Ssshhhh~
A cold stream of air drifted across the land, brushing against the rusted spear stabbed into the ground.
Dust spiralled lazily around the weapon while faint tallic creaks echoed through the silent battlefield.
Two figures stood opposite each other beside the spear.
One dressed in white, while a humming gun rested firmly in her grip.
The other figure... A thick black tallic suit covered its entire body. Thin streams of vapour escaped from the joints with every subtle movent. Behind it extended a long segnted tail, swaying slowly like a predator testing the wind before a strike.
Neither moved.
For several seconds, only the sound of the humming gun and the scraping wind existed.
Sera narrowed her eyes.
Fingers tightened around the trigger.
Then she fired.
BOOM!
A blinding white beam erupted from the barrel, tearing across the battlefield with violent force. The ground beneath Sera’s boots cracked from the recoil while heat distorted the air around the beam itself.
But the tallic figure vanished.
The beam ripped through empty air and exploded against distant.
Sera’s pupils shrank instantly.
Behind her.
A sharp tallic screech ripped through the air as the tailed figure appeared at her back mid-motion, its massive armoured leg already descending in a brutal overhead strike strong enough to split concrete apart.
Sera’s instincts scread.
Her body reacted before her thoughts could form. She threw herself sideways, rolling violently across the dirt as the kick smashed into the ground where her skull had been a fraction earlier.
BAAAAM!
The earth shattered. Stone fragnts exploded outward like bullets.
Sera twisted during the roll and fired again without hesitation.
BOOM!
The white beam flashed across the area.
Again, the figure disappeared midway.
Sera instantly pushed herself upright, boots grinding against loose debris while her gun swept across every direction.
Eyes flickered rapidly across the battlefield.
Then she saw it.
A faint silhouette.
Just for a mont.
A black distortion moving unnaturally fast between spaces, almost like fragnts of reality blinking apart.
Every appearance lasted less than a heartbeat before disappearing again as if it was moving at the speed that her eyes could keep up with.
Sera’s jaw tightened. Sweat slid slowly near her temple.
"That pity trick won’t work!" she muttered coldly, rotating the gun slowly.
The mont the final word left her mouth, the figure materialised beside her.
Its chanical leg twisted violently and unleashed a full-force spinning kick directly into her abdon.
THUCK!
The impact folded Sera’s body grotesquely. Air exploded from her lungs as she was launched through the air like torn cloth. Blood sprayed from her lips before she could even scream.
The tallic figure disappeared again.
Before Sera could hit the ground, it reappeared above her.
The segnted tail snapped outward with frightening precision, wrapping tightly around her ankle midair. Hydraulic sounds burst from within the armour as the machine rotated its entire body and hurled her downward with monstrous force.
BAMMM!
The ground cratered beneath her.
"AAAGHH—!"
Pain ripped through Sera’s entire body.
Her vision blurred violently while blood dripped from the corner of her mouth onto the broken stone beneath her. Her fingers clawed against the dirt as she forced herself to breathe.
Then her instincts scread again.
She looked up.
A sharp tallic point descended directly toward her face.
Sera’s eyes widened. She rolled instantly.
CRAAACK!
The tail pierced deep into the ground beside her head, disappearing halfway into solid stone.
But it didn’t stop.
The tail moved again like a stabbing machine.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Each stab struck the exact place where Sera’s body had been milliseconds earlier.
Stone exploded repeatedly around her as she rolled desperately across the battlefield, dirt and debris shredding against her skin while the tallic tail chased her movents with terrifying accuracy.
Sera gritted her teeth violently.
"Damn technology..."
The tail lunged again.
This ti, Sera didn’t evade fully.
Instead, she twisted sharply onto one knee and shoved the muzzle of her gun directly toward the incoming figure at point-blank range.
"Try dodging this."
BOOOOOOM!!
The blast detonated between them like a miniature sun.
White energy erupted outward in a circular shockwave, swallowing both Sera and the tallic figure instantly.
Sera crashed hard against broken stone several ters away, coughing violently as smoke rose from her clothes. Her arms trembled from the recoil while blood dripped slowly from her chin.
"Cough... cough..."
She forced herself back onto her feet.
Across the battlefield, the tallic figure slowly erged from the smoke.
Its faceless visor stared directly at her.
One of its shoulder plates sparked violently before locking back into place with a hard chanical click. The tail swayed behind it again, slower this ti.
Sera smirked faintly despite the blood on her lips.
"I see it now..." she whispered between breaths.
Her eyes sharpened.
The distance. The timing. The tailed tallic figure was not freely teleporting.
