NOVEL NEXT Vol.10, Ch.321 – Terminal Defense (1)
Dark shadows glided across the streets of an empty and desolate Tokyo, cast by white, winged golems high in the sky. They paused to scout the area, examining for any signs of life. It had been more than 600 years since these ruins were last active, but an alarm rang out, bringing forth its protectors.
The terminal’s security had been broken into, and its forbidden contents accessed. It was the job of these automated defenders to respond to the intrusion, even if there were no longer any residents to defend. But one would question if they were really here to defend the city itself, or rather, the secret that the city possessed.
Several golems turned their heads, catching something whiz before them at ground level. It was near invisible to the normal person, but the blur was captured by camera-like lenses of their eyes. The golems immediately locked onto the foreign entity. They swooped downward to chase after it.
But as they approached the buildings that lined the streets, a portal formed right over them. Out came a girl with mallets. A single swing smashed several into the ground. They shattered upon impact, a testament to the strength of the attacker.
The golems that she could not reach turned toward her to fire, but another two portals opened above them. An old man came out of one, grabbing the nearest two by the wing. A simple flick of the wrist sent them spiraling like mad to the ground, where the girl reared back one mallet, baseball bat style. This time, the golems exploded into a shower of parts upon impact.
From the other portal, a single hand stuck out. It tapped each golem on the back before hovering to the next one. Ice instantly sprouted where they had been touched, quickly consuming their entire bodies until they were too heavy to stay afloat. The frozen enemies dropped to the street, where they shattered from the impact of intense cold penetrating everything. ‘Absolute Zero’ cast by a maxed-out Magic stat ensured that its target would be brittle as ice.
“Is that all of them?” Saki asked, eyeing the downed golems to see if any of them needed a second hammering.
A blue-haired woman stepped out of a portal and shot her a grin.
“For the moment. We have a bit of a breather before the next wave comes our way.”
Cornelius blew out the puff of frost that remained on her finger, which could have been mistaken as harmless. But a single touch contained the power to put a demon on ice instantly.
“Ha ha, this feels a bit too easy! If only we had all these neat skills back when I was demon hunting, we’d be pouring drinks early in the afternoon!”
Lau leapt in and out of portals that were connected around the district, thrilled at the instant mobility. They had Katalina to thank for the gateways that allowed them to ambush the golems. She was stationed at the terminal with Lady Kaguya, using the ATMOS device to coordinate the attack by activating portals where needed. She had even upgraded the device, allowing for any active portals to be moved by simply dragging them across the virtual diorama.
Now, it was a simple matter of deploying their allies across the city, where they could engage the city’s defenses.
After Katalina had hacked into the hidden parts of the terminal, it triggered an alarm. Rika knew exactly what was coming their way, so they quickly planned a game plan using what she knew.
Ludmila was sent out ahead of everyone, using her speed to draw the attention of the golems toward specific districts. She zoomed across the huge city in a matter of minutes, no one else able to keep up with her. And with the aid of portals, she could be on the other side of the city in a blink of an eye. Leading the golems to four contained areas to the north, south, east and west made it easier to manage the deployment. There was only so much portal micromanaging that two ladies could do while the others fought.
“The south is clear for the moment. How are the other sites holding up?” Cornelius spoke into her communicator.
“It’s progressing well. The others are all in position. Looks like we have enough balance in skills to overcome these enemies.”
Katalina’s voice chirped in response, loud enough for the others to hear. Certainly, with the Electi and Masters gathered here, there was hardly a better resistance against a city-wide assault.
Saki and Lau served as close-ranged attackers for the southern district, while Cornelius backed them up with her magic. If needed, she could freeze the entire area and make the golems drop like flies. Saki and Lau had the skills to respond to any wide-area Ice spells.
Saki stared down at the broken golems. They were the same ones from the records. She had fought against them here over 600 years ago, but at the time, it was only her and Rika. Now, she had many friends who were willing to stand by her, no matter what. It gave her a sense of security.
The grip on her hammers tightened as she saw more golems heading toward them in the distance. Finally, she would have her revenge. A grudge that spanned across the ages.
“For hurting Rika, I will crush you all!”
“’We’ will crush them, Missy. These old bones have a trick or two left in them,” Lau added.
As the first of the next wave flew downwards, Lau pointed to a large chunk of a torn building next to Saki. Catching his point, she swung her mallet at it, launching the several-ton debris toward Lau. Sidestepping by as it flew right past him, Lau placed his palm on the side of it. A gentle push was enough to redirect the giant object straight up toward the golems. Its sheer size swatted a few of them out of the air, making Lau grin cheekily at the mob.
“An opportunity to test my skills when I don’t have to worry about collateral damage. How fun!”
