Ch 300: The Buddhist Temple.
"I hear a ringing!" suddenly said Ayase, interrupting her card game with Unohana, Kei and Shizuka.
"You're not the only one." nodded Shizuka, her expression souring. "It's time to get our suits, uh?"
"Yeah." nodded Ayase as the girls stood and picked up the suitcases the kept near them at all times. Tsugumi, Eru, Rin and Sakura were already on the move.
"Hey, if I get injured out there, you're going to heal me, right?" asked Eru with hopeful eyes.
"If you get a life-threatening injury, we will." nodded Sakura. "If it's a minor one, maybe we'll wait for Gantz to heal you once this is over. But don't worry. Even if the worst happens, Noah will revive you, I can promise you that."
"Yes." nodded Eru. "I was really lucky to end up with you guys. If I had been revived by another Gantz… Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps."
"You speak for us both." said Shizuka "You're starting to be transferred, Eru."
"Ah." exclaimed Eru, fighting a sudden urge to touch the top of her head. With a growing part of it being transferred elsewhere, her brain was temporarily exposed, and she didn't know what would happen if her fingers made contact with her gray matter. Likely noting good.
One by one, the girls, with the exception of Unohana, were transported into the unfurnished apartment. Kato and Kurono were already there, and Nishi, the dog, and the grandma and her kid followed.
There were no newcomers this time, as they hadn't taken any loss in the previous hunt.
After greeting each other, the girls quickly moved into the hallway to put on the black suits, then switched with the men. They were all ready when Gantz displayed the objective of the next mission.
"J00 5hmvck5 w1ll n0w g0 0u+ 4an d3f34+ +h1s p3rs0n.
Rowdy Alien
Characteristics:
S+r0ng
B16
Likes:
5m411 p14c3z, Grumpy
Quote:
Nn
Grumpy Alien
Characteristics:
S+r0ng
B16
Likes:
5m411 p14c3z, Rowdy
Quote:
Nn"
The two pictures displayed looked like those of Buddhist warrior statues, those displaying angry expressions.
"Big? How big do you think those will be?" asked Tsugumi.
"Who knows." shrugged Sakura. "I imagine at least five meters tall. If I remember correctly, the biggest Buddha statue in Japan is about a hundred meters tall, if you do not count its base."
"We'll see." shrugged Rin. "Tsugumi and I will focus on protecting Kayo-san and Riota-kun like last time."
Gantz started sending them to the mission area. The group of hunters found themselves standing just outside of a large temple. The thick wooden doors, four meters in height, were flanked by two six-meters tall Buddha statues.
"It's them, isn't it?" quietly asked Sakura as she eyed the two statues.
Hearing her words, Kato and Kurono, who had not really paid attention to the statues and walked closer to the gate, flinched and backpedaled.
"Yes, unless you want me to believe that statues normally have a skull and spine." nodded Tsugumi, looking on the X-ray screen of her G-Gun.
"Kayo-san, Riota-Kun, both of you go with me in that side-street." said Rin, and they nodded.
"Be careful, Nee-san. We can't go deep into that side-street. We are near the edge of the mission area." warned Sakura after glancing at her mini-computer.
"Understood." nodded Rin.
Sakura estimated that the two giant statues were too big to be transferred with the Y-Gun, with the alcoves on the temple's wall that would likely get on the way of the micro-missiles' path, and that, being near the area's edge, they didn't have enough room to fight safely if the capture failed, so she opted for the lethal option. She aimed at each of Rowdy's eyes and his throat, pressing the upper trigger to register the lock once. Ayase saw what she was doing and aimed for Grumpy's head as well.
The two giant statues had a reaction at last, their eyes moving to stare at them. But before Sakura and Ayase could press their G-guns' lower trigger, Rowdy's head exploded.
"…Nishi?" wondered Sakura aloud as Ayase pressed the trigger and Grumpy suddenly moved, jumping a few meters high toward the group. The hunters dispersed in a hurry, and as Grumpy swung his stone staff, hit face exploded. He fell to his knees, then collapsed.
Sakura and Ayase fired their G-Guns again at Grumpy and Rowdy, just to be sure, and waited a few seconds as they carefully watched the corpses.
"It's not going to be just that, right? Gantz wouldn't bring us directly in front of the targets?" wondered Shizuka, glancing in turns at the two giant corpses and the wooden doors.