Sera slowly raised her gun again, the humming energy growing louder in the dead air around them.
’It moves within a fixed range,’ she thought calmly, wiping blood from her mouth. ’That’s why it keeps repositioning in patterns.’
No less. No more... as if there’s only a one-point distance
Sera’s eyes glimred with a dangerous light.
The mory of her beloved flashed through her mind: shattered body, cracked skin, burning skies, bodies sprayed on the ground like useless trash.
The image stabbed deep into her chest harder than the pain spreading through her abdon.
Her fingers trembled around the gun. Blood still dripped slowly from the corner of her lips.
But she stood.
’I can do this!’
She tightened her grip and raised the weapon steadily toward the tallic figure.
Pain pulsed violently through her stomach, forcing her muscles to twitch, yet her stance remained firm.
’If he can move with one leg... so can I!’
The tailed tallic figure did not wait.
Its body vanished again within a fraction of a second.
BOOM!
Thud!
The tallic figure was blasted backwards in mild surprise, its armored body skidding across the cracked ground. Sparks burst from its shoulder plates as the white beam struck exactly where it had reappeared.
"Hehe~" Sera laughed darkly, her eyes burning wildly. "I am fucking killing you all!"
She raised the gun higher, veins tightening along her arm.
"FOR THE BLOOD OF MY PEOPLE!!!"
BOOM!
BOOM!
Thud!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Thud!
BOOM!
White beams tore violently across the battlefield one after another.
The tallic figure disappeared repeatedly, flickering across space to evade the attacks, yet every single beam arrived precisely where it appeared next.
Sera’s eyes moved sharply with every distortion in the air. Her breathing beca frighteningly focused as smoke and dust swirled around her white silhouette.
She was not predicting the movent entirely.
She was cornering it.
Reducing the possible points.
The faint silhouette remained visible for a split second every ti the figure disappeared. A tiny shift.
A slight tilt of motion before relocation.
That alone was enough.
One shot acted as a decoy.
The instant the figure adjusted itself to avoid the first beam, Sera calculated the next possible point within that fixed movent range and fired again without hesitation.
The tailed tallic figure stepped backwards repeatedly while sparks burst from its armour under the relentless bombardnt. Black scorch marks spread across its chest plates while chanical parts beneath the armour beca briefly visible.
Then a warning screen flared violently across its internal visor.
[Alert: Armor System 70% Compromised]
The tallic figure froze for half a second.
A sharp tallic clicking sound echoed from within the helt as it stared directly at the woman who had uncovered its movent limitation within re minutes of combat.
Sera lowered the smoking barrel slightly, breathing heavily while smiling through bloodstained lips.
The tallic figure’s expression darkened beneath the faceless visor.
Without wasting another second, it pressed several virtual buttons across its wrist panel. Blue holographic symbols flickered rapidly around its armored arm.
[Activating Auto Grenade]
A low chanical hum echoed from inside its body.
Then its visor flashed crimson.
A glowing red circle locked directly onto Sera’s chest while she continued firing.
[Target Locked!]
In the next mont, the swaying tail behind the tallic figure suddenly twitched violently.
Sharp chanical clicks echoed through the battlefield as each segnted section of the tail flipped open one after another like unfolding tallic scales. Thin streams of heated vapour hissed outward from the openings while tiny red warning lights blinked rapidly along the edges of the exposed compartnts.
Then, small rectangular objects erged from every opened segnt.
Like chanical insects waking from hibernation.
The mont they launched into the air, high-pitched vibrations filled the battlefield as the objects accelerated toward Sera with frightening speed.
Trails of smoke spiralled behind them while their tallic surfaces reflected the burning white glow of Sera’s weapon.
Sera’s eyes widened in shock.
"What the hell—?!"
The swarm rushed toward her violently, zigzagging unpredictably through the air.
Instinct took over.
Sera imdiately raised her gun and fired repeatedly at the incoming swarm, forcing her aching arms to move despite the burning pain spreading through her body.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
White beams ripped across the battlefield, slicing through smoke and shattered stone.
But she couldn’t hit them.
The small devices moved too fast. Every beam missed by inches as the objects twisted sharply through the air before reaching her position.
Then they detonated.
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
Explosions erupted around Sera like a storm of concentrated artillery.
Violent shockwaves slamd into her body from every direction while fire and debris swallowed the battlefield instantly. The pressure alone felt strong enough to crush her ribs inward.
Dust clouds exploded upward.
For several long seconds, nothing remained visible inside the thick smoke.
Only drifting embers and rising dust.
