, but in case you were expecting us to be able to capture Alna… I'm sorry that we can't satisfy your expectations. I hope you can understand."

Viola sounded slightly scared although she also sounded rather relaxed at the same time.

"I did say it before, I didn't you ask you to do anything."

"Is that so? Well, you have a point there… Although it might sound strange for me to say this, but it might be a good idea for you to give up on killing that Alna, you know."

Akira's mood clearly worsened.

"…What do you mean by that?"

"There's no need to be that angry. It's simply a matter of too much trouble, you see. It isn't worth getting into trouble with Ezont Family just in order to kill one pickpocket. That's all there's to it, so don't misunderstand me here. It's not like I'm saying that you can't win against Ezont Family, it's simply a matter of whether it's worth the trouble or not. Moreover, from the information that I gathered, it seems that Katsuya Hunter is making a deal with a Drankam officer to make Alna a Drankam member. Of course, that officer is opposing his request, but it's only a matter of time before she gets overwhelmed. It's a whole different thing between killing a mere pickpocket and killing a Drankam member. Not to mention, Drankam seems to be in a rather good relationship with the Kugamayama City Management. So in the worst-case scenario, you might get the whole city against you. No matter how strong you are, it's stupid to get into a fight against Drankam. I'm sure you know at least that much too, right?"

In the middle of her explanation, Viola's tone slowly turned to normal. But once she remembered her position, after a short pause, she once again sounded rather scared as she said.

"That's all, later then."

"Wait!"

Akira still sounded in a bad mood. Viola replied, sounding scared.

"W-what is it?"

"Tell me where's this Ezont Family's base."

"What are you planning to do with it if I tell you…? No, it's nothing. I'll send the location to your information terminal after this. Later then."

Viola flusteredly closed the call. It seemed that she was scared since continuing the call might only turn the situation worse.

Akira put down his information terminal. He hung his head low, sighed, and raised his head again. His bad mood seemed to have vanished. In its place, he had a resolute expression.

Akira swung his legs toward the room where he kept his augmented suit. Alpha understood what he was about to do, she frowned and said to Akira.

"Akira, as I explained to you, the augmented suit is not ready yet."

"It's not like it's useless just because I can't receive your support, right? Well, if it's useless, I can just use another armour though. I'm glad we modified the AAH and A2D assault rifles so that I can use them without an augmented suit. As for the CWH anti-material rifle and DVTS minigun, I'll only use them when they're ported on my vehicle."

Alpha understood that Akira was being serious. There was a time when Akira went to Shijima's base with only his AAH assault rifle and no augmented suit. Considering his opponent and his equipment at that time, it might be equally as reckless as what he was going to do this time. So it was rather impossible to stop Akira who had made his decision using his equipment as an excuse. So Alpha decided to try a different method.

"Are you going to save Sheryl or to kill that pickpocket?"

"Both if it's possible. You'll know whether I can do it while I'm at it."

Akira himself could not tell if he would only save Sheryl while aiming for Alna or that he would kill Alna while he's saving Sheryl. If it was only one of those, he might not have decided to move out. But with both of those things pointing at the same location, it was enough of a reason for him to move out.

"I believe Shizuka told you to think about it one more time about killing that pickpocket though."

"She did, but it seems that I don't have the leeway to take my time any longer."

Akira was running out of time, if Drankam gave protection to Alna, he would have to prepare to fight Drankam in order to kill her. But right now, he just needed to prepare to fight Ezont Family in order to kill her. As a matter of fact, he might be already too late, but it did not change the fact that the sooner he made his move, the better it was. And that would mean to make his move now.

Alpha made a serious face and said to Akira.

"Like I said before, I have no obligation to provide you support for this, you know?"

Akira stopped and stared back at Alpha. Normally, he would casually say that she did not have to help him in that case, and Alpha was actually expecting him to say that and was planning to use that to convince him.

But Akira lightly smiled and said to Alpha.

"You did tell me to spoil myself with your support, right? So help me."

Alpha looked obviously surprised. She then smiled bitterly, a little amused too at the same time.

"Geez, alright."

"Thanks!"

"I wonder if it was a mistake telling you that."

"It's really something you or I should not say lightly."

"I completely agree with you."

Akira and Alpha smiled at each other, they then immediately prepared themselves to move out.

