Vrrrrng!

Tens of thousands of fragments meshed with flawless precision, forming a seamless, massive killing machine.

The titan, modeled after the bulky frame of Querti the Red Berserker, raised a jagged saw-blade sword. Crimson Sword Energy shimmered upon its uneven edge. A scar born of inner demons marked its form, perhaps not unhealed but deliberately preserved, proof of its sadism and cruelty.

Whenever anyone refused to wash away the demons of the heart, body, and twisted mind, they would find pleasure in violence. Pleasure demanded escalation. For unfathomable ecstasy, an unfathomable thirst was required. That unquenchable thirst for violence was the source of overwhelming strength.

Creak. Creak.

The metallic groan of eleven titans spread in every direction. Each heavy, piercing note pressed down on me without needing to encircle Leandro, as though a single unit's presence alone could crush him to death.

These were the duke's companions. The true curtain of the Empire had all gathered here.

The familiar voice oozed from atop a titan, its hull slimed with sticky mucus. "Hahaha. A pleasure to see you, Leandro."

The decrepit old man had been suddenly elevated by the noble council to the rank of honorary duke, and he was also the head of the Necron Society. It was Demon King Botis' proxy. Through the amplifiers, Leandro heard the voice of the man he had pursued for so long: Biblio.

"..." Leandro looked from titan to titan. "Did you... sell out the Empire?"

To the Demon King? To the Confederation?

Perhaps it was both. Perhaps it was something far worse.

Leandro gazed at the titans, their colossal shields raised before him, bristling with siege weaponry aimed at his heart. Since the duke had awaited him here as well...

Leandro finally realized that the duke had every chance to swarm him with allies, and every chance to weave deceit after he cut him down. Yet, Lawrence Tartier chose only a pure duel of swords. However, these titans waited with no such intention.

Even if Leandro poured every shred of will into the perfect strike, he could only cleave down a single titan. In that fleeting moment, blades reforged by sorcery and science alike would tear him apart. Special alloys bearing tons of weight would become their edges, shattering bone and scooping out organs.

Nonetheless, Leandro tightened his grip on his sword. No blood had been spilled yet, but crimson killing intent thickened in the air.

"We didn't sell the Empire. That wouldn't fetch much of a price."

"Then?"

"We sold humanity itself."

Their laughter burst forth together. "Hahahahaha!"

From countless interrogations past, Leandro knew one truth. No further answers would come.

"..."

They were not here to parley. Their purpose was slaughter, overwhelming slaughter. There would be no negotiation. To be plain, there was no path to victory.

Leandro's awakened instincts spoke clearly. From the frayed ends of rotten rope where hope had snapped, from the battlefield of silence where wails had long since died, even the blade arts he had mastered could not shoulder this trial.

"Then shall we levy a penalty for intrusion? When a servant of law breaks the law, who enforces it? Was the punishment burning at the stake? Quartering? Dismemberment? Why not all at once?"

Vwooooom!

Thrum! Thrum! Thrum!

Clack!

High-frequency tempered alloy blades spun as motor systems roared to life. The bonding wires finished their targeting algorithms with thunderous clamor.

Vrrrrng!

A pure sword ring split the air. The faint, serene vibration sliced through their amplified laughter and the heavy drone of engines preparing to slaughter. That Sword Energy had seared away even phantoms of the past, burning them to ash.

Leandro did not hesitate, nor did he have any regrets. The sky-blue Sword Energy blossomed in the void. With it, both the past and the future could be forgotten. Only the present remained, a present divided into tenths, hundredths, and thousandths.

Ssshhhk!

Kaboom! Kaboom!

Bzzzzt!

Leandro met their descending strikes cast from heights of three to four meters with the edge of a single, narrow blade.

Pwoom!

Klang klang!

Leandro's sword brimmed with its cerulean aura, yet the steel he struck was no ordinary metal. The steel was a result of high-frequency tempering and multidimensional parallel enchantments. Even Sword Energy could not pierce the alloy.

The titans' weak points were not something even he could discern. Like perfect seams, there were simply none. But...

Clang! Clang!

Leandro didn't need to end it in a single blow. He didn't even want to. This was a dance to him. Leandro unraveled the assault of their many-formed mechanisms and mounted spells with movements that felt like dancing, unweaving them as he flowed.

The ones in a hurry were the eleven titans encircling him. Before he knew it, a metallic smile tugged at his lips. He had been driven and pressed into a corner, yet the corners of his mouth insisted on rising.

Creak!

Walls of enemies were stacked above and below and to every side; there was no room for a deep thrust. Even so, even if their outer armor would not fall to pieces, the sword dance of stillness, of gazing quietly upon life and death, left deep scars across their hulls.

"Keep up the pressure! He's human! Only the outer plates are taking damage!"

Even then, the eleven titans showed no signs of surprise. Leandro had cut down Duke Lawrence, who, by any measure, was the Empire's foremost blade. This level of skill could not be outside their projections. Even if he traded his life, he could take one or two at most. Besides, there was nowhere to flee.

***

"We should run away," the crow said flatly.

"What?" I retorted.

Naneow Tropin glanced ahead, saw what I saw, and opened her bag.

Clack.

We had the same view, but wildly different reactions.

Isaac shook his head. "Impossible. Ten titans? Where did those come from? The Confederation would have to strip itself bare to muster that much."

Clang! Clang!

He kept griping as he watched me. One blade in a storm, a lone sloop in a typhoon. Each clash sent waves of danger trembling through them.

"Running away? Now? Don't joke. Why say what you don't mean? I get that you want to bail, but..."

"Neigh!"

