Part 1
The three attack helicopters supplied by the Russian army flew across the white landscape. The large helicopters flew at 300 kph and were loaded with a large amount of ammunition. The sound of their rotors was deafening. Helicopters gave the image of making a great din as they flew through the sky, but the military ones were ingeniously constructed so they flew almost silently.
These were different from that ideal design.
They were quite different from the American military ones that were small, fast, and quiet. The mere fact that each one required 3 people to pilot it showed that they were not the usual type of helicopter. The kings of the skies felt no need to hide. In exchange, they could load as much ammunition as possible and damage the enemy as much as possible. That was the point of those helicopters.
Dogfights that required both speed and mobility would be completely left to the fighters like the Migs and Sukhois, so battles against other helicopters were not even taken into account with their design. Instead, they were designed to utterly destroy targets on the ground. After all, those attack helicopters belonged to the army instead of the air force.
"Nice. This layout isn't bad," muttered one of the privateer pilots.
They did not have common nationality, religion, race, gender, or age. Even their favorite genres of music were interestingly mixed.
They only had one thing in common.
They wanted to kill people and they wanted to do so in a one-sided way.
"This is a prototype developed by one of the large armies hovering between being 1st or 2nd in the world. I love it. In a side scrolling shooter, this would be the player's craft."
"This isn't just a test run for the craft itself," said another pilot in a transmission from one of the other attack helicopters in the formation. "This is a strategy test to see whether a large craft can realistically be used for something like this. The theory this operation is based on might not even work. …If the actual Russian army were doing this, they would be using the basic pattern of using smaller helicopters and fighters. There could be some disadvantages to this. Particularly, our larger width will make us easier to attack from the ground."
"That doesn't matter. We just have to take them out before they take us out. We just have to fire a missile from long range before we even get in range of their weapons. That's what the larger helicopters are for. Just like in a side scrolling shooter, we just have to fire like crazy without worrying about how much ammo we have left."
As they spoke, they were getting closer to the target point.
It was a small village that seemed to be full of nothing but rubble.
It seemed the armored vehicle and anti-aircraft gun that had gone in first had met resistance and been taken out. However, they didn't particularly care. It didn't matter if the other privateers had been captured or killed. They were just looking forward to their own battle that was about to begin.
The pilot tightly gripped the stick (that unnecessary strength in his grip made it clear he was self taught) and yelled out excitedly while listening to the sound of the rotors.
"Ah ha ha!! Let's kill them!! Kill them all!!"
Part 2
A low growl escaped Accelerator's throat.
A line of large vehicles was stopped a few dozen meters away. The back of one of the vehicles had been destroyed. The door at the front of the vehicle opened and a boy got out onto the snow.
It was the boy who had once singlehandedly stopped the experiment that called for the killing of the 20,000 Sisters.
Accelerator understood that his rage towards the boy was nothing more than an outburst of anger. His words had no legitimacy or consistency. Anyone watching on would certainly see Accelerator as the one in the wrong.
But if the hero that had stopped that ridiculous experiment were to die for such a ridiculous reason, if the existence Accelerator held up so highly within him as holding tragedy in check were to disappear so easily…
Then the world would probably really and truly come to an end.
"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
He screamed.
The black wings on Accelerator's back spread out explosively. They stretched to greater than 100 meters all at once and he swung them down towards that Level 0 boy's head as grand weapons.
With a great noise, that strike that held the power to split a skyscraper in half vertically came down.
And yet the targeted boy was not turned to a pile of meat.
It was due to his right hand.
He raised that arm above his head scattering the pitch black darkness.
"…"
Accelerator's lips twisted slightly.
What was he thinking deep in his heart now that the boy had not died in the first strike?
Accelerator himself was not entirely sure and he swung the black wings again.
This time it was a horizontal strike.
That strike seemed like it would slice apart every object in the world at chest level and it flew mercilessly towards that Level 0 boy.
The boy once more repelled it with his right hand.
But the situation was not the same.
The boy who had negated the black wings wobbled to the side as if being pushed by a force.
Accelerator knew.
That boy had a secret that allowed him to negate even Academy City's #1 Level 5 power with a touch.
However, he could not do anything about an attack that blew away everything in a fixed area like a large and strong wind or plasma. Perhaps the boy could not negate an attack that exceeded a certain level of destructive power, perhaps he could not negate a power that affected a large area, or perhaps he did not possess the ability to negate secondary physical phenomena that were caused by a power. Accelerator did not know what the true answer was, but he still knew he could beat down that Level 0 boy even if he didn't understand the reason or workings behind it.
In other words…
(I'll smash him to pieces with overwhelming force not giving him a chance to fight back!!)
He could feel a dull pain deep in his head.
It felt like his right brain and left brain were being split apart and something was bursting out from within.
It was not a normal feeling.
He wasn't even sure it was part of his powers as Academy City's #1 Level 5.
He didn't know what was going to happen.
He might even just disintegrate away.
(So what?)
