What She Lost, What I Gained: The Countermeasure
I haven't felt this way in a long time.
It's not about risking your life to defeat the opponent, nor is it about having no future if you don't win, nor is it about any lofty morality or mission.
I just want to beat her up, take every single part of her apart, rip out every single wire, gouge out her eyes and throw them into the pungent engine oil, pull out her power source, shove it into her mouth and detonate it, and delete every single kilobyte of data from her crystal until there's not a trace left.
So--
"Fireworks Fall!!!"
The Flame Wings instantly contracted into a bundle, transforming into immense thrust that propelled me vertically downwards! Solid crystals formed an armor layer on my skin, with dazzling sparks constantly emerging from the gaps in the armor. I had now transformed into a burning meteor, plummeting towards the ground at an imperceptible speed!
What? You're asking me why I have to make time to shout out skill names? It's a man's romance, you idiot!
"Oh..."
Far away on the ground, Julia let out a soft sigh.
"Ooh ooh ooh ooh..."
She crushed the specially made telescope she had been wearing on her face, which could detect objects moving at extremely high speeds. Fragments of the outer shell fell to the ground with a crash, but she pressed the delicate components inside directly into her eyes with her hands. The sharp edges of the components tore through the surface of her eyeballs and entered them.
"Data Retrieval - Simplified Miniature Camera Fusion Technology 'Eagle Eye' - Completed -"
With a snap, the whites of her mechanical eyes shattered completely, revealing numerous tiny cameras, no bigger than mung beans, surrounding the main camera (eyeball), like the compound eyes of some bizarre, mechanized insect.
A rumbling sound came from underground, and six enormous cylinders, seemingly pieced together from countless scraps of metal, tore through the smooth asphalt road and emerged, forming a hexagonal shape that surrounded Julia. Before Julia could give any orders, the six cylinders emitted a piercing mechanical voice. "High-energy source detected approaching rapidly, estimated contact in 5 seconds. Determined to deploy defenses."
Large chunks of parts peeled off the cylinder, instantly forming countless small, luminous hexagons. These hexagons then spontaneously emitted light and connected, forming a gigantic shield.
"--What the hell?! Stop it! Don't be so insensitive!!!"
Julia gave a sharp shout, and the shield's deployment immediately stopped.
"Ugh, seriously! Was this really a program I designed? Why did it have to deploy its defense at such a perfect moment? At times like this, it should have been—"
Mobilize the hardware! Centralize energy supply! Begin calculations immediately! Hurry, hurry, hurry!
"--Concentrate! Compress! Explode! This is the kind of thing that's really exciting—a head-on clash! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"
Julia flew into the sky, laughing wildly. The propulsion wings on her back had been nearly doubled in size by a machine that had somehow been incorporated into them. But what she was spraying was no longer the smoke-like or light-like substance she had previously produced; instead, it was a powerful airflow that was compressed to its limit and then ejected in reverse! The shape of the propulsion wings had completely changed. At the base, middle, and tip of the left and right wings were three turbine-like machines that grew in size in succession. The fan blades, assembled with a complex structure, concentrated all the airflow in the area!
All the compressed airflow, the instant it passed through the turbine, transformed into a terrifying power source no less potent than rocket propellant! Julia left behind distorted traces in the sky as if space itself had been shattered—the result of countless nightlights refracting light as they traveled through vacuum zones! Julia's maniacal laughter and the deafening roar of the wind were mixed with a cacophony of chirping sounds, all from the countless mechanical components constantly assembling under the static pull of Julia body. She continued constructing her armor while maintaining full-speed flight!
Even as the hurricane disrupted the air throughout the sky, Julia's maniacal laughter remained clearly audible, because the sound-emitting device in her mouth emitted not vibrations, but signals that could directly reach the human brain! The red shadow overhead drew ever closer, and the dazzling trail of flames that streaked across the sky was visually striking, no less so than her hurricane trajectory!
"Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!!! War Weapon No. 12, the assault melee weapon 'Hurricane Cavalry' is complete!!!!"
Julia's upper body armor structure under the artificial skin was fully opened, revealing all sorts of mechanical internal organs and even the integrated blocks inside. Pipes extending from inside were closely connected to the components of the external armor—the 'Hurricane Cavalry' armor was not an exoskeleton worn on the body, but countless turbine-like machines that complemented and fused with Julia's mechanical body!
The remaining parts in her hands formed a giant trident—the tip of the trident crackled with electricity, and all the air currents gathered around Julia flowed toward its tip, from which an invisible spearhead formed by a hurricane compressed to its limit emerged, pointing directly at the pink-haired woman who was already within arm's reach!
