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Like countless rehearsed drills before, the iron-clad giant charged into the squad like a raging gale, and the lightning-flashing power gauntlet struck in an instant, smashing two mutants into an exploding mist of blood.
The one who avoided the initial charge grabbed a massive executioner axe cobbled together from scrap metal and lunged at Ignis, his mutated body erupting with terrifying strength and speed. His attack amounted to nothing. Anby released her grip on the Salamander's pauldron and leapt down, the roaring chainsword shredding the crude weapon, then tearing open his homemade chest armor and ripping apart the bones and organs beneath.
Another group burst out of the garage interior, bringing the total to over twenty as they surrounded the two tightly. Each of them bore varying degrees of mutation, and on Ignis's face, the sacred mark left by The Emperor began to burn with searing pain.
"Blood for the Blood God!" someone shouted. With that cry, the mob surged forward.
Khorne cultists rarely knew fear; blood-soaked ground only drove them into greater frenzy. Ignis ignited the flamethrower, and a brilliant torrent of fire instantly swallowed several who tried to rush in for close combat. Even so, they did not stop, still swinging their weapons several times before their bodies were completely carbonized. Their speed, however, was laughably slow to a Salamander, and Ignis easily neutralized every strike.
Compared to Ignis's calm composure, Anby was visibly more tense. The muscle-bound figures, sprouting spikes from their bodies, howled as they charged, heavy blades and axes hacking toward her. The girl managed to block the first few attacks and counter effectively, felling three with her chainsword, but there were simply too many enemies. Even with Ignis drawing most of their attention, three still closed in on her.
Unlike before, Anby's room to maneuver was drastically reduced. These three fought with unsettling coordination, taking turns to attack, drawing her focus, then striking from her blind side. For a moment, she was overwhelmed, forced onto the defensive and looking dangerously pressed. Most critically, she could no longer rely on agile footwork to evade—if she yielded ground, Ignis's back would be exposed.
She squeezed the trigger of the chainsword, and the weapon roared as the Salamander-forged teeth tore a chunk from her opponent's massive battle axe. In that fleeting instant, the Blood God's follower lost balance and stumbled forward. Catching with her peripheral vision that the enemies on both sides had yet to move, Anby immediately stimulated her muscles with her electric pack.
Blue arcs of electricity coiled around her body. She dropped low in a flash, drew the chainsword back, then drove it savagely into the enemy's abdomen. His armor resisted for only a heartbeat before the spinning teeth ripped through plating and hardened flesh alike. Blood and viscera were flung outward with the brrrrrr of the chainsword as the high-speed blade hurled them aside.
Anby yanked the chainsword sideways, widening the wound. What sprayed out was no longer just blood and organs, but shattered bone fragments as well. Amid a shower of sparks, the mutant was torn apart horizontally, split cleanly in two.
With one corner of the encirclement shattered, the white-haired girl flowed like a dragon through water, reaching the back of another cultist in just three steps. The third step came with her blade raised high; the spinning teeth crushed his pauldron, shredded flesh, and reduced him to two mangled halves. The last one tried to strike, seizing the opening before her chainsword rose again, swinging a blade as large as she was straight at her neck.
His speed, however, was still far too slow for Anby. A streak of blue electricity left an afterimage—first step, a sidestep to evade the descending blade; second step, slipping past his right side; third step, a spinning thrust. The chainsword bit through back armor, shattered bone, and burst out through the front of his chest. The Blood God's follower struggled to resist, but a surge of powerful electricity robbed his muscles of control, and Anby reversed the blade upward, splitting his entire chest cavity along with his head.
She leapt back in a long bound, avoiding the geyser of blood that erupted outward, then steadied herself and snapped her chainsword in a sharp arc, flinging off the clinging debris.
"You alright?" Ignis asked, having already eliminated the remaining enemies, the ground awash with gore.
The Salamander deactivated the power field and placed a hand on Anby's shoulder. Good—no burning sensation. She had not been tainted by the Blood God. It seemed that here, Khorne could not expand his influence through battle itself as he did in the Warhammer world.