Once Akira finished his preparation, he hopped onto his vehicle. Alpha was already sitting on the driver assistant's seat. She then teased Akira.

"But still, it seems that you are starting to learn how to use me, huh?"

Akira replied with a joke.

"That's well, that's all thanks to all of your education."

"Oh my, are you saying that it's my fault? I might have taught you things that I shouldn't have."

Alpha's expression turned to her usual smile as she continued.

"Viola just sent you the location of Ezont Family's base. Now that we know where it is, shall we go?"

"Roger that!"

Akira immediately moved out once he finished all of his preparation.

—*—*—*—

Viola was smiling in a certain room. It was right after she sent the location of Ezont Family's base to Akira.

"…That should do it. I delayed some time before sending the information to make him think that I didn't have it ready beforehand, but did I delay too much?"

Viola's expression did not show the fear that she had when she was talking with Akira. All of that was nothing more than her acting. She was just acting scared like how she was usually acting calm. She looked completely fine like usual as she said.

"I guess it's time to give a call to the other person too… Now then, I wonder what will happen next."

Viola smiled amusedly imagining what was going to happen.

—*—*—*—

Ezont Family's base was surrounded by fences. The scene behind that fence completely looked out of place in the slum city, it looked so luxurious with a big courtyard. It was sitting in the boundary between the slum city and the wasteland.

The people who lived outside that fence would look inside the fence and be amazed by the power of the Ezont Family. Eventually, they would join the gang in order to get a share of that power.

Right when the sun was about to set. The entrance guard noticed a vehicle heading in their direction. They immediately aimed their guns at that incoming vehicle. But that vehicle stopped not too far away from the entrance.

The guards quickly surrounded the vehicle. One of the guards saw that it was only a young boy driving that car, he then mockingly said to Akira.

"Brat, what are you playing here? It's not a place for a brat like you to loiter around. Go away!"

"I heard that Sheryl is here, so I'm here to pick her up."

"Sheryl?"

Since that guard was only a lackey in the gang, he did not know the details of what was going on inside the gang, but even so, he felt that he heard that name before when his boss summoned that Sheryl. So he made a call to the people inside the base.

"You, what is your name?"

"It's Akira."

That man was talking with his superior through his information terminal while glancing at Akira from time to time.

"…Eh, ah, yes. He said that it's his name, and he said that he's here to pick up Sheryl… No, even if you say so, he looks like just a common brat from my point of view… Well, it's true that he has better equipment than a common slum brat, it won't be strange if he calls himself a Hunter with his equipment… No, he doesn't look that strong."

That man lowered his information terminal and turned to Akira.

"You, are you really Akira?"

"I don't know who's this real Akira that you're expecting, but my name is Akira."

"I'm talking about that Akira, a Hunter who is protecting Sheryl's gang. Is that you?"

"That would be me."

That man compared the Akira from the picture that he received from his co-worker and the person in front of him. The person in front of him did look like the one in the picture, but he did not seem like a strong Hunter that his superior told him about. He then frowned and made another call.

"…Yes, it's the brat from the picture… I understand."

That man then closed the call, looked at the other guards, and gave them a signal to lower their guard and return back to their posts.

"Just wait there!"

Akira was still sitting in the driver's seat as he nodded. Alpha, who saw that Akira just obediently nodded, lightly smiled.

"And here I thought that you would just break your way through."

"If we can solve this without a fight, it would be way easier, right?"

"Of course. Let's just hope that we can solve the other matter as easily too."

"That would depend on the reason why these guys are protecting that pickpocket. If these guys are also a victim to that pickpocket and are planning to publicly execute her to make an example out of her, then I'll just leave her be."

Alpha raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh, you're okay with that, Akira?"

"It's not like I need to be the one who kills that pickpocket. As long as she would end up dead, I don't really care about the rest."

"Well, it would be way easier in that case then."

"Yeah."

If that was enough for Akira, Alpha had no complaints about it at all. If Alna got killed somewhere that had nothing to do with Akira, it would not cause any trouble for him afterwards. As Alpha was thinking of a way to accomplish that, her plan was immediately crushed.

Another car was heading in their direction, the guards there immediately noticed that vehicle. It was a fully armoured vehicle with no windows. It was equipped with multiple cameras to let the people inside it see the situation outside the vehicle. It was even equipped with a machine gun on top of it.

