[Autonomous Tactical Unit · Bulwark Sentinel]
An autonomous tactical mech in the Defense Force's loadout, capable of providing sustained fire support to front-line personnel.
Its built-in Inert Ether shield is able to deflect the overwhelming majority of light-arms fire, and can even withstand the heavy strikes of large Ethereals.
There's no question — it's one of the most reliable 'battle comrades' to be found within the Defense Force.
[Remember: if you run into trouble, just duck behind it… that way the only chance you have of getting hurt is by it accidentally stepping on you.]
—— A piece of seasoned wisdom from a certain instructor at the Defense Force's recruit training course.
And right now, the thing that had appeared in front of Geno was exactly that — a Bulwark Sentinel.
"…This is just awful."
To Geno, a single Terrorbird wasn't hard to deal with. A single Bulwark Sentinel wasn't hard to deal with either.
What was scary was when these two characters fused together and started fighting in tandem.
One soaking up the pressure, the other pumping out the firepower, plus a whole field of scrap-mob foot soldiers running around to harass — Geno wasn't actually afraid of it, but it was genuinely annoying!
To put it another way, it was like a raid boss in a game.
The other side had its DPS, its tank, and its mob waves all lined up. He was fighting solo, and on top of that he had a mascot tagging along — really, a faintly gentle wave of melancholyyy was washing over him~
"Since that's how it is, then let's settle this quick and clean."
Ethereal Mode — activate!
Without a flicker of fear, the Ethereal Knight charged straight at those mechanical hunks of iron!
A combat scene radiating raw bromance was about to unfold!
Geno was in!
Geno made his move!
Geno wiped them out in seconds!
In just a moment, that scattered, jumbled bunch of mechanical foot soldiers had once again been broken down by Geno into a pile of scrap iron.
Compared to his first encounter with a Terrorbird more than a year ago, Geno was no longer the same person he used to be. The current Geno — who could now go toe to toe with the Dead-End Butcher, even coming out slightly ahead — had no trouble at all handling a few mechanical grunts. A piece of cake, really.
But just as he himself had said — he could beat them, but they were really annoying.
"This is exactly why I hate mechanical enemies. On top of explosives and bullets, they spit fire too!"
So saying, Geno brushed the dust off his body. This particular thing could throw flames, and had scorched him until his whole body was caked in ash.
The Bulwark Sentinel was equipped with a flamethrower attachment for burning away tough grime — and, of course, for burning away enemies too.
"Alright, alright, we get it, you're amazing. Let's go see if there are any clues lying around nearby."
Off to one side, Eous had watched the entire process of Geno taking down the mechs with her own eyes.
Honest truth — Geno's combat power was getting more and more absurd. At this rate, wasn't he going to surpass even a Void Hunter?
A 'Void Hunter' was an honorary title personally bestowed by the mayor of (New) Eridu upon someone who had made enormous contributions to the suppression of the Hollows.
While those contributions weren't strictly limited to the realm of combat strength, the vast majority of citizens had — thanks largely to the next-generation head of a certain Hoshimi family — come to settle on the consensus that a Void Hunter represented a particular tier of combat power.
Yes — that crowd-favorite segment of the great online community, the power-level comparison segment.
For Geno, though, this might still be a touch premature.
Right now, the absolute priority was to properly resolve the current commission.
"All of these mechs are crude, privately modified jobs. The only factory-standard models are this Terrorbird and the Bulwark Sentinel. Looks like the rebels having these in hand is something that only just happened recently."
Examining the traces on the mech wreckage, Geno roughly deduced a few pieces of intel.
"And since we're already starting to run into patrol checkpoints, that means we can't be too far from the target's stronghold."
Eous, too, set that clever little head of hers in motion, pulling all the available information together.
"I'll search through the operation logs of these mechs and see if I can dig up anything more."
So saying, Eous began to make her way forward in small steps — only to be stopped by Geno.
"?"
"Shh! Someone's coming! Let's hide first."
Geno once again tucked Eous under his arm. Then, holding his breath, he ducked behind a section of ruined wall.
If the rebels had shown up here with reinforcements, the two of them would have been hopelessly outnumbered.
If something at the grade of a Terrorbird was only being used for patrol duty, then what kind of heavy artillery the rebels actually had in hand — Geno didn't even dare imagine.
Not long after the two of them had hidden themselves, a sneaky-looking group came skulking over.
"Goddamn it! Who did this?! That gear I just got my hands on! Just like that — completely wrecked!"
A masked Hollow Raider stared at what had been his property of years gone trashed into a heap of scrap, and felt as though the sky had fallen in on him.
"Boss, don't be too upset. Maybe we can patch it up and it'll still run?"
"Patch it up?! With what?! Do you know how to fix it?! Is there anyone here who can fix this thing?!"
The Hollow Raider boss grabbed his subordinate's collar in fury and slammed him hard against the wall.
"Let me tell you! That gear was our future livelihood! Now that it's gone — when we run into an Ethereal next, you bastards are going to be the ones holding the line for me!"
Listening to this group's conversation, Geno inwardly clicked his tongue.
The lead he'd only just gotten his hands on had been cut off again. Who would have thought these mechs had been bought up by a gang of Hollow Raiders?
By the looks of it, those rebels were extremely careful in their operations…
Still, this might just turn out to be an opportunity.
With that thought, Geno was already getting ready to jump out and arrest the whole bunch of Hollow Raiders.
But before he could act, this band of Hollow Raiders was beaten to the punch — by somebody else.
"Huh?! Who are you people?!"
"Don't move! New Eridu Public Security! You're all under arrest!"
"Boss, it's the cops!"
"Shut up, I can see! Damn it! There's a mole among us!"
Seeing himself and his men surrounded, the Hollow Raider boss flung his subordinate aside on the spot and bolted in another direction.
What he didn't expect was that a phantom-like figure was already blocking his path.
"Boss~ where do you think you're going?"
"It's you! Jane! You're the mole!"
Standing in front of the Hollow Raider boss was a Mouse Thirren woman — voluptuous of figure, intoxicating of expression.
This woman who went by the name of Jane Doe had joined the team only half a month ago.
The Jane Doe who had passed all those layers of rigorous screening at the time had won his deep approval. He'd actually been considering whether to develop some kind of relationship with her at some later point — now, it seemed, he had been the only one putting any heart into it.
"Glad you've caught on. This time really turned out to be an unexpected bonus, too — I'd been thinking we'd have to deal with these hunks of iron, but it seems you've saved us a fair bit of trouble."
These mechs being scrapped came as a bit of a surprise to Jane too, but happily, it was the kind of surprise that worked in her favor.
And so, upon seeing the carnage in this place, she had decisively contacted her colleagues at Public Security and wrapped this gang of criminals up like a neat little dumpling.
Looking at this criminal organization that had been netted after only half a month of her going undercover, Jane was of the opinion that this batch of Hollow Raiders was the sorriest lot she had ever had the displeasure of handling.
"Alright — now let's deal with the other guest. Will you come out on your own, or do I need to come and invite you out?"
Jane's gaze tilted upward slightly — landing precisely in the direction of Geno's hiding spot.
____
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