A Night Without a Moon

The flames licked at Parvati's huge body, and it was surrounded on all sides by an unfamiliar heat.

This was a cage... a cage specifically designed for it. From the very beginning, Rita had been deliberately circling Parvati, setting up these incendiary bombs.

All the tools on her body, her efforts, even taking into account Parvati's attacks knocking her away, finally completed the encirclement at this moment.

This intensely burning fire could last for nearly ten minutes. During this time, Parvati's fear of heat would keep it locked in this small circle.

And those attacks that could escape this circle, that laser beam, and the blizzard that could extinguish the flames, were also limited by the first incendiary bomb Rita had used.

In these ten minutes, she had disabled all of Parvati's means.

Ten minutes... the reinforcements might not make it, but those survivors should be able to leave here with Lady Durandal and Miss Sushang, right?

Rita stood on the scorched earth, looking at Parvati, which was spinning and screaming in the flames. The smile on her lips was inexplicably desolate, yet a little proud.

But... to use the opponent's attack to reach where she wanted to go meant she had to take Parvati's attacks. This body was already on the verge of collapse, and her last bit of strength was used to maintain this standing posture.

Am I at the end of my rope...

Whether it was sleepiness or dizziness, Rita's eyelids were starting to droop uncontrollably. She leaned on the [Yu Long]. This weapon, which had taken most of the damage for her, was already covered in cracks.

Rita had thought this weapon would shatter after a few attacks, but it had held on until now, just like her.

With her last bit of strength, Rita looked up, wanting to see if any stars would come out to see her one last time.

Unfortunately, no... even the moon was buried by thick dark clouds. Only the flames on the ground were burning fiercely, about to swallow both her and Parvati.

So be it... it's fine...

Rita thought to herself, but her eyelids, which were about to close, slowly opened.

"Miss Rita, please prepare for impact."

A gentle mechanical voice with a hint of static suddenly came from her earpiece. Rita looked towards the horizon. Something flashing seemed to have streaked across the dark night sky, rapidly approaching with a long tail.

"...Kallen?" It was like a hallucination... like the faint hope a shooting star brings.

No... that's not... that's not a shooting star...

BOOM—!!

A huge figure slammed heavily onto Parvati from the sky. It was completely red, with a high temperature that distorted the air. The strong wind pressure caused the burning flames to spread outwards from the center.

The closed flower bud finally bloomed!

Parvati, which had been hit hard, let out a miserable cry. High temperature, heavy blow... neither was something it could endure!

But the Titan mech that had landed on Parvati didn't stop. Rita saw it spew out a large amount of steam, and then it delivered a heavy punch with all its might to the struggling Parvati below.

Shattered ice armor and white outer shell flew everywhere. Parvati's raised head was almost smashed into the ground by this punch, and a large amount of dust was kicked up from the ground.

There's no mistake... that's Kallen. But why is Kallen here? Isn't its core command to guard the eighth basement level and below?

CRACK— A crisp sound suddenly rang out. The [Yu Long], which was covered in cracks, quietly shattered at this moment. Rita's only support disappeared, and she fell down weakly.

But a hand supported her. Rita looked up weakly and saw a golden longsword floating beside her.

"You did well, Rita," a reassuring and steady voice sounded in Rita's ear. Rita's heart suddenly calmed down.

Fu Hua took off her glasses and put them in her pocket. The summoned Xuanyuan Sword circled around her joyfully, showing its edge to Parvati, which had almost been hammered into the ground by Kallen's punch.

"At this distance... Lady Fu Hua and Sir Kallen are..." Rita glanced at the Titan mech, which had barely moved after landing and delivering that punch. She already had a rough idea.

They really used a suicidal method to forcibly bring a person to the battlefield...

The only difference was that Kallen could still use the aftereffects of the overload mode to deliver that punch.

"Yes, we are the first batch of reinforcements. Himeko and the others are still on their way. Kallen used all its energy to send me here."

Not far away, Parvati, which had been quiet for less than two seconds, started to struggle again. This time, it easily knocked over Kallen, which had already exited overload mode and entered energy-saving standby mode.

With a head of shattered ice armor, Parvati let out a roar at Kallen, roaring to tear it to shreds.

But a familiar feeling returned. Parvati suddenly flinched and turned its huge body towards Fu Hua and Rita.

The Xuanyuan Sword in Fu Hua's hand spewed out brilliant golden particles, just like Li Sushang before, but even more brilliant.

Two Spider Mechs silently arrived behind the two of them. Kallen's voice came from the Spider Mechs.

"Miss Rita, my remaining energy has been transferred to the life support cabin. You've worked hard. Please come with me."

Fu Hua handed Rita over to the two Spider Mechs, then took a step forward towards Parvati.

With this one step, Parvati's huge body trembled and took half a step back.

"Now, leave this to us." The Xuanyuan Sword, which had been circling for a long time, landed in Fu Hua's hand. At the same time, six swords of completely different styles appeared around her.

Parvati couldn't withstand the pressure first. With a fierce but restrained roar, clusters of ice rose from the ground and stabbed at Fu Hua.

Including the Xuanyuan in Fu Hua's hand, the seven swords moved at the same time. The sword light that burst out instantly shattered all the ice clusters.

Before the scattered ice shards had even fallen, a figure had already crossed the distance between the two with a trail of sword light and arrived at Parvati's side.

A thick ice pillar broke out from the ground, accurately aiming for Fu Hua, who had leaped to its side.

But two flying longswords were faster than both the ice pillar and Fu Hua herself. The rising ice pillar was easily cut in two, not even hindering Fu Hua in the slightest.

Its huge body made it difficult for Parvati to dodge. It could only rely on its armor to take this sword strike head-on.

A deep wound directly broke through the ice armor and the white outer shell. Parvati trembled violently and let out a helpless, miserable wail.