Resounding Echoes

March grumbled as she attempted to locate that guy. She would have referred to him by his name, but there was an unspoken agreement to not use it. With the amount of trouble he was causing, he simply didn't deserve it.

This caused her to realize how often she was at risk of getting the same treatment, but fortunately, her cute disposition kept such punishments at bay.

…Although, it wasn't really a good punishment. She doubted he would care if people simply referred to him as that guy. In fact, it only made it more difficult for her to call out to him.

After running around the Robot Settlement for a few minutes, she started to suspect that he magically left the planet.

'Where have I not checked yet…?'

She frowned, pushing her mind to it's utmost limits. March started to realize that her genius detective skills might not be effective in this situation.

A lightbulb went off.

A few moments later, she found herself facing the gate that led into Svarog's lair. She crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the ground as she thought about a method to pass it.

Considering that guy wasn't anywhere else, it was obvious that he was infiltrating Svarog's base on his own!

However, the gate seemed practically impenetrable. It couldn't be broken down, nobody responded when knocked on, and wouldn't react to magic words! March was starting to believe that it was impossible to get past it. She wondered how that guy did it.

She stared up at the sky — or rather, the bottom of the Overworld — in contemplation. After a few moments, she came to a realization.

The gate didn't extend upwards endlessly!

March could jump over it!

'…Why didn't anybody think of this?'

Either way, it looked like Ninja March was finally going to make her debut!

***

"…And with his impressive wit, the Divine Shadow exorcised the evil spirit using holy flames."

Ending his story, Sunny waited to hear the audience's applause. To his dismay, none came.

Instead, Clara seemed to be squinting her eyes in confusion, gazing in the direction of the Robot Settlement.

Understanding that he wouldn't be able to accurately decipher what had caught the Transcendent's attention without any corresponding information, Sunny asked:

"Is something wrong?"

In response, Clara meekly looked down at her feet.

"I—I don't want to trouble you Mr. Sunny."

'Whatever might trouble me would probably be a minor inconvenience for you…'

He lampooned silently before shrugging with an easygoing smile.

"Actually, I believe I'd be more troubled if you don't tell me what the problem is."

Clara stayed silent for a moment.

"Uh… Somebody triggered the defense system at Mr. Svarog's base."

Sunny blinked.

"…What happens when someone triggers it?"

Clara listed off the consequences of stepping into Svarog's base unannounced.

"All of the combat robots would attack whoever came in."

***

"Wait, let's talk about this!"

March jumped away from a falling chainsaw. It split the snow-covered earth, leaving gruesome scar upon the ground. She couldn't help but imagine herself being struck by it…

She had no chance to imagine such a horrible scenario however, as she immediately had to avoid a boulder of a robot rolling over her. She genuflected, ducking under a traffic light that attempted to bash itself into her.

***

"Then, the sentries would activate."

***

March couldn't help but yelp as she leaped away from a flashing beam of light. Snow melted where it landed, leaving a scorching mark behind.

Locating the attacker, she pulled back the string of her bow, an arrow of ice forming as she fired at what seemed to be a stationary turret. Of course, instead of a hailstorm of bullets, it shot deadly lasers.

The arrow streaked through the sky, accurately striking the sentry directly. Immediately after making contact, ice started to violently expand outwards, freezing the weapon in place. Not only that, but it was now unable to shoot anymore projectiles at her.

Then, she somersaulted away as a robot wielding a chainsaw attempted to dismantle her in two. Activating her Awakened Ability, the already frigid temperature of Jarilo-VI reached an unbearable low. It got to the point where frost visibly began to spread across the automatons' chassis.

Feeling her physical strength reaching an insurmountable peak, March rushed forward as a gauntlet of ice encased her right arm, her bow being held in her left. Appearing before the chainsaw wielding robot, she suddenly pirouetted around, finding herself behind it. Her arm blurred out, penetrating it's back as she dug around.

