Battle of the Titans
Isumi Corporation's Strategic Intelligence Office was plunged into chaos. Bizarre reports were flooding in from the coastal factory district.
To be precise, it was as if an EMP terror attack had hit—electronic devices and data servers in the area were getting smashed to pieces. On top of that, the magicians who'd dived into the net to assess the situation were popping back out and babbling nonsense about steel giants and massive monsters.
Still, Director Ichijo managed to compile a rough summary of the data and entered the chairman's office. He needed to report on the damage to the affiliate factories first.
As the door slid open, Ichijo stepped inside and bowed deeply.
"It's Ichijo, Chairman. Here's the damage assessment to headquarters so far, along with the situation update—"
"You're seeing it too, aren't you?"
"Pardon?"
Ichijo, mid-bow, looked up in confusion. The Isumi Chairman sat before the glass wall overlooking all of Midland, gazing out. His eyes seemed fixed on some distant point.
"It's like the battles of the ancient gods, isn't it? The kind of fight you could only witness before the heavens split open and the earth hardened..."
Ichijo's eyes darted around, gauging the chairman's mood. He had no idea what the man was talking about.
In times like these, the best move was to shut up. Ichijo pressed his lips tight and waited for the chairman to continue.
A moment later, the chairman turned to face him. Those lava-like, glowing silver eyes made Ichijo hastily drop his gaze.
The chairman spoke.
"As soon as you've assessed the damage, prepare to restore the systems and data. Redirect the entire Strategic Intelligence staff to recovery teams."
"Yes? But we still haven't identified the cause or countermeasures..."
Ichijo's expression hardened as he voiced his doubt. The chairman's silver eyes were fixed steadily on him.
"This shutdown won't just cripple our factories. And that means an opportunity to boost our market share in Midland. By my calculations, we can snatch about 3 percent from X-Techno alone in the electronics sector. The faster we recover production, the bigger that slice gets."
It was a declaration to exploit the chaos and carve off chunks from rivals. Corporate ethics be damned—but in the megacorp world, where armed clashes weren't uncommon, this was par for the course.
That wasn't what unsettled Ichijo, though.
"But Chairman, from what we've gathered, this seems like some kind of virus or a rampage by digital spirit beasts. Recovery is important, but shouldn't we prioritize containing it first?"
"The fight won't last long. Beasts without reason always end up hunted."
The Isumi Chairman shifted his gaze back to the glass wall. Ichijo pondered whether to press the issue one more time, then bowed and left the office. After all, he was just a mid-level employee following orders from the top—the pinnacle of which was the chairman himself.
Alone once more in the vast office, the chairman continued staring into the distance. His silver eyes captured the battle unfolding beyond reality, in cyberspace.
He murmured to himself.
"So that voice echoing back then wasn't a mistake. The mysterious giant god that appeared in the net... Indeed..."
Each time Roque's massive leg took a step forward, the grid-patterned expanse of cyberspace rippled under its weight. Reality below seemed to wobble in sync.
Clad in steel armor and hundreds of times larger than before, Roque felt like a true giant looming over ants. If he wanted, he could crush the world beneath his feet.
Of course, reality wouldn't budge even if he rampaged—no matter what, he couldn't so much as shift a pebble. This was a virtual realm of 0s and 1s woven from spells.
Unlike his previous dives into cyberspace, though, this time reality and the net overlapped vividly. Even with the grid overlay, the realism was on another level.
Glancing back, he spotted the Isumi truck halted on the coastal road—and his own body sitting in front of it.
His flesh senses screamed that the body back there was the real one. Yet the expanded instincts of an Aura Master in cyberspace insisted this colossal steel frame was equally his.
Damn, that's something.
Either way, the exhilaration was real. Power to shatter heaven and earth writhed in his steel fists, hundreds of times amplified. The giant lizard crouching ahead proved it—lowering itself further as Roque approached, bracing for battle.
Then a beep-beep chimed, and a square window popped up in his field of view. A red camera-lens eye appeared inside.
Bini?
Bini beeped affirmatively, then displayed numbers in the upper left of Roque's vision: 05:00. It ticked down to 04:59, 04:58. Roque realized it was the time limit for this giant form.
Five minutes. A bit short.
At that moment, the giant lizard Aleicand in the factory district gaped its maw at the steel giant Roque.
> [----!]
The vibration from its roar made the cyberspace field overlaying reality glitch with static. Aleicand leaped, thrusting its open jaws at Roque. Its massive bulk hurtled like a small mountain.