That vehicle stopped not too far away from the entrance, the side door of that vehicle opened and an armed young boy stepped out. It was Katsuya.

Katsuya's aura intimidated the guards. One of the guards there winced back from that aura as he tried to hide it by yelling at Katsuya.

"What the heck's with you?! Do you even know where you are right now!? Do you want to die?!"

Katsuya glared angrily at those guards. Although they were already aiming their guns at him, Katsuya did not show any fear at all.

"I know you guys are the people who kidnapped Alna. I'm here to get her back!"

"What are you even talking about? Who is this stupid guy?!"

That guard noticed the Drankam stamp on Katsuya's vehicle and winced.

"You, you're a Drankam Hunter, huh?"

"I am. I'm Katsuya from Drankam. I don't know why you kidnapped Alna, but if you will obediently return her back now, I'll still forgive you. If you don't…"

Ezont Family was indeed a strong gang, but it would still give them a lot of trouble if they killed a Drankam Hunter. The guards there slowly surrounded Katsuya. The guard who was responsible for communication flusteredly called his superior.

"…Yes! It's an emergency… A Hunter from Drankam by the name of Katsuya is here…"

Katsuya, who saw those guards scared, made an annoyed face. He thought that if having him there would make them that scared, they should not have kidnapped Alna in the first place.

"…Eh, ah, yes, it's indeed the guy from the picture. I think he's the real Katsuya. Unlike Akira, he looks well-armed for just a brat and his equipment are better than those common Hunters…"

Katsuya finally noticed Akira sitting in his vehicle with his hand on his chin. He immediately connected Alna who was being held in Ezont Family's base to Akira who was there, his expression immediately filled with anger and glared at Akira.

"…I see what's going on here."

Katsuya thought that Akira asked the Ezont Family to kidnap Alna.

Akira actually already noticed Katsuya for quite some time now. He looked obviously annoyed as he sighed and said.

"Why is that guy here?"

Alpha seemed obviously disappointed, it seemed to be impossible to avoid a fight now.

"I bet he's here to save that pickpocket."

"Why he would even know that pickpocket is he-"

Akira was suspecting that Katsuya also received that information from Viola, but since he did not have any proof and he had no trust in his own intuition, he decided to just forget about it and consider other possibilities.

"…Well, it might be from Drankam's information network. According to Elena-san, he's treated as one of the officers in the gang after all. So it might be possible for him to get that information from there."

"So, he's glaring at you though, what are you going to do?"

"Let's see…"

Akira stepped off his vehicle and said to the guard who was still talking to his superior.

"Hey!"

"What?! Don't bother me! Just shut up and wait!"

Akira then yelled to let the person, to whom that guard was reporting, hear him.

"If that Alna is still there and alive, give her to me and I'll kill her, either that or kill her yourself now."

"Hah!? What are you-"

That man was confused by what Akira just said. But Katsuya immediately interjected.

"If you give Alna to him, I'll never forgive you!!"

That man looked even more confused as he looked at Akira and Katsuya. One of them told him to kill Alna while the other was there to save Alna. But both of them were telling him to hand over Alna to them. The weak-looking one looked at that man with a slightly stern face, while the strong-looking one glared at him with an angry face as both of them were demanding him to hand over Alna.

That man who was just a lackey had no privilege to make that decision, but he was obviously leaning to one of them while he was talking to his superior.

Akira noticed that and mumbled.

"…Well, this doesn't surprise me at all."

At this point, Akira already fully abandoned the possibility of peacefully resolving the current matter. Just like everything that happened to him until now, it was just like always, this time too, it did not go as he wanted. He thought that they would only let Katsuya in and they would hand over Alna to Katsuya.

Up until now, Akira looked at himself as an outsider in this conflict between Sheryl and Ezont Family. That was why he peacefully came and asked the entrance guard, and if Sheryl was returned to him without any trouble after that, he would not look at the Ezont Family as an enemy.

But that was no longer the case now. They were hindering him from killing Alna. Now that Akira looked at them as such, he completely turned hostile toward Ezont Family. Of course, from this point onward, he would react to them just like how he reacted to his enemies.

Akira walked past the guard and stood in front of the locked gate. Alpha sighed and mumbled.

"It still turned to this in the end, huh?"

