Read Online Vengeance Is Mine by Shiden Kanzaki - Free Book Online Page A

and held it in both hands, staring hard at it. “It is quite large. It’s about ten meters high; its length and width is also about ten meters. It’s probably a Stage Four.”
    That was the thing that wreaked havoc on the civil officer base. They had no hope of winning unless they eliminated it. But how were they supposed to do that…?
    Just then, a loud voice called “Excuse me!” from outside the door. When Rentaro stood to look out the window, he saw a man he didn’t know standing outside. “Is there a Leader Satomi here? I have a summons from Commander Gado. Please report immediately to the temporary headquarters.”
4
    Rentaro left the dilapidated hotel looking sidelong at Enju and the others, who were watching uneasily. He followed Gado’s messenger to the temporary headquarters; he had heard that it was in the main school building of a different junior high, and this was his first time visiting it.
    The campfires he saw from afar grew steadily bigger, and the half-dilapidated school appeared slowly out of the darkness. After a quick, silent bow to the two guards standing in front of the campfires there to burn away the summer insects, they entered the school building.
    From the direction the messenger was leading him, Rentaro surmised that Gado and the others were using the staff room as their temporary headquarters. From the light spilling out beyond the room, it looked as though they’d given top priority to acquiring electricity. Once Rentaro was delivered, Gado’s messenger bowed shortly and left.
    Rentaro knocked on the door and waited until he was given verbal permission to enter. At the voice, he slid open the door.
    Having grown used to the darkness, the brightness inside dazzledhis eyes. The extra steel tables in the staff room were pushed to the corner, and Gado and the twelve or so members of his adjuvant sat around a U-shaped table. In the center was a single, high-backed chair. Everyone around the table was wearing exoskeletons that looked like traditional Japanese armor, and the heat they emitted made the room feel cramped. It was as if they were about to start an inquiry.
    Rentaro licked his upper lip and told himself to be careful. From the tense atmosphere and hostile gazes, Rentaro guessed that they weren’t about to talk about something fun.
    “Sit down,” urged the bald Gado, with his goatee and red armor, from the seat at the head of the table. Cautiously, Rentaro did as he was told.
    But Rentaro’s eyes widened the moment he faced front and focused on Gado. Trying desperately to stifle his uneasiness inside, Rentaro nervously raised his arm and pointed at Gado. “You’re…”
    “Yeah, it happened when I fought Him.” There was nothing below Gado’s left thigh. It looked like it had been cut off, stitched up, and covered with a bandage. The bandage was covered with a dark stain of blood.
    “By
him
, you mean…Aldebaran?” That instant, it was as if he had said an abominable name, and Gado’s team covered their faces in agitation.
    The rumor was true then, after all. In yesterday’s battle, there was a scream of agony that echoed right before the civil officers were completely wiped out, and then the Gastrea suddenly retreated. Rentaro and the other regulars hadn’t been told the details, but it was a badly kept secret that Gado and his partner had fought Aldebaran, and that their fight had ended in a draw.
    What was baffling about the situation was that Gado had gone into hiding with no explanation after that, but seeing the sorry state he was in now, Rentaro understood why. It was beyond the level of a badge of honor. If Gado showed himself to the civil officer troops the way he looked now, they couldn’t avoid a drop in morale.
    Gado seemed to notice Rentaro’s silence and showed his white teeth with a sinister challenge, slapping his left knee. “You know, this leg wasn’t stolen from me. I gave it to that damn Gastrea.”
    “Nagamasa, sir, please do not push