Chapter 1243: Lia got Kidnapped!
The trio once fought against each other, even far going to kill each other suddenly stood together as they looked at the newcomer.
A metallic Armoured Figure arrived out of nowhere from the portal and stood before them.
Just then, the metallic armoured being suddenly raised something behind its back... a long spear etched with strange runes that pulsed faintly.
As it clenched its fist, the spear trembled violently, the runes glowing brighter—sucking something invisible straight from the air itself.
The energy seemed to hollow around it. Then the spear ignited with a fierce orange light, crackling with energy, and with a sharp motion, the figure hurled it straight toward them.
Victor’s eyes narrowed. He snapped his fingers, and the spear froze mid-flight, instantly encased in jagged ice.
Morgana stepped forward, her metallic blade gleaming. She swung it in a sharp arc, slicing through both ice and spear at once.
The metallic armoured figure flinched. Then, without hesitation, it turned and.... bolted?
"The fuck?" Mary muttered, eyes widening. In an instant, she blurred, disappearing from where she stood and reappearing directly in front of the figure. Her eyes glowed as she blocked its path. "Who are you?"
The figure didn’t answer. Instead, it simply raised its arm. With a mechanical twitch—
BANG!
BANG!
Two shots burst from its palm like cannon fire. Bullets tore through Mary’s forehead in clean holes. Her body jerked as if lifeless. The figure tilted its head, almost as if concluding she was dead, and moved past her.
But in the next instant—
Crccnnnnkkk
A metallic crunch.
Mary’s hand shot up, seizing its neck. Her grin spread ear to ear, wicked and furious, as she clenched. The armoured plating screamed under her grip, nearly shattering as cracks webbed across it. Then she spun and hurled the figure straight toward Victor.
Victor extended a hand, ready to catch it, to investigate the strange machine... but the very moment his fingers brushed its armoured surface—
BOOOOMMM!!
The figure detonated violently. The explosion flung Victor through the air like a rag doll. He crashed, rolling across the blood-soaked rubble.
"The fuck—you killed him!!" Mary shouted with annoyance yet...
[+10 AP]
Liking... she so messed up!
Victor coughed, dragging himself up, shaking his scorched hand. He had almost lost his arm... if not for reacting at the very last second.
"I didn’t do anything... it just blasted by itself... it’s se—" His words trailed off.
His eyes widened slightly. The sensation... it was exactly like the times he had touched those circuits, the etched materials that reacted violently to his energy in his body.
Morgana’s blades lowered slowly. Her eyes scanned the ruined ground where the blast had taken place. Blood and shredded flesh mixed with twisted metal across the ground. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she knelt, lifting a shard of torn armour. Embedded inside was a chunk of flesh.
"It looks like..." her voice darkened, "...someone was inside them."
Victor’s frown deepened.
And then—
Ssshhh~
A golden portal shimmered before them again.
But not one this time.
Countless portals blossomed in the air, opening in rapid succession, swirling like golden lights across reality. From each, armoured figures stepped out.
Victor, Mary, and Morgana all froze, then shifted their stances together, instinctively readying for the storm.
Each metallic soldier raised a massive golden gun, the barrels humming with power. Their glow intensified—furious, blinding.
SSSSNN!—BOOM!!
SSSSNN!—BOOM!!
Explosive shots thundered out in unison.
Mary didn’t flinch. Instead, she grabbed Victor by the collar and yanked him into the line of fire. "Bitch, the hell!!" Victor shouted, furious, almost the bullets almost hit him.
Snarling, he vanished in a blur, reappearing directly behind Mary. "Your turn," he muttered coldly, shoving her forward as his shield.
Mary’s body rattled with holes as the barrage struck, her blood spraying into the air. She cursed, her furious glare locking on Victor.
"Fucker!"
Victor only grinned at her rage. Then, with a vicious motion, he hurled her into the swarm of armoured figures. Their weapons immediately locked onto her falling body and fired!
While they focused on Mary, Victor moved in like a ghost, his figure flickering through the chaos. His fingers brushed against one of the metallic bodies. The moment he touched it—
BOOOMMM!!
The figure exploded violently.
BOOOMMM!!
Then another.
BOOOMMM!!
And another.
Each one he touched blasted instantly.
And in the middle of it—
"Tada~"
Mary landed perfectly atop the wreckage, her body flipping in a flawless somersault before she crouched on the broken heap of metal and flesh. Blood streaked down her face, but her grin never faltered. She tilted her head toward Victor, smirking.
"How did you do that?" she asked with curious how his touch blasted the weird figures, not hers?
Victor smirked.
[+10 AP]
"Let me go!"
They flinched, turning sharply.
One metallic figure had managed to sneak past them and was now restraining Morgana in a strange, pulsing net. The glowing strands wrapped around her body, binding her limbs tight. She thrashed violently, struggling like a fish caught in a fisherman’s net, but the more she moved, the more the threads seemed to constrict, tightening mercilessly around her.
