The Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

Xiu Er followed closely behind the rapidly fleeing Yoshino. No matter what method she tried, she couldn't shake his pursuit. Seeing this, the fear in Yoshino's eyes deepened.

'Sorry, but I don't have the patience to wait for the plot.'

In the story, Yoshino did use it, but to reach that point in the plot, Xiu Er would have to wait quite a while.

"—[Codex Opening]—[Pseudo-Codex]—[Gokurokugai]—"

As the Golden Energy faded, a uniquely styled greatsword appeared in Xiu Er's hand.

Perfect timing to test the attack power of this Pseudo-Codex.

That was Xiu Er's plan at this moment.

When Xiu Er manifested his armament, Yoshino's emotions peaked.

She didn't know what that weapon could do. She only knew that the specter behind her was about to catch up and attack her.

"No... don't come near me!!!"

With Yoshino's terrified shriek, Xiu Er's vision was engulfed by ice.

In the dim light of the rainy day, a strangely shaped ice sphere materialized in the air.

"Uu..."

Poor thing, tears had already formed on Yoshino's face, showing just how much terror Xiu Er had inflicted on her.

At that moment, the AST personnel also arrived at the scene.

"What's that?"

"No idea. Might be the one chasing the Hermit according to the intel."

"Thanks to it, our equipment detected the Hermit hiding in the city."

"Forget the rest. All units, prepare for combat!"

Spotting the Hermit starting to flee again, the squad leader began issuing orders, leading the group in a swift pursuit.

Meanwhile, inside the ice sphere—

"Even with this much fear, she can still hold back from using her Angel to hurt others?"

"What a kind child."

At this moment, Xiu Er looked at the ice outside his shield.

Ever since the cold had frozen him into an ice ball around his shield, it had fallen to the ground due to gravity.

His fingers tapped rhythmically on his cheek, producing a "tap-tap" sound.

In the original show, it was only after Tohka took Yoshino's rabbit plushie that she broke down emotionally and summoned her Angel.

Knowing this child's nature, even if someone threw an attack at her, she wouldn't fight back—she'd only think of running away.

But he hadn't expected that even under this much pressure from him, she would only use cold to freeze him. And Xiu Er could confirm that the ice in front of him wouldn't be lethal if used on others—at worst, they'd catch a chill from the cold.

An attack of this level couldn't affect Xiu Er at all.

In fact, it even let Xiu Er analyze the ice before him, record Yoshino's spiritual power, and gain the ability to release cold.

He had already put away Gokurokugai. Since Yoshino had already escaped, and his pursuit of her was only a spur-of-the-moment decision from an accidental encounter, now that he had gained something, Xiu Er temporarily gave up chasing her.

"—[Codex Opening]—..."

Using his newly acquired ability, Xiu Er dispelled the ice outside his shield.

Unscathed, he brushed the dust off his clothes, turned around, and headed in the direction he had previously determined.

Chapter 6: Kaguro Nana

As for what happened after Yoshino and those AST members left, Xiu Er didn't care. Of course, if he wanted to know, he could find out anytime.

For Xiu Er now, every place in this country observable by machine equipment was within his sight.

The good news was that Yoshino successfully escaped the AST's pursuit. After that incident, those people hadn't even put as much pressure on her as Xiu Er alone had.

He stopped dwelling on that little episode.

Xiu Er recorded the experience of this episode into his database. For now, the highest priority was still Nana's Angel.

At this moment, he stopped a mature woman with a voluptuous figure and smooth green hair.

Seeing Xiu Er suddenly blocking her path, the woman looked bewildered.

Due to the height difference and the hood he wore, she couldn't see Xiu Er's face at all. Only his small frame and cascading hair made her think that the one stopping her was an unfamiliar little girl.

"Little sister, is there something you need from big sister?"

The Mature Woman bent down, asking gently, while trying to get a look at the child's face.

However, Xiu Er didn't answer her. He stood there quietly, like a statue.

If she hadn't seen him walk over and stop her herself, the Mature Woman would have thought this "child" was a doll.

A strange feeling crept into the Mature Woman's heart, her pretty brows furrowing. Instinct told her she needed to get away from this child quickly.

Just as the Mature Woman was about to step around him, Xiu Er moved.

She saw a ring appear above the child's head, like the halo of an angel.

"[Query] You're Nana, aren't you."

Xiu Er looked up, and only then did the Mature Woman get a clear view of her face.

Although the original work gave Nana's full name as "Kaguro Nana," at this point in time, Nana herself didn't know her surname was "Kaguro."

Those inorganic eyes stared straight into hers...

"Hey, did you hear? That new urban legend."

