CHAPTER 21

The Hunting Spider (4)

"The bravery of charging alone against numerous enemies! This Lionheart King commends you!"

"I grant you the honor of witnessing my royal visage and the privilege of dueling with me. You have my permission to face me in battle, warrior!"

There was no need to interpret the meaning of those words. The Yakht Spinner aimed its railgun at the cavalryman, who was foolishly waiting with unwavering sincerity.

The round, initially meant for Gil Taesung, trembled as it underwent electromagnetic acceleration.

「Railgun acceleration timing setup. Output: 13%.」

Energy was limited due to the constraints of the save cap, so it had to be conserved. However, against a human-sized target, it was more than sufficient.

No living being could survive a direct hit from this devastating railgun. If one could, it would be either an otherworldly entity or a creature possessing an anomalous power—

"Let us ride, my valiant steed."

────!!

The stallion readily responded.

With four legs pounding against the ground like a storm, it charged toward the enemy ahead.

The scene evoked a moment from history.

A knight on horseback, lowering his lance as he charged forward.

The ancient chariots that had once ruled the battlefield as humanity's most formidable weapon.

The sight of an old-world knight, clad in honor, glory, courage, and valor, would inspire admiration in anyone.

However, melee combatants were nothing more than relics of a bygone era.

What meaning did the mass of a mere horse hold when the profession of a Hunter had already transcended the biological limits of humanity?

A melee warrior challenging an armored machine, armed with ultra-heavy plating and high-speed weaponry—was there even a need to describe such foolishness in words?

-BOOM!

The supersonic railgun shell accelerated to an undeniable speed.

This was the difference between mechanical and biological weaponry—the overwhelming firepower at range. Surely, Leon understood that all too well.

"A knight! Does not fall to cowardly ranged weapons!"

A sacred force flowed from Leon's entire body, forming a thin barrier in front of him.

-BOOM!

The shell clashed against the barrier. Incredibly, the railgun shot was stopped by nothing more than a flimsy-looking veil. No—it wasn't just stopped.

As if forced by some unseen power, the shell deflected and ricocheted away.

"...?!"

For a brief moment, even the high-performance AI of the Yakht Spinner ceased its calculations.

The logic it was built upon failed to explain what had just occurred.

The Yakht Spinner had hunted Hunters. It had witnessed mages. It had recorded pathetic attempts to block its main cannon and machine guns through anomalous physical phenomena.

It understood that certain ritual techniques could generate physical effects by channeling formless energy.

But this was different. Completely different.

There was no process of collision or obstruction leading to penetration or defense.

It was simply repelled. With no process—only a result.

The Blessing of the Holy Shield.

Any ranged attack, once, would be unconditionally deflected.

A sacred technique wielded instinctively by all Grail Knights.

A miracle granted to humanity's most powerful sacred warriors.

A law that imposed absolute rules.

The railgun's shot was effortlessly deflected, and the knight charged forward at an unbelievable speed.

Fast.

The divine steed tore through the storm and the lingering heat, closing the distance to the Yakht Spinner in an instant.

-BEEP!

The machine processed the situation.

The weapon the enemy wielded was an outdated jousting lance. Though fast, no matter how much velocity increased, the impact force was still bound by the limits of mass.

Unlike Hunters, who could enhance their weapons with supernatural energy, that lance carried no energy signature.

It was purely physical force and penetration power.

Threat Level: 0.

No need for a response. At worst, the lance would strike its legs and come to a halt.

Thus—

It calculated the most rational response. Endure the negligible impact of the lance charge and then annihilate the threat with machine gun fire.

The machine's logic made an irreversible mistake.

-THUD!

-CRACK!!

The machine failed to comprehend what had just happened.

Had its sensors not detected the sound of its leg being pierced—

Had its auxiliary cameras not captured footage of its reinforced joint armor being penetrated like pudding—

The Yakht Spinner wouldn't have even considered the possibility that the thing piercing its leg was the man's lance.

Impossible.

Utterly impossible.

The AI denied the very hypothesis that had formed. After all, the armored joints were not something that could break under the ridiculous, outdated impact of a lance charge.

The framework of "common sense" established by science and physics couldn't even be escaped by the remnants of old civilizations.

But it was not the machine's role to prove anything—

Reality itself was the proof.

-BOOM!

"...??!"

The impact of the sacred lance against its joints made the Yakht Spinner stagger.

"Sturdy."

Recalculating. Updating information.

Logical analysis: Failed.

Understanding of physical phenomena: Failed.

Enemy Threat Level: Forced Upgrade.

Threat Level: 5.

Only after classifying Leon as a main battle tank-level threat did the Yakht Spinner switch its strategy to retreat.

Normally, it would either ignore or annihilate its enemies. But now, it was forced to jump, even at the cost of stressing its joints.

One leg was entirely severed, and another joint was crushed, making movement unstable. But the Yakht Spinner managed to gain distance.

Then, its auxiliary limbs moved.

-SNAP!

Steel wire cutters lashed out like whips—lethal weapons that had bisected countless Hunters—striking toward Leon.

A supersonic wire lash, too fast for even enhanced Hunters to track with their eyes.

But Leon's reaction speed was beyond comparison. He simply raised his lance and effortlessly coiled the wire around it.

The Yakht Spinner pulled the wire. A contest of pure strength naturally ensued between them.

"You dare challenge me in a test of strength? Amusing."

Leon tugged on the sacred lance wrapped with the wire.

-CRUNCH!

The auxiliary limbs, originally meant to clear debris and explosive obstacles, couldn't withstand Leon's pull.

-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Yakht Spinner, now deprived of both its railgun and wire cutters, frantically unleashed a hail of machine-gun fire.

Leaping onto a rooftop, it concentrated every round on Leon. But his divine steed effortlessly evaded the barrage with astonishing agility.

-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Even though it had fired merely as suppressive fire, Leon escaped the firestorm itself.

Regardless, it had created distance. The machine-gun fire was only a diversion—it had achieved its goal. Now, it just needed to fire another railgun shot—

"────!!"

At that moment, something tore through the air toward it. The sensors detected what it was: Leon's lance.

In just 0.02 seconds, the Yakht Spinner attempted to respond.

Too late.

The lance, far more devastating than a railgun, pierced through its left processor unit and obliterated its railgun assembly.

-SCREETCH! CRACK!

With half its sensors destroyed and its trump card ruined, the Yakht Spinner sagged, its movement calculations failing.

Even in the depths of its AI, the machine let out something akin to a mechanical roar of frustration.

And then—

It vanished into the darkness of the sandstorm.