Thuck!
An ice spear streaked through the air, piercing the metallic figure’s forehead with brutal precision. The spear impaled it to the ground, the metal shrieking as its body crumpled beneath the impact.
The pulsing net flickered before finally dissolving into nothing. Morgana collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. She exhaled heavily, a sigh escaping her lips.
Just then, Victor’s hand extended toward her, offering help. But Morgana snorted... She shoved his hand aside and forced herself to stand, swaying slightly but refusing to lean on him.
Mary frowned, her eyes narrowing as she studied the broken figure pinned to the ground. "This one looks different... I’ve never seen that kind before." Her gaze sharpened, "Do you think Hunter had a hand in this? Doing behind our backs?"
Victor’s frown deepened. He shook his head slowly, "Not sure, but if Hunter really did this... then something he’s planning or... Something else is going on here."
Morgana remained silent, her face unreadable. She stared blankly at the wreckage, but her eyes kept flicking between Victor and the shattered remains of the armoured figure.
Just then, Mary froze. Her lips parted slightly, eyes widening in shock. "...Lia?"
Without a word more, she vanished in a blur of light.
Victor’s brow furrowed instantly. "Tch..." He disappeared as well, chasing after her. Morgana followed them.
Inside the broken palace, the walls were charred and collapsed, the throne long destroyed by their earlier clash.
But despite the ruin, one chamber remained strangely intact... a room drenched in pink, decorated with soft, girlish ornaments, untouched by the devastation.
Ssshhh~
A golden portal rippled into existence within the chamber. From it, a metallic figure emerged, but unlike the others, this one bore a long, segmented metallic tail that dragged behind it, glowing faintly with runes.
Its movements were slow, deliberate as it stepped closer to the ornate bed in the centre of the room.
There, a golden-haired girl lay sleeping peacefully, her body shielded by a strange, blood-red net. The threads pulsed like living veins, wrapping around her like a cocoon, keeping her safe from all harm.
The armoured figure reached out, its clawed hand trembling slightly as it tried to touch her. But the moment its fingers brushed the net—
Shhhkkk!
The blood barrier lashed out like a living thing, whipping and slicing at its hand. The metallic being recoiled, then it reached behind its back, drawing a spear etched with burning runes.
Sssshh!
The runes glowed, brighter and brighter, until the weapon burned with searing orange light. Slowly, the figure raised it high above its head and prepared to stab downward—
Thuck!!
Meanwhile...
Mary, Victor, and Morgana appeared at the shattered gates of the palace.
"HELP ME!!"
"NO! LET ME GO!"
"GRACE, HELP US!!"
The city was drowning in madness.
"The heck is going on here?" Victor muttered, eyes narrowing as another metallic figure stepped from the swirling golden portal.
Its arm raised, hurling an orange spear at a running person... it glowed before turning into a net that spread and captured the figure.
"N-No! Let me go!!"
Screams echoed as people were pulled helplessly into its grasp.
"LIA!!" Mary’s voice tore through the chaos like thunder. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw her daughter... still lying peacefully within the protective blood barrier.
Yet an orange net wrapped around the crimson cocoon, tightening, and with a violent tug, the metallic figure’s tail lashed around it, dragging Lia away.
Mary’s entire body shook with fury. She stormed forward, crimson sword blazing into her hand, her voice cracked the air as she roared, "DARE YOU HURT MY CHILD!!" The ground trembled beneath her, buildings cracked, and the city itself seemed to shiver under the weight of her killing intent.
The armoured figure flinched as Mary blurred forward. It lowered its body like a beast preparing to pounce, its tail lashing as it crouched. Just as Mary’s sword came down in a blazing arc that split the earth beneath her feet, the figure’s legs glowed bright with golden runes. With a sudden burst, it leapt like a wild cat, bounding high to the rooftops with impossible speed, the captured Lia still tangled in its tail.
"Oi! That’s my girl!!" Victor snarled. In an instant, he vanished from sight and reappeared directly in the figure’s path, his foot swinging upward in a brutal kick aimed at its chest.
The metallic figure flinched in surprise, tail tightening around Lia’s cocoon, before twisting sharply. It leapt, golden light flaring along its legs as it vaulted to the rooftops, jumping from one to another very fast!
"Get back here!!" Mary’s roar split the night. She appeared above, her crimson sword cleaving downward. The impact shattered tiles, dust exploding outward. The figure barely dodged, tail lashing as it bounded to the next roof.
Victor, with a murderous expression already, like a judgment... the figure’s heart skipped a beat, as if it saw its death.... But then,
The figure shimmered.
Its entire body lit with golden light and—
It vanished.
BOOOMM!!
The place where the figure stood there.... was flattened by the Victor.
Victor’s eyes widened in bloodshot eyes, "LIAAAA!!!"
Not just that, but every metallic figure that appeared from the golden portal now disappeared with shimmering golden light.
Mary slammed her fist into the rubble, "LIA!!!"