It didn't take long for Arthur, A2, and 2B to land on the colossal metallic body of Engels.
The trio wasted no time—they immediately sprinted across the massive mechanical arm. The wind howled around them, carrying the acrid scent of burnt oil and the constant hum of the giant's inner machinery.
Smaller machine lifeforms reacted instantly, bursting from the joints of the colossus like swarms of metallic insects. A2 leapt first, her blade spinning in a deadly arc that sliced through three enemies at once, while 2B kept pace beside her.
Arthur, however, moved with an eerie naturalness—each swing, each motion precise, effortless, absolute. He cut down everything in his path.
One of the machines tried to ambush him from behind, launching itself at him in a suicidal charge.
"Not today, you son of a bitch."
Arthur twisted his body, his sword tracing a curved line through the air. The machine split cleanly in two, the cut so sharp that a full second passed before the body erupted into sparks.
The trio pressed onward, fighting as though they were parts of the same clockwork mechanism. Where A2 attacked with raw ferocity, 2B counterbalanced with precision. Arthur, positioned between them, was the invisible thread that held the rhythm of battle together.
But midway through their ascent, a violent explosion ripped through the side of the colossus, separating them.
2B and A2 were thrown to opposite ends of the structure, now facing new swarms of mechanical foes. Even so, neither hesitated—they kept fighting.
Seeing that both were unharmed, Arthur continued upward alone.
The higher he climbed, the more desperate the machines became. They leapt, crawled, and self-detonated in futile attempts to stop him. Each assault was met with a flawless counter.
At last, he reached the top—the enormous head of Engels.
Arthur took a deep breath.
His expression softened, eyes calm.
A faint smile curved his lips.
"Heh… I guess now's as good a time as any to test it."
Sliding across the metallic surface, his body tilted forward, sword still sheathed, Arthur dropped into a draw stance. The distance between him and the giant's head closed in an instant.
"Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki."
The blade flashed from its sheath faster than sight could follow.
The air itself split apart; the vacuum created by the swing exploded outward, multiplying the power of the strike.
Then—silence.
The head of Engels slid gently to the side and fell, severed cleanly from the body.
At the same time, Arthur landed gracefully on the far edge of the metallic titan.
But he barely had a moment to breathe.
The colossus began to quake violently—its internal systems collapsing one after another in a chain reaction. Red warning lights flared across the wreckage as a metallic roar echoed, the dying scream of the machine.
"Damn it… this bastard's gonna blow."
With a burst of speed, Arthur sprinted back along the collapsing path, leaping from one chunk of debris to another. He spotted A2 and 2B still cutting down the last few enemies.
"You two! Get down!"
He reached them in the chaos, wrapping his arms around both androids in a protective embrace.
The next instant—Engels exploded.
Arthur held the two tightly, shielding them with his own body as fire and shrapnel engulfed the sky.
The trio was hurled through the air amidst a storm of flaming wreckage.
The explosion's roar rolled across the battlefield for miles, marking the end of Engels.
---
"Argh! Damn whoever made that mechanical abomination!" Arthur growled, spitting dust as he pushed himself to his feet in one fluid motion, eyes blazing with irritation and adrenaline.
The battlefield was still smoldering around them. Fragments of glowing metal rained from the sky, and the air hung heavy with the scent of oil and ozone.
Arthur exhaled sharply.
"You two all right?" he asked, quickly stepping over and offering a hand to each of them.
"Yes…" A2 replied, her voice steady, though her expression betrayed both exhaustion and lingering suspicion.
2B, meanwhile, said nothing. Her gaze was locked on Arthur—sharp, inquisitive, analytical, as though she were dissecting him with her eyes.
"Why is a human like you on Earth?" she finally asked, her voice neutral but her tone laced with disbelief. "Shouldn't you be on the Moon?"
Arthur raised an eyebrow, confused.
"The Moon?" he repeated, blinking as if he'd just heard something absurd.
"And why exactly should I be there?" he countered, folding his arms.
An awkward silence followed. Before anyone could respond, a soft yet commanding female voice echoed from the floating Pod beside 2B.
"Who are you?" asked the mature voice, calm but edged with caution.
Arthur chuckled, a low, amused sound.
"Usually, introductions come before interrogation, don't you think?" he replied dryly.
A brief sigh came through the transmission.
