Chereads / Pandora Protocol / Chapter 2 - Obscurity Succours Opponents

Chapter 2 - Obscurity Succours Opponents

Bold that she was, to assume she simply gave up on trying at this point when right above the supposed cerulean sky was lying and hanging over a sunny day; yet now seemingly turned into a murky one. No such a provisional reason, but a definitive and genuine one... true to be held by this sylphlike hand and seen by this pair of emerald eyes; quite an object that made this serenity no more. Above and right now, falling fast like a falling star it was, lacking however of its bright red of flame yet its colossal size and stygian arrival.

Still a threat nonetheless, when its impossibly large size alone without a doubt capable of tearing down any obstacle in its way with sheer force upon impact wrought by its massive mass and density, shattering the soft grassy soil beneath as it was an absolute effect. And surely was, such a destructive effect embedding well within her conscious mind as a reasonable reaction to escape the calamity for she undoubtedly was the target… however a reasonable action seemingly this emerald-eyed noirette heeded not,

She stayed in her place, moving not a step but a head looking up as though taking a proper position to accept her fate… to die not, but to idle as she started to get bored of waiting, at least with a pleasant surprise was coming along and paying off for her patience; remained collected and raised her left hand high towards the murky sky… to die not, but to face it head on as the stygian object above came closer.

And so eventually came at touch; the aftereffect was close to what this raven-haired girl had calculated long prior… the blasting wind upon impact created one massive shock wave surely blasting away all the debris left from the ruined ground, and so the river beside leaking out its many fierce waves till it was deformed thus its streaming pattern turning into nothing but a flooded basin laid waste the rest of its prosperous green.

Everything deformed into an abstract mess; everything went as she had forewarned within her gut, many that capable not of staying stood tall upon the great earthquake hit, anything that stood was to fall in the presence of the greater foreshock… but true to herself, flinching not before such a presence; despite with one hand only, seemingly such a devastating impact burdened nothing but only a tiny fraction on her sylphlike hand and lithesome body – quite an unlikely combination such was, which miraculously could prevent its monstrous size and blackened shape of touching the ground entirely but her palm only and actually incapable of crumbling down her body, thus effortlessly capable of raising it upward as though weight nothing to her,

And so her hand upon touching, making a contact with the stygian object assuredly stunned her, yet a faint change she showed a little within her expression remaining a reticent face which hardly told nothing but a composed one despite everything else beside her already turned into a ruin. A cool head she then looked up yet saw only this stygian object, once falling now within her grasp for her to grasp its labeled identification – what kind of object it was,

The distinctive quirk hence became a plain to sight… impossibly large structure of a very dark solid matter with some murky purple of layered patterns were seen the closer it reached her emerald eyes. Such as though was engraved on its dark uneven surface yet appeared with its smooth, glass-like texture on her hand feeling it… such a distinctive feel, from its uniquely gloomy-purple look and weight alone, hence the density also she could make a conclusion out of it – what kind of object it was,

"Isn't this… Terrene Rock Formation? The kind of rock formation that can only be found at the rear of Earth's Core?" uttered to herself in full wonder, staring above at the enormous blackened object she now recognized its nature; as well the nature of ambuscade which now began to change apparently from this point onward, "Another Kesto's cheap trick so it seems, and he seems now give up on sending another person to strike but an inanimate object this time, huh? What a pity…"

Fervent condolences of hers were spoken; this raven-haired girl then came out with the second low mumbling sigh, breathing out in brief flagged the transient cornered situation for her was about to change… to turn the tide.

Strengthened her grip on hand still holding this terrene rock formation; making an effort now seemingly, albeit so little shown, of utilizing fingers and hand muscles as she planned to retaliate. The eventual moment of showing off her strength at last to be realized; ineligible for the telling because so slight it was showed–––hardly a twitch of a muscle–––enough however, capable of cracking this gigantic structure within less than an eye's blink. In an instant, the crack was spread all over its enormous blackened purple surface, and in an instant, the crack became severe; spreading to the denser, tougher inside… and in an instant, this rock formation was no more in a viable form… but black dust and dark debris, sparkled its way out from the sunlight hanging above the cerulean sky which now visible once again to this pair of emerald eyes.