Lau jumped back into a portal and exited right on top of some golems, his fist chambered with a dense swirl of mana already prepared. With an old-man cackle, he unleashed a mighty drill that swept up all that met its path. The golems caught in the attack crashed into an adjacent building along with the head of the drill strike. And moments later, the entire building twisted like it was being drilled as well.
Not to be outdone, Saki sailed through a portal, appearing mid-air next to her opponents. She lined up her swings to smash the nearest golem into another before falling to the ground and jumping into another portal. After a few tries, she was able to connect four in a row with a single strike. All smiles, Saki was finally satisfied with her ‘trick shot’.
Cornelius merely looked on in amusement, blanketing the sky with heavy blasts of freezing rain to weigh down the golem’s wings.
“Such children, no matter what age they may appear on the outside. It makes me wonder if power brings about youth within all of us. Myself included.”
She certainly felt like a child toying with some dolls as well.
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“Yi Long, veer right!”
The sight of a priestess idol riding on top of a bespectacled boy would normally turn the heads of most. But then again, their audience was golems getting hit in the face with ice shots from a pair of magic guns.
Yi Long surfed through the streets, riding the wind with Chrys on his shoulders. His magic control turned the levi-board that most children their age used for fun into a mobile threat. Combined with the Luck that Chrys bestowed – the two children glided on top of structures, sailed through the air, and dodged all fire from the golems. It was a one-sided fight as ice collected on their enemies, sending them tilting toward the ground where a set of twins brandished their spears.
The two Sunny boys glowed white as they blocked the beam attacks that the golems aimed at them. Not even a scratch was made as they shrugged them off and plunged their spears into the unfeeling chests of the city’s defense bots.
With the two of them together, there was very little that could penetrate their shields. Their ascension had bestowed the skills ‘Total Rebound’ and ‘Absolute Reflection’, allowing physical and magical attacks to be repelled completely.
If they charged toward their opponents together, the resulting attack – no matter what property it possessed – would bounce off one or the other.
The twins used this to their advantage, leaping into the portals and out toward each golem in sync. Their movements were two sides of the same coin, a single toss but resulting in a perfect chance of opportunity each time. Heads or tails didn’t matter when the coin could be flipped. The result was the same – a quick victory and yet another golem in pieces.
Soon enough, the northern district was cleared of enemies. The four citizens of Sanshiro met back up in the middle to evaluate their handiwork.
“Nice, you two! All that training has paid off! You were untouchable out there!” Wen Zhi patted the backs of Yi Long and Chrys.
“Undoubtedly, your focus has been perfected to detect attacks from every angle, leaving no room for surprises, Chrysanthemum. And your agility in active dodging puts a lot less strain on your partner, Yi Long.”
Wen Lu’s praise made the two children grin from ear to ear. Due to their youth, they hadn’t seen the same battles as the others had, much less been active participants. Finally, they felt like they could stand next to the heroes who had saved the world.
The ease of how they took out the golems without being hit at all showed that the pair could outdo just about anyone in Sanshiro.
“How about we have a paired sparring match once we return home? Though I dare not think how people will string us up if we so much as harm their beloved idol,” Wen Zhi joked.
“The peculiarities of being a nation’s rulers. Even if you run the country, it’ll be mutiny if the heart of this country is damaged.” Wen Lu added.
Chrysanthemum’s popularity had soared so quickly that it had surprised all of them. It was enough for Lady Kaguya to consider adopting the elven girl and making her next in line for the Holy Sovereign.
But of course, Chrys’s own goals were much humbler. She sang and danced, made sweet treats, and indulged in a childish, fluffy romance. There was nothing more that she wanted but to preserve the peace that was obtained. No longer did she dream about a life long ago. And the same was said for Yi Long. His history with the Zhao family was long buried with the defeat of the Thunder Phoenix. What was precious could be carried upon his shoulders.
“Ah, break’s over. Let’s get back to work.” Chrysanthemum checked the magic guns she received from Katalina before hopping back onto Yi Long’s shoulders like it was the natural thing to do.
“We’ll show them the pride of Sanshiro!” Yi Long said as the wind kicked up around his levi-board.
With a gust, the two zoomed off and glided into a portal. They hardly even needed the shortcuts, aside from getting into position.
Wen Lu and Wen Zhi watched them for a moment before getting into a fighting stance themselves.
“You really want to fight them, don’t you, Wen Zhi?”
“Do you have to ask? I can see that look in your eyes as well, Brother.”
“Being outdone by our juniors doesn’t sit well with me. I advise we train a bit more. After all, we can’t piggyback on each other’s skills like they do.”
Wen Zhi lowered his spear.
“Or can we? Jump on me, bro-”
A smack of the spear’s butt end at his face was the answer that he got.