Chapter 19: Operation Tornado (Part Three)

With things having escalated to this point, Ye Chen decided not to waste any more breath explaining himself. For this bunch of fools, convincing them with his fists was far more effective than trying to reason with them. He turned to Kanade Tachibana, who remained calm and unperturbed at his side, and said, “Kanade, if you trust me, don’t intervene in what happens next. I won’t let my friends get hurt!”

Hearing this, Kanade saw the determination in Ye Chen’s eyes and silently nodded, stepping behind him without a word.

“Thank you for your trust,” Ye Chen thought, grateful to her. Before he could turn around, a barrage of gunfire erupted from behind. Muzzles spat tongues of flame, and the hot bullets blazed crimson through the dark night, enveloping Ye Chen, Kanade, and even Otonashi, who wasn’t far off, within their range of attack.

In such a dense hail of bullets, using sword-drawing techniques designed for a single decisive strike was clearly impossible. The best option was to use the star power of the Nightshade Celestial Technique; no amount of bullets would matter then. But with only one use left, Ye Chen didn’t want to waste it on such a small skirmish. Besides that, he hadn’t practiced any other special energy techniques.

“If nothing else works, I’ll just have to use that method!” Relying on his experience, instincts, and swordsmanship foundation, Ye Chen parried the incoming bullets one by one. A flurry of sword images whirled around him, forming an impenetrable barrier into which not a single bullet could pass.

Moments like this tested his fundamentals. If his reactions had been a fraction slower, or his sword swings less precise, a bullet might have slipped through. Fortunately, though his time spent honing the basics was short, Ye Chen’s foundation was solid.

“Perception Field.” Once he was certain he could defend against all the bullets, Ye Chen’s curiosity turned to the power of the Twin Fantasia Swords, sacred artifacts with unique properties. He instantly activated the Perception Field. Within a ten-meter radius, everything seemed to freeze—not truly, but slowed to thousands of times their normal speed. The bullets still flew forward, but in Ye Chen’s eyes, they moved so slowly it was as if they were standing still.

Every trajectory was crystal clear in his mind; he no longer needed to think about how to parry—responses appeared in his mind automatically. Under triple defense, the bullets lost all their force, feeling like nothing more than raindrops striking his body.

To Ye Chen, the bullets slowed to a crawl, but his own speed remained unchanged. To the onlookers, it seemed as if his sword moved thousands of times faster; sometimes a bullet had barely left the muzzle before it was deflected, with no one seeing how he had moved.

“How are we supposed to fight this?” After all that shooting, they were nearly out of bullets and hadn’t even grazed his clothing. If anything, their attacks only made him more adept. The stray bullets left pockmarks on nearby buildings and shattered streetlights.

“If pistols don’t work, I refuse to believe even a rocket launcher is useless!” Matsushita, undeterred, hoisted a rocket launcher and fired. Flames and smoke belched from the rocket’s tail as it hurtled toward Ye Chen, with no concern for his safety—after all, in this afterlife, people revived after death.

Shiina nimbly leapt from the cafeteria roof, landing in a crouch, and hurled her short sword. It intercepted Matsushita’s rocket mid-flight, and the explosion between the two sides engulfed both the SSS members and Ye Chen, along with Kanade.

“Get down!” Hinata shouted, grabbing the heads of those beside him and diving to the ground. Ye Chen quickly wrapped an arm around Kanade’s waist, grabbing Otonashi by the collar and pulling him to safety beneath a nearby staircase.

“Ow!” As they tumbled down, Ye Chen released his grip on Otonashi’s collar, letting gravity do its work. Otonashi landed face-first with a yelp, immediately complaining, “Ye Chen, you traitor! Why does the angel get carried while I get slammed into the ground?”

“Because C.C. once told me that a man who doesn’t protect girls isn’t a good man. Do you want a girl to take the hit for you?” Ye Chen looked at Otonashi with open disdain—C.C. had once been hurt protecting him, leaving a deep impression, and her words had stayed with him ever since. As long as someone wasn’t an enemy, he would help them—let alone Kanade, who was his first friend in this world.

“Fine, forget I said anything.” Otonashi, as a man, realized his complaint was out of line.

“It’s just a stalling tactic, but I never expected it to escalate into such a fierce battle. There are other ways to buy time without fighting; those idiots are truly hopeless. Kanade, if you don’t mind, why don’t we wait here until the concert is over? Let’s listen to them sing from here,” Ye Chen said, casually sitting on the steps and patting the spot beside him for her to join him. Without waiting for their reactions, he looked up at the starry sky. Kanade hesitated, then quietly sat down next to him.

“I’ll stay here too. If I go back up, I’ll probably get dragged into another fight. It’s safer to sit with you guys,” Otonashi said. He’d intended to rejoin the SSS members, but after the fierce gunfight just now, his courage failed him, and he found a clean spot to sit.

Meanwhile, the SSS members, still reeling from the explosion, began questioning Shiina. It was understandable for Ye Chen to side with the “angel,” but why had Shiina helped her?

“Just now, Shiro was in danger!” Shiina replied, her face uncharacteristically grave and serious.

“She’s done for—Shiina’s been bewitched by that demon fox! Should we take her to a shrine? Wait, there aren’t any shrines in the afterlife…” Fujimaki muttered, twirling his wooden sword in frustration.

Outside, the battle had died down, but inside the cafeteria, the atmosphere was still electric. From her vantage point above, Yuri saw that the excitement had reached its peak. “The party has reached its climax!” she announced.

She radioed to Yuzawa, the communications officer: “Spin it up!”

“Commencing spin!” came the reply.

The other SSS members immediately turned on the fans and opened all the cafeteria vents. A gale swept through the hall, and all the meal tickets on the NPCs and students soared into the air, swirling out through the vents. Outside, Ye Chen, Kanade, and Otonashi watched as meal tickets drifted down like snow. Ye Chen plucked one from the air just as the sound of hurried footsteps signaled Hinata and the others’ retreat.

“They’re gone. After all this commotion, it’s late and I’m starving. Let’s go to the cafeteria to eat—these meal tickets shouldn’t go to waste!” Ye Chen said, grabbing a few falling tickets and inviting Otonashi and Kanade to join him.