To conclude it was all over; however to this pair of emerald eyes, once its gaze turned down to seek for this new assailant whom she recognized, who also responsible for his self-effacing act of sending off this now-turned-into-dust rock–––for quite a spectacle attack this one was, she admitted it–––only to be saluted by its chain reaction, apparently as the series of attack had yet to conclude, simply to be a prelude to a main assault,

To conclude it was all over; thus catching her off guard… for be overconfident over the situation she thought had the upper hand over it, only later be struck by another force… attacking her chest and stomach out of her ignorant. This heat she could feel, and the excessive pushing force she could sense; hence body capable not of holding it and feet capable no longer of standing still. This raven-haired girl was being thrown back at the eventual result in a great force, as though flying violently a few yards backward and to see herself crumbled upon impact with the flooded, ruined ground.

Miraculously yet no a scratch seen on her skin let alone such fatal wounds, still the same milky-white smooth skin of hers to be seen once she tried to regain balance of herself. Accounting not however, for the damage and mud stains her white-blue uniform suffered from upon bouncing off forcefully couple of times still on the same flooded and ruined ground… mostly the noticeable one when she looked down around her chest and stomach; to see what kind of attack that hit her, and to cause her to thrown back by its excessive force… the excessive heat she felt in a way it seemed capable of burning away the fabric covered around the crucial part of her body thus exposing the unharmed skin beneath. She, therefore, quickly groped around her chest, especially looking for her ribbon tie still intact, and searching for the tiny bell tied to it still in place – luckily, she whispered to herself,

"Plasma Accelerator, huh, that was… seriously took me by surprise,"

Uttered to herself, feet struggling back to stand still and face staring straight up ahead still presented the same mien of ataraxy trying to peruse the situation which seemingly out of her anticipation – throughout the previous event of the attack; from its heat alone and the burnt mark over her front body tearing apart her uniform, she could already tell what kind of weapon capable of doing that,

"Part of Plasma Armament type H2, induced by Hailagma Energy and is accelerated at 65.1 eV. Such a low-end output, quite a devastating one regardless. Not a problem for me though... but the automaton who carries it... what a bothersome,"

One more of the unforeseen visitant, plainly to see for these emerald eyes to foresee its steadfast presence; looked standing tall in crimson shine, and its substantial size was one of the most stood out scene which contributed more for its menacing look. Standing tall before this raven-haired girl, as she recognized already her newly appeared opponent, something of robotic presence–––the automaton as she had alluded it before–––the humanoid automaton, with its noticeably shoulders which enveloped by seemed to be black coat-like furs with smaller head, body torso and lower limbs compared to those larger arms as seemed carrying its own twin armaments combating as its tools… similar to a long-barreled rifle yet with larger and seemingly powerful barrel as an attempt of shooting the same powerful superheated bullet – the same type of bullet which damaged her uniform as well threw her violently backward this far, thus more of thorough approaches were deemed necessary this time around, as this time had decided…

…it was her turn now of striking back, for the serene atmosphere had been broken and no more sangfroid within her blood,

Dashing forward, therefore, many steps in a quick succession; navigated through this flooded and uneven terrain, as though flying these nimble feet were, capable of springing all around the ruined ground as she chose the way around yet this emerald focus did not neglect to keep an eye for the crimson automaton in front, whose black sensor over its smaller rounded head any times followed the movement of this raven-haired girl while its twin long-barreled rifles this time pointing at her… charging up another superheated bullet, about to be fired, but alas too quick was her feet and too slow was the process,

Only a few feet left; only seconds later now she found herself nearly getting closer within the area of her capability to reach that crimson automaton appeared now ready to shoot… however such apparently was a mere distraction from the main dish… figuratively… as this casting its enormous shadow and rightly so once again umbrellaed this raven-haired girl,

