A silvery-white, flat blade sliced cleanly through the mechanical lifeform in front of him—its body vaguely scorpion-like—splitting it neatly into two.
In the next instant, the blade spun in a tight arc, slashing diagonally backward. Two more scorpion-shaped machines cracked open like broken metal shells.
Sensing something, he sprang hard—his body snapping up into the air in a single burst, vaulting nearly ten meters—while the ground where he'd been standing erupted as a mechanical lifeform resembling a "death worm" burst up through the earth.
Those densely packed teeth—like mismatched daggers interlocked into a vicious maw—lunged to swallow him whole, as though feeding meat into an industrial grinder to be minced into pulp.
Bang bang bang—!
His other hand had already drawn his gun. Orange light flashed several times in rapid succession, like the strobe of a camera, and within the gaping mouth—wide enough to swallow a truck cab—those hundreds of metal fangs spinning at high speed flared with several violent bursts of light. For a brief moment, it looked like a plasma orb had formed, instantly melting away a large portion of the metal fangs.
His pupils tightened. He immediately switched to a different warhead. With a single orange flash at the muzzle, a bolt round punched deep into the machine lifeform's throat, throwing off a shower of sparks—
Boom—!
As if detonated from within, shards of metal blasted outward in all directions. In front of him, he heard a storm of impacts—countless fragments slamming into the defensive shield that had unfolded across his forearm.
The shield was like a folding umbrella: it snapped open in an instant from his arm, locking into place.
Once the impacts stopped, he retracted it immediately, and his airborne body continued to drop back down.
He could see the death-worm-type machine lifeform below, blown apart into scrap. At the center of its body was a large drill bit, and the drill's surface was pocked with holes—punched through by diamond-core fragments from the bolt round's detonation.
Looking closely at the wobbling drill, it was obvious that if he hadn't attacked just now, that high-speed rotation might have launched it like a bullet.
Boom—!
A sudden explosion went off less than five meters behind his side. A mechanical lifeform that had been about to lunge in for the kill was reduced to a lump of wreckage and crashed to the ground.
The one who destroyed it wasn't Kain.
It was a strike from 2B, coming in from the flank.
At this point, with this world's android power-armor technology used to refit and redesign his original power armor, Kain had more or less finished testing the new suit.
And it wasn't because his original flight unit had been shot down, forcing him to fight in power armor.
It was simply that the battlefield was clearly nearing its end, so he stopped piloting the flight unit and switched over to power-armor combat instead.
As for the power armor he wore now—compared to the original suit, the difference was this:
This redesigned set looked more sci-fi, fit his body far better, and its agility was at least three times what it used to be.
Of course, that came at a cost: its physical protection was less than half of the original.
It was like comparing two types of bulletproof vests.
One is a more complete metal plate—wearing it severely restricts movement, but the protection is excellent.
The other is more like a "liquid" bulletproof vest—it doesn't hinder movement as much, but the defense is weaker. Impacts don't spread as effectively across the whole vest, so overall protection is inferior to a solid plate.
That was the difference between the rebuilt power armor and the original.
Additionally, its internal life-support system couldn't compare to the original suit.
And then there was…
In short, taken as a whole, Kain still felt the new power armor—redesigned and manufactured from the fragments of his damaged original suit—was far more usable.
If the old power armor was like equipping a game character with gear that boosted combat power by 200%, then this new suit boosted it to 400%.
The tradeoff was durability. The difference there was obvious—probably only about one-third of the original.
Hm?
The remaining mechanical lifeforms suddenly fell into chaos.
It looked like the enemy's server had been successfully destroyed—which meant this war had reached its end.
And as for the one hundred hours he could remain in this world… there was no need to log in and confirm it. By rough estimate, he had less than six hours left.
...
In the blink of an eye, he was in the central command room.
When he stepped inside, Kain found that the entire command room held only Commander White. Everyone else had been sent out—clearly, this was another conversation involving information that couldn't be casually leaked.
As the door closed behind him, the tall, shapely figure walked up to him. Her sensuous lips parted as she spoke—
"Mr. Kain, I have a request that may be slightly… troublesome."
The way the Commander said it made her expression subtly complicated—different from the upright, rigorous attitude she'd had when facing him before. Now she wore a teasing, alluring look, as if she had a mischievous streak.
"A request?"
"We hope that before you leave this world, you can leave behind a life seed."
That froze Kain on the spot.
A life seed… was she talking about that?
"You may designate anyone to assist you. 2B is also an option."
She even emphasized 2B. What was that supposed to mean?
The way her mouth curled upward made it feel like she could see right through him.
This Commander… she really did seem to have a little devil in her.
"I'm the one helping? Obtaining a life seed?"
The command room wasn't only Commander White and him.
A2 and 2B had also come in with him.
So, 2B—who had been singled out—spoke up in a confused tone, looking both startled and oddly flattered.
"Commander, I think having 9S assist would be more appropriate."
2B spoke with complete seriousness.
Even though she didn't understand what this was about, it clearly sounded like an important mission. And she was a YoRHa combat-type android—she wouldn't do as well as 9S in a task like this.
If it were combat, she was obviously far stronger than 9S.
But leaving behind a "life seed" clearly wasn't about combat. It sounded more like genetic extraction or something along those lines—and that was exactly what 9S was better suited for.
In fact, an H-type android would be even more suitable, but for security reasons, it would be better to have someone familiar handle it—someone he'd trust. And 9S was the best fit.
"Pfft."
Commander White couldn't help laughing, and 2B noticed that Mr. Kain's expression had gone a bit dark.
"This mission can only be assisted by a female, 2B."
"Ah? Is that so?"
"Yes. And if you were the one to help, I think Mr. Kain would be very happy—because he seems to like you quite a lot."
"He likes me?"
"Yes."
Commander White's affirmative answer made her expression grow even more complex.
Because Kain—being human—his elevated heart-rate response toward 2B was an unmistakable physiological reaction of attraction to the opposite sex.
And human "liking" typically only applies to one's own kind.
In other words, 2B was being treated as the same kind—recognized as such.
In a certain sense, 2B was the existence closest to "human."
That was why Commander White felt so conflicted.
(End of Chapter)
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