169: Heartless Enterprises, Part Five

Heartless Enterprises, Part Five

{Neve}

[Mm? Is the rain finally starting to die down? I thought it would just be a constant storm. Hm.] 

Having secured the first of the three items Andromeda needed, Neve and Erin were now making their way to the marker on the eastern side of the map. 

Donations kept pouring in, as Neve noticed when she gave a casual look at her notifications. It was a subtle reminder that the people outside of this world were wishing for her success, trying to do what little they could to ensure that would happen. 

And yet, that knowledge failed to tug at Neve's heartstrings even a little. 

What did poke at the walls of her heart was Erin's presence. After what Tamira said, Neve became conscious of her in ways she hadn't been up until now. The distance between their bodies, the way Erin's eyes consistently fell on her with the same warmth they'd held when the two first met, the way in which the lamia seemed to be taking any opportunity she could to get closer. 

That did make Neve feel things. Things she wasn't sure she could allow herself to feel. 

She almost missed it. The single-minded focus she'd carried all the way up until she killed Thomas. Almost. The satisfaction of having him dead was certainly worth going through these confusing motions. 

Pushing all of this out of her mind, Neve and Erin walked onto a park with a statue at the center, standing proudly amidst a field of white grass and stone paths. A statue of the Galactech building Andromeda was likely watching them from right now. 

The texture on some of the grass made Neve squint, and the healer crouched to inspect it. 

[... It's fake?] Neve realized after touching it. [Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen any grass or trees in this world so far, at all. Huh.] 

Something landed up ahead, falling out of the sky. 

The ground shook as Neve quickly stood back up. Erin was between her and whatever had just arrived before the healer was back on her feet. 

Right in front of the statue was a massive, bulky machine. Equipped with a minigun in one arm that Neve guessed fired lasers instead of bullets and a sword as big as Neve herself was in the other, two red eyes lit up as the robot spotted the pair ahead of it. 

Level 70

MP: 350/350

[A miniboss,] Neve realized. [Been a while since we last fought one of these.] 

"Ah, crap," Andromeda said in Neve's earpiece. "A warbot showed up." 

"Uh," Neve watched as the machine took a couple of steps forward. "Can't we talk to this thing? Or, are you the only sentient machine around here?" 

"I am," Andromeda confirmed. "It wasn't always like that. Before the Unity Trials began in this world, these same machines helped us repel some of the monstrous forces that invaded. But, along the way, they began to go mad in... In ways I did not know machines like myself could. But, anyway, it doesn't matter. Listen," she urged. "These creatures have a weak spot. See that helmet it's wearing? If we break that thing open, we can take it out quickly." 

"I understand." Neve turned toward her summon. "We need to break through its head." 

"Alright." 

As per usual now, Neve cast {Field of Brilliance} under herself first, to enhance her already-buffed spells. 

MP: 1225/1300

The fight began with the machine aiming its minigun at them and firing. Given that this was, naturally, an extremely difficult type of attack to avoid, Neve decided it would be best to do the following: 

"Stay where you are!" Neve ordered. 

"What?" Erin had been about to try to dodge but even with her incredibly high speed, Neve didn't want to gamble on her being able to dodge lasers, especially from a gun like that. So, instead, she used {Flash Shielding} repeatedly. 

MP: 1200/1300

MP: 1175/1300

MP: 1150/1300

Lasers crashed into a blue barrier over and over again until the warbot's minigun was red hot. Once it was, Neve gave Erin the go-ahead. 

"Now!" 

Activating {The Lamia's Hunt}, Erin closed the distance before the machine could raise up its own sword. 

Unfortunately, however, it had a barrier of its own. 

Erin's claws bounced off a magical, white wall. 

[Hm?] 

Level 70

MP: 300/350

[A spell. How much can it take, though? I'll assume it's penetrable for now, and...]

Casting {Iceball} at the machine, Neve's own spells were repelled the same way Erin's claws were. 

However, she kept going, lowering her own mana in hopes of breaking through it eventually. 

MP: 1140/1300

MP: 1130/1300

MP: 1120/1300

As Neve's spells peppered the barrier, the warbot slashed at Erin with its sword but moved so slowly that she had no trouble avoiding the swing. Eventually, Neve noticed that its barrier began to crack. 

