A Lanchester submachine gun lay quietly inside the inventory slot.
With a single thought, Misono Mika retrieved it. A weight settled into her hands as an exquisitely modified submachine gun appeared in her grasp. Engraved upon the stock was the golden emblem of Trinity General School.
"This is my first time holding a real gun. I'm so excited! So excited!"
Mika couldn't put the weapon down. After indulging her curiosity for a moment, she lifted her gaze toward a large tree ahead.
"Let's test the power of this thing first. Speaking of which, the name of this gun was 'Quis ut Deus'. Just hearing it sounds impressive."
She raised the gun naturally and aimed at the unfortunate tree she had selected.
There wasn't the slightest trace of unfamiliarity in her movements—like a veteran who had handled firearms for decades.
She wasn't surprised. The system hadn't nerfed her in the slightest. If anything, it had strengthened her further.
She pulled the trigger.
Bang!
With a crisp gunshot, a fist-sized hole instantly exploded through the trunk three meters away. The trees behind it trembled violently—the bullet had clearly pierced through more than one trunk.
"So strong… This is almost heavy armor-piercing level. Maybe it could even punch through a steel monster like a Hayajiro."
Mika stepped forward to inspect the penetrated trunks, thoroughly satisfied. Lifting her head toward the distance, a restless smile tugged at her lips.
"Time for the main course."
She gently waved her right hand.
Call of the Stars!
High above—over a hundred meters in the sky—a meteor five meters in diameter materialized out of thin air. Dragging a pink tail flame behind it, it plummeted toward the forest below. The violent air pressure forced the treetops downward, nearly snapping them in half.
Boom—!
With a thunderous explosion, trees were crushed into splinters. Wood chips flew everywhere. The earth itself trembled.
When the dust settled, a charred crater over twenty meters wide scarred the ground. Within it, the pink meteor dissolved into specks of starlight and quickly faded away.
"I remember Mika's passive meteor and ultimate in the game were single-target… So what's with this crater? Don't tell me the system didn't apply the in-game damage restrictions to me?"
Mika stared blankly at the devastation she had caused. The snow-white wings behind her fluttered uneasily. After stepping closer to examine the crater, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Great! With this, I don't have to worry about being swarmed by Kabane. It's one thing in a game, but in reality, using a high-damage ultimate just to hit one mob would be way too ridiculous."
"Now for my ultimate. Just to be safe, I'll aim as far away as possible. I'm not worried about my own abilities hurting me, but I don't want to get all dirty. I don't have a change of clothes yet."
She brushed dirt and leaves off her dress, found a relatively open vantage point, and raised her gun toward a mountain several hundred meters away.
Kyrie Eleison—!
A pink star-ring suddenly appeared beneath her feet, spinning rapidly. A faint rose-colored glow shimmered at the muzzle of her gun.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several bullets streaked across the sky like pink meteors.
In the next instant, a colossal star-ring rose at the base of the distant mountain, spinning violently. Gravitational force surged upward from its center, uprooting trees and sending rocks flying. Nothing in its vicinity was spared.
The ring contracted into a single point—
Then exploded outward in a violent release of energy.
BOOM—!
With a world-shaking roar, a hundred-meter-tall pink cross erupted from the earth.
The vast green forest looked as though some colossal beast had taken a bite out of it, leaving a massive gap behind.
Half the mountain was simply gone. At the very epicenter, everything had been annihilated into debris.
"Something's wrong. Nine out of ten things here are wrong."
Mika climbed to higher ground, staring at the forest and mountain that now resembled the aftermath of a natural catastrophe. She swallowed hard.
"This power is completely over the limit. Even students from Kivotos might not tank this."
The destructive force of Kyrie Eleison far exceeded her expectations.
If allies were nearby, she might need to wait until she could freely control the output before using it. Otherwise, her teammates might ascend to meet God alongside the enemy.
After the series of tests, aside from feeling slightly tired, Mika remained in peak condition.
"Haa… That was pretty loud. The Kabane around here are probably getting restless. I don't have time to play with corpses. Before dawn, I need to find somewhere to stay. No matter what, I've got to solve food and sleep first."
She rubbed her soft stomach with a troubled expression.
She was hungry.
Kabane were extremely drawn to blood, so most wild animals in the forest had already been slaughtered.
The only creatures likely spared were aquatic ones.
After all, fish vendors were the most common sight in the anime.
Mika decided she'd catch a few fish by the river to eat on the way, then search for railway tracks. Following them might lead her to one of humanity's fortified stations.
"And then I'll suppress the local army with brute force and become the boss of that city! Then hijack a Hayajiro and go play with Nameless-chan~"
If she didn't tease the original heroine, wouldn't that be missing half the fun?
With her goal set, Mika strode forward—her long, slender legs wrapped in white stockings carrying her toward the faint sound of flowing water nearby.
★ ★ ★
Night fell.
The wilderness filled with the natural chirping of insects.
In the dark forest, eerie figures shuffled through fallen branches and leaves, producing soft crunching sounds. Kabane with crimson-glowing hearts wandered aimlessly in the wild.
Bang!
A sudden explosion echoed from afar.
Against the stillness of the night, it was like a clap of thunder.
The wandering Kabane halted in unison, turning toward the source of the sound.
They might not understand what had happened—
But instinct told them fresh food awaited.
Roar!
With hoarse, grating howls, every Kabane that had heard the sound sprinted toward it. Some even ran on all fours, clawing at the ground, moving faster than those on two legs.
"Quite a lot of them…"
Mika made a face as she tossed aside a charred fish. Looking up, she saw countless red lights clustering on the hillside, all rushing toward the same point.
She patted off her skirt and rose from the rock she had been sitting on.
"Let's go take a look. Maybe I'll run into the protagonist group. The system probably wouldn't just dump me somewhere random and leave me hanging on the side."