Another shadow came and go, and seemingly now as often out of nowhere from above where the supposed cerulean sky to be. She assuredly was incapable of resisting the temptation to look up; to see whose shadow it was, and to expect another cerulean fortunately she already done so – had been waiting for it in fact, waiting for it to make a grand entrance… another cerulean color for these emerald eyes to relish, however the color of the sky it was not, instead something else which cast its darker shadow upon her,

The twin of the crimson automaton… being the opposite form of the bright crimson color yet appeared within the same mechanical frame; same body proportion of a menacing look about to combat all its foes, however with its coat-like furs enveloping its shoulders in bright blue shade and wielding not the twin long-barreled firearms on both of its enormous hands instead one immense superheated blade grasped tightly by both. Having a fiery red in color the blade was, as though frozen flame being trapped inside its metallic frame; looked sharp and a plain deadly sight for these emerald eyes to behold its heat being emitted perennially, and surely was approaching her from the high above… falling down at greater speed as the gravity pulling the cerulean automaton's weight upon her, about to deliver a gash upon her ravenhead,

A more lethal strike this time for sure; however this time she was too, more than ready,

Both feet made an abrupt halt, seemingly there was no intent of stepping aside from its fiery way, instead stepping forward to face it… this raven-haired girl simply awaited for a chance, waiting the fiery blade entered her reach. Only a second worth of waiting, the fiery blade did exactly what she had calculated; did aim for her head, and about to deliver a gash upon her ravenhead… therefore she raised her right hand to deliver her own style of strike as well; a palm heel strike, a straight forward thrusting motion against that fiery red blade.

Such an odd, but against the odd, the impact between two unfair comparison–––white smooth flesh against the razor sharp fiery metal–––was occurred anyhow… somewhat a violent battling whose the victor surely had been predetermined. It was the fiery red blade that fell apart, broken into two pieces as the eventual result… against all odds, such an immense strength the blade had, even with the help of those enormous cerulean metallic hands moved by high-powered rotary joints, apparently such a combination capable not of harming even delivering a scratch on this emerald-eyed noirette's skin,

Still intact her palm was, and pretty much capable still of delivering another strike to that newly landed automaton before her eyes… this kind of result she had too calculated… averting quickly her attention now towards the half piece of that fiery red blade that lied beside and snatching it; despite still blazing in red, seemingly her hand could withstand the heat of this frozen flame for her to show the vehemence of using it as her temporal weapon in an attempt of piercing and gashing the main torso of that cerulean-colored automaton by leaping high upward… aimed for its thick cerulean chestplate, despite so, so keenly of letting it taste its own medicine.

Effective as it was intended, even only the residue left that once as a part of the frozen flame regardless still showed its lethal nature… capable of cutting through seemed effortlessly that cerulean metallic frame, thus shredding it deeper and might it break heavily its system of inner power working; as seen from red liquid–––its blood of some sort, brewed purely from quite a certain material–––spurting out from the damage on its part of chest cavity and lower… seemed to be a weaker spot where she delivered the fiery red slash and dragging it to the lower part of its cerulean body. And so she managed to stop the cerulean automaton from moving once again, as its power source seemed to have died down entirely,

One down, and one more to conquer… that crimson automaton, to get a treatment in the same manner as its twin partner,

As quick as a flash, drowning not within her first triumph against one of the walking machine; a reaction as a flash, a coolheaded mien focused still on the fast-paced battle before her emerald eyes… a pair of eyes which this raven-haired girl averted once again keenly to her side, to see the last standing foe of hers – the crimson automaton who had observed apparently all that occurred to this moment, and that sensory device over its face had perused seemingly the whole pattern and how it was turned out to be, ergo to be processed later by its central processing unit; the artificial intelligence integrated within its small frame of rounded head…

…which emerged to be somewhat a slow process of word-stating, verifying state of affairs as it sounded would be,

