Following that thunderous surprise attack, Carcinox ground to a halt. The massive chunk of Kelyte armor on its back was shattered, leaking toxic, neon-green blood into the river.
Infuriated to its core, the Category 4 Kaiju whipped its hideous head toward Mecha Aegis. Its obsidian eyes flickered with a frantic, crimson light born of pure rage. It unhinged its jagged, filth-encrusted maw and unleashed a roar that tore through the eardrums of everyone nearby. The brutal sound wave slammed into the water, pushing thousands of tons of river aside toward the banks and creating a massive, temporary crater in the riverbed. Ignoring its wounds, the monster lunged madly at the steel titan.
Inside the Neural-Cockpit, Captain Rin's HUD flashed incessantly with a barrage of red collision warnings. But the pilot of the Aegis didn't flinch. Rin's face remained as cold as ice, her eyes glowing with a brilliant blue light—a sign of her absolute 10.0 synchronization state.
Her armored fingers danced across the virtual console, her voice sharp as a blade: "Target locked. Fire!"
Outside, the twin shoulder-mounted cannons of Mecha Aegis braced themselves. The heat vents along the barrels ignited with a light so blinding it rivaled the sun.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two massive plasma shells tore through the night in rapid succession, carving a straight line through the air and slamming directly into the center of Carcinox's chest. The horrific kinetic energy from the blast forced the gargantuan beast to skid backward. The thick Kelyte armor on its chest groaned, fractured, and finally exploded outward, exposing the raw, pulpy, and vulnerable flesh beneath.
The opening had appeared. Rin roared through the comms: "Switching to CQC (Close Quarters Combat) mode!"
She slammed two control levers forward. The shoulder cannons released a hiss of white cooling steam, quickly folding back behind the Aegis's frame to optimize mobility. Simultaneously, the super-compressed thruster systems beneath the Mecha's feet and on its back ignited in unison. Blue flames erupted, blasting mud and river water high into the air.
The steel titan, weighing over 12,000 tons, surged forward with an impossible burst of speed, heading for a head-on collision with the giant crab-like beast.
Carcinox swung its massive claw, intending to crush the upper torso of the Aegis. But with its superior hydraulic system, the Mecha pivoted, slipping past the deadly scythe by a mere hair's breadth. Utilizing the momentum of the turn, Aegis twisted its waist and unleashed a thousand-ton punch.
CRACK!
The steel fist slammed perfectly into the fractured armor point on the monster's chest. The final plate of Kelyte shattered into a thousand fragments. The Aegis's fist buried itself deep into the creature's soft internal tissue.
A flash of killing intent sparked in Rin's eyes. She slammed the red button atop her control lever.
CLICK!
From the fist embedded in the monster's chest, the protective steel plates slid back. A colossal Titanium-alloy drill emerged, instantly spinning at a dizzying speed driven by the Mecha's high-velocity drivetrain.
The drill spiraled deep, tearing through layers of muscle and organic fat. It pulverized everything in its path, brutally impaling the energy core—Carcinox's thumping heart. Toxic green blood erupted like a burst dam, drenching the chest plates of Mecha Aegis.
The Category 4 Kaiju tilted its head to the heavens and let out one final, savage howl. Its massive arms went limp. The red light in its eyes flickered and died, its gargantuan body turning into a lifeless husk.
CRASH!
The monster's corpse collapsed into the river, creating a massive water column tens of meters high. Mecha Aegis stood tall amidst the white spray, the sound of grinding mechanical joints echoing as the machine slowly retracted its gore-stained drill from the enemy's chest.
The battle was over. Humanity had won.
In the V.G.U. Command Room, General Ryuichi slumped his hands onto the table, exhaling a long sigh of relief. All around him, technicians leapt from their chairs, embracing each other, clapping, and cheering wildly.
"Outstanding work, Captain Rin," Ryuichi smiled into his headset. "You've just saved another city."
"It is a magnificent victory! Once again, the heroes of the V.G.U. have brought peace to our shores!"
The perspective of the story suddenly narrowed, trapped within the frame of an old, convex TV screen. In the top right corner, a label read: LIVE - 18:45 PM. A field reporter clutched her microphone, screaming in pure ecstasy. Behind her, the majestic Aegis stood tall, bathed in the rain and the remnants of the battle.
The camera pulled back, revealing the bleak reality outside the screen.
It was a small, cramped, and dim apartment in the suburbs—a stark contrast to the brilliance and noise being broadcast. Clutter was strewn everywhere; empty instant noodle cups sat discarded on the table.
Crouched on a worn-out sofa, frayed in several places, was Arata. The 32-year-old man wore shabby clothes, his messy hair uncombed. The flickering light from the TV reflected off half of his quiet face, mirroring the image of the giant Mecha etched clearly in his sad, dark eyes.
The silence in the room was haunting, broken only by the muffled chatter of the announcer. Arata let out a soft sigh, leaning his head back against the sofa.
"I wish..." he spoke in a low, somber voice, muttering to himself in the dark. "...I could be a Guardian hero, too."
Staring at the screen, Arata's mind drifted back to the past.
[Year 2020. Six years ago. V.G.U. Base No. 2, Kōtetsu City]
The sky that year was a brilliant, endless blue. Thousands of young men and women stood in a line that stretched as far as the eye could see across the military grounds, waiting to participate in the most rigorous selection process on the planet.
Arata—then 26 years old—stood in line beside a familiar face. It was Kaito, the orphan born from the ashes of Kurogawa. In contrast to Arata's clumsy, hesitant demeanor, 18-year-old Kaito looked incredibly resilient. His eyes burned with a combat spirit that had never flickered out since the night the atomic rain fell.
Kaito stepped confidently onto the platform for the Neural Sync test. As soon as the sensor helmet touched his head, the measuring system's screen erupted into a blinding light. The graph spiked to a maximum level so high it made the surrounding V.G.U. officers gasp in shock.
From his podium of glory, Kaito turned back to look at Arata, who was lost in the sea of people waiting for their turn to be tested. The young man smirked, a radiant smile on his face, and raised his hand, gesturing a fist toward Arata—a callback to their blood oath in the rain. The boy carrying the great fire of vengeance had been chosen, proudly stepping through the gates of grandeur.
[Back to the present]
Click.
Arata pressed the remote. The TV screen died.
The room was instantly plunged into a pitch-black void. The silence rushed in, and then, a familiar sound rose once more. Unlike an ordinary person, inside Arata's chest, a second heartbeat... heavy, feral, and filled with a lingering killing intent... thudded in a mysterious, rhythmic pulse.
He rested his arm over his forehead, staring up at the dark ceiling.
"It's been six years since I last saw him..." Arata thought. "With that natural-born talent... I wonder if Kaito is out there now, wearing the armor of a Guardian Hero on the front lines... or if he's already sitting proudly in the cockpit of a Titan Mecha?"