OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 371: Cannonjaw Crocodile III

Elijah kicked Junior's head, knocking him out at once.

"The hell?"

"What's wrong with you?!"

"...Elijah?"

Under the surprised reactions of his cohort, he picked up his body and placed it on his shoulder.

Only then did they understand.

His goal was to hide Junior next to the soundly sleeping Quinn.

The first step toward that goal naturally resulted in the Knight's Aetheric Bulwark disappearing, giving the Cannonjaw an open window to attack.

But it didn't have a chance to shoot its rockets.

[Go!]

Jake seized the opportunity to unload a clip into the second cannon, which was already damaged due to the Spell Weavers' combined attack.

[Keep hitting it! We can take it down!]

Emma encouraged the group as she and Aria focused their efforts, getting their minds straight.

"Frostbite!"

"Entangling Roots!"

They both cast spells that were aimed at immobilizing the construct.

Emma's spell encased one of the Cannonjaw's legs in ice, slowing its movements.

At the same time, Aria trapped a leg with tens of roots, like she had usually done since the start of the battle.

"Attack!"

"Be useful!"

Their plan was obvious.

They were giving the damage dealers a clear shot at the cannons.

[Leave it to us!]

[...Watch.]

Jake and Sofia stepped up to the task, each shot hitting the cannon, chipping away at its protective metal while destroying every rocket it shot out.

Ratatatatatatat!

Bang! Bang! BANG!

A Longshot after many normal bullets had managed to make a large dent, deep in the cannon.

Jake capitalized on that and supplied more of his Aether into his gun, cutting through that dent and exploding the cannon.

Boom!

GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

As it blew up into splinters, the Cannonjaw growled in pain, but they didn't celebrate.

This construct was not to be underestimated. They knew that best.

With a mighty shake, it shattered the ice encasing its leg and let out a rumbling gurgle.

Aria's roots still held it in place, but that didn't matter.

Like a fully grown man tearing a piece of paper, its legs went forward through the roots as if they were nothing, and in that single step, it got close to the cohort.

With fewer cannons on its back, the construct had naturally gotten faster, but that didn't pass through their minds.

They were caught off guard.

The Cannonjaw lashed out with its tail, catching Aria.

She stood no chance.

Crack!

Before Emma could do anything, Aria was sent flying into a wall.

Silently, she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

The girl was knocked out so quickly that she didn't even react.

"ARIA!"

Emma screamed, her eyes widening in horror.

She ran to her side, checking her condition and trying to wake her up, but Aria was out cold.

[Dammit!]

Jake cursed, reloading his rifle with trembling hands.

[We're not gonna make it at this rate!]

Emma looked up from Aria's body, her gaze returning to the construct, her face set in grim determination.

[We have to... For Emir.]

Boom!

The Cannonjaw continued its attacks.

Jake's bullets and Sofia's antimaterial rounds had wasted more than a hundred of its rockets, but it seemed to have endless reserves of ammo and energy.

Even when Emma gave them the perfect opportunity to damage its last cannon by pausing the Cannonjaw for a few seconds...

Boom!

They were unable to.

It never stopped shooting.

It never stopped moving.

Every small step towards victory that they achieved was met with a brutal counterattack.

Their loss seemed to be set in stone, and they were caught in a stalemate.

***

What the fuck am I doing here?

Why the fuck did I join the Academy?

It wasn't somewhere I belonged.

...I never trained before being admitted.

I mean, why would I?

A rich girl like me had no need to.

Instead of protecting myself with my own strength, I could have someone else do that for me, leaving me the trouble called 'hard work.'

It was common sense.

Why do what was difficult if you could avoid it?

If I were to be the devil's advocate however, I could argue that a certain minority of people

would enjoy the satisfaction they felt after gaining strength and doing things with their own

two hands.

But that wasn't me.

I was not such a minority. I was an Elite.

And as an Elite, such things were unknown to me.

Besides, I was never called talented.

All I did was host boring tea parties and show off to my friends with my dad's money.

A boring life? Maybe. But the highlights were fun, so that was that.

Well, that doesn't matter anymore.

I lost that life the moment my father turned psycho.

For someone like me who had never been hurt their entire life, such a change shocked me to

my core.

He hit me. His daughter.

Mercer beat me so much that half my body had to be replaced, no longer functional.

I could've been healed of course, but that would reveal what he had done, so he disguised it as

me wanting cyber-enhancements, sending shady Rippers to fix me up.

No one questioned that.

The whims of the Elite, they said.

Even though they saw the consequences...

My body rejected the metal.

I still don't know if it was because the Rippers messed up the procedure or because my body

simply didn't like it, but that didn't matter.

I was forced to swallow more pills than a grandpa on his deathbed.

Immunosuppressants after immunosuppressants.

A never-ending cycle that would last till the day I die.

How clever...

Or maybe not.

Yeah, he wasn't so clever.

He was killed.

By who?

"...Q"

No one knew except me.

"u..."

Emir... the reason everything went to hell.

"n..."

His defamation of my father made him turn insane!

"...Qui.."

That bastard ruined my life!

Fucking-

Ah, wait...

"inn.."

I finally remember why I went to the Academy.

Yes, how did I forget?

"...Quinn."

Revenge.

Dying here would end that, so I should wake up.

"Quinn."

Killing him will be impossible if I can't manage to gang up on a five-core.

Right-

"QUINN!"

"WHAT?!

Opening my eyes, I shouted at the bastard who kept repeating my name.

"...Ah."

It was Elijah, Emir's little brother.

He was indeed a bastard.