NoveLight ™
───Giiing!
As the standard mechanical sound echoed, the joints glowed with a blue hue, and the massive body of the machine momentarily transformed into a streak of blue light. The half of the 25 meters between Yujin, Lorenatina, and the enemy was closed in an instant, a terrifying display of mobility.
A heat haze spread across the air. The energy required to accelerate the 500kg mechanical body from a standstill to 60 km/h was immense, and the resulting shockwave shattered the ground and sent concrete shards flying in every direction.
The distance between the two groups of combatants shrank to within 10 meters in the blink of an eye, and at the center of that was Yujin.
The barrels of the mini-gun began to spin.
"Yujin!"
Boom!
The cover, a flowerbed of sorts, was caught in a storm of about 200 rounds of lead, crumbling like a sandcastle swept away by waves. From within that debris, a new model suddenly sprang out. Meanwhile, Harmony, who had been waiting in the back, took a shot at the spinning mini-gun barrels, slightly distorting the trajectory.
If not for that narrow gap, Yujin would not have survived.
Barely managing to hide behind another cover, she locked eyes with Lorenatina.
"That was close, almost got deleted there. My mistake, its mobility is more than I expected..."
"We’ll have to check if this is its maximum mobility, but if gathering samples takes such risks, it’s going to be quite troublesome."
"Maybe next time it’s better to just dive in."
"We'll find out soon enough."
"Eh?"
───Giiing!
At that moment, the two came face-to-face with the weaponized blue eyes that were now right in front of them.
A rapid exchange of fire followed. Without a moment's hesitation, they both aimed for the glowing blue eyes, and just before the mini-gun’s barrel was about to settle over the shield, Yujin kicked the ballistic shield with all her strength. However, Mecha Yujin was only pushed back several meters without sustaining any damage.
It was Harmony who broke the deadlock.
The bullets shot from behind relentlessly pounded the exterior of Mecha Yujin’s armor, and Harmony added in an incredulous tone.
"Is this even doing damage…?"
"The most effective hits probably came from the new rookie. We definitely need to neutralize that damn ballistic shield first, but at least two people need to stick together for a chance at victory."
"Does that mean I’m the one who has to buy time?"
"Good to see you catching on quickly."
As the mini-gun began spinning again, there was a continuous barrage of suppression fire coming from the back. It was essentially a "super-save" moment for the team—though that didn’t mean Yujin and Lorenatina weren’t doing their part. If they were ordinary people, they’d have died countless times already.
A brief lull followed, but it didn’t necessarily signal the start of a stalemate.
Lorenatina, watching Harmony’s increasingly sharp suppression fire, offered an opinion.
"How many did we kill in this session?"
"...Suddenly?"
"If we collect all the grenades from the dead and use them, we might get some interesting results."
Yujin’s expression scrunched up.
However, it wasn’t an expression of disapproval or dissatisfaction. It was more a start of the thought process to verify the idea’s feasibility—because it wasn’t an unreasonable suggestion. After running through the idea several times in her mind, Yujin began calculating the number of grenades they had, including those from the enemies they had killed. She estimated the locations and numbers of enemies who hadn’t retrieved their grenades.
A couple of seconds later, the result came to her.
It was worth trying.
Plans began to take shape.
"...I have 4, Harmony has 2, how many do you have, Lorenatina?"
"3."
"There should be about 4 grenades left that we didn’t collect... do you think we can gather them while Harmony and I hold the line?"
"Shouldn’t be a problem."
"Then let’s give it a shot."
Yujin pulled four grenades from her multi-purpose pouch and handed them to Lorenatina. Lorenatina poured the grenades into her own pouch, sealed it tightly, and then the shark began to charge. The mini-gun on Mecha Yujin barely missed her, wasting bullets on the wall.
The battlefield gradually began to shift, and Yujin and Harmony adjusted their positions accordingly. There wasn’t much that had changed. The two were conserving ammunition and minimizing unnecessary combat duration, leading to a slight lull in the fight.
It wasn’t without danger, but Harmony, who had thoroughly looted the boss in the shopping mall, unhesitatingly poured out bullets, keeping the situation hanging by a thread.
Minutes passed.
"…What is all this?"
"Twelve grenades. If we include the ones the new rookie has, that's fourteen. The pure weight of the explosives alone is 840 grams, so if we set them off at once, it’ll hurt Mecha Rookie quite a bit, right?"
"Making a trap to explode all 14 grenades at once will take quite a bit of time…"
"Who do you think is buying time for us right now?"
"...Okay, no complaints."
If it’s impossible, then make it possible.
While Harmony was desperately stalling several dozen meters away with the new weapon, executing all sorts of acrobatic combat moves, she swallowed hard and began carefully packing the grenades into a bag Lorenatina had brought from somewhere.
She twisted the handles to remove the top fuses and inserted the detonators back into the grenades. The grenades, now stripped of safety clips and handles, looked like simple spheres.
The detonators could ignite with just a small spark, and Lorenatina handed over oil drums and a vehicle ignition plug to Harmony. Harmony poured oil over the open grenades in the case and carefully inserted a small battery, connecting it to a cell phone’s ignition plug, ensuring it could be ignited at any time.