"You're right. My apologies. Please wait about ten minutes—I'll be there shortly."
The connection cut.
---
It didn't take long before a new sound pierced the air: the rising whine of an approaching flight unit.
The horizon lit up as the aircraft broke through the clouds, descending in a swirl of wind and dust. Its design mirrored 2B's own unit—sleek, silver-white, shaped like a spear slicing through the sky.
When the turbines quieted, the hatch opened with a soft hydraulic hiss.
And then, she appeared.
The figure that descended seemed to float, as if gravity itself bent in deference to her. Long golden hair cascaded like strands of light under the sun, swaying in the wind with ethereal grace. Her white dress, adorned with intricate golden patterns, shimmered with each movement. Every step she took was so light the ground barely seemed to feel her presence.
Arthur smiled, his voice calm and teasing even in the face of the surreal.
"You're five minutes late."
The woman landed gracefully, adjusting her posture before smiling back.
"Apologies for the delay. Reaching this area took longer than expected."
"No problem," Arthur replied with a shrug.
But the woman before him was visibly struggling to hide her emotions. The faint tremor in her lips, the flicker of light in her eyes—it was the look of someone who'd just found something, or someone, long lost.
"Excuse me," she began softly, her tone suddenly hesitant, a stark contrast to the authority she carried moments ago. "Could I… make a request?"
Arthur tilted his head, curious.
"That depends on the request."
"May I… give you a hug?" she asked.
For a moment, the world itself seemed to freeze.
Arthur blinked, stunned. Of all the things he expected to hear, that certainly wasn't one of them.
But before he could even respond, a blur of motion caught his eye—a figure lunging forward like lightning.
Bang!
A2's fist connected squarely with the woman's face, sending her crashing backward in a shockwave of dust. She rolled across the ground, leaving a trail in her wake.
"2B, wait!" the woman's voice rasped out again, strained but firm, just as 2B prepared to strike.
2B hesitated for a split second, her blade hovering mid-swing.
A2, however, didn't. She closed the distance, grabbed the woman by the collar, and lifted her effortlessly off the ground, her cold, calculating gaze locked on her captive.
"I wouldn't accept her request if I were you," A2 warned, not taking her eyes off the woman. "That body could be a ticking bomb. Even unarmed, she could detonate her own core—and if that happens…" she shot a brief glance toward Arthur, "…there won't be anything left but ashes."
Dangling from A2's grip, the woman—White—let out a faint, bitter laugh, one filled with regret and resignation.
She knew exactly why A2 despised her.
The massacre of her former unit, the destruction of everything she'd once cherished—it had all been by White's command.
Her ironic smile only made A2's rage burn hotter. The android's grip tightened, ready to crush her without hesitation.
But then, Arthur stepped in.
"Before any hugs—or anything else—I want an explanation," he said firmly. "Tell me what's really going on in this world."
White lifted her gaze to meet his—and for the first time, she faltered.
"I want to know what YoRHa really is. And more importantly…"
Arthur's eyes hardened.
"…where are the humans?"
Silence fell, deep and suffocating. Even the wind seemed to vanish.
White's expression stiffened. His question was dangerous—too dangerous.
Answering it could unravel everything YoRHa stood for.
"I see…" she whispered, lowering her eyes. "There's no point hiding it anymore."
She drew a slow, steady breath.
"YoRHa… is—"
And then the truth began to unfold.
Each word that left the commander's lips struck like a hammer.
A2's fists trembled with fury. 2B stood frozen, listening, her expression hollow as though the ground beneath her had vanished.
In the shadows, 9S watched silently, his Pod secretly transmitting everything to a hidden backup server he'd installed somewhere deep on Earth—far from the Command's reach.
He knew the risk. He knew that if the Bunker discovered this leak, they'd send an orbital strike to erase all witnesses.
But nothing could have prepared him for what he heard next.
When White revealed the true origin of the black boxes—the cores that powered every YoRHa android—a chill ran down everyone's spine.
They were made from the cores of machine lifeforms.
The silence that followed was deafening.
For the first time, 2B trembled—not from battle, but from something deeper.
Shock. Revulsion. Confusion.
They had fought and died for centuries in the name of humanity—only to learn that, in the end, they might not be so different from the very enemies they'd been destroying all along.
---
(End of Chapter)