From a distance, the others stared at the colossal mechanical beast blocking their path, their hearts blazing with desperate urgency.
At the same time, they had all noticed the change in Geno.
"Geno? Is that you? What happened to you?"
Though his face was hidden beneath the outer shell of his Ethereal form, his longsword and his voice were unmistakable.
"Explanations later. Right now, the most important thing is to deal with what's in front of us and get Grace back."
Geno studied the mechanical colossus with a tight frown. He had already tried — this hulking mass of iron was impossibly hard, ordinary attacks doing nothing to break through its defenses.
As for another Dimensional Slash, he had attempted that too. But the creature now controlling things was only a partial remnant of the Ethereal, one that had fused completely with the entire machine — making the technique entirely ineffective.
"What do we do now..."
Geno's brow furrowed. Time was life itself right now. There was no room to keep wrestling with this thing.
"Proxy, take a look at this."
"This is..."
Just as Geno and the others were at a complete loss, Koleda walked over to Eous's side and handed her a tablet — the same tablet Grace had used to control the grabber units.
Eous took it and looked it over. The data and connection status were still active.
"That big thing absorbed the grabber units when it fused. I think — maybe — this tablet still has some use."
Koleda made the request earnestly. Of everyone present, only Eous had the capability for something like this.
"I'll... give it a try."
Eous — Belle — couldn't say how confident she was. After all, those machines had been heavily modified by the Ethereal, and no one knew how much control authority still remained.
"Fairy, what do you think?"
[Master, I believe there is something distinctly suspicious about this matter.]
"You've been watching too many dramas! This is not the time for that!"
[Master, my areas of expertise are retrieval, organization, and intelligence gathering. Decryption and infiltration are not my strong suits.]
Fairy said as much — but she never stopped working.
Even if it wasn't her specialty, she was still a superintelligent AI that surpassed the current era by generations. She could manage at least something.
[Attempting to seize partial control authority over the mechanical unit... Master, I need time.]
"Understood."
Eous gave a small nod, then relayed the situation to the group.
"So in other words — we need to stall that thing and buy time for the Proxy, right?"
"Leave it to us!"
Anton, Ben Bigg, and Manato all answered with grave expressions, not one of them hesitating.
Koleda, meanwhile, turned to look at Geno. Her request was utterly sincere.
"Geno, go on ahead. Go bring Grace back."
Koleda hefted her hammer, her voice layered with emotions too tangled to name.
"You're the strongest one here. We'll draw its attention. Use the opening and break through."
Koleda knew it perfectly well — of everyone present, only Geno could do something like that.
After all, he was the one who had held his own against the mechanical colossus when the Ethereal itself was at the controls.
"Leave it to me. I'll bring Grace back in one piece."
Seeing Geno agree, Koleda shut her eyes and drew a long, slow breath. When she opened them again, the only thing left in her gaze was the conviction to fight to the last.
"Alright, everyone! Let's get to work!"
"Yes, President!"
"Yes, President!"
"Oh, I'm fired up!"
A woman standing five feet tall charged at the towering steel behemoth alongside three men all pushing six foot three — a sight so bizarre it defied description.
But Geno knew: this was their conviction. All he had to do was trust in them, then carry that conviction forward and bring Grace home.
"Fairy, how much longer."
[Firewall breached. Attempting to acquire target authority. Estimated time remaining: 5.]
"Five minutes?"
[4]
— ※ —
[3, 2, 1... Target authority partially acquired.]
She very much wanted to quip that this was what she called not being good at something — but Eous reined in her inner critic and focused on helping Koleda and the others punch through the defensive line.
"Everyone! I'm going to contest its control authority — its movements will start slipping! Watch for the openings!"
"Got it! Watch me!"
Koleda leaped, launching herself onto the mechanical colossus, and brought her hammer crashing down onto its most critical central hub with everything she had.
The mechanical colossus swung its arms, trying to drag Koleda off — but at that very moment, Fairy had seized authority over those limbs. Not only did the arms fail to reach for Grace, they swung back and pummeled the machine's own body twice with full force.
The mechanical giant realized something was wrong and tried to spin around — but every command it issued produced the exact opposite result. It tried to turn right and veered left. It tried to attack and struck only itself.
Its mechanical legs kicked ceaselessly beneath it, as though performing a frantic tap dance.
With the Belobog Heavy Industries crew keeping the mechanical giant occupied, Geno sprinted at full speed in the direction Grace and the Ethereal had fled.
"Please don't let anything happen to them!"
Praying this under his breath, Geno pushed himself even faster.
Back on Koleda's side, with the mechanical giant now hamstrung by Fairy, the group threw everything they had at it — and still couldn't make so much as a dent in its ironclad defense.
"Damn it! Just what kind of material did that old man use back then?! How is it this tough?!"
"Apparently, the former president wanted to ensure the machines could operate inside a Hollow for extended periods, so he had Lumiceramic and massive quantities of high-strength alloy incorporated into the prototype's outer shell."
And that was precisely why Belobog Heavy Industries had ended up buried under such an astronomical processing bill.
"Ugh, seriously — that man was always like this. The moment anything he loved was involved, he threw all common sense out the window!"
That kind of material was nearly on par with military hardware — and yet Hols had gone and used it on a construction machine.
What was the difference between that and using a cannon to swat a mosquito?!
But even as the frustration flared, memories of days long past drifted up, and the sharpest edge of Koleda's irritation softened in spite of herself.
Then, watching the mechanical colossus still struggling and straining to reclaim its own controls, Koleda found herself remembering something Hols had once told her.
'Koleda, come here — give it a name, won't you?'
'A name?'
Little Koleda, finger between her teeth, gazed up at the enormous hunk of iron standing before her father, a vague look of wonder on her face.
'That's right. A name. Someday, all you'll have to do is call it, and it will answer your wish.'
Koleda was lifted high into the air, brought close enough to truly see this hulking masterpiece of steel aesthetics — and something she couldn't quite name stirred inside her chest.
That feeling: warm in the body, soft and sweet in the heart. Comfortable, somehow.
'Decided! I'll call it [Groie Belobog]!'
'Groie, hm? What a wonderful name... hm? Wait — what is that smell? (O_o)??'
'Koleda! Did you just wet yourself?!'
'? Ah!!'
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👻🔥Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Jujutsu x Mieruko: Oh no, am I a villain too?
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