Chapter 257 – Up We Go
“You fools! I’m gonna make you regret showing your faces here again! You don’t stand a chance against the PSF’s mightiest weapon! Finish them off!”
The round robot immediately charged forward. A wave of flames rolled in front of him, forcing the girls to run the other way.
“You scared him too much, Hecate!” Sarasa had the widest grin on her face. “Now he’s going all out. We’re gonna get cooked alive!”
“What else was I supposed to do? He was annoying me.”
They ran down the hallway while the rumbling from the machine and its flames followed right behind them. The corridor was wide, but the gaps with the robot there were tiny. The flames got caught in his metallic body and got pushed forward like waves in the ocean. They could only retreat. The corridor was long enough for that. That would eventually lead them to a bend. And then another bend, and another bend, until eventually getting cornered and swallowed by the wave.
“Hecate? What the hell was that shot from before? How does becoming a vampire make your sniper stronger?”
“…” Hecate glanced at Carol, rifle clenched against her chest. Her brows rose slightly. “To be honest, I have no idea…”
“Great… You don’t know either?” Carol shook her head. “Whatever… Can you do it again? We need to stop that thing.”
“We do… I’m ready whenever. What’s the plan?”
“We keep it simple. I’ll summon two large cannons and fire. Just match my timing. Three shots big enough to leave a dent should stop the robot in his tracks.” Hecate responded with a nod.
Two artillery cannons materialized in front of them. Katja, Sarasa and Ririna ran past. Carol and Hecate stopped and turned around. “Now! Fire!”
*Boom!* The three guns fired in perfect harmony. Hecate crouched between the cannon with Carol’s extended hand behind her.
A screeching noise tore through the corridor as the robot’s tracks locked up. The floor couldn’t handle the forced breaking of the heavy machine, and the sterile tiles were left with a trail of cracks.
“You stopped the robot, but… the flames!” Ririna gasped.
“Kukuku… This is where I come in…”
A thin gash appeared on each of Katja’s limbs before she took a leap forward. With her feet firmly planted, a blood-red slice cut through the crashing wave of flames.
*Crack…*
The extinguishing stone in Katja’s pocket spread a cloud of mist around her and created a tunnel that protected the girls behind her from the flames. The roaring finally died.
“You stupid piece of junk… You weren’t supposed to burn them to a crisp! What am I gonna tell father now?!” Took Daisuke a while to catch up. When he peeked from the side of the robot, he was already sweating and out of breath. “Huh?! There’s no way! You lived through that?” Would have been a huge relief were they half-dead instead.
“What’s the problem?” Hecate grinned. “I told you we were monstrous enough to take on this machine. You didn’t believe me?”
“Ha- hah! You’re acting tough!” Daisuke extended his hand from behind the robot. “Capture them! No matter how strong you are, you still can’t pierce his armor. You don’t stand a chance!”
“Maybe not against him, but…” Sarasa had sneaked under the flame thrower. Direct angle to charge at Daisuke. “What about you?”
“Eeeeek! Protect me!” Daisuke clung onto the robot, and he slammed the flame thrower against the floor to cut off Sarasa. *sssssizzle…* “Arrrgh! Ouugh!” He clung to the metallic armor that pushed the flames forward. Was left rolling on the floor.
“Ouch… That looks like it hurt…” Ririna cringed.
“Maybe that will finally stop him from running his mouth.” Carol said.
“It’s a good opportunity!” Katja stepped forward. “The flamethrower’s busy! We can get close!”
The flamethrower arm was basically a thick, armored tube attached to the spherical main body that could bend around freely. As long as it wasn’t pointed at them, the arm was defenseless.
“I’ve stopped it for you, Katja!” Carol’s illusions created a handful of ropes around the arm that were nailed to the floor. Sarasa baited it down, she held it. “Go!”
Katja’s blade glowed. She held the blade over her head as she jumped and brought it down on the tube armor with ruthless efficiency. “Die!”
The red half-moon sliced the armor. A slash that powerful would leave even the main body with more damage than a dent, but even then… “That wasn’t enough! The arm’s still attached!”
“Are you serious?! The ropes are breaking!”
“No… That arm’s coming off!” Hecate was there with her scythe. The blade entered the gap in the armor into the machinery and circuitry.
“Hecate?!” Katja watched the scythe get stuck. Even without armor, the insides were sturdy. “Get back. I’ll go again!”
“There’s no time!” Carol said. Only one of ropes was still there. “Dammit… We were so close!”