"That shout just now alerted the sentry at the main entrance." Jaxcalibur-01 jogged over, but with the fight already over, he could only report, "The patrol under Jax-05's control has been completely wiped out."
Jax-06 glanced at the blood-soaked floor and the chainsword still dripping in Anby's hand, instinctively taking a step back before quickly regaining composure and returning to a combat-ready stance.
"I haven't observed any reinforcements," Jax-03 reported over the comms. "Jax-04 and I will maintain surveillance and report anything unusual immediately."
"Good. Then we move on," Ignis said, turning and heading into the underground garage.
There was no lighting here; the entire area lay submerged in darkness. Fortunately, the Jaxcalibur Squad's combat suits were equipped with flashlights, offering just enough illumination. The space was empty of any tactical mech presence, bearing only the traces of the group that had just charged out—sleeping bags and food piled in a corner, crude equipment for maintaining blades, and several skulls.
There were no thermal signatures in sight, confirming that nothing had been active here for quite some time.
"If you feel your emotions surging for no reason, tell me immediately. That's a sign of contamination from them," Ignis said, turning to look at the three of them.
Anby nodded. "I'm staying calm."
Her expressionless, poker-like face showed not the slightest ripple, which eased the Salamander somewhat.
"Looks like the tactical mechs I located are one level below," Jax-05's voice came through. "The route is marked. Considering Mr. Ignis's height, take the large vehicle ramp."
"I could just tear through this level's floor," Ignis said, already beginning to charge his power gauntlet.
"Not recommended. The lower level is almost completely packed—doing that would cause unnecessary losses," Jax-05 replied, sending over drone footage.
The entire garage was densely packed with tactical mechs. These steel warriors stood with heads lowered, awaiting orders to activate. Around them were large quantities of Ether batteries; any violent impact would trigger a massive explosion, with destructive power no less than the 300-kilogram warhead stolen by the Mountain Lion Gang.
The Salamander stopped his motion with a click of irritation and proceeded along the route displayed on his HUD. The massive commercial complex covered a wide area, and the garage was filled with load-bearing pillars. Even a giant like him had to move carefully to avoid snapping them. At the same time, he continuously switched to Fire-Sight, scanning for hidden threats.
Yet until they reached the downward ramp, there was nothing.
To the Salamander's vision, the inactive tactical mechs were nothing but a field of cold, lifeless hues, and Lyman's Ear detected no sound beyond the footsteps of their group. Everything was unnervingly quiet.
Jaxcalibur-01 stepped up to a Typhon Tactical Mech, pulling a small spider-like robot from his suit and placing it on the giant machine's armor.
"I've deployed a drone. You're up next," he said.
"Understood. Initiating backdoor protocol."
With Jax-05's voice, the tiny spider drone lit up and skittered along the Typhon's armored shell. It extended delicate mechanical claws, worked briefly at the chest plate, and popped it open. A cable emerged, linking directly to the Typhon's logic core.
"Interesting—they modified the firewall on these mechs," Jax-05 said, his tone lifting as Ignis could easily imagine the grin on his face. "But it's fine. The backend is still intact. Whoever they hired wasn't exactly a professional."
"Then take control quickly. Every extra minute we stay here is trouble," Jaxcalibur-01 ordered.
"No wonder you're the legendary Proxy Phaethon. With this thing online, the transmission speed has increased by more than tenfold," Jax-05 said. "Give me a few minutes—it'll be done soon."
Anby held her chainsword in one hand while wandering around the area. Her fingers brushed across the steel bodies, leaving behind faint traces of heat radiation before they faded away. She was not simply wandering aimlessly; she remained alert for any possible enemies; ears pricked in constant vigilance.
A warehouse packed full of mechs, a small squad sneaking in to seize control, with powerful combat machines and additional members standing by outside as support. If not for the fact that Anby was the only girl on their side—if there were just a few more teenagers involved—this situation would have felt exactly right.
At this rate, some giant mech is going to stand up any moment now, piloted by a prodigy rookie.
Ignis shook his head sharply, forcing the strange thought out of his mind. The only anime of this sort he had ever watched was an idol series, but the sense of déjà vu was uncomfortably strong.
