Lucia’s situation remained perilous.
And it was only getting worse.
From time to time, monsters broke through the heroes’ defenses and attacked the surrounded civilians. Some of the event staff had even been injured…
Usually, evil organizations didn’t prioritize targeting ordinary people. But these monsters, which looked like combatants, clearly violated that unwritten rule.
The dust in the arena had barely settled when a retreating hero shouted from the front lines:
“Everyone, fall back! ‘Brave Titan’ has been captured by the enemy!”
Black mud oozing from the wormhole released sharp needles that easily pierced the mech’s sturdy armor, killing the pilot inside the cockpit before burrowing deeper into the machine.
Though the interior was hidden from view, black spikes began to sprout across the mech’s surface, making its movements far more destructive. Soon, the stiff, mechanical corpse started attacking the other heroes present.
It was like…
A giant mechanical zombie?
But that wasn’t all. The black mud had fused the signal beacon device into the mech’s backpack, keeping it in an active firing state. With every step the mech took, the ceiling above sustained more and more damage…
Yet even with orders to retreat, the heroes’ escape routes had long been blocked by the shadow soldiers.
Pure White Storm was helpless against such a bulky foe. The team captain, Crimson Star General, might have a way to handle it, but with his lightweight firepower, it was difficult to cause any significant damage to such a behemoth.
Most importantly…
His remaining energy was running dangerously low — there was barely enough left to keep flying.
The other heroes weren’t in much better shape. They hadn’t come heavily armed to the exhibition, and the sudden ambush left all of them far from their best condition.
At the very least, they had to ensure the civilians’ safety until reinforcements arrived…
Just as Pure White Storm was thinking this, a familiar voice sounded from above.
“Hey! All you need to do is take out that transmitter, right?”
Looking up, an unfamiliar magical girl was sitting astride a squid-shaped flying broom, its tentacles writhing at the end…
Around her hovered a swarm of drones filming the scene.
“…Is that Miss Clara?”
Pure White Storm could only come up with that possibility.
It wasn’t uncommon for magical girls to change their features so completely upon transformation that even their facial features were unrecognizable; some even altered their gender, body shape, and age entirely.
“That’s right, it’s me!! Leave that beacon device to me!” Clara declared confidently, beginning to circle the giant mech on her broom.
Though the mech’s movements were clumsy, the black mud spikes were swift, suddenly shooting out from its surface.
“What on earth is this muddy slime?” Clara barely dodged several times, but she didn’t forget to channel magic into her Ink-Stained Staff.
Her magical power’s ultimate technique, the “Black Sky Ink Burst,” was no joke. If she could take down the formidable enemy that had all the heroes stumped in a single blow, it would be the perfect opener.
She dodged the black spikes in midair and put distance between herself and the mech, then turned her broom to aim the squid gem embedded on its side at the black pyramid on the mech’s back.
“Take this! My best shot!”
But things never went as planned. The black pyramid was much sturdier than she expected. The dark energy beam exploded against the mech’s back, but the black pyramid remained unscathed. Aside from staggering the mech briefly, the shot failed to disrupt the beacon’s energy beam.
“…Eh? So tough?!”
Unexpectedly, her long-prepared ultimate move had failed, and Clara was momentarily at a loss.
[The device’s outer shell is coated with a beam-reflective layer.] Nyx explained calmly.
“Huh? A beam? So what I was spraying wasn’t actually ink!”
Until now, Clara had always thought her ultimate was like a high-pressure water gun…
Did that mean she had to use the “Squid Ape Power Gauntlet” to smash the back of the mech?
There was no foothold in midair, making it hard to exert force or dodge the black mud’s counterattacks. Choosing close combat was a death sentence.
Clara dared not take that risk. If the opening battle ended with a hero falling into the abyss…
Her career would basically be over.
“Nyx, is there any other way?”
[That device’s outer shell is very durable. We don’t know who made it, but whoever put it here must be confident it won’t be destroyed easily.]
“So there’s no way? Fine, I’ll focus on rescuing Lucia first…”
If she couldn’t solve it, there was no point in trying.
As a rogue, Clara felt no psychological burden when it came to “giving up” or “running away,” much to Nyx’s frustration.
[A respectable rookie hero shouldn’t just save one person.]
“Then tell me what to do.”
Nyx, ever quick to think, replied directly: [Though the shell is tough, the inside is still a delicate device. You could try aiming a big shot straight into the energy beam’s nozzle…]
To hit the “Black Sky Ink Burst” into the energy beam’s nozzle for detonation, Clara had to fire at an extremely shallow angle. If the device were on the ground, it would be easier. But now, it was strapped to the back of a giant robot, meaning a small angle shot required getting dangerously close to the energy beam…
The beam had already burned off one of Brave Titan’s arms, and even the metal robot couldn’t withstand it. Clara’s small frame would probably be roasted into squid kebabs on the spot.
“N-No way I can do that, right?”
[If the heroes on the ground can hold the mech steady.]
Could anyone here actually do that?
Still, Clara shouted down to the heroes below.
“Um, I want to destroy that device through the energy beam’s nozzle! Fellow heroes, can you stop this mech from moving, please?”
Clara knew she was adorable.
And she wasn’t above using that cuteness to get what she wanted.
But facing a powerful enemy, the heroes ought to work together anyway — especially since it was a request from a junior hero…
“We’ve got this!”
Hearing Clara’s call, several towering heroes burst through the shadow soldiers, risking being impaled by black spikes, and charged forward to grab the mech’s legs.
Though even with arms spread wide they couldn’t fully wrap around the mech’s legs, the heroes’ strength was enough to hold the huge mech in place.
Besides the brawny heroes, others used magic or psychic powers to try to immobilize the mech’s movements.
But the enemy wouldn’t surrender easily. It swung its massive heavy blade to try to cut them down.
Its arm swinging stopped abruptly.
A steel cable shot from Pure White Storm’s wrist coiled around the mech’s arm and pulled in the opposite direction. The small thrusters on his steel wings roared at full power, shooting out blue flames as he used up his remaining energy.
“Quick! Now!”
Pure White Storm shouted at Clara.
“Oh!!”
Feeling the weight of everyone’s watchful eyes and expectations was a bit stressful, but there was no time to think about that now.
Clara raised her broom’s tip, climbed close to the ceiling, and neared the blazing energy beam to find the right angle for her shot…
“Wow! This is so dangerous?!”
Even without touching it, the heat alone made her skin dry out.
Still, Clara began charging her magic. The flowing ink-like power converged on the squid gem, flickering with a menacing glow.
[Initiating auxiliary calculations.]
[Spell optimization, mana compression.]
[Final vent.]
“Fire! Black Sky Ink Burst!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Clara unleashed her magic in one breath, the massive recoil pinning her against the ceiling.
Thanks to Nyx’s adjustments, the power was even greater than before.
The jet-black magical torrent struck the beacon’s emission port with pinpoint accuracy. The surrounding air darkened under the force, lasting several seconds before finally fading…
And with it, the energy beam from the black pyramid ceased.
The wormhole above the exhibition lost its energy supply and slowly began to close.
“Suc-success?”
Suddenly, a fierce explosion erupted.
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