She pulled her arm out, lashing out once more as she created another hole within it's body, the previous one closing up. Repeating this process, March kept creating holes on it's back, stopping it's ability to move as she attacked it faster than it could heal.

Piercing a particular spot, she curled her fingers around a smooth object. She yanked her hand out, holding a shimmering, white crystal in her palm. Suddenly, the robot she had been fighting collapsed, falling into the snow as it rapidly froze over.

A singular Ascended Soul Shard had been used to power the automaton.

Easily crushing it with the pressure of her grip, March slightly tilted her head in the direction of over a dozen robots. She felt a small increase in strength as the Soul Essence from the Shard flowed into her, her lips parting.

[Your echoes grow clearer.]

"Next."

***

"…If neither of those work, then Mr. Svarog comes out to fight them himself."

***

March crushed a robot that was shaped like a traffic light under her feet, absorbing it's Soul Shard along with it.

[Your echoes grow clearer.]

'…This doesn't feel very ninja-like.'

The air cracked when she unleashed a devestating roundhouse kick, completely caving in the torso of a round, yet strangely agile robot. As it was the same type that they had faced in the Great Mine, she had no trouble locating the compartment where it's Soul Shards were kept, absorbing two of them.

[Your echoes grow clearer.]

Unlike before, the automatons were made up of the equivalent of Ascended Beasts and Ascended Monsters — being fueled by one or two Ascended Soul Shards. As such, it was much easier to combat them compared to the automaton from the Mine. However, what they lacked in quality was made up with quantity.

At some point, she had completely abandoned her bow, relying on her physical prowess to tear the hunks of junk apart. It was completely unbecoming of a cute girl like her, who should only stay back and provide cover fire.

'Just my luck…'

In truth, she had no idea what she was doing. March had never trained in martial arts, and had always preferred to rely on her bow to fight. She didn't like the idea of fighting up close, as she would rather not get injured. However, she always found herself in situations where she resorted to her fists.

Grabbing the arm of a chainsaw-wielding automaton, March grit her teeth as she swung it into a group of traffic lights. The next second, what felt like an oversized hand wrap onto her waist. Based on the fact that she could still move, she concluded that it was one of the hand robots that detonated.

Without panicking, she quickly focused on the robot. The growth of frost accelerated at a startling rate, completely encasing the hand-shaped automaton in a thin layer of ice. As it was now frozen, it couldn't explode.

With a simple swat of her hand, the robot shattered into a thousand pieces, it's Soul Shard being decimated along with it.

[Your echoes grow clearer.]

Her eyes flickered as she saw a shadow being cast before her. Rapidly turning around, she extended her arm in an attempt to damage the automaton behind her.

Instead, her fist ended up clashing with another, heavier fist.

March blinked in confusion as she gazed into a singular cyclopic eye. It's pink glow was accompanied by the fluttering of a black jacket.

Svarog had intercepted her attack.

Suddenly, March leaped away from the hulking robot. Instead of pursuing her, Svarog simply surveyed the area.

After a moment, his modulated voice spoke.

"You have caused large amounts of damage. You have thirty seconds to provide an acceptable reason for forceful entry. If time runs out or your reason is considered to be unsatisfactory, termination will begin."

March blinked again.

"Huh?"

***

"…So what kind of idiot would break in there?"

Clara seemed to be lost in thought.

"…I'm not sure. Everyone in the camp is aware of the consequences… C—Could it be your friends?"

Sunny was about to deny her claims, believing that it was impossible for them to get in there. Even when they had him to provide his genius intellect, they weren't able to get through the unbeatable gate. However, as he thought about it…

'…Couldn't we have just… jumped over it?'

Not understanding how he didn't come up with that earlier, he thought about who could have leaped over the gate. Dan Heng and Bronya were law-abiding citizens… most of the time. Seele and March were too stupid… which only left Sampo.

Sampo Koski!

Of course there was a hidden agenda behind his actions!

Sunny shook his head in annoyance.

"Looks like there isn't anything to worry about. The worst thing that could happen is that a dead rat appears in the base…"