I Caught a Strange Monster
Darkness had settled over the cliff's edge. Between the precipice and the undergrowth, enormous black shapes slithered through the shadows in stealthy silence.
"Is the concealment field holding?"
"Yes, Commander. We will not be detected within a ten-kilometer radius."
"Good."
Crimson optics gleamed in the dark. These were the Holy Kingdom's most elite assassination unit — the latest stealth-model Titans, locked in opposition against the Kingdom. They were in the midst of a brutal operation that would rip the Kingdom's future out by the roots.
So that's the Kingdom's Abyss.
Far off in the night sky, a pillar of blue light punched through the heavens. That was what they called the Abyss — an otherworld flowing with milk and honey. With the infinite resources discovered there, the Kingdom was slowly slipping free of the Holy Kingdom's influence.
They still had a long way to go before catching up, of course. But snipping a future bud before it could bloom was of the utmost importance.
The Kingdom is not worthy of receiving a gift from God.
The steel giants held their breath as they dressed their ranks. All five Titans had been disguised as jet-black golems — a precaution against any unforeseen contingency. Not that any such contingency would arise. Intelligence indicated that the Kingdom's knight order had recently departed on an Abyss expedition. At best, only academy brats would be left behind.
For a surprise attack, five units should be more than enough.
The gap between cadets and elite knights hardly needed stating. Those greenhorns were drunk on individual power alone — they would never withstand a coordinated unit.
Yes. Everything was perfect. Right up until a moment ago.
"Hold."
......?
A chill. A clammy, crawling wrongness that suddenly climbed his spine.
Wait. Something's...
He could feel a gaze. Something was close. His senses whispered that someone was watching them. The commander reflexively turned his Titan's head —
......!
A shudder raced across his entire body. Between the dark thickets, a pair of scarlet eyes flashed, looking up at them. The instant their gazes locked, the light flicked out and vanished.
What was that?
Rustle. Rustle!
The scrape of undergrowth tickled the midnight woods. The goosebump-raising sensation still hadn't faded. His men seemed to have noticed the anomaly as well.
"Commander?"
"There's something nearby..."
"Quiet."
Thud.
A dull sound overlaid everything else.
This is...?
THOOM—.
A noise from far away grew steadily clearer.
The ground...
Is shaking?
THOOM— THOOM—
The vibration now rang distinctly in his ears, swelling into the roar of overwhelming mass. Now he was certain. These were Titan footsteps.
"What's going on?!"
Detected? Through this perfect concealment field? Impossible. Absolutely impossible! But the thunder hammering his ears was an undeniable reality.
Don't tell me...
Titans?
Enormous shadows tore through the darkness, charging toward them. What approached, shaking the very axis of the earth, were unmistakably Titans. Thud, thud, thud! Their footsteps were headed straight for them.
"It's a trap!"
"How were we discovered...?!"
"Worry about that later!"
The commander, quickly assessing the situation, revised his orders before the enemy could arrive.
"All units, combat stance!"
"What's left are cadets at best. Eliminate them, smash through to the Abyss, and we withdraw!"
GRRRRNNNNG—!
The black Titans drew their swords as one. The objective had merely shifted from ambush to unidentified hostiles. If they could clean up the enemy quickly, there was still a chance to complete the mission.
"Counterattack!"
SLASH!
Five blades of wind carved through the darkness — sword strikes honed over years of coordination, a single blow into which they had poured their entire lives.
They didn't connect.
What...?
The commander swallowed a short breath. He had fought countless Titan battles. But something felt off now. Just before the strikes landed, all five enemy machines had simultaneously — at the exact same, spine-chillingly identical moment — stepped back.
Did I see that wrong?
This was combat involving dozens of tons of steel. No matter how well-trained, with human reaction speed, one or two units would normally break formation.
How... did they all move the same way?
KWAANG—!
The earth caved in and a geyser of dirt erupted. The elite knights' coordinated assault still hadn't stopped. They targeted breastplates with maces, hurled mana lances the instant the distance opened — and yet not a single one of the five Titans' lifelong coordinated attacks found its mark.
He soon understood what had been bothering him.
Those aren't human movements...!
The commander's eyes narrowed to slits. Even a brief exchange was enough to tell this was different from usual. The enemy's movements were stiff and crude, like Titans of a bygone generation.
What kind of people are these...
And yet they were by no means easy to deal with. Those stiff machines were fighting more efficiently than actual humans, with movements that jerked and snapped in irregular stutters, like possessed marionettes.
"Damn it!"
"They're flanking us!"
Even more bizarre was that every enemy held formation as if woven into a single living organism. Pushed, they retreated at identical intervals. Cut at, they scattered, then coalesced as one again. They were evenly matched in number, and yet it felt as though twice as many enemies were pressing in. Every tactic they had spent years synchronizing crumbled into a hollow, meaningless dance.
What are these Titans? What kind of training have they undergone?
