Chapter Nineteen: Start of the Disaster [2]
Thank you all for the continuous support, I'll do my best more and double my effort.
"Huh!?"
Just as a high-pitched siren resounded.
The windows of the classroom shook violently as the siren echoed through Raizen High.
It wasn't only Raizen.
The high-pitched, unpleasant noise resounded throughout Tengu City.
"Wh-What's going on?"
Tonomachi immediately dashed toward the window, looking outside.
Surprised by the siren, a countless number of crows flew up into the sky.
The students who remained in the classroom all stopped their conversations, staring wide-eyed.
Following the siren, a mechanical voice rang from the P.A. system.
It was one that was placed in each district, so a Spacequake alert could be heard.
Much like the sirens.
«—This is not a drill. This is not a drill. The foreshock has been observed. The occurrence of a spacequake is predicted.»
«Persons in the vicinity, please move to the nearest shelter, immediately. I repeat—»
In that instant, the silent room was filled with the students' gasps.
Spacequake alert.
Everyone's hunches were confirmed.
"Oi oi... Seriously?"
Tonomachi muttered that in a dry voice while sweating profusely.
Normally, in most situations he'd have the gall to joke about it.
But not in this situation.
This was something that is known to easily claim thousands of lives. He didn't dare make careless jokes.
However,
The class, on the other hand,
In terms of tension and anxiety, every student was relatively calm.
At the very least, none of the students seemed to have fallen into a panic.
Following the now almost daily occurrence of Spacequakes thirty years ago,
They had been trained persistently in evacuation drills since kindergarten.
In addition, this was a high school.
An underground shelter that could fit all the students was available.
"The shelter is underground. If we calmly hide, then it'll be alright."
"R-Right, that's right."
Tonomachi nodded at Shidou's words.
As fast as possible without running, they left the classroom.
But as they did, not to anyone's surprise,
the corridor was already overflowing with students,
forming a line going towards the elevator that led to the underground shelter.
'Haah.'
Shidou let out a sigh he didn't know he'd been holding.
Although spacequakes hadn't happened in a long time,
from the looks of things…
It seemed like most students here could still calmly follow procedures.
What's more,
He could see the Student Council personnel along with some other teachers leading.
"That's good."
Muttering that, he turned back, opposite the path that led to the shelter.
He saw someone running toward the opposite side.
And when he scrutinized that parting figure,
Tobiichi Origami!?
Seeing this, Shidou was extremely baffled.
Where was she going?
Before he could call out to her, she had already disappeared after turning right, using the staircase.
Puzzled, amidst the confusion, he turned his head back to the line of students with Tonomachi.
But when he thought about it,
Despite being worried about Origami, he thought she simply forgot something and went to get it.
Though he briefly saw the look of her expression.
…that was the look of someone rushing to get something or thereabout.
In fact, even though the alert was issued, that didn't mean a spacequake would happen immediately.
If she came back quickly, then she'd be fine.
Or so Shidou thought.
"C-Calm down pleeease! It's alright so, slooowly! Don't push, don't run!"
In front of the horde, a voice resounded. It was none other than Tama-chan-sensei.
Somehow, she sounded even more flustered than the students themselves.
At the same time, small giggles leaked out from the students.
"...Seeing someone who's more flustered than me calms me down for some reason."
"I kinda get what you mean."
Shidou gave a light laugh, and Tonomachi replied with a similar expression.
Faced with a teacher who looked completely unreliable like Tama-chan,
Rather than feeling insecure, the students' tension seemed to have dropped, weirdly.
'Now that I think about it.'
Remembering something, Shidou searched his pocket before taking out his cell phone.
"Hm? What's wrong, Shidou?"
"Nothing. Excuse me for a bit."
While avoiding Tonomachi's question, he selected the name
'Itsuka Kotori'
from his call history and dialed the number.
He was hoping she'd evacuated like others.
But when he dialed it, no matter how much he tried, her number wasn't reaching through.
"...Damn it. Did she manage to evacuate?"
Shidou knew she'd be in school.
He wasn't that worried since he knew that, but as a responsible older brother, he wanted to check up on his sister.
That was perfectly normal.
But right now…
Her calls weren't going through, which was weird. Shidou's brows furrowed before saying,
"Right, I have that also."
Kotori's cell phone should have a GPS location service installed.
Well, the one he installed, to be exact.
Using his cell phone, he brought a map of the town onto the screen, on which was a red marker icon.
What he saw, however, on the map, made his chest tighten.
"...Na! Why the hell aren't you in school!"
Instead of displaying the red marker being at her school.
The marker showed she was in front of a family restaurant instead.
"You huge idiot..."
Cursing, he switched his phone shut, immediately dashing out of the line of students.
"Hey, where are you going, Shidou!?"
"Sorry! I forgot something! You go ahead!"
Answering Tonomachi while facing the other way, he ran towards the stairway against the flow of the line.
Like that, Shidou quickly changed his shoes and, seeming to almost fall forward, he dashed outside.
