Glory and Liberty
The walking corpse who picked a fight with me last time had finally become a real corpse. But thanks to that idiot's trolling, every test subject in the Dangerous Zone had been released. And now Liberty, with her freedom of movement restored, had come running straight toward me.
I was relieved she hadn't tried to eat me. That was something. But Gloria, who had been with me the whole time, was clearly in a foul mood. Worse, she seemed to have finally figured out the source of the strange smell clinging to my body.
"Wait... this smell...?"
"Whine?"
The air turned ice-cold. It felt like a dagger had been driven straight into my chest. The moment Gloria and Liberty became aware of each other, the atmosphere in the containment room froze over instantly.
Still, this was an opportunity. I'd planned to introduce them eventually anyway. The timing had simply come a little sooner than expected. I opened my mouth.
"Perfect timing. This is the child I wanted to introduce to you, Gloria."
"Hah. Why the hell are you trying to stick that stinking mutt on me?"
The fact that Gloria had spoken in such a long sentence instead of her usual curt replies showed just how displeased she was. Whether it was the smell or the situation, her first impression of Liberty had been completely ruined. I still had to get over this massive mountain somehow.
But life never goes according to plan.
"I... am not... a mutt."
"Liberty?"
Liberty had suddenly started using human language instead of beastly sounds. Given how young she was, I'd assumed some intelligence remained, but it seemed Gloria's pure insult had snapped her out of it. And just like how Gloria's telekinesis had turned her into a bloodhound, Liberty was a full-blown wolf mutant.
Liberty slowly climbed down from my body and continued speaking in her clumsy, broken way.
"The bad smell... on Papa... It was you..."
"So you really are a mutt, huh?"
"Grrrrrrrrr...."
The low growl carried a clear message: I don't like you.
Gloria seemed to understand perfectly. She got off the bed entirely. The two girls faced each other, and the situation deteriorated rapidly. I tried to intervene before a fight broke out, but the two ill-tempered girls had no intention of listening to me.
"Forget it. When have I ever tried to solve things with words?"
"If I eat her... Papa will be mine. Hehehehehe..."
And with that, they charged at each other.
Right before the two girls collided, Gloria suddenly waved her hand through the air. I wondered what she was doing—until an invisible force slammed into me.
Thud!!
"Ugh?!"
The kinetic push sent me flying into the opposite wall. My back took the impact, but my body was sturdy enough to endure it. Still, Liberty saw me in pain. A deep murderous intent flooded her golden eyes.
The enraged Liberty immediately slashed at Gloria with her claws. Gloria dodged the attack effortlessly and countered with a punch. A small flash of light struck Liberty's abdomen, releasing a massive shockwave.
But why had I gone to meet Liberty after Gloria in the first place? The attack didn't blow off Liberty's upper body. She remained perfectly fine. Her wounds healed in an instant. She immediately counterattacked with her claws. Gloria, who had nearly been slashed across the face, grew furious in turn.
"You crazy mutt!!!"
"Grrrrr!!!"
Liberty possessed physical abilities strong enough to overwhelm nearly every close-combat esper in the series. On top of that, she had that absurd super regeneration. Thanks to it, she didn't just endure Gloria's attacks—she actually made the fight possible.
Of course, Gloria still held the upper hand in raw power. Liberty was sent flying straight into the corridor wall. The wall shattered, and the two continued their battle out in the hallway.
Thus began the magnificent battle of two ten-year-old girls.
Watching the corridor and walls crumble like tofu, I realized my plan had gone horribly wrong. This was probably the end of the road for me.
Well, I struggled as much as I could. That's enough.
How could anyone survive this chaos? The espers locked in the Dangerous Zone hated Black Cell researchers with a passion. The moment they saw me, they'd attack without hesitation.
But something strange happened instead.
"W-what the hell is this?!"
"Is this another one of their experiments?"
"How did things end up like this..."
The prisoners who hadn't escaped yet came out to check on the commotion. But the moment Liberty, eyes glowing with golden light, swung her claws, the entire corridor was torn apart, leaving deep gashes. Gloria hurled a massive boulder to cancel out the attack.
Having witnessed the absurd power of these young girls firsthand, the prisoners froze for a moment, then quickly fled down the opposite corridor. Honestly, I would've done the same.
Of course, there was always one brave fool.
"T-this isn't the time to fight! We all need to escape together! Calm down, both of you!"
The prisoner tried to persuade the two girls who were currently blocking the nearest exit. But one of his arms was ripped clean off, and he was immediately caught in their brawl, reduced to a bloody pulp.
In the end, no one else came this way. I had been forcibly made safe.
Some time had passed since Gloria and Liberty began fighting. The ten-year-old girls seemed to possess infinite stamina. They showed no signs of tiring. If anything, their killing intent only grew stronger.
Fortunately, they seemed to be paying attention to my presence. The room I was in had suffered almost no damage aside from the broken corridor wall. That was a relief, at least.
