The Mammoth Carrier's Demise
Shiba's expression was relaxed as he said that. The artificial muscles protruding from where the outer armor had fallen were charred, and it had lost several legs. The automaton, on the verge of turning into a pile of ash, posed no threat whatsoever.
At that moment, another pair of eyes rose upward from within the flames.
"Uh, that's kinda big..."
Taylor's neck craned upward. Then the beast that burst from the inferno stepped forward.
Crunch!
The tarantula flattened. The legs not crushed under the massive foot twitched wildly in a frantic dance before going still. The form of this new automaton was...
"An elephant? On a snowy plain, a mammoth would fit better, but it's way too big..."
From the ground to the tip of its head, it stood as tall as a three-story building. It was the kind of house-sized bulk that turned the metaphor into literal fact.
Taylor considered fleeing, but seeing the wrecked mammoth restored a bit of his confidence. He glanced at his companions, rolling only his eyes.
Shiba was comforting Hashy, who was on the verge of passing out, while Allen stood motionless.
It was hard to read Allen's intentions from his expression, thanks to the visor and the thin modified mask. He was probably expressionless as always, anyway.
"We fightin' it?"
"Yes. It doesn't look like it'll let us escape easily. Even with the mammoth wrecked, those legs mean it'll be way faster than us."
Sure enough, the distance closed rapidly as the thing strode toward them with massive steps.
"Let's go."
Beep—
"Not you."
Allen boarded the makeshift sled. Crafted from the outer armor of the automaton they'd defeated in the snowfield, it was pulled by the leopard.
The box showed signs of wanting to follow, but Allen shook his head firmly.
"You provide fire support from here. If things get dicey, take the hit for me."
With that, Allen shot forward—or rather, the sled he rode did.
Taylor placed a hand on the box's head as he watched.
"Take the hit for him? Your owner's too harsh. Right?"
Beep!
The box let out a shrill sound and swatted Taylor's hand away.
"Mad already? Why?"
Meanwhile, Allen circled the mammoth, observing its condition.
That size means its firepower's gotta be insane.
Running while poking at it with magic bullets could've backfired spectacularly.
But the mammoth, battered by overload explosions and mana storms, wasn't at full strength. Especially its left rear leg—it was a mangled mess. The outer armor was completely stripped, and mana leaking from torn cables oxidized in a blue glow.
Allen's plan was to harass it using the leopard's mobility.
"Faster!"
The leopard kicked off the snowfield harder in response to its master's command. The sled lurched forward with sudden acceleration.
Thud-thud-thud!
Snow erupted fiercely along their path. The cause: the mammoth's tusks—or rather, the autocannons disguised as tusks.
The black strip dangling beneath the tusks wasn't a cable; it was a feed belt for ammo. Rounds were sucked into the cannon at terrifying speeds.
That size? 20mm? Getting hit would be ugly.
The sled arced in a wide circle around the mammoth, which rotated its body to track Allen.
He'd drawn its attention, so step one was a success. If the cannon had pointed elsewhere, Taylor or Shiba might've survived, but Hashy would've been shredded for sure.
As Allen moved counterclockwise, he raised his left arm. The powersuit's forearm opened, revealing a thick barrel.
The pre-loaded magic bullet was armor-piercing. His arm shuddered slightly from the recoil as it fired.
The armor-piercing round streaked through the air on a clear miss trajectory—at least, if the mammoth hadn't twisted its body.
Crunch!
The left tusk bent downward and dangled limply. The ammo feeding into the cannon detonated in a chain reaction.
The mammoth's head shook violently from the added damage. At the same moment, a magic bullet from the box bloomed flames along its flank, precisely targeting the melted armor sections.
With Allen and the box's attacks landing in succession, the mammoth's front legs buckled. It couldn't feel pain, so this was a temporary glitch in its mana circuits.
"Let's move."
"Understood. Brother Hashy, hide behind that rock."
Taylor and Shiba wouldn't miss the enemy's glitch. They'd been itching for action anyway. What predator passes up wounded prey? Though calling a mammoth "prey" felt off.
Shiba headed for the rear legs. Soon, booming impacts echoed like those from a steel mill—or a giant gong.
Taylor eyed the mammoth's back. He activated his reflex axle. Snowflakes fell in slow motion; the explosions around them stretched out long.
In this slowed world, Taylor's speed remained unchanged. The reflex axle accelerated and amplified his neural signals. The shattered outer armor now looked like handy footholds pointing upward.
With a slight bend of his knees for propulsion, Taylor was already atop the mammoth's back.
He aimed his shotgun, loaded with a drum magazine, downward. His magitechwear-reinforced left hand could handle the recoil, leaving his right free to draw the mana sword.
From hips to head, he charged.
Bang-bang-bang!
The mana stone dust mixed in the gunpowder packed far more punch. Useless against tank-thick armor, so he targeted exposed artificial muscles.
Slash!
The mana sword sliced smoothly into the muscles. Edged lightly, it was agile— a flick of the wrist sent it whipping through new arcs, shredding the fibers into minced meat.