"Oh, you mean that one? The terrifying robot wandering the dark alleys?"

"Yeah, yeah. I heard the victim almost died of fright on the spot."

"Come on, where'd you hear that rumor?"

"I'm serious, man."

During break, students naturally formed little groups, chatting about whatever interested them in the classroom.

Itsuka Shido sat in his seat, propping his chin up boredly, staring out the window in a daze. His friend—and troublemaker—was beside him, enthusiastically introducing his latest 2D waifu.

After the previous incident, Shido had begun to doubt the world he lived in.

Too much knowledge had hit him all at once, nearly frying his brain's CPU.

Luckily, Shido had decent adaptability. He hadn't fully grasped everything, but he had a half-baked understanding.

Just as he was letting his mind wander, staring out the window, the Spatial Tremor alarm went off.

In that instant, Shido snapped back to reality and bolted out of the classroom, becoming the first student out the door. Even his friend couldn't believe how fast the guy could move.

He reached the rooftop. By now, everyone else should have evacuated to shelters, so the roof was definitely empty.

The moment he stepped onto the rooftop, before Shido could even react, he was teleported aboard the Fraxinus.

--Perspective returns to Xiu Er--

"What kind of monster are you!"

Nana clutched her wounded abdomen, launching attacks nonstop at someone in the distance.

Stars made of spiritual power slammed into Xiu Er's shield—not even a ripple.

The moment Xiu Er spoke Nana's real name, the girl had activated her ability against her.

And that triggered the AST to detect the spiritual power, setting off the Spatial Tremor alarm, evacuating civilians while dispatching combat units to the target location.

In Nana's understanding, as long as her ability's light touched someone, she could transform them into whatever she wanted and claim victory.

Unfortunately, Xiu Er wasn't about to let that happen.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Traffic Control]-"

Xiu Er activated another defensive armament of the Mecha-Kai species, one capable of deflecting incoming attacks.

Thus, Nana's scheme failed.

And while Nana was stunned, Xiu Er manifested her armed form—Gokurokugai.

If Nana hadn't reacted in time, that single slash would have left more than just a wound on her abdomen.

Now, Nana had been fleeing ever since she got hurt.

Are you kidding me? No matter what she threw at it, she couldn't deal any damage. How was that monster's shield so strong? It blocked everything.

At this moment, Nana's heart was filled with despair. She had to admit—she was already scared.

Her attacks slammed into the ground around Xiu Er, kicking up a cloud of dust that completely obscured what was happening inside.

Before Nana could make her next move, several sword auras shot out from the mist, hurtling toward her.

Watching the incoming sword auras, Nana—already drained of most of her spiritual power and stamina by Xiu Er—struggled with all her might to dodge.

But just as the sword auras reached her face, Nana suddenly sensed danger behind her!

"Wha—?!"

She turned her head and saw that face—the one that had brought her despair. Both then and now, it wore the same calm, unruffled expression.

Nana tried to dodge, but somehow, ice had formed around her feet, locking her in place.

All she could do was watch the greatsword grow larger and larger.

BOOM!!!

Nana's body flew like a ragdoll into the nearby shopping mall, crashing through a wall before finally stopping.

Xiu Er flew over and landed on the ground in front of Nana, who was pinned under rubble.

"Cough... cough...!"

At this point, Natsumi had already had her spirit broken by Xiu Er.

Because the overall battle hadn't taken very long, Xiu Er's analysis of the Fake Demoness was still incomplete.

Now, Natsumi's disheveled appearance came into Xiu Er's view.

The original mature woman's form had vanished, replaced by a green-haired little girl crying her eyes out.

"Uu..."

The girl's sobs became the only sound in the environment.

Tap, tap, tap...

The sound of Xiu Er walking across the floor kept grating on Natsumi's nerves, until finally, he stopped in front of her.

No matter how wretched the girl looked, the machine before her wore the same cold expression.

When Xiu Er got close to Natsumi, he saw it—the girl's trembling body.

It seemed our Xiu Er had already become an inescapable Nightmare for her; his fully mechanical image would surely be prime material for her nightmares.

That was fine. Once he was sure Natsumi wouldn't act up anymore, Xiu Er decisively retracted his armaments.

Though it was indeed immoral to beat someone down like this right from the start.

But given Natsumi's personality, if efficiency was the goal, this was the only method left.

As for Natsumi, she lay trembling on the ground, having given up struggling.

When she saw Xiu Er walking toward her, her body had no strength left from the fight, and she couldn't run anymore.

'Am I... going to die?'

She had heard of those special units targeting elves—their goal was to kill them.

And the robot in front of her was probably created by those people. From that perspective, attacking her without reason made perfect sense.