Ch.1118You’ve Been Kidnapped.

“First shot hit. Aiming correction complete. All gun ports open.”

After the first bullet directly hit the evil god’s body and buried it deep underground, Fafnir immediately opened all gun ports and continued with follow-up bombardment without delay.

– Guuuung…!

Long gun barrels extended from the lower body’s gun ports, causing blue arc discharges, and missile pods embedded in the shoulders opened wide as a cluster of missiles protruded out.

“Concentrated bombardment initiated.”

The cold mechanical voice was followed by thunderous explosions.

Supersonic shells became flashes cutting through the atmosphere, and a rain of missiles—as if from a different world—followed relentlessly, pouring down like a carpet.

Explosions, shockwaves, and flames swept across the land like a calamity.

“Main cannon loading. Charged particle acceleration initiated.”

The metal panels fixing the mechanical dragon’s mouth broke off as if rusting away, and inside the wide-open maw, a massive cylindrical barrel glowed with a bluish light while spinning fiercely.

– Kiiiiiiiing!

Fafnir’s main weapon, the charged particle cannon.

Charged particles endlessly rotating and accelerated to the extreme inside the howling barrel became a blue-green lightning bolt that struck the ground the next moment.

– Kwarrrrrrrung!!

Thunder roared and lightning branches spread in all directions. The ultra-high-temperature flash vaporized the canyon to its foundation, covering the world with steam-mixed haze.

“Hit confirmed. Next round charging initiated.”

After confirming the charged particles had accurately hit the target point, Fafnir, machine-like, didn’t let its guard down and immediately prepared for the next bombardment.

– Giiiiiing….

Charged particles filled with a faint vibrating sound. Fafnir’s barrel once again emitted a bluish light and slowly began to rotate.

Just then.

“Warning! Emergency evasion!”

With a roar like thousands of sheets of paper being torn simultaneously, the world above split in two.

【Sky Slash】

It was the counterattack from Invidius, who had been buried deep underground by the railgun, missiles, and charged particle cannon barrage.

A slash of space-time severance that would have severely damaged even Fafnir if hit directly carved a long, deep scar across the void.

“Property analysis. Time interference, spatial severance confirmed. Threat level recalibrated.”

Having narrowly avoided the Sky Slash with an ultra-short-range spatial jump, Fafnir immediately mobilized all detection sensors to analyze the qualities contained in that slash.

Upon analyzing and determining it was a space-time severance slash, Fafnir raised Invidius’s danger level several notches higher than before.

“Countermeasure analysis… result derived. Defense – spatial distortion field beyond limit output. Evasion – ultra-short-range spatial transfer. Neutralization – space-time severance ability required. Impossible.”

Though difficult to perceive due to frequent blocking or missing, space-time severance was, if limited to the category of slashes, an ability that could rightfully be considered the pinnacle.

Even Fafnir, created to face descended gods, could avoid it before being hit, but it was an attack impossible to counter and break head-on.

‘…That one, probably can’t be used again.’

However, Haschal, sitting collapsed while enduring the impacts of earthquakes and explosions through gritted teeth, could easily discern that the slash was Invidius’s final Sky Slash, squeezed out from what little strength remained after imitating her.

Sky Slash was a technique that consumed enormous power proportional to its might. This remained largely unchanged even in a state of awakened stellar divinity.

Throughout their fierce battle, Invidius had repeatedly used Sky Slash to counter Sky Slash, and each time, like her, consumed vast amounts of power.

Of course, perhaps because it was originally a stronger being than her, Invidius still had enough strength to fight despite wasting so much energy, but…

‘At most, one strike is the limit. It can’t use it twice.’

After all, it was merely a remnant. It wasn’t at a level where it could unleash Sky Slash twice.

Moreover, due to Fafnir’s quick spatial jump, the last Sky Slash fired in desperation missed pathetically, shattering only the innocent sky.

The final Sky Slash was thus wasted.

‘Then…’

In other words, the advantage Invidius had gained by mimicking Haschal’s form had now completely disappeared.

That is—

【Don’t interfere! You outdated piece of scrap metal, get out of my way!!】

It meant the moment had come for the God of Envy to withdraw the power it had been using so effectively and return to its original form.

The woman’s battered body sank into the ground as if melting away, and from the black pool that formed, the massive evil god rose through the bombardment.

“Target enlargement. Avatar form. Divinity of Envy. Counter-tactics detection.”

If the opponent changes, so must one’s tactics.

