The car traveled smoothly along the highway, flanked on both sides by dense, sprawling woodland that was almost entirely undeveloped.
Surrounded by this lush greenery, Yucas felt more relaxed than she ever had before. The exhaustion accumulated at work seemed to fall away all at once.
She suddenly realized that she had barely rested since the Noel Incident. This leisurely journey was a rare chance to unwind.
Before she knew it, the car reached a bend. A vast stretch of woodland lay ahead, and the road turned roughly ninety degrees before continuing onward.
Yucas noticed nothing unusual and slowed slightly as she drove around the bend.
But at that very moment, something changed.
A white figure flashed past. Her vision blurred, and an overwhelming sense of dread surged through her.
A blade gleamed. The piercing clang of metal rang out without warning along the empty road, sharp as an arrow. The alloy car body was as flimsy as cotton before that slash, unable to withstand it for even an instant. All that remained was a smooth cut, as though the vehicle had been sliced clean across its middle.
The moving car became a heap of scrap metal in an instant. Had she not leaped out in time, she would probably have been cut in two along with it.
"Who's there?!"
Silence surrounded her. The still air seemed increasingly suffocating. Although Yucas had grabbed her Thermal Greatsword when abandoning the car, it offered little reassurance against an unknown enemy.
Her breathing grew ragged, and her blood seemed to surge through her veins. Yucas forced herself to calm down and consider who would attack her at a time like this.
The Radicals in the Peacekeeping Forces... no, it had to be the Federation.
The attacker was clearly a Psionic above level four.