"I don't think we're that lucky. It doesn't look like anyone is being transferred." said Rin as they returned from the side-street."
"We'll be entering the temple." declared Sakura, addressing them all. Her previous time as a demon lord had made her used to taking charge, even unconsciously, and her charisma helped the others see her as a leader. "Consider any and all Buddha statues as an enemy, no matter their size, and use your Y-Guns or G-Guns on them from afar. They seem to move rather fast when they want to."
They all nodded.
"Kayo-san, Riota-kun, please stay here and do not show yourselves. You should be relatively safe with us drawing their attention." added Sakura.
"Yes, please be careful." nodded Kayo, keeping a hand on her grandson's shoulder.
Kato walked to the door and pushed, but the thick iron-banded wood panels didn't budge.
"It's locked."
"Too bad, we'll add to the list of vandalism acts." shrugged Sakura, pointing her gun at the gate, aiming at the left panel and locking three points. "You may want to line up against the wall, there's about to be a lot of splinters flying."
Her teammates quickly did as she suggested, and once Sakura also walked out of the way, the pulled the lower trigger. A second later, an irregular hole about one meter wide and two meters tall was blaster through the door.
Sakura quickly walked through, gun ready. She felt movement to the side and reacted instantly, rolling forward and turning. There were two more Buddha statues right by the door, three meters wide and wielding a stone mace and axe, each of those weapons taller than she was.
Sakura jumped back to avoid another attack from the axe-wielding one as she pointed her G-Gun at his face, locking it then pressing the second trigger. With her other hand, she took the G-sword, turned with her thumb the ring near the guard, causing the blade to extend to 1.5 meters, and slashed at the axe-wielding statue's legs.
As the first statue's head exploded, the black blade severed both legs of the second one just under the knees with only some minor resistance.
Sakura didn't have time to wonder about the blade's material as more Buddha statues were already coming from various parts of the large temple. But so were the other members of her group.
Ayase had entered while she was dealing with the two statues, using a G-rifle to lock the heads of incoming statues by twos or threes before pressing the second trigger. Shizuka, Kei, and Eru were next to enter, pointing their G-Guns at more statues, pressing the first and second trigger in quick succession. They actually missed most shots in their hurry, but Shizuka killed one while Kei tore an arm off another.
Kato and Kurono entered behind Kei, Shizuka and Eru, and opened fire as well.
Of the sixteen Buddha statues, most of them armed and their sizes varying from two to three meters, only two managed to reach them and were quickly dispatched by Sakura's blade.
Sakura looked around, seeing no other visible enemy, and took a quick glance at her computer. The radar didn't show more enemies, but the previous missions had taught her not to rely too much on it.
"There are four buildings in the temple." frowned Ayase.
"Kato and I will take the one on the right." declared Kurono. "It's not fair that you're hogging all the kills!"
Kato standing behind him seemed to hesitate for an instant, but nodded.
Sakura stared with a blank expression at Kurono for a few seconds, and Kurono started fidgeting. Finally, she shrugged.
"Do as you wish. I'm not your mom."
Sakura headed toward the leftmost building, her companions following her. They adopted a somewhat militaristic formation, arms pointed toward the front and flanks, ready to react to any enemy that would suddenly appear.
Sakura reached the door and carefully opened it. Only to see a giant left hand about to grab her.
"Stay back!" shouted Sakura as she jumped away, and the building seemed to explode as something huge burst through the rooftop.
A Buddha, made of bronze. The girls scattered in all directions as it walked out of the building, crushing anything in its way and sending debris in all directions.
This one was unarmed, but its sheer size, over thirty meters now that it was standing, was troublesome enough as it was.
Sakura slashed at its right foot, but the blade got stuck about twenty centimeters deep, and she had to abandon the weapon and jump away to avoid the statue's other foot.
The girls were already firing their G-Guns and G-Rifles at the giant, but the wounds they caused were superficial. The Buddha seemed to be paying particular attention to Sakura, as she had to repeatedly jump or roll away to avoid being trampled.
Ayase took advantage of the giant statue being distracted and managed to lock, then destroy both of its eyes. It was both a curse and a blessing, as Sakura became able to get far enough away to use her G-Gun, but the statue's movements also became more erratic and harder to compensate for.
Still, the wounds gradually accumulated on the giant Buddha's upper body, and after nearly thirty seconds of fighting, it finally collapsed, half of its head turned into a bloody mess.
