The four awakened wasted no time admiring what was created. The moment the last of them crossed the threshold, heavy metallic doors slammed shut behind them with a resounding clang that reverberated throughout the structure. Immediately afterward, the entire fortress lurched violently beneath their feet before a deep mechanical rumble echoed through every corridor. The great construct came alive.
Outside, enormous pixelated wheels, began turning with surprising speed despite their blocky, geometric appearance. Steel gears hidden within the Mechanism Rune's creation meshed together with rhythmic precision while blue-white energy flowed through intricate conduits running beneath the hull. The fortress surged forward across the crimson landscape like an unstoppable battering ram.
Grimm died by the dozens.
Beowolves that had only moments earlier surrounded the awakened were simply flattened beneath the immense wheels, their bodies crushed before dissolving into drifting ash. Smaller Grimm barely even registered as obstacles, exploding apart beneath the weight of the rolling fortress.
Even Rank Ones struggled.
A massive charging Rank One Boarbatusk activated its rune, lowered its massive tusks, and dashed with extreme speed before colliding head-on with the moving stronghold. Rather than halting its advance, the fortress merely shuddered slightly before continuing onward. The impact instead launched the enormous Grimm sideways, tumbling violently across the crimson earth until it vanished beneath another tide of advancing monsters.
Another enormous Rank One Beowolf attempted to leap atop the roof but the entire fortress struck it midair. The impact alone sent the creature spinning away like a rag doll.
The title Fortress had proven itself remarkably accurate.
This wasn't simply a defensive structure but akin to a siege engine.
Inside, the atmosphere contrasted sharply with the chaos raging outside. Mechanical instruments glowed softly along the interior walls while rune-powered displays projected shifting images of the battlefield onto polished metal screens, allowing everyone inside to observe the surrounding terrain without exposing themselves.
Mocha stood near the forward viewing display, watching the endless ocean of Grimm crash against the moving fortress.
She couldn't suppress a tiny smile. It looked quite ridiculous but not in a bad way.
Just...
Wonderfully ridiculous.
Truly, the rune synchronicity effect of their runes coming together was a sight to see. Especially that Vacuoan's Mechanism and Fortress runes.
Though... Mocha's rune synchronicity effect with it, was quite odd. After attaching her Pixel Rune creations to the Mechanism construct, the fortress had gradually lost much of its original appearance.
The enormous crystalline wheels, glowing faintly with emerald-black geometric patterns, looked almost like something pulled directly from an old video game rather than reality itself. The heavy battlements remained unmistakably metallic, yet scattered throughout the hull were shimmering sections composed entirely of perfectly aligned translucent cubes.
Even the cannons she'd created appeared distinctly artificial. Their barrels possessed unmistakable pixelated edges instead of smooth curves, making them resemble oversized voxel sculptures more than conventional artillery.
Combined with the reinforced hull and elevated deck, the entire machine had slowly transformed into something that looked less like a traditional fortress and... surprisingly, more like an impossibly futuristic sailing ship.
Except instead of drifting across an ocean, it was sailing across the crimson plains of the moon. She found herself wondering whether anyone of her friends would even believe such a thing existed.
The Vacuoan glanced toward the pixelated cannons lining both sides of the hull. He scratched his cheek thoughtfully.
"...Cannons?"
Mocha looked over.
"Yeah?"
"Can't you make some proper guns or something?"
She immediately folded her arms. There was just the faintest hint of exasperation in her voice.
"I told you, not everything works."
He stared at the silent cannons for another second. His brow furrowed a moment later.
"...Well ...fine but then..."
He pointed toward one of them.
"...Why aren't they shooting?"
Mocha opened her mouth to explain but the man simply held up a hand with a sigh, interrupting her. He then rubbed the back of his neck.
"...Right, right. I got it—not everything can be created. I should have just made them myself..."
Mocha sighed before nodding. Then frowned as she realized what the guys had said.
"Hey! If you could make them yourself, why'd you ask me?"
"The cost more aura. Especially if I'm concentrating on two different types of constructs."
"Oh... fair enough, I guess."
Mocha herself, could only reproduce shapes and some... relatively "living," objects but she had to control them in their entirety to give them the semblance of them being alive. Using that level control simply sapped her mental strength, even if it didn't hurt much in terms of aura.
Trying to perfectly recreate something as mechanically complex as an actual functioning cannons or guns somewhat exceeded her current understanding of what Pixel allowed. Well no. Perhaps that would be a bit of a lie. Technically speaking, she could create those things, but the attacking power wouldn't be strong enough to justify them.
The current cannons looked convincing, but that was about as far as it went. Mocha, at that moment was even wondering why she had even created them in the first place. Simply because they looked cool?
Perhaps her friends were right.
She was slowly starting to lose her mind.
Fortunately before she could delve into theory, another voice interrupted. The javelin wielder stepped forward while studying the inactive cannons.
"It's fine. I'll handle ranged attacks."
His gaze shifted toward the Vacuoan.
"Can you alter the mechanisms so I can load my javelins into them?"
The question caught both creators slightly off guard.
"Huh?"
Mocha blinked.
"Oh, sure."
The Vacuoan nodded simultaneously.
"Yeah. That could work."
Neither had considered the possibility. The Mechanism Rune immediately reacted and metal groaned.
Entire sections of the fortress shifted.
The pixelated cannons slowly folded inward before their interiors rearranged themselves with a chorus of clicking gears and sliding plates. Their blocky barrels narrowed considerably while reinforced loading chambers extended backward into the fortress itself.
Within moments, the cannons no longer resembled cannons but instead, they looked remarkably similar to enormous harpoon launchers.
Mocha couldn't help but marvel quietly. Every modification somehow pushed the machine even farther away from resembling a fortress.