The clouds parted, and moonlight poured down. Only then did the enemy's appearance come clearly into view.
What in the...
His lips trembled at what the light revealed. Tattered legs. Shoulder plating like a demon's horns. A single red eye, flickering on one side only. Hideous mechanical chimeras, as if pieced together from scrap.
The Kingdom had... things like this?
These were no ordinary Titans. And they were certainly no academy brats. He knew, having piloted Titans his entire life. Their movements were only possible if five people made the exact same judgment every second, every instant.
A secret knight order of the Kingdom?
He swallowed dryly without meaning to. How horrific the deeds these things had been born to commit, disguised so grotesquely to hide their identities. What manner of monsters might be riding inside those bizarre scrap-iron bellies. At the very least, they were clearly not people who had lived normal lives.
"Retreat!"
After a moment's deliberation, the commander finally shouted. The enemy's level far surpassed that of cadets. If this dragged on, other Kingdom Titans would swarm in — or they might fall to these things first.
"The operation has failed!"
"Abandon the Titans and withdraw!"
FLASH!
A light so bright it stung the eyes leaked from the five black Titans — an emergency escape spell that teleported only the pilot. WHOOOOSH—! With the tearing sound of space distorting, four streaks of light shot toward the night sky. At the same time, four latest-model Titans, drained of mana, slumped their heads like marionettes with cut strings.
And so four of the five made it back safely.
KRAAAAAANG—!
"GRAAAAAAH!"
Not everyone escaped. Just one unit. The commander's vision flickered red. In the instant the spatial leap was about to complete, metal came crashing in from every direction, mercilessly punching through his machine. The belief that he could weather just one more exchange had been a fatal miscalculation.
This is insane...!
A coordinated assault from five directions simultaneously, without even a tenth of a second's discrepancy — and each one a critical hit targeting the weak points at the joints. CRACK, CRUNCH! The mana joints in both arms shattered, and the cylinders in his knees crumpled wretchedly.
Why would such monsters... exist in the Kingdom...?
In crude Titan combat, landing a hit on a vital point was extremely rare. And yet these things, under spine-chillingly perfect calculation, had smashed every mobility component of the machine while leaving only the pilot's lifeline intact.
"Kh, kuhk..."
Insufficient mana. Return cancelled.
CRACKLE, SNAP—!
Blue mana sparks leapt wretchedly between the torn armor plates. The mana leak was so severe the magic circle couldn't complete.
Combat Incapable
Operation Impossible
Hissss—. At last the tightly sealed hatch slid open. Combat incapable. Sensing its master's impending death, the machine opened the cockpit of its own accord.
"Hah... hah..."
Cold night air rushed in. The man laboriously lifted his bloodied head. Beyond the open hatch, he could see the knights of death approaching with the moonlight at their backs.
So this is... the end.
THOOM! THOOM!
Five footsteps shook the earth like a single enormous sound. The sight of them approaching with perfectly identical strides was unrealistically chilling. Before he knew it, enormous shadows had fallen across his vision.
I have always been prepared for death.
He clenched his bloodied teeth. The reason they left him alive... was it to extract information about their backers after all? Threats, torture, persuasion — or even if they took his head in a single stroke, it didn't matter. Even if they sliced his flesh and scraped his bones, he would never open his mouth.
On a knight's honor.
THOOM. THOOM.
Before he knew it, four scrap-iron Titans had surrounded him and come to a halt. And from the very rear, the largest and most grotesque-framed Titan slowly walked forward.
So that's the ringleader.
An overwhelming presence. A form like the flesh of hell-beasts stitched together — nothing that ought to exist in the mortal world.
It has... a tail?
SCRAPE— SCRAPE— A metallic tail dragging along the ground particularly caught his eye. He had never in his life seen such a thing attached to a Titan's body.
Are they truly not human?
What kind of monster was riding inside that bizarre belly. Whatever monster — no, even if it were a demon — he was confident he wouldn't be surprised.
But that vow not to be surprised shattered into pieces at the very next words.
A metallic voice mixed with mechanical tones. But something felt strangely off. Ordinarily, a Titan's internal resonance chamber was so vast that a pilot's voice came out low and gravelly, distorted like a beast's. And yet the voice he had just heard — despite coming from a Titan — was remarkably high-pitched, wasn't it?
...?
Clank. Clank!
A moment later, the area around the lead Titan's hatch began to shake violently.
That's...
The commander went rigid with tension. The sound of something colliding inside. The rattle of the controls struck him as grotesque, like an insect trying to molt.
What is it doing?
A previous-generation Titan cockpit with no automatic opening function. The possibility that a pilot who couldn't even open a hatch lid of a mere five kilograms was struggling inside was something he absolutely never anticipated.
Holding his breath as he watched, that unidentified high metallic voice rang out once more.
HISSSS—!
At last, thick steam billowed forth as the massive cockpit opened. And even as he lay dying, the man's two eyes trembled with shock.