United We Stand
Rat-tat-tat!
Thanks to Arva and her group running wild atop the carrier deck, it seemed there were no more Astral reinforcements we had to deal with.
The end of this tedious war of attrition was finally in sight.
[Po-ooo!!]
Podic's shadow writhed like a living creature, firmly binding the ankles of a Knight-class unit that was desperately firing its weapon in a final struggle.
"Now, it's party time! You scrap-metal can—!"
Not missing the opening, Helena charged forward like a hungry beast, swinging her shotgun.
The Hellhound of the Cerberus.
It was easy to see why she had that nickname; once she set a target, she never backed down until the enemy fell.
Matching Helena's exhilarating movements, the other members of the Cerberus squad moved in perfect unison and began hunting the Knight-class robot.
Surprisingly... the combination of Cerberus and Podic isn't bad.
Luna, the squad's support specialist, excelled at ally buffs but was far from a debuff type capable of binding enemies.
Therefore, Podic's shadow ability perfectly filled the gap in the Cerberus squad.
Bang! Bang-bang-bang!
I also pulled the trigger of White Tiger, aiming for the joints of the Knight-class robot.
In a way, it was merely taking a shot at an enemy that was already defeated, but...
Acquired 1600C.
I couldn't give up this lucrative Cash income.
As the Specters and Knight-class Astrals collapsed one by one, turning into cold lumps of scrap metal, a massive Troller-class Mobile Aircraft Carrier finally entered our range.
And so, the full-scale ground assault on the ship began.
Rat-tat-tat!
Pomen's minigun raked across the Mobile Aircraft Carrier.
It didn't seem to cause much damage, but the numerous sparks flying off the carrier looked refreshing.
Bang—!
Next, Silva's sniper rifle spat fire.
Her bullets struck with pinpoint accuracy, one by one, hitting critical facilities that appeared to be power spheres or communication devices on the surface of the Mobile Aircraft Carrier.
She was supporting her comrades on the ship in her own way.
"What about the remaining units?!"
"Just two Specters. And it looks like they'll be finished soon, Commander."
Cordelia, who had been drawing the Astrals' attention while controlling the airspace alongside Pomen and Noah, spoke while wiping her messy face with her arm.
She seemed to have struggled immensely while drawing the attention of multiple Specters.
I had briefly seen her taking concentrated attacks from the Astrals during the battle, but fortunately, she didn't seem to be injured or broken anywhere.
"Looks like almost everything is cleared."
"Yes, Commander. It is a complete victory."
Once the ground situation stabilized, I looked toward the ship again through White Tiger's scope.
The suffocating one-on-one duel between Moi and Aurum was still in full swing.
She fights well.
As a Tier 0 dealer specifically against Astrals, Moi, having fully unleashed the power of the Surge Blade, was a rabid dog in every sense of the word.
As if she were the protagonist of this fight, Moi swung her sword, overflowing with a pure instinct for destruction to dismantle the enemy before her.
In that case...
Watching her, I naturally began to map out the next stage of the ship's conquest.
In a mobile game, this would be a situation finished with a whoosh! boom! crash! and a single click of the skip button. But this was reality.
First, the Mobile Aircraft Carrier, floating low at the height of a 20-story apartment, had to be brought down to the ground.
And only after completely destroying the Astral Core, the power source, could we claim that lump of scrap metal.
We might not be able to use it ourselves, but we can dismantle it all for Ark development or the development of the forward base in Hongwei-7.
In other words, that Astral carrier was a sacrifice for the bright future of our Ark.
"Commander."
Just then, Helena, who was changing her magazine beside me, called my name.
"What is it?"
"That kid... she's getting too cocky. Once her output starts to drop, she'll be pushed into a defensive position in an instant."
"...Huh?"
At Helena's words, I felt a heavy shock as if I had been hit over the head by a sledgehammer.
It was because I had taken it for granted that Moi would defeat Aurum.
However, Helena's point was valid.
Moi was still a tiger cub who had only just discovered the taste of her claws, lacking extensive combat experience.
Of course, because a tiger is a tiger, she was showing a powerful, predatory side against the Astral, but she needed more growth to become the Moi—Broken Fang I knew.
Helena spoke again.
"At this rate, Moi might collapse from exhaustion before she can take down that monster."
Ultimately, I had to help her somehow.
Looking around, my eyes landed on Lapis, who was holding the Saint Hammer.
"Lapis! Can you hit another home run?"
"Huh? Yes! Of course!? Who should I launch?"
"Send Helena and Cordelia up onto the deck. And you two...!"
Before I could even finish my sentence, Cordelia spoke while checking her rifle.
"I will create an opening for Moi by distracting that snake-like monster."
"Good. Its weakness is the lower body, which is covered in blades. Once the armor on the lower body is broken, the Astral Core, which is essentially its weakness, will be exposed."
