Meanwhile...

Amidst the roar of guns and the sound of blades sinking into flesh that filled the battlefield, the shriek of tearing metal was particularly jarring.

In an instant, everyone's attention on the battlefield was drawn to the source of the different sound.

A charging Nightmare Module came face-to-face with a small figure wearing a black hood. It had been hiding in the dense horde, and the moment the Nightmare Module got close, it lunged out, tearing the mech clean in two with a pair of huge claws.

The drone faithfully broadcasted this scene to the world, and many people gasped in shock.

This was the first real setback for humanity since the operation began. The torn Nightmare Module had lost all combat capability, and the Claw-type Deadwalker was now exposed for all to see.

It no longer hid. Instead, with its hands trailing behind it and its body low to the ground, it charged toward the defensive line like a ninja from Naruto HOMU.

In an instant, the firepower that had been focused on different targets converged on a single point. The torrent of bullets was so intense it even tore up the solid concrete pavement.

But where was the Deadwalker?

It unleashed an inhuman leap, jumping so high and fast that the machine guns couldn't track it. It descended from the sky, landing precisely behind the defensive line.

The line had been breached!

"Tsk... So monsters like this actually exist..." Sin Mal muttered, subconsciously biting her nails, her eyes dark as she stared at the Deadwalker that had broken through the line.

Is this the kind of monster that Bronya... has been facing all this time?

As if on cue, Deadwalkers appeared on all four frontlines. Using the zombies as cover, they easily broke through the defenses and charged into the soldiers' ranks.

But the defensive line didn't show the slightest hint of chaos. The machine guns couldn't react in time, but the people could. The soldiers behind the line quickly moved away from the Deadwalker's landing spot.

The Claw-type Deadwalker had just raised its head, looking for its first target to slaughter, when a strangely shaped spear suddenly tore through the air, piercing straight through its chest.

The Deadwalker that could dodge bullets couldn't evade a thrown spear. The sheer force of the spear carried the Deadwalker's body a great distance, pinning it to a wall.

As expected of a creature that treats death as life, even with its heart precisely pierced, the Claw-type Deadwalker continued to struggle violently.

But everyone's attention had already shifted to several figures clad in unique armor.

Compared to the armor of the other MOTH soldiers, the components on these suits were clearly more ornate. After donning the armor, their height reached about 1.9 meters. They were a size smaller than an exoskeleton, but a size larger than a standard battlesuit.

As everyone marveled, the name of the armor appeared beside the figures.

[Universal Honkai Energy Valkyrie Armor — Fei Jiang · Prototype]

At the same time, the names of the spears that the other figures still held appeared as well.

[Universal Honkai Energy Weapon — Yu Long · Prototype]

Before the Deadwalkers that had breached the line could turn the crowd's fears into reality, they were slain by these soldiers, who had been lying in wait.

Then, these soldiers stood like war gods at the forefront of the line, holding their weapons and intercepting all the Deadwalkers that rushed out.

Everyone could see that victory in this battle was now within reach.

Seeing that the newly developed armor hadn't failed, Otto, back at the ARC City base, let out a small sigh of relief. He then turned his attention to the other battlefield.

It was the only one not being broadcasted live, because not even Otto could be certain that the operation there would truly succeed.

---||---

Time rewinds to fifteen minutes earlier.

At the same time the third frontline began its retreat, Himeko's Titan mech squad had already charged toward the Honkai Beast swarm. Kallen, Theresa, and the others followed closely behind the Titans.

The moment the frontlines began to shift, the Honkai Beasts that had been milling about sprang into action.

Just as Durandal had theorized, the beasts had been lingering between the two sides because they were being pulled in both directions. A coincidental balance had left them unsure of which way to go.

But now, with the majority of the third frontline withdrawing, the scales tipped. The Honkai Beasts' objective instantly became clear.

A Chariot-class Honkai Beast let out a furious roar, and the Knight-class beasts reared up, raising their thick forelimbs, ready to charge into the slaughter.

The distance was only two city blocks, which for creatures of their size was barely a distance at all.

But they were a step too slow.

Several massive mechs descended from the sky, landing in a straight line directly in the path of their charge.

The un-cushioned landing sent violent tremors through the surrounding buildings and caused the ground itself to tremble. When the dust settled, five pre-warmed Titan mechs stood before them like a natural chasm.

Honkai Beasts know nothing of fear. They charged straight at the "insolent insects" who dared stand in their way.

"Link formation!" Himeko shouted over the mech channel. The five Titan mechs acted almost in unison.

Their lower bodies rotated, and the standing Titans hunkered down like fortified emplacements. A thin, hexagonal force field unfolded before them, quickly connecting and merging with the fields projected by the adjacent Titans.

In moments, they had formed a single, massive force field shield.

The charging horde of Honkai Beasts slammed headfirst into the deployed energy shield. The point of impact rippled like the surface of a disturbed lake, sending out faint hexagonal patterns before quickly returning to calm.

But in that one violent moment of impact, the defensive line was pushed back several meters, nearly embedding it into the piles of rubble behind them.

Inside the Titan cockpits, all five pilots let out pained grunts at the same time. One of the female pilots, who was slightly less resilient, even had a trickle of blood run from her nose.

There were two ways to pilot a Titan. The first was with manual controls, a method that lacked precision and could basically only make the Titan move.

The other was through sympathetic controls, which was currently the mainstream method.

It synchronized sensory information like vision and pain, processing and feeding it back to the pilot, effectively merging human and machine into one.

This was how the five of them were piloting the Titans, which was why they had taken the full force of the frontal impact.

But at least they had stopped them!

Having run into a wall, the Honkai Beasts fell into a moment of confusion. The four individuals who had been following behind the Titan mechs exchanged a look, identified their assigned targets, and charged out together.