"I've backed off twice from getting into conflict with him. And just like people say, if you've done it twice, you can do it thrice. At this rate, I feel like I'll always avoid getting into a fight with him. That's why I won't do that this time, just like they say, third time's the charm."

Unlike before, this time Akira was properly armed. Or at least, it no longer gave him a reason to back off again this time. There was a time limit too, he had to kill Alna before a stronger organization took her in. Akira no longer had any reason to withdraw.

"Though just like I told you before, that augmented suit is not ready, so I won't be able to give my full support. So don't expect to get my usual support, okay? Not to mention, you're not used to that augmented suit yet. So be careful, okay?"

"Okay!"

Alpha then smiled gently at Akira.

"Well then, you can go ahead. Good hunting!"

"Roger that!"

Akira's augmented suit was already functional. He used his full force to deliver a powerful kick to the strong-looking gate. The 350 million Aurum augmented suit showed its power and blew away the gate with a loud bang.

As the other people were still dumbfounded by what just happened, Alpha controlled Akira's vehicle and ran it straight to him as if to mow him down. Akira lightly jumped to evade that and landed on his vehicle.

He then quickly reached for the guns fixed on his vehicle, removed them, and equipped them himself.

"Alpha, do you know where's Sheryl and that pickpocket?"

"Unfortunately, I only know that they're not outside the mansion. Viola did send the blueprint of the interior of the mansion, but it doesn't say where Sheryl and that pickpocket are held."

"I guess I have no other choice but to raid the base and ask them, huh?"

"I'll try to look for them too and tell you if I find them."

"I'll be counting on you."

As Akira's vehicle went straight into the mansion through the courtyard, people inside the base started shooting at him. Of course, Akira shot back with the powerful rifles that he just took off from his vehicle. The night scene immediately filled with flashing muzzles.

After Akira kicked the door open and drove in, Katsuya finally returned back to himself and immediately started shooting at Akira. But Akira had already disappeared and it was not like he was properly aiming at Akira, so none of his shots hit Akira.

"Dammit!!"

Katsuya seemed obviously vexed. The guards around him immediately aimed their rifles at Katsuya. Although he was only aiming at Akira, it did not change the fact that he released shots into Ezont Family's base. It was obviously an act of hostility. Even if he was a Hunter from Drankam, they could not just let that go.

"You brat!! Doing something like that!!"

The guards shot at Katsuya aiming to kill him. Katsuya reacted to evade them while shooting back at those guards. Katsuya showed his skill in that fight. The guards were riddled with bullets as they fell down one by one to the ground, some of them were immediately killed while some of them were severely wounded after that exchange.

When it ended, Katsuya was the only one still standing. He looked at all the people he shot down scattered in front of him, as the one who did that, he then said to them as if to make an excuse.

"It's your fault for kidnapping Alna, okay!!"

Katsuya made a stern face as he hopped back to his vehicle and chased after Akira.

One guard was still alive albeit badly wounded and was drowning in his own blood. He used the last life force that he had left to reach for his information terminal to send a notification in order to alert everyone that they were under attack before he let out his last breath.

—*—*—*—

After questioning Alna and judging from how she answered his questions while shaking in fear, Rogelt then thought.

[She's not lying, or at least, she thinks she's telling the truth. It doesn't look like she had this planned either. It's purely out of luck that Katsuya came to save her. If I think that Katsuya only saved her to show off to the other girls that were with him, it all makes sense. And the reason why he did not give up Alna when he was offered 20 million Aurum might be because he doesn't want people to hate him thinking that he's someone who would exchange a girl for money, either that or it's because he had gone too far and had no other choice but to keep it up. It's not too strange for a Hunter, who is earning well, to think of 20 million Aurum as a small amount of money. Not to mention, the info said he's a womanizer. It all makes sense… As for the chance of him working together with Viola behind the scene… That's unlikely.]

Rogelt thought that the information about Katsuya and Alna were nothing more than fake information made up by Viola, but he quickly dismissed it. And when he thought that the information Viola spread might incite it, considering the reason why Akira was hunting for Alna, he quickly dismissed that too. It was because he had enough reason to think that it was all nothing more than pure coincidence. But even so, the reason why he questioned if that was really a coincidence was simply because he knew of Viola's bad reputation.

"I'll ask you one more time. You're close to that Katsuya and he promised to save you if anything happens to you, right?"

Alna was still shaking, but she replied back firmly.