Accelerator gritted his teeth.
Right there in that place, he had to muster all his strength and truly go all out as he fought.
A wind roared.
One of the wings turned into dozens of sharp stakes and flew forcefully towards the Level 0 boy who was running towards Accelerator. Instead of aiming for that small target from many different angles, the attack was more like a carpet bombing of an entire area that the boy happened to be in.
A shock wave exploded out.
White snow and black dirt exploded up greater than 10 meters into the air obstructing Accelerator's vision. He could tell huge cracks had appeared in various places on the ground. Distant seismographs had likely detected that shaking.
The boy who had been in the center of the blast could not be fine.
Even with the ability to negate powers with his right hand, he wouldn't have been able to intercept every single attack.
He had certainly been damaged.
There was no way the Level 0 boy could have saved himself.
And the shock waves created by even one of the dozens of stakes held enough destructive force to smash a human body to pieces.
It had to be over.
With that victory, Accelerator had lost some form of hope.
And yet…
A figure shakily stood before Accelerator.
That Level 0 boy stood on the other side of the dust of white snow and black dirt.
Of course, he was not unscathed.
The boy's clothes were covered in dirt, red blood was leaking from his temple, and his center of gravity seemed to be tilted to the side.
Even so, the boy stood.
He stood on his two legs that would not fall.
"Ha ha ha…" Accelerator laughed weakly.
He didn't understand. That attack was not something the boy should have been able to handle with just his right hand. However, Accelerator clearly laughed. He seemed to be enjoying it. He seemed to enjoy the fact that the theory behind his supposedly undefeatable attack had been overturned.
To him it looked like the image of the unstoppable rails of fate being easily overcome.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!! Gya ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!"
Accelerator laughed as he gathered even greater power into his black wings.
An even worse noise started to come from the inside of his skull.
The Level 0 boy clenched his fist and ran toward Accelerator.
This time, they were not testing the waters.
The true clash began.
Part 3
"They're on their way," Digurv muttered with his head sticking out of the top hatch of the anti-aircraft gun and binoculars in one hand.
Hamazura was in the front of the anti-aircraft gun sitting in the seat that allowed him to control the treads and move the vehicle around. He had nothing else to do. Piloting the vehicle was similar to operating a piece of construction equipment like a digger, but he didn't have the specialized skills needed to operate the radar and aim the guns at the targets.
Hamazura peered out a horizontal slit made of reinforced glass and asked Digurv a question while looking at the snowy plain outside.
"Are they attack helicopters as you thought?"
"Yes, three of them," Digurv responded without looking over at Hamazura. "They're of a type I've never seen before. They're quite large. This mission might be doubling as a test of a prototype."
"Russia has a history of focusing on developing large helicopters," the frostbitten Russian soldier added.
It seemed his name was Glickin.
"It seems the world's largest transport helicopter has about the same loading capacity as a C-130 transport plane. Only Russia would try to build a helicopter like that ignoring the practicality of it."
Hamazura could tell his face was paling as he listened to Glickin's words.
"If the helicopters are that large, that means they have a lot of ammunition and bombs packed inside, doesn't it?"
His traced his fingers along the unrefined levers of the controls.
He was trying to calm himself by checking on the existence of their own weapon, but it didn't help at all.
"Are we really gonna be okay against a cutting edge prototype? Dammit. A busted anti-aircraft gun isn't enough to take on something like that."
"No, we might actually have a chance because of that," Digurv said refuting Hamazura's words.
"?"
"It's possible they're letting those rogue privateers carry out the test rather than the actual army because they don't have too much faith in those prototypes. If those attack helicopters had been well tested and proven in actual battle, then we would have almost no chance of winning."
"Either way, our lives are on the line though."
"Here they come."
Digurv's quick comment created great tension within the vehicle.
"…They're most likely the type of helicopter that focuses on high speed hit & away tactics. They can't make tight turns, so they fly through the battlefield in a straight line and then make a large U-turn before returning."
"In other words, this is like a gunfight in a Western. The only way to win is to exchange bullets as they pass."
The sound of the large rotors resounded throughout the area.
Even through the small slit in front of Hamazura, three shadows could be seen in the white sky. At their current speed, they would pass by overhead in no time at all.
Basically, they could not let those helicopters get by them.
If they couldn't stop them, they would kill all of the villagers who were fleeing.
"Begin!!"
As Digurv yelled, Hamazura grabbed the lever to control the treads and Glickin reached for the equipment to rotate the gun turret.
The battle began.
When the attack helicopters were 300 meters away, the anti-aircraft gun opened fire. While the space between shots was a bit greater than with a normal machine gun, the sound of each shot was deep and low-pitched like a drum.
The attack helicopters were flying in a formation where each one was the corner of a triangle, but they scattered upon hearing that noise. As they did, an orange spark flew from the surface of one of them. A bullet had hit it. However, it was not shot down.
"Do they have thick armor to go along with their larger size!?"
