Bracing ourselves, we observed the situation. There was no sign of any beams shooting out.
“Alright, doesn’t seem like an error. I’ll handle the one on the right. You two can handle the one on the left. Takahashi, you can use my chainsaw.”
“Eh? Then Saito-san’s weapon…”
“I’ll work something out.”
Although I was a bit concerned, I was sure Saito could handle it without a weapon. I took the chainsaw and started it up.
“Takahashi-san, you don’t have to push yourself too hard. Just try not to get hurt.”
Inoue’s words made me feel a little annoyed. It was true that I hadn’t done much today, but I didn’t think that was the right way to say it. One of the QUERY’s legs swayed as if searching for me. I didn’t realise it until now, but each tip had a claw that moved like a snake’s mouth.
Opening its claw, the leg came towards me like a snake wanting to bite. Okay. This is fine. I calmly held the chainsaw in front of me and pushed it against the QUERY’s leg.
GaGaGaGaGaGaGaGaGaGaGaGa.
The leg was split from the tip, making it useless. After pushing the switch, I pushed the chainsaw further into the leg, cutting it off. That’s the first one.
“Are you alright? I can do it myself, so it’s fine if you stay back.”
Inoue said while dodging the QUERY’s attacks.
What the hell is she saying? I dodged one of the QUERY’s legs as it swung down towards me before cutting it off. It’s going well. I can do it.
“Please don’t get carried away after cutting off one or two legs. It can be dangerous.”
“It’s fine. It doesn’t move very fast. Inoue-san, if you’re tired, you can also step back.”
I faced the QUERY head on. The QUERY turned its attention to me as I approached and moved all its remaining legs towards me. It’s claws make clicking sounds, as if thinking about where to cut me.
“UWAAAAAAAAAAH-!!!”
I swung the chainsaw around to threaten it. The chainsaw was heavy, it wasn’t meant to be a weapon used like this.
GaGaa-
I cut off a claw that came close.
Kachi-Kachi-
I saw metal at the edge of my vision. When I turned around, a claw was about to crush my head.
Oh no, I’m dead.
“QUERY.”
The QUERY function stopped moving and slowly lost its shape as it sank.
Inoue came out from the shadow of the disappearing QUERY as she spoke.
“Oh, it worked, it worked.”
She had riled me up into becoming a decoy.
########################
“Now then, what should we do?”
Saito thought out loud. He still had grenades left. Using them, he could take care of the QUERY in one shot, but he also didn’t know how many more would show up today. He wanted to keep some in reserve. He could also just stall for time and wait for Inoue and Takahashi to join in.
Saito chose neither. It wasn’t a competition between them after all. Taking out a long, folding, survival knife from his bag, he pushed the blade out before running towards the QUERY.
He dodged the QUERY’s legs that came charging at him from the front, dodging to the left. Another leg swung down from the left, but he ducked under it, using it as a shield against the other legs. The legs he used as shields ended up being mangled and losing function. Using his survival knife to cut off multiple legs clawing at him to his right, he used the momentary gap to escape by weaving under another broken leg. Slipping out to the left side of the QUERY’s body, Saito swung his knife.
Glancing over to the other side, he saw that Takahashi was facing the QUERY head on. That guy was an idiot. The QUERY had many legs, but the range of motion of each leg was limited. If you weren’t in a place like that, it would be impossible to be surrounded. I wondered why he was in a position like that with the two of them working together, but since Inoue was sneaking up from behind, I guess that was part of their strategy.
Slipping out to the immediate left of the QUERY’s body, Saito was almost out of the function’s sight. The QUERY tried to turn around to face him, but it was too late. It tried to use its legs as a shield, but Saito grabbed onto them and yanked them hard.
“URYOAAH-!!”
The legs came off the body with a popping sound.
“QUERY.”
Approaching the body, which was now defenseless, Saito processed the QUERY function.
“Thanks for your hard work.”
Inoue and Takahashi came over after that. It seemed like the join query had been processed. The cells everywhere were shining faintly.
They waited for a while longer after that, but no more functions appeared. It seems the day’s quest was over.