Now...
It truly looked like an enormous sailing ship. A bizarre hybrid born from advanced engineering, medieval naval warfare, and impossible pixel geometry.
The javelin wielder hummed.
"Oh yeah. Now we're talkin'."
Runic light shimmered around his hands. Several small javelins condensed simultaneously before sliding directly into the newly modified launchers.
Mechanical clamps locked around each shaft and the moment the first wave of Grimm reached striking distance...
The launchers fired. The entire fortress jolted as massive javelins erupted outward with deafening force.
Rather than explosive shells, gigantic spears screamed across the battlefield, punching cleanly through multiple Grimm before embedding themselves deep into the crimson earth beyond.
Several Beowolves simply disappeared beneath the impacts while others were launched bodily into neighboring creatures.
A cluster of Lancers attempting to descend onto the roof suddenly found themselves skewered together by a single oversized projectile.
The system worked beautifully.
The moving fortress continued rolling relentlessly forward.
Rank One Beowolves bounded after it across the uneven terrain with frightening persistence, their powerful limbs allowing them to nearly match its speed despite the rough ground.
Two eventually succeeded. Their claws dug deeply into the armored hull while savage jaws snapped repeatedly against reinforced plating.
Steel screeched but their teeth failed to penetrate properly, despite the scratched accompanying it. Before either Grimm could climb farther...
The javelin wielder flicked two fingers.
Runic energy flashed and a gigantic javelin materialized horizontally beside the fortress before slamming sideways into both Beowolves simultaneously.
The impact smashed the two creatures directly into one another with bone-shattering force before hurling them away together like discarded dolls.
They dissolved into ash before even reaching the ground.
For perhaps twenty seconds, the immediate area surrounding the fortress cleared and the awakened collectively allowed themselves one cautious breath.
Then they looked farther ahead and every trace of optimism vanished. The horizon itself had become black.
Not because night had fallen, but simply because Grimm completely covered the landscape.
Rank Zeros, appearing in at first glance to be thousands or perhaps even tens of thousands. Even though the four of them were Rank 1's, that didn't simply mean that they could ignore weaker grimm creatures of this scale.
After all, even an elephant could get bitten to death if trillions of ants were to attack it.
And this situation was arguably worse than that. Intermixed among the rank 0 grimm, moved larger silhouettes whose threats signatures betrayed the presence of numerous Rank Ones.
The sea simply, continued, seemingly without end. Every Grimm destroyed by the fortress seemed replaced by three more emerging from the distance.
Even inside the armored vehicle, silence settled over the group and each understood the same unpleasant reality.
Their aura reserves weren't infinite. Every second that Mechanism and fortress was activated, it consumed aura.
Every Pixel construction required aura as well and so did every manifested javelin. Every defensive maneuver, really.
The fortress was strong but in and of itself, it represented an enormous ongoing expenditure. Eventually, someone would run dry.
The fourth awakened, who had remained comparatively quiet since joining them, suddenly leaned toward one of the viewing displays.
"...We've got another problem."
Everyone immediately followed his gaze. The rear projection showed three familiar figures steadily closing the distance.
The Sleepless operatives. Apparently surviving the destruction of the Nevermore had inconvenienced them far less than anyone hoped.
Now they simply rode different mounts. One masked operative rode atop a charging Rank One Beowolf like it was a horse. Another also rode alongside him upon the creature's back with what looked like practiced ease.
The third had somehow mounted a massive Rank One Ursa whose sheer size and bulk allowed it to keep pace with the moving fortress despite the difficult terrain.
Watching them race effortlessly alongside ordinary Grimm sent an unpleasant chill through Mocha. She still couldn't understand it.
Were they controlling the Grimm or commanding them somehow?
Or...
Were the Grimm simply accepting their presence and considering them as... one of them? Either possibility felt deeply disturbing.
Yet the answer hardly mattered.
Sleepless remained dangerous regardless.
If anything...
The Grimm surrounding them merely made the situation worse. They couldn't afford to fight both simultaneously forever.
The javelin wielder studied the terrain ahead, then suddenly he pointed.
"There."
Everyone looked.
Roughly two kilometers away, the otherwise flat crimson plains gave way to a large natural formation.
A broad crimson hill rose gradually from the surrounding landscape, but more importantly, deep valley-like depressions curved around its base on multiple sides, naturally funneling anything attempting to approach from the surrounding plains.
The opening remained wide enough for the fortress.
Narrow enough to restrict numbers.
"We head there and we funnel them. From the looks of it, the larger Nevermores won't have much room to dive inside."
Almost as though the moon itself wished to prove his point, two enormous Nevermores suddenly descended from above.
Their talons slammed violently onto the fortress roof. Metal screamed beneath the impact. Both Grimm immediately began tearing at the reinforced plating while their combined weight caused the entire vehicle to lean dangerously to one side.
Warning alarms echoed throughout the interior. Without hesitation, the javelin wielder thrust both hands upward.
Two gigantic spears erupted through specially designed launch ports. The javelins pierced both Nevermores completely through their torsos before continuing skyward.
The Grimm scarcely had time to shriek before the immense force ripped them from the roof entirely, their lifeless bodies tumbling away behind the moving fortress.
The Vacuoan didn't even look upward. His hands instead wrapped firmly around the massive control wheel mounted at the center of the command deck.
He planted both feet.
"Brace yourselves!"
Every gear inside the fortress roared simultaneously and the gigantic wheels bit deeply into the crimson earth.
Then the entire fortress lurched violently sideways as the Vacuoan spun the heavy control wheel with all his strength, steering their bizarre fortress-ship toward the waiting valley while behind them the black tide of Grimm and the relentless riders of Sleepless continued their relentless pursuit.