Taylor struck only where armor was absent. Exploiting weaknesses wasn't cowardice; it was smart fighting.
If this thing was intact, running would've been the better call.
A mammoth like this was titan-class. Pitting it against one would've been a hell of a show.
Reaching the head, Taylor reversed his grip on the mana sword. Automatons weren't animals—no brain here, but sensors were a sure bet.
Just as the mana sword pierced an armor seam...
Woooong!
A massive sound slammed into his eardrums. His body shuddered. It was infrasound, beyond human hearing.
The source: the mammoth's ears. Small before, they now fanned out like a hand fan, vibrating to unleash sonic waves.
"Gah!"
Taylor slid downward. Reflex axle cooldown left him helpless. He grabbed a protruding armor plate, but it snapped like rotten wood, sending him tumbling.
He face-planted into the snow. Ripples formed even in the snow from the sonic assault.
Shiba was hunched over too, affected but better off thanks to his holy arts—though his movements were caterpillar-slow.
And Taylor witnessed it: the mammoth turning its head toward him, trunk tip glowing red.
The light intensified, like the guardian's eye beam prelude.
Boom!
A spectacular fireworks show erupted near the trunk. It bent, redirecting the red beam past Taylor.
Immense heat turned snow to mist in an instant, clouding the area in white.
Boom!
Another explosion stalled the sonic attack.
Taylor rolled backward, using momentum to leap up. The box entered his view, claws clacking—successful magic bullet fire.
Allen's where?
Explosions from the mammoth's opposite side confirmed he was harassing it there.
"Brother, you okay?"
"Thanks. Regroup first."
"Right."
As Shiba's white hands passed over him, pain ebbed. Glancing back in the brief respite, Taylor saw the rear leg Shiba had pulverized. No wonder a few bullets made it wobble.
Thud!
Something dropped near Taylor—an armor plate, but odd. Designed for detachment.
Looking up, he spotted the back: fist-sized micro-missiles packed where armor had peeled away.
Sparks flew, and missiles scattered wildly. Target: the box that'd harried it with bullets.
The box raised a claw to form a mana shield like a barrier, but there were too many.
Kaboom!
Lightning struck; the box crumpled into scrap. "Box" no longer fit—junk was more accurate.
Taylor had no time to mourn the savior of his life. Hashy hid behind a nearby rock.
Blast radius like that? He's toast.
Dust hid the view, but it was certain. Unless Hashy sprouted wings.
Then, a dark shadow burst from the dust: the leopard and sled. Hashy clung to Allen's waist.
"Thanks..."
"Hold on tight."
"Whoa!"
The leopard showed no mercy to passengers. It wasn't pulling the sled—it was whipping it around. Without the powersuit, Allen would've been flung off to tumble in the snow long ago.
Allen's eyes swept the box's wreckage briefly before locking back on the mammoth. His gaze was as steady as ever.
The mammoth's assault wasn't over. Panels on its flank and belly opened, revealing a factory-farm-like structure packed with small bird-like automatons in layers.
The mammoth was a walking aircraft carrier. The birds unfurled wings and swarmed out, red-hot and trailing smoke—their attack method was obvious.
Kamikaze. But that's a mistake.
Triangles appeared on Allen's visor-hidden face. The overlapping circles at his brow glowed brightest. A stranger might mistake it for helmet lights.
Blue light swirled fiercely in Allen's left eye, savage as rising flames.
His gaze pierced the birds' soul stones. He interfered with the star letters, hijacking signals to their parts.
The airborne birds veered off. Even those still aboard the mammoth did the same.
Bang!
Birds slammed into the outer hull and exploded.
Boom!
Waiting birds burrowed inward and detonated inside. Flames and smoke erupted from every crevice in the mammoth's body.
End
A mammoth suited to names like "medium tank" or "land carrier" lived up to its size with toughness. Despite the betrayal of its kamikaze birds exploding internally, it stood defiant, ablaze.
"Creepy bastard."
Taylor was a mana practitioner. Even with an artificial mana heart, his mana sensitivity was intact.
Thus, he sensed the immense power churning inside the mammoth. Unlike people, it made no effort to hide it. Why bother stealth with that bulk?
Taylor exchanged glances with Shiba and nodded.
"One, two, three..."
"Hold on."
Allen blocked their path with the sled as they steeled for a charge. Snow sprayed from the sudden stop.
"It's over. Fall back."
"Looks different through a magitech engineer's eyes?"
"Yes. That's its death throes—a self-destruct sequence to wreck itself rather than let parts fall to the enemy."
As Allen said, they retreated far. From where the mammoth looked small, a bonfire rose before the still-burning mana generator.
Not relatively—a grand explosion. As the tormented ground fell silent, Allen observed the mammoth.
"Definitely done. No other automatons in sight."
"What if it'd been intact?"
"A mammoth's not in the same league as the DT-10 from the mine. If we'd fought it properly, you and Hashy wouldn't be standing here."
"Not Shiba, me?"
"Brother..."
Shiba began to scold