[So, it is penetrable. But...] She looked at her mana, finding it at 1080/1300. [I don't think it's worth the mana. It's just cracked. It's not even broken yet, after spending over 50 mana for it. Maybe we should just wait it out?] 

While Neve considered that, the warbot gave her something else to think about. 

It swapped out its minigun for something that looked like a flamethrower. Instead of pouring flames over the lamia in front of it, though, the machine blew wind at her. Erin was pushed away and the warbot lowered itself. 

From its back, rockets sprung out, firing at Erin. 

Again, Neve protected her with {Flash Shielding}, reducing her mana to 1055. 

Erin got back up and closed the distance again. She went to slash at it with her claws. The barrier wasn't there anymore. 

Her claws raked over its glass helm, but couldn't break through. 

Erin's minute ran out and Neve resummoned her, just as Andromeda fired off a shot at the warbot's head. 

MP: 755/1300

[Okay, I'm understanding this a little better. The warbot's got two ranged options, its minigun and those rockets, and two melee options, the sword, and that air vent. Besides that, it can use a barrier to defend itself, but that barrier can be broken and runs out after a time. Assuming that Andromeda's timing wasn't a coincidence either, Andromeda knows this and is going to wait for its barrier to run out before firing. Alright, simple enough.] 

"This might be a long battle. Make sure to keep yourself safe," Erin told Neve. 

"I think it's the opposite," Neve replied. "If we play our cards right, this should be pretty short." 

The warbot attacked again, raising its minigun and aiming it at them. 

Neve used {Flash Shielding}, bringing her MP to 730. Once the machine's gun overheated again, Erin ran forward. 

Once more, the machine created a barrier. 

Level 700

MP: 250/350

[We could wait it out again, but I don't know how many hits it'll take Andromeda to actually bring this thing down. It might be better to focus on breaking it. Though, again, if it has a lot of HP, then breaking it is a waste of mana too. Annoying.] 

Ultimately, she decided being patient would be the best course of action. 

Erin used her techniques and tried to land damage only to have all of her tricks and maneuvers countered by that magical white wall. 

Neve just watched, mostly. She shielded Erin a couple of times, bringing her MP to 680, but outside of that, she stood and watched. 

Her eyes lowered to Erin, watching the woman as she slashed and clawed at the enemy's barrier while dodging its sword swings, trying to do her best for Neve's sake. 

It was enough to make Neve think about the rest of the journey they'd shared so far. 

[... She's done so much for me, hasn't she? And what have I done for her?] 

Eventually, the barrier went down once more. 

The machine used its air vent to push Erin away once more. Andromeda fired another laser shot, decorating the enemy's helmet with another burning hole. 

"One more should do it," Andromeda informed Neve. 

"Okay. Erin," the healer said to her summon as she moved back. "We just need to do this one more time." 

"Is that so? Alright." 

Again, Neve was forced to resummon her. 

MP: 380/1300

Again, she shielded Erin. 

Again, Erin ran forward once the rain of lasers let up. 

However, this time, the warbot had something different planned. 

It did not allow Erin to get close enough to need to activate its barrier. Instead, it raised one massive, bulky foot, and brought it down, splitting the floor in half. 

Erin nearly fell, having lost her balance. The warbot jumped toward her, its sword outstretched, looking to end her. 

Neve wasn't about to allow that, though. 

Instead of shielding Erin, she spent another 300 mana to summon Erin behind the metal beast. 

The warbot landed but its sword did not find an enemy. 

It stared down at the spot where Erin had been, confused, until two things happened simultaneously. 

Andromeda shot the machine's head again, and Erin used {Dragon's Divine Swipe} on its head. 

The result was an explosion that saw the glass helm on the robot break. Immediately, Erin took advantage by bringing her claws down on its exposed head, killing the miniboss quickly. 

An EXP message came up and the fight was done, just like that. 

Erin let out a deep breath. 

"Well," Erin said, slithering toward Neve. "That was a tiny bit stressful, wasn't it?" 

Neve couldn't respond, though. 

As all of her attention was being taken by the lamia's deep, crimson irises, laid on her with great, royal kindness. 

Neve hung her head low, looking away from them. 

[... I guess even though Thomas is dead, my mind's still being fucked with. Shit.] 

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