Sakura walked around the giant body, staying clear of its arms just in case, and retrieved her sword from the statue's ankle.
"Well, that was something." smiled Ayase as she walked to her. Shizuka and Eru were also approaching. "I wonder who gave the final blow, and how many points this is worth."
"Who knows." nodded Sakura, looking at Kurono and Kato. They had paused during the fight and added to the barrage from a safe distance and were now carefully entering the building they had chosen. "I am hoping that this was the boss."
She looked around, then glanced at the minicomputer. She could see the map, as well as the icons representing every hunter, but there were no signs of any enemies, and…
She was about to stop watching when a blip appeared on the radar, followed by another. In just a second, five blips had appeared, all inside the building Kurono and Kato had entered.
"Five plus enemies in that building!" warned Sakura as she started running.
But it was already too late.
Kato erupted from the building's entrance, starting to run, when Sakura saw a splash of some transparent liquid thrown at him from inside. The liquid hit his back, and Kato fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
"Gahhhhhhhh!" screamed Kato, moving on the ground as if he was having a seizure. Sakura winced as she saw his back melting. That fluid was a powerful acid.
Another thing erupted from inside the building, a thin beam of blue light. It lasted only a second, moving slightly in an upward direction.
Sakura took a quick glance back, fearing that one of the girls had been hit by that laser, and she gritted her teeth as she saw Nishi's body appear on a rooftop, now divided in two as the malfunctioning suit became visible again amidst sparks of electricity.
It seemed that whatever was firing those beams could see through the suits' invisibility.
And if Sakura guessed correctly, after dealing with the immediate, close-range threat, then the sniper, the next item on the shooter's threat list was… her, currently far from any cover and the closest."
Sakura caught a glimpse of the enemy as it came closer to the building's entrance. A golden Buddha, a bit over two meters in length, with no less than twenty arms, each holding different objects.
She saw one of the many objects the statue was carrying, a small lantern shaped like a pagoda starting to glow, and she threw herself to the side, evading another beam of light.
"Ayase, with me! Everyone else, take cover behind the giant corpse, now!" shouted Sakura.
"We're going all-out?" asked Ayase in a low voice, dropping her G-rifle to draw her G-Gun and her G-sword.
"We'll probably have to."
"Well, it's not like we're actually forbidden from…" she stopped speaking and dove to the side to avoid another laser.
Sakura frowned. She wasn't certain, but she felt like the golden Buddha was firing lasers at anyone pointing a gun at it. She shouldn't just assume that to be the case, however, as they were fighting something alive, not a program or mechanism.
Moreover, walking behind the golden Buddha were four more statues, two meters in length, thankfully with only a single pair of arms. The way they moved, however, made clear that compared to those they had previously fought, those four were elites.
And the one wielding a pair of swords had blood on one of them.
"I'll take on Goldie." said Sakura.
"Understood." nodded Ayase, and the two girls simultaneously burst into motion.
Sakura wanted to engage the many-armed Buddha, but the enemy didn't agree with that, and two of the elite Buddhas, armed with a round hammer and a large sword whose blade was shaped like a scythe, got in her way. Barely slowing down, she leaned to the side and down, evading the sword by a few centimeters, and moved her G-gun upward, pressing the lock button three times when it pointed at its abdomen, torso and head.
Using the statue's left leg as a springboard, she suddenly jumped back before the huge round hammer could hit her, then slashed at the hammer-wielding one at wrist level, severing its hands. Sakura wanted to finish off the handless statue while the other saw its head and torso explode, but had to jump to the side in a hurry as another pagoda lantern was shining.
This time, the laser followed her, and she hurriedly created a half-dozen layers of golden shields to protect herself. Two shields were destroyed when the beam stopped, and the golden statue followed up that attack with a throwing gesture from the hand holding a jar.
Clear liquid sprayed in her direction, and Sakura maintained the remaining four shields. The acid's momentum was stopped cold when it impacted the first shield, and the fluid fell on the floor, eroding the stone pavement with a sizzling sound.
Seeing no immediate attack coming other that the golden Buddha walking toward her, Sakura let the shields disappear and seized the opportunity to destroy the injured statue.
On the side, Ayase had already dealt with the third and fourth elite statues and was circling around the golden Buddha, intending to make it fight on two fronts.