As Naneow opened her pack, Miyu bolted toward Leandro. The titans turned as one.

"Great. So much for a quiet exit," Isaac growled.

Leandro recognized his mare instantly and vaulted onto its back. His heel touched Miyu, and Miyu surged higher than ever, springing skyward. Miyu mule-kicked a titan's shield aside. I wondered if Miyu been holding back until now. In that instant, Leandro yanked every titan's focus back onto him.

"He won't die quickly. He can hold. While he buys time, let's fall back and crack a few chambers."

"You serious?"

After so many lives crossing paths with Isaac, I felt like I could figure out the truth from his teasing without evidence. Unless he decided to deceive me, the half-jest, half-truth cadence was familiar. Right now, he didn't sound eager to retreat.

"Why do you always assume I'm not serious?"

"Do I not know you?"

"Fine. Say I'm not. Then what? If the Lurium junkie and the sword-dancer go down with the titans, we make a slow entrance."

"That won't happen."

I wasn't going to betray Naneow.

"Won't? Will."

"..."

"Well, the cards are on the table, then."

Chalk.

Naneow opened a small, double-locked case, the one she had never drawn out. I had never seen it either. A tiny metal cry and a music box began to play inside her pack.

Ting... tiriri-ring. Ting -tiririring. Ting, ting. Ting ti-ring...

With the lullaby chiming, her bag unfolded to reveal red, blue, and green capsules, and rows of white syringes.

"What is that?"

"A fairy tale for adults. Not for anyone under a hundred."

Naneow got to work. She inhaled a red capsule through her nose.

"Haa..."

She opened the blue capsule and dumped the powder on her tongue.

"Fuuu..."

As for the green capsule, she burned it and drew the smoke deep into herself. Her eyelids fluttered, quick and constant.

"Ah... aaah..."

Then she stabbed the white syringes, one by one, into her arms, shoulders, and thighs.

"Mm."

Naneow steadied her voice and stood. Eyes closed, she walked forward. It was calm, but not slack. Steeped in a pleasure potent enough to fray the brain, yet cooled to observe it from above.

Naneow stopped and called out, "Hey, old man."

"Calling someone who's two hundred and fifty years younger an old man? Where's your shame?"

"Old man, I came to help. If saying thanks embarrasses you, give me a decent look, at least."

"..."

Did he understand?

At that distance, atop my mare, I flicked a glance their way, then returned to the fight. The reply came from the machines.

A titan with a radiant pentagonal shield on its back addressed her. "Naneow Tropin. We knew you were descending. To meddle in this, your bad luck is impressive."

"You're not striking at once?"

"You came to aid that man? Don't be foolish. Cooperate now and we'll ensure you can keep leeching off the capital."

"Oh... Grand Chancellor."

"Speak."

"How old are you to be talking to me like that?"

"..."

"Everyone, proceed with the original plan. Naneow Tropin is marked for deletion. Execute now."

"I knew it."

Wiiiiiiiiiiing!

A crescent blade on the end of a robotic arm quivered and spun.

Wiiing! WIIIIING!

Turbo-cutting units, spun on ultra-high-speed gas bearings, flared to life after completing destructive tests on all composite materials.

Thump!

Five titans closed to claim the field. Even Naneow felt the pressure. She slipped two steps back at once.

"Still... not awake yet?"

"I trust her. The drugs are still making the rounds?"

Naneow's eyes, mouth, and throat trembled all at once.

A titan's voice rolled on. "Afraid? Trembling won't buy mercy. If this scares you, you've probably been trailing Leandro's coattails the easy way."

"But..." Eyes still closed, Naneow added, "There are six there. Why are there only five here?"

"What?"

She opened her eyes. Her pupils pinched together like gathering storm clouds; the outer gray swept away in a rush, and her irises turned midnight black.

Tadadak!

Naneow had stepped back twice, but with a single leap, she closed thirty paces. She accelerated as if she were planting her feet on midair shadows and slashed her scythe against the spinning crescent blade.

KWANG!

The titan's frame twisted. On one side, there was tons of magitech engineering. On the other hand, a woman's slim arms appeared, yet the thing sent flying was the man-sized crescent saw. The titan flailed to recover its stance when...

"What the...!"

Another titan swung. A massive iron sphere, charged with lightning, hurtled in. It barely needed to be whirled because an internal field drive spun it on its own. Even held still, the ball screamed, splitting the air, curving toward Naneow.

Once was enough. She read its path, brushed her hair aside, and slashed the chain linked to the ball arm. The chain, sintered alloy for special contacts, didn't sever her. However, she heaved with her hips, yanked, and pile-drove the sphere into the ground behind her.

KWANG!

"Grand Chancellor! I believe our power analysis was... off."

The titan staggered toward the embedded ball. A little more, and it might have collapsed outright.

"The analysis is roughly correct."

Bzzzt!

A yellow titan with horned shoulders cracked a whip. Compressed yellow lightning forked across the field, and Naneow slid back a pace.

"Roughly, yes. Still winnable, wouldn't you say? Then that suffices."

A flat, emotionless voice came from the amplifier. "Do not relax. At the measured output, she can handle two of us, three at most. Not counting me, of course."

When I was about to step in to move in beside her, Isaac's mumble stayed infuriatingly relaxed. "Hold. Let Naneow show everything she intends to. Then we cut in."

"Then you can stay back."

"Oh, please... you think you can do it without me?"

Either way, I wasn't going to stand by while a comrade who'd come this far with us was swarmed.

"Since she didn't bring the entire T&T board and only brought a handful of clowns, her suicide is assured. Proof complete," I answered robotically.

Isaac's voice quivered. "Clown...s?"