The familiar Fire Phoenix dispelled the darkness surrounding Machine City, and the gloom in everyone's hearts.
"That's Rin! She's back!"
Takeda Masumi gazed at the Fire Phoenix in the distance, her voice trembling with excitement. "We're saved."
"Yeah!"
Asaka Akie let out a deep sigh of relief.
Though she and Kanzaki Rin were rivals in love, at that moment she wanted nothing more than to hug her rival and kiss her fiercely.
Hearing Asaka Akie's weak voice, Takeda Masumi looked down at her, then suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace. "Akie, you're the one who saved this city."
Asaka Akie had fought without rest for more than ten hours. Takeda Masumi and everyone else had seen how she held on.
If she hadn't kept holding the front line, then when Kanzaki Rin returned, all she would have found was a ruined city.
By any measure, Akie was the greatest contributor, and she deserved all the credit.
"I only did what I was supposed to."
Asaka Akie didn't think she had done anything remarkable.
Machine City was their group's business and home, so they had a duty to protect it. That was what the ruling class was supposed to do; otherwise, who would accept their rule?
Asaka Akie believed that whoever held her position would have made the same choice.
She hadn't wanted to give up, and she also didn't want to be bewitched by Izanae.
If she could choose to abandon her home today, then she would abandon more and more things in the future, crossing the line again and again.
"Silly girl, you did better than anyone."
Takeda Masumi said with a pained expression, "Can you come with me for treatment now?"
"I'm fine. I can keep going."
Aside from being exhausted, Asaka Akie hadn't suffered any serious