"...What?"
At my words, the eyes of all the ECHOs around me widened.
It seemed none of them had imagined that I would know Aurum's weakness so precisely.
Well, I had only seen it in the game, not in reality.
"That's how I remember it, but I'm not certain, so don't trust it blindly. Adapt flexibly to the situation."
I stepped back a bit just in case there were unforeseen variables.
Regardless, the ECHOs began to move in perfect unison again according to my orders.
As I watched Lapis prepare to send Cordelia and Helena up to the Mobile Aircraft Carrier, I called out to Podic, who was staring silently at the carrier.
"Podic—!"
[Po-oh?]
"Put me on top of that building."
When I pointed to the tallest building ahead, Silva, who was beside me, spoke softly.
"I will go with you, Commander."
"Okay, Podic. Put both Silva and me on the roof of that building."
[Po-oh—!]
At my command, Podic hugged both of us tightly and leaped into the air.
In an instant, she set us down on the roof of a building as tall as a 20-story apartment. Hmm... this was actually quite convenient.
"Good, I have a great view of the target."
The situation unfolding on the ship, accompanied by explosions, came into full view from afar.
"Silva, you support Helena and Cordelia and focus on stripping away Aurum's lower body armor."
"Understood, Commander."
Simultaneously, I lowered my posture and raised White Tiger's scope, aiming at Aurum's upper body.
The upper body is a part where attacks don't work, but...
It was enough to annoy the creature.
If I did that, openings would gradually appear, and if my allies dove into those gaps? The plan would be a success.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Haa... haa..."
Moi realized her mistake.
Because she had gotten cocky, her stamina and Core Energy were rapidly bottoming out.
In contrast, the monster before her still looked perfectly fine, without a single scratch.
Damn it! Just because the Commander bestowed an Artifact upon me doesn't mean I suddenly became strong...
The moment that thought crossed her mind, a vivid landscape of her hellish past unfolded before her eyes.
Ark 38, where Moi and Rai were created.
It was a den of cowards who barely maintained peace by regularly offering ECHOs as sacrificial lambs to a horrific mechanical monster called the Beltline.
However, Moi and Rai, unaware of this fact, did all sorts of dirty work for the Ark to earn the trust and love of the humans.
But when her younger sister, Rai, was designated as the sacrifice for the Beltline, Moi abandoned everything and fled with Rai, living the life of a Wanderer on the surface for a long time.
Words could not express how difficult those times were.
That was why Moi desperately wanted to take down this monster for the sake of the Commander, who cherished and loved them.
[I smell fear coming from you, you pitiful mechanical doll.]
"I am... not a doll."
[That is merely your own thought, huhuhu. Do not fear, mechanical doll. In the end, you and I are destined to become one. We Astrals...]
"Stop talking nonsense, you piece of scrap metal!!"
Cutting off Aurum's nonsense by raising her voice, Moi desperately scanned for an opening.
But the monster before her was not an easy opponent.
It was then.
Bang—!
[Hmm...?]
Suddenly, explosions and loud roars erupted simultaneously from Aurum's upper and lower body.
"Huh?"
It was the sniping from the Commander and Silva from the ground.
At the same time, Cordelia and Helena landed on the ship, and Helena raised her shotgun, Hell's Gatekeeper, and shouted with utter glee in her voice.
"I'm here—! You monster bastards!!"
Following the Commander's orders, she began to pour a fierce assault onto Aurum's blade-scales.
[How dare you—! You mechanical vermin—!]
"The vermin is you!"
Flustered by the attacks pouring in from all sides, Aurum began to falter.
It seemed the creature never imagined that so many Astrals could be completely wiped out by fewer than ten ECHOs.
And Moi did not miss that opening.
The Commander was risking himself on the battlefield to protect her.
He was opening the path for her.
And her comrades were risking their lives to fight for her.
That fact set her Core ablaze once more.
"..."
She was no longer a fugitive bound by the past, nor a Wanderer unwelcome everywhere.
She was the weapon of the Fleet Commander of Ark 69, and his sharpest claw.
Moi gripped the Surge Blade in reverse grip.
Then, she squeezed every last drop of her being, channeling energy into the blade.
Following that, her body became a single streak of black flash, diving into Aurum's embrace.
[What the, damn it—?! Kuaaaaagh—!!]
Aurum's face contorted like a demon upon contact with the Surge Blade. But that didn't mean it could withstand the ultra-high heat that exceeded 6,000 degrees.
Watching Aurum be sliced in two, Moi let out a short breath and turned her head toward the distant Commander.
"Uh, uuuuh—?! Waaaaagh!! Waa, waaaagh!!"
Was he that happy that we won?
Seeing the Commander screaming while hugging the Hachishakusama and Silva, a smile formed on Moi's lips.
Simply imagining the Commander's face made her nipples harden to the point they ached for his caress.