There were soldiers under mind control mixed in with the rest!
The fact that we had no way to counter it yet was terrifying.
It was the same as it had been back at the Imperial Capital—they could only manipulate humans who genetically carried Zork genes. Even then, it wasn't a guarantee that they could be controlled.
"Nina-san... maybe I should just barricade myself in the server room?"
"No can do, Leo-kun. We need a decoy~♪"
Just then, the duo of Isono and Nakajima arrived.
I could tell immediately that these two were being controlled. I didn't have any hard evidence, but I just had a gut feeling. Mostly because they were idiots!
"Leo! Over here!!!"
For some reason, Isono shouted with the stiflingly intense expression of a character from a hot-blooded Yankee manga. Just as I was about to follow him, he spun around and showed me his back.
...And that was when I saw it.
A knife was thrust deep into Isono's ass.
"Heh, this is the Isono House Ultimate Secret Art: Hallucinations and Mind Control are Negated by Pain!!! Then I Should Just Stab My Own Ass!"
"Y-You absolute idiot!!!"
"Heh, Leo. Take a look at Nakajima's rear too!!!"
A knife was also thrust into Nakajima's ass.
Normally, wouldn't you stab yourself in the leg for something like this?!
"This is the Nakajima House Ultimate Secret Art: I Was Egged on by Isono and Stabbed My Ass with a Knife for the Hell of It, but It Hurts so Much I Honestly Regret It!!!"
"Are you guys okay?! I'm seriously worried about you right now!!! Specifically, your mental states!!!"
"Heh... for this Warrior of Love Isono, a little pain like this is nothing! I'll settle for merely cursing your name for the next three generations!!!"
"I am the Ultra Sexy Hero Nakajima!!! I will never, ever forgive Isono!!!"
Nakajima... your true feelings are leaking out...
Nina-san just giggled. "Oh my, boys sure have it rough~♪"
Then, the soldiers who had lost their minds arrived.
"Leo! I'll hold them off here!!! Run!!!"
"I-Isono! Are you going to be okay?!"
"To be honest... my ass hurts so much I can't keep up with you anymore!!! I don't want to move ever again!!!" he wailed.
"You total moron!!!"
"Let's go, Nakajima!"
"Yeah, Isono!!! Let's do this!!! But Isono, when we get back, you're the first person I'm killing!!! Go, Leo! Get out of here!!!"
"I won't forget your sacrifice!!! Farewell!!!"
"For boobs!!!"
"Loyalty to boobs!!!"
The two idiots charged into the crowd. I had a feeling those guys would survive even if I just left them to their own devices.
That said, they were only two shields. They were pushed aside by the crowd in the blink of an eye.
"Geez, you mustn't move, okay!"
Nina-san let loose with her large-caliber handgun. I didn't sense even a hint of hesitation from her—no desire to hold back because they were allies, no worry about hurting them. It was a relentless attack.
Technically, it was a shock gun for riot suppression, so they probably wouldn't die. They'd just be badly injured. The soldiers Nina-san shot collapsed one after another.
"Geez, a handgun isn't fast enough~" Nina-san grumbled.
I joined in, firing my shotgun. I really hated shooting my own allies, though!
"Leo-kun, wait a moment!"
Nina-san ducked into the kitchen and brought something out. It was a Gatling gun. Why did she even have something like that in there?!
"Here we go~♪"
Ah, this was definitely the kind of situation where I'd get caught in the crossfire too. I threw myself flat on the floor the very next second.
Nina-san fired the Gatling gun from the hip.
"N-No mooooooore!!!"
I clutched the back of my head as she mowed down our allies. Nina-san was terrifyingly amazing!!!
"Bad! I said bad!"
She's incredible. Nina-san...
Having rendered the soldiers incapable of combat in no time at all, Nina-san offered a sweet smile. "You know, Leo-kun, I feel like I really have to protect Veronica-chan~♪"
"That's the spirit!!!"
We made a break for the bridge. Along the way, we found more soldiers scuffling with the Military Police.
"First, let's get our allies out of the way..."
"Out of the way~♪"
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
She was already firing. Well, she was technically right! In the interest of suppressing the threat safely, her method was efficient. But still, shooting our allies along with the enemies?
Then again, the ones attacking us were also our allies. The brainwashed soldiers fell, but most of our actual allies were taken down with them.
"Now, Leo-kun, let's go♪"
"Ah, yeah, okay. Sorry about that..." I said, offering a silent prayer for the fallen. They weren't dead, but still.
"Um, hey, why do you shoot our allies too?"
"You see, back at my family home, riots happen all the time. When that happens, it's hard to tell who's an ally and who's an enemy, right?♪ So, we just knock everyone out at once♪"
Nina-san's family home was in the former Pirate Territory. In other words, this was the pirate way of doing things. No wonder it didn't feel like a standard military operation. It was far too rough...
As Nina-san continued to mow down everyone regardless of friend or foe, I finally spotted Raven.
"Nina-san, stop! That's my Imperial Guard!!!"
"Okaay♪"
"M-My Lord!!!"
Raven and the Imperial Guard were there. As expected of the Grand Duke Territory Personal Guard, not a single one of them had succumbed to the chaos.
"Raven, we're going to protect Her Majesty the Emperor. Follow me."
"Understood!"
Life returned to the eyes of the exhausted Imperial Guard. In front of the bridge, just as I’d expected, the brainwashed soldiers were gathered like zombies. Seeing my opening, I gave a command with as much authority as I could muster.
"Kamishiro Main House Personal Guard! Suppress them!!!"
"Understood!!!"
Raven and the others were elite. They began beating the soldiers down one by one. I realized then that Nina-san's Gatling gun might actually have been the more moderate method. Even if she caught allies in the crossfire, being suppressed 'normally' looked a lot more painful. I actually saw a soldier's tooth go flying after Raven punched him.
Well, I suppose they can just regenerate that with nanomachines later.
I entered the bridge with the Imperial Guard and Nina-san.
"Are you safe, Lord Groom!?"
"One way or another. How are things on your end?"
"We are safe as long as we remain here. Even so, that Zork Mother has done something truly foolish. It is far too distracted by us. Look closely, Lord Groom. Witness my brother's battle."
When I actually stopped to look, it was an astounding sight. The Thomas Fleet was engaged with the Zork. He didn't rely on the brute force of humanoid fighters like I did. Thomas was toyed with the battleship-type Zork using movements so precise it was as if he were operating according to a textbook—or rather, as if he were the textbook itself, manifested with the cold precision of a machine.