"Hamazura, turn around! Missiles are going to be pouring down like rain!!"
Hearing Digurv's shout, Hamazura forcefully backed up the vehicle. The steel treads bit into the ground throwing snow about as they forced the heavy vehicle along.
Treads gave the impression of being slow, but they were in a military vehicle. From the display on the speedometer, it seemed it was set to reach speeds of up to 70 kph.
But the attack helicopters darting through the sky were much, much faster.
"Heh heh heh."
Meanwhile, the pilot of one of the attack helicopters tightened his grip on the stick and licked his lips in excitement. He could blow that anti-aircraft gun to pieces with either a machine gun or missiles. He would leave the airspace, make a large U-turn, and then lower his altitude to gain the speed needed to aim for the target.
"Idiots! If you survived, you should have just pretended to be dead!! That might have raised your odds of surviving a little!!"
With its attack having failed, the anti-aircraft gun seemed to be desperately trying to flee. However, nothing would work as cover with all the sensors the attack helicopter had. The pilot raised the safety cover on the top of the stick with his thumb and pressed the red button that fired a missile.
A small missile with white smoke trailing behind it shot towards the anti-aircraft gun. It was already too late for them to attempt to evade. The treaded vehicle simply didn't have the speed needed to do so. It seemed they were trying to flee into a forest of tall conifer trees, but it was too late to hide. The missile had already been fired.
"Ah ha!! Blow them to pieces!!" yelled the pilot, but things did not turn out as he wanted.
The vehicle had hidden behind the branches of the tall conifer trees. The missile struck the tops of the trees that were spread out like a roof over the anti-aircraft gun.
Flames and a shock wave spread out, but the anti-aircraft gun was unharmed even with its thinner armor compared to a tank. The trees were blown to pieces by the missile and the pieces rained down over the area.
And…
"Learn the purpose behind an opening, you pieces of shit!! Glickin!!"
In response to Hamazura's yell, Glickin operated the lever controlling the gun turret. A surface-to-air missile equipped on the side of the machine guns fired off into the sky.
It flew up toward the sky that had previously been obstructed by the trees.
However, the missile flew through the opening created by the attack from the helicopter.
"!?"
The pilot's throat dried, but the missile did not fly towards him. Instead, it struck one of the other helicopters that was flying alongside and preparing for a second wave.
An explosion and black smoke stained the Russian sky.
The attack helicopter became an orange mass and crashed into the white snow-covered ground creating an even bigger explosion.
However, the pilot felt no sorrow over his fellow privateers being shot down.
He only felt anger towards his business being given a bad name.
"Let's make it rain," he said into the radio contacting the other remaining helicopter. "The trees obstruct our missiles, so let's turn them to Swiss cheese with a shower of machine gun fire!!"
The two helicopters moved away from each other. They U-turned and headed at high speed toward the forest where the anti-aircraft gun was hiding.
They started firing from two different directions at the same time.
The anti-aircraft gun hurriedly hid itself among the trees, but the same trick would not keep working. The attack helicopters' sensors detected a large metal object and they could tear through the trees like paper with their 30 mm Gatling guns. Their cover would not work that time.
But then the pilot looked at the radar again.
"Ah!?" the pilot exclaimed in puzzlement.
The radar display was odd. He was confused for a second, but he still accurately operated the stick. He opened fire on the ground with the Gatling gun.
Matching the movement of the helicopter, a straight line of bullets raced along the white ground.
A number of thick trees splintered to pieces and large holes were opened up in the mass of metal hidden there. It wasn't just a few holes. They continued along one after another like from a giant sewing machine.
An explosion spread out within the forest.
He had utterly destroyed his target…or so he thought.
The pilot's expression was not one of joy.
"Hey, what's going on?" The pilot's expression was one of disturbance and irritation as he spoke to the other privateers. "Why did the number of objects on the radar grow!? It didn't feel like I actually hit something!!"
If there was only one anti-aircraft gun in the forest, that phenomenon was impossible. And then a transmission came in answering his question.
"Look, it's a car! To avoid being targeted, they hid all the vehicles from the village around the forest!! We targeted the wrong metal object detected by the—!?"
The transmission cut out.
Orange sparks flew. The other attack helicopter's armor had been penetrated. The helicopter had been hit by an attack form the anti-aircraft gun and it exploded in midair.
"…"
The remaining pilot had the option of returning to the base, but he did not choose to do so.
One reason for that was the blood rushing to his head.
But the bigger reason was the fact that the spray of machine gun fire before had mown down most of the trees in the forest. The anti-aircraft gun could no longer hide. Even if they tried to hide among the other vehicles, it would not lead him astray when he could see the thing by sight.
"You. Are. Dead."
The pilot withdrew to a distance where the anti-aircraft gun could not reach him and then made a large U-turn.
He would end this in the next run.
Without any cover, the anti-aircraft gun finally had no way of avoiding the attack from above.
"Gya ha ha ha ha ha ha!! I'll turn you to Swiss cheese!!"