The next instant, a steel fist slammed into its jaw.
A thunderous boom like an explosion erupted, sending Aleicand tumbling far away. Data servers beneath its body shattered across the real factory district. Fragments and debris billowed like dust clouds.
Roque eyed the rolling beast and his still-thrumming right fist.
Five minutes should be plenty.
Aleicand shook its head amid the data wreckage, then charged again. Roque met it head-on.
The two titans collided, unleashing a boom and shockwave that scattered the debris.
Steel giant and ancient beast pushed against each other like rutting bulls locking horns. The grid floor buckled under their feet.
Aleicand slashed with hook-like claws and snapping jaws. But the talons skidded off Roque's new steel skin in showers of sparks.
Roque grabbed its maw with his right hand, shoving it upward, then uppercut its underside with his left. Another boom—Aleicand staggered.
Roque pressed the opening, seizing its neck and waist to flip it. The beast sailed briefly before crashing headfirst, pulverizing more data buildings in the factory district.
> [---!]
Aleicand rubbed its head on the ground, then rolled aside to dodge Roque's stomping foot. With surprising speed for its bulk, it righted itself and whipped around. Its massive tail lashed out.
Roque's steel frame flew back. But unlike what Aleicand expected, he landed steadily on his feet. A few data servers still crumbled in the aftermath.
Roque straightened, growing accustomed to the giant body. The tail strike to his chest stung a little, but nothing major.
Bini's camera eye popped up again in his peripheral vision.
What?
It beeped urgently at the dwindled timer—03:00—then highlighted the weapon grafted onto his body. Roque chuckled dryly and raised his left arm at Aleicand.
So this is what an armed implant feels like.
His forearm hissed open with a clank, revealing a Vulcan cannon barrel. It whirred to life, unleashing a storm of bullets.
Aleicand tilted its head at the cannon, then hunkered down under the barrage. It circled wide, and Roque tracked it relentlessly.
> [---!]
As it closed in, Aleicand leaped. Roque retracted the Vulcan and cocked back his right fist.
Poor learner.
The cannon-like punch smashed its jaw again. This time, the lower mandible shattered with a crunch, spinning the beast away amid sprays of blood and flesh.
Roque moved to pursue. Being a rampaging steel god was fun, but with Bini's nagging and the timer running low, playtime was over.
His stride halted abruptly.
What the hell?
Aleicand thrashed, trying to rise. Factory buildings crumbled around it—not data clumps, but the real ones overlaid on cyberspace.
Bini beeped frantically in the display, at a loss.
Aleicand righted itself amid the wreckage, black blood pouring from its mangled jaw, yellow reptilian eyes blazing like hellfire at Roque.
So it's not my time limit. It's how long that thing has until it crawls into reality.
> [-----!]
Aleicand roared through its ruined jaws. The shockwave rippled both cyberspace and reality—the grid warped, dust and debris rose from the factory ruins.
Something bulged from its shoulders with a crack. Flesh and hide tore as bony protrusions extended joints like elongated finger bones. Membranes could fill them into wings.
> [------!]
It roared again, as if thrilled by its encroaching reality and revival.
Loud bastard.
Roque strode forward. Aleicand swung its new limbs. The bone-and-leather wings gouged into his steel skin.
This time, his armor failed. The wings pierced with a squelch and sparks, skewering the steel giant.
Roque flinched only at the impact, never breaking stride.
> [---?]
Aleicand's smug satisfaction turned to shock. It planted all four legs and shoved. Steel screeched as Roque halted. Pouring power into its wings, it aimed to rip him apart.
Roque extended his right hand sideways. As Aleicand's eyes flicked to it, gray flame erupted from his palm with a whoosh.
> [---!]
Seeing the flaming sword, Aleicand deflated with a hiss, desperate to retreat. But pinned by its own wings, it could only flail.
The steel giant raised his right arm high. The blazing blade pierced the heavens.
Fear flashed in Aleicand's yellow eyes. Before it faded, the gray Aura Blade cleaved down.
Ahh... my wish for ascension...
Aleicand's body split in two, then burned to ash in spreading gray flames. Roque thought he caught its final murmur amid the blaze.
Confirming the kill, he checked the remaining time.
Five minutes. Right on the dot.
The factory district was a wreck in both cyberspace and reality—like a bombing run.
Nice.
Not his problem, though. Most of this area was unmanned megacorp factories. The thought of them shelling out fortunes to rebuild was oddly satisfying.
He flicked his right hand like snuffing a match, extinguishing the Aura Blade.
---