In their hand appeared a massive Greatsword, the size of their body, composed of numerous red crystals, with pulsating veins coiled around it, its grotesque and eerie appearance beyond description!
A blood-red woman with long, peach-pink hair.
A mechanical girl with long, bright blue hair.
Blood-stained Crystal Blade
Hurricane Gun
Neither of them had any intention of defending themselves.
The two collided head-on at a height of 300 meters.
The wind in the world seemed to stand still at that moment.
Blood-red eyes and twisted mechanical eyes stared at each other at almost touching distance.
Then--
"Listen... listen to me..."
Haoyue grabbed the Sick Spider's shoulder; she needed to convey something to the Sick Spider, but—
"What's wrong with you?! I've been looking for you guys for ages, what's going on? And you too, what happened? I've been looking for you guys for ages, what's going on... Waaah!"
The Sick Spider, who had just been angrily questioning her, suddenly stopped talking, covered her head in disgust, and large beads of sweat dripped from her forehead. What was wrong with her?
"What are you doing! You're talking weirdly!"
"Who knows! But... I have no problem recalling things, but as soon as I try to think, I inexplicably go in circles. When I'm recalling things, everything is fine, but I can't think about anything, otherwise I go in circles... Ughhhhh, it's starting again! Ever since... ever since just now..."
Haoyue stared in astonishment at the ailing, Sick Spider. Could this be...?
Could it be... something else?
I feel like her situation is similar to someone else's. Who is it? Xiao Ye? Or some delinquent girl? It seems like she's similar to someone, but who is it?
"... ah!"
That person, isn't it myself!? Her situation is so similar to mine...
It looks... like?
But what about myself...?
"What the hell... wait? What are those things on you?!"
The Sick Spider suddenly looked at Haoyue's body and shouted. Haoyue looked down and found that every part of her body that her hands could reach was covered with words! The handwriting was clearly her own, and the content was very chaotic, as if she had written whatever came to mind when she was carving the words.
"'The black-haired woman and the purple-blue-haired woman, kill them' and... 'The Memory Loop'? 'Don't recall'..."
Haoyue immediately understood... This was a message carved by her when she could still recall the past, a message for her when she could no longer recall the past!
Although these messages were disorganized, they were very detailed, recording all the aspects that came to mind at the time.
Think about it carefully.
Don't dwell on the past, don't dwell on the past. Preserve the ideas that come to you by carving them in Blood Script, and just keep thinking about the future!
(The only good thing now is that I can't dwell on the past, but I can think about the future...)
And what about the Sick Spider?
Based on current observations, she is exactly the opposite of herself.
The Sick Spider could clearly recall every detail of the past, but was unable to think about what would happen next; her thought process was in a loop.
The two superpowers are paired, one sealing the past and the other sealing the future, and they will likely be used by two different people.
(However, only she and I were affected by the superpower; no one else was...)
The maximum number of targets this ability can capture is obviously limited; otherwise, if everyone were given a debuff from the start, they would have been wiped out, instead of waiting until only two people were left alone before using it.
It's possible... each of them can only interfere with one person at a time.
"..."
... Maybe there's a way?
At that moment, looking at the Sick Spider, Haoyue thought of a solution.
(The other side definitely has ways to monitor us, so--)
With a flick of her sword, Haoyue unleashed a burst of silvery light from the runes of the Moon Mist Silver Veil, which dispersed into a misty haze that enveloped them.
"I'm asking you Sick Spider, have you ever demonstrated any special abilities before? In particular, have you ever fought against an enemy?"
"What exactly are you referring to...?"
"Or rather, do you think the other side knows you have combat capabilities?"
"I think... no... I'm terrified of my identity being exposed, okay? I'd be dead if that happened! It would be awful if my identity were revealed, I'd definitely die! My identity can't be exposed... wait?"
Just as the Sick Spider fell into Thought Loop, Haoyue slapped her awake.
"In short, they don't know you're also part of our fighting force, right? That's enough!"
Taking advantage of the brief few seconds that the Moon Mist Silver Veil, Haoyue quickly dipped her little finger in blood and began writing on the hem of her cheongsam. After a flurry of elegant strokes, she immediately cut off the hem of the cheongsam with her sword and forcefully stuffed the Blood Script cloth into the arms of the Sick Spider.
"This is--!?"
"Shh!" Haoyue whispered, "The plan here is very simple, please be sure to carry it out."
Although Haoyue originally wanted to convey the message directly in words, the Sick Spider might easily forget its original plan due to its Thought Loop, so something was needed to remind it.
"Alright, let's begin... From now on, stay away from me, the farther the better."
"But..." "Quick!"