C-Rank Ranked Match — Cheat-Tier Idol

Six large shields, each one big enough to hide a whole Space Girl behind it. Every one of them has its own Thruster, so just like a Space Girl, they can accelerate and go soaring through the air.

“Who’re you calling a m—”

— Clang!! A large shield drops square onto the crown of the Space Girl who’d been holding me. She splits clean in two, straight down from the top of her head.

If she were human and not a machine, it’d be one seriously gory sight. …Then again, Space Girl or not, it’s plenty gory as it is.

In the instant the shield came down, I caught a laser blade sprouting from its tip. So it’s got a Saber function built in, too.

Tsubasa lands right in front of me. Behind her, the other five large shields come down to ring us in.

“Th-the, um, er…!”

“Time for me to pay you back for those plushies now, ’kay~♪”

Tsubasa smiles at me as I stand there all tensed up, tripping over my words.

“Ha! I dunno about any ‘ex-A-Rank,’ but you really think you can win ten against two?!”

The Konpeitou open up with a volley all at once, but Tsubasa blocks every last shot with her six large shields and her Shield Pieces. Neither the shields nor the Shield Pieces lose so much as a point of durability.

“Tsubasa’s a Guardner. On top of an already-high Armor value, she dumps every one of her stat points into it, and with the Guardian Deity expansion part she hands that Armor value off to her shields. And Tsubasa’s at level 140. Those kids are 40 at best… and at that level, they can’t break through this defense.”

“But at this rate, we can’t attack either…”

“A counterattack—? Oh, that we can do!”

Tsubasa takes one of the large shields in hand and holds it up where I can get a good look at it.

“Tsubasa, you see, is the strongest idol there is.”

The armored surface of the shield in Tsubasa’s right hand slides aside, baring a gun muzzle.

“Aim’s set.”

Tsubasa presses the button on the large shield’s grip and rapid-fires laser rounds from the muzzle.

What even is this shield?! It’s got Thrusters, it’s got a blade on the tip, and on top of all that it’s packing a gun too?!

The laser rounds are slow, though, so the enemy manages to dodge the direct hit.

“Not done yet!”

Tsubasa takes another large shield in her left hand, extends the blade at its tip, and hurls it.

“Spin!!”

Shield Boomerang! It spins off along an erratic arc, catches a Space Girl off guard, and cleaves her torso clean in two.

“Th-this girl…!! Never mind stray shots hitting your own side! Everyone, focus your firepower on her, full force!!”

The enemy finally gets serious, too, each of them whipping out a secret weapon: rocket launchers, machine guns, the works.

“No use, no use. There’s no cracking Tsubasa’s iron wall. —Here we go… ‘C:Aegis’!!”

The thrown shield rides its own Thruster back to Tsubasa, and all six shields gather around her once more.

“Fiiire!”

The enemy looses a simultaneous volley, and the six large shields block every last round of it, wheeling around the two of us like a merry-go-round.

“The cuter the idol, the stronger the bodyguard she comes with… which means the cutest idol of all, Tsubasa, comes with a perfect, flawless bodyguard. Unless Tsubasa gives the say-so, they won’t let a single finger touch her. That’s ‘C:Aegis’… Tsubasa’s ultimate bodyguard!!!”

An iron wall. Not a single attack gets through.

“No… way. This is… this is…! This is a total cheat!!”

“Yep. Tsubasa’s a cheat-tier adorable idol, after all.”

Tsubasa turns to look my way.

“Shiki, it’s okay now. There’s nothing left to be scared of. Tsubasa’ll protect you from all of it.”

“Tsubasa…”

“So — mind if I ask you for some covering fire? I’m a little busy with defense over here.”

Before I knew it, the tension had drained out of me. It’s because Tsubasa is drawing all the enemy’s attention onto herself, for my sake.

“Y-yes!”

The peace of mind these large shields give off is incredible. They cut off the enemy’s line of sight, too, so I can squeeze the trigger nice and calm.

The other side’s a pack of bandits. No need to hold back!

Take this — a storm of ricochets!!

I fire my assault rifle into the crystal formations and pick the enemy off with the ricochets.

“Dodging Tsubasa’s shields at the speed they’re moving and still drilling your target dead-on… and with ricochets, no less…!”

“Ah, um… I think most people could pull this off, probably, as long as they’re a Sniper…?”

“Ahaha! Then introduce me to this ‘Sniper’ girl! That obliviousness of yours — infuriating and adorable~♪”

One ricochet at a time, I whittle them down, one enemy after another.

Roughly four minutes. The sweep is complete; every last enemy is down.

“And that’s the finale. No encore for you, I’m afraaaid~.”

The six large shields all move at the command of Tsubasa’s brainwaves. Each one carries a Saber and a gun port, so it handles both offense and defense. There’s attacking power in them too, but what’s really terrifying is that rock-solid defense. Even if you smashed through all six shields, her Shield Pieces would stop you cold. An utterly unshakable formation.

As someone who runs Shield Pieces myself, I know just how hard it is to bend this many weapons to your will at once. The large shields especially; given their size, the resources they eat up have to be enormous.

This person… is incredible.