Episode-897
Chapter : 1793
He engaged the [Rapid Shot] protocol.
Pew-pew-pew!
Okay, it didn't make that sound. It made a sound like THOOM-THOOM-THOOM.
Bolts of pure white plasma shot out of the cannon. They moved faster than the eye could follow. They weren't fire. They weren't lightning. They were super-heated, condensed spiritual energy, tuned to a specific frequency.
The first bolt hit the drone on the far left.
It struck the blue anti-magic shield. Normally, the shield would absorb the energy. But Nova wasn't using normal mana frequencies. Nova was using Void frequencies.
The blue shield flickered. It turned purple. Then it turned static-gray. And then it shattered like glass.
CRASH.
The drone staggered back, its balance gyros screaming.
"Shield failure," the drone announced, sounding genuinely surprised for a robot. "System compromise."
The plasma bolt didn't stop at the shield. It continued through, slamming into the drone's armored leg. The metal didn't melt; it vaporized. The leg disappeared. The drone collapsed, listing to one side, its guns firing harmlessly into the ceiling.
"One," Lloyd counted.
He swiveled his aim. The targeting computer in his eye was highlighting weak points. Joints. Sensor clusters. Power cores.
He fired again. A barrage of bolts.
THOOM-THOOM-THOOM.
The bolts flew across the room. They were beautiful and terrifying. They lit up the ruined ballroom with strobe-light intensity.
The second drone tried to dodge. It was fast, but Lloyd was faster. The tracking software predicted its movement. A bolt caught it in the central eye. The red lens exploded. The drone went blind, firing wildly in circles.
"Friendly fire!" Lloyd shouted helpfully. "You might want to check your aim!"
The blind drone’s bullets hit the third drone, shredding its armor. The third drone turned and fired back, its logic circuits deciding that the blind drone was now a threat.
"Civil war," Lloyd grinned. "I love it when the trash takes itself out."
He was moving now. He walked forward, the heavy cannon humming on his arm. He moved with a cold, mechanical precision. No wasted movement. No hesitation. Step, aim, fire. Step, aim, fire.
His sarcastic monotone was gone. This was the Major General. This was the man who had fought wars with sticks and stones, and now he had a laser cannon. It wasn't even a fair fight anymore.
The fourth drone tried to charge him. It raised its hydraulic claws, intending to crush him.
Lloyd waited. He waited until it was ten feet away.
"Charge Shot," Lloyd whispered.
The prongs of the Nova Cannon opened wider. A ball of white energy formed between them, crackling with static.
When the drone leaped, Lloyd pulled the trigger.
KA-BOOM.
A beam of solid white light hit the drone in mid-air. It didn't just push it back; it punched a hole straight through the center of its body. The drone flew backward, crashing into the far wall and embedding itself in the plaster. It twitched once and died.
"Four down," Lloyd said, the cannon smoking slightly.
He checked his energy reserves. The Nova Cannon was hungry. It ate mana like a starving teenager at a buffet.
"Efficient," Lloyd judged. "But expensive."
He turned to the last drone. The big one. The Command Unit.
It was twice the size of the others. Its armor was thicker, darker. And it hadn't moved. It had just stood there, watching its squad get dismantled.
"You're quiet," Lloyd said, aiming the cannon at it. "Calculating your odds of survival? I can save you the math. It's zero."
The Command Unit’s central eye opened wider. It wasn't red anymore. It was shifting to a deep, ominous crimson.
"Threat Level: Critical," the drone said. Its voice was deeper, more distorted. "Enemy possesses Unknown Technology. Adaptation required."
"You can't adapt to getting shot in the face," Lloyd said.
He fired a Rapid Shot at the Command Unit.
The bolt hit the shield. But this shield didn't break. It rippled. It turned red. And then... it absorbed the bolt.
Lloyd frowned. "That's new."
"Energy signature analyzed," the drone said. "Frequency modulation complete. Shield adapted."
The drone’s armor plates shifted. Panels opened up all over its body. But these weren't machine guns. These were vents. Heat sinks.
A low, vibrating hum filled the room. The air began to distort around the drone.
"What are you doing?" Lloyd asked, stepping back.
"Counter-measure," the drone said. "Orbital Class Laser. Charging."
Lloyd’s eyes widened. "Orbital class? In a ballroom?"
