Fisher's face was one of the few parts of his body that still had flesh and blood.
Now, however, a trace of gravity crossed it.
"A spiritual warning? Assessment: high probability..." he muttered, while a scene from his studies in the Church flashed through his mind.
The sage at the lectern had spoken in a voice as cold as the gleaming steel on his body:
"Our Path, [Indomitability], is weak at detection, so once your spirit vision gives a warning, you must react immediately. The enemy may already be very close. Fisher, you must write this into your mechanical core and set its priority to the highest level."
The memory ended abruptly. Before he could react, the preset program had already begun to run.
Fisher suddenly raised his voice. "Watch out! Everyone, fall back!"
Unfortunately, he was still a little too late. Almost as soon as he spoke, the ground beneath them shattered inch by inch. A vast sheet of flesh lay spread beneath it, like a great maw, snapping shut around them!
The weapons mounted on the Machine Priests automatically detached to reduce their weight. The power grids on their backs lit up with brilliant flames as their jet propulsion systems activated in an emergency attempt to carry them clear of the fleshy maw.
But the maw closed far faster than they could move. They lost their balance and fell, watching helplessly as the sky above grew smaller and smaller.
Boom!
The fleshy maw snapped shut with a tremendous crash.
But on closer inspection, a gap remained. It had not closed completely.
The gap was narrow, only large enough for one person. A thin, small figure was wedged there, bracing both hands desperately against the closing maw.
Elsa. Her reaction had been even faster than the Machine Priests'. The