Chapter 24: Wavering

"Burnatville!"

"So the gnats have finally caught up. I wonder what that thing’s doing...?"

"Two of my comrades are holding her back. All we have to do is trust them and take you down."

"Don't expect things to go the same way as last time."

"We’re going to show you a new and improved version of ourselves!"

Behind him, countless monitors hummed with heat, busy fulfilling the commands of their spectral master. It seemed to be some kind of supercomputer.

"Does it pique your interest? This is Dr. Fordbolt’s eighth legacy, the Breadcrumbs of the Fairy Tale. It’s equipped with high-precision future prediction capabilities. Even now, it’s refining the patterns required for our mission to succeed."

"Do you really think we’ll let you finish?"

"Don't get cocky, boy. Does a mere lackey to a Phantasm Girl really think he can bark orders at me?"

The pressure in the room intensified, and condensation began to drip from the surrounding ice.

"Three Thousand... Reign!"

"Coming!"

"Hah!"

Blues stepped forward, taking the full force of the devastating blow. She was sent tumbling backward—and yet, she stood her ground.

"That sensation of being connected to Alter... I can stay on this battlefield much longer now. There’s no greater joy than this!"

"I see. Then how about th—"

His next words were cut short.

"Just 0.2 seconds. Once the technique starts charging, it’s impossible to break. But that means I just have to strike during the 0.2-second opening right before it starts."

Scarlet declared what she had done, her red hair swaying in the draft. She, too, was one of those influenced by Alter.

"It’s about optimizing how the brain processes information. Not using someone else’s brain, but sharing it in a fluid, synchronized flow."

"Blues, take the front! We still can’t beat him head-on, so we’ll focus on the secondary objective. We’re taking down that machine!"

"Are you sure? It contains the heights of human wisdom."

"Better than letting it be used for evil. Besides, it’s a mistake to build a foundation on something that wasn't there to begin with."

"Deflect to the right!"

Blues momentarily caught the massive zanbato swinging down from above. Even as she drew close to the danger, she parried it to the right exactly as requested.

"Hah!"

I unleashed a volley of shots at the gaps in his armor, but he shifted his body with expert precision, allowing the rounds to bounce harmlessly off his plating.

"Take this!"

I pulled the pin on a grenade and rolled it underhanded. Just as it neared the monitors, BUrnatville sliced through it—fuse and all—before it could detonate.

With Yellow absent, we had no way to strike a decisive blow. However, he couldn't go all out either, fearing the cave might collapse.

Both sides had clear goals, yet neither had the means to achieve them. In a stalemate like this, the one with the larger, more delicate target loses. Our goal was simple: destroy even just one cable of the main console. Whether the result was the enemy’s self-destruction or not, it would be our victory.

"Ghh!"

"Hraaaah!"

I’d lost track of how many times I’d been knocked back. While Blues was recovering, Scarlet and I kept the pressure on the servers, forcing him to play defense to buy time for her to return to the front line.

"Just... a little more!"

"Commander, now!"

The calculated synchronization Scarlet was maintaining shifted. The optimal point for an attack emerged—a combination play that relied on the synergy of her strikes.

"Damn!"

I was almost out of grenades. This was the last one...

"Scarlet! Blues!"

In that instant, my thoughts linked with theirs, and they both took their stances.

One readied her shield; the other readied the butt of her rifle. The moment I saw them, I threw my final grenade with everything I had—straight at my two comrades!

They batted the grenade toward the back of the passage with perfect timing, adding even more momentum to the toss.

"Reflexive Shunting: Parry Coat!"

Blues charged forward with a shield bash to accelerate the projectile even further, tripling its velocity. The bomb, now moving at a speed he couldn't possibly react to, slammed into the machinery and detonated.

"..."

"Wait! Stop!"

"I see. An irregularity... Kazuto Amane. I’ll remember that name."

"Dammit!"

"Commander, it’s too dangerous to stay here!"

"Evacuate immediately!"

"Not yet! I still have to—"

"Farewell, you diamond in the rough..."

Suddenly, a hole was punched straight through his torso.

I turned around to see a long-range snipe that had pierced through everything, aiming straight for the core in a single line.

"What...?"

In the air, I noticed the faint, lingering scent of purple smoke.