Ch.317317. Highlight (2)

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Though he was her son, born from her own womb, Astrid didn’t actually place much trust in him.

Of course, considering the path that man had walked until now, some might think it strange to have such feelings, but that’s just how a parent’s heart works when looking at their own flesh and blood.

Especially when the other person is someone who has control over all facilities in the Demonic Spire, such concerns are only natural.

However, there was one thing she could be certain about.

“Is, is that really going to be okay?!”

“…”

Looking at Professor Boris, with his disheveled hair and his trademark large glasses precariously perched on his face as he spoke urgently, Astrid let out a heated sigh internally.

Her son’s skill at charming women was truly something else…!

“…Boris. You weren’t originally someone who cared this much about others—”

“Professor, he’s YOUR son, isn’t he?! Aren’t you worried?!”

“…”

No.

The actual time they’d spent face-to-face in conversation probably wouldn’t even add up to a full day.

Yet somehow, in that short time, he’d managed to transform a woman who cared about nothing except machines and dinosaurs into someone so enthusiastic her eyes were practically sparkling.

“…”

Seriously, how did he do it?

Was he spraying pheromones or something?

He already had a truckload of women hanging around him, and if it became an established fact that they’d flock to him just for breathing…!

“Just kill me instead.”

“What, what?! So, you agree with me, Doctor? If we leave him like that, he’s as good as dead, right?!”

“No, I said kill ME…”

As if experiencing a headache despite having all her organs stored in life support systems, Astrid clutched her head in her steel giant form, while Boris continued speaking, waving both hands frantically.

“Sh-shouldn’t we help him? He’s facing Professor Mobius…!”

“How do you plan to help?”

Of course, regardless of such feelings, the fact remained that they had few means to help from where they were.

Professor Astrid said with a slightly stiff voice.

“All the ‘equipment’ we can control… is under the influence of the facility control rights that he possesses.”

Of course, professors at the Demonic Spire had a certain level of combat capability guaranteed through their own modifications, even without such equipment, but still.

“…There’s no way we could intervene in a battle of that level.”

They say that fights between those who rank among the continent’s strongest are usually decided in seconds, perhaps even in fractions of a second beyond that.

But.

What was unfolding before her eyes now.

Was a battle where even missing a split second, divided and divided again, would immediately result in defeat.

The one pressing the attack was, of course, Professor Mobius. This was his home ground, and the Demonic Spire, said to be the pinnacle of human technology, was filled with things worthy of that name.

Tens, hundreds, thousands of light clusters pouring in from all directions. They were probably solar beam bombardments that Mobius had prepared in advance as weapons in nearby facilities. Light bullets breaking the sound barrier rained down densely toward Darwood.

Even a fairly strong person would be turned into a honeycomb in an instant by such attacks, but.

“-Haah.”

With a deep breath, Darwood’s ability to avoid all of them was nothing short of miraculous.

He catches the movement patterns. He maps out the range of ‘attacks’ that would cause damage if hit. He fits his body’s range of motion within those boundaries. He finds escape routes.

It’s a terrifying movement by anyone’s standards, but what comes to Astrid’s mind first as she observes it is ‘question’ rather than ‘admiration’.

‘…That’s strange.’

The image of Darwood staggering just moments ago, having exhausted all his stamina, is still vivid in her mind.

But what is this now?

As if his exhausted appearance until just now was a lie, he’s matching Mobius’s calculated attacks—which are being unleashed by the second—on ‘equal terms’.

In fact, Mobius also appears considerably perplexed. He had definitely depleted a large amount of Darwood’s stamina, even while avoiding direct combat, but now Darwood was fighting with a terrifying momentum as if none of that mattered.

‘…I feel like I’m missing something.’

Among the things that man had prepared—his various techniques, characteristics, items, and decisively, his demonic energy.

All of them should be within Mobius’s calculations. He must have prepared accordingly.

But, something.

Some one thing that escaped those predictions.

“…As terrifying as it is, it doesn’t look like it will end there.”

Alpha’s voice broke into Astrid’s thoughts from beside her.

Snapping back to attention and looking around, she could indeed see a scene that warranted such a comment.

“It seems the situation will grow larger than expected. Professor Mobius appears to have come fully prepared.”

As he was saying this.

–…

-….

-…….!!!!!!!!!

Other ‘research wings’ that made up the Demonic Spire could be seen gradually moving closer to this stage.