"Readapting Force Sensor. Recalculating Downtime. Recalibrating Controller System. Reworking End Effector and Uptime… Updating the hostile subject," through quite an accent typical of a machine; a slow-moving monotone voice devoid of any emotion, apparently dumb enough of uttering all of its supposedly thinking process out loud, "Subject: Talna Elmore. Ability Owned: Lethal Dose. There is appeared to be a repugnancy in the data received, as the threat which the subject carries in any way, is one level higher than the precaution; thus a false measure––"

Too bored to be followed; somewhat the slow-witted precaution did it was taken by the crimson automaton, causing its inanity to surface with haste and thus obscuring its own intimidating value it possessed before… by monologuing out loud its own thought process; by intention or no; still, that crimson automaton was foredoomed seemingly to be a failure… as though digging its own grave, as though jeopardising its own security… by letting its vulnerable gap to be wide open to its opponent while it uttered somewhat a nonsense for this emerald-eyed noirette who couldn't bear every second it had passed,

Therefore for not too long, half broken piece of the fiery red blade was flying towards that small head of the crimson automaton, stabbed and ran through exactly at the center of its forehead in which the center of its thought process–––its Harness–––was integrated, being embedded deep within its crimson metallic skull which now seemed to be splitting apart… caused by sharp force from such a blade thrown by this impatient girl,

Such was thrown amidst the occurring monotonous statements, therefore the crimson automaton had now stopped moving abruptly as its crimson head also spurting out its own crimson, blood-like liquid from within that half split head,

"Haaa… you've got to be kidding me!"

And so, once the soothing air came through once again, acceding to her interest of the scene once she relished prior all of this fuss, and surely now appeasing her preference by the ruined green scene from the flooded basin, despite no more rippling of the shallow river to refresh her bare feet, and no more tidy places to lay low letting herself succumb into reverie. Least now she could find a little contentment gawking at such a scene in which she stood in the middle, knowing that now her two foes had laid low themselves in their own shallow red-liquid. Least now she could sigh away the burden, breathing away with the serene air because it seemed the consecutive attacks she had to face; the chain reaction upon her seemingly had now been purged… somehow… even after quarter of an hour she just stood stilly amidst this messy ground, waiting for another inconspicuous strike,

But alas, nothing…

"Seems like Kesto has run out of trick, hasn't he? Guess it's no wonder… the last one somewhat a failure. He might able to create quite a menacing twin automatons––Skohl and Hahtee no less–––with all of those deadly armaments, I admit it. But the A.I though… what kind of automaton still uttered a robotic accent that way, moreover out loud leaking its thinking process and recklessly ignoring the only foe right in front,"

While monologuing to herself murmured, this raven-haired girl bowed down to pick up a single gravel barely the size of her slender hand,

"Guess now it's time to end this. Tired of waiting…"

To end all of this as she had uttered; and so the reason of picking up such an insignificant object would be revealed a second later, as she began to throw it towards the nearest hill yet quite far from this ruined terrain. Quite a strong throw out of a hand swing, a simple gravel capable of reaching the said hill… there the gravel seemingly being stopped abruptly by something at the little summit, as though hitting something – something like a barrier, a glass-like barrier which broke apart upon impact. Such a barrier, as though acting as a mirage of illusion, hid something beyond the unseen… till the layer was broken, thanks to the simple gravel, revealing the unseen figure who had been watching all since the beginning,

It was figure of a boy of her age; in the same color tone attire as hers but with a black vest… the same uniform he wore, even he too wore the same tiny bell being tied to his left upper arm, as it began to shake and to make a faint little chime as the subtle breeze passing by… no doubt he was too, coming from the same institution as hers – attending the same academy in this matter. He, the grey-headed boy, stood there gaping mouth and eyes surely out of surprise; dumbfounded, never thought his well-concealed place would be spotted; at least not this fast,

Trying to tuck away his anxious by smiling a nervous one as he hankered to greet that emerald-eyed noirette glaring him from afar,

"Y-yo Talna… what a pleasant surprise, haha. Thank you for your hard work out there. You know, with that rock and robots… and stuff,"