They both attacked together, diving in. When they came close, the arms lashed out at a surprising speed. A normal human would have found very difficult to defend against the two golden swords, not to mention the prongs and rods and scepters held by other arms.
However, against them, it didn't stand a chance in close combat, no matter how many weapons it wielded.
Both Pagoda lanterns started to glow, and Sakura and Ayase moved in closer, managing to cut off the hands holding the lanterns.
Deprived of those dangerous ranged attacks, Sakura breathed a sight of relief. She remained especially vigilant about the one left arm of the status, because of the jar it held.
The fight was quickly going into their favor as they darted in and out of range, having severed several more arms, when another item held by one of the golden Buddha's left hand started to glow.
Sakura and Ayase both jumped away, putting a few light shields between the golden Buddha and themselves as they warily watched. Sakura created a Light sword, ready to react to anything.
She was thinking about going ahead and simply slaughtering the golden Buddha with a dozen more swords, low profile be damned, when the glowing artifact held by the statue activated, and suddenly, the statue was intact. Its severed hands were connected again, and the two lantern pagodas started their firing cycle.
Neither Ayase nor Sakura intended to give it the two seconds they needed, and they rushed back in, overwhelming the statue. Sakura had to use Shunpo to avoid an acid splash, but the girls managed to cut off the lantern-holding hands again, then the one holding the artifact it had used to cancel its injuries, and finally the one holding the jar.
From there, the golden Buddha didn't stand a chance. Its many arms flailed around, and its face showed its anger, but the writing was already on the wall. To Sakura, the statue's arms were moving in slow motion, and she had no difficulty avoiding the various melee weapons and severing more arms.
In seconds, the golden Buddha became armless, and Ayase beheaded it.
The maimed body of the golden Buddha collapsed.
"Good job, Ayase." smiled Sakura as they stepped away and started walking back toward the giant Buddha's corpse. Eru and Shizuka had watched the fight and were now leaving cover.
"Thanks." frowned Ayase. "But… Kato and Nishi and Kurono are dead, and… isn't the difficulty level increasing too much? If not for us being… well, us, we'd have been in trouble."
Sakura agreed.
Ayase looked like she wanted to add something but froze as she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Something dark green trying to quietly extricate itself from the golden Buddha. Ayase turned and shot at it with her G-Gun.
Sakura, her combat reflexes deeply ingrained, was already aiming her own gun in the direction Ayase pointed at before she even recognized the threat, and she pressed the triggers almost instantly.
The thing, seeing that it had been spotted, suddenly accelerated its movements to get completely out of the statue's body.
It was large, about the size of a horse, and had a human head, six arms, two legs and tail. Had Gudako or Mash been there, they would have concluded that it was a Yoma.
Whatever it was, however, became moot, as the two seconds delay between firing and activation of the G-Guns elapsed, and it turned into a mangled corpse.
"Damn it, this thing just doesn't want to die." said Shizuka as she joined them, Eru a few steps behind her.
"Keep an eye around, everyone. I'll check on the radar." said Sakura.
"That's unnecessary, you're being transferred, Sakura." pointed out Ayase.
Sakura nodded, and a second later, she saw the empty apartment.
One by one, the hunters returned. When Gantz was done, Sakura proceeded to a quick headcount.
"So, we lost Kurono, Kato, Nishi, and the dog." sighed Sakura.
"Grandma, are they… dead?" asked Riota. "Will we die too?"
"We won't." sighed Kayo, giving her grandchild a tight hug.
Gantz displayed a message.
"Time to share the points."
"Catgirl – 4 points.
+00 m05t1y jv5+ 4+00d th3r3."
Tsugumi shrugged but didn't say anything. It was true, after all. She had shot one single buddha statue and contributed to killing the giant one, but Gantz didn't seem to grant points for assists. Next was Rin's turn.
"Violent Girl – 4 points.
S4m3 4s C4+g1rl."
"Scary Girl 2 (Titz) – 72 points.
+h3 m0n5+3r5 4r3 m\/l+1ply1ng."
"I'm not going to make it drop this stupid nickname, am I?" sighed Ayase.
"Total 104 points. Do you want to spend your points?
Option 1: 100 points - Stronger weapon.
Option 2: 100 points - Freedom.
Option 3: 100 points - Revive one person."
"I choose option two, but not for me. Release Riota Sugimoto." declared Ayase, smiling at the kid and her grandma.