The Salamander shifted his gaze away from Anby and turned to guard another direction.
Everything within his sight remained a cold, muted darkness. With nothing pressing, he moved a few steps farther out of sheer caution.
Then, in that frigid blackness, he spotted a faint trace of heat radiation.
"Someone's here!" he called out.
Jaxcalibur-01 and Jax-06 immediately cut their flashlights, helmets switching to night-vision mode as they stood back-to-back with weapons raised.
"Where?" Anby rushed to his side.
"Follow me," Ignis said, already moving toward the heat signature.
"Leave the robot there. Once I seize control, I'll support you immediately," Jax-05 said over the comms. "It won't take long—the progress is already over halfway."
Even so, Jaxcalibur-01 ordered Jax-06 to stay behind. Leaving no one to guard the rear was not an option.
Ignis and the other two followed the heat trail deeper into the garage. Whoever left it behind was extremely cautious, staying within the shadows and constantly changing directions and routes. The path had even been lightly disguised; if not for the Salamander's benign mutation that allowed him to see heat radiation directly, it would not have been so easy to detect.
Still, Ignis realized something—the trail felt familiar. He paused briefly to recall it.
It was Soldier 11, a member of the Defense Force's Obol Squad.
Why was she here?
Considering that Razor's hostages included Defense Force personnel, she was likely on a reconnaissance mission. Ignis decided it might be worth talking things through with her—after all, they shared the same objective and could potentially cooperate.
He glanced at Jaxcalibur-01, feeling a complicated mix of emotions. That guy had some history with Soldier 11. Hopefully, things would not turn unpleasant.
Suddenly, the silence shattered as Ignis heard the clash of metal against metal.
A fight? Who was Soldier 11 battling?
"I hear it!" Ignis said, breaking into a jog.
The group picked up speed, the sounds drawing them deeper underground.
No mechs were parked here at all; the space was completely empty. Within the vast darkness, flames burned fiercely, and sparks flared as blades collided.
It was Soldier 11. Ignis recognized her instantly. Several cuts marred her arms, her combat suit torn, with a bleeding wound across her abdomen. She dragged her blade across the fuel tank on her back, and secondary-conversion Ether fuel sprayed from the mechanism, coating the weapon. She scraped the blade against the ground, and flames burst upward, glaringly bright in the dark.
Ignis urgently searched for her opponent. Anyone capable of injuring an elite soldier like her was no ordinary foe.
A gray jacket, tight black underclothes, a flippant smile, and a long tail with a blade-tipped end dripping blood.
Jane Doe.
Ignis froze for a split second. Why was this undercover agent from New Eridu Public Security fighting a Defense Force operative?
The Thiren showed no fear of the flaming blade in Soldier 11's hands. Blades snapped out from the soles of her shoes, throwing sparks as she charged straight toward the goggle-wearing girl. Soldier 11 tried to strike first, stepping forward as her burning blade swept horizontally.
In the flare of firelight, Ignis saw it clearly—a blasphemous mark of Khorne etched across Jane Doe's exposed abdomen. She was corrupted.
The Rat Thiren leapt sharply mid-charge, evading the sweeping slash, then used the blades on her shoes to block Soldier 11's reverse upward cut. At the same time, the blade on her tail thrust again toward Soldier 11's neck.
Soldier 11 attempted to retreat, but all of her opponent's weight bore down on her blade, making movement nearly impossible. This woman had stalked her through the darkness, only revealing herself minutes ago to engage in combat. Her strength far exceeded her appearance, her experience deep, her reactions swift. Despite Soldier 11's rigorous training, she had been wounded repeatedly under the ferocity of the assault.
That tail most of all—it had just sliced open her abdomen. If she had reacted any slower, she would already be disemboweled.
Now, all she could do was tilt her neck aside. Even a fresh wound was better than having her head taken clean off.
She braced herself for the impact as the tail drew ever closer to her throat.
A flash of blue electricity erupted, and a strange, crackling blade slammed aside the Rat Thiren's tail.
CLANG—ZZZT!
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