Vol. 2 Ch. 2 Ep. 20: Gamers and Friends

We barely managed to escape...

"Is everyone okay? Anyone hurt?!"

Most of us are... B-But...

Neru...

The president passed out...and hasn't woken up yet.

Her injuries are more severe than I originally thought.

President...was badly injured after falling in the last fight...

...This really is the worst-case scenario.

The Engineering Club retired during the battle against the Avant Guard...

It was good that we, Veritas, were able to use the Mirror to access the network, but...there's a limit to providing remote support.

As for the Game Development Department... It's probably out of the question.

Uggh! B-But!

I...can't deny that...

And our main fighting force, C&C, is...

...Ha. I don't want to say this, but...

Is this the end...? At this rate, we'll never be able to get out of this situation...

Are we...

...Are we not enough to handle this?

Are we not enough...to rescue Aris alone?

We... Aris...didn't do anything wrong...

So why... Why...?!

Midori...

Everyone helped us...to get to this point...

And with everyone's efforts...we just barely made it to this point...!

We can't give up like this... Can we...?

...We can't have a...bad ending...like this... Never....never!

You think I'll just accept something like this?!

Waaaahhhh?!

Oh! President!

Are you awake?

Huh...?

President! Don't push yourself too much! Your injuries are really severe!

Don't make such a fuss... This isn't that big of a deal.

Judging by appearance, it's very much a big deal.

Anyways... What's going on? Why is everyone so down?

So, since the situation has turned out like this...you think it's all over?

...

Ha, very funny.

Huh?

Hey, little ones.

Is that really all you've got?

Wh-What do you mean?

Look. All I know is my arm won't move at all.

My ligament must be torn...and my legs feel stiff...

I feel like even taking a step will make me vomit. Must be because I took such a bad fall.

You sound like a mess!

Yeah! All of that, and there's still no way I'm giving up!

After seeing that, are you still going to be cowards? Turn tail and run home the second things go wrong?!

Y-You're in no condition to say that...!

Ha! Mind your own business.

I can power through this no problem.

We came all the way here to save a friend.

So that's what we're going to do. We're going to keep moving forward.

I-It's not like we don't wanna save her!

But how are we gonna beat a cheater like that?

Well...

We're not completely out of options.

Huh?!

Yes, it was very brief, but...

(Just now...!)

I saw Neru's attack land once.

Of course, Yuzu! You're the UZQueen! You noticed it with your amazing visual acuity!

But how did it work? According to the president, nothing works against Toki's weapon.

I-I'm not sure...

What if...

This is really just a hypothetical...

What if there's a kind of loophole in Toki's weapon?

A loophole?

The president said the weapon is supported by Eridu's network, and it can shoot down or evade any attack through its calculations.

Right. And we've experienced first hand that it's true, to an extent...

It's never done those two things at the same time.

...! Indeed... I see what you're saying!

Huh? What...?

I...don't see it. Could you explain?

There's no doubt the abilities of the weapon are so incredible that it seems it can't be beaten.

But everything has its limitations.

When it fell from the building, the president said even the fall was calculated.

In other words, at that time, it was using its computing power for the fall...

Oh! I get it!

I-If we can create a moment like that again...!

We might be able to defeat it...

But how? She must know its limitations.

Making it fall from a rooftop won't work again...

Neru is saying if we can keep the distance close, we can win...right?

...Yes, we can win. We'll have to do something about its ability to cheat though.

Then, I have an idea.

Against a cheat...

There are tricks we can use within the given rules...

Neru...

I don't know what you're planning, but it will not work.

Toki.

...Yes, ma'am.

You really thought it was over?

Let's finish this!