Past the school gate, he ran down the hill that led towards the school.
"Since it's become like this, we'll just evacuate normally!"
Running as fast as he could, Shidou shouted.
But as he did, what spread out in his view was an eerie scene.
Roads without moving cars, a town devoid of all signs of people.
On the streets, in the parks, even in the convenience stores,
not a single person was left.
It was like a ghost town.
Since the disaster thirty years ago,
…this City has been carefully redeveloped with the purpose of dealing with the spacequakes.
Never mind the public facilities,
even the percentage of normal families owning a shelter was the highest in the country.
Because of the frequent spacequakes recently, people evacuated quickly.
Even so...
"Why is that idiot stubbornly waiting there...!"
He let out another shout, opening his cell phone while still running.
The icon still showed Kotori's position in front of the family restaurant.
"Gah!"
Shidou grimaced as he continued.
Despite the strain of moving continuously without stopping, he pushed forward.
The only thing that filled his mind was the thought of getting to where his sister was.
But,
"...?"
While running, Shidou glanced upwards.
He thought he saw something move at the edge of his vision.
"What are... those..."
Shidou furrowed his eyebrows.
There were three or maybe four.
In the sky, things that looked like humans were floating.
But Shidou immediately stopped caring about that.
And just then he thought he'd move forward…
"Uwahh!?"
A light, blinding light engulfed him.
Boom~
It was followed by a deafening explosion, and a fierce shockwave assaulted Shidou.
"Wha—"
Shidou reflexively wrapped his arms around his face while trying to hold onto his balance, however…
It was futile.
The pressure that came from the shockwave was similar to that of a typhoon, and it blew his body backward like a ragdoll.
"The... What the hell happened?"
While rubbing his eyes, he groggily pushed his body up.
"Huh?"
Seeing the landscape that spread through his vision, Shidou let out an astonished sound.
After all, the street that was right in front of him moments ago,
yet… in the brief amount of time that Shidou had his eyes closed,
it had disappeared.
The streets, that is.
"Wh-What is this? What the hell happened? This is..."
He muttered, in a daze.
One couldn't make this up; it was like… the apocalypse had descended onto the world.
What's more, further beyond where he stood, clutching his right shoulder,
there was a crater there, shaped like a bowl.
And from there… there was something like a clump of metal that rose.
"What...?"
Because of the distance, he was not able to discern the small details.
Still, he saw a form that was something like a throne that a king in an RPG would sit on.
However, that was not what was important.
There was a girl wearing a strange dress, who seemed to be standing on the throne with her foot on the armrest.
"That girl... why is she…?"
He could only vaguely see, but he could make out her long black hair and the skirt that was radiating a mysterious glow.
He probably wasn't wrong about her being a girl, though.
The girl casually scanned the area, suddenly turning to face Shidou.
"Un?"
She noticed him.
It was too far away, so he couldn't really tell.
But as he was puzzled over this, the girl made a further movement.
With a swaying motion, she seemed to have grabbed a handle that was growing out of the back of the throne.
It was a broad blade, a huge sword.
Mhm? Shidou squinted his eyes.
Is she raising it up? Mhm? Why is she swinging it down? Was he hallucinating?
No, she actually was swinging the sword towards him, and even then, before he could react.
Nyuuuuu—!
"Eh...!?"
Horizontally, with a boom, the sword had been swung.
There was barely any time for Shidou to react.
While he did try to brace himself when he felt the impact coming, the mere pressure alone had pinned him onto the ground.
"Wha—"
The blade's trail passed through the place where Shidou's head had been.
Of course, it was not a distance where the sword could physically reach.
However, it really,
"...Haaah."
With eyes wide open, Shidou turned his head backward.
The houses, stores, roadside trees, signs, and so on that were behind Shidou had, in an instant, been trimmed to the same height.
A second later, the sound of destruction echoed like distant thunder.
Boom~!
"Eeek...!?"
It had gone beyond Shidou's comprehension. Trembling, his heart tightened.
As if pulling a body that was cut apart at the waist, Shidou crawled backward.
As soon as possible, as far as possible, he needed to escape from this place.
However,
"—You too... huh?"
"...!?"
An extremely tired voice rang out from above his head.
His vision, which was a beat behind, caught up with his thoughts.
In front of his eyes stood a girl who, up to a moment ago, had not been there.
That's right, it was the same girl that stood in the middle of the crater until just now.
"Ah.."
Post Credit Scene:
Slightly not canon
Meanwhile, …as the buildings of Tengu City were being destroyed.
*Dennis_main aura farming bgm starts playing*
A male stood as the winds fluttered against his clothes while it flapped with the wind.
"Hmph. I think I nailed it. Aura dynamics."
Completely, he saw the spacequakes coming, and when the spirit released that slash.
Fmph.
To think his classes with Dr. Piccolo in conjunction with Dr. Elric Vale would come in handy.
Next up, time to bush camp till it's time to jump in and farm more aura.