Intense flashes of light and destructive heat rays were shot towards the pile of magicrafts. The entire pile of magicrafts swelled up like a large organism and dispersed. Many of them were destroyed, but the absolute number was too large, and there were still many discarded magicrafts left.
āYuta! Thereās something here!ā
Kiyone was the first to notice its existence. It was a jet-black, four-arm magicrafts that was clearly different from the other abandoned machines. It was left in the middle of the pile of magicrafts, but it seemed to be alive.
āHeās the master?ā
āPerhaps he is. I sense a powerful energy.ā
I felt something strange coming from the four-armed magicraft. I heard a sound like a heartbeat and the machine moved as if it was trembling.
āIāve confirmed the activation of the Ludia core! Yuta, that magicrafts is starting to move!ā
āIām going to take it down before it makes its move!ā
I pointed my left arm at the four arms machine and fired a series of magic light bullets. I was convinced that all the bullets would hit it butĀ itās arms moved and the zombie magicrafts formed a wall in front of it.
āWhat?ā
I moved to avoid the wall formed by zombie machines and fired magic bullets again. However, as I move, the surrounding magicrafts move as well and block them.
āThen Iāll get close and beat it with my sword! Kiyone, letās go!ā
āOkay.ā
Kiyone and I ducked through a wall of magicrafts and approached a four-armed machine. When we caught it in range of our swords, the nearby magicrafts interfered with us.
āDamn it! Theyāre annoying!ā
In one fell swoop, I concentrated my Ludia and unleashed my full power. I forcibly dispatched the magicrafts that were clinging to me.
āYuta, Iāll take care of this! You take that one down.ā
āOkay! I got it!ā
Leaving Kiyone to deal with the zombie-like magicrafts, I approached the four arms machine. I raised my sword and tried to cut it in two however, I received a strong impact and was repelled back.
āWhoa!ā
When I looked, I saw that the four-armed magicraft was fully activated. It had a red aura around it and was pointing a staff-like weapon at me. The weapon glowed eerily and in the next moment, I felt a shock run through my body.
āUghā¦ā¦what kind of attack is that?ā
I asked, struggling to make sense of the situation.
āItās a telekinetic magic strike. The output is greater than Linnecarloās lightning strike.ā
āStronger than Linnecarloās lightning strike?ā
Thatās not good. Even Arleo-2 canāt withstand that many times. However, what was worse than the power was the fact that I couldnāt see the attack at all. If I canāt see it, thereās no way to avoid it.
As I was lost in thought, the second attack was unleashed. I still couldnāt see anything. Seeing that I was struggling, Kiyone called out to me.
āDonāt try to see it! Think carefully. Did you see fatherās swordsmanship?ā
Thatās true. I couldnāt even see the sword strike when father really tried to hit me. However, in the latter half of my training, I was still able to react to some extent. So, that feelingā¦ā¦is not to see, but to perceive.
The four-armed machine repositioned his staff toward me. I focused my attention then I felt the timing of the enemyās attack.
āNow!ā
I rolled forward diagonally to avoid it. I seemed to have successfully evaded it and continued to approach the four-armed machine. Luckily for me it seems that it canāt fire powerful blasts continuously.
I slammed my sword down diagonally across the chest of the four-armed machine. There was a high-pitched cracking sound, and the armor on the chest came off.
āIāll finish him off with a second blow!ā
With that in mind, I tried to thrust my sword into the flaking armor. But then, something startling caught my eye. I hurriedly stopped my sword.
āWhat the hell isā¦ā¦?ā
On the chest of the four-armed magicraft, there was a transparent, round capsule-like object embedded. Inside the capsule was a nude woman with countless tubes attached to her. The woman appeared to be unconscious.