"Riota froze mid sob and turned to stare at her, and Kayo flinched, staring at Ayase with wide eyes."
"Miss Ayase, this is…"
"Do not mind it." shrugged Ayase. "Helping kids first is only the decent thing to do."
"…Still, I will be forever grateful for you saving my grandchild." replied Kayo, her eyes brimming with tears.
"It's fine, really. Just offer me a coffee if we meet during the day."
"…Yes. Thank you so much, miss Ayase. And thank you for protecting us, everyone."
Gantz started transferring Riota away.
"Kayo-san, remember that you can't talk about Gantz to Riota from now on." said Ayase. "He will have lost his memories related to this, and if you do, your head might explode. You also need to take steps to ensure his future, in case you wouldn't return from a mission."
"Yes." nodded Kayo.
Gantz ignored them and continued his grading.
"Naked Girl – 4 points
5om3wha+ u53fvll 4+ l4s+"
"Fitness Freak – 4 points
+h4+'5 4 5l0w 5+4rt. G3t j00r bv++ 1n+0 h1gh g34r!"
"Nosy Girl – 4 points
j00 w1ll b3 +h3r3 f0r3v3r 4+ +h1s r4t3."
"Super Scary Girl – 58 points
..."
"Ah! It seems even this loudmouth Gantz is speechless!" chuckled Rin.
"Total 121 points. Do you want to spend your points?
Option 1: 100 points - Stronger weapon.
Option 2: 100 points - Freedom.
Option 3: 100 points - Revive one person."
"Option 2, I want Kayo Sugimoto to be freed." said Sakura.
"Miss Sakura…" exclaimed Kayo, shocked once again.
"Looks like you're not going to be offering Ayase coffee after all. But it's fine. Leave the fighting to us young ones. You have a grandchild to take care of." said Sakura with a warm smile.
"Thank you. Thank you so much!" sobbed Kayo.
Sakura smiled and gave her a tight hug. She released her, only to be replaced by Rin.
"Take good care of yourself and Riota-kun, Kayo-san."
"Y-Yes, I promise." nodded Kayo.
The girls hugged Kayo in turn, and she was transferred away.
"…It's just the seven of us now." said Shizuka.
"Yes." nodded Rin. "Before we change out of these suits and leave, let's observe a minute of silence for the fallen. Kurono was a perv, but he kept it under control, and that's good enough for me. Kato was a good guy, and Nishi was selfish and jaded, but still a decent guy."
The others nodded, and they remained silent for a minute.
"That being said." shrugged Rin when the minute was over. "We have an opportunity to bring them back. Some of them, at least. So we don't need to be overly sad."
Kei, Eru and Shizuka nodded, as they already had been told about it.
"We'll be getting five newbies next time." said Tsugumi.
"Yes. Hopefully, there will be some people from the JSDF." nodded Shizuka.
"That would be good, but the odds are much bigger that we'll get some criminals instead." shrugged Sakura.
"There is no need to worry ahead of time." shrugged Rin. "If some scums cause trouble, we will deal with them."
The girls changed back into their street clothes, and left the apartment.
On the way back Shizuka sighed.
"Can you guys train us for real?"
"Nine hours of daily martial arts training isn't enough for you?" asked Tsugumi with a raised eyebrow.
"You guys know what I mean! Sure, I'm slowly growing stronger. Emphasis on 'slow'. And I am grateful that you are helping us. But if we are to survive the next mission, and the one after that, and the one still after, we need more, and fast! Like being able to summon those shields of yours."
"…It's not impossible to make you able to use Hard Light Arsenal, that's the name of that ability, by the time the next mission comes, assuming it's at least three days away. But the training will be… not conventional." warned Rin.
"Not conventional?" frowned Shizuka.
"Do you think something like this can be acquired by something like meditation or a workout? You will first have to sign the magic equivalent of a NDA before we even start, and only after will you learn about the process."
Shizuka nodded.
"As soon as we reach your home, I wish to sign that NDA. That golden Buddha… Without you girls having those abilities, it would have killed a lot of us."
"Fine with me. How about you, Eru, Kei?"
"I need to be stronger as well." replied Kei.
"So do I." nodded Eru. "Even if it's painful, please teach me how to use those cool powers."
"Sure. We will teach you well." smiled Sakura.
Shizuka, Eru and Kei completely missed the predatory gleam in Sakura's eyes.