That wasn't a weapon. That was a city-eraser. If that thing fired, it wouldn't just kill Lloyd. It would vaporize the palace, the guests, his wives, and probably half the capital city.
"You're insane," Lloyd said. "You'll destroy yourself too!"
Chapter : 1794
"Acceptable loss," the drone replied. "Mission priority: Elimination of Target."
The crimson light in the drone’s eye grew brighter. It was blinding. The hum became a scream.
Lloyd looked at his HUD.
[WARNING: High-Energy Build-up Detected.]
[Estimated Time to Firing: 3 Seconds.]
Three seconds.
He couldn't shoot through the shield. It had adapted. He couldn't run. He couldn't shield everyone.
He had one option.
He had to get inside the shield.
"Okay," Lloyd said, taking a deep breath. "Let's do something stupid."
He dropped the Nova Cannon to his side. He didn't need to aim. He needed to be the bullet.
"Fang Fairy!" Lloyd roared in his mind. "Partial Merge! Now!"
The four smaller drones are thrown into disarray by Nova’s bolts, sparking and twitching on the floor like overturned beetles. But the fifth and largest drone—the Command Unit—reveals its true purpose. It wasn't just a soldier; it was a bomb.
Its central eye opened, glowing with a terrifying crimson light that bathed the ruined ballroom in the color of blood. The hum of its charging laser was so loud it rattled Lloyd’s teeth. It was the sound of impending doom.
"Charging," the drone announced calmly. "90%."
Lloyd’s HUD flashed red. [WARNING: LETHAL ENERGY SPIKE.]
He calculated he had only three seconds. Three seconds before the laser fired. Three seconds before the Grand Hall became a crater. Three seconds before his wives, his friends, and his annoying cousin Victor were turned into atomic dust.
"I really hate deadlines," Lloyd muttered.
He didn't have time to run. He didn't have time to think. He only had time to act.
"Fang Fairy!" Lloyd shouted internally. "We need speed! Give me everything you’ve got! Don't hold back!"
Understood, Master, the spirit’s voice echoed in his head, sounding like wind chimes in a storm.
Lloyd initiated a Partial Merge. He didn't go full transformation—that took too long. He just overlaid her spirit onto his nervous system.
CRACK-ZAP.
Azure lightning exploded around him. His hair stood on end, turning silver at the tips. Ethereal wolf ears sprouted from the top of his head, twitching as they picked up the hum of the drone’s capacitors. The world seemed to slow down. He could see the dust motes floating in the air. He could see the slow blink of the drone’s red light.
His nervous system was overclocked. He felt like he had just chugged a gallon of espresso mixed with rocket fuel.
"Move," Lloyd commanded his legs.
He burst forward.
The floor beneath him didn't just crack; it shattered. He kicked off with so much force that he left a crater in the marble. He was a blur of blue light and black tuxedo.
One second.
He crossed the distance to the drone. It was fifty feet away. He covered it in a single heartbeat. The drone’s sensors tried to track him, but he was moving faster than its servos could rotate.
"Target lost," the drone beeped, confused.
Two seconds.
Lloyd didn't attack the legs. He didn't attack the body. He jumped.
He launched himself into the air, soaring over the drone’s massive head. He was flying. For a brief moment, he hung in the air, looking down at the red, glowing eye of the machine.
"Hi," Lloyd said.
He landed directly atop the massive drone. His boots clanged against the metal hull. He was standing on its head, right behind the sensor array.
The drone thrashed, trying to shake him off like a dog with a flea.
"Get off!" the drone’s voice synthesized, sounding panicked. "Unauthorized access!"
"I'm revoking your admin privileges," Lloyd yelled.
He raised his right arm. The Nova Cannon was still glowing, hot and ready.
He didn't aim. He didn't need to. He grabbed the drone’s central sensor array—a bundle of antennas and lenses—with his left hand and ripped it aside, exposing the raw, glowing circuitry underneath.
Then, he jammed the barrel of the Nova Cannon directly into the hole.
Right into the drone’s brain.
Three seconds.
"Charging... 99%," the drone said. "Firing in..."
"Not today!" Lloyd roared.
He began a "Deep Charge."
This wasn't a normal shot. This was everything. He opened the floodgates of his soul. He pulled energy from his Spirit Core. He pulled fire from Iffrit, who was sleeping in his inventory. He pulled lightning from Fang Fairy, who was merged with him. And he poured it all into the Nova Cannon.