CRACK.
The sharp sound of something being crushed echoed through the air as Arthur smashed the communicator.
His instincts screamed that someone was following him.
But Arthur didn't turn around immediately. He kept his gaze fixed ahead, his body relaxed — as if he hadn't noticed a thing. Turning around now would be the same as holding up a sign that read "I know you're there."
And he wasn't stupid enough to expose himself so easily.
A few seconds later, the sounds of intense combat erupted barely a hundred meters away.
Arthur turned his head just enough to see several figures bursting out from the forest, sprinting toward him with the desperation of those fleeing death.
Instinctively, he leapt to the side — his body reacting before his mind had even processed the danger.
An orange plasma sphere tore through the air, striking the spot where he had been standing a heartbeat earlier.
BOOM!
The impact opened a small crater, throwing up a cloud of dust.
His attacker was now visible — a flying machine resembling a drone, its rotors buzzing like a swarm of wasps.
The people running toward him — four women and one man — looked equally desperate. Their dark, metallic uniforms carried a clear military pattern.
Is this one of those worlds where A.I. took over everything?
Arthur thought to himself, watching the group carefully.
Then, a much louder explosion thundered from the other side, followed by a silhouette soaring through the air.
The figure twisted mid-flight with almost artistic grace, landing firmly just a few meters from Arthur.
She had long, pale-blonde hair, icy blue eyes as cold as steel, and delicate, flawless features — almost too perfect to be human.
Arthur recognized her instantly.
It's her… the one I've been chasing, he realized.
The reason she had drawn closer was obvious — she was also being attacked by the machines.
But something in the air felt off. Arthur noticed she kept her eyes locked on the approaching group, her posture tense and openly hostile.
"Huh? You're not an android? Aren't you part of the YoRHa unit?"
The young man from the group — clearly the least battle-hardened — asked in disbelief.
That statement caught both Arthur and the woman off guard.
She's an android?... YoRHa unit? Arthur thought, confused.
Before he could process it further, a metallic voice came from one of the small pods hovering near the group:
[Suggestion: Eliminate Unit A2 immediately.]
The boy frowned in confusion.
"Huh? Eliminate Unit A2? What do you mean, 2B?"
Arthur turned his eyes toward the short-haired woman beside him — calm, precise, and exuding command presence.
So… her name is 2B, he thought.
But the battlefield offered no time for questions. The machines kept advancing, firing energy blasts in every direction.
Without hesitation, Arthur raised his hand. A golden portal opened beside him — a radiant fissure of light.
From within it, a sword shot out like an arrow, piercing through one of the machines and reducing it to scrap in half a second.
Arthur caught Koryuga, spun the katana in a smooth motion, and said calmly, his tone edged with sarcasm:
"How about saving the talk for later? We've got bigger problems to handle."
The boy — identified as 9S — stared at the golden portal that had just spat out a weapon, his eyes wide.
"What… what was that?"
But what truly left him speechless was what came next.
Arthur charged into the mechanical swarm, his blade slicing through the metal bodies with absurd ease — as if they were nothing more than butter melting under the edge of his sword.
"Let's fight too!" 2B shouted, immediately rushing toward the mechanical lifeforms.
Moments later, 9S, A2, and the other androids joined the battle.
As Arthur advanced, dozens of golden portals formed behind him.
Swords, spears, and blades of every shape and size launched forward, raining destruction on the enemy.
The machines fired first — energy spheres streaking through the air like rain. Arthur twisted his body in a fluid motion.
CHAK!
His blade cleaved the air, shattering every energy orb headed his way.
Each of his movements was like a still frame from a deadly dance.
Arthur vanished in a blink — Shunpū, the instantaneous step technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi style.
He reappeared amidst the machines.
"Ryūtsuisen!"
The diving strike fell like thunder. His sword crashed into a heavy-bodied machine, slamming it into the ground hard enough to open another crater.
He landed, spun the blade, and deflected an attack before the next machine could even finish rotating its weapon.
The sound of metal tearing filled the air. Sparks burst through the battlefield, mingling with the fragments of destroyed machines.
Two units tried to flank him from both sides — but dozens of golden portals opened behind Arthur in a wide fan shape.
A storm of blades rained down.
The androids watched from a distance, stunned. Even with all their combat experience, they had never seen movements so precise, so fluid.
Arthur twisted his wrist and delivered a sweeping horizontal slash.
The air displacement alone formed a crescent-shaped gust that split two machines cleanly in half.
A drone swooped down from above, launching a plasma missile — but Arthur didn't even move.
He simply raised his hand, and a spear emerged from a portal. With a single effortless motion, he hurled it. The projectile struck true, detonating the drone in midair.
"He's… using portals? Is that YoRHa technology?" 9S asked, bewildered.
Arthur moved again.
Each step cracked the ground beneath his feet, his senses operating at a superhuman level.
One machine lunged from behind, but Arthur merely rotated his wrist and whispered:
"Doryūkaiten."
The blade spun at impossible speed, generating a vortex. The centrifugal force shredded the machine to dust within the swirling wind.
The dust slowly settled.
Arthur stood in the center of the field, surrounded by smoking debris.
He wiped the blade clean with a subtle motion and sheathed it.
Around him, the floating weapons began to fade one by one — returning to the golden portals from which they came.
(End of Chapter)
This is yesterday's chapter