As soon as Invidius transformed, Fafnir searched past battle records to derive the most efficient response.

“Target incapable of flight. Prioritize evasive maneuvers, recommend high-altitude concentrated bombardment.”

Invidius’s wings were purely for defense and attack; they weren’t structured to lift such a massive body into the air.

Therefore, Fafnir’s chosen strategy was to rise to an altitude beyond Invidius’s reach and rain down one-sided bombardment.

Of course, since Invidius had plenty of long-range attack methods, it wasn’t safe to simply rely on distance; focus on evasive maneuvers was necessary—

【Nothing has changed. I’ve already seen that. I remember everything!】

No, in fact, that wasn’t enough.

Invidius’s most fundamental power, “imperfect, negative desire,” was already staring intently at Fafnir.

– Gooooooo…!

Dense darkness of dark mana suddenly rose and swirled, and within it, the evil god’s body transformed into something completely different from before.

And then.

【KROOOOOOOOO!!】

The dark mana that had risen subsided again, creating a black lake. From its center, a massive black dragon roared, half-submerged in the water.

Perhaps because the copied target was a machine rather than a living being, it couldn’t be perfectly mimicked—the body was grotesquely mixed with all sorts of mechanical devices and flesh.

However, the two wings spread wide behind its back were perfect without the slightest distortion.

– Huuuuung!

With just one flap, they were enough to lift the black dragon’s massive body, missing two legs, high into the sky.

“Target transformation. Dragon form. Rapid approach. Tactical modification – dragon combat initiated.”

In the end, Fafnir had to change tactics once again. Instead of long-range concentrated bombardment—the privilege of the winged—to a strategy similar to facing a dragon.

【KYAOOOOOO!!】

“KRHAAAAAAAH!!”

With mechanical roars echoing like an echo, the two massive dragons collided head-on in midair.

Broken metal fragments rained down like hail.

—-

The sudden close-quarters battle between the mechanical dragon and the half-mechanical dragon began.

Spewing metal fragments and oil instead of flesh and blood, the two metal dragons rampaged like rabid dogs.

They slashed with claws, rammed with heads, bit with teeth, struck with tails, and even punched while grappling and tumbling over each other.

Despite having mechanical bodies, their fighting style was surprisingly close to that of living creatures.

Whenever they gained some distance, they invariably fired missiles and shells, making it look somewhat like a battle between mechanical weapons; otherwise, one might have mistaken it for a fight between actual dragons.

In such close combat, the more ferocious and robust one typically gains the advantage. In this fight—

【You’ve rusted and become dull!】

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Fafnir, originally created in a dragon-like form, but rather Invidius that had somewhat of an advantage.

【With the commander gone, only a useless puppet remains!】

Because the integrated control network system—Regin—was silent, Fafnir had to rely on its own auxiliary AI to fight, unlike before.

Even the finest sword becomes useless in a child’s hands.

Fafnir’s internal AI was merely an emergency auxiliary processor, far inferior in performance compared to Regin.

It could handle long-range combat where precise shooting and evasive maneuvers were prioritized without major issues, but…

“Warning, warning. Left upper defense—correction, left lower, correction, upper. Error. Counter? Defense? Ev—hit. Main wing armor damaged. Counterattack—failed, cancel.”

【Too slow!】

In close combat where moment-to-moment judgment and improvisation were crucial, its decisions were consistently one beat behind, allowing it to be overwhelmingly dominated by the opponent.

“Warning. Unable to match. Tactical modification required.”

At this rate, defeat was inevitable. Fafnir’s AI desperately sought a new strategy.

Then suddenly, it lowered its artificial eyes to observe a woman on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Combat random number generator found.”

A biological weapon that, at least in close combat, clearly possessed skills hundreds of times superior to Fafnir’s internal AI.

An unauthorized external equipment that couldn’t be more useful for breaking through the current situation.

“Forced acquisition.”

The area near Fafnir’s lower jaw opened wide, and a dazzling beam of light burst forth, striking the ground.

“…Huh?”

Haschal, who had been struggling to recover from her injuries while catching her breath, was suddenly enveloped in the beam of light. As she reacted in confusion, reflexively trying to swing her sword—

– Hwaaaak!

With a blinding flash, her body transcended space and landed somewhere else.

“Temporary transfer of vessel control rights. Brainwave connection initiated.”

In Fafnir’s cockpit, designed for dwarven physiques and thus cramped for her in many ways—

“…What is this?”

Haschal, suddenly abducted, muttered with a bewildered expression.