Inside the Hive, Chifuyu had finished installing explosives on the second Main Activation Fluid Line.
Only forty-seven seconds had elapsed. The defenses outside the third main line were stronger than expected. Four Assault-class blocked the passage at once, while Tank-class kept crawling out along the line's pulsing tissue. The White Knight's PIC field let her step onto the leftmost Assault-class's foreleg first, shifting its center of gravity outward. Her energy blade immediately sliced in through its underside.
Then the first, unbalanced Assault-class crashed into the second. Houki darted between them and severed the second one's hind leg with a single slash. Charlotte's rapid fire pinned down the Tank-class, while Laura used her defensive field to shield the Engineering IS units from tissue fragments falling from above.
Chifuyu landed on the surface of the third main line and planted one foot on its constantly pulsing mineralized framework. Two Engineering IS units began installing modules. Behind her, an Assault-class climbed back to its feet.
Houki was about to turn back, but Chifuyu did not even turn her head.
The White Knight's left leg slid half a step back, its PIC field forming an instant before contact. The kick did not look particularly powerful, but the Assault-class's entire forward momentum was forcibly diverted sideways. Its sixteen-meter-tall body flew past Chifuyu, smashing through the still-unhardened wall of the Production Chamber beside the main line.
Chifuyu followed through, driving her energy blade backward into the nape of its neck.
"Third main line complete. Sixty-one seconds."
Watching her back, Houki suddenly understood what the title of World Champion truly meant.
No matter how the world changed, no matter what the enemy became, Chifuyu could quickly find the right distance, angle, and rhythm after their very first exchange.
This was what it truly meant to be peerless.