NoveLight ™
"Ah, so this is where the Youngest were having fun yesterday…"
"Now this is what I call a spectacle. Is this what raids are like nowadays?"
"Well, that’s what they say, but aren’t your eyes pleased?"
"...I’m scared!"
The clear, bright sky.
A faint salty taste lingering in the air.
And amidst the idyllic scenery, futuristic buildings slowly moved from left to right.
The front lines had advanced further than yesterday. Since the factory platform was the furthest back, as it gradually moved toward the savanna, the front line followed. In a few days, it would likely be several kilometers ahead.
So far, it had been manageable, but later, without transports, it would be difficult to reach the front lines. The Dark Zone wasn’t one to offer such conveniences. Probably, they’d give users extra missions to build transport routes.
Back to the main point:
"Until now, it's been manageable," I thought, but we hadn’t moved much from the initial deployment point, only about 3 kilometers. With vehicles, we could catch up easily.
However, today wasn’t starting from there. It was a bit of a detour. The platform was moving left to right, meaning we had come up from the south, and today we were going to start from there.
Harmony and Lorentina glanced over the central combat line, imagining a shark-like bike weaving through the field ahead.
As they were thinking this, dozens of points fell from the sky.
"Alright, so that’s our destination, huh? It’s already a mess," I said.
"Four of us, huh? Not many people, but with Logan as the point man, there’s no way we can’t break through. The target today is the main gun system about 1 km ahead. Let’s move as far as we can."
"This is going to be a long journey."
"At least the field support station is ready. I trust the two of you, with the best breakthrough power, to lead the way."
The sound of artillery shells falling from the sky was like hail.
The armed base looked like something from "The Line" in Saudi Arabia. The massive fortifications anchored with winches to tear down the wall revealed Artemis's side. This factory raid was literally a spectacle, created by massive manpower, each part coming together piece by piece.
Unfortunately, we weren’t in a position to witness the full grandeur of it, but we could push forward during the chaos as the walls crumbled.
Now, it was our turn.
"Let’s go."
"Keep up!"
The vibrations from the artillery impact, dust flying everywhere.
A wall made of polyurethane foam and hardener rose and blocked our view. The goal now was to create enough space for the people to move forward.
With a sizzling sound, the temporary wall in front of us caught fire instantly. Artemis wasn’t just standing by—it was clear they were countering. From the other side, we could hear vibrations, likely the sound of suicide drones crashing into the wall and igniting it.
But it was already too late. Like water leaking through broken walls, we poured through the gaps Artemis left when they retreated.
"We’ve broken the wall!"
"Cooking grenade! Everyone, move back!"
"Sticky mines deployed, turret set, and machine gun is ready. The kill zone is set, so avoid it and move forward."
I scanned the front of the wall for pulse readings and planted sticky bombs and vibration explosives.
The moment the wall crumbled, Logan and I moved to the side. Dice, who had been holding a grenade, tossed it to the opposite side. The explosion shook the building as we scanned for unmanned units inside. Meanwhile, Kato set up the mines and turret and grabbed the machine gun, starting the fire support.
In an instant, the front was bathed in red—the kill zone of our allies. Logan and I avoided it and dove inside. Immediately, a minigun began hammering Logan’s shield.
Then, a flash of light— a directional EMP— exploded in front of the shield, turning the entire hallway dark. Seconds later, I pulled out a sticky mine from my pouch and threw it. Fire burned a third of the hallway.
With the fire blazing, I kicked open a red-hot door and shouted.
"Let’s go, let’s go!"
"Watch left!"
Clang, clang, clang!
As Logan blocked the gunfire with her back, I crushed everything I could see. The M6 Lynx, a .50 caliber sniper rifle, was what I had brought today. The ammunition, of course, was Lapua Force. I had been impressed with Olivia’s use of it last time, so I decided to bring it too.
For each shot, I erased everything in sight—if it was humanoid, I aimed for the head or chest; if not, I targeted the body and the weapon connections. The specially modified rounds exploded with each hit, creating internal destruction as well as penetration.
But then—
"Yujin! An armored car just went into that building!"
"I can see it."
An armored car charged through the broken wall.
It seemed like it couldn’t retreat in time and was trying to hold on, but before I could finish my thought, I already pulled out a special smoke grenade and detonated it while sticking a sticky bomb on the camera sensor, firing it off.
At the same time, rockets and minigun fire erupted from the enemy vehicle. The intense firepower filled the air, but my body had already moved far from the kill zone created by the rockets and minigun.
Instead, what I saw next—
Logan, lifting the 100kg ballistic shield, climbing onto the relatively small armored car.
"Drill charge set. Let’s see if they’ll come out."
Rrrrrrrr! Bang!
With a terrible sound, flames shot up from the armored car as Logan jumped off, melting the wheels with oxidizer before heading toward the open rear hatch.
Dozens of robots disembarked for combat, but as soon as they did, they were met with the polar bear's real form.
At the same time— Boom!
"Ugh…"
"Is that… real?"
The 100kg shield.
The blade-like edge of the shield, which had been sharpened, became Logan’s weapon, impaling enemies and sending robot parts flying with each swing.
By the time Dice and Kato joined in, Logan had finished clearing the area. She threw a thermite grenade and completely disabled the armored car, then added—
"We only advanced 20 meters. Let’s go."
"Of course."
That… was probably the "shield bash" they were referring to.
It was, as expected, a polar bear move.
"Wow, we’re moving at such high speed, even seatbelts can’t stop it!"
"Hold tight, New Youngest!"
Meanwhile, about 1km away on another plain, Lorentina and Harmony were also having an intense time.
Boom!
"Wow…"
"There’s a lot of debris around. I’ll be dodging some tight corners, so hang on if you don’t want your head to touch the ground!"
Yikes!
A bike sped through a forest full of withered trees and solidified plains. It maintained speeds of over 100 km/h but never lost its balance.
"ITV identified! I’ll deal with it!"
"Got it. Looks like we’ve got some troublesome friends right in front of us..."
As Manifesters, and as Icarus Operators, the combination of these two created a beautiful movement that was impossible for a regular bike. Defying physical limits, they danced smoothly across the terrain.
And with Harmony practically glued to the back seat, the situation became even more bizarre. She tossed sticky mines on the ground, trying to erase Artemis's mobile strike units as their main target.
"Ugh, I almost broke my neck there..."
"Not done yet! Deploying decoys!"
"Got it!"
With smoke charging ahead and decoys deployed behind, they fought like they were in a dogfight. Speeding down, Lorentina and Harmony’s duo approached speeds of 175 km/h.
Lorentina shouted—
"This is Lorentina, just letting you know everyone’s chasing us now!"
Logan chimed in again,
"…Three minutes."
"Three minutes?"
"I’ll finish this here, then provide fire support. Give me the coordinates. If it's Danger Close, we won’t care."
"Make it a big one."
What will come next? The wind so fierce it felt impossible to open my eyes, and dozens of Artemis vehicles starting to chase us again. Despite everything, I was more curious about what Lorentina and Harmony would do next.
As if sensing my thoughts, Shark added—
"It’s going to be fun."
"That’s exactly the problem, Lorentina."
The Manifesters didn’t know this.
And today, they were still cruising along smoothly.