Now that my safety was confirmed, I did what I could.
"Director, are you watching the situation unfolding in the Dangerous Zone?"
> Of course~ It's quite entertaining, isn't it?
The occasional CCTV cameras still functioning suggested that Black Cell was aware of the current situation. The director seemed to view this as the perfect opportunity to observe the power of Gloria and Liberty, both of whom were normally too dangerous to approach. From the sound of her voice over the phone, she appeared to be busy opening a bag of popcorn.
But soon, an order came from the director.
> Maxwell, there's a white rabbit near you right now. Could you help that one out?
"A white rabbit?"
The director had suddenly said something completely out of left field. I glanced in the direction she indicated. Sure enough, a girl with white hair, red eyes, and rabbit ears—a mutant—was lying on the floor, sobbing.
"Are you referring to this child?"
> Exactly! Her name is Victory. She's an extremely valuable test asset.
The moment I heard the girl's name from the director, I realized who she was.
"Isn't she the esper with the acceleration ability?"
> You already knew? Anyway, your daughters are avoiding you on purpose, so please protect her separately.
The director had casually referred to Liberty and Gloria—who were currently throwing murderous punches at each other—as my daughters. Her playful tone made her sound remarkably carefree.
"More importantly, if she has acceleration ability, why is Victory just sitting there?"
> She tried to sneak out using her acceleration but got caught in their fight like the esper who just died. Looks like she took serious damage to her legs.
"Ah, then it can't be helped."
> There's a special treatment kit lying around nearby too. I'm counting on you.
The acceleration ability was heavily tied to the condition of the user's legs. A serious injury there would render her nearly powerless. In other words, I could approach her far more safely than when I'd first met Gloria and Liberty. It was also the perfect chance to earn her gratitude.
Besides, I'd originally planned to meet Victory anyway. The two girls had distanced themselves while fighting. Now was the perfect opportunity.
I immediately ran over to Victory. But perhaps she was terrified of researchers? The moment she saw me, her face turned deathly pale and she began flailing on the floor.
Still, if she stayed here, she would surely get caught in the whirlwind battle of those two ten-year-old storms and die.
"Excuse me for a moment."
"E-eh?"
Whether Victory was scared or not, I scooped her up in my arms. On the way back, I spotted the special treatment kit the director had mentioned on the floor. I managed to return to the containment room with the bewildered Victory.
Now I understood why the director had mentioned the kit.
Her condition is worse than I thought.
If she didn't receive emergency treatment soon, Victory would be crippled for life. I tore off the white lab coat I was wearing and used nearby debris to create a splint so her injured leg wouldn't move. Finally, I pulled out the sealed syringe from the treatment kit.
The moment Victory saw it, she panicked and began struggling wildly.
"Hiiiieeeeek?! N-no!! Nooooooo!"
Did she have a fear of syringes? But I had been living with Gloria and Liberty this whole time. I gently stroked Victory's head to calm her down.
"Shhh... It's alright."
"Uuuu..."
It seemed to work. Victory calmed down quickly. Since phobias were often heavily visual, I covered her eyes with my hand and injected the syringe into her leg.
Shunk!!
"Eep?!"
"There, all done. No need to worry anymore."
As expected of a powerful treatment drug made by Black Cell through human experimentation, the effect was dramatic. If Victory had tried to run away by force, things might have gotten complicated. Fortunately, she simply stared at me blankly.
While I was taking care of the injured white rabbit, the noise outside suddenly grew louder.
"Move in quickly!!"
"If the damage gets any worse, restoration will be impossible!"
"Prepare for impact!"
I wasn't sure if the director had finished collecting combat data on Gloria and Liberty, or if they'd simply resolved the other issues, but Black Cell had deployed special forces into the Dangerous Zone.
And now I could see exactly how this organization had managed to contain such powerful espers and mutants.
Beeeeeeeeeep!!!!
"Ugh!!"
"Grrrr?!"
"Kyaaaaaaa!!"
The moment the special forces pulled the triggers on their toy-like guns, a strange ringing sound filled the air. I felt nothing, but the two girls who had been fighting, along with Victory beside me, clutched their ears in agony.
This was the sonic gun. It only affected espers and mutants, scrambling their brains and neutralizing most supernatural abilities. Since it attacked internally with sound waves, physical defense was meaningless.
But Liberty and Gloria were no ordinary beings. They broke straight through the sonic attack and charged the special forces.
However, these agents were espers personally raised by Black Cell. Thanks to the special headgear they wore, they were unaffected by the sonic guns. With superior numbers and rigorous training, they managed to counter the attacks despite sustaining injuries.
They then bombarded the area with dozens of grenades that emitted similar sonic power. Mobilizing decades of specialized equipment and tactics developed specifically to combat espers, they finally brought the still-growing Liberty and Gloria to their knees.