“Not yet!” Hecate’s red eye shined bright. “I can do this!” No normal person could do it. Katja would have to shed blood for it. But a vampire… A vampire on the hand…
*Slice!* *Bzzztt bbzzztt…*
A vampire could do it. With her vampiric strength, the blade crushed through the electronics and cleanly separated the flamethrower from the body.
“Ahahaha! There we go!” Hecate jumped back to regroup.
“But…” Sarasa said. “It’s not over yet!”
Without the flamethrower, the robot was forced to rely on his claw. He smashed it into the ground, opening a big crater. There was nothing they could do but dodge out of the way. However…
“It- it’s a lot less dangerous now…” Carol dodged the follow-up with a simple dodge.
“Hmm… I would go as far as saying it doesn’t pose a threat without the flamethrower.” Katja did the same.
“You’d think that a so-called ultimate weapon would be a little more… weapon…”
“Well… There might be a reason why this thing hasn’t gone on a mission yet.”
The robot punched the ground in quick succession, which did nothing to stop the casual slander.
“Good point…” A gentle weave to the left from Carol dodged the next punch.
“The current design is probably relying on its sturdy armor to compensate for the lack of firepower.” Said Hecate. “Against most of the monsters we faced, it would work. But we need to punch through it somehow.”
“Ahh… Yes… The armor kinda suits the ‘ultimate’ vibe. How about we just pile on him? Enough dents ought to put a stop to this thing.”
Katja nodded. “It’s not like we have any other choice.” Then dodged forward. She closed the gap and made her blade glow red. The slash hit the robot so hard it flattened the sphere and pushed him back.
“Then move!” Said Carol. “Leave some for the rest of us!” And boom! Shell after shell hit the robot’s round body, knocking it from side to side. Hecate joined in with her well-aimed shots that created a large dent that punched deeper every single time.
“It’s starting to crack!” Katja approached as soon as there was a gap in the shots. “I’m finishing this!!”
Katja swung. Her sword opened a nice clean cut across a damaged section of the armor. A torrent of sparks and static poured through the gap as the robot raised his claw. Then, the whole thing stopped. Dead silent.
“You did it!” Ririna said.
Their weapons remained ready a while longer. Until they were sure the robot wouldn’t move. “Yeah…” Katja sighed. “It’s done… That was the hardest I’ve ever swung…” Trickles of blood ran down along her body. They stung a little and were kinda exhausting, but nowhere near lethal.
“Now… Time to deal with…” Carol peeked around the lump of metal. “H- he’s gone!”
Daisuke was already at the end of the corridor, back on the stairs. The girls immediately chased after him.
“Y- you really weren’t supposed to be able to cut through that…” He was still flailing his hands. “Whatever… This doesn’t mean anything… The term ultimate weapon does not refer to a single measly robot. What you just destroyed was just the part of a much bigger system!”
Just as he finished saying that, dozens and dozens of robots dropped behind them. These ones had a humanoid shape. The chassis looked like it was made with the same metal as the spherical armor, just compressed and shaped like a human. Each one was carrying a sword made with a shapeshifting construction similar to Matching Weapons
“Ahahahahaha! Do you see now? You don’t stand a chance! The power of each of those robots is about 80% of the one you destroyed. Together, they’re invincible, but with much you struggled with the large one, you’ll never be able to handle this many! Nothing can stop them once they lock onto a target! And you’re their target now!”
The robots raised their sword and charged forward. Even though the spot they dropped from was far, the gap quickly shrunk.
“H- he’s actually seriously!” Carol said. “Those guys are bad news!”
“I can tell… I can’t believe he saved them until now…” Katja gritted her teeth. The situation wasn’t completely hopeless, though. The robots were behind them. Daisuke was right in front. If they can’t beat them…. “Okay… You luck has run out!” She raised him up by the collar, closing the gap in less than a second.
“Eeek…?!” Daisuke’s face turned pale. How could he have made such a blunder? “Wh- what are you doing?! Don’t hurt me! I’ll do whatever you want!”
“Really….?” Said Carol with a menacing grin. “Awfully obedient, huh? Stop those things and we can spare you. Now!”
“St- stop them…?” His face turned paler.
“Didn’t you hear us?!” Katja shook him. “If you don’t stop them right now, we’ll seriously hurt you!”
“They… They can’t be stopped… Nothing can stop them once they’re given a target…”
“For the love of…” Carol stomped. “Who came up with that gimmick?! Are you stupid?!”
“Seems like there’s a good reason for none of these things to ever have gone outside.” Katja raised her fist. No, no, wait! A punch shut him up then she tossed him to the side. “No other choice. Up the stairs! Run!”