Because She Trusts Me.
Skuld drew the deepest breath of her life, then handed the barely conscious, pale naked woman to Makie. "Take her outside," she begged.
Makie blinked. "Eh? But, Sku-chan, and you--?!"
"I'll cover your escape!" Skuld shouted, preparing her bomb launcher and rejoining Negi's side, even as he kept on blasting the incoming drones. "Don't discuss it, Makie! Go, now! Never look back!"
Makie still trembled for a moment, then nodded shakily and jumped away with her charge, the way they'd come.
It wasn't that carrying Belldandy-san in her arms was a problem. With Makie's Pactio enhanced strength, her load felt light as a feather, and she barely moved at all, so she wasn't a problem in that regard either. But the small winged things kept on coming from all sides at them as she ran, and Makie had to keep the rescuee grabbed with an arm, while the other opened a way for them, whipping her ribbon around in wide, sweeping arcs.
There were too many of them, and what with the way they shot, inevitably a few of their blasts would be shot before she sliced them, and then even occasionally raced past the ribbon before it could intercept them in midair. They hurt a lot, and Makie was certain any single of them would have left unconscious or worse in her normal state, so she made extra sure of never letting them hit Belldandy-san. Not that it wasn't getting harder and more difficult as she ran on, trying to remember the way they'd taken it.
A guard in armor suddenly turned around a corner, and trained a long spear directly on them, making Makie screech to a halt and gasp. Before the man could go any further, however, he was knocked out by a shot to his chestplate, and Makie turned her head back, to see Yuuna, guns blazing, shouting at her while she kept on shooting even more guards who were pouring in after the first one.
Makie couldn't make out what her friend was telling her over all the noise, but just this once, she didn't need to be told. She squeezed her eyes tight, tried not to cry, and kept on running, leaving Yuuna behind with a silent prayer. Belldandy-san felt so cold against her, her eyes so unfocused, unblinking.
She spun in the air to dodge shots from even more magical drones. She swung around with kicks to fell those that came the closest. Her chest felt as if on fire, and her ribs hurted like never before. She felt just about to faint, but she fought on, holding Belldandy-san tightly. Finally, she reached the large closed doors of the complex, and stopped to a dead grind there.
Now what? She couldn't possibly open these herself, and there were no sideways, so... did she have to turn back and look for another exit? No, she realized as she heard the heavy steps coming from behind her, that wasn't a choice either. More guards with blades and spears were almost on her now, and so Makie simply closed her eyes, hugged Belldandy-san, and whispered an apology.
Then, the doors exploded from the outside.
Makie cried out, while more shots, heavier and louder like cannonballs, resounded, large projectiles flying past over her head. The soldiers were blown back off their feet, scattering in all directions, and over the large clouds of dust flowing from the outside, an arm reached out, then another, grabbing her by the shoulders and armpits. She was lifted off her feet along her precious charge, and they were pulled into something also large and heavy. She heard whirrings and sighs, and then felt like they were gaining height, rising back into the open, towards the sun.
She smiled weakly, as a familiar warm hand cupped her cheek. She could see tears in his eyes. "Senpai..." she breathed out. "Please, don't cry..."
Sora-senpai desperately shouted questions from the steering wheel of her Pactio flying vehicle, doing her best to dodge every shot from their own aerial attackers while Morisato Keiichi simply held Makie in his arms, and then placed a delicate kiss on her forehead.
"Thank you, Maki-chan..." she could hear him say, with a strangled voice.
Finally, Belldandy-san's eyelids moved, very slowly, as if lazily reacting to the sound of his words.
Setsuna flew past them, into the complex, swinging her sword, while Makie fell asleep in his embrace. "Everything will be okay..." she still could hear him promise through the knot in his throat, and she tried to nod even though she couldn't anymore, not for now.
Please tell her I did it, Senpai.