"Alright... Here’s your 1G cellphone. Call the designated number and they’ll explode immediately."
"This feels like something I’ve seen in an American movie…"
"A perfect IED. Making makeshift explosives is basic training for special forces."
By now, the thought of whether it was okay to learn such things had long disappeared. The reason was simple: by now, Lorenatina had already fired several rounds into the back of Mecha Yujin’s head.
The familiar silhouette passed over the two’s heads. The one capable of creating a storm on its own was approaching from behind Yujin, heading toward Lorenatina and Harmony. But Harmony, though tense, reported calmly that the booby trap was ready.
With a satisfactory response, Lorenatina darted toward the sinkhole, and Yujin cautiously followed behind Mecha Yujin, which was now heading toward Harmony’s position.
By the time the enemy reached range, Harmony’s final magazine opened fire.
"Last magazine!"
"Roger. Let’s finish this."
Half of the 20-round magazine flew through the barrel, filling the air with the sharp sound of spent shells clattering against the concrete floor of the now silent shopping mall.
A terrible stillness followed, and Harmony swallowed hard as a loud crash echoed from a pre-set noise trap. The string attached to an empty glass bottle was pulled tight when the machine passed, shattering the bottle on the floor.
In that moment, Harmony pressed her thumb down on the dusty phone screen, then, with her head bowed and hands over her ears, opened her mouth.
Flames shot up from the grenade bag 15 meters away behind the escalator.
And then—
───KWA-BOOM!
With a massive shockwave that felt like it pierced the very core, Mecha Yujin was hit as though by an 81mm mortar shell.
But unfortunately, it didn’t end there.
"Shield Block!"
The black smoke from the explosion was pierced, and someone kicked the battered ballistic shield off, leaving Mecha Yujin unprotected.
The shock struck the head of Mecha Yujin with devastating force. Yujin’s full-strength tactical hammer drove into the machine’s skull, knocking it to the floor. Lorenatina grabbed the loose mini-gun parts on the left side of its body, and with a firm grip, pulled the trigger.
With a terrible sound, the mechanical tail crumpled. The loose parts, weakened by the bullets, were yanked out with incredible strength, and within five seconds, Lorenatina successfully tore the entire mini-gun tail from the machine.
The power cables snapped with a disturbing sound, and Lorenatina threw them aside with a grunt before changing magazines.
A barrage of shots aimed to sever the knees and arms from the machine continued.
"Ugh, if we get hit by a ricochet, we’re all dead!"
"We’ll clean up the bodies afterward."
With all her bullets spent, Lorenatina threw the now red-hot gun to the ground with a screech. Yujin, throwing the shield far away, stomped on the shredded arms and legs, completely breaking them. The machine was now left with only its body and head.
Grunting, Lorenatina finally removed the ammo drum from its back and muttered quietly.
"Really, that was disgusting."
"I agree..."
"Looks like it’s not going to self-destruct this time."
"Should we try removing its power source before it self-destructs?"
"Good idea."
They carefully laid Mecha Yujin on the floor, facing the ceiling. At last, the machine’s true form was revealed. Unlike the original, its hair was made of fluid-like metallic strands, and its facial features were smoothly sculpted, nearly identical to the original.
The eyes blinked a few times before speaking in a voice different from Yujin’s.
"Temporal damage detected. Headgear malfunction confirmed. Communication link with Artemis fully severed. Physical loss exceeds 30%... Self-destruct and self-format procedures are not functioning."
"That’s fortunate. More parts to bring back to the base."
"Do we really need to collect this?"
"That’s true."
As the two continued their idle chatter, Harmony crouched beside Mecha Yujin, examining it thoroughly.
As the alarm that had swept the shopping mall was deactivated, opening the exit, Mecha Yujin, whose neck barely moved, spoke.
"Archetype identified. Danger level increased. Sending to Artemis... failed. Data link is not functioning."
"Nothing’s working. You really beat it to a pulp."
"Wasn’t it Lorenatina who broke its limbs?"
"...Recognition of new unknown threat. Zero chance of escape."
A brief silence.
Then came the shocking words.
"Confirmation: No operable action algorithm found when both communication with Artemis and object behavior are halted. Priority will be given to extending operation of this unit."
"It’s ironic you speak as if you can survive here."
"Requesting assistance for continued operation of Archetype, UES-4, degraded prototype. Complete literary correction. Will request help from Archetype."
"..."
Everyone’s brain seemed to bleach white at the absurd turn of events, but Mecha Yujin, its limbs completely severed, looked smug as it added:
"Please spare me."
"Would hitting it with the stock make it quiet down?"
"...Let’s just take it back to base for now."
Less than a minute later, Mecha Yujin’s body and limbs, wrapped in a large tarpaulin, were dragged across the floor, exiting the shopping mall.
This was the first time in history that Mecha Yujin was captured alive.
"...So, what is this?"
"This is the captured Mecha Rookie. It feels a little strange to call it 'captured' since it’s a robot, but..."
"It’s requesting replacement limbs."
Not caring what others thought, Mecha Yujin spoke its piece, as usual.
At the sound of Lorenatina’s statement that they had captured Mecha Yujin, Logan, who had just connected to EU mode, immediately had his first thought.