"That's right!! He'll definitely save me!!"

"But you're in this situation now. Doesn't that mean that he wasn't able to save you?"

"…That is… It's my fault, he told me not to walk around outside since it's dangerous but I disregarded that…"

When Alna was hiding in one of the camping trailers owned by Drankam, a Hunter came and kicked her out since he was about to use that vehicle. As she was thinking about what to do inside Drankam's base, a guard found her and kicked her out since she was an outsider. When she was loitering around outside Drankam's base, she heard that Katsuya went to the slum city to look for Akira. She was so worried and ended up going to the slum city too. And that was where she was kidnapped by Rogelt's men.

Alna thought that it was nothing more than a series of bad luck, in reality, it was all orchestrated by Viola. The Hunter who kicked her out of the vehicle she was hiding in, and the guard who found her later, all of them were there only because of the information that Viola spread. They did not even know that they were being used by Viola. Similarly, the reason why she heard about Katsuya going to the slum city was because she overheard some people talking about that and those people only did so because they were told to do so after they received some money from someone they did not know.

Rogelt looked at that depressed Alna and felt fear welling up from inside him. Fear towards Viola. Alna thought that she was kidnapped because someone whom she stole from in the past still had some grudges against her. That was also what Rogelt said to Alna. Rogelt did not notice that it was all according to Viola's plan.

Rogelt looked at Alna who was about to break down and sneered at her.

"Well, it doesn't really matter. If Katsuya really holds you that dearly, then it's good news to us too. I'll have him properly pay for all the troubles that you caused us. And if he refuses, we can just kill you too. I'm expecting that you'll be a good hostage, okay?"

Rogelt looked at Alna's face and guessed how good she was as a hostage. He decided that it was worth making her a hostage as he smiled and left the room with his men.

"…Katsuya… Save me…"

Alna said so with a pained face now that she was left alone in that room.

The moment Rogelt stepped outside the room, an emergency alarm reached his terminal. He pulled his information terminal out and asked with a stern face.

"It's me, what is it?"

His men replied with a panicked voice.

"Boss!! It's an attack!!"

"Who is it from? Don't tell me it's the Haurias!?"

Rogelt thought so judging from how panicked his men were, but he was surprised when he heard the reply.

"What!?"

The attackers were Akira and Katsuya. Rogelt did not expect that at all. He was even more surprised when he checked the record of their exchange.

[What's the meaning of this!? Why do they know about Alna and Sheryl!? I understand it's only a matter of time before they knew it, but this is just too fast!! They found out about it on the same day!? And they even raided the base without giving us a chance to negotiate! It's just too strange.]

Rogelt immediately noticed why it happened and made a grim face.

[…Viola! Don't tell me that she brought that plan to us not so that we can manipulate them but to make them attack us?! Did she also say something to them that made them not even try to talk it out first? But even if that's true, why would they attack us? There's no way they can win with the only two of th-]

Rogelt froze. After that, he immediately shouted at his men.

"Kill both of them!! There's no need to give them a chance to surrender! Call back everyone outside the base to fight them!! Use all the powered suits inside the hangar too!"

Rogelt's men, who did not expect that at all, confusedly replied.

"Wait for a sec, isn't that too much just to fight two young Hunters. Not to mention, we stocked those powered suits to fight Haurias in the first place…"

But Rogelt yelled back to that guy who was questioning his order.

"If they're your common young Hunters, there's no way they would raid our base just with the two of them, you know!! If my guess is correct, that Viola might have something to do with Haurias!! They might even come here using this chaos!! Go! Make sure that the powered suits are ready before I'm there!"

"O-okay!"

His men flusteredly ended the call. Rogelt still had an extremely grim expression on his face as he looked around his officers and his men and told them.

"I'll go to the hangar. All of you take your squad to join the fight outside. Hire those Hunters who would help us too. It's a full-blown war. In case if Haurias don't come after we finish taking care of those two, we'll go and attack Haurias base."

"Roger that. Should we kill Sheryl and Alna too?"

Rogelt was able to regain some of his calm after he looked at his men who were calm in that situation. After giving it a short thought, he then said.

"…No, try using them as hostages. Both of them attacked us without even giving us a chance to talk it out, they might not be here in order to save them in the first place, but at least give it a try."

Rogelt quickly ran towards the hangar after he said that while his men immediately went to move as they were ordered to