A Leap of Faith and the Heart of the Machine

The chill from the Scrapheap Supervisor G-8's charging energy cannon seemed to freeze the very air. Yanaki stood on the narrow beam, the abyss behind her, the barrel of death's gun in front of her. There was no retreat.

In that instant, a single, insane idea flashed in her mind.

Instead of trying to dodge an undodgeable attack, she did the opposite. She gathered her strength and dashed forward.

Just as the Supervisor fired, Yanaki leaped. She didn't jump to the side, but straight onto the boss itself. Her hand gripped the damaged coolant pipe where her dagger was still embedded, using it as an anchor point.

The ice beam fired, completely shattering the metal beam where she had just been standing. Her only escape route was gone. She was now hanging from her enemy's body.

The Supervisor seemed confused by this suicidal tactic. It couldn't aim its remaining cannon at its own body. It began to shake violently, trying to throw her off.

"Hold it down!" Yanaki yelled in her mind.

On the bridge, her two companions acted at once. Sylva used [Root Prison], its wooden roots gripping the Supervisor's legs, pinning it to the bridge and restricting its movement. Volt continuously struck the other cannon's joint with its power mace, preventing it from aiming accurately.

"It's trying to ram its body against the bridge's side!" Elara warned from above.

Hearing this, Yanaki didn't hesitate. She began a perilous climb on the enemy's own body. She used armor plates, joints, and pipes as handholds, slowly making her way up the giant machine's back.

Finally, she reached the area behind its neck. The Supervisor's main power core was located there, protected by a thick metal grating. She pulled her dagger out of the pipe. The cold from the leaking coolant made her hand almost numb.

She couldn't break this grating with brute force. But she had another weapon.

She took out an [Auxiliary Power Core] that she had crafted as a spare before entering the mine. A small, unstable power source.

She used all her strength to shove the auxiliary core through a gap in the grating, forcing it into direct contact with the shell of the main power core.

Then, she did one last thing. She used her dagger to stab straight into the auxiliary core she had just placed.

An internal overload. A chain reaction.

The auxiliary power core exploded inside, triggering a feedback explosion in the main power core.

The Scrapheap Supervisor G-8 froze. The red light in its eyes flickered erratically and then went dark. It let out a long groan of dying metal, then slowly slumped forward, its upper body resting on the bridge.

It had been neutralized.

Yanaki, who had been on its back, quickly rolled to one side, landing safely on the bridge's surface. She panted heavily, her whole body aching and numb with cold.

[You have slain the [Scrapheap Supervisor G-8].]

[You have received a large amount of EXP.]

[You have obtained: [Supervisor's Power Core (Material - C-Rank)], [Schematic: Small Cryo-Cannon (D-Rank)], [High-Grade Sensor Lens].]

Another schematic! This time, a ranged weapon.

Sylva and Elara rushed to her side. Sylva stood guard, while Elara used her energy to ward off the chill for Yanaki.

After recovering, Yanaki looked at the defeated giant machine. Its body now formed a sturdy bridge to the rest of the path.

They crossed the new "bridge," finally setting foot on the giant scrap mountain. Immediately, the [Ancient Signal Detector] in her pouch began to beep rapidly, its needle spinning wildly before pointing straight towards the summit.

The quest objective, the [Cognitive Controller Model-0], was very close.

They looked up at the peak of the metal mountain, where sharp fragments pointed to the sky like fingers. This dangerous journey was about to come to an end.