"Hunter?!"
Eden canceled her deployed mode.
Rain streamed down her pale hair and across her face. Her fiery-gold eyes remained fixed on the monster wearing the goat-head mask, then shifted to the golden emblem of two crossed blades on its shoulder.
"...General-class."
Trying to break past a General-class Hunter in vehicle form was nothing but wishful thinking.
A fight was unavoidable.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when the rain suddenly intensified and killing intent filled the air.
The Hunter was already charging straight at her, whipping up a violent gust as it moved with lightning speed.
Its dark blue blade sliced through the falling rain and went straight for Eden's neck.
CRACK!
The heel of her boot flew into the air.
Eden met the Hunter with a kick, then immediately pulled away.
The heel of her right boot had been sliced clean off. Cold rainwater seeped inside, and the chill helped cool her anxious mind.
A General-class Hunter really was vicious.
Most top-tier Mecha Girls who had never undergone specialized training would struggle to match that unnatural speed. Worse still, its weapons were forged from [Shadow Steel], a metal particularly lethal to Mecha Girls.
The material contained a metallic toxin capable of easily cutting through a Mecha Girl's skin, while the toxin itself could corrode the AI Core.
But Eden was still the Governor of Mecha Island.
If a single General-class Hunter managed to kill her here, then she might as well have wasted her entire life.
Eden raised her chin slightly and stared coldly at the Hunter.
At the same time, she watched her surroundings from the corners of her eyes, alert for any other Hunters nearby.
A red gleam flashed through her eyes.
[Regulation Two of the Mecha Girl Restrictions: Lifted!]
Eden reached into the space before her and drew out a katana with a pitch-black scabbard, golden arcs of electricity dancing across it.
"You're not even going to run?"
The Hunter held its blades and watched Eden with some surprise.
Then it sneered.
"Without Psychic Energy Mechas, what makes you any different from those frail humans?!"
Every Void race knew that without Psychic Energy Mechas, a Mecha Girl's only weapon was her innate weapon.
Her only means of fighting back was close combat.
She didn't even have exoskeletal armor.
Wasn't that practically the same as fighting with nothing but flesh and blood?
That was exactly why the Hunter had dared to stand in Eden's path.
Eden ignored its provocation entirely.
Her eyes narrowed as she lowered her stance and gathered her strength.
Raindrops bounced from the hilt of her sword.
Ripples spread across the puddle beneath her feet.
A razor-sharp presence suddenly condensed around her.
Then, at a certain instant, the droplets clinging to the hilt shattered apart.
Eden opened her eyes.
SHING—!
The blade left its sheath.
The clear ring of steel cut through the curtain of rain.
Sword-drawing technique, Raikiri!
The next instant, the General-class Hunter's breath caught.
Its pupils contracted to pinpoints.
Eden had vanished from its field of vision.
With the support of their advanced scanning technology, Hunters should have been almost incapable of losing track of an enemy.
That left only one possibility.
Her speed had exceeded the scanning system's frequency limit!
Where was she?
The Hunter swept its gaze around.
Danger erupted from the right.
It spun around and raised both arms, but caught only a flickering afterimage of Eden.
Behind!
It whipped around again.
Violent lightning gathered within a streak of golden blade light, tearing through the air as it rapidly expanded in the Hunter's vision.
It barely had time to turn and swing one blade.
SHHK—!
Eden stood five meters behind the General-class Hunter, rainwater running down the edge of her sword.
The frozen air seemed to move again.
The killing intent gradually faded.
She sheathed the blade.
The hilt struck the mouth of the scabbard with a soft click.
A gurgling sound escaped the Hunter's throat.
Behind its goat-head mask, its pupils slowly lost focus.
A thin line appeared across its neck, becoming clearer by the second.
Its body swayed.
Then its head fell, rolling into a puddle.
The rest of its body collapsed after it.
Dark red blood spread across the ground, flowing down the road and into the roadside greenery, where it corroded a small patch of plants.
[Governor, what's the situation on your end?]
The radio at Eden's chest crackled to life.
She flexed her trembling wrist, tore off a strip of fabric from her clothes, and wrapped it around her bleeding finger.
"A General-class Hunter blocked my way..."
[What?! Are you all right?!]
"Yes. I killed it." Eden's tone was calm. "Make sure the body is properly disposed of."
She didn't wait for a response.
Eden activated her deployed form again.
Her body transformed into a streamlined silver-white supercar, and she sped toward Panlong Mountain.
...
Panlong Mountain Circuit, second section.
Richard Cheng and Ghost had completely fallen behind.
Derek Su was certain of that.
He had finished first in the opening section, and first place in the second section was now firmly within his grasp as well.
The finish line was still ahead, but for all practical purposes, he had already secured the Panlong Mountain championship.
Purple Lightning continued racing at the extreme speed she had built up before activating her active skill.
Derek Su planned to travel another ninety kilometers or so before triggering her special skill.
That timing would allow him to push Purple Lightning's abilities to their absolute limit.
He had no idea that danger was silently closing in.
High above Panlong Mountain, a semi-transparent, prism-shaped warship concealed within the dark clouds was monitoring everything happening on the circuit below.
An electromagnetic shield had sealed off the entire mountain.
No information could get out.
No information from outside could get in.
Yet communications within the electromagnetic shield continued to function normally.
That was precisely what made the shield so difficult to detect.
Whenever the Void used one for a surprise attack, their targets often had no idea anything was wrong until everyone trapped inside had already been wiped out.
"Scan complete. Most of the targets marked last time are present. There are several new ones as well."
"Is there a psychic pulse device?"
"Yes. At the summit."
"Destroy it."
"But we only brought a limited number of spatial collapse bombs. Weren't we supposed to save them for the other targets?"
"The pulse device is our priority. It will interfere with the mission. Leave the remaining targets to the Hunter squads."
"Understood."
Several members of the Void race wearing goat-head masks spoke quietly in front of the display.
Compared with the Hunters, they were shorter and far more slender.
They clearly weren't combat personnel.
They appeared to be technicians or commanders.
The group quickly reached an agreement.
One of them pressed a button on the console.
Instantly, countless red targeting boxes appeared across the large display showing Panlong Mountain.
Some locked onto the preparation area and the pulse device at the summit.
Others locked onto the Mecha Girls still racing along the circuit.
Purple Lightning.
Dawnbreak.
Ghost.
Ice Soul.
Snowpeak.
Another locked onto Imperial Scale aboard Stella Club's helicopter.
Still more targeted the other top-tier Mecha Girls returning to the spectator stands, along with the pilots beside them.
[All targets locked!]
The red targeting boxes followed each Mecha Girl's movements without ever losing their mark.
After confirming the targets several times, the Void operator finally reached for a lever on the right side of the console.
It pushed the lever forward.
Click!
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP—!
A piercing alarm rang through the warship.
A sequence of notifications appeared across the screen.
[Preparing full salvo...]
[Spatial collapse ammunition ready!]
[Bombardment commencing!]
...
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