“-That bastard.”

Astrid gritted her teeth.

It was clear that he intended to pour every weapon in the Demonic Spire into this place, literally.

Although Darwood was clearly holding his own right now, with this development, the balance would eventually collapse—

“And, that means we have something too, don’t we? A way to help.”

At Alpha’s words, Astrid’s thought process came to an abrupt halt.

“…Alpha.”

“Yes.”

“If he’s pulling in all facilities like that, eventually one place will have a gap in the control system management, right?”

“The AI is flawless, but it’s Mobius who’s manually using it right now. Of course.”

Alpha said with a grin.

“He’s trying to expand the playing field.”

When you’ve been looking at each other’s faces for a long time, some things don’t need to be said to be understood.

Alpha and Astrid looked at each other and grinned.

Expanding the playing field, huh. If Mobius was trying to gain the upper hand that way.

“…Indeed, we do have ways to help, don’t we?”

If he does that, we can respond in kind.

“…Huh? Huh? What are you talking about?”

While the two were speaking, Boris, who hadn’t followed the conversation at all, turned his head back and forth with a dumbfounded voice.

“Boris.”

Of course, in return.

He received a question that made him extremely uneasy.

“Can you drive a hover car?”

“…What?”

“Alpha and I can’t. You can handle machines at least, right?”

“…”

Boris’s body stiffened.

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“-Site 1. Railgun, subsonic small drones, heat-seeking smart bullets, ready.”

With Mobius’s words, the voice of what sounded like the control system AI in the Demonic Spire followed.

[Administrator authority confirmed. Preparations complete.]

“Begin bombardment.”

[Commencing.]

With those words.

-!!!

-!!!!!!!!!!!

A blinding flash erupted from all directions.

It felt like weapons prepared throughout the entire Demonic Spire were all pouring toward me at once.

But, this time too.

“-Haah.”

My heart pounds. The world accelerates.

My ‘perception range’ expands to the point of splitting my head. Meanwhile, my senses become incredibly sharp.

I can count how many tiny flying insects are nearby, how many blades of grass there are, how many stones and pebbles are on the ground, even how many hairs are on my body—such a massive amount of information pours into my brain.

Among all that,

I calculate and determine what kind of attack it is just by looking at its form and generation time.

Bullets, more bullets, the path of ricocheting shots, the range of the firing pattern, and its gaps.

I ‘calculate’ everything. In a split second.

“Four seconds.”

I mutter as I step sideways with a long stride.

One. Two. Three. Four.

The shower of bullets narrowly misses me.

Pattern ends at the fourth second.

Next.

“Three seconds.”

One. Two. Three.

During that time, I keep running forward without stopping.

Heat-seeking smart bullets from above graze through the gaps in the previous firing pattern.

Pattern ends at the third second.

The next pattern is unavoidable. So I block it.

I grab Ultima and create a shield.

The range covers my entire body, in a form that wraps around the front 120 degrees.

-!

Another storm of bullets from the front is immediately blocked by the barrier.

[…What is this? Are you predicting the future or something?]

‘What do you mean? I’m just dodging and blocking.’

[Even dodging and blocking require anticipating the opponent’s attacks. How are you reacting to everything in this chaos?!]

I smile slightly at Calivan’s question while continuing to avoid the incoming attacks.

It’s a series of attacks where even the slightest mistake would cost me my life, but well.

It’s not particularly difficult.

Activation time. Time to reach me. Evasion direction and my range of motion.

‘Cooking’ these ingredients to produce the optimal result.

For ‘the current me,’ it’s not that difficult.

Thinking that, I suppress the ‘yellow’ energy pulsating in my chest.

‘…Not yet.’

I still don’t feel like I’m handling it properly.

In the ‘fusion’ that the Elder and I practiced, this level of ability is just the beginning.

If I could truly utilize the power of the Yellow Demon, this much would be mere child’s play.

“…You’re really annoying, you know that?”

As I’m thinking this, I hear Mobius saying those words in front of me.

He looks genuinely fed up. His face says, “How are you not dead after all this?”

“-But, you can’t hold out like that forever. I’ll just wait here and watch you die on your own—”

“You won’t have to wait that long.”

Saying that, I take another deep breath.

“Ten minutes.”

“What?”

“Until you die.”

“…”

“You can wait that long, can’t you?”

Mobius’s face twisted horribly.

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