Then the haze slowly began to settle.
Sera lay motionless within the shattered crater.
Her body was covered in bruises and burns. Torn pieces of white fabric fluttered weakly around her while blood slowly trickled down the side of her face and onto the ruined ground beneath her. One arm twitched faintly beside her body while shallow breaths escaped painfully from her lips.
The tailed tallic figure stared silently at her unmoving form for a mont.
Then it began walking forward.
Heavy tallic footsteps echoed across the silent area.
Clank.
Clank.
Clank.
Small sparks flickered beneath its damaged armour as it approached her slowly through the smoke.
It stopped directly before Sera’s fallen body.
The segnted tail slithered downward before wrapping tightly around her neck. tal plates locked together with sharp clicks as the tail tightened and slowly lifted her body into the air before its faceless tallic mask.
Dust drifted from Sera’s limp body as her feet dangled weakly above the broken ground.
"Arrnncchhh—!"
Even unconscious, Sera’s body reacted instinctively. Her hands trembled weakly while her legs twitched violently, desperate for air as strained choking sounds escaped from deep within her throat.
The tallic figure observed her silently.
Its cold chanical fingers slowly reached toward her face.
One finger traced across the cut on her cheek before pressing directly against the wound.
Pain shot through Sera’s unconscious body instantly. Her brows twitched painfully while a weak, strained sound escaped her lips.
Even unconscious, her body still resisted.
The tallic figure tilted its head slightly.
Then it noticed the gun.
Even unconscious, Sera’s fingers still gripped the weapon tightly like it was the final thing anchoring her existence together.
Her blood-covered hand refused to release it completely.
The tallic figure released a low chanical hum filled with amusent.
With sudden force, it ripped the gun from her weakened grasp.
At the sa mont, the tail tightened harder around Sera’s neck.
"Ghhh—!"
Her body convulsed violently like a fish caught on a hook.
Her legs kicked weakly in the air while her fingers clawed instinctively at the tallic tail crushing her throat. Veins appeared faintly around her neck as her body desperately fought for air.
The figure ignored her struggle completely.
Its visor flickered brightly as it examined the weapon in silence.
A scanning beam swept slowly across the gun from top to bottom.
[Unknown Item]
[Not Registered in Inventory]
[Presence of Origin Core Identified]
The tallic figure humd once more.
Interested and Curious.
Slowly, it raised the gun and pressed the barrel directly against Sera’s chest, exactly above her heart.
The overheated nozzle hissed against her torn clothing.
Burned fabric curled inward from the heat while the glowing tal pressed against the barely visible edge of her bra beneath the damaged white outfit. The skin underneath reddened instantly from the temperature, while faint smoke rose from the contact point.
Sera’s unconscious body trembled weakly in pain.
The tallic finger slowly moved toward the trigger.
Almost savoring the mont it would extinguish her life completely, and....
Pressed the Trigger—
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two white beams shot as.... They struck the tallic tail and the wrist holding the gun simultaneously.
CRRRAACK!
Fractures spread across the segnted tal before entire pieces splintered apart and exploded outward in a shower of sparks.
As the tallic tail blasted like a glass... releasing Sera instantly, while the gun was blasted from the tallic figure’s damaged wrist, spinning violently through the air before crashing across the shattered ground.
The tailed tallic figure imdiately turned toward the right side of the battlefield... where exactly the beams co from.
A white portal expanded near the spear.
From within the glowing portal, an icy voice ca,
"May I co in?"
The battlefield itself seed to grow quieter.
Then a figure stepped out of the portal.
White hair drifted slowly behind him despite the absence of wind.
His tall body carried an overwhelming sense of majesty, every movent calm and controlled with frightening confidence.
A dark coat flowed around him while faint, deep black smoke flickered endlessly from his deep abyss-like eyes, trailing behind him like wandering ghosts struggling to escape his presence.
The atmosphere changed the mont he appeared.
The tallic figure instinctively stepped back half a pace.
One of the man’s hands held a weapon identical to Sera’s gun, white energy still glowing faintly around the barrel from the shots fired monts earlier.
His other hand tightly held a woman by the waist.
A twin-tailed woman.
Her body hung weakly in his grasp while strands of her long hair swayed beneath the freezing air spilling from the portal.
The white-haired man’s cold eyes slowly shifted toward the tailed tallic figure.
Then, toward the unconscious Sera.
Black smoke curled faintly from his eyes again.
And he smiled.
A calm smile.
The kind that felt more terrifying than rage.
"I wonder... Do you prefer dismbernt... or complete erasure?"
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